No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

After getting the money, the real culprit got cocky and planned to immediately return to the warehouse where he had been hiding and take care of the hostage. That way, he would have completed a perfect kidnapping case and even fooled the famous police officer Kitahara Masaki!

"Ha ha ha ha!!!"

Upon arriving at their destination, the real culprit got out of the car and could no longer contain his joy, laughing loudly in the empty warehouse.

The next second, his smile froze on his face, because Takagi and Chiba burst through the door, grabbed their pistols, and pointed them at the real culprit, shouting:

"Surrender! You have nowhere to run!"

"Quickly reveal the location of the hostages! Don't make another mistake! Inspector Kitahara has completely seen through your tricks!"

How can it be!

The real culprit's earpiece still blared Kitahara Masaki's furious roars, shouting things like "Where did the culprit go?", "Check the surveillance footage immediately!", and "We must find him quickly!" It didn't sound like they had found him at all!

No, no, no!!!

I still have a chance. My appearance hasn't been seen yet, so I still have a chance!

"The hostage is downstairs. Don't come after us if you don't want him to die!"

After saying this, the culprit threw the bag at Takagi and immediately ran towards the side door. He was met by two girls in high school uniforms, which infuriated him. He shouted:

"Get out of my way!"

The two calm and collected individuals obediently stepped aside. Just when the real culprit thought he had scared off the two high school students, two forces pushed him to the ground. Koshimizu and Sera tacitly grabbed one of his hands and immediately twisted them behind his back. Finally, Koshimizu handcuffed the real culprit.

"Where are the hostages? Tell me the truth, you have no chance now!"

Sera dialed Kitahara Masaki's cell phone, turned on speakerphone, and said:

"Officer Kitahara, we've caught the culprit!"

"Well done! After all this acting, is this guy finally going back to his old lair?"

what!

The prisoner, who was pinned to the ground, never expected that Kitahara Masaki, the commander-in-chief of this mission, would start acting and have the police officers secretly follow him!

"Damn it! Kitahara Masaki! You tricked me!!!"

"What, you're not satisfied? If you want revenge, you'd better get in line at jail first. One more person like you won't make a difference to the people who want to kill me. By the way, have you found the hostage yet?"

"Yes! Officer Takagi and his team found the child in the warehouse basement and are taking him to the hospital now."

"Ha! How does it feel?! Losing both your money and your life! No matter how many years you spend, you can't escape from me! You'd better go and eat your fill in jail!"

After speaking, Kitahara Masaki hung up the phone. Hearing Kitahara Masaki's sarcastic remarks, the prisoner struggled incessantly, only to be grabbed by the back of the head and slammed to the ground by Koshimizu, knocking out two of his front teeth. Sera, standing nearby, was startled and quickly asked:

"Sister Yue Shui! Is this alright?! The criminal was treated like this after being caught—"

"It's alright. This person has already been caught red-handed. Besides, it's rare for a criminal like him who kidnaps children to have a famous lawyer defend him. After all, Japan is a country with a low birth rate. If you defend someone who harms children, your reputation will definitely plummet."

"Um...so those lawyers with bad reputations won't help him?"

"Don't worry, those lawyers with bad reputations don't dare to offend Inspector Kitahara, because Inspector Kitahara has a lot of dirt on them. So this guy is beyond saving, he will definitely be sentenced to a heavy sentence, after all, the mother of the kidnapped child is a very wealthy company president."

Oh—the adult world is so complicated; there are so many intricacies involved in beating someone up.

"Ahem, Sera, don't tell Inspector Kitahara about this when you get back. If he finds out, he'll definitely say I've corrupted you."

The prisoner, pinned down, felt a chill run down his spine. He hadn't expected Kitahara Masaki's disciple to be even more ruthless than him. Completely losing his temper, he obediently allowed himself to be taken back to the police station.

Having successfully closed the case, Kitahara Masaki immediately set out to find the man Vermouth had mentioned. The video on Vermouth's phone wasn't very clear, since it was recorded on the eighth floor. All that could be seen was that he did take a large bag out of a locker.

However, perhaps some clues could be found in that locker. They pretended to have the forensic team examine the evidence in the kidnapping case, and at the same time, they also had them examine the locker. Sure enough, they found a clue: inside the locker where the man took out the bag, they found gun oil.

This means that the man made the transaction through a locker, and the item traded was most likely a firearm!

Chapter 283 The Show Begins

Will Shuichi Akai come and get the gun?

However, at this stage there is no evidence to prove that the man with the gun is definitely Shuichi Akai.

Just as Kitahara Masaki was looking at the forensic department's files, Sera Masumi suddenly knocked on the door and entered, asking loudly:

"Officer Kitahara! Where are we going to investigate today?"

"Although the Metropolitan Police Department officers solve cases on foot, don't get too caught up in running around to crime scenes. That kidnapping case that lasted for several days just ended a few days ago. You should take a good rest, or you could go and look at our department's files."

"Hey—I'm really looking forward to investigating cases with Inspector Kitahara!"

Seeing Sera's excitement, Kitahara Masaki could already guess that she had gone to Conan to confirm some information, or that she had simply realized from Conan's behavior that he was indeed Shinichi Kudo, whom she had met ten years ago...

Regardless of the outcome of her probe, the investigation seems to be progressing very smoothly, meaning she's likely to uncover information about Haibara soon. While Sera poses no threat to Haibara's safety, the Akai Shuichi she brought along could potentially cause trouble for Kitahara Masaki.

So let's take her to do some things.

"Sigh, then let's go to a nightclub tonight."

"Hey! I'm still a high school student! I can't drink! Officer Kitahara, you wouldn't lay a hand on a high school girl, would you?"

Ignoring the boisterous high school girl, Kitahara Masaki drove her to a police surveillance point, where someone was already waiting for them. It was Amuro Tooru, disguised as 'Sasae Wataru'. With his stiff disguise, he waved to the group and introduced them:

"Our surveillance target is Takashi Date, the leader of the Date Group under the Hojo Alliance, in the VIP room of a nightclub not far ahead. Recently, Date had a conflict with the fourth leader of the Hojo Alliance and subsequently broke away from the alliance. The Date Group members were isolated and helpless. At this time, they received a job, which is the case that Officer Kitahara mentioned to me - a suspicious man took a bag of guns from the locker area."

"Having fallen out with the alliance, do they still have the resources to do business?"

"Heh, not really. The real sellers are the yakuza in Kansai. The Date Group is just a pawn they're using. We've confirmed that the Kansai yakuza not only sold guns through the Date Group, but also gave them dozens of pistols, two rifles, and a quantity of ammunition. They probably want to incite a bloody conflict between the Date Group and the Hojo Alliance. The most ironic thing is that the source of this information is a report from a previous gun buyer."

Upon hearing this, Sera immediately became interested in this third-party force. Despite having just bought the gun, she turned around and reported the seller's Date Group.

"Our investigation revealed that both the buyer and the whistleblower are FBI agents."

At this point, Amuro Tooru didn't want to say any more. After all, it was the FBI that reminded him of this matter, which was really a disgrace to the public security.

Sera Masumi was surprised to hear that the FBI was actually a third-party organization, and she was also surprised that Kitahara Maki and the unfamiliar public security officer in front of her had so easily told her the secret information.

Although this is classified information, it won't be useful after tonight, because the Public Security Bureau will raid the bar where Date Takashi works tonight, and the Date Group will cease to exist by tomorrow. However, Amuro Tooru was only sharing this kind of information with a high school student because Kitahara Masaki assured him that the girl was a promising candidate for Public Security work, which is why he gave her this information, which is only valid for half a day.

As for Kitahara Masaki, the possibility that the man who came to get the gun was Akai Shuichi had increased to ninety percent, so naturally she could guide Sera to talk about some questions about herself later.

"In short, we will raid this bar tonight. With no way out and the support of Kansai, Date is likely to trigger a yakuza war, which we must do everything we can to avoid. Date has been hiding in the VIP room of this bar for the past few days. It seems he has made this place his fortress and is using innocent customers as human shields."

Amuro Tooru said coldly that these gangsters, in their desperation, could cause all sorts of accidents, so the National Police Agency must extinguish the flames before things happen. That's the National Police Agency's style of doing things—acting in advance.

"Oh—no wonder they're the police; all the surveillance cameras in the bar have been taken down! But it seems there aren't any cameras in the VIP room."

"Yes, because Ida didn't install surveillance cameras in the VIP room. However, we already have the fact that they have a lot of guns. This is Ida's own shop. If we find firearms here, we can naturally arrest them all."

Amuro Tooru patiently explained, since it wasn't time to act yet. He seemed to believe Kitahara Masaki's words that 'this girl is a rough gem,' and earnestly exchanged opinions with her.

However, the operation took place in the middle of the night, and Sera, who had a day off the next day, called his mother to say that he would be participating in a police operation that night and would not be coming home.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Kitahara Masaki suddenly asked a question as if it were a casual remark:

"Those in the underworld always call each other brothers, but in the end, only a handful of people are willing to follow Date. It's really pathetic. By the way, do Inspector Sasao and Ms. Sera have any brothers or sisters? I'm all alone, so I'm really looking forward to having brothers and sisters."

"No, I have no brothers or sisters."

“Hey, you two are both only children! I’m different. I have two older brothers. My eldest brother is named Shuichi Akai, who was also an FBI investigator, but unfortunately he has passed away. My second brother is a Go player. He was fostered elsewhere when he was young and I have only met him a few times. I have lived with my mother since I was a child.”

At this moment, Sera and Mary both believed that Shuichi Akai had been killed by the Black Organization, thinking that his long disappearance likely meant he had been murdered. However, Tooru Amuro gasped in shock; it turned out that this girl was actually Shuichi Akai's sister. But it seemed that Shuichi Akai had spread false information, making her believe that her brother was dead.

Amuro Tooru glanced furtively at Kitahara Masaki, but his expression remained unchanged. Could it all just be a coincidence? Was the girl he wanted to groom actually Akai Shuichi's sister?

Sera thought that everything would be fine as long as she didn't reveal her mother's information and that she could get away with it from the Public Security Bureau. Unfortunately, Kitahara Masaki brought her here so that Amuro Tooru would know that this girl was Akai Shuichi's sister.

Given Amuro Tooru's character, he would never do anything like using innocent people as bait. However, he would definitely investigate Sera's surroundings personally. If Akai Shuichi really showed up, he would certainly not let the opportunity pass him by.

Although he couldn't see Amuro Tooru's expression through his disguised face, Kitahara Masaki was certain he was extremely interested in it, so he seized the opportunity to ask:

"Isn't Takashi Date the person who liaised with the FBI on arms deals?"

"Yes, apart from him, no one else in the Date Group has ever handled so many firearms."

"Oh, I see. I'll go grab a bite to eat first. Shiliang, you can stay here and learn from the police."

After saying that, Kitahara Masaki went to a nearby Western restaurant, ordered several dishes, and waited patiently for the right moment to arrive.

Chapter 284 Perfect Cooperation

"Since the ones starting the war are all gangsters, why don't the police just let them kill each other? Wouldn't that reduce the number of gangsters?"

"Letting one murder weapon go free will lead to the creation of more murder weapons. The goal of the police is to prevent those firearms from continuing to circulate."

While cutting his steak, Kitahara Masaki communicated with Haibara, who was also monitoring the bar, through an earpiece. Meanwhile, Vermouth had disguised herself as a cleaning lady, looking like an old aunt, and was determining Kitahara Masaki's escape route later.

"What I really want to ask is, are you really going to do this?"

"Of course, since we saw Rum's involvement in the previous detention center riot, we should notify the police in this way. Reporting to the authorities is what we should do."

Just as Kitahara Masaki was communicating with Vermouth, who had already infiltrated the area, Haibara suddenly noticed that the system had automatically identified several yakuza members through facial recognition. She immediately notified Kitahara Masaki:

"Brother Kitahara, the assassins from the Hojo Alliance have arrived. It seems they're planning to strike first; it appears they've bribed all the bartenders inside."

"Alright, I haven't even finished my dinner yet. The Hojo Alliance people arrived so quickly. It seems they also received information that the Date Group is communicating with the Kansai yakuza."

Kitahara Maki instantly changed his appearance using a system item and entered the bar directly through the main entrance. Since he had to go through a security checkpoint before entering the bar, Kitahara Maki didn't bring anything except his mobile phone.

Just after Kitahara Masaki entered the store, Vermouth pushed a cleaning cart past him, and Kitahara Masaki took an ice pick from her, and then handed his cell phone to Vermouth.

"If anyone calls in, just handle it as we agreed beforehand."

"Understood! Inspector Evelyn, please leave the scene now!"

"Okay, Haibara, change to a song that will attract attention. The DJ up there isn't very good. How am I supposed to get things done if the people on the dance floor don't dance?"

"I'm a hacker, not some DJ. Next time, please do this kind of work yourself."

Although Haibara said that, the hacker's skills instantly turned the originally lukewarm music into a high-energy one. The crowd below, who had been somewhat tired, started jumping again, as if they had all been injected with adrenaline. Their energy was once again stimulated by the music, and everyone raised their hands and waved, except for the bewildered DJ.

"It's all set. Now it's up to you."

"OK! Now help me identify the person in front of me."

After scanning the area, Kitahara Masaki's glasses immediately spotted a Hojo Alliance assassin standing in front of him. The bald assassin was extremely conspicuous in the bar. Just as he was about to squeeze through the dancing crowd, Kitahara Masaki patted his right shoulder. Just as he turned his head to see who it was, an ice pick was shoved into his left temple with a "plop".

"Sometimes, these simple pranks can be very effective."

"No way! Simple pranks won't kill anyone!"

"Looks like you have no sense of humor, Ai."