Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Inspector Megure tilted his head back, giving Wataru Takagi an incredulous look—

Are you out of your mind?

Even the assassin gang that previously made them afraid to even show their faces was easily defeated by this guy, and now they actually say they want to capture him?

What, do you think there aren't enough people lying on the ground, and you want to round it up for the other side?

...Of course, the main reason Inspector Megure didn't want to confront Kokushi was that he genuinely felt Kokushi was a good person at heart.

After all, Black Death had done a lot of good deeds before and after, and even if he went a little too far sometimes, it was only in relation to those criminals.

I have never heard of the other party harming innocent people.

Logically and emotionally, shouldn't we turn a blind eye at this point?

"This guy finished so quickly, it makes me look like a total loser..."

Kaito Kuroba was still muttering to himself... After all, compared to when he and "Black Mask" temporarily teamed up to deal with the first wave of assassins, this time the two of them were performing much better.

Doesn't that just make Kaito Kuroba look much worse than his opponent?

...Even Kaito Kuroba himself believed that he was not as good as Kokushi in terms of fighting ability, and as a phantom thief, he had no need to be better than his opponent.

But this is a completely different matter from saving face!

Sano was unaware of the extent of the psychological changes that his appearance under the pseudonym "Black Death" had caused among the "onlookers," as he was busy delivering the final blow.

It wasn't the kind of finishing blow to silence the killer, but rather knocking them unconscious if they still had a chance to retaliate.

This group of assassins has not completely lost their ability to fight.

Given the urgency of the situation, Sano couldn't possibly force everyone to be knocked unconscious or killed.

Many of them had broken bones or suffered serious blows to vital areas by Sano, temporarily losing their fighting ability. Others were hit by stray bullets, and the same thing happened to them.

Although these assassins are all lying on the ground, unable to get up, groaning, struggling, and screaming in agony, it is not entirely impossible for them to fight back with firearms if they get used to it.

Once all the assassins had been finished off, the onlookers from both sides gathered around.

...Time seemed to rewind to about half an hour earlier, when the first wave of assassins had just been dealt with.

Even the atmosphere was so similar, awkwardly complicated.

Unlike last time when no progress was made before an accident occurred, this time there won't be any more accidents, so someone has to step up and solve the problem eventually.

Amuro Tooru took the initiative to start this discussion, but he chose to approach it from the side, intending to prioritize addressing the issues that concerned him.

"Where's Sano?"

Amuro Tooru first looked towards Conan and asked.

……Um?

Isn't that the owner of Sano Detective Agency? What's he doing here, dressed as a waiter??

Conan and the others who knew Amuro Tooru were all a bit confused to discover his existence until now, but they still answered his question first: "...We got separated along the way, and although we tried to look for him just now, we couldn't find him."

Amuro Tooru nodded without any surprise, then turned to Sano's black cloak: "Young man, you look familiar, a lot like a friend of mine. Could you please take off your mask so I can take a look?"

That was a straight ball.

Amuro Tooru came to Osaka for only one purpose: to determine whether Sano was indeed the Black Death. If not, he would try his best to find out Sano's true identity.

...Although it doesn't seem worthwhile to travel so far and waste so much time and energy for such a "small matter".

But for Amuro Tooru, this seemingly small matter involved a crucial issue.

That is, whether Sano was lying to him or not.

It's not that Amuro Tooru necessarily expects Sano to be completely honest with him and not hide anything from him, but this is the only matter that concerns the fact that the other party may have already discovered his true identity or is already suspicious of him.

Otherwise, Amuro Tooru simply couldn't understand why Sano wanted to get rid of his "Kuroshiki" identity.

Because Amuro Tooru is actually an undercover agent for the Public Security Bureau, Sano might be punished as a member of the Black Death Party. Therefore, he needs to make himself appear to the other party as no longer a member of the Black Death Party.

Putting himself in Sano's shoes, Amuro Tooru could only think of this one reason why the other person was lying.

If that's really the case, Amuro Tooru's current situation is undoubtedly very dangerous.

That's why Amuro Tooru traveled all the way to Osaka to find out the truth between Sano and Kokushi.

If it is confirmed that Sano is the Black Death, then Amuro Tooru will only have two options: either leave the organization and evacuate... or confront the other party.

Of course, if possible, Amuro Tooru would not want things to escalate to that point.

As for the former, Amuro Tooru had been an undercover agent for many years and had finally climbed to his current position. Naturally, he didn't want to give up easily and waste all his previous efforts.

For the latter, infiltrating an extremely dangerous organization, the fewer people who know Amuro Tooru's true identity, the better. This is for their own safety, but also for the safety of the other party.

...As early as last night, Amuro Tooru had already approached several delinquents in Osaka. After a friendly exchange, he learned from them that Kokushi had asked them to disguise themselves as passersby and disperse in an area around four or five o'clock in the afternoon.

That area happens to be near the location of the warehouse where the Egg of Memories is hidden.

This undoubtedly deepened Amuro Tooru's suspicions about Sano.

...Especially now that he saw half of Kokushi's face, Amuro Tooru became even more certain.

That's Sano!?

Don't think you can hide your face just because you're covering the bottom half!

Sano, just lay your cards on the table!

When asked about Amuro Tooru's request, Sano calmly replied, "Kuroshi will never take off his mask."

...Ahem, no, I misspoke.

Before Amuro Tooru could react, Sano raised his chin slightly and said in a cold, almost provocative tone and with a look in his eyes, "If I don't take it off, what can you do to me?"

Even though removing the mask directly and revealing a face completely different from his real face would actually help clear Sano of suspicion.

However, such a "softening" behavior feels too deliberate when applied to Kokushi.

It's better to let the boss try to find out the "truth" himself.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be too unfair to Conan, who was kicked and almost vomited up while trying to find the "truth"?

Sano's behavior undoubtedly made the atmosphere even more tense.

However, before Amuro Tooru could make any further moves, Sano's clone had already sensed something was wrong.

...An assassin woke up.

This is certainly not because Sano is so stupid that he can't even finish off an enemy properly.

Because the guy who was awake was one of the assassins in the first wave, who was knocked unconscious by Kaito Kuroba with a tranquilizer dart.

Chapter 275 Chapter 274, Toru Amuro: Expression collapsed

Could this guy be any more unreliable? Are those tranquilizer grenades some kind of cheap, substandard product?!

Sano felt a little incredulous.

...The assassin had not fully regained his senses. Only after regaining a little self-awareness did he instinctively raise the gun in his hand and pull the trigger.

And this bullet was aimed directly at Sano... or more precisely, at the Black Death persona.

None of the people present could react in time, except for Sano's black mask clone, who, thanks to his superior agility, saw the trajectory of the bullet.

However, there is a considerable distance between Sano's Black Death disguise and his clone, and it's definitely too late to push them apart now.

I can only rely on my own pseudonym.

Unfortunately, the effect of being able to dodge bullets 100% has long since passed... Even if the effect were still there, Sano wouldn't want to show it.

Fortunately, Sano's Black Death disguise can at least be considered to have shared the abnormal "vision" of the Black Mask clone.

This is one of the advantages that dual-line operation can bring.

Because of the interconnectedness of consciousness, the two bodies essentially belong to one person.

On the surface, this statement may seem insignificant, but it can be used to "share" information regardless of distance and time. When the two are in the same location, it is only because they are the same person that they can achieve a "tacit understanding" that is much stronger than the so-called telepathy of twins.

In reality, the effect achieved in the latter case is much higher than it appears.

The "intelligence" transmitted in real time is not just important information, but also includes what each person sees, hears, and feels. Isn't that equivalent to "sharing" all the "software" such as vision and hearing?

...Although the Black Death Vest's body couldn't respond to Sano's command immediately due to insufficient agility, it at least managed to avoid vital points.

"puff!"

Blood splattered from the left upper arm of the man in the black vest.

Damn it!

The others finally realized the sudden danger and their expressions changed drastically.

Amuro Tooru even raised his gun and was about to fire.

Sano was just faster than him.

Just as he dodged the bullets as much as possible, Sano had already controlled the Black Death Vest to rush out.

The distance of ten meters or so seemed to be traversed in an instant.

The assassin lying on the ground could barely make out what was in front of him when the enormous fist began to grow larger and larger in his eyes.

"boom!"

The floorboards suddenly cracked, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

The assassin's head was smashed into the floor by Sano's punch.

Given this situation, even if the killer didn't die on the spot, there's a 99.99% chance he couldn't be saved.

Good, that's ruthless!

Most of the people present were so frightened by Sano's punch that they felt a chill run down their spines and unconsciously put themselves in the role of the assassin, their faces contorted with a phantom pain.

...This was legitimate self-defense; this was an act of bravery!

Inspector Megure's eye twitched slightly before he instinctively looked away.

...Just as I expected, this person's fighting skills have become much more powerful.

Unlike the others, Ran Mouri's first focus was on the power of Sano's punch.