Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

however.

Before Professor Agasa could even begin, he began to describe the suspect's characteristics in detail and provide various true and false clues for Conan to use in his deductions.

Sano suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm, I think I've found the kidnappers' location."

"..."

The air fell silent for a moment, and then everyone's eyes turned to Sano.

"What did you say?"

Even Shuichi Akai was somewhat surprised by Sano's words.

"Are you serious?"

"What's wrong with this being unserious?"

Sano looked at Professor Agasa and said, "We've caught the person, but it will cost some money... about half the price of that carpet. This is my decision, but I think as the person involved, you should be happy to earn back the cost of the other half of the carpet."

"what??"

Professor Agasa scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat bewildered.

I really couldn't quite grasp what Sano meant by that.

"So, the kidnappers have already confessed their purpose: the carpet, and that carpet is indeed quite valuable, is that right?"

Conan gets straight to the point.

"Well, according to their confession, it seems there is some, around ten million."

Sano once again made a startling statement... "For an ordinary person, ten million."

That's indeed a large sum.

Dr. Agasa gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "If we can catch those two guys, I'm willing to pay half the price of the carpet... Anyway, just like you said, if we can't catch those two guys, then the carpet will have nothing to do with me."

"Alright, let's set off then."

Sano closed his phone and led the group out the door.

Conan followed the group, looking bewildered... This script doesn't seem right. When it comes to deduction, whether you're doing it yourself or someone else is, you should at least try to deduce it first, right? Isn't that the normal progression of the story?

How can you skip the climax and just end it like that?

And who exactly is this guy?

Being with Shuichi Akai, does that mean he's actually an FBI member? And that's how he was able to move so quickly with the help of the FBI... But that doesn't make sense.

If the FBI was involved, how could Shuichi Akai not know about it?

Besides, why would the FBI accept money to make arrests?

Conan was completely baffled until he arrived at the target location and followed the group inside, where he saw several people wearing black Grim Reaper special attack suits...

Oh my god, so that's what they spent the money on!

"I have confessed everything honestly, and the details are here."

Sano took the recorder from the Black Reaper member without checking it, and said with a smile, "Okay, thank you. Just take the carpet and handle it. Send any extra money to the designated address later."

"it is good."

Without a word, several members of the Black Reaper group carried the carpet away.

Left behind, Conan and the others remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at a middle-aged couple who were bound hand and foot, kneeling in the center of the living room, their faces bruised and swollen.

"So it's you guys..."

Dr. Agasa recognized the two of them immediately.

"So, the Doctor really does know them?"

Conan asked, and Professor Agasa nodded, indicating that the couple was one of the three pairs who came to their door for the vase.

"...However, while the Black Reaper is indeed fast at finding people, he still needs to know who he's looking for first, right? How did you define the targets for them?"

Shuichi Akai raised his own question.

Sano smiled and said.

"Ah, it's actually very simple. I just happened to see those two guys park their car in front of Professor Agasa's house... and it turns out they hadn't even changed the license plates, which is why I was able to find them so quickly."

"..."

Is this really that simple and straightforward?

Shuichi Akai's lips twitched, and he cast an indescribable look at the couple.

That's incredibly stupid.

Even if we don't change the car, at least we should change the license plate number.

Another example is a kidnapper whose target is a carpet, but instead of taking the carpet directly, he chooses to replace it. As a result, he fails to notice even obvious details like coffee stains, which are hardly noticeable. He is truly the dumbest kidnapper in history.

To be fair, if Professor Agasa had discovered that the kidnappers' real target was actually the carpet and called the police, he might have ended up with the carpet stuck in his hands due to a lack of connections. Therefore, the switcheroo wasn't wrong; in fact, it was a good move... but he only played half of it.

He's a real genius.

"Well then, now that things are over, I'll be going."

Having reached this point, Sano's mission was complete. He said goodbye and left.

Conan, looking at the two criminals in front of him, remarked that the Black Reaper was truly useful... but the price was a bit hard to accept, costing several million each time.

At least in terms of Conan's wealth, it's not enough for him to squander it in this way.

If you want to use this to deal with that organization.

The price would probably be even more outrageously high.

...Although Conan has never really delved into this area, he has heard rumors about it from Shuichi Akai.

"That's not right."

Conan suddenly paused, exclaiming in surprise, "That carpet seems to be crucial, decisive evidence. If they take it and sell it, can the case still be solved?"

Before anyone else could react, Shuichi Akai grabbed Conan's head.

"Little guy, do you think he deliberately left this recording pen behind just for fun?"

Conan angrily pushed away Shuichi Akai's hand.

"But such recordings might not be legal, right?"

"Still too young."

Shuichi Akai smiled and shook his head, but didn't say anything more. He then left, leaving the rest of the matter to Conan and the others.

……

When Sano got up and went out for a smoke, he saw the little girl staring blankly in the hallway.

Chapter 552, 555, FFF Group's Fire-Passing Cult

The little girl habitually stuck her head between the railings, staring blankly downstairs.

Sano tilted his head, put away his cigarette, and moved closer to sit down next to him.

"What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"

"Ok?"

The little girl came to her senses, first pulling her head out and weakly greeting Sano, then shoving her head back in, without answering Sano's question... Thinking back to her state yesterday.

So something really went wrong.

I don't know if it's big or small.

"Hey, you two, contemplating life here."

Suddenly, Ito Taka appeared out of nowhere and sat down next to Sano.

"Are you very free?"

Sano glanced sideways at Ito Taka, thinking he'd have to give the kid more tasks.

For some reason, Ito Taka felt a chill run down his spine.

After glancing back and finding nothing amiss, she could only tighten her clothes.

"uncle."

Perhaps because of Ito Taka's words, the little girl suddenly asked Sano, "Tell me, what is the meaning of life?"

"Ok?"

Sano and the other person were both taken aback.

...These days, even kindergarten kids are starting to get emo?

Sano glanced at Ito Taka again.

Ito Taka scratched his head... How could he possibly understand this? It wasn't his business, was it?

At most, it's just a way to get the ball rolling?

"...The meaning of life cannot be found by others; you have to experience it for yourself."

After thinking about it for a while, Sano still explained it to the little girl in more detail.

"Of course, hearing what others say might help you understand, but you are indeed quite young, and as for me, I don't really have any valuable insights for you to draw upon, so... um."

The little girl looked at Sano and blinked her big eyes.

"So, Uncle, what do you think your significance is?"

"..."

Did you not hear a single word?

Sano scratched his head, sighed, and then looked a little more serious. After thinking for a few seconds, he carefully considered his words and said, "If someone else asked me, I would probably only have two answers: one is 'I don't know,' and the other is, 'I think life is meaningless.'"

"But to be honest, for me, life is probably like a game, where you interact with all sorts of NPCs, trigger quests, complete them, or grind monsters, achieve accomplishments, and accumulate resources."