Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

The next second, however, he suddenly received a mission.

[Please ensure the survival of the mission target within the time limit. Completion will earn you 200 enhancement points. Mission time remaining: 00:00:05]

Sano glanced at the map instinctively and saw a red dot right next to him.

...The mission target is Tooru Amuro. Will something go wrong with this mission?

Sano's train of thought faltered for a moment, then he began to frantically reverse course—wait a minute!

The time limit for this task is... two seconds!?

It took Sano three seconds to come up with an idea and notice this key point.

There was simply no time to think.

He turned around and shoved Amuro Tooru, who was about to say something, away.

The explosive gloves have no warning, indicating that there are no bombs nearby.

...Perhaps there was a bomb that could kill someone from fifty meters away, but even if that were the case, there was nothing Sano could do, and there was no one else in sight.

It's highly likely that it was a sniper attack.

"call out!"

"Pfft!"

The sound of something cutting through the air confirmed Sano's guess.

as predicted.

The first target was Amuro Tooru's head. Although Sano pushed him away, preventing the bullet from hitting him, it was instead aimed at Amuro Tooru's head.

But it was Sano's neck.

...Damn it, it just so happened to hit a vital spot like the neck.

Sano, cursing inwardly, felt the world begin to spin.

Consciousness hadn't started to dissipate yet, and the impact of the bullet shouldn't have been enough to cause her body to lose control to that extent... In other words...

Is that a head that's spinning?

I felt a tearing sensation in my neck.

Sano was certain that there was no way to save him; he had wasted his identity.

Fortunately, there was a chance to make up for it, so not only did I not lose, I even made a profit...

The prerequisite is that this guy has to survive.

Amidst a jumble of thoughts, Sano used the last ounce of strength in his body.

He pushed Amuro Tooru's hand and took another step forward.

After staggering, Amuro Tooru, who instinctively wanted to regain his balance, was forced to lunge forward and, after a roll, managed to hide behind the car.

...There's a sniper!

Although no gunshots were heard, the sound of bullets whistling past could be heard.

Amuro Tooru, however, heard it.

However, it wasn't that the shooter missed; rather, it was because he noticed something was wrong and pushed his rye aside that he wasn't hit... Amuro Tooru, whose life had been saved, turned around with mixed feelings, intending to thank the other person, but what he saw when he turned back was...

"……rye!?"

In an instant, Amuro Tooru's expression changed drastically, as if struck by lightning.

In Amuro Tooru's view, Rye was unfathomable. It was not surprising that he could discover dangers that he had not noticed, nor was it surprising that he could pull him along in the midst of danger.

But this is strange, especially now...

Why, why is this happening? Why do we have to do this?

Compared to shock and panic, Amuro Tooru was feeling something more intense at this moment.

I'm still confused.

This abnormal state prevented Amuro Tooru from calming down quickly.

Amuro Tooru should have quickly assessed the situation and retreated immediately.

did nothing.

Hiding behind the car, they stared blankly at a pair of eyes that were gradually losing focus, only visible after the passerby's hat fell off.

……to be honest.

It wasn't that Sano wanted to make eye contact with Amuro Tooru; he actually wanted to curse at him.

Whether it was to vent his emotions or to remind Amuro Tooru not to stand there like an idiot and run away, lest he waste his alternate identity again...

That's all true.

Unfortunately.

Sano cannot do that; to be precise, he is incapable of doing so.

As long as the brainstem is not directly hit, even if the heart is pierced and the head is severed, there will still be a few seconds of residual consciousness.

For example, Sano just pushed Amuro Tooru in the second round.

But that was when Sano still had his hands; now he doesn't even have a neck.

No matter how strong your willpower or how high your physical attributes are, it's all useless.

It's like a car without wheels, no matter how powerful the engine is.

It's the same principle that it's absolutely impossible for it to run.

However, the current situation seems to be different from when we started splitting up.

It matches up.

This time, they truly split up and acted separately.

This seems to be the first time I've ever experienced the feeling of being decapitated.

...If I remember correctly, it should be...

There's something subtly about it.

How many times have I actually died?

Was it twice...?

On the verge of death, Sano's brain began to wander uncontrollably through the heavens.

Finally, consciousness completely dissipated.

The focus of the pupils also completely disappeared, and the eyes became dull and lifeless.

"boom!"

A second bullet came.

The powerful impact pierced through both doors of the car, landing at Amuro Tooru's feet, kicking up a cloud of dust, and sporadic pebbles hit his feet.

Amuro Tooru finally came to his senses.

...We've fallen into a trap; it's a snare. We need to get out of there quickly.

Chapter 603, 606, Conan: The Past Is Too Painful to Recall

Sano and Amuro Tooru were originally supposed to reach their destination.

To be precise, it's not the current location.

Instead, it refers to the two steps that need to be performed, one after the other.

In other words, the current location was just a temporary decision, a place that was randomly selected, but there happened to be a sniper there.

They had laid an ambush here beforehand.

Therefore, Amuro Tooru felt he had every reason to be suspicious.

They were probably already being watched long before they arrived here.

But that still doesn't quite make sense.

I accidentally discovered two of myself, and then recognized them, which is when I reacted.

That's too much of a coincidence.

The problem likely lies in its root cause.

Either there's a mole within the organization leaking information, or there's bait mixed in with the intelligence that led to this mission. But who planted this bait, and whether it was intentional or unintentional, is hard to say.

...Amuro Tooru is not in the mood to think about these things right now.

The size and extent of the ambushing force are unclear, but the only thing that is clear is...

Judging from the interval between the two bullets, there was definitely only one sniper who fired the shot, but he was highly skilled and the gun was extremely powerful...

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to tear off someone's head.

Amuro Tooru's car wasn't bulletproof to begin with, and with this added cover, the only effect of the cover was to temporarily obstruct the view. There was no time for him to slowly consider the useless details.

Amuro Tooru quickly pulled a smoke bomb from his pocket and threw it down, covering the entire area around the car, but he did not immediately seize the opportunity to get in.

...At least, bring the body back.

"call!"

However, before Amuro Tooru could even take a step, the wind came rushing towards him.

This forced Amuro Tooru to retract his move.

Damn!

Amuro Tooru's expression changed, and after a moment's hesitation, he turned and got into the car.

"Buzz—!!"

The vehicle roared out of the smoke and sped off into the distance.