Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Gunshots rang out, but before Sano could make a move, a figure burst into view.

It was the short-haired woman who detained the second dissident.

After noticing the commotion over there, Amuro Tooru and the others did attempt to take action.

They either wanted to shield Sano from the bullet, or they wanted to pull him away, but it was too late.

This woman, however, was positioned at a perfect angle.

He only needs to take one step to become Sano's human shield.

"Bang bang bang!!"

In this situation, even if Sano wanted to kick the woman away and rely on himself, it was too late. Several bullets hit her in succession, making the people around her, whose faces had already changed drastically, stare in disbelief.

"call out!"

Just as the third dissident realized something was wrong and finally paused pulling the trigger, Sano seized the opportunity, his right hand leaving his pocket at the same time.

He pushed aside the short-haired woman, threw a flying knife, and it hit her wrist precisely.

"Shh!"

Sano rushed forward, pressed himself against the man, grabbed his throat with one hand, and pulled the throwing knife from the man's wrist with his left hand as he forced the man back.

Then he released his right hand, and his left hand swung out in a blur.

Chest, stomach, thighs, upper arms, forearms, throat.

In just two or three seconds, Sano swung his knife more than a dozen times, drawing more than a dozen streams of blood from the man. This caused the man, who had initially retreated instinctively when his throat was choked, to keep retreating until he leaned against the car again before stopping. This brought the attack to its final blow.

"Sen!"

After flipping the knife over, Sano gripped it in a reverse grip and thrust it upwards towards the man's throat.

To be precise, it should be the chin?

However, just as Sano's knife tip was about to touch the man's skin...

The movement suddenly stopped.

For a second, the man's terrified gaze relaxed slightly.

Two seconds later, Sano raised his right hand and slammed it onto the hilt of his left sword.

"Pfft!"

The short knife went from bottom to top, piercing the man's throat, but it wasn't long enough.

Otherwise, it would most likely have to crawl out from the top of the head.

...Sano's actions had no other meaning than that; it was simply because...

If you had used your left hand to stab someone just now, you wouldn't have killed them.

Since it's a left-handed knife, the speed might be passable, but the precision and strength are really lacking, like those dozen or so cuts earlier.

It looks scary, but it's not serious at all; it's just a superficial injury.

Therefore, if Sano didn't want to deliver a second blow after hitting a vital point with the first strike but failing to kill the victim on the spot, he would have to add an extra step.

what?

Does this look no different from the former?

The difference is huge!

One is a follow-up attack performed after realizing that the attack has failed.

The other is the instinctive reaction to promptly change an instinctive action.

Regardless of which one it is, Sano is confident that he will not have any problems even if he is sued.

However, there are always issues with subjective opinions.

As expected, when Sano let go, and the man slid to the ground with wide eyes and turned around, Amuro Tooru and Conan's group did not react in any other way, but simply turned their attention to the woman.

"Hey, Hanako, are you alright!?"

Inspector Megure was about to help the short-haired woman, Hanako, when she waved her hand and said, "It's alright, I'm wearing a bulletproof vest."

Sano glanced over and saw Hanako's clothes with several holes punched in the back.

You can definitely see the bulletproof vest.

However, this does not mean that Hanako is alright. As mentioned before, bulletproof vests protect against bullets but not force... to be precise, they cannot protect against all force. Putting aside the bones underneath, the key issue is that she was shot outside the range of her bulletproof vest.

The bullet struck his shoulder near his upper arm, but it didn't penetrate; it was mostly lodged inside. Blood flowed down his arm to his fingertips and dripped onto the ground.

"We need to get him to the hospital right away."

The group remained calm, but they also couldn't afford to be too relaxed.

A gunshot wound to the shoulder might seem like a minor thing, as it doesn't appear likely to kill anyone.

But that's just a habitual way of thinking influenced by movies and TV shows.

A gunshot wound to the shoulder can be fatal, and the cause of death is usually excessive blood loss.

The human body has many blood vessels.

Some of these are called aortas. Once they rupture, blood loss can be extremely rapid. For example, wrist-cutting involves cutting these aortas. However, this does not mean that as long as the aorta is intact, one will not die from excessive blood loss, especially in the case of a gunshot wound. In any case, one must be taken to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

The faster the better.

This has led to the saying of a "golden hour".

Otherwise, like when Sera Masumi took a bullet for Conan earlier, she almost didn't make it through emergency treatment and ended up in the hospital for quite a long time...

Speaking of which, wasn't that also around the shoulder area?

Lost in thought, Sato Miwako had already taken Hanako to the hospital for treatment.

The remaining officers, including Inspector Megure, took the two dissidents who had made earlier actions under their control and began interrogating them on the spot.

"Are you guys professional assassins, or are you just after the bounty?"

Inspector Megure's face was very gloomy.

It's hard not to be concerned about the presence of such a character in the police force... If Sano hadn't reacted quickly enough, and if Hanako hadn't sacrificed herself for others, the consequences of what just happened would have been dire.

It's simply unimaginable.

We must quickly ascertain the situation, in case there has been any significant mishap.

So even the Metropolitan Police Department might not be considered safe now.

The two dissidents hung their heads, choosing not to struggle in vain and remain silent.

Being caught on the spot and confessing honestly is the only way to mitigate one's crime.

...But the truth wasn't so dramatic. These three people only became interested in the bounty after learning about it. After discussing it, they planned to form a temporary team, kill Sano on the spot, and then take the money and run away.

"In that case, can I still go to the Metropolitan Police Department?"

Kogoro Mouri frowned: "A price that could tempt three veteran policemen on the spot, I'm afraid even when they get there, some people will still take the risk."

Inspector Megure was also extremely troubled.

"But if even the police can't withstand it, then ordinary people are even more vulnerable."

Amuro Tooru spoke up at the opportune moment: "The Metropolitan Police Department is the best option."

"Um……"

Inspector Megure looked at Sano: "Sano, what do you think?"

However, at first glance, Sano was lost in thought and seemed not to have heard at all.

"...Brother Sano?"

Inspector Megure patted Sano on the shoulder: "What are you thinking about?"

"Ah."

Sano snapped out of his reverie and shook his head: "No need, I'll just stay at home."

"what?"

Before anyone could offer any advice, Sano laughed and said, "It's no use. We don't even know who wants to kill me right now, so we can't solve the problem at its root."

"This needs to be done gradually..."

"I can't just stay cooped up in the Metropolitan Police Department forever. I might as well stay home and wait for them to come to me. I'll deal with whatever comes my way. Only by letting those hyenas who come for the bounty know the consequences, and that they'll not only fail to snatch food from the lion's mouth, but will become food themselves, can we at least manage to stop the problem, or at least expose the people behind it."

After saying that, Sano turned around, waved his hand, and went upstairs.

"That's all for now."

"...What about your little girl? Even if you're not afraid of danger, you have to consider her, right?"

Amuro Tooru tries to persuade Sano.

But Sano didn't reply... Rather, it was precisely because he didn't trust the Metropolitan Police Department that he couldn't hand the little girl over to them. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if she were taken hostage. As for whether keeping her by his side would be more dangerous.

After stopping at the dead end of the stairs, Sano took out two cell phones from his wallet and sent text messages to Huang Mao and Ireland respectively.

Sano has people he can trust even more.

Despite his trust in Inspector Megure and his associates' character, Sano also trusted them implicitly.

In terms of capability... I'd better pass.

Not to mention that there are so many people in the Metropolitan Police Department, Sano can only trust a few of them.

After receiving the reply, Sano closed his phone.

...Putting aside the bounty, what Sano is more concerned about right now is...

The woman named Hanako from earlier.

It wasn't that Sano was worried that this guy would take a bullet for him and then not make it to the hospital or anything like that—that's unlikely—it was just that guy.

Something just feels off.

Even though there's nothing wrong with selfless and righteous police officers.

But this guy's presence is a bit too strong, isn't it?