Conan Rick's Investigator

After the appetizers were served, Qin Zhibo was not in a hurry to eat. He waited until everyone had finished eating and then observed their reactions.

Ran Mouri, who was simple-minded, didn't think too much about it. She was about to start eating, but was stopped by Conan next to her. He also turned around to observe the situation on the table.

As a result, the other detectives had the same idea as Qin Zhibo, holding their knives and forks in their hands, "hesitating" about the food in front of them.

Just like that, everyone looked at each other, and the atmosphere was a little weird.

It was the Foodie Detective who first broke the awkward atmosphere and asked, "Eh? All the dishes are here, why aren't you eating them?"

Everyone: "..."

The foodie detective immediately understood everyone's doubts and quickly began to explain.

"I cook all the dishes myself, and they are absolutely non-toxic!"

"If you don't believe me, I'll eat it and show you..."

With the foodie detective taking the lead, the other detectives started eating one after another.

……

After dinner, everyone wiped their mouths with napkins and savored the delicious food.

At this time, the horn dummy made a sound on time again.

"Are you all full? Are you satisfied with this last dinner I prepared?"

"Now, let's get back to business. I'm sure you're all very curious why I spent so much money to acquire this annex as the stage for this game, right?"

"First, please take a close look at the tableware at hand..."

Qin Zhibo looked down at the tableware, on which was engraved a crow with extremely disproportionate body proportions. He had noticed it while he was eating.

The same pattern is also on the door handle upstairs.

"Could this be..." Mao Lilan looked at the creepy pattern and asked doubtfully, "Is it a crow?"

The trumpet dummy continued, "This is the family crest of Karasuma Renya, a wealthy man who died under mysterious circumstances about half a century ago."

"Aside from the tableware here, every door, floor, handrail, and even the patterns of chess and playing cards in this villa were specially made by him."

"In other words, this entire annex is a villa built by Karasuma Renya."

"But all of this has become history 40 years ago. A horrific incident occurred in this annex, and the entire building is stained with the blood of the victims. That's from that time..."

Next, the loudspeaker dummy started telling the story, and the detectives could only listen quietly.

"One night 40 years ago, this annex brought together celebrities from the political and economic circles for a secret meeting.

On the surface, the purpose of this memorial service was to express condolences to Karasuma Renya, who passed away at the age of 99, but the essence of this memorial service was an auction of the artworks collected by Karasuma Renya during his lifetime.

The total number of items to be auctioned at that time exceeded 300, so the entire auction was expected to last three days and three nights.

On a stormy night on the second day, two wet men suddenly came to the villa.

They said this with their lips trembling from the rain... We have lost our way because of this storm, please let us stay here until the storm is over.

The auctioneer was about to reject their request, but the man took out a bag of something unknown from his pocket and handed it to the organizer.

There was something similar to cigarettes inside. After the host smoked their cigarettes, he somehow changed his mind and invited the two men into the villa.

After seeing this scene, the other guests also accepted their instigation. Before long, the entire villa was filled with a thick smell of smoke..."

The detectives' faces darkened, and a possibility came to their minds.

It's a cigarette laced with drugs.

The trumpet dummy didn't pause and continued to tell the story.

“At first, some guests at the auction were arguing about the two unexpected visitors, but the situation changed quickly.

At this moment, a man suddenly screamed as if he saw a ghost, dropped the artwork he had won with great difficulty, and ran out.

But there was a woman who seemed to be begging for someone's forgiveness, and her tears kept flowing out and she couldn't stop.

There was another man who was holding a pen with an excited look on his face and kept stabbing his hand hard.

In the end, all the guests started to scramble for the artworks to be auctioned like crazy, and even started to fight each other with the famous knives and swords to be auctioned.

The entire auction venue seemed to have turned into a hell on earth...

After this nightmarish night, eight people were found dead at the auction, and more than a dozen guests were in coma. And those two men disappeared without a trace, along with all the artworks..."

Qin Zhibo's face darkened. Based on the story described by the trumpet dummy, he thought of a possibility.

The frenzy in the auction hall seemed to be caused by a sharp drop in willpower in a short period of time.

Maybe it was caused by that unknown smoke.

However, this story also has some unexplained bugs.

First of all, judging by the bloodstains that can be seen almost everywhere in this annex, if the auction really took place, it is impossible that only 8 people died. The number of casualties should be far more than that.

Secondly, it is impossible for two travelers to disappear with all the 300-plus pieces of art on their backs, unless their true identities are Doraemon and Nobita.

So, Qin Zhibo's evaluation of this story is...

It was suspected to be Ding Zhen, but it was found to be fake!

Chapter 586: Did the Yellow King do it?

This story undoubtedly contained elements of yin, which made Qin Zhibo doubt its authenticity.

However, this may also be some clue provided by the person behind the scenes, so Qin Zhibo will not discuss it here.

The detectives accepted the story very quickly and discussed that since the victims at that time were all important figures, the authorities suppressed the matter to avoid shaking their social status.

At this time, the maid followed the dinner procedure and brought black tea for everyone and poured it for everyone one by one.

"Now, you all should understand why I chose this annex as the stage for this event, right?"

"My goal is to make you detectives reenact the horrific tragedy that happened 40 years ago..."

"I want to see your ugly behavior of robbing and even killing each other for treasure!"

"But searching for treasure in this huge villa is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'll give you a hint..."

"Two travelers, in a hurry, gazed up at the sky that night. A demon descended upon the castle. The king fled with the treasure. The princess wept over the Holy Grail, praying for mercy. The soldier, exhausted, drew his sword and committed suicide, and the earth changed color..."

This hint seems somewhat similar to the story just told by the trumpet dummy, except that it is a poetic version of the story.

Qin Zhibo even felt that this should be the real clue, and the story just now was fabricated based on this to set the atmosphere.

However, this hint was spoken out, and Qin Zhibo could not see the secret investigation point in the non-tangible words, and could not crack the code immediately.

In addition, Qin Zhibo felt that the story behind this code was somewhat familiar...

Why does it look so much like "The King in Yellow"?

In the script "The King in Yellow", a member of the Yellow Seal Brotherhood who claimed to come from afar came to the castle like a devil. He was warmly received by the people of the royal city, but brought a terrible end to the royal city.

The final outcome was that the eldest prince fled the royal city with his lover; the queen prayed for forgiveness from the King in Yellow; and the soldiers who could not accept the coming of the King in Yellow drew their swords and committed suicide.

The royal city collapsed, and the earth changed color...

From this point of view, this code is simply a replica of "The King in Yellow"!

Could this incident have something to do with the King in Yellow?

Are the strange things in the castle also the power of the King in Yellow?

If this is true, then I have a clear idea in my mind...

Qin Zhibo had no idea and could only wait and see.

"Don't you think this poem is the perfect description of what's about to happen in this villa?"

Qiangtian Yumei was a little disdainful, with her hands on her chin, and said in a lazy tone: "Don't be silly, if we want to kill each other, we must not only consider who our opponent is, but also whether we have the intention to do so..."

The loudspeaker dummy did not directly answer Gunda Ikumi's words, but continued to announce in a high-pitched voice.

"None of you can quit this game midway. This is because you have already been deceived by the magic I used. There is no way to escape!"

"Now we just have to wait for one of you to scream first, and then this game of wits will begin."

"Listen, whoever finds the treasure must go to the central room on the fourth floor and enter the treasure's location into the computer."

"I will then fulfill my promise and tell the winner half of the treasure and how to leave this place..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a painful whimper sounded beside Qin Zhibo.

Turning around, I saw Mogi Haruhi holding his throat with both hands, struggling to stand up, his eyes wide open, and the child's eyes in them trembling constantly.

Woo-woo-woo-

"what!"

Everyone let out a sound of surprise, thinking that the words of the mastermind had come true so quickly.

But after a few seconds, Haruhi Mogi loosened his hands that were pinching his throat, and a strange smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Hey hey...did I act like it?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but only Qin Zhibo looked at Mogi Harufu's neck and felt that it was no longer a question of whether it looked similar or not.

There were several scratches on Haruhi Mogi's neck, and the skin that had been pinched was even discolored and blue.

If he didn't stop in time, with the strength he just "performed", Qin Zhibo had no doubt that he could strangle himself to death.

It's just a prank, is there any need to take it so seriously?

Is there a tendency towards masochism?

But at this moment, the same voice came again.

This time it was the foodie detective Dashang Zhushan who was sitting opposite. He was also holding his throat in pain. After a few whimpers, his body leaned back and fell to the ground.

After everyone had the experience of Mogi Harufu just now, they all felt that it would be boring to do the same prank twice.

"Have you had enough fun?"

"Get up when you've had enough fun. The ground is cold..."

Everyone disagreed with Dashang Zhushan's "performance", only Qin Zhibo knew that the situation was different from the light of the investigation point emerging from his head.

Qin Zhibo walked over, pretended to feel his pulse, and announced: "He's not joking, he's really dead..."

"what!"

The detectives' faces turned pale and they all came over to perform an autopsy on Da Shang Zhu Shan.

"At 22:34:51.45, cardiopulmonary arrest was confirmed..."

"His lips didn't turn blue or purple, but they tasted like potassium cyanate and bitter almonds..."

Qin Zhibo stood behind and silently started investigating the body.

【Corpse Investigation√】

[Name of the deceased: Dashang Zhushan]

[Death time: 10 seconds ago]

[Cause of death: Potassium cyanate poisoning]

[Corpse investigation completed, skills acquired: Art and Craft (Cooking)]

Art and Craft (Cooking): This refers to your cooking skills. Improving this skill will lead to higher cooking levels and master a variety of cooking styles.

Rating: 1

Proficiency: 100/500

(Our slogan is - Learn to be a chef and never be unemployed!)

-

The skill dropped from the Foodie Detective is cooking, which is expected.

I had the opportunity to buy this skill in the store before, but I didn't buy it. It seems that I did the right thing.

Next, there is the system’s task prompt.

Side quest: Find out the murderer of this case