Anime, but the Phantom Thieves of Heart

Although he was muttering, Kitahara Iori did not deny it. After all, the other party drove the boat quite steadily before. Since the other party said that he could rock climb, there should be no problem.

However, when Konomura Kohei took out the rock climbing equipment from another large diving bag, Kudo Shinichi couldn't help but complain.

"Why do you have a full set of rock climbing equipment, and most importantly, four sets..."

"No! Let me correct you, it's five sets!"

"??"

Facing the confused Kudo Shinichi, Kitahara Iori began to introduce him excitedly.

"'Climb! Girls!' is an original series that aired last July. Although its BD sales haven't been as good as other major light novel adaptations, I was deeply moved by the deep friendship between Yui and her club mates as they overcame danger while climbing the mountain together. Most importantly, the heroine is incredibly adorable..."

Although he looked breathless before, once it came to his own "profession", Imamura Kohei instantly became excited, and seemed to be "preaching" on the spot.

But before he could finish, he was instantly ruined by a word from Kitahara Iori.

"You just want her body, right?"

"Asshole! Of course not!!"

"You're anxious! You're anxious!!"

"How dare you desecrate my pure love! Looks like I have to teach you a lesson!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, you nerd? I'll finish you off in one move!!"

……

Seeing Kitahara Iori and Imamura Kohei almost fighting for some unknown reason, Kudo Shinichi rubbed his eyebrows in distress.

Although the two seniors were very enthusiastic, he had to admit that they were sometimes quite abstract...

But at least he knew that these mountaineering equipment printed with cute girl pictures and patterns of unknown meaning were game peripherals.

"Is safety okay?"

In response to Kudo Shinichi's mumbling, Imamura Kohei, who was in a verbal battle with Kitahara Iori, actually took the time to explain.

"Of course! Although it's a peripheral, it's all designed by enthusiasts! Someone even climbed the Alps with this equipment..."

Shinichi Kudo was temporarily relieved after hearing what Kitahara Iori said, but an accident occurred when he was arranging the team.

According to Kudo Shinichi's original plan, "himself with the strongest professional skills" would take the lead, hammering nails and pulling ropes, so as to better protect the safety of others, and then Lan Ke, who had the strongest physical fitness, would provide support at the back.

As for the enthusiastic crowds, Kitahara Iori and Imamura Kohei, they were in the middle, the safest place.

This can be said to be very simple, but there was unexpected resistance.

Kitahara Iori firmly opposes!

"What on earth are you objecting to, you idiot?"

Kohei Imamura suddenly became anxious. He was looking forward to meeting and taking a photo with the '15-year-old JC Phantom Thief' and he didn't want to delay any longer.

Kitahara Iori found it difficult to explain this. After all, he couldn't just say that he felt insecure with Lan Ke under him, right?

After some discussion, Lan Ke took the lead and Kudo Shinichi finished the task.

With Lan Ke's powerful core strength, he could easily climb the cliff less than a hundred meters high even without using any auxiliary equipment.

But considering that there was a detective under him, Lan Ke was much more restrained.

However, just as Lan Ke and the others were climbing up, Lucy's slightly cold female voice came from the miniature headphones that she had quietly put on while changing clothes.

"There are guards at the eastern port of Treasure Island."

Lan Ke paused unconsciously in hammering in the climbing nails at this reminder that would probably leave the captor bewildered even if he were captured.

It's obvious that 'Treasure Island' refers to the Palace, and in this context it naturally refers to the shipyard. The East Port should refer to the cliff east of the factory, which is also a building within the 'Palace'. As for the guards...

'Security or the police?'

Although Lucy's ability makes it unlikely that her communications will be hijacked, she still maintains radio silence just in case. The choice is once again in Lan Ke's hands.

Lan Ke now has two choices.

First, of course, he would proceed according to the warning, but the problem was that he didn't know if he could convince Kudo Shinichi with his 'intuition';

The second is to completely ignore it and do whatever they need to do after going up. Anyway, they have sufficient alibis for this "advance notice letter issuance", so it doesn't matter even if they are finally caught by the police.

However, Lan Ke still tapped the headset and used a secret signal to signal Lucy to provide more detailed information.

If it was just a security guard or an ordinary police officer, it would be fine. The only thing he was afraid of was that the person in charge was not a local police officer. After all, it had been more than three hours since Emiya Shirou took action, and theoretically, "that person" should have arrived.

Lucy, who received the signal, spoke again.

"Horse dung head."

After these simple words were spoken, Lan Ke nodded in affirmation.

Just as he had imagined, the result he least wanted to encounter happened.

The 'Heart Phantom Thieves Countermeasures Headquarters' has already noticed the case here and immediately arranged for Josuke Higashikata to lead the investigation.

Lan Ke is not very familiar with other police officers. After all, he is not Kudo Shinichi, who can often encounter murders.

However, Lan Ke still recognized Josuke Higashikata's ability. It was basically impossible for the other party to not notice anything unusual, after all, there were two "teammates" on the scene who didn't use their brains at all.

In that case——

Lan Ke made up his mind and pretended not to notice anything and continued to climb...

Chapter 30 Could the Phantom Thief's True Identity Be...

"It must be that guy Jotaro Kujo who framed me! That's right! It must be that guy!!"

In the 'President's Office of Yashiro Shipyard', Hideto Yashiro changed his usual arrogance. Although he tried hard to control his expression, he could not suppress the fear in his eyes.

Facing his roar, the young policeman instinctively wiped the saliva from his face and continued to question him seriously.

"You suspect that 'Jotaro Kujo'? Do you have any evidence?"

"Of course! The only person I've had trouble with lately is that man!!"

Facing the solemn oath of the eighth generation British, the young policeman nodded while taking notes.

"Okay, we'll investigate Mr. Kujo Jotaro. Do you have any other clues? For example, how did the 'warning letter' appear in your office..."

Perhaps because the young policeman expressed his willingness to investigate Jotaro Kujo, he gained some recognition from Eito Yashiro. He was no longer as excited as before, but thought about it and shook his head.

"This is both my office and where the blueprints are stored. Therefore, there are no windows in the entire room. The only entrance and exit is the main door. Apart from that, there's only the circulation system installed. And to prevent theft, the circulation system is also inaccessible to humans."

"Not only that, there are surveillance cameras installed at the main entrance and inside..."

Yashiro Hideto was explaining while thinking, and the young policeman was taking notes very carefully. Only after the other party indicated that he had told everything he knew did he say "thank you for your cooperation" and then returned to Josuke Higashikata, who was standing aside with his arms folded.

"senior……"

Facing the young policeman who was about to make a report, Josuke Higashikata simply waved his hand to signal him to go out with him. He did not speak again until there was no one around.

"I heard everything that guy said. There's no need to repeat it. Later, you can take someone to copy the original video and have others check it. As for you...use your expertise to search around for clues."

"Senior, don't you want to watch the video?"

Looking at the somewhat confused newcomer, Josuke Higashikata felt a little sad.

The other party may not be as good as him. After all, Josuke Higashikata solved a serial murder case in high school and destroyed a ruthless "large-scale O trafficking group" in his first year after graduation. But in fact, he is not bad either. He arrested a "BT serial killer" not long after joining the company.

Not long ago, because of the contact with the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts' during the 'Catching Phantom Thieves' process, and their good performance, they were directly transferred from the regional patrol to the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts Countermeasures Headquarters'.

But the other party is similar to him before. Although he is good at investigating criminal cases, he is still not familiar enough with "Phantom Thieves" and often develops path dependence unconsciously.

"Of course I will, but I'll have someone review it first. After all, the likelihood of the video containing any clues is incredibly low. Or rather, if the video actually captured something, it would actually make me suspicious. After all, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts have always been known to be elusive, and they even have a hacker member. The video can only be used as a reference."

Following Higashikata Josuke's explanation, the young police officer instantly revealed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"I understand! Senior!"

Seeing this, Higashikata Josuke smiled and signaled the other party not to be polite and just go about his business.

As he watched the other person's back disappear from his sight, the smile on Josuke Higashikata's face also disappeared, replaced by thought.

Because he remembered the "profile" of the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts" conducted by experts not long ago.

Although he didn't pay much attention to it before, after hearing what Yashiro Hideto said, Josuke Higashikata felt that the image of Jotaro Kujo seemed to have some overlap.

Although as Kujo Jotaro's 'uncle', he believed that he knew Kujo Jotaro quite well, and that the other party did not seem like someone who would become a 'Phantom Thief of Hearts'. After all, his daughter was already so old, and he was also old...

But the other party does meet the conditions of "having sufficient family wealth", "enough sense of justice", "lack of respect for the law", "doctor/doctor status", etc.

The only problem was that Higashikata Josuke thought it was too 'easy'.

Just like he is familiar with Jotaro Kujo, Jotaro Kujo also knows him. If it is really the other person, doesn't he know that this will expose himself?

However, his sense of responsibility as a police officer still made him classify the other party as a 'suspect'.

As for if he finally confirmed that the other party was the 'Phantom Thief of Hearts', then he would also persuade the other party to stop...

Thinking of this, Josuke Higashikata's expression suddenly became a little strange.

Because he remembered one thing, it seemed that many "Phantom Thieves" disappeared suddenly. Could it be that their identities were discovered and they stopped doing what they did?

"It can't be such a coincidence, right?"

While muttering to himself, Higashikata Josuke began to 'wander' inside the 'Yashiro Shipyard'.

Although the 'Yashiro Shipyard' has more than just the 'Izu' dock, as a recently established branch, it is not small in scale. It would take a lot of effort to go around the entire place, so he simply drove a kart for internal transportation.

Yashiro Hideto always responded to the requests of Josuke Higashikata, the on-site person in charge.

And so he started patrolling in his go-kart.

The site of the 'Yashiro Shipyard' was built on a protruding part of the land. It was originally supposed to be an island, but after the 'Yashiro Group' bought the right to use the land, they artificially built a 'passageway'.

This passage is also the only place where the factory can be reached from land.

On both sides of the bridge are towering walls that surround most of the factory building. The entire factory is then surrounded by an irregular polygon, which also results in some strange-shaped areas on the outermost edge that are not included in the factory.

Josuke Higashikata found this place by asking the workers.

Apparently, the worker loved spy movies, so he frankly expressed his doubts about whether the Phantom Thieves of Hearts would climb up from the cliff.

Josuke Higashikata felt that this shouldn't be necessary given the abilities the Phantom Thieves of Hearts had previously demonstrated.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Shirou Emiya entered the factory through "extra-dimensional navigation". At this time, he was even lying on the top floor of the tallest building in the shipyard to monitor the entire shipyard.

After all, he was not afraid of being surrounded at all.

As for Josuke Higashikata, just in case, he decided to go over and look for any clues.

But what he didn't expect was that he heard a strange sound just as he approached the cliff.

Like the sound of 'chiseling stone'?

Higashikata Josuke instantly became alert and hid behind a tree.

Then he saw a hand reaching out from the cliff in the distance, followed by a figure climbing out nimbly.

When he saw that figure, Josuke Higashikata's pupils shrank instantly!

'Ming Shang Lan'

This young man impressed him so deeply!

Due to Josuke Higashikata's personal reasons, most people don't know that Josuke Higashikata is actually a member of the 'Jostar Family'.

Although he and Joseph reached a reconciliation because of Jotaro Kujo, after all, due to his status as an "illegitimate child", he and Joseph could not meet each other like ordinary father and son, so he was not very clear about the situation of the "Jostar Family" and the "Zeppelin Family".

But he knew that Jotaro had previously asked him to investigate the case involving Lan Ke.

For this reason, he also read Lan Ke's information.

Although the opponent has good physical fitness, after all, he was able to fight so many people alone and beat those guys into the hospital, he was only slightly injured. His physical fitness is beyond reproach, but it is limited to physical fitness and he does not have any professional ability.

So his second reaction when he saw Lan Ke was that the other party was a member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

As for the first reaction?

Of course - could it be that the other party was carrying out the mission according to Jotaro Kujo's orders?

Although he was unwilling to believe this speculation, with a pragmatic and truth-seeking attitude, Higashikata Josuke hid himself better.

However, the following scene made Josuke Higashikata temporarily suppress this thought.

"I can't take it anymore! Pull me up!"