Zongman, working as a teaching assistant in Trasen

Chapter 159: It looks delicious?

In fact, it was not a very complicated matter. After all, because of her father, Mao Lilan knew a little about horse racing and horse racing women. She was especially familiar with names like Rudolph and Otoko, which her father kept repeating in her ears every day. She also remembered some of their characteristics:

Superb physical fitness, excellent appearance, beautiful little skirt——and sufficiently sharp five senses.

In her half-baked understanding, all Uma Musume should be superhumans with noses sharper than dogs, and top students among superhumans like Oguruma are even more so, who can discover big secrets that ordinary people cannot discover just by moving their noses!

"...So, you really believed this girl's lies and mistakenly thought that person was carrying contraband?"

Uozuka Saburo looked at Mao Lilan helplessly, rubbing Oguruma's soft cheeks vigorously as a punishment and said, "Don't you know that she is a foodie? All her talent points are in running and food. She has no achievements in detective work at all."

"Ohh Ohh ohh!"

"Yes......"

Seeing that Oguruma wanted to say something but was completely unable to break free - or rather, she didn't want to break free from Uozuka Saburo's rubbing, Mao Li Ran could only smile awkwardly and said nothing more.

Come to think of it, I do judge people by their appearance... maybe that uncle dressed like a homeless man is not very friendly to others, but maybe he is not a bad person?

At least he's not the bad guy you imagine.

"Hey~ This kid has been hanging out with a detective since he was little, and he's even got a lot of that suspicious nature from him! He thinks everyone looks like a criminal!"

Holding the brochure signed by Oguruma in his arms, Maori Kogoro said with a hint of gloating, "I told you long ago that guy just looks a little ugly, and he has nothing to do with being a criminal. Because if he really is a smuggler, wouldn't it be asking for trouble to bring such a large box of contraband on the bus? Impossible~"

"......Humph!"

"Well, you can't say that, Uncle Maori!"

Seeing Ran Maori glaring at Kogoro Maori, Conan, who had a premonition that he might be affected by this in the future and was forced to eat bran rice for a while, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. He looked at Uozuka Saburo awkwardly but politely and said, "Uncle Uozuka was pushed by him just now! The corridor is obviously spacious, it seems like he doesn't want anyone to touch his box!"

"Huh? Is this true, Uozuka-kun?"

"Yes, it is true."

Uozuka Saburo released Oguri's cheek, rubbed his smooth chin with his hand, and said to Maori Kogoro, "That guy is indeed a bit suspicious. Maybe he is really doing... or did something illegal before getting on the bus?"

"...You mean, the 'deal' is done, and now it's time to return and dispose of the stolen goods?"

"Yes."

"Well......"

Although his sharpness has become increasingly fragmented as he grows older, after all, as a detective for so many years, Kogoro Mouri's alertness is still higher than that of ordinary people. He quickly got the point in Uozuka Saburo's words and began to think about it.

He could ignore the words of his daughter and Conan, and even his favorite Uma Musume Oguruma, simply because they were minors and did not have complete ability to identify, but he could not ignore the reminder of an adult who was fully mature both physically and mentally.

Especially since he hadn't yet explained to the other party that he had vaguely heard of the other party's name and had some understanding of his abilities...

Such a future rising star who has status, position, and is efficient and honest in his work would never have the leisure to find fault with others and take the opportunity to make fun of him, a middle-aged and elderly man - Kogoro Mouri has a very clear understanding of this.

"Well... since Brother Uozuka said so, I'll go take a look later."

After some consideration, he realized that he had both a public and private interest in eliminating the hidden danger. Maori Kogoro had to suppress his disdain, stood up, looked at the little ones and said, "You - and Miss Oguri - don't run around! Listen to Brother Uozuka and stay here. I'll go and show you that guy and be right back!"

"Uncle Maori! I want to go too!"

"Go to hell! You rude little brat, I just finished talking!"

DUANG!

"Ouch!"

He was hit hard on the top of his head by an iron fist, and a big bump appeared instantly. Edogawa Conan couldn't help but squat down in pain. When he looked up again to say something, he could only see Kogoro's back as he walked away with a gait, and he instantly became furious.

This old man! I just wanted to give him a warning just in case, but he punched me without any explanation!

A dog bites Lu Dongbin, but it doesn’t recognize a good heart!

"Are you okay, Conan? Let me blow on you."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Xiaolan-sister..."

"Sniff, sniff."

"Um...Sister Xiaoli, why are you getting so close?"

"Hmm...it has no aroma, even though it looks delicious?"

"...???"

What do you mean? Do you want to bite the bump on my head?

Is this thing edible?!

Ignoring Conan who was being persecuted by Oguruma, Uozuka Saburo didn't think too much about it. He sat down leisurely in the seat next to Mouri Kogoro, leisurely opened his mobile phone, clicked on the memo, and started typing in it.

After a long while, a large, still bulging head appeared in Uozuka Saburo's sight. The little boy looked at him with a look of despair and sympathy and asked, "So... didn't you just say you were going to investigate? Why are you suddenly motionless?"

"Hmm? Didn't I guide Mr. Maori there?"

Taking advantage of his height, Conan couldn't see the contents of the screen at all. Uozuka Saburo didn't even look away, saying in a casual tone, "Neither you nor I have done serious criminal investigation work, and there's no way to learn some professional knowledge... Even if we did, we wouldn't necessarily have the rich experience of Mr. Mori. Why not have him take a look in person? Maybe he can find something suspicious that we've overlooked?"

"Well, that's what I said...ah..."

But judging by his usual demeanor and the confusion he displayed at the scene... you can't really count on him...

After silently thinking about these things that he couldn't say out loud in his mind, Edogawa Conan could only sigh heavily and think of other solutions.

"And haven't you noticed? Even if we sit here, we can still conduct the investigation, right?"

"......ah?"

Chapter 160 "Bait"

Conan froze in his tracks. His first thought was that Uozuka Saburo, like any other adult, was playing tricks, trying to trick him, to sneak up on him! He was just a first-grader! He was using his words, which were completely uncontroversial, to trick him into sitting back down and getting some peace and quiet!

But then he realized something was wrong: this uncle who looked too young was different from the others. He had recognized his reasoning ability and, to some extent, treated him as a peer with whom he could communicate on an equal footing.

Now that their interests were aligned, there was no reason for him to just brush him off with such words—because he knew that would not achieve his goal.

so......

Conan frowned slightly, and seeing his gaze lifted upwards, he thought for a moment before jumping onto the chair next to him, standing up straight as much as possible, and following his gaze forward, he soon discovered the truth:

The seats in this carriage are different from those in other carriages. In the front section, each row of seats is turned around, and a slightly larger table is placed in the middle, forming a series of small four-person tables.

He had not noticed this scene before because of his height, but Uozuka Saburo was now observing the passengers who had revealed their faces.

Why was he looking at them like that? Considering what he had just said...

"...Could it be that that guy has accomplices here!??"

"? You're a quick thinker, kid, but your thinking is a little wrong."

Glancing at Conan with a hint of surprise, Uozuka Saburo signaled with his eyes that he shouldn't stand on his seat and draw attention. After Conan sat down, he whispered, "Remember what Mr. Maori and I talked about earlier? If a large suitcase like that were filled with contraband, there wouldn't even be any detectives or police involved. He'd be subjected to wave after wave of security inquiries simply because he's so conspicuous. If he keeps up that extremely bad attitude, he might be forcibly detained for a luggage inspection. Even if he tries to hide the items, they'll be exposed, and the purpose of transporting the items will naturally be defeated."

"That's true...but if that's the case, why would he still want it?"

"That's where the doubt lies. He knew it would attract attention, so why would he do this on purpose?"

Recalling the little tricks the Wu clan assassin had pulled off at the Mejiro family dinner not long ago, Uozuka Saburo scoffed and said, "The answer is obvious: she's 'bait,' used to lure the tiger away from the mountain, allowing other scoundrels to fish in murky waters and sneak past under public scrutiny."

"......!!! So that's it!" Conan suddenly realized.

This is actually not a difficult thing to reason about. If Conan had not encountered the other party head-on at the time, and had always remained calm as a bystander, he would definitely have thought of this in the end, even if he could not see the faces of the other passengers temporarily due to his height disadvantage.

But unfortunately, he had been distracted too much by the man who was the "bait" on the seat, and with an "experienced" "senior" like Uozuka Saburo beside him, he didn't even have time to reason. He figured out the key point almost by instinct and skillfully reverse-engineered the entire process.

"Huh? If that's the case... why are you saying that what I just said was wrong?"

Conan suddenly turned his head and looked at him and asked, "You also said that he exists to attract attention. Once he has taken away all the guards, won't others take the opportunity to do something bad? Wouldn't that be..."

"Because he didn't realize he was being used as 'bait', or even that there was such a 'plot' to lure the tiger away from its mountain lair?"

"......ah?"

His speech was interrupted, and new conditions were instilled into his head. Even Conan's flexible brain was stuck for a moment, and the dazed King Uozuka Saburo didn't know where to start.

"...Let me ask you, you have very keen observation skills, right?"

Seeing the genius boy looking so dazed, Uozuka Saburo couldn't help but lean forward, looking directly at Edogawa Conan and saying, "Didn't that guy just now look irritated and at a loss? While dragging the box, he was looking around, as if he was looking for something?"

"yes!"

The scene that had been replayed countless times in his mind seemed to have been stripped of a filter called "anger" and became clearer. The anxiety and irritability seemed to be able to pass through the sloppy face through the memory and into his heart.

How could I have overlooked such a thing?

No... my initial thinking was wrong, which led to my wrong judgment of his emotions.

...In other words, in that brief moment of less than five seconds, this man had already figured out the entire situation and reached the correct conclusion?!

Uozuka! You still say you can't reason?

Not noticing the fire burning in Conan's eyes as he lowered his head, and mistakenly thinking that he still hadn't figured it out, Uozuka Saburo calmly continued, "As a 'bait' who knows full well that he will attract attention, why would he act so flustered? If you say it's acting, it's too real. I don't believe that such a person can master such perfect skills. And when he pushed me, he really used a lot of force. It wasn't for the sake of performance, but it was like he really didn't want me to get hurt and attract attention, but he also didn't want me to touch the box. As a 'bait', shouldn't the bigger the noise, the better? So..."

"The truth is obvious."

Suddenly looking up, a white light flashed across Conan's square eyes. With a slight curl of his lips, he stated his reasoning with complete confidence: "The man carrying the box didn't recognize his 'companion', nor did he realize he was holding a fake contraband box as bait. Rather than a co-conspirator, the person who devised this entire plan is more likely to be his crime supervisor or trading partner... the latter is more likely!"

"Am I right, Uncle Uozuka?"

"————Very correct, except for one thing:"

Uozuka Saburo smiled and corrected Conan: "The things in that box are not necessarily 'fakes', okay?"

"...!!!"

Chapter 100 Nothing special, just practice makes perfect ( monthly tickets plus more)

Just like how ramen eaters can tell whether the noodles are machine-pulled or hand-pulled without even waiting for the noodles to enter their mouths, Uozuka Saburo also figured out the key point almost without thinking:

This must be an illegal transaction that is completely controlled by one party, who specifies the person on the other party to conduct the transaction at a certain time, place, and method.

Why? Of course it’s because he’s so damn familiar with this process! ! !

As a highly skilled worker who has toiled in the dark for years, personally orchestrating and executing hundreds, even thousands, of illegal transactions, it would be a waste of time if he couldn't even see through such a basic tactic...

Make plans, contact secretly, specify the time, place and method for secret observation, manipulate the other party's behavior in real time, hide yourself until the last moment to take the item...

How should I put it? For an outsider, being able to understand this method and implement it is already quite good.

Because the other party looks like a wild bastard who is difficult to control. If something goes wrong and the situation gets out of control, everyone in the car will be stuck. This requires careful planning and strong courage, which ordinary criminals do not have.

But for insiders like them... basic operations are not good, okay?

He and his elder brother have almost mastered this tactic over the years... He can almost memorize the psychological state of different transaction partners, the possible resistance they might make, and the flaws that will appear on their faces!

So although there were some formal differences, he really was just like Conan thought. The moment he was pushed on the back by the bastard with the box, he figured out the whole story - he even figured out what steps the other party would take next and how the man with the box would appear again.

Nothing special, just practice makes perfect.jpg

Therefore, after enjoying Conan's confused look of sudden enlightenment, Uozuka Saburo patted his head mysteriously, and when Conan came back to his senses, he took the initiative to raise a finger and said, "Little Conan, how about we make a bet?"

"...What bet?"

"I bet you that within five minutes, that jerk carrying the suitcase will come running into this car in a panic, look around, and then yell something like 'What the hell are you doing!' into his phone?"

"......I......."

Clap!

Boom boom boom!

"Hahaha!"

Before Conan could respond, he heard a series of clanging sounds behind him: the sloppy man who he had just seen in the aisle in front of the toilet rushed into their carriage with an anxious look on his face, and rummaged through the luggage compartment, pulling down many loosely placed parts and dropping them on the ground!

"Hey! What are you doing? Stop it!"

"Why are you rummaging through other people's stuff? Are you crazy?!"

“!!??? What!? Why aren’t you here!?”