Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

The detective stared intently at Lin Jiashu, seemingly trying to find any trace of pretense on his face, but he only saw a bottomless calm.

The shock and anger of being betrayed, followed by despair, extinguished his last glimmer of hope like ice water.

"Don't waste time. Instead of interrogating people, focus your energy on deciphering the code."

Gin hadn't even finished speaking before he pulled the trigger.

A muffled thud.

The bullet, flying from the muzzle, tore through the agent's upper jaw, pierced his brain, and exited from the back of his head. The spurting blood and the tactile sensation of death did not faze Gin.

Vodka, who arrived later, began searching the person without saying a word.

He pulled the FBI badge and the cell phone containing the coded message from the other man's pocket.

"Brother, we can't understand the code they're using at all!"

This FBI agent, like Tony mentioned earlier, obtained his intelligence from Rum. The FBI agent named Tony also died a quick and easy death.

Gin took the phone, glanced at it, and frowned.

Gin's abilities are actually no less than those of a so-called famous detective, but he was still clueless when he first got the code.

"Print two copies on B5 paper, making sure to flip one of them horizontally."

Gin narrowed his eyes at Hayashi Yoshiki's sudden remark.

He stared intently at the coded message, and a smile gradually spread across his face.

"I see……"

Gin tossed the phone back to Vodka and glanced back at Yoshiki Hayashi, realizing for the first time that the guy's reputation as a famous detective was indeed genuine.

The codes used by the FBI appear to contain many characters that don't even form complete numbers or letters.

However, after the mirror is flipped, some letters will appear normal. For the misaligned points, simply cut the lower half of each segment of the cipher image along the center line and paste it onto the original cipher. This will reveal the cipher's message.

"Hurry up, find the FBI's location."

Gin snorted, sensing a hint of anxiety in his otherwise indifferent tone. "Don't worry, we've already cracked their code... We're not far from finding that woman."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The school bell rang early.

As the Junior Detective League walked towards the park, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya glanced at the news notification on his phone: "It seems like two more unidentified foreign corpses were discovered today..."

“That sounds terrifying,” Ayumi replied.

"It seems like two people died yesterday too, right?" Genta recalled the news he saw yesterday and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "But... why were the victims all unidentified?"

"Most likely, the murderer took the items that could identify the victim from her body," Conan explained. "However, the identity of yesterday's victim has not yet been confirmed, which means that the two foreigners may have entered the country secretly, or they may have used false names and identities when they entered the country."

"What I find strange is that two people were killed yesterday and today."

"Hmm." Conan nodded, his brows furrowing slightly. "Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps the murderer knew where those two were meeting and then attacked them."

He had a vague feeling that this was no ordinary serial murder case; the method was too clean and efficient, and the target was too clearly defined.

During the discussion, Conan noticed that Ai Haibara had been walking silently beside him, her face seemingly paler than usual, and her eyes somewhat unfocused. He quietly slowed his pace, leaned closer to her, and whispered, "What's wrong, Haibara? You've been acting a little strange since earlier."

Ai Haibara didn't answer immediately, but subconsciously stopped and looked back warily.

Her gaze swept quickly across the faces of the sparse passersby, but she didn't notice anything unusual.

"Lately... sometimes I feel like someone is watching me."

Conan's eyes sharpened instantly: "Are you sure? Could it be that you're too nervous?" He knew that Haibara's radar for the organization was always very accurate, but he didn't want her to live in constant over-vigilance.

Ai Haibara shook her head slightly, her brows furrowed: "I can't quite put my finger on it... The feeling is vague, sometimes there and sometimes it's not. But lately I've had a strong sense of unease, a feeling of restlessness."

She was actually hesitant about whether to tell Jundu about this, but she wasn't sure if it would cause him trouble.

Just as she hesitated—

boom!!

A sudden loud noise from afar startled the group.

"What a loud noise!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed.

Did something fall down?

"It seems to be coming from the street over there. Let's go check it out!"

Genta shouted first, and without waiting for anyone else to respond, he ran in the direction from which the sound came.

"Hey, Genta! Wait a minute!"

Conan tried to stop them, but Ayumi and Mitsuhiko had already followed, so he and Ai Haibara could only hurry after them.

After the children quickly ran through the narrow alley, the scene before them froze them in place, their blood running cold—

The blond-haired foreigner lay motionless in a pool of blood.

"...Haibara, call the police quickly. Just to be safe, call an ambulance!"

"Ok."

Ai Haibara immediately took out her phone.

Conan glanced at the gruesome sight of the body lying on the ground, then immediately looked suspiciously towards the rooftop of the building. If the body had been pushed off the roof, the murderer was very likely still there.

The moment he was thinking this and looked up, a burly man in black clothes and sunglasses leaning out from the rooftop railing startled him.

Vodka!?

Vodka, unaware of Conan and his companions hiding at the alley entrance, merely stared at the corpse on the ground and scoffed, "Hmph, so he chose to jump off a building to avoid the same fate as his companions?"

"Do these FBI flies think they can fly with wings?"

Gin stepped forward with a cold smile.

The scene that greeted him made his face darken instantly—a hooded little devil suddenly ran out of the alley and squatted down next to the corpse.

At that moment, Chianti's voice came through the earpiece: "We can't see that brat's face, what should we do?"

"Don't rush, I'll kill him," Cohen's voice came over.

"Kill him. Remember, one shot is all it takes."

Gin coldly gave the order.

Their goal was to get the FBI agent's identification documents; who told that kid to show up and cause trouble?

"Wait a minute, other passersby have already been attracted here."

Lin Jiashu's voice quickly entered the group's earpieces, cutting off Chianti and Cohen's attempt to pull the trigger.

"I'll get that FBI badge. Don't do anything unnecessary."

"...Then I'll leave it to you."

Indeed, no one would suspect him if he approached the crime scene as a famous detective.

Gin gave a cold laugh.

When it comes to his social identity, Jundu takes it incredibly seriously.

At this moment, Lin Jiashu had already walked to the side of the corpse.

His approach alerted Conan, but just as he looked up, Ayumi exclaimed in surprise, "Yoshiki-nii-san!"

"Ah, what are you guys doing here?"

Lin Jiashu looked at them.

"We were on our way to the park when we heard a really loud noise, so we came over!"

"Brother Jiashu, is this body the same as the one in the news?"

"We've already called the police and an ambulance!"

Listening to their excited descriptions and boastful words, Lin Jiashu maintained a gentle expression and said softly, "Well done. However, this place is dangerous now, and it's not where you should be. You guys go to a safe place over there first, and wait for the police to arrive, okay?"

Although the children were always getting into trouble, they still trusted Lin Jiashu's words.

Ayumi, in particular, cooperated by pulling Genta and the others back.

Yoshiki Hayashi looked at Conan, whose gaze was serious, and Ai Haibara, whose body was tense.

The girl was frighteningly pale; she had been like this ever since she learned that Vodka was also there.

Vodka's here, so Gin should be around here too...

Even Lin Jiashu is here with them. What exactly are they trying to do?

She was completely unable to suppress the instinctive nausea and shudder.

Until Lin Jiashu placed his hand on her head.

The moment the warmth from her palms reached her head, her trembling limbs seemed to regain a little feeling.

"Ai looks terrible, was she frightened?" Lin Jiashu said softly, glancing at Conan. "Conan, could you please take them to that convenience store over there to buy some hot drinks to calm their nerves? I'll handle things here."

His words sounded like ordinary concern, but to Conan they carried a clear instruction—leave this place and immediately blend into the crowd.

He raised his head to meet Lin Jiashu's gaze, then nodded seriously: "Okay, Jiashu-ge."

The organization that killed these foreigners was actually the Black Organization...

Conan, who quickly left with the children, realized the moment he saw the vodka—these foreigners who had secretly entered the country were all FBI agents.

Gin and his group were nearby, so Lin Jiashu's appearance at this time to let them leave must have an important purpose.

Let's ask again later...

After seeing Conan and the others leave, Lin Jiashu naturally bent down and, under the pretense of checking vital signs, silently took the wallet containing the FBI badge from the corpse.

The entire process proceeded smoothly and without attracting anyone's attention, even amidst the increasingly noisy surroundings and the faint sound of police sirens in the distance.

After doing all this, he stood up and whispered into the miniature headset, "Got it."

Gin on the rooftop withdrew his gaze.

"withdraw."

Chapter 97: Gin's Chill

In a building in Beika Town

As an FBI headquarters, the atmosphere inside was oppressive, like the deep sea before a storm.

All the FBI agents were gathered in the lobby of the makeshift command center. The whiteboards on the walls were covered with clues and contact schedules, but many more places were marked with glaring red question marks.

James Black rolled up his sleeves.

He glanced at his watch again, then broke the silence in a low voice: "It's been fifteen minutes past the agreed time, and Jim and Chen still haven't replied."

The agents standing around were ashen-faced and silent, but their clenched fists and tense jawlines betrayed their anger and helplessness.

Judy Starling also looked grim, but she was the one who stepped forward and said, "There's no need to wait any longer. They're probably... already dead. Four excellent agents have been killed in two consecutive days. The situation is quite clear."

Her words were like a stone thrown into stagnant water, stirring up the suppressed grief, anger, and chill in everyone present.

Since the day before yesterday, news of agents' deaths has been coming in one after another, which naturally alerted the FBI... The code they usually use for rendezvous was developed jointly by agents Jim and Chen. Not believing that the code had been exposed, they decided to test it themselves and agreed that if there was no problem with the code, they would call back at 4:03 pm sharp.

However, the agreed time has long since passed.

Naomi Algent stood a little distance away, looking at the group of FBI agents with grim faces, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. She whispered, "Could it be... that they're just temporarily held up by something?"

“It’s almost impossible, face reality, Naomi.” Judy shook her head at her. “The organization that’s targeting you is that terrifying. If we expose even the slightest flaw, they will pounce on us and tear us apart.”

Her words left Naomi Algent with no chance of survival, and the latter was stunned for a long time before silently returning to her seat.

James Black glanced at her, and deciding it wasn't the right time, he stepped forward, walked to the front of the group, and said in a calm voice, "Judy is right. We can't afford to be complacent. This is a very dangerous and critical period. The enemy has clearly obtained our previous communication methods. This code is hereby invalidated and ceased to be used!"

He looked around, his gaze sweeping over every face etched with determination and anger: "But retreat and fear will not solve anything. We, the FBI, will never bow down to these criminals hiding in the shadows. We will make them pay the price!"

"Yes!"

A group of FBI agents responded in unison; their morale, though dampened by the losses, had not collapsed.

Just as they were echoing each other, Judy's gaze fell thoughtfully on James Black's retreating figure.