Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 244: Rice Flower Sword Master (Fog)
Fujiwa Kawai finally came to the director's office in his regular clothes...

"Director, is there anything I can help you with?" Fuji and Kawai both put on standard "depressed" faces, as if saying one more word would be a form of exploitation.

"Is there an art museum in 4-chome? Are there any strange rumors recently?" Shiraishi asked the two.

"There is an art museum, but rumor has it... Oh, it seems that the art museum is about to be demolished, and it is said that it will be converted into a hotel." Teng said after recalling the past.

Shiraishi:……

As we all know, in "Detective Conan", demolition and reconstruction... these are life-threatening matters, second only to plagiarism and oppression of students in terms of danger...

But... this doesn't seem to have anything to do with what Hongzi said?
Although Hongzi's explanation was not clear, it sounded like something supernatural.

"Are there any other rumors? Ghost stories or something like that." Shiraishi asked further.

Fuji shook his head after recalling the past, but Kawai showed a frightened expression and whispered, "Minister Fuji... that, that!"

"Huh? Kawai, do you know?" Seeing this, Shiraishi asked Kawai.

"Well... I also heard about it... I don't believe it... hehe... in the art museum, there are medieval armors walking on their own at night... it's ridiculous... hehe... woo..." Kawai said that he didn't believe it while wailing.

The more you fear these things, the more likely you are to hear about them!
Shiraishi:……

This sounds very similar!
And more importantly, when he heard about "medieval armor" or something like that, Shiraishi's originally vague memory was also touched.

Originally, because of the name "art gallery", Bai Shi always instinctively thought that there were only paintings in it, ignoring the fact that in the East Island Country, "artwork" originally means "artwork", including sculptures, other art works, and collections.

After all, although Bai Shi traveled through time for 29 years and was a "top student", he had never studied anything related to art...

If you just say "artwork", Shiraishi has no impression of it. But if you say "medieval armor", Shiraishi remembers it. It was a very colorful and impressive case in "Detective Conan"!

Because the images are impactful and contain certain horror elements, it is jokingly called one of the "childhood shadows".

Even if Shiraishi could not remember the methods used in these cases, he always remembered the "famous scenes".

More importantly, in the armor murder case, the "White Beard Curator" is very rare. The murderer who confessed without "OTR" or crying, but was calm from beginning to end, is more likely to be remembered...

Now Bai Shi has to go even if he doesn’t want to!

Regardless of what Hongzi said about "probably being true", just for the sake of "a very possible murder", Shiraishi needs to go and see it.

Now that the murder has not happened yet, Shiraishi has the opportunity to stop the boss who is seeking death - although Shiraishi does not remember the motive for the murder, or even who died, he only remembers the shocking scene and the equally shocking "ending of the story", but...

I think it is what Fuji said, that the "art gallery" would be changed to a "hotel", which is the most suspicious.

How dare this kind of business come to Beihua Town?

Such a person's death in Beika Town would be in vain...

Although Shiraishi did not remember it, it is true that "the Beika Art Museum was eventually preserved after a petition from the residents of Beika Town."

The murderer killed people to save the art gallery. No matter what the reason is, even if it is just to "deter potential murderers", we cannot be scared by them.

However, in Beika Town, the simple and kind-hearted residents petitioned collectively to preserve the art museum...

"Armor walking and stuff, Kawai..." Fuji shook his head at this time, obviously not believing it, and even thought that Kawai should practice his courage. He made a plan in his mind and immediately asked: "Director, is there any problem with the art museum?"

"Teng, you are still not vigilant enough! Things are unusual, someone must have murderous intentions!" Bai Shi said firmly.

rattan:? ? ?

Where is all this?

"But don't worry about it. I'll take care of it later. You can go home from get off work."

Fujiwa and Kawai did not expect that the director would say such humane words today.

After the two left, Shiraishi had no choice but to call Ayako first...

"Ayako, I'm sorry, I have some urgent things to do here..." Shiraishi apologized first.

"Eh? Okay... then you be careful, I... will go by myself." Ayako's tone was obviously a little disappointed, but since Shiraishi had something to do, she didn't insist.

Hearing this, Bai Shi immediately realized that she had misunderstood, so he explained: "No, it should be solved tonight and will not delay tomorrow's schedule. When you buy things, you should bring me a portion."

"Well! What do you want to eat then? We have air fryers and ovens in the villa..." Ayako's tone suddenly brightened up.

"It's all fine. It's usually curry, right?" Shiraishi knew that he had to cook for himself in a holiday villa, and the dish would most likely be curry.

After the two chatted for a while, Ayako asked curiously, "By the way, is there something wrong with the Metropolitan Police Department? I don't think there are any cases in Beika Town."

Apparently, while she was talking, Ayako also paid attention to whether something happened in Beika Town again...

If a case occurs in Beika Town, Ayako can't help much, but if something happens in the Metropolitan Police Department, Ayako can at least give some advice.

But Shiraishi said at this time: "No, it's not about work... It's Koizumi Hongzi. I have to go to the Rice Flower Museum with her in the afternoon."

Ayako:? ? ?
The reason for shirking a date with your girlfriend is to accompany a high school girl to an art museum?
Okay, Xiao Hei!
Of course, this thought only flashed through Ayako's mind, and Ayako immediately understood what Shiraishi meant.

"Is it... something similar to the Nadeshiko high school?" Ayako asked worriedly, "Is it true this time?"

"It's possible, but Hongzi is really professionally qualified, and I'm going there mainly for... how should I put it, 'legal education'?"

What really made Shiraishi decide to go to the "Yukaka Art Museum" was not the possible existence of supernatural powers, but the murders that would inevitably happen in the future if they were not stopped.

Of course, Shiraishi is also very curious about "supernatural powers".

"Okay, no matter what it is... be sure to be safe!" Ayako hoped that Shiraishi was just going there for "legal education", which was better than encountering something strange.

……

3:50 pm, parking lot outside the Rice Flower Art Museum.

Bai Shi is already waiting here...

After all, with Shiraishi's figure, if he waited outside for Koizumi Akako, he would easily attract onlookers. If people saw "Director Yūka visiting an art museum with a high school girl", wouldn't that create gossip?

Not long after, Koizumi Hongzi also arrived.

Jianggutian High School should have just finished school at this time. I don’t know if she asked for leave or flew here!

"What exactly is the... problematic thing you mentioned? We'll go ask the curator in the name of a safety inspection later." After Shiraishi got off the car, Hongzi asked him directly.

Shiraishi was not planning to go in as a "tourist" and look for it slowly.

"A suit of armor." Hongzi gave the answer that Shiraishi was concerned about.

"Eh? Could it be... the medieval armor that's said to be able to walk on its own at night?" When Bai Shi heard that it was this, he believed it a little.

Shiraishi had his doubts in his mind - the director of this art museum should be an old man. Could he really kill people the way he did in "Detective Conan"?
Wearing heavy medieval full-body armor and wielding a long steel sword, he is not only agile and flexible, but can even nail an adult man to the wall with one sword...

Before coming, Shiraishi already had the thought in his mind that "this curator might be a hidden martial arts master."

but……

If it's the armor that's the problem, that does make sense!
"Middle Ages? No, that thing is no more than a hundred years old. It was forged by a black magician... I have been tracking it for a while, but it has been sold on the counterfeit market as an ancient armor replica, so it is difficult to track. From the pictures I saw online before, it looks very similar to the armor that caused a strange story here!"

Hongzi gave his own answer...

"Dark magician? What's the use of this armor?" Bai Shi asked hurriedly.

"It can allow a person's soul to temporarily attach to the armor. At the same time, as a product of black magic, if the user is an ordinary person, their heart will continue to be eroded." Hongzi's answer made Shiraishi understand something.

really……

It is very likely that it is not because the director is still strong and healthy or a swordsman is still alive, but that there is something wrong with the armor!

If it can only increase the wearer's strength, it is actually nothing. After all, the "individual exoskeleton" has similar effects, and the effects may even be better.

But this thing can actually directly attach human consciousness to the armor?

"So... it can make the armor move autonomously?" Bai Shi confirmed again: "Ordinary people can use it too?"

"Well, black magic props are like this, with big side effects and low threshold for use." Hongzi immediately said rigorously: "And for this black magic armor, the user may not know that his consciousness is attached to it... Because ordinary people do not have enough mental strength, their consciousness will be dazed when using it, and they may subconsciously think that they are wearing the armor and then taking it off."

"I see." Bai Shi nodded upon hearing this...

After all, it is still "people" who kill people!
As Hongzi said before, most of the supernatural and weird stories are just pretense...

And the very few that are "real" are often just tools and aids, not decisive factors - for example, if this magic armor is used to kill someone, the user will also think that he or she killed the person while wearing the armor.

"Let's go and find the curator directly." Bai Shi said, and took Hongzi directly into the art museum.

There weren't many people in the art gallery, otherwise it wouldn't be nearly closing.

Just when Bai Shi just walked into the hall...

"Huh? Officer Shiraishi?" Xiaolan's voice suddenly came.

Shiraishi quickly looked over in the direction of the sound, and saw... the Maori family of three were there!
Especially when he saw Conan, Shiraishi's heart tightened.

"Are you here to see the art exhibition too?" Bai Shi asked nervously.

Conan saw that he was nervous, and walked up to him with a sly smile and said, "That's right... Uncle Shiraishi, who is this sister? Are you good friends?" I told you and Xiaolan about me before!

"Eh?" Xiaolan was also surprised when she saw this - Officer Shiraishi... came to the exhibition with a young girl? Should I tell Sonoko?
Before Shiraishi could say anything, Hongzi said, "No, it's teacher and student."

"Huh?" Bai Shi didn't remember recognizing her as his teacher.

"Should we go find the curator?" Hongzi asked.

"That's right..." When Shiraishi saw Conan, he knew he couldn't be late. After looking around, he found a round-faced male staff member, so he went up to him and asked, "Hello, I'm the chief of the Beika Police Station. I have something to discuss with your curator."

"Hello... I'll go find the director right away. Please go to the director's office and sit down first!" Iijima said hurriedly after hearing that.

"Isn't the director in the director's office?" Bai Shi asked immediately.

"This... I didn't see it just now, but it must still be in the museum. Maybe it's talking to a piece of art." Iijima smiled. This was not the first time this had happened.

Well, Bai Shi thinks that it is this kind of "ordinary people" who are most likely to activate some magic props...

"Then let's go find it ourselves." Bai Shi couldn't sit still anymore and asked, "By the way, where is the haunted armor usually on display?"

Iijima was stunned when he heard that. He seemed to have not expected that the director of the Beika Department would actually care about that kind of rumor. "Eh? That... is in the innermost hell exhibition hall. But of course that's just a rumor. We didn't spread it on purpose. It's just some idle people on the Internet making trouble out of nothing."

Iijima was afraid that Shiraishi was here to crack down on the hype, but as far as he knew, there was no such hype plan in the museum, especially considering the director's personality, it would be impossible for him to do so...

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi nodded to Xiaolan and Maori, said "Excuse me", and then walked straight inside.

Seeing this, Iijima also started looking for the curator.

The current "Medieval Art Exhibition" of the Beika Art Museum consists of four exhibition halls, with the themes of sky, earth, ocean, and hell!

The lighting in the first three exhibition halls is relatively bright, only the last exhibition hall, "Hell", is dimly decorated to match the style of the works.

At this time, Bai Shi was in the first three exhibition halls, without stopping at all, and went straight to the innermost part.

"Ok?"

Just in front of the "Hell" exhibition hall, a sign that read "Cleaning in progress, please wait" blocked the way.

Seeing this, Bai Shi was not blocked, but walked in even faster!
at the same time……

The current owner of the Beika Art Museum, President Manaka, had just walked in.

Because it was too dark around, Manaka said unhappily, "Director Ochiai? Where are you? Don't you have something to tell me?"

Seeing no response, Manaka thought that Director Ochiai was late and couldn't help but be shocked.

Kerala -

At this moment, there was an unusual noise. Shinaka looked in the direction of the sound and saw... the source of the sound was actually a suit of medieval armor!

"It's not arranged properly? Damn..." Manaka muttered to himself to comfort himself.

But in the next moment, Shinaka seemed to see two red lights flashing under the mask of the armor in a trance, as if there were a pair of "ghost" eyes flashing red light inside!
The next moment, I saw this two-meter-high armor suddenly jumped... and leaped over from the booth in one step.

Then the long sword in its hand also chopped down on its head!

"Ah!" Manaka couldn't help but exclaim.

Fortunately, at this time...

Snapped--

Boom!
At the critical moment, Zhenzhong saw from the corner of his eye that a huge figure passed by and stood in front of him, and at this time he "caught the sword with bare hands" and clamped the long sword with both palms together!

At the same time, due to the obstruction of transportation, the "armor" stopped in place, and there was a sound of collision between various parts...

Shinaka was so scared that he sat down on the ground, and immediately ran out, not caring about the sudden appearance of the "giant monster".

"Hurry! Do you have a way to control it?" Bai Shi urged directly.

Shiraishi had confirmed with Hongzi before that Koizumi Hongzi herself could easily subdue a black magic creation of this level.

"It will be done soon, just a moment..." Hongzi said, and a mini magic circle appeared in front of his palm, as if he was about to pull out his magic wand from it in the next moment.

After all, it was only used by "ordinary people". For a real "witch", it was easy to solve. All it took was a little magic...

At this moment, the necklace Hongzi was wearing suddenly flashed!
"Hmm? It seems like it won't work." Hongzi stopped immediately.

Shiraishi:? ? ?
"There are surveillance cameras here. Don't use magic, otherwise the backlash may be very serious." Hongzi said solemnly.

The magic on this necklace is not included in the inheritance.

After all, there was no such thing as “surveillance” in the past!

This is a kind of magic improved by Hongzi herself. Its main effect is to check whether there is any surveillance camera recording herself. Because Hongzi has not recorded her own magic in the inheritance, Bai Shi does not know this kind of magic.

It is indeed very convenient for witches - if there is surveillance, magic must be used with caution, otherwise the scale of the backlash afterwards cannot be predicted!
And for Bai Shi, there is actually a more convenient way...

His intuition is very sensitive to surveillance and he also feels like he is being watched.

At this time, the "armor" also pulled violently, and finally pulled the sword out of Bai Shi's hands, and made a posture to attack Bai Shi.

"It doesn't matter. The power it can exert is still not as strong as yours. At most, it can take a little more beating than you... You don't have to worry about the backlash based on your pure physical ability. Just use your fists to subdue it!" Hongzi said directly at this time.

If Shiraishi wasn't there, Hongzi would have to find another way to avoid it or destroy the surveillance first. However, since Shiraishi was also here, Hongzi pointed out a "simple method" - with Shiraishi's power and the effect of this black magic item... physical demon exorcism is completely feasible!

Bai Shi had no time to complain. He just failed as expected. He then took the starting posture of "Erlang carrying the mountain" and confronted the "armored man".

This time Bai Shi saw it more clearly. The opponent was indeed under the mask. A red light flashed in his eyes. Then he rushed over nimbly and raised his sword to chop!

Even if we really find a mature medieval knight, it would be difficult for him to wear this plate armor weighing dozens of kilograms and have such skills...

Fortunately, the person “it” met was Shiraishi.

White cranes spread their wings, wild horses spread their manes...

He held up his sword and punched and slapped the "armored man" in the chest, but...

Dang——dang——dang——

Sure enough, the sound is very "empty"!
Although the opponent's movements were interrupted, he continued to chop at Bai Shi as if he was not affected!
This strength is extraordinary. After all, he was able to pull the sword out of Bai Shi's "bare-handed catching of a blade" - although not as good as Bai Shi, they can be considered to be on the same level, which is something that humans should not be able to achieve.

But in terms of skills, he is far inferior to Shiraishi!
Bai Shi estimated that the black magician who created this black magic item was not a good fighter. This iron shell was basically a "number monster"...

only……

The defense is a bit too high!
Bai Shi's attacks were effective several times. If it were an ordinary person, even a "fighting expert in armor", he would have been knocked unconscious by now, but this "armored man" took it all without much impact.

"You have to knock off its helmet." Hongzi reminded at the side.

Bai Shi got the hint and suddenly changed his tactics, using a high-level changing-line kick - first he feinted a kick, hooked the opponent's wrist, causing the long sword that was coming towards him to change its direction, and then he immediately kicked out fiercely, using the force of his tiger toe to hit the helmet hard!
but……

The other party just tilted his head, and then the movement seemed to be "bad signal" and froze for a few seconds.

But after taking two steps back, the helmet returned to its original position!

"Push harder!" Hongzi urged.

"That's easier said than done...why don't you come up and try it yourself?" Bai Shi curled his lips.

Having said that, Bai Shi did become serious at this time!

Bai Shi calmed down, his body was slightly hot, and his eyes seemed to glow red - but this could not be seen on the surveillance camera, it was a glow from the soul...

Facing the long sword, Bai Shi didn't move until the opponent got within an inch of him. At the moment when the blade was about to hit him...

call--

Bai Shi suddenly went from being extremely still to being extremely moving!

Not only did he sidestep the long sword, but he also instantly moved closer, so fast that even the surveillance camera couldn't see it clearly, and at the same time, he elbowed the "armored man" in the chest...

This time, Bai Shi did not hold back at all. If it were an ordinary person... even if he was wearing armor, he would have to risk his life, and it would be unlikely that he could withstand it.

The "armored man" also slid backwards with a muffled sound - this direction was also the blind spot for surveillance that Bai Shi had specially found!
Although the force was very strong and concentrated, it was after all the chest armor, which was the most solid part of the armor. After sliding backwards, the "armored man" did not fall down. Instead, the red light behind the mask became even stronger...

However, Bai Shi did not stop. As the opponent slid backwards, he caught up with him and, while the opponent was not yet stable, he hit him on the head with his right hand!

Baji Pi Gua!

Duang——

The helmet of the armor was shot right...

This is a real and effective attack!
Crack... bang bang bang——

The helmet of the armor was chopped off by Bai Shi's bare hands, revealing the empty "chest" of the armor without helmet.

(End of this chapter)