Conan: I've been linked to the tech tree system.

Tohru Tohru plummeted from the sky, and just before hitting the ground, he activated the hang glider on his back, using the recoil generated in that instant to land smoothly.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he took advantage of the moment when the smoke was dispersed by the wind he created and precisely spotted Tachibana Maya, who was raising her hands to her mouth and trying to cover her mouth and nose.

He grabbed Tachibana Maya and simultaneously increased the power of the hang glider on his back.

"whoosh"

Tohru Tono flew vertically into the air, preparing to accelerate again to fly out of the building, when he suddenly saw a baseball spinning in the air, drawing a strange arc as it flew towards him.

He reacted quickly, pulled out the plasma gun tucked into his waistband, and fired it.

The baseball touched the plasma bullet and instantly melted into a black gel before falling.

Tohru Tohno didn't linger and flew straight out of the sunroof.

......

Conan noticed that the baseball he kicked had suddenly disappeared into the air, and his pupils dilated uncontrollably.

Although it was difficult to see clearly what the masked, gender-indistinguishable figure pulled from his waist in the smoke, judging from the gesture, it was probably a pistol.

"He didn't even aim properly, just fired a quick shot in mid-air, and accurately hit the arcing baseball?" This was the first time Conan had encountered such a formidable person.

Who is he/she?!

......

When the smoke cleared and the officers regained their vision, they realized that the large prisoner who had just been there was nowhere to be seen.

Inspector Megure and his men looked at each other, realizing that none of them had seen how the criminal had disappeared.

Just then, Conan walked over.

"Hey, Inspector Megure." He tugged at Inspector Megure's trouser leg, "I think I just saw someone dressed in black jump down from mid-air and then fly away with that assassin sister, you know?"

Inspector Megure looked at Conan Edogawa, lost in thought.

It jumped down, and then... flew away?

He ruffled Conan's hair and told the kid to go play somewhere else.

It even flew away! Does it think it's an owl?

......

Conan tidied his hair, which had been ruffled by Inspector Megure's merciless iron hand, and took Ran's hand as they went home.

On the way back, he kept thinking about the mysterious person who had fallen from the sky.

He wasn't too concerned about the other party flying down and then flying back; he knew there were many ways to achieve the same effect.

For example, by securing an invisible rope to his body, he can jump down and then be pulled back by a partner using a fixed pulley. Afterwards, the pulley can be retrieved without leaving any trace.

They could even just lower down a black rope ladder, since with the cover of smoke grenades and the darkness of night, it would be hard for a normal person to notice a ladder hanging in mid-air.

Conan was simply trying to recall the person's features and find some clues.

Judging from his clean and efficient movements, coupled with his superb marksmanship, this accomplice who rescued Tachibana Maya is probably also a professional assassin. It would be excellent if I could capture him and bring him to justice.

"Although he deliberately wore a mask and a black cloak to conceal his figure, making it impossible to tell whether he was male or female, by comparing his height with that of Tachibana Maya when he rescued her, it can still be seen that he was about 175 centimeters tall."

"While the possibility of it being female cannot be ruled out, the probability of it being male is obviously higher."

Hmm, it seems like there are no other clues?

No, there's more.

Conan remembered that the person had shot the baseball he had mentioned in mid-air. At the time, he thought the baseball was knocked away by the force of the bullet, but after checking it, he found the baseball remains, which had melted into black gel, at the original location where Tachibana Maya had been.

"It seems he's not using an ordinary gun; it can fire bullets with extremely high temperatures that can melt baseballs..." Conan thought for a while, but couldn't figure it out, so he decided to go back and ask the great inventor, Professor Agasa.

Catching professional killers is definitely not an easy task.

......

Tohru Tono held onto Maya Tachibana as they flew through the air, trying to find a place to land that wouldn't attract attention.

As a result, perhaps because the flight was a bit long and the cold wind blew in too much, Tachibana Maya, who was still a bit dazed and hadn't dared to speak until now, couldn't help but sneeze softly.

"Excuse me... are you here to save me?" Tachibana Maya asked timidly, looking up.

Tohru Tohru lowered her head and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

You rescued her from the police's encirclement yourself, what do you think?

When Tachibana Maya saw the masked man in black looking at her, she shrank back and didn't dare to say anything more.

The person who rescued her wore a completely black mask that covered her eyes, so her expression was completely hidden, and her attitude towards her could not be discerned from the emotions in her eyes... From Maya Tachibana's perspective, it was really a bit scary.

Moreover, that black outfit... reminded Tachibana Maya of a certain terrifying organization.

Could they be here to kill her and silence her?

Tachibana Maya trembled.

If I had known, I would have clung to the police officer and gotten them to send me to jail quickly, at least I wouldn't be at their mercy like this now.

......

After circling in the air for a while, Toru Tono couldn't find a suitable place to land, so he simply stopped next to the helipad of a building.

Maya Tachibana touched solid ground, opened her eyes and looked around, finding herself still high in the sky.

That's it, now there's nowhere to run.

"Is there anything you want to say?" Toru Tono asked curiously, noticing Maya Tachibana's restless posture.

However, because he was wearing a voice-changing mask, his questioning words came out through the mask as a deep, cold, and unquestionable metallic voice.

! !

In Tachibana Maya's eyes, this was practically a request for her to give her last words.

Knowing that there was no hope of survival, Tachibana Maya let out a cold laugh in despair: "Heh, cowardly coward. Are all the assassins the organization is training now afraid to show their true faces?"

?

Tohno Toru had originally planned to take off his mask and try to talk to her as her savior to see if he could get any information out of her, but then he heard Tachibana Maya's speech.

Wow, there's an unexpected bonus!

When it comes to the organization, he's wide awake.

Tohno Toru immediately abandoned the idea of ​​removing his mask and remained in his current state, continuing his conversation with Tachibana Maya: "Were you once an assassin trained by the organization?"

"Heh, of course, otherwise why do you think the organization would send someone out to silence you?" Tachibana Maya sneered. "I think you're not far from death either—once they've squeezed out all your remaining value, they'll definitely kill you like a stray dog ​​on the street."

Tohru Tohno almost lost his composure; how could anyone insult themselves like that?

He composed himself, feigned hesitation, and continued, "Why does the organization want to kill you?"

Chapter 18 No, buddy.

“What reason does an organization need to kill?” Tachibana Maya looked at the man in black who was obviously hesitant, and suddenly felt that she might still have a chance. “It’s just that they think I have already given them most of the ransom and have no more use to them.”

As she brought up the topic, she secretly put her still-handcuffed hands behind her back and, where the man in black couldn't see, slowly pulled out the wire from her pocket and wrapped it around her hands.

"ransom?"

“Of course, I have a younger brother who also works in the Black Organization. The higher-ups in that organization told me that if I could raise a ransom of one billion, they would let me leave the organization with my brother.” Tachibana Maya chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Looking back now, I was really stupid to believe their lies.”

"You've already given them a billion?" Tohno Toru was stunned.

This tactic sounds familiar, doesn't it?

How about I introduce you to a bank teller named Masami Hirota? You two should have a lot in common.

"We've already submitted over 900 million; this final task is all that's needed to raise 1 billion."

Come on, she's even dumber than Akemi Miyano.

Tono was convinced.

At least Miyano Akemi knew that the organization probably wouldn't keep its word, so she hid the money beforehand to prevent Gin and the others from finding it. You're really working for the organization for free.

"Excuse me, are you a peripheral member of the organization?"

“My brother and I were once assassins trained by the organization, but we haven’t been in contact for a long time since I registered as a professional assassin outside the organization.” Tachibana Maya noticed that the man in black in front of her had suddenly become more talkative, probably because he empathized with her experience. “But my brother seems to be a member with a code name, hehe, and he’s your superior.”

"..."

Tohru Tono was too lazy to even comment; this woman was genuinely a bit naive.

No, buddy, if he were just an outsider, that would be one thing, but a codenamed member is considered a high-ranking member of the organization. How could he be let go?

And no wonder this woman is so weak; it turns out she was trained by the organization from a young age but was still treated as a pawn...

Tohru Tohru turned to look at the moon, realizing she needed to calm down.

Why don't we negotiate with the system and send this woman straight to heaven? In a sense, that would be a form of redemption.

So infuriating.

......

Maya Tachibana saw the man in black in front of her suddenly turn to look at the sky. Although she didn't know why, such an opening was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

good chance!

Maya Tachibana used the black-clad man's blind spot to sneak up to a position that would allow her to approach quickly.

After slowly closing the distance, she suddenly leaped up and launched an attack. The steel wire wrapped around her palm was instantly straightened, and the sharp line went straight for the man in black's neck.

"Success!" Seeing that the man in black hadn't turned around yet, a smile slowly appeared on Tachibana Maya's face.

You only have yourself to blame for being too careless!

But the next instant, a familiar baseball bat appeared in her line of sight.

The steel wire that was originally aimed at the man in black's neck was suddenly repelled after hitting the baseball bat, and at the same time, a strong numbing sensation crept up her arm.

She struggled to grip the wire, trying to continue her attack, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, and then her body flew out uncontrollably.

"Snapped"

Maya Tachibana fell to the ground, rolled several times, and lost the strength to resist.