The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Chapter 1005 Duel Invitation

"Thank you for your help, it really helped a lot..."

When Conan finished taking the statement and walked out of the interrogation room, he happened to meet Goro Akechi who was also walking into the corridor.

The police officer who escorted him out kept thanking him as they walked, with genuine gratitude on his face.

"I just tried my best to provide some assistance. This kind of work doesn't give people a sense of accomplishment." Akechi Goro, who was carrying his suitcase as usual, smiled and looked gentle. "It's a pity to go to a birthday party and end up helping the host to identify the cause of death of the main character of the party."

It was a very social statement, and judging by the humble words he chose, in addition to also taking notes, recording everything that happened last night, Goro Akechi seemed to be assisting the police in explaining the death of Yotsugu Reika.

Considering that this might actually have an unclear relationship with him, the scene is really a bit funny.

"I understand your feelings, but thank you for helping the forensic department with the identification. The traces at the scene were too messy..." The police officer next to him still thanked him profusely, "Your judgment is very accurate, as if you saw it at the scene, amazing."

"No, that's too exaggerated." Goro Akechi smiled humbly again.

Conan, who was standing nearby and listening, felt that this might be the truth: "..."

Noticing the little boy standing in the corridor and watching him silently, Tang Ze smiled and declined the police's offer to see him off again. He walked up to Conan and smiled brightly at him: "Conan-kun, have you finished taking the statement? You worked hard yesterday. Go back and have a rest early. Children of this age cannot do without sleep."

Speaking of this, Tang Ze himself felt it was outrageous.

If Tang Ze had not handled yesterday's case himself, according to the original trajectory, Maori Kogoro and his group would definitely have had to stay up all night after experiencing a terrifying night.

It turns out that similar cases are common throughout the entire plot. It is normal for Conan, an elementary school student, and Mouri Ran, a high school student, to stay up late.

Even this aspect requires overtime work. These criminals really work when they go to work and commit crimes when they live. They don't kill people until it's dark.

This genuine concern coming from Tang Ze's mouth is concern, but coming from his current face it sounds like a mockery.

Conan felt as if he was shrouded in the shadow cast by Goro Akechi. He couldn't help but take a step back and look closely at the guy in front of him who had also not slept for a few hours and was still radiant.

"…It has something to do with you, this case." After making sure that no one else was listening, Conan spoke very bluntly, "President Shijing looks at you as if he is almost scared to death."

From the perspective of the case, since the specific whereabouts of Yotsugu Reika are missing and all participants have alibis from others, the only possible perpetrator, Gojo Osamu, had returned to the main force around the time of death recorded by the camera. At present, all the evidence cannot support the possibility that this case is a homicide, and the police will naturally only treat it as a case of unnatural death.

But Conan knew very well that Goro Akechi would not appear there for no reason.

Not to mention President Shii, who came to deal with the news of Shii Reika's death the next day, and was always observing Goro Akechi secretly with a fearful and inquiring look.

The gaze was complex and hesitant, and he never dared to really look me in the eye. That kind of timidity and avoidance was difficult to fake.

From this, Conan can basically judge that the Shijing Group may really have some connection with the organization. Even if he doesn't know the situation of Goro Akechi, he knows that this is not an ordinary detective with a clean background.

This adds a different meaning to the death of Shijing Lihua. Compared with simply killing the other party after being provoked, this is more like a cruel killing of the chicken to scare the monkey, a warning to the Shijing Group.

"You have to provide evidence when you speak, kid." Tang Ze just continued to smile and didn't take the bait.

He knew very well how many small props Conan had that had been modified by the doctor. After experiencing several accidents, the badge of their Junior Detective Team had been equipped with a device that could record short periods of time at the children's request.

He would never leave such a thing to be talked about.

Conan narrowed his eyes: "Even if I crack your method, there will be no evidence left."

He had already secretly studied the camera that appeared at the scene with great deliberate intent.

The image in the camera was damaged just right, but the retained part has indeed not been edited or processed in any way, and is the original film recorded by the camera.

It can be seen that it is indeed true that Yotsugu Rika and Nikaido Yuji pushed each other in an emotional quarrel, causing both of them to fall into the water and die.

Even if there is evidence that Goro Akechi threatened Yotsuba, causing her to run into the forest in the middle of the night, or even if there is evidence that Goro Akechi was present at the time and threatened or provoked them, it is impossible to convict him.

After realizing this, Conan quickly broke free from his frustration.

The opponent he was facing now was a detective, a detective whose identity was likely to be very problematic.

Regardless of whether the other party is as good as the public praises, he is a veteran who is familiar with crime and criminal investigation procedures. It is not so easy to find evidence against him.

"...You are not wrong about this." Seeing that he said it so calmly, Tang Ze simply nodded calmly.

In fact, Tang Ze's method is very simple and crude.

Knock out Yotsuba Reika, have someone pretend to be her and jump off the building, and then find an opportunity to capture the search for Nikaido Yuji as well. It only takes a few steps.

It was easy to control Shii Rika and take her to the forest. There was no need for Tang Ze to be there himself. After all, when he started to act, there was almost a football team hidden in the shadows of the room.

Rika Shii was right there, so it wasn't difficult for her to help Shimabukuro Kimie disguise herself. Both parties were skilled workers.

Catching Nikaido Yuji was a little difficult, but the mountains and forests were originally Shimabukuro Kimie's home turf. After a lot of combat practice, she became more flexible, so catching someone was not a difficult task.

Back then on the American island, it was raining so hard, but she was able to go up the mountain, kill people, deal with the bodies, and go down the mountain without being discovered. She is a real technical expert.

What really led to their deaths was the two people's own irrationality under Tang Ze's constant instigation and stimulation.

Of course, choosing a pond with lush grass and abundant aquatic plants in the water was also part of the murderous intent.

"Well, so I think that video is not for the police to see." Conan made this judgment again.

The content of the argument between the two people in the video, including the final way of death, was so strongly related to the death of Nanao Yaeko that the media who knew the inside story exaggeratedly used words such as "curse" and "reincarnation of fate" to describe the case.

If there really was a human factor involved, the content of the video would be more of an explanation for Yaeko's death than false evidence used to confuse the public and disrupt the police's judgment.

Recalling the secret conversation between Goro Akechi and Takashi Ichieda after the banquet, Conan became more confident.

This made him feel even more ridiculous.

What is this? Can it be considered as fulfilling the client’s wish?

"If you put it that way, well, I do feel that way..." Tang Ze nodded ambiguously.

It’s not that Tang Ze doesn’t dare to do it himself, but the main reason is that the video is indeed the reply left to Ichieda Takashi and Nanao Yaeko’s grandmother, that is, Granny Mi.

They had already replaced the person right under everyone's noses and made the person disappear quietly. It would be more ideal to just kill them and dump them somewhere in the mountains and let the case be closed as a missing persons case.

It's just that Tangze thought of Ichieda Takashi who had been tormented by this death for two years, and the old man who had lost his child and had to follow the culprit and take orders, and he felt that he needed to give them an answer.

"You actually admitted it." Conan's mouth twitched twice.

"Admitted what?" Tang Ze asked knowingly, making a confused expression. "It's not realistic to think of using such simple rhetoric to deal with me, little detective."

"I still don't understand how you accomplished all these tricks, but I think, no matter what means you used, as long as it was really man-made, everything must have an answer." Conan admitted his frustration frankly, with his hands in his pockets, his face without the slightest gloom, "I believe that this is just because I temporarily lack understanding of some things."

This case made Conan think of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

No traces could be found, and the method of action could not be determined, but the attack on the criminal was completed in such an incredible way.

Thinking of that bizarre world beyond reality, and those abilities that could not be explained by common sense, Conan had an epiphany.

...There must be a reason why the organization chose this person to maintain contact with and implicit control over Tang Ze, and it is definitely not as simple as Tang Ze himself described.

"I'll try my best." Conan concluded.

"What are you working hard for?" Seeing him showing such a standard, determined protagonist face, Tang Ze couldn't help but ask.

What, this feeling of me being the final boss?

However, considering that the plot will one day transition to a grand three-choice situation, and as Kumail he will certainly not be able to escape this, Tang Ze thinks it is reasonable.

When the story enters the passionate stage where you have to choose one of three but the choice will be red, Conan's expression will definitely be very interesting.

Now Tangze is looking forward to Conan's expression when he clearly discovers the truth, no matter which one it is.

Rather than knowing that he was Kumail, Conan would probably be more upset if he found out that Kumail was fake wine.

Not knowing what the person in front of him was thinking, Conan still raised his head and looked directly at the other person's face.

The sunlight passed through the windows of the police station corridor, cutting the rays of light into regular shapes and hitting the other person's face, dividing the handsome young face into two pieces of light and dark.

Just like the light and dark sides condensed in this person.

Conan had a hunch that solving this human problem might be the beginning of disintegrating the organization and dealing them a heavy blow.

"...try hard to defeat you."

Conan's declaration was so concise and powerful.

【rank up! Rank 5]

[After your unremitting efforts - no matter which side of you - the detective you had high hopes for has finally embarked on the path you expected.

He has known the darkness of the world, discovered part of the truth, and cast aside his hesitation and naivety.

Now he stands in front of you, declaring war on your secrets and your past.

You are actually well aware that facing this sharp first-class detective, many secrets cannot be hidden at all. What answer will you give him now? 】

[Acquired ability "Aura Hidden lv2"]

Tang Ze's expression froze for a moment, and after a moment, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Declare war to find out the truth, and then give the opponent deeper hidden abilities.

What is this? Is this a "fair and just" duel?

If I didn't have so many ways to cheat, it might be true.

"If you are so confident..."

After putting down the suitcase, Tang Ze smiled and pulled the glove off his hand little by little at a very slow speed, revealing his right hand.

He threw the black glove in Conan's direction, and the other party caught it reflexively.

"Then let me see how far you can go, Detective-kun."

Watching him grab the suitcase with his rarely exposed right hand and walk out without looking back, Conan frowned for a moment, lowered his head and looked at the soft fabric in his hand.

He thought Goro Akechi was going to show him something, and stared at the hand that was slowly revealed for a while, but in the end he saw nothing.

I don’t know if it was intentional, but the other person’s hands were too clean. There was hardly any trace of scars, let alone anything like that.

There were neither the typical pen-holding marks of students nor any other characteristics left by occupations that require long-term use of both hands.

So clean, as if he had hardly used his hands in his life, but everyone knows that this is not realistic.

What was this meant to express, a simple invitation to a duel? Or was it meant to express that he had been wearing the gloves for a long time and had worked in the organization for many years, so there were no marks left on his hands?

It's unrealistic. Many delicate operations are difficult to complete with gloves... These are ordinary gloves, not special ones...

While Conan was holding his gloves and thinking hard, Karasawa, with a relaxed expression, had already walked out of the Metropolitan Police Department's door.

As he walked out, he put on new gloves.

Of course, he has a lot of gloves of the same type. It is normal for Kumail to get his gloves dirty or damaged. He usually has two or three pairs in his suitcase alone.

As for the real meaning of his action, I'm afraid it's hard for anyone to understand.

As Tang Ze mentioned before, his hands are a huge flaw in his various identities, so as long as he is in disguise, he will always wear gloves.

Since he spent the first ten years of his life in a confused and unconscious state, Tang Ze actually only lived in this world for eight years, and his hands therefore lacked the usual traces.

The real owner of this identity, Xingchuan Teru, is a thug who has received many years of training. Not only do his hands have scars, but also calluses left over from firearms training and long-term gun holding.

As a joker, Tang Ze uses more of his experience and abilities from his previous life, which is also difficult to match with this pair of hands that have almost no traces.

Of course, he admitted that there were elements of memes in his story, but compared to memes, this was more of a...

"It's just reciprocity."

Tang Ze smiled and raised his hand, rejecting the invitation given to him by Yizhi Long.

"You don't have to be so polite, sir."