The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

When Mizuno Rena spoke, it was not known whether it was due to her emotions or the pain in her body, but these words seemed to be squeezed out from her clenched back teeth.

Anyone who listened would have felt that she was completely enraged by her own miserable state and had somewhat lost her mind.

Gin didn't even bother to look in the rearview mirror. He first informed the few people on the communication who had become quite quiet due to the sudden change of circumstances about the meeting place, and then he replied to her coldly, "Don't even think about it."

Judging from the results of their action this time, if there had been no obstruction from the FBI, they would have created some incidents that endangered public safety, repeated today's decision, sent some dangerous small things in, and found a suitable time to detonate them, perhaps they could really raze half of the Beihu Central Hospital to the ground.

But this is an earth-shattering act that goes beyond an ordinary attack and is bound to attract a lot of attention. It is impossible for Gin to make such a decision.

"About making a batch of explosives. Gin..." Rena Mizunashi seemed very dissatisfied with Gin's rebuttal. She looked at the back of Gin's head with a dark gaze, "Is there a problem with the funding? That can be considered..."

"Plastic explosives are easy to trace," Gin interrupted her unwilling questioning. "They can be used like this this time because they will definitely be recovered by the FBI."

Similar to what the FBI speculated, those plastic bombs were not really intended to cause any casualties. It was more like they were using the real but not so imminent threat to create pressure on the FBI to deal with these things, making it impossible for them to simply discard them and for them to carry them with them.

The FBI lacks formal official background and it is impossible for them to really hand it over to the police. This hot potato nature makes those bombs excellent transmitter anchors, almost forcing the FBI to carry those things on them.

It is precisely because of these issues that Gin uses these dangerous resources so unscrupulously.

Because he knew that the FBI, at least the team following Shuichi Akai, regardless of whether they dared to take the moral risk, would definitely not dare to cause too much trouble in this place because of their actions.

This is a game and competition between them, and more of a crushing of resources, rather than a real attempt to achieve any violent results.

So when Rena Mizunashi, with a face full of anger, really suggested that he use the same method to create a violent incident, Gin would instead think that this idea was inappropriate and try to suppress the outburst of his mentally unstable colleague.

"You are not allowed to provoke the people in the hospital over there." Gin, who had come to a conclusion, immediately gave a reply.

Mizunashi Rena almost jumped up from her seat immediately: "Huh? But they teamed up with the FBI to torment me like this——"

Maybe it was because of the injuries on her body or simply because of the excitement, but her voice was a little sharp. Gin frowned and had lost the patience to continue communicating with her.

"Be quiet, Kiel. You'll need to use another identity and recuperate elsewhere. Don't connect yourself to Beihu Central Hospital again. You've already caused a lot of trouble."

"...Then isn't it Kumail's fault?" Mizunashi Rena gritted her teeth, this time with some genuineness. "Why didn't he tell me in advance? I don't understand. I interact with him quite a bit, so how did I offend him?"

Gin just sneered and didn't respond to her.

Obviously, he was also somewhat dissatisfied with Kumail's actions.

“There’s nothing I can do.” Vermouth’s hoarse and lazy voice came slowly through the headset. “His disguise ‘inheritance’ is so complete, and he doesn’t have so many restrictions… He’s young and full of energy, so he can do anything.”

The organization does have some requirements for the concealment of actions, but these restrictions are useless for people who are proficient in disguise.

Although Vermouth has this ability, she did not do so. It was not because she could not do so, but because her identity was more sensitive and it was difficult for her to be caught by the organization to do basic tasks.

Like Kumail, the entire operation from beginning to end was actually Gin's request.

Following this logic, Vermouth changed the subject and said to Gin, "Next time, for a mission like this that can be completed by anyone else, don't ask Kumail to come. If he escalates the situation, it might really cause trouble."

Although she couldn't hear what they were saying in their headsets, Rena Mizunoshi, who was sitting in the back row, clearly saw that Gin's forehead twitched twice.

"You mean, is it my fault?"

"Kumeil's current command was never in your hands."

"This is clearly an order allowed by the boss."

"Then don't even consider this option next time. You'll have to bear the consequences of using a lunatic like Kumail."

Vermouth's words were full of protection and gloating, and Gin's forehead twitched again.

The contact between Vermouth and Kumail is obviously much more harmonious than many people imagine.

But their harmony means that others suffer.

Gin really wanted to get straight to the point about this, but because of Vermouth's previous remarks about Kumail possibly being her successor and the hope that he could help her escape, it involved too many core secrets and was inconvenient to say it directly in the communication. He just narrowed his eyes in silence and took note of this for the time being.

"...Kumeil. You heard it too. Kiel feels you should bear some responsibility for this."

In the end, that's all Gin said.

Although Kumail did not participate in their argument throughout, he knew that since this guy was still on the line, he must have been listening to their conversation, but he just didn't say anything.

"Hmm, okay, so what? What do you want me to do?" Kumail's cheerful voice arrived as expected. "If I heard correctly, didn't you guys already take care of the most difficult guy?"

"Go deal with the people in that hospital first." Gin's voice was steady, and he uttered a few cold words lightly. "Whoever is related to the FBI and who are the FBI's thorns, you will be responsible for dealing with them."

"A reasonable request. I'll take care of it."

"Also," Gin said, looking ahead at the road gradually shrouded in twilight as the sun set, "confirm Akai Shuichi's survival."

The entire process of Shuichi Akai being attacked and shot by Rena Mizunashi happened right before his eyes. The wounds and blood did not seem fake. No matter how you think about it, even if he was a superman, he should have died.

However, deep down in his heart, Gin still had a vigilant heartstring that was tense.

Could such a cunning and troublesome guy really die so easily?

----

"Xiu Yi, Xiu Yi, he..."

Looking at Carmel standing in front of her with his head down, Judy's lips kept trembling and she could hardly control the tone of her voice.

"Didn't he plan it all out? Wasn't he already prepared to send Rena Mizunoshi back to the organization... Why, why would he..."

"...Mr. Akai has also considered this possibility." Camel turned his gaze to the side and said in a low voice, "No matter how perfect the plan is, it still has to be completed in front of Gin."

The act of stealing the show so close to the audience is like an extremely difficult escape magic show.

Not only Shuichi Akai, but also Kamil himself, who was deeply involved, was prepared to sacrifice his life in case of an accident.

For this purpose, he even prepared a suicide note with a fixed time, so that if something happened, he could at least give an explanation to his family.

But he didn't expect that the final result was that the one who ended this grand performance was Akai Shuichi, who was far more capable than him...

"I, I... No, it's impossible, it absolutely cannot be..." Judy barely controlled the weakness in her limbs, stood up, and said firmly, "He can't just die here like this, he..."

He still has younger brothers and sisters to take care of, a father to find, and family members he has been separated from for many years...

Anyone could give up in this predicament, except Akai Shuichi, only Akai Shuichi...

"That's definitely not him, definitely not! Find a substitute, or use someone else's body. Shuichi is a flexible guy. Even in such a situation, he will definitely find a way out..."

"Calm down, Judy." James reached out and grabbed Judy's shoulder as she was about to leave the ward, reassuring her in a deep voice, "Even if we want to confirm this, we first need to find a suitable anchor for comparison."

Shuichi Akai has been a deep undercover agent in the organization for six years. Clearing his original information from various databases is the most basic thing.

Therefore, conventional biological evidence that could confirm his identity, including fingerprints and DNA, is no longer effective.

"What about the vehicle? It's not a specially treated vehicle. It's just a spare Chevrolet parked on the side of the road. If we can get fingerprints from the steering wheel..." Judy quickly began to think hard.

"We can't possibly get our hands on the vehicle. It exploded and fell into the water. It's probably been salvaged by the Tokyo police and is being collected for evidence. Finding usable fingerprints is difficult." James shook his head. "We only have one fingerprint from the right hand to compare."

"The fingerprint of the right hand..."

Judy muttered to herself and began to recall Akai Shuichi's actions in the hospital over the past few days.

There are so many people in the hospital and it is impossible to extract a fingerprint that has been there for some time, as there are doors and windows. It is impossible to confirm whether it belongs to Shuichi Akai.

The vehicle had sunk into the water following the explosion, and so had personal belongings such as cigarettes, leaving no trace at all.

Judy's eyes wandered aimlessly, slowly landing on the table in front of the ward door.

On the corner of the table closest to the door, a can of coffee sat alone...

"Coffee can!" Judy slammed the table and stood up. "That day, Xiuyi didn't seem very well. When he picked up the can, his hand slipped... He picked it up directly with his right hand..."

Thinking of this, her eyes brightened up. She took out the handkerchief from her pocket, carefully wrapped the can, and held it in her palm.

"Yes, this is the coffee Conan bought that day. The two of them brought it back from the vending machine. There should only be two fingerprints on it. Well, I'll take it to the Metropolitan Police Department and let the Japanese police compare it..."

"Judy! Be careful with your words when communicating with them."

"I know, I won't reveal Akai's identity... Well, I'll go change my clothes..."

The door to the ward was hurriedly opened and closed, and Judy's voice became quiet.

Conan, who was lying on the hospital bed with an oxygen mask on, had his eyelids trembling a few times, and his hands under the quilt tightened slightly, but he soon regained his composure.

Deceive everyone in exchange for a chance at a fair fight.

This is Mr. Akai's decision, and he must respect his own ideas.

I just hope that Teacher Judy can withstand the pressure...

----

"O-oh, you mean, you might have come across a car accident victim?"

"Yes, I later saw on the news that there seemed to be a victim whose identity was never determined. I remember today, when there was a car accident on the road nearby, I got out of the car to buy a can of coffee."

"And he picked it up for you?"

"Well, that's right."

"Oh. I see..."

"Then can you tell me what the other person's appearance is?"

"He had short black hair and was wearing a hat. As for the rest... he was wearing sunglasses, so I'm not very clear... but he did drive a black Chevrolet. I can still remember his clothes and his approximate height. Maybe it will help your investigation."

Takagi Shigeru frowned as he looked at the notes he had written down, then looked up at Judy who was sitting opposite him.

An unidentified victim is discovered in a murder case, and then other people come forward to provide clues to the victim's identity. This kind of thing happens quite often in Beika Town.

But the person who came wasn't the victim's relatives or friends, but a random stranger. This kind of thing...

"Okay. I'll send it to the forensic department as soon as possible to confirm the situation. Thank you for the clue you provided."

"I'm glad I could help. Um, just a quick question. How long will it take for a conclusion? Of course, I know you can't just ask casual questions about things like investigations, but I'm still a little concerned about the gentleman I met today... Also, I might be a bit busy later on, leaving Tokyo in a couple of days..."

This was a hint that she couldn't stay for long, and if she didn't get a result today, she might not be able to cooperate with the investigation.

Takagi Shigeru scratched his forehead with the end of his ballpoint pen and looked at the smiling woman opposite him with some embarrassment.

After looking at her for a moment, he felt that Judy looked familiar.

"I remember meeting you before. It was on, uh, which case...?"

"The time the bus was attacked by the bomber? Yes, I was on it." Judy quickly understood what he was asking, and her smile widened a little. "I was working at Teitan High School at the time, and coincidentally, a few of my students were on the bus."

"Oh, oh, that seems to be the case." Hearing her mention Teitan High School, Takagi Shigeru obviously relaxed a lot and picked up the empty can wrapped in a handkerchief. "Got it, I'll take it for investigation right away. You've also touched this can, right? Then could you please leave a fingerprint here? Yes, use this fingerprint, and I'll send it to the Forensic Department for easy separation..."

Judy took the black ink pad he handed over and silently pressed her complete palm print as he requested.

Looking at the pitch-black mark that looked like a crack on white paper, her heart trembled slightly.

Although she hadn't received an answer yet, she already had a vague premonition.

——Xuichi, you won’t be coming back.