The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Even if Conan rushed out of the car as fast as he could, he would not be able to catch up with the off-road vehicle under the influence of gravity.

By the time he had time to lie down on the edge of the cliff and look down, he could only see the dark sea surface under the night sky and the high splashing waves, which hit the sharp and broken rocky embankment below the cliff and were smashed to pieces.

It actually rushed into the sea like this...!

Not only Conan was in disbelief, but also Ran Mouri and Kogoro Mouri, who had caught up with them, looked at the coastline below where there was no trace of any vehicles, and their expressions were also shocked.

"Suicide attack? Impossible. If they really want to do this, they shouldn't be so unhesitating..." Maori Kogoro frowned and observed the terrain below.

"If I fall from this height, even if I'm prepared..." Mao Lilan clenched her cold palms, feeling extremely anxious.

Rather than having any plans for Tang Ze because of his complicated situation, she is now worried that Tang Ze's value is not that attractive to them.

Only valuable hostages can survive, and staying alive is more important than anything else.

Conan didn't explain much, but just carefully switched the observation mode of his glasses and stared at the sea below.

After the brief shock passed, he assessed the situation.

Vodka and Binga, the Maori father and daughter do not know their identities, but Conan is very familiar with them. No matter how important Karasawa is, he would not risk the lives of two code members to kill him alone.

In addition, if the other party simply rushed out of the cliff, a simple visual estimate of the distance would show that they would crash directly into the rocky beach, and the reefs on the edge of the coast would take their lives.

Now there is not even a trace of vehicle wreckage left, the only possibility is that their off-road vehicle was completely submerged in the sea.

That means they applied a sufficiently large acceleration at the moment of rushing out, which means that they had a predetermined landing point.

If there is a plan, there will be follow-up actions. They must have prepared an escape route in the water.

Thinking of this, Conan has already used infrared observation perspective to try to capture the heat source in the sea water.

Not long after, not only him, but also the Maori father and daughter standing behind him let out a gasp of surprise.

Under the illumination of the bright full moon, the black shadow breaking through the waves raised a huge wave, like a whale breaking through the water, splashing out rain-like mist-like waves.

That is--

----

"Finally got in..."

Vodka dragged the heavy human-shaped object behind him into the cabin. Even with the help of others, he was still sweating profusely when he took off the submersible.

It is unlikely that a normal human body can withstand the water pressure of dozens of meters. After all, there are only a few experts who can use the exit twenty or thirty meters underwater to kidnap people like Vermouth and Bourbon. In order to pick them up this time, the submarine had to risk being exposed and surface briefly.

- Guess why Vermouth and Bourbon were specifically chosen for this mission? Is it because Vodka doesn’t like credit?

Because the time was so short, he was really exhausted after finally completing the whole set of operations. Perhaps for this reason, his expression was particularly fulfilled when he looked at the things behind him.

After working extremely hard, he finally caught the man before his elder brother arrived. He even owed Binga a favor for this.

This time, I can finally finish the unfinished tasks and deal with the most difficult person on the to-do list...

With such a mood, when Rena Mizunoshi, who came to help, looked curiously at the human-shaped package that was also covered with a diving respirator and was still wet, Vodka's actions were particularly proud.

"I've brought it back. It's easy to deal with. Luckily, this woman is purely a scientific researcher, so in terms of physical strength..."

He took off the wrapped diving device, unzipped it with a ripping sound, and then the smile froze on his face.

The person in the package had opened his eyes, but squinted slightly because of the sudden light. His brown hair was a little messy from being tossed around, covering part of his face.

But this face was very familiar to everyone present.

"Tang Zezhao...?" Binga's brows knitted together. "Why would you..."

"Why is it you?!" Vodka's voice was distorted.

"Pfft—cough." This is Mizuno Rena who is a little bit unable to hold it in.

She raised her hand and coughed twice to cover it up, trying not to make her gloating too obvious. When she looked at Tang Ze, she still couldn't control the mocking expression on her face.

She knew that it was impossible for Tang Ze to really involve Miyano Shiho, and that Vodka and the others' plan had no chance of success.

But knowing is one thing, and kidnapping the wrong person is another.

"What are you making a fuss about?" Tang Ze, whose hands and feet were tied up, calmly sat up from the bag.

"Why am I making such a fuss?! Why are you here?!" Vodka's expression was distorted, even his sunglasses couldn't hide it. "Just now, when I grabbed you, why didn't you fight back?!"

When they arrested the man, the entire floor of the hotel was pitch black. Without alerting other guests, they could not have conducted a leisurely check, and they indeed did not have time to confirm the target's appearance.

But capturing Shirley and bringing Kumail back was still too shocking and too advanced. If they told others about it, not only would they be laughed at, but Gin would also be laughed at for a year.

"Why should I fight back?"

"Why can't you fight back?! If you fight back, Binga can still catch you?"

"I would fight back, but it's unlikely I'd fight back. Please, understand, I have my own mission too."

In response to Vodka's hysteria that was on the verge of collapse, Tang Ze just rolled his eyes speechlessly, pretending that the other party knew the answer but still asked.

Rena Mizunoshi increased the force of the hand that covered her lips.

It's a bit far-fetched, but given Tang Ze's identity, no one can blame him no matter how he handles this matter.

It was natural for him to fight back. Kumail's basic characterization was that of a dedicated member of the organization, so it was natural for him to reflexively retaliate. But it was also natural for him not to fight back, because Kumail's most important task right now was to play the role of an ordinary student, Tang Zezhao. If tonight's attack was aimed at Tang Zezhao, as a pawn in this situation, it made sense for him to use the same tactics to uncover his identity.

As if he had thought of the same thing, Vodka, at a loss for words, gritted his teeth and changed his angle: "If we are really the attackers, then haven't you already fallen into the hands of the enemy?"

"First of all, even if I were attacked, I'm confident I can kill the kidnapper," Tang Ze replied calmly. "Secondly, I've already noticed it's you. Your figure is very recognizable."

"Then you deliberately got caught?!"

"How should I know? I thought there was something they needed my cooperation with, but after all this time they're not here to arrest me? You can't even recognize a person, how lame."

As he spoke, Tang Ze adjusted his balance with his hands and feet tied, and stood up. Then within two seconds, the nylon rope tied around his hands broke and scattered on the ground. He then looked at Vodka in silence.

He was proving through his actions that he would not really face any risks from being hijacked.

"I, I..." Vodka was so angry that he was babbling incoherently and almost raised his hand to pinch his philtrum. "Since you already knew it was me, why didn't you speak out to confirm it?"

"Come on, I didn't come here alone. I have other 'ordinary neighbors and friends'. No way, no way, you don't want me to use this identity to chat with you, a kidnapper who broke in, right? According to your logic, if you had been the one to rescue Kiel last time, Kiel would have been shot by the FBI before he even had a chance to leave the ward alive."

"What's my business now?" Feeling attacked, Mizunashi Reina glared back. "Why are you traveling around here? Don't you need to report your actions to Bourbon?"

What do you mean by being shot by the FBI? What are you talking about? You could even say I was shot by Gin.

Tang Ze, who was indulging in his role as the sharp-tongued Kumail, immediately turned his gun around and began to fire at his allies. "I was just doing what my role entailed. This wasn't a trip I organized. Aren't you also playing your part, which is why you were caught in the explosion and the FBI painlessly picked up your body?"

"What do you mean by picking up corpses? Is that the FBI's problem? I met Akai Shuichi——"

Binga finally managed to tear off his wet waterproof suit and was stunned to see that the female hostage he brought back had turned into a male and had not only become the dangerous kid he had met during the day, but was also standing there jumping around and bickering with Vodka and others.

Hey, doesn’t anyone care about the life and death of this guy who came out to work overtime at night? Can anyone even come and explain?

"Um..." The crew member who had been sitting in front of the dashboard for a while felt very uncomfortable and could only whisper to confirm, "We should dive back to the original coordinates. Should we continue as planned?"

----

"Submarine? You said you saw a submarine?"

With the help of the lights in the lobby, Sato Miwako could clearly see the expressions of the three young and middle-aged people in front of her. She saw the word "serious" on their faces and felt that it was particularly outrageous.

No, do you understand what a submarine is?

They dispatched a submarine to kidnap someone, and the other party might very well be an ordinary criminal organization...

"Are you sure the submarine you saw wasn't some whale coming up for air?" Megure Jusan's hand froze in mid-air, unable to continue writing down the contents he had written down. "I remember this island's famous attraction was whale watching..."

His tone was subtle enough, but his meaning was clear.

Maori Kogoro slapped his head and said, "I know this sounds bizarre, but it's definitely not our hallucination. It could be just one person's mistake. The three of us were on the shore at the time."

That shape, that momentum, that structure...

Even if you haven't eaten pork, you have seen pigs run. Even if you don't understand military equipment, you should understand what you are seeing in such a scene.

"A submarine, just to kidnap Karasawa?" Sato Miwako repeated. "So what exactly does Karasawa have in his hand? Is it something that could trigger World War III?"

Either Tang Ze has mastered some technology that can destroy the world, or he holds a secret that can shake up the world of a certain country's politicians, so he can mobilize such a level of force to deal with him, a civilian.

Apart from similar bizarre reasons, she really couldn't think of any other possibilities.

Are submarines so easy to build and operate?

No matter what, even if there really is a criminal organization with such unimaginable financial resources and gets a submarine, the time, energy and manpower costs just for training personnel, using and maintaining it are completely beyond imagination.

With such strength, why not do something else? Why do you have to do this?

"Well..." Conan's eyes drifted away.

If you really want to argue, the technical secrets of cognitive science may really be at this level.

Worried, Mao Lilan shook her head, her expression firm. "Tang Ze's situation is rather special. His parents are both top researchers, and the pharmaceutical patents he holds are extremely valuable. It's hard to say who would want to deal with him..."

She wasn't sure what level of power this level of interest could mobilize, but when she said that, the expressions of the two policemen who had worked overtime and rushed over from the Pacific buoy suddenly softened.

Medical patents, that’s not surprising, that’s not surprising.

To put it bluntly, if his patents were to affect the pie of a multinational pharmaceutical complex, it's easy to understand how difficult his situation would be...

"He's still involved in a case," Maori Kogoro reminded. "It could be a big deal or a small one, but the problem is that the truth is still unknown. What if something unexpected happens..."

After understanding his implied meaning, the two policemen's eyes became completely clear.

Indeed, if the level of involvement in Tang Ze's unjust case exceeds their expectations, then it would be reasonable to target him in any way.

"Then mark where you saw it." Giving up on rationality, Sato Miwako spread out a map made entirely of rulers on the table. "The more specific, the better. That way, we can find a way to confirm the relevant monitoring data."

"This direction should be this."

"Yes, our car was parked here, probably facing southwest..."

"There's a lighthouse. I checked the map on the way back. It's roughly here. If we're located here, using triangulation..."

Looking at the three people suddenly pounced on the map and gestured at it as if they were commanding a battle, Sato Miwako and Megure Jusan exchanged tired glances.

A missing Italian engineer, a flawed Interpol, a missing minor, and a mysterious submarine...

In theory, these are all criminal cases that they should intervene in, but if they do, the problem may only get bigger.

Seriously, even if you want to start a world war, can you not fight it somewhere else? Do you have to fight it here?