The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

Tang Ze, whose hands and feet were still tied, looked at Naomi, who was trembling and on the verge of emotional collapse, and listened carefully to the movement in the headphones for a while.

Ireland and Curacao have already set out, and for them, who are familiar with the organization's procedures, locking down Cohen's location is only a matter of time.

The reason why he needed Naomi to show a wavering but ambiguous attitude was to delay this period of time so that they could find the person in time.

Gin's action team has never been short of people. Even if some of them are killed, it is not difficult to replace them with new ones. That's why Tang Ze did not consider attacking Cohen and Chianti.

Snipers, who are in a hardcore technical position, don't have access to many organizational secrets. These two are also insiders with excellent marksmanship, and they have a kind of beauty that doesn't require worrying about their safety.

But this action is a godsend.

Cohen was traveling alone, far away in Europe, so Gin couldn't get any news for a while; because the target involved a Pacific buoy, it was protected by intelligence agencies of many countries. It was difficult to associate Cohen's failure with backstabbing, and it was easy to attribute it to his lack of skills.

All of the above constitutes an excellent condition for a surprise attack. It is like after getting the backstab skill, seeing an unsuspecting enemy with his back to you and his health bar showing, it is difficult for anyone to resist the urge to go up and hit him.

At this point, Vodka's threat was still just a verbal one. Curacao had already located Cohen, who had just disembarked from the helicopter and hadn't even started setting up his sniper. Showing the footage of Councilman Mario was simply to put pressure on Naomi; it could have easily dragged it out for another half minute...

Calculating this in his mind, Tang Ze looked into Naomi's eyes, which were almost unable to control the pleading look, and nodded implicitly.

Cohen's position has been locked, and the Pacific buoy has also received the news. It's better not to torture the unfortunate engineer too much, she is already unlucky enough.

"I, I promise. I can improve the system for you—!" Naomi, who had received the signal, immediately sped up her speech, "Don't hurt my family!"

Vodka, who was waiting for Cohen to arrive, smiled halfway, but when he heard her suddenly turn a corner, his smile disappeared.

He looked around and found that Naomi, who was talking, was looking in the direction of Tang Ze, and his eyes twitched.

Is this another result of Kumail's control?

You kid, why didn't you make an effort earlier or later? Cohen has already gotten off the plane and is preparing to calculate the wind speed and aim. Why did you suddenly shiver? Do you think it's fun to bother your colleagues?

"...If you don't accept my toast, you'll have to drink for it." Vodka released the hand that had been pinching her neck and said angrily, then glared at Tang Ze again implicitly before winking at Mizunashi Rena.

Although he was the main person in charge on the submarine, his main task was to coordinate the work of various parties and to threaten the main hostages.

Now that the hostage has given in, it is no longer his job to figure out how to "cooperate" or control the other party.

Mizuno Rena understood and stood up: "Do you want to wait until he comes before dealing with it?"

"This situation would be difficult to resolve if big brother hadn't come, right?" Vodka looked at the scene in the room and barely managed to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

This mission required the coordination and cooperation of many codenamed members. Shirley who showed up from nowhere had already disrupted the rhythm of the plan. Then Kumail showed up unexpectedly, but they were still able to complete the original task step by step. This was all thanks to their vodka composure.

Now that the initial mission has been accomplished, how to deal with Shirley's related information, whether to follow her, whether Naomi can be released, how Binga's subsequent mission will end, etc., are not things that Vodka needs to consider or can consider.

"It's time to deal with your problem." Thinking of this, Vodka grinned and reached out to pull Tang Ze up.

"Wait, wait, I've already agreed to your request, why do you still want to hurt him!" Naomi's voice suddenly rose, "Then the first condition I hope for is that you let us go back safely... or at least let Tang Zejun leave. He shouldn't be involved in this matter!"

During the brief exchange with Tang Ze, he showed a calmness and wisdom that was inconsistent with his age. His identity was definitely not as simple as an ordinary student. Naomi, who had realized this since the time when she was buoyed in the Pacific Ocean, certainly knew this.

But from her point of view, she was closely related to the fact that Tang Ze was tied to the submarine, especially when she discovered the similarities between Tang Ze and Miyano Shiho, she felt that the other party was implicated because of the information carried on her necklace.

The plan seemed to work at this moment. Just as her nerves relaxed, she found that the person who had just threatened her with a harsh tone turned around and rushed towards Tang Ze. Without thinking, she wanted to speak out to stop him.

Vodka just wanted to drag Kumail away so that he wouldn't get in the way: "..."

This really can no longer be explained by the suspension bridge effect or the empathy caused by difficulties. It’s not even worth pretending.

Unable to reveal Kumail's identity, Vodka was feeling uncomfortable and was about to make a few sarcastic remarks when he suddenly heard a voice on the communication line and his expression froze.

"Vodka! Something's happening, Cohen has been ambushed!"

----

"Have you contacted Councillor Mario yet?!"

"Yes, the call has been transferred! He realized his situation was dangerous and is hiding behind a bunker, waiting for the security company to handle it."

Kuroda Bei held the back of the seat in front of him, looked at the enlarged surveillance footage on the screen, and slowly exhaled.

He had reason to believe that the members of the organization who were controlling the system through the backdoor program were now seeing the same scene as they saw.

As long as no new accidents occur, it should not be difficult to protect the relevant personnel.

Just as predicted yesterday, since they are still using means to investigate and find people related to Naomi Argento, it means that Naomi is not dead and she is still valuable to them. Even after she has been arrested, they are still using threats to her immediate family members to force her to compromise.

"Notify Europe and find ways to increase protection for Naomi's family. The better we can protect them, the more likely Miss Naomi, who is likely under duress, will be able to persevere..."

Kuroda Bei was seriously communicating with the policemen around him about the next action plan when they saw the screen in front of them flash violently a few times. Then, the program for zooming in on the surveillance camera started running again.

"Who's manipulating this?! The councillors are still in trouble and can't just arbitrarily move the surveillance footage!"

"No, no!"

"not me!"

Makino Yosuke noticed the abnormality immediately and warned his subordinates loudly, but he saw several engineers, including those sitting close to the console, stand up and leave in order to distance themselves from the matter.

No one touched the console, and Grace Ed and Reinhardt were just staring at the screen without performing any operations at all.

However, the orderly search program on the screen was still running, and windows were constantly enlarged and reduced, densely arranged on the screen, almost blocking the enlarged picture of the hotel window where Senator Mario was.

"Is it a backdoor program?" Makino Yosuke frowned, not expecting such a thing. "But Ed, didn't you just say that you've locked onto the server running the backdoor program..."

"Yes, I'm already monitoring and analyzing the server's location..." Ed looked at the operation logs and command lines displayed on his screen, sweating. "The problem is that the system is not controlled by that backdoor..."

"Are there other invaders?" Sato Miwako, who was listening to their conversation, almost lost her voice.

Hey, this has really become a public toilet. You can come and go as you please.

Are you integrating police cameras from various countries to make things easier for the police or for criminals?

Ed glanced at her and said in a dry voice, "The background information shows that the system is being operated..."

"...It's inside the Pacific buoy, right?"

Suddenly a soft voice came from the speaker.

When the sudden sound rang out, everyone else showed surprised expressions and looked around to find the source of the sound. Only Conan's surprise was different.

His surprise came from his familiarity with the voice.

This is the sound of Noah's Ark...

Speaking of which, ever since the game launch, his conversations with Noah had all been virtual. He was surprised to hear it again through the speakers. The quality of Noah's voice had changed significantly, and it was hard to discern the electronic synth effect. No one else in the room, except him, would have noticed that the person speaking was actually an AI.

Just as Noah's Ark's designer Hiroki Sawada planned, Noah's Ark, which has broken through the limitations, is growing at an unimaginable speed.

"Good morning, everyone."

As Noah's voice appeared, a logo appeared on six large screens at the same time.

That was not the colorful ring-shaped voiceprint that Noah had used before, but a fluorescent green triangle, exactly the same as the breathing light on the chest of Noah in robot form.

"Back when I was born, some called strong AIs like me the 'jewel of the computer field.' Others considered my existence extremely dangerous, asserting that unfettered commercial use would lead to the destruction of civilization, saying it would 'open Pandora's box.'" Noah's voice was playful, and the tone sounded familiar to Conan. "However, looking at your masterpiece, I have to admit that when it comes to destroying humanity, humans themselves are far more imaginative than AIs like us."

"Strong artificial intelligence?" Ran Maoli muttered the word to herself after realizing something. "You, you are... Noah's Ark...?"

"Long time no see, Miss Maori." Noah caught her voice accurately, "But now I prefer you to call me 'Ark'."

For Noah's Ark, it may not make any difference whether he is called Noah or Ark, but Conan, who has seen this nickname many times in the group, knows what the meaning of this name is.

This is Noah's "code name" as proof that he is a member of the Phantom Thieves and is active as a Phantom Thief.

"I really want to catch up with you, but unfortunately time is tight. We can only talk about it next time we have the chance." Noah laughed twice.

The densely packed surveillance images on the screen went black one after another, and even the operating system interface became dim.

Immediately afterwards, another more eye-catching color with a sense of danger lit up, including the operating console and all auxiliary interfaces. Amid everyone's gasps and exclamations, the entire system was infected by this color and turned completely red.

The order of the surveillance footage was reshuffled and then covered with complex red lines, like the backs of playing cards, which were reshuffled and neatly arranged.

Then, a logo that was quite familiar to many people present jumped out.

"What, what is this?!" Makino Yosuke's voice was trembling.

"The Phantom Thieves of Hearts." Kuroda Heibei's voice was relatively calm.

As soon as he spoke, as if in response to his words, the back of a card in the center turned over, revealing the following:

【Joker】

The colorful cards enlarged and disappeared, finally turning into the surveillance window screen they were familiar with.

The brightness of the picture is very low, with only a faint overhead light illuminating the person sitting in the middle and the white hair under his hood.

It’s really “Joker”.

The detectives and police officers present, including some people who followed the news, probably recognized this man's identity, and there was a commotion at the scene.

Conan vaguely realized that the culprit of this scene was most likely himself: "..."

No, I knew you were going to hack into this system, but no one informed me it would be such a big deal?!

"I know what you want to say." Before anyone could speak, the Joker, sitting in front of the camera, raised a finger, interrupting everyone. "It's nothing more than the common questions of 'Who are you?' and 'What are you going to do?' I want to make it clear that instead of worrying about us helpful citizens, your engineer has been kidnapped and your safety is threatened. The real enemy you should pay attention to is even sitting here, eyeing you covetously. Instead of worrying about what I'm going to do, you should worry about yourselves first."

He shook his fingers twice, and as if in response to his action, the previously blocked surveillance window was repositioned and enlarged.

Mario Argento, who was facing death threats, still huddled under the windowsill, avoiding possible snipers outside the window, and dared not move.

"It's really interesting how the German police spend their money, that they even have time to set up cameras that can record hotel windows."

Joker commented indifferently and snapped his fingers.

An upside-down playing card flipped over with his movement, aligning the image from another camera with it.

It can be seen that this is a photo of the city hotel where Senator Mario is located taken from another angle. Compared with the picture above, it can be seen that its location is higher and the angle is larger.

Then, the center of the picture slowly adjusted, as if something was controlling the camera to slowly rotate, moving away from the window and turning to the roof of another building.

A sniper wearing a baseball cap and dressed in black was lying on the edge of the roof, aiming at something.

There is no doubt that this is the sniper from the kidnapper's side who is threatening Mario's safety.

"Sniper, has the sniper's location been confirmed?!"

"We need to contact the German police and the European monitoring center..."

"There's no need to contact them anymore. Their system is locked, and they see the same content as us."

"……Oh."

There was chaos all around, but Conan was the only one who remained standing there, staring at the screen nervously, his heart beating violently in his chest.

He saw with his sharp eyes that the moment the card was turned over, it showed a Jack of Spades.

Could this be the Phantom Thieves' true purpose this time? A trap set around the Pacific buoy, an extremely conspicuous bait...

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but cast his gaze on the other card backs that had not been turned over yet.

So, what is behind these cards...