Conan: No, why aren't you following the script?

Jingle bell bell~

Before Ai Haibara could snap out of her reverie, Inspector Megure suddenly received a phone call, and his excited voice instantly reverberated throughout the living room.

"What?! You discovered the kidnappers' movements?! How did you do that?! No, wait, where are the kidnappers hiding now? Is this information accurate...? Hmm, I understand, good! You guys have really helped me a lot this time!"

Amidst a chorus of profuse thanks, Inspector Megure hung up the phone with a beaming smile.

Facing the puzzled looks of Officer Takagi and Professor Agasa, he coughed twice and then announced some shocking news.

The kidnappers' car has been spotted in Beika Town.

As soon as the news spread, smiles instantly appeared on the faces of the police officers.

But after the laughter subsided, Officer Takagi frowned and asked with a troubled expression:

"Inspector Megure, how... how did you find the kidnappers' car?"

"We owe this all to Chiba; if it weren't for him..."

Blah blah blah, Inspector Megure, in his excitement, disregarded his image and, after telling everyone about Inspector Chiba's access to the surveillance footage, immediately waved his hand and gave the order:

"In short, here's the situation: the thugs' car is currently spotted at the border between Beika Town and Toriya Town. Inspector Sato, stay here with Professor Agasa and wait for news from Mori. The rest of you, drive with me and we'll track down the thugs!"

"Yes!"

The police officers immediately tensed up, and then, in an orderly manner, together with Inspector Megure, drove away from Professor Agasa's house in three police cars.

At this point, apart from Officer Sato and her personal police car, all other police forces were mobilized to track down the criminals to their hideout.

However, Kitagawa Isao did not join them. After smiling and gesturing to Officer Sato, he sat down alone on the sofa again.

He knew very well that the so-called investigation from Inspector Chiba was actually the result of Phantom Thief Kid impersonating Inspector Chiba.

Kidd had already told him this in the text message, so he didn't doubt the accuracy of the information.

What really bothered Kitagawa Isao was whether this group of people from the zoo would really make such a basic mistake.

There are surveillance cameras on the streets of Tokyo, though not many.

Many people knew about this, so when Kid told him that he had witnessed the whole process of Conan Edogawa being kidnapped, Isao Kitagawa felt something was wrong.

As someone who often puts the Phantom Thief Kid, whose IQ reaches 400, at a disadvantage, this group of zoo members may sometimes get cocky, but most of the time, their intelligence should be correct.

If that's the case, then why were they exposed to surveillance?

Could it be that these people have become so arrogant that they no longer care about the Metropolitan Police Department?

Given that their movements have been exposed once again, Kitagawa Isao quickly came to a conclusion.

The so-called exposure was all a deliberate act by this group...

Their intention was to expose their license plate and car model to surveillance cameras so that the police could identify their vehicle. They would then drive the same car around the downtown area, thus attracting the police's attention.

There is only one direct purpose behind this approach.

That was the bait; the exposed car was the bait to lure the police in.

On the surface, Conan Edogawa's disappearance was due to a kidnapping, but Isao Kitagawa knew very well that the kid had completely stumbled into his struggle with the zoo.

However, such things are destined not to be exposed to the public eye, which is why the members of the zoo organization chose this method.

If Inspector Megure catches up with them in his car, they can openly challenge the Metropolitan Police Department by claiming "police intervention."

It can be said that from the moment Kidd discovered their car, an invisible net had already appeared, precisely binding the Metropolitan Police Department's hands and feet.

only……

Kitagawa Isao, however, did not mind these things.

He didn't care whether Conan Edogawa would be hurt because of this. Although the incident was caused by him, Isao Kitagawa felt no remorse whatsoever.

He's just Conan Edogawa; if he didn't want to wipe out that bunch of annoying flies in one fell swoop, he wouldn't bother with such trivial matters.

Therefore, Kitagawa Isao did not choose to remind Officer Sato, but simply continued to ponder and analyze the situation alone.

When Officer Sato and Professor Agasa saw him like this, they simply assumed that this usually lucky mystery enthusiast hadn't quite figured out some of the details yet.

……

This state continued for about two hours, around dusk.

Inspector Megure finally returned to Professor Agasa's house with a dark expression.

In his hand, he was holding a thick envelope pieced together from newspaper.

As Kitagawa Isao had predicted, Inspector Megure ultimately lost track of the criminals, and even his own whereabouts were completely exposed.

This letter was a return gift left by the criminals for the Metropolitan Police Department.

"Sigh, it's my fault for being too reckless. Anyway... let's hear what the kidnappers have to say now."

Having already given up and sent everyone else away, Inspector Megure, accompanied only by Inspector Takagi, met up with Inspector Sato. They borrowed Professor Agasa's tape recorder and put a cassette tape from the envelope inside.

After a few 'sizzling' sounds, a dull sound quickly followed.

"Heh, so the Metropolitan Police Department really has gotten involved? They really are a pack of hounds with a keen sense of smell. But... this is putting me in a difficult position. Originally, I just wanted to ask for a few million to spend, but now..."

Halfway through the conversation, the muffled voice suddenly disappeared, followed by a series of ear-piercing sounds of punches and kicks.

Behind this sound, one could occasionally hear Conan Edogawa's suppressed groans, as well as the clanging of wooden sticks.

"Shin, Conan..."

Dr. Agasa's tears welled up again; upon hearing this, even he realized what had happened.

Those kidnappers were taking their anger out on Conan.

Because they were being watched by the Metropolitan Police Department, this group couldn't retaliate against the department, so they could only vent their anger on Conan Edogawa.

Professor Agasa wished he could take Conan's place; to him, Conan was like his child.

Hearing his own child being beaten while being powerless to do anything about it was far too cruel for Professor Agasa...

……

(More bad news came: Errang's new book, Kami's book, and Buyi's book were all shut down in one day. Even my first book, "My Miyano-san is a Little Strange," had two chapters marked with explicit sexual content.)

(The behavior of foreign netizens is really unpredictable now, whether it's targeting the single female lead Ai Haibara or another internet censorship... In short, I'm a little scared now.)

(I will try to keep updating over the next month, and then see how Yang Shizi reacts. So during this month, I will try not to describe any excessive plot points in the romance storyline. At most, I will focus on some psychological and dialogue interactions. The focus will still be on the plot and original cases.)

(After all, readers don't want me to be locked up halfway through writing this book, so please wait and see. Once I'm sure the storm surrounding Yang Shizi has passed, I'll focus on depicting the romance and daily life of the couple.)

(This is unavoidable, I hope everyone can understand. If you can't stand it, just give up.)

(If this book is ever discontinued, then when I start a new book, it will only be a solo story with Ai Haibara as the sole protagonist and no romantic pairing.)