Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

Chapter 75 The Serpent in the Garden of Eden

This is a typical Japanese apartment.

From the left to the right of the building, there are stairs - residents of rooms 1 to 5 on this floor - elevator. There is only one staircase and one elevator. Songshan lives in room 4 on the 2th floor.

Katsutoshi Teraoka came to the third floor and stopped for a moment. He stopped talking to the person on the other end of the headset and was careful not to make any sound.

There was not enough light in the corridor and it was very quiet all around, so he couldn't tell what was going on upstairs.

It seemed that no one lived on this floor. Katsutoshi Teraoka stood at the stairs and glanced to the side. There were no piles of old newspapers or other debris outside the door.

He noticed that the corridor here was very narrow and could probably only accommodate two people walking side by side.

——Since the corridor is so narrow, the door here is most likely to open inwards. Other residents can see clearly what happens in the corridor as soon as they come out.

The experienced Katsutoshi Teraoka made a judgment. He took a deep breath, touched the pistol with a silencer in his pocket, made sure it was in a position where he could easily pull it out, and continued walking up.

When he arrived on the 4th floor, Katsutoshi Teraoka heard voices that looked very familiar.

He did not show up immediately, but instead pressed his back against the wall and carefully poked his head out.

The person who was speaking was Matsuyama. Katsutoshi Teraoka had thought that he would hide and try not to see people, but he didn't expect him to stand openly at the door of Room 402 and talk to someone.

"...Old man, get those idiots next door to take the thing off the door! That thing is facing my front door!"

The man in the light-colored suit had a thin scar at the corner of his eye and a tattoo revealed at his slightly open collar. He spoke in an extremely unfriendly tone and waved his raised arms high as if he was going to hit someone.

"I have advised them several times, but they just won't listen..."

The old man who had not yet retired took a step back. He was sweating profusely and tried to give advice: "They should be at home now. Maybe you can call the police..."

"Call the police? Are you kidding me?!"

Songshan's eyes became more ferocious, he took a step forward and left the room completely. Suddenly, he seemed to notice something and turned his head to look in the direction of Teraoka Katsutoshi.

Katsutoshi Teraoka was unable to dodge, and their eyes met.

The moment they looked at each other, both of them widened their eyes. Katsutoshi Teraoka immediately pulled out a pistol and pointed it at him; and when Matsuyama saw the gun, he instantly understood the other party's intention.

boom!

I don’t know if it was the wind or some other external force, but the door behind Songshan closed automatically!

Having lost his way of escape, Songshan reacted quickly. He took out a folding knife from his pocket, and the blade popped out. He grabbed the stunned old man and used him in front of him as a meat shield.

"do not move!!"

Songshan shouted, the blade against the elderly hostage's neck: "If you don't want this old man to die, put down your weapon and throw the gun over here!"

Katsutoshi Teraoka did not expect that the other party could capture a hostage so coincidentally in a place with only two households.

Facing such an emergency, Katsutoshi Teraoka's hand holding the gun trembled slightly. He did not obey the order, as he knew very well what would happen if the police handed over the gun in the face of such a threat.

The two men were facing each other, and neither of them noticed that a cat appeared at the stairs, sticking its head out and observing them.

"hurry up!"

Seeing that Teraoka Katsutoshi didn't move, Matsuyama raised his voice, "Aren't you a policeman? Are you going to watch this old man die?!"

“Help…Help me!” The old man looked at Katsutoshi Teraoka pleadingly, “Please save me, Mr. Policeman!!”

The noise in the corridor soon affected others, and another door behind Songshan opened.

A man walked out with a frown: "People outside, be gentle, don't be so loud..."

The rest of his words stopped abruptly. He saw the scene in front of him clearly and was completely stunned.

"Hide back quickly! Don't come out casually!!"

At this critical moment, Katsutoshi Teraoka's police instinct made him loudly persuade the other party to leave quickly.

……

The man in room 404 quickly shrank back.

His heart was pounding, almost jumping out of his throat. The closed door gave him a sense of security, and he quickly figured out what was happening outside. His first reaction was to call the police.

But at this moment, a scream broke out in the house.

"Snake! There's a snake!" His wife pointed at the window, "Honey, a snake crawled in through the window!!"

The man looked in the direction she pointed and saw a snake crawling on the tatami. A window not far away was open.

The snake did not attack them. It just slowly crawled onto the table, rolled up their cell phones, and then crawled onto the computer.

……

In the outdoor corridor, the confrontation continued.

Seeing that Teraoka Katsutoshi refused to put down his gun, Matsuyama, who only had a knife in his hand, became more and more angry. He sneered and cursed: "Why, did you see the latest news and want to silence me?!"

His words made Katsutoshi Teraoka's heart tremble violently.

——He noticed that there was a subtle change in the hostage’s eyes.

"You stinky cop, you were happy to receive money, but you were timid when giving information, and now you turn your back on me when you're in trouble!!"

"And you're asking people to hide?! Why are you pretending to be brave and fearless? When the other police arrive, they'll arrest you first! Traitors are the most hateful!!"

Songshan's inner fear made him curse louder and louder, and the hand holding the knife gradually exerted force, piercing the hostage's neck, and the old man groaned in pain.

Katsutoshi Teraoka's mind went blank.

was heard.

Everything about him secretly accepting bribes and selling police intelligence to others was now heard by an unrelated person.

"Ugh……"

A very soft sigh came from the other end of the headset.

"It's pitiful, but given your current situation, you have no choice but to kill the hostages as well."

"no!"

Katsutoshi Teraoka's forehead was covered in sweat. He came to his senses and subconsciously retorted: "How could I do this?!"

This is not the same at all!

Killing criminals in times of crisis, killing gangsters who have bribed you, and killing hostages who have heard your secrets are completely different concepts!

If he kills innocent people, what is the difference between him and the real criminals?!

Matsumoto on the other side noticed that he was communicating with someone else and suddenly became even more panicked: "What? Who are you talking to?!"

"So what else can you do now?"

Katsutoshi Teraoka stood there in a daze.

The female voice continued, "You're hoping that after he saw you kill Song Shan with his own eyes, he'll keep it a secret for you and not report you to the police?"

"Do you think it's possible? Do you dare to bet on this tiny possibility? As long as he is alive, he is a threat to you."

Katsutoshi Teraoka felt as if someone had poured a basin of cold water over his head and felt cold all over.

He knew she was telling the truth.

He himself is a policeman and has handled many cases. He knows that some of the reporters are like this - the criminals let them go because they beg for mercy. They say they will not call the police, but as soon as they reach a safe area, they will immediately call 110.

After all, arresting criminals is a natural right. A little bit of kindness is not enough to erase the evidence of their crimes and exempt them from legal punishment.

Katsutoshi Teraoka suddenly realized that from the moment he entered this building... no, from the moment he first accepted the bribe from Matsuyama, he might have had no other choice.

"Sacrificing yourself for others is the stupidest thing to do."

The female voice was gentle, and in a trance, Katsutoshi Teraoka's fingers seemed to be entangled in invisible spider silk. The hunter hooked it lightly, and he automatically pressed the trigger.

——He aimed the gun at the hostage's chest.

"——For your own future, kill him."

call out!

Boom!

His fingers pressed hard, and the bullet quickly passed through the barrel. Under the effect of the silencer, the sound of this life-hunting bullet was suppressed to the lightest.

Even the sound of the hostages falling was louder and harsher.

Songshan was stunned when he saw the dead hostage at his feet. He never thought that the police would really shoot without caring about the hostage. But he didn't care about that at this time. He turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

call out!

The second gunshot soon rang out.

Songshan ran only a few steps when he was shot in the back and fell heavily in the corridor.

There was no order this time, it was Katsutoshi Teraoka who fired the gun himself, and this time he did not hesitate at all.

In a blink of an eye, two more bodies appeared in the corridor. Katsutoshi Teraoka looked at them and slowly lowered his hands.

At this moment, he felt that his soul had been separated from his body, and his whole body had no weight at all, falling lightly to the ground.

After a few seconds, he said, "...You guys, will you help me deal with the aftermath?"

"Yes, this is what we agreed on. The person I arranged is already on the way."

The female voice finished speaking, but suddenly changed the subject.

"But before that, there are two more people you have to deal with on your own."

Katsutoshi Teraoka raised his head.

He saw a machine facing him not far away, above the door of the room where the other man had walked out.

The small machine was pressed against the ceiling, overlooking the entire corridor from above. He saw a face that had completely lost its color reflected on the cold, transparent lens.

Everything just happened so suddenly that it was only at this moment that Katsutoshi Teraoka suddenly remembered what Matsumoto had said a few minutes ago.

It turns out that what he was talking about was a camera.

——Everything that just happened happened under this camera.

"Although the homeowner may not find out so quickly, you have to go to their house and get rid of the video footage."

She let out a soft sigh.