Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 333 Conan rescued Vermouth from Xiaolan!

Another poker card with enough force to cut gold and jade came at her. Xiaolan dodged by turning her head and pulled out a gun with her left hand.

Bang-!
There was a slight sound after turning the corner, and white smoke instantly spread out, filling the street.

Xiaolan quickly pressed her body against the wall, raised her hands to cover her mouth and nose, squinted her eyes, and leaned forward slightly like a cheetah ready to pounce.

"Run, the person next to you is fake!"

A strange man's shout was heard from the center of the smoke explosion.

Xiaolan subconsciously held Vermouth tighter with her left hand and immediately realized that something was wrong.

Neither the winery nor the police should have taken such rash action in the street after discovering that Mizuki Hotaru was someone in disguise.

And the most important thing is, those two poker cards are aimed at her face. What does this mean?
Shouldn't she be an innocent victim?

Chi Chi Chi -!
The pale smoke was torn into cracks, and countless playing cards covered Xiaolan's entire body.

Their pure white color blended in with the smoke, and the sound they made breaking through the wind was extremely small. By the time Xiaolan noticed them, it was too late to completely dodge them.

Feeling a sharp pain from the blade cutting her left shoulder, Xiaolan's eyes instantly turned cold. She let go of Vermouth, raised her hand to cover her face, lowered her body, and shot at the source of the cards!
Bang bang bang bang bang-!
The gunshot rang out, and Xiaolan rushed to the corner of the street immediately without caring whether she hit the target or not.

Whoever this person is, the current situation is very clear.

He wanted to put her to death!
As her mind turned, Xiaolan had already classified him as one of Vermouth's accomplices. As for his words, they were just a trick he used to confuse her!

Boom——!
A thin rope appeared under her feet at some point, and Xiaolan stumbled. The smoke in front of her rolled like a roaring evil dragon, and a cold light flashed in an instant!
Xiaolan's body bent in mid-air, and her left hand suddenly stretched out, grabbing the rope behind the cold light, pulling it back with the force of turning her body, raising her right hand horizontally, and pulling the trigger!
puff--!
A slight sound was heard not far ahead. Xiaolan's eyes lit up, her body steadied, and she shot forward like an arrow!

But the rope suddenly retracted, faster than she was. Xiaolan couldn't hold on to it anymore and her palm felt burning with pain.

Seeing two light pink balls flying out of the smoke in front of her and heading straight for her face, Xiaolan could only let go and dodge.

Bang bang——!
The small ball exploded in the air, emitting a large cloud of smoke.

Xiaolan held her breath, but immediately felt her eyes sore and she wanted to cry.

She knew that there was definitely something added to the smoke, but she couldn't care less at the moment and rushed forward more and more rapidly.

Catch the thief, catch the king first!

A huge wave suddenly rose up from the smoke screen ahead. "Sui Yue Ying Sheng! What are you doing standing there? Run!"

The sound was so deafening that Xiaolan was stunned for a moment.

She was stunned not because of the voice, but because of the meaning of the words. Assuming that the other party did not use deceitful words at this time, then the other party obviously regarded her as fake!
what is happening? !

Vermouth had remained where she was. After hearing this, she immediately understood what was going on and was quite surprised. She couldn't figure out where the person who attacked her secretly came from.

And she also felt quite helpless. Didn't she want to run?
There is absolutely no way you can escape!

Since Angel dared to let go of her, her teammate must be nearby. There was a sniper rifle mounted somewhere. If she ran away rashly, she would be seeking death!

However, after a series of "bang bang puff" sounds, the smoke spread further and covered the walls on the side. Vermouth immediately became restless.

Now that everyone's vision is blocked, even if all the disguise tools on her body are taken away, she has at least a 90% chance of escaping!

"We have discovered the sniper, let's go!"

Another loud shout came from the thickest smoke, and without hesitation, Vermouth jumped to the top of the wall and quickly flipped over.

Now, she is 100% sure!
Xiaolan was startled, but the next moment she heard Qing Liu Qian Su speak quickly in the headset:
"He's not talking about me, get out of the way!"

boom--! ! !
As soon as she finished speaking, a huge gunshot rang out across the sky, and a hideous gap appeared in the smoke screen.

The flying gravel scraped Xiaolan's cheek, leaving red marks. Xiaolan fired the empty bullet in front of the smoke screen, bent her elbow and hit the dent made by the sniper bullet hard.

With a loud "bang", a big hole appeared in the wall. Xiaolan jumped in at an angle, locked her sight on Vermouth who was running into someone else's house, and immediately chased after her.

There was another loud gunshot behind him, and Qing Yanagi Chisou's voice also sounded in the headset at the same time:
"It was a white man with light blond hair. His exact identity is unknown. The angle was not good enough to kill him."

She and the unknown sniper were almost on the same street facade. After all, the person opposite was not stupid enough to stick his head completely out of the balcony. Qingyan Chisu could only try to let the bullet glide past the wall.

Unfortunately, the other party suddenly lowered his head. It was unclear whether he had discovered her or the companion of the man with the cards had gone over to find her.

Now her shot completely exposed her position. Aoyagi Chiso immediately left the balcony, put a sniper rifle obtained from the Zero Group into the guitar case, turned around and left.

"be careful."

Xiaolan responded casually and rushed into the house. At the end of the entrance, a middle-aged man in a blue bathrobe was lying on the ground with blood on his hands. There was no other figure.

Having seen the case of Aoyagi Chiso being cheated before, Xiaolan would certainly not ignore it. She walked straight forward, turned him over from the ground, and pulled his face hard.

It's not ripped off, it's the real thing.

She used too much force and woke the man up. When he saw Xiaolan's cold look, he waved his hands in panic.

"It's not me! I didn't kill anyone! He was just lazy and gluttonous. He asked for it!"

Upon hearing this, Xiaolan knew that he had probably really killed someone. She didn't bother to waste time talking to him. She raised her palm and hit him on the neck, then threw the unconscious him to the door to block it.

Xiaolan's nostrils flared as she followed the faint smell of blood and walked to the sliding door at the end of the corridor.

She moved sideways and gently opened the door, then looked inside cautiously. She found a bathroom. A bloody body lay beside the bathtub, also wearing a blue bathrobe.

Xiaolan hesitated for a second, but still walked quickly towards the man, raised her hand to feel his breath, and then her eyes immediately lit up.

Still angry!
Xiaolan lowered her voice and said, "Tianshu, help me call an ambulance. There is a seriously injured man in the bathroom on the first floor of Tanaka's house at 4-chome, Beihua-cho."

"As you wish, Miss Angel." Yingsheng on the other end of the phone immediately dialed the emergency number and asked, "Can Vermouth still catch up?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's not very likely." Xiaolan's voice was quite low.

"I should be the one to say sorry. I didn't expect you to be attacked head-on. Retreat quickly and don't get yourself involved." Yingsheng sighed. The emergency call was connected. Yingsheng told the operator the location and asked them to call the police.

By the time he hung up the phone, Xiaolan had already climbed out of the bathroom window. Seeing that there was no one around, she put away her pistol, raised her hand to cover the wound on her left shoulder, ran a few steps in the yard, jumped over the wall, and landed on the empty street outside.

"What should we do now?" Xiaolan asked.

"Of course we should go to the hospital. Lan, you are injured. The smoke bomb may contain poison, so we must take it seriously," Yingsheng said.

"The injury is not serious. I can bandage it myself. And the smoke should not be poisonous. It seems to be an irritating gas from onions and some pepper."

"Who knows if there's any hidden danger inside? Go to the hospital for a comprehensive checkup to be safer. Lan, since those weird guys think you're the fake one, you'll be safer if you prove that you're the real one."

Xiaolan was silent for a moment: "But I shot before."

Yingsheng said: "The other party is so secretive, his identity is not visible at all. Even if he is really a policeman, he is unlikely to come to you for this matter. If he is actually Vermouth's companion, and those words before were just nonsense, then now that his goal has been achieved, he is unlikely to rush to kill you. You still have many secrets."

The most crucial point is the whereabouts of Shirley and Junerick.

Theoretically speaking, this should be the code of conduct for the winery, the police, and even unknown forces.

Xiaolan thought for a moment and said, "From Vermouth's performance, I am more inclined to believe that those people have misunderstood. But she is the Thousand-Faced Witch after all, and I still can't be 100% sure."

Having said that, she figured out the direction and headed towards the Mihua Central Hospital. She also used another mobile phone to call her class teacher and asked for leave on the grounds of feeling unwell.

Of course the head teacher approved her application immediately, and also comforted her and told her the results of yesterday's monthly exam.

Still number one in the class.

Xiaolan's heart moved, and she asked, "Where's Qingliu-san?"

"She? Of course she's the last one. Her parents must be notified. The cheating is too rampant. How dare she..."

"My classmate Shuiyue and I have tutored her. Teacher, if you don't believe her results, you can give her another test paper and let her take it alone." Xiaolan interrupted.

"What? Is there such a thing?!"

After a few more words, Xiaolan hung up the phone and told Yingsheng the whole process of her sudden encounter.

"Poker cards?"

Yingsheng raised his eyebrows and said in a surprised tone: "Could it be Kaito Kidd? So, he also knows the art of disguise, and he is probably from the same school as Vermouth. Did he come here specially to save his junior sister this time?"

Kaito Kidd has been active as early as twenty years ago. Yingsheng tends to think that Vermouth is in her early twenties this year, so naturally he thinks she is a junior sister or apprentice.

Xiaolan frowned and said, "Kaito Kidd has never killed anyone, but this time he even used a sniper rifle."

Sonoko likes Kaito Kid very much and is his avid fan. As his best friend, Xiaolan naturally knows a lot about him.

Yingsheng did not comment: "Maybe someone is trying to ruin his reputation from afar, maybe he is just a hypocritical guy, who knows. Vermouth said that she was a disciple of the famous magician Kuroba Touma, it seems that we have to investigate this aspect later."

"We can't be sure whether this is true now," Xiaolan reminded.

"Yes, it's really nerve-wracking."

Yingsheng said in a distressed tone: "Lan, I seem to be arrogant again. Seeing that Vermouth was very nice to you, I thought I could make her surrender sincerely, so I didn't let you torture her, let alone use truth serum. Now we can't be sure whether her news is true or false, and she ran away again. We have worked in vain."

Xiaolan snorted lightly: "Don't talk about me as a puppet. I don't need you to help me shirk responsibility like this. Vermouth is very cooperative, I told you so myself; I will never let her run away, I also promised. Now, it seems that I am incompetent no matter how you look at it."

"No, I miscalculated. I thought the winery would carefully verify before taking action."

"No, I should have knocked Vermouth out immediately after the attack. I didn't expect the other side to have so many smoke bombs, and I didn't expect them to have snipers. In order to protect me, Qingliu gave up sniping Vermouth."

"Well...we both have problems then?"

"Yes, we must do better next time."

Yingsheng smiled and admired Xiaolan's mentality. He said, "I heard that poker player say, 'They have found the sniper.' It seems that he and the blond white man are not on the same side. There won't be other forces interfering."

"Do you want to call the winery to test the waters?" Xiaolan asked.

"That's right, you were attacked, and after you escaped, you didn't see me, so you realized something was wrong and called me to verify it. Then you realized that the Mizuki Hotaru who asked you to go to Ian's apartment yesterday afternoon was a fake, and the real one is now in a wheelchair at the Mika Central Hospital."

Yingsheng sighed, "This horror story happened. Of course I have to ask the winery for clarification."

Having said that, Yingsheng dialed Gin's number.

The person on the other end seemed to be always by the phone. He answered the call in seconds, and then remained silent as usual.

Yingsheng curled his lips slightly: "Is that you, Sir? Looking at the call records, you called me yesterday."

"Ah... Mizuki Hotaru, are you here to turn yourself in?"

Gin used an aural tone, his voice drawn out and quite playful.

Gin is a big jerk and a big contributor to murderous intent. When Yingsheng saw that there was no hint in his heart, he knew that he should be in a good mood now.

Yingsheng said, "I don't understand what you mean, sir. To be honest, shouldn't the organization pay me mental damages? I was tortured so badly yesterday."

"At least you survived."

"I also want to thank you for the medicine. I didn't feel any pain at the time. After checking, I found that three of my ribs were broken and almost penetrated into my lung. I also want to thank the magical vodka for being able to stop such a monster. It's like a Slavic superman."

There is some truth in what Yingsheng said.

Although he was moving normally at that time, the excessive amount of drugs injected by the winery could not be metabolized in a short period of time, making him feel dizzy and like a severely drunk person.

In that state of separation between body and soul, he felt that it would be no problem to carve patterns on his eyelids.

Gin sneered: "Is the truth serum of no use to you at all?"

(End of this chapter)