Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 430, Section 424: The Detectives' Failed Infiltration
Although Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama aren't particularly brave, their bravery is selective, depending on who they're with.

Those who are alive are generally not afraid, after all, no one is afraid of something that can be dealt with in one punch.

After realizing that Hattori Heiji's commotion was not an attack from nowhere, the panicked and frightened Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama finally calmed down.

Ran Mouri sincerely apologized to Heiji Hattori with her eyes, while Kazuha Toyama, Heiji's childhood friend, was destined to bear even more of Heiji's resentment.

"Um, how about we go investigate Mr. Shinichi's warehouse first?" It was clear that Hattori Heiji had forgotten their original purpose for coming here.

Conan, who was next to Osaka Kuroko, quickly offered a hint.

Bro, it's not like we just noticed you're dark-skinned. Let's get down to business first.

Once the investigation is over and you're back in Osaka, even if you wear face masks every day, no one will know, right?

As expected, in the eyes of the hot-blooded young man, solving the case was more important.

After a brief interlude, the group of three adults and one child leaped down from the wooden floor of the connecting corridor, crossed the courtyard, and arrived at the second-floor warehouse of the Takeda family.

"Is anyone upstairs?" Several people gathered at the warehouse entrance, but did not go in immediately.

For convenience, Shinichi Takeda moved his workshop here after the two-story warehouse was built.

This warehouse is mostly for his use.

This is Shinichi Takeda's personal studio and work storage.

"I'll go take a look!" Toyama Kazuha gestured to the three of them, then bowed and slowly walked around to the back of the warehouse.

The windows at the back of the warehouse were all dark, making it clear that unless Shinichi Takeda was trying to get a feel for things in the dark in the workshop.

Otherwise, there shouldn't be anyone in this warehouse.

Yuanshan and Yeyuan returned, gave everyone a thumbs-up, and then mouthed, "No lights on, probably no one inside."
Now that it's confirmed that "no one is here," the detectives' instinct to sneak in and pick locks should kick in again.

Here we need to comment on the differences between detectives—Heiji Hattori and Conan can actually be considered the same type of detective.

Their lock-picking methods are quite traditional, and they like to use various ingenious little tools.

It could be a piece of wire, or something you can pick up anywhere.

In short, just look at these two; sometimes it's hard to tell whether they're righteous detectives or experienced criminals.

His skill points are quite diverse.

But Ran Mouri is different. She is a detective of the "body-refining" school. For example, if Ran Mouri were to solve the door lock in front of everyone, she would either forcefully pull it open.

Or just kick the door open.

In short, I will use my fists to help you achieve your dreams.

Both schools of thought have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of the body-refining school is that there are relatively few people in it, so the detective industry has a fairly good reputation.

Both the murderer and the clients are relatively safe.

Of course, there are other advantages, such as high efficiency and speed, whether it's opening a door or conducting an interrogation.

Sometimes we don't advocate violence, but we have to admit that violence is indeed very efficient.

Others are truly stubborn and will eventually have to suffer the consequences.

Commonly known as a cheapskate.

The advantage of classic characters like Heiji Hattori and Conan is that they are low-key, which suits the needs of "frontline workers".

Whether you're a detective or a thief, once it comes to picking locks and entering, they're pretty much the same.

None of them want to be watched by a third party while they are "working".

At this point, the classic lock-picking methods used by Heiji Hattori and Conan are still the most suitable.

They all sneaked out of bed; none of them wanted to wake the Takeda family at this time.

After Hattori Heiji and Conan fiddled with the lock for a while, it made a "click" sound. The two of them pulled hard from the left and right, and the warehouse door was slowly pulled open.

Just like from the outside, there were no lights in the warehouse. The dark corridors and rooms sounded especially eerie at night, with the sound of leaves rustling against each other.

Ran Mouri made a gulping sound and swallowed unconsciously, while Kazuha Toyama grabbed Ran Mouri's arm first.

Although the combined fighting power of these two girls was enough for them to easily defeat all the members of the Takeda family.

But out of reverence for gods and ghosts, the two still felt an instinctive fear of such an environment.

Heiji Hattori, that hot-blooded idiot, didn't have so many worries.

He turned on his flashlight, exchanged a glance with Conan, and then walked into the warehouse. Their first target was Shinichi Takeda's workshop.

Because the second and third sons of the Takeda family had already shown them around the warehouse that evening, they also knew where Takeda Shinichi's workshop was.

The four of them lined up in a row, with Heiji Hattori at the head and Conan Edogawa at the back, and arrived one after another at the door of Shinichi Takeda's studio.

Heiji Hattori probed the room briefly and found that the door was not locked.

The warehouse has been built for many years now, and the wooden door of the workshop is creaking and groaning from age.

Osaka Black Chicken tried its best to keep its movements as gentle as possible, but unfortunately, some noise still escaped.

Once the studio door opened a small enough gap for a few people to pass through, the four of them held their breath and listened intently.

Takeda Kahiro made no other comment.

The four filed in, but the lights were still not turned on.

Just to be on the safe side, Conan even drew the curtains in the room.

In this way, even the light from a flashlight wouldn't be seen by the rest of the Takeda family through the window.

What followed was the much-anticipated search.

The workshop mainly contains parts for making puppets; there are virtually no finished puppets.

It's at most a semi-finished product.

Most finished products are either stored away in the storage room for preservation or taken out for sale. Finished products are definitely not displayed in the studio.

Unless it's a freshly made finished product.

Even a half-finished product is enough for Hattori Heiji and Conan to glean sufficient information from it.

They discovered that the unfinished parts of the room seemed to have been intentionally designed and created with a cavity by Shinichi Takeda.

Hattori Heiji didn't understand puppets: "Is this hollow part necessary for a puppet?"
What's the explanation?

Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama also looked confused; they had seen puppet shows before.

But this was truly the first time they had ever come into close contact with a puppet.

They weren't sure whether the puppet's body actually needed such a special cavity.

“No, this part shouldn’t be necessary. Mr. Shinichi probably designed this cavity specifically for this reason.” Conan’s voice echoed softly from not far away.

As Heiji Hattori shone his flashlight, they noticed Conan's complicated expression and the packet of white powder he was holding.

"Hey, Conan, this thing isn't what I'm thinking of, is it?!" Hattori Heiji's expression changed drastically.

If Conan is really holding anesthetic, then this is a very serious matter.

Putting everything else aside, the sheer quantity of anesthetic in Conan's hand is astonishing enough.

What kind of good person could be capable of smuggling such a large quantity of narcotics?
Those so-called three suicide cases might have some hidden story behind them!
"Clap clap clap clap!"

Amidst a burst of applause, the studio lights suddenly came on. The applause came from the doorway, and the four looked in the direction of the sound, only to find Shinichi Takeda standing in the hallway outside the studio with a sneer on his face, along with his two younger brothers, whose expressions were quite unpleasant.

"He really is a detective from Tokyo. Even a high school student shouldn't be underestimated." Shinichi Takeda said, approaching the studio step by step.

"That's what I dislike about detectives; their restless curiosity always drives them to do things that are unpleasant to others."

I warned you about this a long time ago.

Neither Takeda Ryuji nor Takeda Yuzo said anything after being scolded by their elder brother, Takeda Shinichi, but their expressions were not good.

Having been repeatedly warned and instructed by their elder brother, how could they not understand the dangers of detectives?
So they deliberately didn't choose those with seniority or who were older. They all tacitly agreed to find high school detectives.

Who would have thought that curiosity was something these detectives inherited?!
These high school detectives are surprisingly curious! To make matters worse, they actually discovered something deadly!
"Anesthetics" are the key and trump card that enabled the Takeda family to live a life of wealth in the remote and impoverished area of ​​Rukuro Ridge.

This is also their family's biggest secret.

This is a secret that cannot be discovered by anyone—even if these two high school students suddenly tell them that the three people who died in the Takeda family were murdered, they do not want anyone to discover this secret.

Because if this secret were discovered by outsiders, they would either prevent them from ever speaking out again.

Otherwise, the Takeda clan would truly be finished.

The second and third sons of the Takeda family did not want their family to perish.

No matter how many people they harm by selling anesthetics, you'll never know how painful it is until you've been cut by the knife yourself.

"do not move!"

Despite the sudden danger, the four people in the studio remained calm. They truly had no need to panic.

Heiji Hattori is a master of swordsmanship, while Conan is covered in gadgets. The other two could make the three brothers cry for their parents with just their fists.

So, Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama subconsciously began to communicate with each other through their eyes.

This makes sense; after all, you need to assign tasks before launching an attack. Otherwise, what happens to the other two thugs if they both choose the same target?
Kazuha Toyama doesn't trust Conan, and Ran Mouri doesn't trust Kuroko Osaka. They each have their own weaknesses.

At this critical moment, Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama's little scheme was discovered.

Whether out of caution or not, Shinichi Takeda drew his gun immediately.

Regardless of whether he was a drug dealer or one of Rum's men, it was perfectly normal for Shinichi Takeda to have a gun.

The appearance of this vessel for equalizing all beings indeed made Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama feel constrained.

For Ran Mouri, the danger of the pistol wasn't that the dark muzzle was right in front of her.

For her, shooting from the shadows was the most dangerous thing.

While Ran Mouri's movements couldn't outrun a bullet, her reaction was far faster than Shinichi Takeda's, who fired the shot.

This means that Ran Mouri could actually dodge the bullets fired by Shinichi Takeda.

Unfortunately, her ability to dodge bullets was useless; the two "useless" men behind her couldn't do the same.

Therefore, Ran Mouri could only be subdued by this small pistol.

A rather strange balance has been struck in the studio.

Shinichi Takeda used a gun to "subdue" a room full of people, but did not let his two younger brothers tie them up.

The reason is simple: there are three people inside (excluding Conan). Even though two of them are girls, the way those two girls looked at him just now gave Takeda Shinichi a chill down his spine.

It's better to play it safe.

Most importantly, Shinichi Takeda himself did not want to fire the shot.

If you take down one, you have to take down the second and third. If you take down all these people, there's still Lin Longma's group left.

Unlike these high school students, Lin Longma was not "going it alone".

They brought two cars full of bodyguards.

The two sides clearly knew each other. How would Lin Longma explain himself if he fired a shot?

To put it more realistically, what could Shinichi Takeda, all alone with just a gun, possibly do?
Lin Longma could overwhelm him with bodyguards.

But we definitely can't let these high school students go.

Shinichi Takeda actually wanted to contact his "protector," Lord Rum, and ask him to send someone to take these people away and deal with them.

He would then tell Ryoma that the high school students had left first or that they were going somewhere together, in short, they were leaving the Takeda family.

What does their inability to find the person later have to do with the Takeda family?
If they have any suspicions, they can come and search the place anytime. The Takeda family is least afraid of the police coming to their door!
To achieve all this, the most important thing is to first "intimidate" these kids. Especially that elementary school student, the one holding the "anesthetic" he's going to send away this time.

That little rascal might accidentally drop or damage his "golden egg." Elementary school students are definitely unreliable.

After making a plan in his mind, Takeda Shinichi prioritized the task, pointed the gun at Conan, and said:

"Come on, Conan, give me what you have in your hand. Then I'll let you go home, okay?"

I hate adults who lie to children without thinking.

Honestly, even a real child wouldn't believe such nonsense, but is Conan an ordinary child?

He is not.

Conan, holding a bag of "anesthetic," asked Shinichi Takeda with surprise, "Are you serious?!"

"Of course, I'm an adult and I would never lie!" Shinichi Takeda said with certainty, and Conan seemed quite interested.

"Alright then, you'd better keep your word!" Conan quickly ran towards Shinichi Takeda.

Shinichi Takeda suddenly narrowed his eyes: "Slow down, kid, we're not in a hurry."

Conan raised his childlike face and asked, "Huh?"

He seemed to be frightened by Shinichi Takeda. In his panic, he tripped over his own foot, causing the sachet of anesthetic in his hand to fly into the air, and he fell to the ground.

"Conan!"

Ran Mouri was concerned about Conan, but Shinichi Takeda was even more concerned about the anesthetic bag hanging in mid-air. Although the packaging was quite secure.

But if it's left here, what's the difference between that and throwing money away?!

(End of this chapter)