Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Chapter 287 The Mad Master Ruyue

The taxi first went to a bank, then drove through the bustling city center and arrived at an abandoned factory near the dock.

The factory's rusty iron gate was half-open. After getting out of the car, Master Ruyue looked around warily before carrying a bag inside.

"Go, follow!"

Lin Xiuyi unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car with Kudo Yusaku, walking towards the abandoned factory.

"Neither of you has told me why you were following Master Ruyue yet?"

Inspector Megure scratched his head in frustration, glanced at the backs of the two people in front of him, and then followed them.

The factory was dark and gloomy, with a damp sea breeze carrying the smell of machine oil, and rats scurrying about in the corners.

Lin Xiuyi and his two companions proceeded cautiously, and soon, they heard voices coming from ahead.

"...Did you bring the money?" a rough, hoarse male voice asked, his tone impatient.

Lin Xiuyi and Kudo Yusaku exchanged a glance, then leaned against an abandoned machine, listening intently.

Inspector Megure, curious, peered through the cracks in the rusty pipes and witnessed a shocking scene: Master Kisaragi handed a bag of banknotes to the bald man who had spoken.

In the dim light, the bald man squatted on the ground, quickly counting the banknotes in the bag.

A tall man leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. His face, shrouded in smoke, was terrifyingly grim.
There was also a short man holding a painting, on which Mount Fuji was clearly visible.

Could they be...?
Inspector Megure's pupils contracted sharply as he turned to look at Hayashi Hideichi in disbelief.

The latter did not speak, but simply used his finger to lightly write a few words on the dusty pipe: "Art Museum Robbers".

It's really them!
Inspector Megure's heart pounded, his brain raced, but he just couldn't figure it out: Master Kisaragi was clearly a victim, so how could he be colluding with the robbers?
At that moment, Master Ruyue's cold voice came from ahead:
"As per our previous agreement, I've given you the money, and now you should return the painting to me."

His tone was completely different from the panic he had shown at the art museum; he was remarkably calm.

The short thug suddenly burst into a shrill laugh: "Master, do you think we're fools? This painting is worth over two hundred million! You think you can get rid of us with this little bit of money?"

"This painting isn't worth two hundred million at all!" Master Ruyue suddenly raised her voice, her tone filled with suppressed anger. "It's just been hyped up! Even if you tried to sell it elsewhere, you wouldn't get that much money!"

"Don't break your promise! Give me the painting now!"

"Credit?"

The tall thug sneered, spat out the cigarette butt from his mouth, and stomped it out forcefully.
"You hired us to steal your own painting. If word gets out, your reputation will be ruined, right?"

He took a step forward, his cold face filled with anger.

"We lost a brother because of this painting. You have to do something for that, right?"

"That's your problem!" Master Ruyue clenched her fists angrily. "What did you say before? That this would be a piece of cake! And look what happened!"

"If I hadn't volunteered to be your hostage, you would have been captured long ago..."

"Enough with the nonsense!" the short thug rudely interrupted him. "Either you pay more, or we'll expose this to the media! The great painter Ruyue Fengshui hires someone to rob his own painting—what a sensational story!"

“You…you don’t understand at all! That painting is my disgrace! That bastard businessman forced me to…”

Ruyue Fengshui, her eyes red, looked at the three of them, then suddenly lunged forward, reaching for the picture frame.

"Give me back the painting!"

"Go away!"

The short thug grinned and delivered a heavy punch to Ruyue Fengshui's abdomen.

The master immediately collapsed to the ground, his emaciated body writhing in pain. Inspector Megure could no longer restrain himself and rushed out from behind the pipe: "Stop!"

Lin Xiuyi and Kudo Yusaku exchanged a helpless glance and could only quickly follow.

"Damn it, it was you guys!"

Upon seeing Lin Xiuyi and his companion, the tall thug's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively reached behind him to touch his gun.

Midway through, he realized that his gun had already been kicked away by the other party.

In the instant he was stunned, Kudo Yusaku darted forward, his right leg sweeping out like a whip, and kicked him hard in the knee.

"boom!"

The tall thug fell heavily to the ground, and before he could struggle, Kudo Yusaku had already swiftly pinned him to the ground.

Lin Xiuyi, on the other side, was even faster. Before the short thug could even react, he was struck on the side of the neck with a hand chop, his vision went black, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

The bald thug counting the money was his accomplice who had picked him up earlier. Seeing that things were not going well, he grabbed the money bag and tried to run away.

"Don't move! I'm a police officer!"

Inspector Megure drew his pistol, pointing it directly at the assailant's back.

"If you run away again, I'll shoot!"

Upon hearing this, the bald thug froze. His blond-haired companion had been shot dead.

Seeing the dark muzzle of the gun, the bald thug dared not move again. He obediently put down the money bag, raised his hands, and squatted on the ground, letting Inspector Megure handcuff him.

"My painting! My painting!"

Taking advantage of the moment when the three were subduing the thugs, Ruyue Fengshui struggled to climb toward the painting "Mount Fuji".

Then, to everyone's astonishment, he began to tear at it like a madman.

"Shoot..."

The fragile drawing paper shattered in his hands, the outline of Mount Fuji was roughly torn into pieces, and scattered all over the ground.

“Even if you destroy the painting, it doesn’t change the fact that you hired robbers to rob it,” Lin Xiuyi said coldly.

Ruyue Fengshui slumped to the ground, a relieved smile on his face: "...I know, for me, as long as this painting is destroyed, that's enough."

"What on earth is going on?" Inspector Megure scratched his head in confusion. "Master, isn't this painting your work? Why are you destroying it?"

Ruyue Fengshui silently lowered his head, his thin shoulders trembling slightly, clearly unwilling to mention the past.

“At the art museum, you said that this painting has no soul,” Lin Xiuyi said slowly. “You also said that the value of a painting should not be measured in money.”

"Back then, this painting sold for 200 million yen. Wasn't that just hype?"

"A publicity stunt?" Inspector Megure was even more puzzled.

Yusaku Kudo pushed up his glasses: "The value of many works of art is actually increased through hype."

"Take this painting for example. Without hype, it might only be worth tens of thousands of yen, and Master Kisaragi would just be an ordinary painter."

"But once this painting sold for a high price of 200 million yen, Master Kisaragi's value naturally increased exponentially, and he instantly became a well-known painter..."

(End of this chapter)