Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Lin Xiuyi and Hattori Heizo's hushed discussion, though not loud, sounded particularly abrupt amidst the surrounding chorus of admiring praise.

Standing next to them, Ikeba Shizuka was speechless. She couldn't help but nudge Lin Xiuyi lightly with her elbow and whisper a reproachful rebuke.
"Can't you two just quietly enjoy the magic show? Why do you have to be like detectives, digging deep and exposing the beautiful illusion? It's so boring."

"Sorry, it's a habit," Hattori Heizo was the first to react, realizing that it was indeed inappropriate to expose someone like that in public, and quickly smiled apologetically.

"I simply feel that this kind of performance, which relies on skills and illusions to deceive the audience, is meaningless," Lin Xiu stated her opinion frankly and calmly.

Ikeba Shizuka rolled her eyes at him helplessly, feeling both annoyed and amused by his overly rational attitude.

She didn't bother to say anything more and turned her attention back to the stage.

Because of Ikenami Shizuka's reminder, Hayashi Shuichi and Hattori Heizo became much more restrained and stopped publicly discussing the principles of magic.

However, as Lin Xiuyi looked at the elegant and poised Kuroba Touichi on stage, he felt that the other man's handsome face looked quite familiar, and a strange sense of déjà vu lingered in his mind.

By the way, how come this guy looks so much like Yusaku Kudo?
Especially the contours of their eyebrows and eyes... Could there be some unknown kinship between the two?

Lin Xiuyi frowned slightly, lost in thought.

However, he immediately shook his head, dismissing the idea.

He vaguely remembered that in the world of Detective Conan, there were quite a few characters with the same face as Shinichi Kudo, but they were basically not related by blood.

Yusaku Kudo and Toichi Kuroba are probably in a similar situation, just strangers who look alike.

By the way, I ran into Yusaku Kudo on the plane to the US last time. He said he was going to the US for a novel launch event. I wonder if he encountered any attacks specifically targeting Japanese people.
Lin Xiuyi had some wicked thoughts. Just as his mind wandered away from the stage and his thoughts drifted into the distance, he suddenly felt the entire venue fall silent.

The music, applause, and exclamations that had been filling the air suddenly stopped, as if they had been cut off by an invisible hand.

At the same time, Lin Xiuyi felt countless gazes, like spotlights, all focused on him.

"what happened?"

Lin Xiuyi was pulled back to reality by the sudden silence and stares, and asked in a low voice in confusion.

"Onii-chan, the magician invites you to come up on stage and help him perform the next magic trick!" Reiko looked up at him, her face full of envy and excitement.

"Ask me to come up?" Lin Xiuyi was slightly taken aback, feeling somewhat surprised.

According to his understanding, in magic shows, the segments that require audience participation are usually filled by pre-arranged shills.

He blurted out the thought without thinking: "Shouldn't the people a magician hires be pre-arranged?"

Because the surroundings were unusually quiet, everyone was waiting for Lin Xiuyi's response. His words, which were not loud, were immediately and clearly heard throughout the back of the hall and quickly spread forward.

His overly "direct" and even "undermining" remark immediately stunned the audience who were holding their breath.

Many people were amused by this sudden "truth," and suppressed chuckles and whistles rose and fell in the audience. On stage, Kuroba Toichi's elegant smile froze imperceptibly for a moment.

The reason he chose Lin Xiuyi from among the audience was because he clearly saw on stage that Lin Xiuyi was absent-minded and lost in thought during the most crucial and exciting moment of the performance!

This was an intolerable provocation for a magician who was absolutely confident in his performance and even somewhat arrogant.

Kuroba Toichi wanted to take this opportunity to invite the inattentive audience member onto the stage for some interaction, which could also be considered a kind of alternative reminder.

However, inviting the audience to cooperate is ultimately a matter of mutual consent.

Kuroba Toichi's original plan was that if Hayashi Shuichi clearly expressed his unwillingness, he would also step down and find a more enthusiastic audience member instead.

But to everyone's surprise, Lin Xiuyi actually blurted out such a question that could be described as ruining the event!
If we were to replace him now, wouldn't that just prove Lin Xiuyi right in the eyes of the other viewers?

He found people to cooperate with the performance, and sure enough, they were shills who had been arranged in advance!

This will be a huge blow to his reputation as a "magician of miracles" and the authenticity of his performances.

In a flash, Kuroba Touichi had already made up his mind.

He coughed twice to cover up his momentary embarrassment, then put on a calm smile again.

What's even more shocking is that he slightly adjusted the position of his Adam's apple, and when he spoke again, the sound he made was exactly the same as Lin Xiuyi's previous tone, intonation, and even manner of speaking!
"This audience member," Kuroba Toichi said, standing on the stage and using Lin Xiuyi's voice, he extended the invitation again, "since you are not a plant I arranged, shouldn't you come up on stage and personally verify whether my next magic trick has the assistance of an insider?"

His incredible imitation once again left the audience in awe!

This is not just simple imitation, it's practically a copy-paste of the voice!
Eri Kisaki and Yukiko, who were very familiar with Hayashi Hideichi's voice, were all stunned, looking at the stage and then at Hayashi Hideichi in disbelief, as if trying to confirm whether it was really him speaking.

"That voice... it's so similar!!" Yukiko gasped, covering her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide. "It's exactly the same as Shuichi's voice! How did he do that?"

"Onii-chan, just now... it really wasn't you speaking?"

Lingzi was also dumbfounded. She looked up at her brother beside her, and after receiving a negative shake of his head, a brilliant idea flashed in her mind.
"Could it be... could it be that the magician also has a voice-changing machine like Professor Agasa?"

She remembered that at the Mikasa Technology Exhibition, Professor Agasa had proudly demonstrated his invention, a machine that could change voices.

But that voice changer was quite large and required parameter adjustments to use. Unlike the magician on stage, who could just open his mouth and say it without any warning!
Lin Xiuyi himself was also somewhat stunned by what he heard.

Although he already knew that Kuroba Toichi, the first Phantom Thief Kid, must have mastered the same superb skills of disguise and voice changing as his son, Kuroba Kaito.

But "knowing" is one thing, hearing it with your own ears is another.

The ability to perfectly replicate another person's voice without any props or aids, relying solely on one's own skill, is truly astonishing. (End of Chapter)