Daily Spy Life in the Detective Conan World

Chapter 257 The Treasure and Its Origins (Day 2 of 10,000 words)
Conan's head popped up with a question mark: "Uncle Natsukawa, did you secretly solve the chess puzzle this afternoon behind my back?"

Conan was completely dumbfounded.

He thought he was on the third floor and Xia Chuan was on the second floor. He was the one deciphering the mystery the whole way, and Xia Chuan was like a bodyguard.

As it turned out, he was indeed on the third floor, while Xia Chuan was on the fourth floor.

It turns out that Xia Chuan had already obtained the key to the treasure.

Could it be that Xia Chuan helped him complete the puzzle game this time?

The famous detective was finding this blow hard to accept; it was even more unacceptable than Natsukawa's brute-force solution.

"The fishing is fake, the lake is fake, and all the puzzles I solved are fake." Conan was about to cry. It felt terrible to be looked down upon, but what could he say? Who would have thought that Natsukawa's deductive reasoning and puzzle-solving abilities were so strong?

“Although it was fake, I did see the lake, and Anya and the others were there. If they knew I had solved the puzzle, they would definitely want to go and check it out. To be honest, that ladder was so steep and had been there for so many years, the ladder might not be sturdy. I did this for everyone’s safety.”

"So, what's the treasure behind the oil painting? There must be more than just one key, right?"

Chess seems simple; he solved it in just a few minutes after watching it, but that doesn't mean the puzzle is really that easy.

Judging from the fact that the Mamiya family has been unable to solve the mystery for so many years, the old man's self-proclaimed status as an intellectual is indeed well-deserved.

With such elaborate puzzles, there must be something good behind the painting, and it's not impossible that the treasure has been split in two.

"Why don't you go and see for yourself later?" Xia Chuan smiled without saying a word. The scenery was beautiful, but only by seeing it with your own eyes could you truly appreciate its charm.

Natsukawa inserted the key into the hole and rotated it 90° in Conan's presence.

click-

A "+" shaped gap appeared in the middle of the originally perfectly sealed stone platform. As Xia Chuan rotated 180°, the stone platform completely cracked, revealing the treasure that had been hidden for decades.

"Is this the treasure? It certainly looks extraordinary."

Conan's eyes widened. The treasure was indeed unexpected; it was oval-shaped and actually a bright green ostrich egg.
The green surface is covered with dense gold patterns, giving it a noble and elegant look. The color and luster have probably faded due to the fact that it has been stored for many years and no longer has a clear translucency, but it still has a strong visual impact.

"."

Xia Chuan stared at the ostrich egg for a while, opened his mouth, and had something to say but couldn't.

"Uncle Xia Chuan, do you recognize this?"

Conan saw surprise in Natsukawa's eyes; this shouldn't be the expression of someone who has discovered treasure.

The expression of discovering treasure should be one of curiosity or shock, but Xia Chuan clearly looks a bit confused.

"I think this thing is the egg of the last Tsar's memories."

"The Egg of Memories?" He didn't know anything about it. In The Magician of the End of the Century, he only learned about the origin of the Egg of Memories from other people's explanations.

Xia Chuan nodded, his face beaming with joy.

He had seen this egg of memory not only in the animations of his previous life, but also on the bounty posters in the underworld in this life.

And just recently, he remembered it should be the Suzuki Foundation. Although the bounty hunter, Suzuki Jirokichi, was well hidden, the other party had collected information about this Egg of Memories through Frank.

Frank, of course, wouldn't hide the information he knew from Natsukawa, and since the Suzuki family had recently had dealings with them, he paid extra attention to the Suzuki family's affairs.

The Suzuki Foundation recently built a museum of modern cultural relics in Osaka, extensively collecting modern cultural and artistic treasures from around the world. This "Egg of Memory" is one of the Suzuki family's goals, and arguably their most important one. Suzuki Jirokichi is prepared to spend a great deal of money to acquire it and make it the museum's centerpiece.

After all, this thing bears witness to the decline of the Romanov dynasty and is a rare milestone in civilization.

The Suzuki Group is quite peculiar. Despite recent misfortunes, including kidnappings and terrorist attacks, Suzuki Jirokichi seems completely unconcerned and even has the mind to engage in this.

"It is also known as the Easter Egg, and was the last treasure of the Romanov dynasty created by the last Tsar."

"The last Tsar?"

Conan doesn't know anything about this, but if it's related to the last Tsar, then it's very valuable!

The value of this historical treasure lies not only in its cost but also, and perhaps more importantly, in its historical significance. Its connection to the last Tsar links it to the nation, making it a witness to the country's rise, fall, and eventual demise.

Xia Chuan reached out to pick up the Egg of Memories, but a cold voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Get your dirty hands off me, and don't touch my baby!"

The sound startled Conan. He hadn't expected to hear a voice behind him, and it wasn't from Mamiya Shiro, but from a man.

"Mr. Tian Yan?"

Conan turned around and saw that the person who spoke was Tian Yansheng, who had led them into the castle during the day.

At this moment, Tian Yanshengnan had already changed out of her gardener's outfit and was dressed in all black. If she hadn't walked out of the darkness herself, Conan wouldn't have noticed her at all.

His footsteps were very light, without making a sound. He held up a shiny black pistol and sneered, "Thank you so much. The best thing Master Aman has done in the past few years is letting me in."

I never dreamed that the treasure I'd been searching for for over a decade would be right here in this room. This way of opening it—thank goodness you were there, otherwise I probably would never have found it in my entire life.”

Tian Yansheng smiled self-deprecatingly, brandished her pistol, and said, "Put your hands up, walk to the wall and face it, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

"We helped you find the treasure you've been searching for for years, shouldn't you be thanking us? Isn't it a bit too much to point a gun at your benefactor?"

"Looks like you're not convinced, huh?" Tian Yanshengnan, with a gun in her hand, was brimming with confidence and looked down on Xia Chuan.

In his eyes, Natsukawa and Conan were just ordinary people who were a little smarter, and he had no reason to be afraid since he had a gun.

As for Xia Chuan's kicking Nishikawa Wumei away, so what? It's just that Nishikawa Wumei is too weak.

He's an assassin, and although he's been retired for over a decade, he hasn't neglected his physical training and believes he can do the same thing again.

From the very beginning, Kenjiro Tayan knew that Mamiya Shiro was actually Nishikawa Kunihime in disguise, including the scene where the other party killed Mamiya Shiro four years ago.

All of Nishikawa Kuniyoshi's actions were under his watchful eye, but he did not expose her behavior. Nishikawa Kuniyoshi's presence was undoubtedly a good shield.

The inscription on the stairs was not left by Mamiya Shiro on her deathbed, but by Takanashi Katsuo on purpose. His plan was to find the treasure, kill Nishikawa Monomi, and then frame her for stealing the treasure.

Otherwise, Mamiya Shiro was already seventy-nine years old when she died, how could she have had the strength to carve such a long string of words on the marble steps?

"It's not that, it's just that I think what you're doing is a bit impolite."

"It seems you're not too afraid of guns?" Tian Yansheng rarely encountered this situation. Normal people would tremble with fear when they saw him pull out a gun, but this person named Xia Chuan was a bit strange.

He started to take the other person seriously; usually, such people are not simple characters.

Is he a policeman? Or some kind of karate or taekwondo expert?
But as the saying goes, even the best kung fu master is afraid of a kitchen knife, let alone a firearm in his hand.

"Guns? Who isn't afraid of guns?" Xia Chuan pretended to be scared, then put his hands in his pockets and grinned with a look of disdain. "I'm just not afraid of you."

"Damn it!" Tian Yanshengnan was immediately annoyed. She pointed the gun at Xia Chuan and said coldly, "Put down that egg, or I'll send you to hell right now!"

"Why don't you try hitting me first, or have me smash it to the ground first? It's so fragile, it'll break if you drop it on the ground."

You must have been living in the Mamiya family for many years because of this, right? You wouldn't want it to fall to the ground and break, would you? Even if you could put it back together, its value would be much less than before.

"The Egg of Memories, I reckon it's worth tens of billions, right?"

"So it really is the Egg of Memories?" Tian Yansheng's eyes were filled with fervor; this thing was worth a fortune.

He stayed in the castle for so many years because he received news of the Egg of Memories.

Unfortunately, when he arrived here, the old master of the Mamiya family had already passed away, otherwise he would have arrested and tortured the other party.

After more than a decade of hard work, she has finally made it. Tian Yansheng was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes.

"You actually recognized this as the Egg of Memories? Who are you? Are you also an assassin?"

Upon hearing this, Conan's eyes lit up and his ears perked up.

To be honest, he was also very curious about Xia Chuan's identity.

As for whether he was a killer, he thought it was unlikely. What kind of killer would live across from a detective with a child, have a girlfriend, and be a police officer? That's unrealistic. Even if it's the darkest place under the lamp, it shouldn't be like this.

"Hehe, since you're an assassin, you should have heard of me, right?"

"Huh?" Conan's eyes widened, looking like he was watching a spectacle unfold, then he silently distanced himself from Natsukawa. If Uncle Natsukawa was an assassin, would he kill him to silence him? Should he not have listened to what he was about to say?
"What's your code name?" Tian Yanshengnan became a little more serious. If it was someone in the same profession, then she had to be a little more wary.

"Scorpio"

Scorpion?

Both Conan and Kenjiro Tada know English. The word means scorpion, and its transliteration is "Scorpion".

Even when Conan was a detective, he had never been involved in the underworld, so naturally he was unaware of the name's reputation in the underworld.

Although Tian Yansheng has been retired for many years because of the Egg of Memories, she still knows some things about the underworld.

“Shi Kaobing, I remember she was a woman, right?” Tian Yansheng’s expression was strange.

Xia Chuan was clearly a man, but he remembered that the assassin named Scroobing was a woman. His interest in Romanov dynasty artifacts made sense, since the Egg of Memories was a relic of the last Tsar.

But how do you explain gender?

"Perhaps you think gender is an issue, but have you ever considered that this is just fake news I've spread? After all these years in the underworld, you don't actually believe rumors you hear all the time, do you?"

As an assassin, don't you even understand the basic principle of protecting yourself?

No wonder I'd never heard of you before. Looks like you're just a lowly assassin, reduced to working as a gardener in this castle just to survive.

Xia Chuan kept nagging and disgusting the other party. Speaking of which, this kind of person is also a weirdo. The castle is clearly in the wilderness. He only needs to kill everyone in the castle to turn the place upside down. Isn't that simpler than lurking for more than ten years?
Tian Yansheng frowned, then her expression suddenly relaxed.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter whether you're Xia Chuan or Shi Kaobing. I'm pointing a gun at you now. Even if you're Shi Kaobing, I don't believe you can outrun a bullet."

Yes, the advantage is in my hands.

Tian Yansheng twisted her neck, deciding not to argue with Xia Chuan any longer, and put her finger on the trigger, ready to pull it.

If the other party is an assassin, then we cannot let our guard down and should deal with them as soon as possible to prevent them from having any backup plans.

Perhaps, this long delay is part of their planning for some kind of counterattack.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a white shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.

The white figure appeared too suddenly, and since visibility in the secret room was not very good to begin with, he did not see what it was. He only felt a strong pain on the back of his hand, and then he was completely knocked to the ground.

The pistol fell to the ground.

Tian Yansheng broke out in a cold sweat and looked in the direction where the pistol had fallen, only to find that the dog named Bond had already taken it away.

"Well done, Bond!" Xia Chuan smiled.

I was just arguing with the other party, all for this moment.

In fact, Bond woke up quite early, but he seemed too lazy and just lay there motionless.

As for Tian Yanshengnan...

In fact, he also noticed it; when he realized Bond had woken up, he just happened to see a sliver of the other's clothing peeking out from the passageway.

At first, he thought the person who came might be Mamiya Shiro's teammate, but he never expected it to be Tayan Katsuo playing the mantis stalking the cicada.

Unfortunately, this guy was unlucky and ran into him and Conan.

"Wang!"

Bond, pistol in his mouth, approached Xia Chuan, wagging his tail and waiting for his master's praise.

"Good dog, I'll reward you with the king crab I caught yesterday when we get back."

Conan: "."

Uncle Natsukawa is still so stubborn. He already said that you can't catch king crabs in the waters near Japan. This boast has no substance whatsoever.

Even without his pistol, Tian Yansheng still had the strength to resist. He glanced at the wound on his hand and gritted his teeth in hatred. If he still didn't realize that Xia Chuan had been trying to distract him at this moment, he would be too stupid.

The other party must have heard the name Scrooge somewhere before using it to scare him, actually just to create an opportunity for the Great Pyrenees to attack him.

Sure enough, it had been too long since he had done a mission, and his thoughts were a beat slower. Ten years ago, he would never have listened to Xia Chuan's story; he would have shot him dead long ago.

"Uncle Xia Chuan, be careful!"

Conan noticed that Tian Yansheng was rushing over and called out to warn her.

"Looks like you don't know pain." Xia Chuan sneered, raised his foot to block Tian Yansheng's sweeping leg, used his waist to support himself with his palms on the ground, and with a somersault, swiftly and rapidly swung a whip kick at Tian Yansheng's face.

If you slow down the movement, you can see that the moment the shoe made contact with Tian Yansheng's face, her cheek suddenly deformed, and then several teeth gushed out along with blood.

The impact was too great; Tian Yansheng was tumbled and thrown against the wall, her head hitting the marble wall hard, and she was left to die.

Xia Chuan toyed with the pistol, smiling broadly: "I've already said it, I'm afraid of pistols but not of you, why don't you understand?"

Natsukawa walked over and tied up the unconscious and slumped-over Tayan Katsuo and Mamiya Shiro together. Then, holding the Egg of Memories, he prepared to take Conan upstairs.

"Oh right, I almost forgot my keys."

Xia Chuan turned around to get the key.

Conan would need the key to open the window later, and he didn't want to have to go down and get it again.

After the key was pulled out, a wooden box suddenly popped out from where the Egg of Memories had been.

Because of another discovery, Xia Chuan had to stop and check what was inside the wooden box.

"It seems to be a letter."

Conan curiously leaned closer, wanting to snatch it to take a look, but Natsukawa didn't give him a chance to dodge.

The envelope was opened, and the letter was filled with writing, clearly explaining the origin of the Egg of Memory.

It also explains the origins of Mamiya's family business and his thought process in buying the castle.

The patriarch of the Mamiya family was originally just a frustrated student who had just graduated from university. He was full of knowledge but lacked the corresponding skills.

At that time, finding a job was not difficult, but the problem was that the good industries were controlled by the wealthy. If he wanted to achieve something, he needed a powerful backer.

However, he didn't have that opportunity and could only work as a low-level employee, earning a meager salary and living a life of irregular meals.

Perhaps it was good luck, but when he was about to turn twenty-nine, he met a man who would change his life.

That was a foreigner.

The foreigner admired his talent and invested a large sum of money in him.

With money paving the way, many things became much easier, and Mr. Mamiya's career soared, gradually making him a well-known figure in Tokyo.

The foreigner made no invitation after he became wealthy, saying he was there to see the old man in the middle palace.

Grandpa Mamiya was filled with gratitude. When he had accumulated enough wealth to repay the kindness, the foreigner who had supported him left behind a letter and then disappeared from Japan.

The letter explained why the other party came to Japan and the significance of building the castle. It stated that no reward from the Mamiya family was needed; all that was required was for him to guard the castle and the Egg of Memories inside.

One day, a natural owner will come and take away the Egg of Memories.

This is also why, years later, the government auctioned it off and Mamiya bought it at a high price; everything was planned.

However, people's sense of gratitude is always limited.

On his deathbed, Grandpa Mamiya thought that decades had passed and no one had come to claim the egg of memories; it might have been forgotten.

Then, driven by greed, he thought of taking it for himself.

They want to pass down this egg of memories as a family heirloom of the Mamiya family.

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(End of this chapter)