Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

They gazed deeply into each other's eyes, then closed their eyes and slowly leaned their faces forward...

After a long while, the two opened their eyes.

Ignoring her surroundings and the blush on her face, Xiaolan said gently, "It's all because the night view is too beautiful..."

Hearing this, Longye chuckled and said, "Yeah, it's all because of the night view~"

The next moment, the two smiled at each other and walked forward hand in hand.

"Longye, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

"Didn't we find an interesting restaurant during the day? How about we go there?"

"Okay~"

At the same moment, Shinichi Kudo was sitting in his hotel room, looking down at the English letters on a piece of paper.

After an afternoon of hard work, he finally found all the locations represented by the poem "crime warning" and found several English letters.

"Let me think, the word these letters can spell should be 'SATURN,' the planet Saturn? Saturn represents Saturday... In other words, the culprit is planning to make his move on Saturday?"

Although I know my reasoning is correct, what use is it to just know that the perpetrator will commit the crime on Saturday?

London is so big, knowing only the time of the crime doesn't seem to be of much use...

After thinking for a moment, Shinichi Kudo took out his phone, preparing to search for relevant information and intelligence online.

……

Nine p.m

Inside a coffee shop near the Park Hotel.

Looking at Shinichi Kudo's serious expression, Ryūno said helplessly, "Alright, just tell me already. What exactly did you find out that you sent me five text messages and made three phone calls in five minutes just to get me to come out..."

Hearing the hint of impatience in Ryūno's tone, Shinichi Kudo smiled sheepishly: "I've deduced the mystery on that crime notice. It seems the culprit is planning to make his move on Saturday."

"Besides that, I also did some online research. If I'm not mistaken, the person who wrote this crime notice is the fugitive Hades Shabala. The police have already detected his fingerprints on that 'crime notice'!"

"He was originally a hardworking and down-to-earth office worker. Because his mother was seriously ill, he borrowed money from acquaintances everywhere to raise money for surgery. Later, he invested this money in the stock market and gambling market, and ended up losing everything. His mother was ultimately unable to have surgery and died in July of the seventh year."

"After his mother died, he kept killing acquaintances who were pressuring him to pay off his debts and friends who were advising him to invest in stocks. In the end, he even bombed up hospitals one by one that refused to operate on his mother."

As Ryūno listened to Shinichi Kudo's "information," he quickly analyzed it in his mind.

No wonder he felt this was somewhat familiar; a similar case seemed to have occurred in the original work.

In that case, the prisoner's target seems to be clear.

She is most likely the mother of Minneba Glass, the tennis player known as the "Queen of Grass".

The timing of the crime was exactly as he had guessed. It happened this Saturday, the day of the tennis finals.

Chapter 251 The Approaching Truth

"Hey, Takeda. Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm listening, I'm listening. But then again, since you've already investigated so thoroughly, why are you still coming to me?"

"Uh……"

Shinichi Kudo looked at Ryuno across from him, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

Actually, he didn't want to contact Longye before solving all the mysteries, but so far, he had no clues other than the time of the crime and the identity of the perpetrator.

Finding the perpetrator and the crime scene in such a large city as London is virtually impossible.

Therefore, he had no choice but to contact Longye to see if Longye had any ideas or clues.

To put it more bluntly, he wanted Longye to help him think about it.

But out of a detective's last shred of pride, how could he possibly utter such a reason so easily?!

Just then, Shinichi Kudo's heart suddenly clenched with pain. After the brief clench, a sharp, needle-like pain followed.

He pressed his hand tightly against his chest, his face contorted in a grimace.

Seeing this, Longye immediately understood what had happened. He looked around, then gestured with his chin towards the nearby restroom: "Alright, there aren't many people in the store, and there are no security cameras. Go transform now~"

Shinichi Kudo peeked into the bathroom and then quickly rushed towards it, carrying a gym bag.

Watching Shinichi Kudo stumble and fall, Tatsuno picked up the exquisite cup in front of him and took a sip of cappuccino.

If Conan wasn't lying, then the effects of the antidote have lasted for almost three days since he drank it.

The previous "initial version" of the antidote only made Conan grow bigger for a little over a day, but this time the antidote can last for almost twice as long.

It seems Ai's research has made a significant breakthrough!

but……

Longye smiled slightly and glanced at the shadowy area outside the shop out of the corner of his eye.

This is clearly no coincidence, Sera Masumi.

A moment later, the shrunken Conan, covered in cold sweat, sat back down in his seat carrying a gym bag.

He picked up a tissue from the table and wiped the cold sweat from his face, then laughed, "Takeda, you've noticed, haven't you? This time the drug's effects last longer! At this rate, the real antidote might not be far off!"

Ryūno nodded, not refuting Conan, but instead glanced at the outside of the shop again through the glass out of the corner of his eye.

Sera Masumi's gaze had changed from confusion to horror.

The next moment, her figure disappeared from the spot.

Ryūno withdrew his gaze and smiled at Conan, who was looking excited across from him.

"Kudo, let's get back to the main point. The location the perpetrator chose to commit the crime was the Wimbledon tennis tournament."

"Huh? A tennis court... Why is it there?" Conan looked at Ryuno with a puzzled expression, his brows furrowed.

"map."

After saying that, Ryuno got up and walked towards the door, casually waving his hand, leaving Conan with only a dark back view.

It wasn't that he wanted to show off, but...

Damn it, Xiaolan is still waiting for me at the hotel. Who wants to play detective games with you here so late at night?!

Conan watched helplessly as Ryūno walked out the door, and pursed his lips speechlessly.

Why can't this guy sit down and properly deduce the case with me?

Map? You think you can just use that word to brush me off?!

map……

After getting a bit of inspiration, Conan took out a map of London on his phone and mentally marked all the "clue locations" he had found that morning, connecting them together.

The next moment, a familiar shape appeared in his mind.

"This is—a tennis racket?!"

At this moment, Conan finally understood the true meaning of the word "map" that Tatsuno had mentioned.

"Wait! That guy knew this... which means he already saw through the coded message in the trailer and deduced the crime scene?!"

Thinking of this, Conan reluctantly covered his head.

Damn it! It's happening again. Takeda has gotten ahead of him once more.

He only glanced at the crime poster a few times. Did he really solve the mystery of the poster in those few seconds?!

Damn it! Aside from his own father, Yusaku Kudo, only this guy Takeda can bring him this kind of melancholy sense of defeat...

Hmph! He keeps saying he doesn't want to be a detective, but he's always one step ahead of me.

I saw right through you! You're just like me, a devoted follower of Sherlock Holmes!!!

Just you wait. Although you're ahead of me now, I'll definitely catch that criminal before you do!

……

Inside a suite at the park hotel.

"Is this Shinichi Kudo?" The blonde girl glanced at the picture that Sera Masumi had found on her laptop.

"That's right. I just did a quick investigation, and Shinichi Kudo hasn't publicly solved cases or given interviews for a long time!"

"I saw it with my own eyes. Right after he disappeared, a boy who looked exactly like him appeared! That boy looked exactly like the young Shinichi Kudo we met at the beach ten years ago!"

After hearing Sera Masumi's explanation, the blonde girl's pupils dilated and her brows furrowed.

"You mean, he shrank?"

"Ok!"

After thinking for a moment, the blonde girl took out her phone and sent an email to her colleague at MI6, asking her to help investigate information about Shinichi Kudo.

Although there isn't enough evidence to prove that this "Shinichi Kudo" was also drugged by the organization, based on what the daughter said, it's highly likely that this happened. Now, it remains to be seen whether her colleagues can uncover any useful information.

After confirming that the message had been sent, she looked up at her daughter and said calmly, "Assuming you're right, Shinichi Kudo is connected to the organization... then that Tatsuno Takeda must know the relevant information!"

Sera Masumi nodded and laughed heartily, "I understand, I'll try to investigate!"

Upon hearing her daughter's answer, the blonde girl put away her phone and stared blankly at the news report about Shinichi Kudo on her laptop.

If he was also given that drug that caused his body to shrink... then how did he return to his original body size?

Could it be that he has the antidote?!

……

The next day

Longye and Xiaolan walked out of the hotel feeling refreshed and headed towards their planned destination, Hyde Park.

For some reason, their steps were noticeably lighter than yesterday.

"Longye, is that a statue of Sherlock Holmes? It seems that the people of London really like Sherlock Holmes~" Xiaolan asked, pointing to the tall bronze statue not far away.

Following the direction Xiaolan pointed, Longye saw a rather imposing full-body statue of Sherlock Holmes standing in the middle of the bustling street.

Since arriving in London, he had lost count of how many times he had heard about Sherlock Holmes.

While from the city's perspective, Sherlock Holmes is merely a "gimmick" to attract tourists, most locals seem to genuinely like... no, rather, respect this "legendary" great detective.

It's as if... Sherlock Holmes wasn't a fictional character created by Conan Doyle, but a real historical figure.