Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

"Yes, I thought some case had happened again, but it turned out to be a false alarm."

"It's okay, we'll come and see it together when this building is about to be blown up. It'll be quite a sight!"

Just as the three were imagining the scene of blowing up the building, Ai Haibara stopped in her tracks and said calmly:

"No, this building will not be demolished by explosives."

Amid the puzzled looks of Mitsuhiko and the other two, Ai Haibara continued, "When demolishing these street-side buildings, they usually first hoist cranes and other equipment to the roof and then demolish them from top to bottom or horizontally."

"Not to mention that the street where this building is located is a main street close to the city center, so it is impossible to demolish it by means of explosives."

Upon hearing this, Mitsuhiko and the other two looked puzzled.

After thinking for a moment, Mitsuhiko immediately retorted, "But I've seen it on TV!"

“That’s right! The mega-building in the city center collapsed completely with a loud thud!” Ayumi and Genta added.

At this moment, Conan, who was standing nearby, also stopped and said seriously, "What you are seeing must be foreign footage. There are very few cases of demolition by explosives in Japan. Most of the buildings are quite densely packed."

"Furthermore, the management of gunpowder is extremely strict. It would be impossible to get a permit for demolition by explosives for a building like this."

"It also requires careful comparison with the building's structural floor plan, and then a rigorous..."

After hearing Conan's incredibly complicated explanation, Mitsuhiko and the other two all looked bewildered.

Although they only vaguely understood much of what they heard, one thing was certain: the two men were lying.

Mitsuhiko asked anxiously, "Then who were those two people just now...?"

"They're probably a pair of villains who disguised themselves as demolition workers and kidnapped and imprisoned someone here," Conan said with a confident smile.

Upon hearing this, Mitsuhiko and the other two, who had just relaxed, jumped back into their seats: "What? Someone has really been imprisoned?!"

Conan nodded: "Because the bento is clearly for three people, it's obviously deliberately concealing the existence of the other person."

Yuan Tai scratched his head: "But didn't that fat uncle just say he ate two portions by himself?"

“There are three pairs of disposable chopsticks. If he really ate two bento boxes by himself, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to change the chopsticks,” Conan explained.

“Then…the voice of ‘252’ that Genta heard before…” Ayumi’s brows furrowed slightly.

While typing a text message on her phone, Ai Haibara replied, "The people being imprisoned must have heard us kicking the can, so they're trying to get help by banging on the wall."

“That’s right, it’s certain that there is someone in this building who needs our help,” Conan concluded.

After saying that, Conan looked up at the building and grinned.

Since the only way to call for help is by knocking, it means that the person calling for help has been gagged.

His hands and feet might have been tied up by those two men.

Mitsuhiko said worriedly, "The knocking sound has stopped. Could it be that the person is already...?"

Conan calmly said, "Don't worry, he's still alive. If the hostage had been killed, those two would probably have made their escape before we found them."

“This should be a kidnapping case. Killing the hostage before getting what they want defeats the purpose of the kidnapping.”

"They must have knocked the man unconscious and then hidden him somewhere."

After hearing Conan's explanation, Mitsuhiko and the other two could no longer suppress their fear and panic.

Seeing this, Conan slowly walked forward and said casually, "But don't worry too much, we just need to call the police."

After saying that, Conan took out his phone, ready to call Officer Takagi.

Based on past experience, Officer Takagi is the officer who trusts them the most and will not easily take their words as a 'prank'.

Just then, Ayumi walked up to Conan, glanced at his phone screen, and exclaimed in surprise, "Conan, your phone wallpaper is actually that old man from the detective agency!"

Mitsuhiko and the others also came over, looking at Conan's phone wallpaper in surprise.

The phone wallpaper for Conan is a picture of Kogoro Mouri with his arm around Conan.

Seeing Ai Haibara's amused expression, Conan quickly explained, "Don't misunderstand!! This is a photo that Uncle Mori took randomly after he came home drunk!!!"

Ai Haibara chuckled meaningfully, "Yeah, I get it. And you specifically set this photo as your wallpaper and have been using it ever since, right?"

"Stop joking! Wait... wait a minute!!! Don't tell that guy about this!!!"

Conan seemed to have thought of something terrifying; his face lost its luster, and his previous confident smile vanished.

The three people standing nearby, including Mitsuhiko, clearly didn't understand the meaning behind Conan and Ai Haibara's words. They were excitedly discussing their respective phone wallpapers, having completely forgotten their 'current situation':

"My phone wallpaper is a picture of fireworks. I'll take it out of my bag and show you in a bit~"

"My phone wallpaper is a picture of the stray cats in the neighborhood!"

"Mine is Kamen Rider!" Mitsuhiko pulled out his phone and showed the screen to everyone.

After the demonstration, Mitsuhiko turned to Ai Haibara beside him and asked curiously, "Haibara, what's your phone wallpaper?"

Upon hearing this, Ai Haibara, who had just been teasing Conan, instantly blushed slightly.

"I know, I just saw it! Ai's phone wallpaper is a picture of Ryūno-nii and Ran-neechan~" Ayumi raised her hand and said.

Upon hearing this, Ai Haibara's ears instantly turned a few shades red.

Conan, who was standing nearby, also changed his expression and squinted, saying, "Oh? So, Haibara, your phone wallpaper is a group photo of Takeda and the others..."

Before Conan could continue, a cold laugh suddenly came from behind them:

"Children, why haven't you gone home yet?"

Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned around instantly.

At that moment, the two middle-aged men from before were standing behind the group, staring at them coldly.

Chapter 343 Conan Suddenly Faints

Upon seeing the two, Conan's expression changed drastically, realizing something was wrong.

Mitsuhiko and the other two looked at the two middle-aged men in horror before realizing their current predicament.

Only Ai Haibara shook her head helplessly, a slight upturn at the corner of her mouth, as if she had long anticipated the scene before her.

"You bunch of kids are really something! We only chatted with you for a few minutes and you figured out we weren't demolition contractors, but kidnappers~" The thin man casually waved the hammer in his hand and chuckled.

"Yeah, we almost got tricked by you kids," the fatter man sneered.

While the two were talking, Conan had already come up with a solution, and a confident smile returned to his face.

"I'm only chatting with you guys to confirm something. Actually, I already called the police, reporting that someone is being held captive in this building."

At this point, Conan smiled and waved behind the two men, "Am I right, Officer Takagi?"

Upon seeing this, the two men turned around immediately, only to find that there was no one behind them.

Realizing that this was the trail of the little devils, the two of them instantly breathed a sigh of relief and turned their heads back.

The two then realized that the kids had already taken the opportunity to run away.

"Damn it! They tricked me!"

"We'll split up and take action. We must catch them all before they call the police!"

"..."

At this moment, in the room closest to the two of them.

Conan and the others, who were hiding behind the door, relaxed and took a few deep breaths after hearing the two men's footsteps recede into the distance.

Conan quietly opened the door and saw one of the thinner men walk into a room. He immediately waved and said, "Quick, now!"

After saying that, everyone ran out of the room and downstairs.

Conan glanced cautiously behind him, then pulled out his phone from his pocket as he ran, preparing to call the police.

Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Conan tripped over a gap in the old floor and flew out along with his phone.

--"Bang"

The sound of Conan falling was quite loud, and the two men who were searching for Conan and the others heard it clearly.

After falling to the ground, Conan immediately looked at the group and shouted, "Get downstairs and outside! I'll catch up with you soon!"

Upon hearing this, Mitsuhiko and the others answered without hesitation and turned to run downstairs.

A thin man in a nearby room opened the door and chased after Conan: "You brat! Found you!"

Seeing the thin man running towards him, Conan remained calm and muttered, "Alright! Let's take care of one first!"

He crouched down, turned the button on his shoe with his right hand, and then pressed the button on the soccer belt with his left hand, 'summoning' a soccer ball.

After aiming at the thin man's head, Conan immediately kicked the soccer ball.

Just then, the door to the room in front of Conan was suddenly opened by the fat man: "Where are those brats?!"

Conan was startled to see the door that had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

But his foot had already made a kicking motion and couldn't be pulled back.

--"boom!"

The soccer ball, which was supposed to hit the thinner man, struck the goal with a loud thud.

The next second, due to the reaction force from the door, the soccer ball bounced off and hit Conan's face.

--"boom!"

After the two loud crashes, the two middle-aged men were shocked to find that the door in front of them was deformed, and Conan had collapsed to the ground with a round, swollen mark on his face.

"Huh? How did this kid faint on his own?" the thin man asked in confusion.

The fatter man sneered, "Although we don't know what happened, we're really lucky! Anyway, let's tie this brat up with duct tape first!"

……

The first floor of the building.

Mitsuhiko and the others were terrified as they looked at the tightly closed iron gate.

No wonder the two kidnappers didn't rush to search the room; they had already blocked their 'escape route'.

The control lever for the roller shutter door is positioned very high, out of their reach.

Even if they could get there, a child wouldn't have the strength to pull it.

Mitsuhiko used all his strength to bend over and try to lift the roller shutter door.