Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

"That's right, why was only Conan mentioned? Our Detective Boys weren't mentioned at all!"

"This is so boring..."

After making a few complaints, the three of them got up and ran to the game console not far away, ready to play video games together.

Conan twitched his lips, glanced helplessly at Mitsuhiko and the other two, and then turned to look at Dr. Agasa.

The professor looked down at Conan and smiled helplessly. "There's nothing we can do. Besides these, the only information we have left is that threatening letter. It seems the culprit won't be easy to find this time..."

"Doctor, I think that threatening letter might be a cover for the real motive..."

"Concealing motives?"

"Yes, Mayor Asakura previously served as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, right? I heard that during his tenure, he relocated a village in Niigata Prefecture to build a reservoir."

“Yes, I remember that too. I think the reservoir that was built back then was called ‘Kitazawa Reservoir’.”

Conan nodded and said, "Mayor Asakura personally visited the village to prepare a large deposit and a suitable alternative place to live in in order to build the reservoir. He even stayed in the village for a week, talking earnestly with every villager, and finally gained their trust..."

After listening to Conan's words, Professor Agasa frowned and said, "That's right, which is why this matter progressed so quickly. The new village was built within three years, and the reservoir was built in just five years. In total, this matter only took eight years."

“That’s right, but I heard that some people in the village were still firmly opposed to the ‘relocation’ until the very end,” Conan nodded.

"I understand! If the prisoner's real motive is dissatisfaction with the relocation of the village and the construction of the reservoir, then this prisoner might be a villager from that village who opposed the construction of the reservoir back then!"

Dr. Agasa clapped his hands and glared at her.

Seeing that the professor understood his meaning, Conan looked up at the professor meaningfully.

Seeing Conan's gaze, Professor Agasa scratched his head. "You want me to take you to that village to investigate?"

"Yes, Doctor, could you please take me there?" Conan nodded with a smile.

Professor Agasa nodded first, then asked, "Since it's an investigation, wouldn't it be better if we asked Tatsuno to come along?"

Upon hearing this, Conan's eyes lit up, and he nodded excitedly.

Chapter 374 The Untold Stories of Uncle Mori and the Little Monkey

Before Conan could call Ryūno, Mitsuhiko and the other two suddenly appeared behind Conan.

"Where are you planning to sneak off to?!"

"Take us with you too!"

"That's right! It's too biased to only bring Conan!"

Seeing that Mitsuhiko and the other two's faces had turned as red as balloons with anger, Conan and Professor Agasa exchanged a glance and nodded helplessly.

same moment

Ryūno and Rin were packing their luggage at home.

The skiing trip won't be long, so I don't need to bring much.

Just as they finished packing their luggage, both of their phones suddenly rang.

This coincidence made the two of them smile at each other.

After answering the phone, Longye walked out of the bedroom.

"Hey, Conan?"

"Brother Longye, did you see the news just now?"

"no, what happened?"

"Let's talk about the details when we meet. Tomorrow I'm going to Kitazawa Village with the Doctor and the others. Would you like to come along?"

"Tomorrow? We already made plans with Sonoko... Wait, where are you guys planning to go?"

"Kitasawa Village, I need to go there to investigate something."

Longye: "..."

After hanging up the phone, Longye turned on the TV, glanced at the news, and smiled helplessly.

No wonder Conan wanted to go to Kitasawa Village; it turns out that something like this happened this morning. No wonder Conan wanted to go to Kitasawa Village to investigate.

Just then, Ran finished her call and walked up behind Ryuno. "Ryuno, was that Conan on the phone?"

"Yes, that's right. Who's that over there?"

"Sonoko. She said those tickets would be a waste if we didn't use them, and she wanted us to ask my dad and Conan if they wanted to go along."

Ryūno smiled and shook his head. "No need to ask. Conan called me just now about this too. He and Sonoko had the same idea."

After Ryūno explained, Rin understood the current situation.

Unexpectedly, Conan called about this very thing; they were also planning to go to Kitasawa Village.

"It's a pity Ai said she didn't want to go, but it seems that her relationship with her sister is getting better and better~" Ran said with a smile and a nod.

Upon hearing this, Longye nodded.

Since his 'friendly' conversation with Vermouth, he was certain that Vermouth had temporarily given up on taking action against Ai Haibara.

Whether it's Ai Haibara's identity or Conan's identity, she doesn't seem to have reported it to the organization.

This is understandable, given her intriguing stance.

Putting everything else aside, just consider the memory card she gave me that contained the locations of the organization's overseas bases...

Although there is no concrete evidence, Tatsuno believes that Vermouth seems to be hoping that he can destroy the organization.

……

noon the next day

Ryūno and the others arrived at Kitazawa Village.

After leaving their luggage and other belongings at the hotel, Longye and the others took their equipment and went to the ski resort behind the village.

At the entrance to the ski resort, there is a huge yellow inflatable archway with large red and blue characters on it: "Kitazawa Snow Festival".

Unlike typical ski resorts, this place offers a variety of recreational activities in addition to skiing.

Whether you can ski or not, whether you're a child or an adult, you can find fun in it.

When Mitsuhiko and his two friends saw the children's sleds not far away, they immediately ran happily to the sleds and started playing.

Sonoko also saw the snowmobiles on the side, excitedly put down her skiing equipment, and pulled Ryuno and Ran to prepare for a 'snowmobile' race.

Conan and Professor Agasa sat on a chair to the side, drinking hot beverages.

"Shinichi, we've come all this way, aren't you going to have some fun?"

"Hmm...that's true, I'm going to play too~"

After saying that, Conan put the hot drink cup in his hand on the stool and ran towards Mitsuhiko and the other two.

Professor Agasa glanced around at Mitsuhiko and the others who were having a great time, and smiled with satisfaction, "Bringing these kids along was definitely the right decision~"

At this point, Professor Agasa glanced at Tatsuno and the others not far away and asked in confusion, "Speaking of which, where did Mori go?"

the other side

Kogoro Mori trudged through the deep snow to a wooden cabin beside the snow-capped mountain.

After catching his breath, Kogoro Mouri looked up at the wooden house and revealed an expectant, wicked smile.

"We've finally arrived! The dreamlike open-air hot spring!"

The next moment, Kogoro Mouri's mouth gradually stretched to his ears, and he could no longer control his expression.

"Haha, the legendary mixed-gender bathing! I've always dreamed of coming to a place like this!"

After saying that, Kogoro Mouri twirled into the wooden house while dancing ballet.

After entering the cabin, he changed his clothes with extraordinary speed, draped a towel over himself, and walked into the hot spring.

Upon entering the hot spring, Kogoro Mori held his breath and carefully observed his surroundings, searching for his 'prey'.

A moment later, he finally spotted a seductive figure from behind at a corner of the hot spring.

Upon seeing his back, Kogoro Mouri's eyes filled with tears, and he excitedly moved to the corner.

He forcibly suppressed his excitement and casually remarked, "Ah, this water temperature feels so comfortable~"

Finding that his target wasn't responding, Kogoro Mouri remained unperturbed, continuing, "To be able to enjoy the snowy scenery while soaking in a hot spring under this blue sky, how elegant~ Don't you agree, miss~"

At this point, Kogoro Mouri squinted and glanced to the side, wanting to catch a glimpse of the beauty.

The next second, the 'figure' turned its head and looked at Kogoro Mouri with a puzzled expression.

Upon seeing the fiery red, round face before him, Kogoro Mouri's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a pitiful scream: "A monkey?!"

……

Shortly after their visit, the group arrived at a nearby food street.

Looking at the wide variety of snacks on both sides, Genta couldn't help but swallow hard, wishing he could rush over and eat to his heart's content right now.

Since it was almost dinner time, Longye and the others simply tried some takoyaki and grilled seaweed mochi.

Soon after, in order to conduct further investigations, Conan took Tatsuno to the city hall of Kitanosawa Village.

Upon entering the city hall, Conan immediately went to the desk, smiling at the staff member, "Uncle, please give me a map of Kitasawa Village, and also a guidebook for the reservoir~"

"Okay, little one. Please wait a moment~"

While the staff went to find maps and guidebooks, Conan looked up, ready to tell Tatsuno about the bombing that had happened earlier.

Just then, two strangers caught Conan's attention.

A man wearing a khaki coat and glasses is talking to a man next to him wearing a green down jacket.

"By the way, I heard that ski resort in Yamao went out of business."

"That's right, I heard that too. Apparently, it's because avalanches happen frequently in that area that they were forced to close down."

At this moment, another staff member from the city hall looked at the two and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Here is the 'Topographical Map of Lake Kitanosawa' and the 'Map of the Old Kitanosawa Village' of the same scale that you requested."

Upon hearing this, the man in the green cotton-padded jacket immediately reached out and took the two maps, then looked up and carefully compared them.

Chapter 375 People with ulterior motives are often eloquent.

The green-clad man's urgent actions immediately caught the attention of the staff and Conan.