Conan: Above all force, there is truth!

"A drug to reverse time," "The pitch-black crow"... The thought that these things, which he had only heard about in comics, were about to appear before his eyes filled Tatsuno with excitement.

……

"Alright, everyone get off the bus. We've arrived!"

There's still over an hour before the show officially starts, so let me take you backstage for a look!

As soon as Yukiko finished speaking, everyone saw the eye-catching, glowing apple-shaped sign in front of them—Golden Apple, Golden Apple Theater.

According to Yukiko, the Golden Apple Theater is a well-known opera venue in the area.

As soon as everyone got out of the car, they saw a slightly chubby man wearing a light gray coat walking straight towards them.

Before Yukiko could recall the identity of this familiar-looking man, the slightly chubby man spoke up directly: "You are Ms. Kudo Yukiko, right?"

"You are suspected of speeding and dangerous driving. Please show your driver's license and vehicle registration."

Yukiko Kudo: "!!!"

Yukiko paused for a moment, then seemed to remember something, and immediately put on a smiling face: "Captain Radish, it's been a long time!"

As he spoke, he introduced the three of them, saying, "He's a captain in the New York Police Department. Yusaku once asked him for help when he was solving a case..."

Seeing Yukiko clearly trying to change the subject, Captain Radish suddenly revealed a strange smile and said meaningfully, "Captain Radish won't let you off the hook today, but I can~"

After speaking, Captain Radish suddenly put his hand on his face and forcefully ripped off his "face skin".

Chapter 40 Angels and Demons' Journey to a Foreign Land (Part 4)

His actions clearly startled Yukiko and the others.

Even Ryūno, who had recognized Vermouth early on, was impressed by this decisive and stylish "face-tearing" move.

"Sharon!!!" Yukiko exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the transformed face before her.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Sharon smiled and slowly said, "A few days ago, I was chatting with a movie fan who is a police officer. While we were talking, his car radio suddenly crackled to life—a silver Jaguar was speeding recklessly on the highway to New York..."

After saying that, Sharon turned her head and glanced at the obvious silver Jaguar next to her, her eyes full of mockery.

"Haha..." Yukiko lowered her head and chuckled awkwardly when she saw her expression.

No wonder he's her good friend; he still knows her so well.

After chuckling a few times, Yukiko looked up and raised her hand to introduce herself to Ryuno and the others.

"This is Sharon Vineyard, the famous movie star!"

Xiao Lan, who was standing nearby, had clearly heard of her name and asked excitedly, "Did you meet during filming?"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you this before?"

"When I first entered the acting industry, I once consulted a Japanese magician about techniques for imitating disguise in order to play the role of a spy well."

"Sharon was also there studying under a master for the role she was going to play, so we became good friends~"

"But I'm not as good as her!"

Yukiko said with a smile as she recalled.

It's clear that this is a very precious memory and friendship for her.

After hearing Yukiko's answer, Ran couldn't help but exclaim again, "This is wonderful! I really have to thank God to be able to see such a big star as you in person in New York!"

Upon hearing Xiaolan's sigh, Sharon looked up at the gloomy sky with light rain and secretly revealed a mocking expression.

After a slight pause, she lowered her head and muttered to herself, "Does God really exist in this world? If God really exists, then no one will suffer misfortune."

“At least I can be sure that angels will never smile at me, not even once…” Sharon said, a sad smile appearing on her lips.

Upon hearing this, Yukiko realized that her friend might be thinking about the conflict with her daughter again, so she immediately changed the subject and led everyone into the Golden Apple Theater.

But Longye knew that these words might truly be her heartfelt exclamation—not as Sharon Vineyard, but as Vermouth.

This famous "witch" of the distillery must have gone through a lot.

Thinking about this, Longye suddenly realized a problem.

How old is this guy exactly?

After all, she seems to have stopped aging long ago; her current age… well, it really is—A secret makes a woman woman.

……

Led by Sharon Vineyard, the group entered the theater's backstage area.

When the actors saw someone they didn't recognize enter the backstage area, they were about to shoo them away when they realized it was Sharon Vineyard, and they immediately became excited.

"Ah! Sharon!"

"This is amazing, it's like a dream!"

How did you manage to find the time?

"..."

Seeing Sharon Vineyard's popularity, Xiaolan was also surprised: "I didn't know she was so popular here!"

"Yes, she already knows the head of this theater troupe. As long as she says she wants to come and see it, the other party will naturally prepare the tickets for her." Yukiko answered Ran's question with a smile.

Upon hearing her words, the actors looked over and guessed, "Could she be...?"

“That’s right! She’s the most popular Baroness right now!” Sharon Vineyard confirmed their guess with a smile.

In an instant, the actresses greeted Yukiko again.

Seeing this, Xiaolan asked curiously, "What are they talking about? What baroness?"

Shinichi Kudo glanced at his mother helplessly and explained, "Oh, it's because my dad wrote a mystery story about a baron, and she appeared on TV and gave an interview under the name of the famous mystery writer's wife."

“During the interview, my mother’s reasoning on the show hit the nail on the head, which led the police to arrest a serial killer.”

"From then on, people referred to her, the female detective, as Her Excellency the Baroness."

“But actually…” At this point, Shinichi Kudo looked at Ryuno and conveyed a “you know” with his eyes.

Ryūno immediately nodded and whispered, "Ah, it's probably Uncle Yūsaku..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shinichi Kudo immediately covered Ryuno's mouth with his hand and then put a finger to his own lips: "Shh!"

Just as Ryūno was wondering, Shinichi Kudo leaned close to Ryūno's ear and whispered, "That's a taboo subject! When I casually mentioned it to her before, she immediately went ballistic. She chased after me and beat me for days!"

"Now even my dad doesn't dare question her reasoning abilities in front of her..."

Longye: "..."

Hearing this, Longye was also a little confused.

Wait a minute, she wasn't this exaggerated in the original story! What happened?

Thinking of this, Longye asked softly, "Why, Auntie..."

"I don't know either, but I guess..." Shinichi Kudo was about to voice his guess when he suddenly noticed that the actresses seemed to be looking in their direction, so he had to give up.

The actresses stared at the faces of Ryuno and the other two for a long time before asking Yukiko, "Are those three children in the back all your children?"

"That silly-looking boy is my child, and the other two are her classmates, but you could also say they are all my children~" As she said this, Yukiko winked at Tatsuno and Ran respectively.

Shinichi Kudo had already covered his face with his hands, wearing a wry smile.

Just then, a discordant voice suddenly rang out: "I thought the Baroness's arrival would finally solve the mystery of that strange gift, but it turns out she just brought a child backstage to cause trouble. What a disappointment!"

Hearing such disrespectful words, everyone's faces showed displeasure.

However, certain words in the conversation immediately triggered Shinichi Kudo, who was covering his face. He reflexively asked, "The mystery of the gift? What strange gift?"

A moment later, Sharon Vineyard explained, "This is the theater company that received a gift three days ago. It was a golden apple spray-painted with gold paint."

“It was also written with animal blood—such strange words as ‘Dedicated to the most beautiful woman’.”

Upon hearing this, Yukiko, who was standing to the side, suddenly realized and thought, "So that's why the atmosphere backstage seemed a bit strange when I first came in."

"Alright, my goddesses, don't be nervous. This must be some bored prankster's trick."

At this moment, a man dressed in a traditional Western-style suit walked over to the three actresses and began to comfort them.

"But, Kiss..."

Chapter 41 Angels and Demons' Journey to a Foreign Land (Part 5)

Upon seeing the man's appearance, Yukiko asked Sharon beside her, "Who is he?"

Sharon, leaning on her arm, said, "He's the prima donna of this theater company, Keith Flockhardt. Someone poached him to make movies, so today is his last performance on stage."

Hearing this, and combining it with the text on the golden apple, Yukiko felt that the two things should be related, but she currently knew too little information and had no clue what to do.

After a while, at Kiss's urging, everyone went to the back of the stage together.

With Sharon's explanation, Longye and the others understood how the opening narration drew the audience's attention to the stage.

Longye listened with great interest; this was his first time learning about the art form of classical stage plays.

"What's that on the ceiling?" Just then, Xiaolan looked up at the dark ceiling and asked curiously.

After hearing her question, everyone looked up at the dark ceiling.

Sharon then began to explain, "Oh, that's a stage costume. It takes up too much space, so it's hung up there."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaolan seemed to hear something break, and paused for a moment.

Meanwhile, Longye, standing next to Xiaolan, with the help of his Eagle Eye skill, clearly saw the broken thread and a set of armor about to fall down.

He immediately became alert and predicted where the armor would fall.

The sound of armor falling off startled everyone, and they scattered.

But then, a cry of surprise came from the blonde actress; her clothes seemed to have been hung on a sign.

The armor landed right where she was.

Everyone knew very well that if this suit of armor fell from such a high ceiling and hit someone...

Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, Xiaolan had already moved her body involuntarily, preparing to save the blonde actress.

But as soon as she took a step, a pair of strong hands pressed down on her shoulders.

"Longye!"

When Xiaolan saw Longye holding her shoulder, she was first taken aback, but then she immediately became worried about the actress.