Detective Conan: The Literary Genius is Actually a Great Scientist

in the room.

Only after the headless man's neck stopped spurting blood did Lin Ran finally allow Xiao Lan and Yuan Zi to know what had happened.

"Can...can I look up now?" Sonoko asked softly.

"Okay, that's fine, but..." Lin Ran hadn't finished speaking.

"vomit--"

Sonoko couldn't wait to look up, and then she saw the headless corpse on the ground and the head that had rolled to one side. Her face turned pale, and she started to gag, quickly covering her mouth.

Although Xiaolan didn't vomit, her face was frighteningly pale. She clung tightly to Lin Ran's clothes. After all, she was the daughter of a detective who had experienced many cases, and her mental fortitude was stronger than that of the average person.

The conditions of the suspension bridge effect and the terrifying atmosphere were perfectly met.

The only pity is that there was no hero to save the damsel in distress.

Lin Ran was completely numb.

In other people's stories, the protagonist is always the hero who saves the damsel in distress, steps forward in times of crisis, defeats the villain, and wins the heart of the beauty.

Why is it always him who gets rescued by a damsel in distress?!

Having completed his revenge, Ryoichi Takahashi slowly knelt down, the axe slipping from his hand.

"Dunzi...Dunzi..." he murmured, his voice hoarse, "I...I finally...finally..."

He didn't finish speaking, but someone understood what he meant.

"Takahashi..." Ayako Suzuki spoke softly, her voice filled with complex emotions, "Are you... worth it?"

"Was it worth it?" Takahashi Ryoichi gave a bitter laugh. "I don't know. All I know is that Atsuko shouldn't have died... Her talent... Her dreams... Shouldn't have been stolen like this... And then... And then she just died..."

His voice choked with emotion: "I...I just wanted Chikako to pay the price...to feel the pain Atsuko suffered before she died..."

"So you killed her?" Ayako Suzuki asked.

"I..." Ryoichi Takahashi lowered his head, "I only wanted to scare her... to make her admit her mistake... but... but she showed no remorse at all... she even said... she said Atsuko deserved it..."

As he spoke, his voice suddenly turned sharp: "What right does she have to say that? What did Dunzi do wrong? She just wrote an excellent piece of work! She just trusted her friend!"

Silence fell over the room.

The only sounds were the rain outside the window and Ryoichi Takahashi's sobs.

Ran and Sonoko had no idea there was such a story behind it all. The two beautiful girls had complicated expressions, feeling both sympathy for Ryoichi Takahashi's revenge for his friend and fear of his murder.

As for why Chikako Ikeda attacked Lin Ran, they guessed from Ryoichi Takahashi's words that she wanted to use the same trick again to steal Lin Ran's manuscript of "Snow Country" and keep it for herself.

Little did she know, someone had already been watching her.

"Lin Ran... I'm so sorry..."

Sonoko lowered her head, feeling a little guilty.

"What's wrong?" Lin Ran asked, looking at her.

Sonoko looked up, her delicate face now streaked with tears, like a kitten drenched in rain, and sobbed as she spoke:

"It's all my fault... If I hadn't shown off earlier, Lin Ran, you wouldn't have been targeted by Chikako Ikeda... She wouldn't have tried to steal your manuscript... You wouldn't have been attacked..."

Hearing Yuanzi say this, Lin Ran finally understood why she apologized. This girl had taken all the blame upon herself.

He smiled and reached out to gently brush her little nose:

"Fool, how can this be your fault? It was the bad guy who got greedy and wanted to kill. I should be happy that you're showing off my work. It means you think my work is great and worth showing off."

Xiaolan also gently comforted her, "Yes, Yuanzi, Lin Ran is right, it's not your fault."

Sonoko sniffled, her voice nasal, "Really...really? You really don't blame me?"

"Of course." Lin Ran withdrew his hand and said seriously, "However, next time you show off, remember to also emphasize that I am both scholarly and martial, intelligent and brave, and that I have a karate champion bodyguard by my side, so that those villains will give up on that idea as soon as possible."

"Pfft—"

Sonoko was amused by his shameless attitude, and snot bubbles came out of her nose. She quickly wiped them with the back of her hand and blushed with embarrassment.

Just as Lin Ran and Xiao Lan were comforting Yuanzi.

"Writer... hahaha... writer..."

Ryoichi Takahashi, who had been kneeling on the ground, seemed to have been provoked by something. He lowered his head and kept muttering something.

"Dunzi, who was so talented, is dead. Why are you all still alive? If it weren't for writers like you, Dunzi wouldn't have died..."

That boy was too outstanding.

At eighteen, he was a great writer, a mathematical genius, handsome, and eloquent. Everyone liked him and admired him.

His excellence was so great that it irritated Ryoichi Takahashi.

If Dunzi were still alive today, he would definitely be just as outstanding as him, would definitely write a better work than "The Devotion of Suspect X", and would definitely become the most dazzling star in the literary world.

But why... why was it Dunzi who died? While thieves like Chikako Ikeda and "lucky ones" like Ran Lin are living so well?

That's unfair...that's unfair!

Extreme anger and twisted jealousy clouded Takahashi Ryoichi's judgment.

Or rather, he never had any sense to begin with—he went mad the moment he decided to impersonate the bandaged monster, intimidate people, cut down the suspension bridge, and prepare to kill.

The so-called revenge for love, from the moment he took action against the innocent Ran in order to avoid revealing his identity, Takahashi Ryoichi had already transformed from a righteous avenger into an evil perpetrator.

"You will all die!"

Ryoichi Takahashi suddenly raised his head, his pupils stained crimson.

He let out a roar that sounded inhuman, grabbed the blood-stained axe beside him, and pounced on Lin Ran, who was closest to him.

But he had just stood up and hadn't even taken two steps out.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out in the room.

Ayako Suzuki's eyes were narrowed, her gaze icy, and she held a small silver pistol in her right hand.

With truth in hand, one can win people over with virtue.

Ryoichi Takahashi's forward momentum abruptly halted, a bloody hole appearing between his eyebrows. The madness in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by bewilderment and emptiness.

The axe slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a clatter.

His body swayed, then fell straight backward, crashing heavily to the floor.

Everything happened too fast.

From the moment Ryoichi Takahashi suddenly sprang into action to the sound of gunfire, and then to his death, the entire process took no more than three seconds.

So much so that Lin Ran and the other two, and even Takahashi Ryoichi himself, were caught off guard and didn't realize what had happened.

Seeing the three people looking at her in shock, Ayako Suzuki's gentle smile returned, as if she hadn't just fired the shot.

"I'm sorry, I scared you, but the situation was too dangerous. I couldn't let him hurt you, so I had to do this."

She paused, then explained softly:

"This gun was given to me by my family's security department for self-defense. I've received some shooting training, just in case. I never thought... I'd actually need it."

Lin Ran: "..."

Xiaolan: "..."

Sonoko: "..."

That makes perfect sense.

It's normal for the heiress of the Suzuki Group to carry a self-defense weapon and have received professional training to prevent kidnapping, attacks, or other unexpected situations.

That's perfectly normal.

Sonoko was also seeing her older sister so "cool" for the first time, and she was completely stunned, her mouth agape, before she finally managed to speak:

"Sister, sister, you...you can use a gun?"

Ayako Suzuki holstered her gun, expertly inspected it, ejected the magazine, and confirmed it was safe before stepping forward to pat her younger sister's head and smiling:

"Yeah, my mom taught me that when I was little, a girl should always have the ability to protect herself and not always rely on others. But I've never really used it before, and today is the first time I've fired a gun at someone..."

She paused, her tone tinged with guilt:

"I hope I'll never have to use it again."

The first time? With someone?

Lin Ran's eye twitched.

Moving target, headshot in one shot, your marksmanship is pretty accurate!

Seemingly sensing Lin Ran's inner thoughts, Ayako Suzuki's narrowed eyes curved into a smile:

"Lin Ran seems surprised? Our Suzuki family has a large business, and sometimes we encounter some... unfriendly people. It's normal to know some self-defense skills."

Lin Ran: "..."

Yes, that's normal, perfectly normal.

The Suzuki Group, a business empire, is a target for trouble. It's perfectly reasonable for the young lady to learn some self-defense skills and carry a gun.

Anyway, he believed it.

Anyone who dares not believe it will find the answer in the two corpses on the ground—this is the consequence of disbelief.

They were the three notorious bullies of Teitan.

He felt like a complete greenhorn in front of her.