No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"Ah, don't worry, we can take back your USB drive in a week. Before that, please copy the medicine data into it."

Are you still going to keep me in suspense?

"Of course, you can only cooperate with my performance if you maintain your curiosity. By the way, today is Wednesday, what day of the week will it be in a week?"

Shiho Miyano looked puzzled, but still answered:

"Friday."

"Okay, one week from now, on Friday at four o'clock in the afternoon, just stand in the only garden in your research institute and wait, and I will be able to retrieve the USB drive from your hand."

Kitahara Masaki's smile faded, and he settled on a codename for the operation:

Savage Garden.

————————————————————

After agreeing on the plan, the situation of the remaining poisoning victims was determined very quickly, because among so many people who were given drug A, only Shinichi Kudo was the lucky one. The others were not so lucky and their only path was death.

After confirming the situation of everyone on the list, Kitahara Masaki drove Sherry back to the research institute. Miyano Shiho, who had been pranked, didn't even bother to say goodbye, slammed the door and left, leaving behind a white coat-clad figure with a snort.

Kitahara Maki tapped the steering wheel lightly with her index finger, pondering that Sherry would likely mistake her for a spy from another country or Japan today. But that didn't matter; deep down, Sherry probably harbored the idea of ​​leaving the organization with her sister, Miyano Akemi. Therefore, next week she would definitely go to the garden and present the USB drive full of medical information with both hands.

Actually, it doesn't matter whether we get the information on drug A and other drugs or not. That information is just an extra bargaining chip when negotiating with the Japanese police and the FBI in the future.

Most importantly, he could make an appearance in front of Shiho Miyano and become familiar with her, so that her organization's radar would no longer ring for him. Moreover, Masaki Kitahara remembered that she was not only a genius in biochemistry, but also had advanced computer skills at the level of a high-level hacker.

Looking at the entire Black Organization, the technical team members are generally well protected. Even if the organization is destroyed, they can say that the organization forced them to do so. Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to take such a huge risk to help Kitahara Masaki on their own.

If my system were a bit smarter, it would have started a mission to bring Shiho Miyano back into my arms. Unfortunately, it's just a heartless achievement list.

Having completed the task assigned by Gin, the bodyguards naturally needed to give Gin, whose face only wore a cold smile, a reply. Kitahara Masaki took out his phone and dialed a number:

"Hey, Lao Qin, I've got this sorted out. Are you still watching those long-legged girls dancing?"

Watching beautiful ballet dancers perform is one of Gin's hobbies.

"Go check the police database to see if there are any bombing suspects in Tokyo recently. The organization's safe house on the outskirts of Tokyo was blown up by an unidentified enemy."

"Okay, no problem, but it's not fair of you to make me work overtime so late at night."

Beep, beep, beep.

Gin didn't answer and hung up the phone directly. He must be having a lot of headaches about the explosion.

Kitahara Masaki smiled and put the phone back in his pocket. He knew perfectly well why Gin had asked him to investigate the bombing and the perpetrator. Just tonight at 8 PM, a safe house where the organization stored weapons was blown up by unknown assailants. Although Gin immediately arranged for people to stage the scene—essentially blowing up the safe house again with gas canisters—it still caused considerable chaos.

This unexpected situation led Gin to send out many of the lower-ranking personnel who were originally Shiho Miyano's bodyguards to search for intelligence, while he and Vodka waited for a report not far from the safe house.

So today's overtime was all caused by Kitahara Maki himself, all for the sake of getting a chance to be alone with Miyano Shiho.

The so-called bomber is even more absurd, because the explosion in the safe house was simply caused by drones carrying explosives bit by bit and then triggering it through a time-delay device.

Without the right tools and techniques, it would be extremely difficult to create such an event that leaves no trace and can divert attention.

However, Kitahara Maki now has a cheat tool, so next time he can even fly over Gin's head and sprinkle water on him.

"Ah, he and Vodka both wear those ridiculously stupid hats. I bet if a bird dropped gold on his head, he wouldn't even notice. Oh, maybe he could smell it, hahahaha."

Beep beep beep, beep beep beep.

This time, instead of a dial tone indicating the call had been disconnected, the caller could hear the incoming call.

"Hello, who is it?"

"This is Megure, Kitahara-kun. You're still awake?"

"Oh, I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight and goodbye, Inspector Megure."

"Wait! Brother Kitahara, a case has arrived!"

Inspector Megure had probably just lain down when he was woken up by a phone call. Naturally, he had to call Kitahara Masaki; the First Investigative Division couldn't solve cases without him these days.

"What case? Who was killed?"

"No, no one was killed. It was an explosion at a small house in the suburbs, but no one was injured."

"Oh, did the bomb disposal team and the forensic department find the cause?"

"Hmm—that's the strange thing. Their initial assessment is that the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder, but when I look at the photos from the scene, something doesn't seem right, so I think—"

Kitahara Masaki quickly interrupted Inspector Megure, saying:

"No, you don't want to. The assessment of the explosion traces should be left to the experts. You agree, Inspector Megure. If you're concerned about this accident, you can arrange for investigators to conduct interviews and protect the scene. I can go tomorrow; it's not too late, is it?"

Are you kidding me? The winery pays me more than ten times what your police station pays me. Besides, I created this unsolved case myself. Do you expect me to investigate it myself?

Brother Megure, even if Gin drives an Apache to Tokyo Tower and shoots it down tonight, I still have to go home and sleep.

Chapter 5: The only one who can solve cases likes to slack off.

As Kitahara Masaki predicted, although the small explosion last night alerted the police, given the Japanese police's level of expertise, they quickly attributed it all to a gas cylinder explosion. They then educated the local community about fire prevention, theft prevention, and safety, with the subtext being that if you were killed in the explosion, it was just bad luck that you didn't take proper precautions, and the police would not be held responsible for any dereliction of duty.

Sitting in his seat, looking at the report that seemed absurd, Kitahara Masaki understood perfectly well that this was the reality of the Japanese police force: the conflicts and disagreements between the professional, semi-professional, and non-professional teams were growing ever larger. Non-professional officers like Inspector Megure were nearly fifty years old before reaching the rank of Inspector, while Shiratori, a member of the professional team and a wealthy young master, had already reached Inspector level in his early twenties.

Thinking about all sorts of things, Kitahara Masaki sat at his workstation, openly slacking off while drinking coffee. For him, the occurrence of the murder and the corruption of the Japanese police structure were facts that he could not change.

His biggest dream was simply to sell the organization for a good price, then settle down somewhere and live a leisurely life. As for those matters concerning justice and law, they were nothing more than stepping stones to expand his reputation.

Whether or not to apprehend a criminal can be determined not by Japanese law, but by his own moral compass.

"Brother Kitahara!"

"I am sitting at my desk," Inspector Megure shouted.

"What's wrong, Inspector Megure? Another case?"

"We just received a report that someone saw a sniper test being conducted on a nearby high-rise building on the riverbank. The sniper seemed to be under duress. Oh, by the way, the person who reported this is the same group of kids we saw last time."

Upon hearing this, Kitahara Masaki immediately stood up. He would naturally go for any case that offered him an opportunity to earn achievements.

"Leave it to me, Inspector Megure."

Since there was only eyewitness information and no evidence to prove whether a sniping incident had actually occurred, the police station only sent Kitahara Masaki to investigate, which suited him perfectly.

On his way to the crime scene, he made another call to Gin, reporting the alleged bomber:

"Hey, Lao Qin, didn't you sleep all night?"

"Stop talking nonsense, does the Metropolitan Police Department have any information on this?"

“Explosions like this that can destroy a house are rare these days. The most recent one was the Shinkansen bombing incident. Come to think of it, weren’t you and Vodka on it back then?”

"Hmph, so is this bombing related to the Shinkansen bombing perpetrator?"

"It's irrelevant. All the perpetrators in that incident are already in prison and have no chance of committing the crime. The explosives they used were homemade and have long been disposed of by the police."

"Yawenyi, you'd better say something useful."

I really didn't sleep a wink all night. Gin truly dedicated himself to the organization, even unto death. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of expression you'll have on the day of the finale.

"Ahem, don't rush. I do have some leads regarding the explosives. Based on the information you sent, I think the source of the explosives should be the batch of weapons that were recently stolen from the military factory. If you want to investigate, you can start from there. However, I don't think you have much chance of finding any clues. After all, I think the culprit is just a novice, and it's just a coincidence that the organization's safe house was blown up."

"Even if it's a coincidence, he still has to die."

Kitahara Masaki could not deny that he had already extricated himself from the blame by pushing the blame onto Moriya Teiji. If Gin really found that madman who was causing explosions everywhere in pursuit of symmetrical beauty, it might not be a bad thing. It could be considered that Gin had rid the people of a scourge.

After finishing the phone call, they quickly arrived at the scene of the incident. The Junior Detective League, which Ai had not yet joined, stood at the foot of the unfinished building and waved frantically when they saw Kitahara's police car.

"Brother Kitahara, over here!"

Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta are actually quite cute when they're not courting disaster. No, for the sake of my achievements, you kids better stay as you are, especially Ayumi. As a professional hostage, racking up achievements is a piece of cake for her.

"What's wrong, you kids? What case have you run into this time?"

They were given a piece of candy each, and soon they started chattering about what had happened.

As they were playing on the riverbank, a remote-controlled boat with balloons attached suddenly sped across the river. A moment later, something popped the balloons on the boat.

Conan, through his binoculars, spotted three men on the roof of an unfinished building across the river. One of them was carrying a sniper rifle, while the other two held pistols, seemingly coercing the sniper.

“This is what we found on the stairs leading to the roof. It should be a code left by the coerced man.”

Conan pulled out an electronic calculator, on which was displayed a string of numbers:

3135134162. (Please imagine the square numbers on a calculator screen.)

After taking the calculator, Kitahara Masaki gave Conan's head a good scrubbing, turning Conan's hairstyle into a messy bird's nest.

"Alright, kids, I have a question for you. Why do you think a calculator lying on the ground was left behind by the coerced man? You clearly saw three men on the top floor."

"this......"

"If things are as you say, then why would someone with a gun pointed at him be carrying a calculator? If he's a sniper who can hit such a difficult target, isn't it a bit strange that he'd be carrying such a bulky calculator?"

Um--

The three real elementary school students were deep in thought, clearly unable to answer Kitahara Masaki's question.

“I understand your feelings, but without evidence to prove the crime, it’s difficult for us to file a case. Just like a missing person case, you can only file a case after at least 48 hours of disappearance. After all, filing a criminal case is a very serious matter. Once a case is filed, we have to deploy a large number of police officers to investigate, and withdrawing a case is even more difficult…”

That's what they say, but for Japan, when a phone call comes from above, no rules apply. They're completely clueless, there's no overtime pay, and they have to work themselves to the bone. How can such an organization possibly be motivated to solve cases, let alone have those high school detectives they can use for free?

Seeing the three elementary school students quickly forget their troubles, Kitahara Masaki couldn't help but smile, but Conan, standing to the side, was naturally not so easily fooled.

"Brother Kitahara, this calculator must belong to that sniper. Because—"

Snapped!

Kitahara Masaki reshaped Conan's hairstyle into an afro and replied:

“I know what you’re trying to say. Calculators like this automatically shut down after a period of inactivity. The fact that you can see this calculator is still on means it was just used, meaning it belonged to one of those three people. And a calculator is essential for a sniper to calculate the bullet’s impact point. So it’s obvious that this calculator was indeed left behind by the person who was threatened, and the coded messages on it probably indicate their hiding place or sniping location.”

As for the matter of filing a case, since some people have already started testing sniping, there must be someone who will be their target. Since some people have started planning crimes, isn't it a foregone conclusion that a case will be filed?

"Then why don't you say so?"

"Conan, what do you think will happen to these kids if I don't make them back down?"

Conan pondered for a moment and quickly understood Kitahara Masaki's meaning.

Although he had jokingly thought he could use them to farm achievements, deliberately putting a group of children in danger went against Kitahara Maki's moral bottom line.

Chapter 6: Angrily Rubbing the Dog's Head, Bravely Seizing the Props