No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"Ah! Kitahara-kun, I want to go with you to see if there's anything wrong with that real estate agent owner named Zhang Tianzhengji."

Kitahara Masaki looked at the kid and finally nodded, because this kind of case couldn't be solved by reasoning alone, so he took him to broaden his horizons.

--------------

"Uh, Officer Kitahara, why did you bring two children with you?"

"That's what the police officer who just helped detain that thug at the police station asked."

"Ahem, they're witnesses too. They saw the whole thing—that guy smoking. Plus, they both said they really admire the police, so I brought them to see the officers working at the grassroots level. Hope I haven't caused you any trouble?"

"No, no! If these kids want to understand the work of our police station, I'd be happy to explain it to them."

"Okay, I'll leave it to you."

Conan and Haibara originally just came to see what was going on, but Kitahara Masaki pushed them out to attend a police station science lesson.

"Hey, Zhang Tianzheng, wake up."

Kitahara Masaki was genuinely surprised that this guy could still sleep. But then again, according to the police investigation, he'd recently become addicted to gambling and seemed to have racked up considerable gambling debts. This likely made the bank lose confidence in his company, ultimately leading to their refusal to lend him money.

"Hey officer, are you letting me go? Actually, it wouldn't hurt for me to stay here a few more days."

Seeing that this man was like a stubborn leech, Kitahara Masaki stopped testing him and asked directly:

What is your relationship with Suminoe?

"Huh? I don't understand what you're saying, officer."

"It's alright, just keep listening. Through investigating your company's bank accounts, I discovered numerous large transfers, and the senders always changed within a week. If I'm not mistaken, your company is involved in money laundering by organized crime."

Zhang Tianzhengji lay motionless on the tatami, then turned over as if he had done something wrong, no longer looking at Kitahara Masaki.

"The company you transferred money to has been under our police watch for a while now. We haven't bothered with you because you're just a small fry. But... I heard you've recently taken a liking to Texas Hold'em. You're pretty good at it. A real estate agent beating everyone up at the casino? I thought you were in real estate."

"What exactly are you trying to say! I'm going to sleep. Officer, if you don't have anything else to talk to, go chat with someone else, don't bother me..."

"Oh, I see. So, if I anonymously send the investigation results directly to the headquarters of the Suminoe Association, what do you think will happen? A nobody like you suddenly pulls out such a large sum of money to gamble, and then loses it all... To outsiders, all the shady things you've done have been laid bare under the sun, and everyone can see right through them!!!"

Kitahara Masaki reached over the iron fence, grabbed Zhang Tianzhengji's hair, and wedged his face between the fence bars, forcing him to continue listening.

“You thief who embezzled public funds, even in an ordinary company you would at least be prosecuted. But you're working for the underworld now! How dare you steal their money?”

"Me! Me—Waaaaah—I didn't want to either!!! They said they'd tear down that movie theater and rebuild it into a club after buying it, and I was almost done with it a while ago, but then they suddenly said it wasn't necessary! Not necessary? I put so much effort into buying that lousy movie theater, I took out so many bank loans! And this is how they treat me—like trash—waaaaah—"

Kitahara Masaki looked at the weeping Zhang Tianzhengji and realized that this minor character's mental defenses had been completely shattered. The next step was to extract more useful information from him.

"Has the club said anything more specific about the club? For example, that Suminoe is going to distribute some of its drugs in places like that?"

"Uh—there is indeed something rather strange. When we used to discuss the construction of the club, they would usually ask me to meet them in the industrial area, saying things like it wasn't safe to talk on the phone or that I would be eavesdropped on in a coffee shop. In short, they would ask me to go to the locations of chemical plants in the industrial area. Once, they were late, and they were driving a truck loaded with chemicals."

"Wait, how did you know that the car was carrying chemicals?"

"Ah, there are those notices with chemical formulas and danger signs posted on them."

Do you remember that chemical formula?

Kitahara Masaki quickly wrote down several possible chemical formulas on the paper, then Zhang Tianzheng pointed to one of them and shouted:

"This is it. I remember that day very clearly. I asked them why they drove such a dangerous car over, and they said it was full of gold! Of course I didn't believe them, but I still took a closer look at the car. The chemical formula written on the car body is this!"

And that chemical formula is the raw material for manufacturing their medicine! In other words, Suminoe has close ties with certain chemical plants in the industrial zone, and may even be able to take some of their chemical materials to make medicine.

Most importantly, this might become a clue in the investigation of Tsukuyomi.

Thinking of this, Kitahara Masaki contacted Amuro Tooru and asked him to send the police to arrest him.

"Officer Sasae, I'm entrusting the investigation of the Tsukuyomi organization to you. I'm sure there are quite a few computer experts in the National Police Agency."

"Don't worry, Officer Kitahara, I value our mutually beneficial relationship very much."

Chapter 78 The police are also poor.

Not long after, the police arrived, took the witness back, and placed him under protection. After all, even though he was just a small fry, he was able to identify the old yakuza group Suminoe-kai and the new cybercrime group Tsukuyomi. In the past, when dealing with organized crime groups, witnesses who could have testified in court often lost the courage to do so after being intimidated, kidnapped, or even assassinated, resulting in insufficient evidence.

Now that the police are capable of protecting witnesses, they certainly won't let this guy go.

"Thank you for your generosity, Officer Kitahara."

"No need. If Officer Sasae really wants to thank me, then telling me some information about the Public Security Bureau as a token of my gratitude would be quite nice."

"Haha, Officer Kitahara, didn't you say you weren't interested in these things before?"

"But now I've been targeted by that organization that uses the internet to commit crimes. I wasn't interested before because I didn't want to make too many enemies, but now they're my enemies."

Kitahara Masaki considers himself a pacifist, but if the other party continues to be hostile after the warning, then it is necessary to eliminate them completely.

"Hmm... Actually, a case we've been investigating recently might be related to the Tsukuyomi organization."

"tell me the story."

"Recently, the Metropolitan Police Department received reports of citizens having part of their savings suddenly withdrawn by others. After finding the withdrawal records, it was discovered that the perpetrators were withdrawing money from ATMs. However, the people who came to withdraw money were basically covered up from head to toe, so the Second Investigation Division quickly reached a stalemate. Then, this case involving high-IQ crimes was transferred to our side."

After Amuro Tooru finished explaining the backstory, the main story began. Conan, who was eavesdropping nearby, didn't dare to breathe and covered his mouth as he continued to listen to the case.

"However, we quickly found the suspect's trail through other cameras on the street where the ATM was located, and through gait analysis, we located her in a cheap rental apartment in Beika-cho. Things were going very smoothly from there; we found the card skimming machine and the stolen cash in the child's room. But... during the search, we found over several hundred kilograms of medicine under the floorboards of the house."

"So many! Wait, isn't she just a kid? How could those drug dealers let her guard this heavy shipment all by herself?"

Amuro Tooru smiled and nodded.

"That's right. After we identified the child, we found out she was a juvenile delinquent who had committed theft three years ago and was sent to a juvenile detention center. After her recent release, she quickly ran away from home again. Using some information online, she single-handedly built a card skimming machine. Although she's a kid with a talent for crime, given her life experience, it's unlikely she would have encountered something like drug trafficking. So we continued to dig deeper and found that the landlord here is an elderly person confined to a mental hospital. At this point, we also investigated the apartment manager and found that although he had been in contact with the landlord, it was all via email, and the rent he received was usually paid via bank transfer."

"The person behind this hasn't shown up at all; it's definitely in line with the style of the Tsukuyomi Organization."

"Yes, right after we raided the girl's house, all information about the entire apartment disappeared. The land deed, bank accounts, transfer records, and so on were all gone. It's safe to say they saw us when we entered the apartment and took countermeasures."

"Completely sever their ties with that apartment? It seems they used that place to hide drugs; the unsuspecting guests were walking on piles of medicine..."

“That’s right, we thought of that too, so they cut off the online leads, but the real-world leads are the drugs that were seized. They couldn’t just leave such a huge amount of drugs there; they were supposed to take them out at some point.”

Kitahara Masaki couldn't help but chuckle.

"Their methods were clever, but their luck was just terrible. The first time they tried to do business with a veteran gangster, they were kicked out. The second time they tried to deliver drugs by renting apartments at low prices, but the tenants committed crimes and were caught by the police, and all the drugs they bought were seized."

"Yes, so I think if this drug-hiding apartment was also Tsukuyomi's doing, then they should be worried."

Amuro Tooru, despite wearing a disguise, still had the hunter's glint in his eyes. However, he quickly reverted to his usual calm and collected 'ordinary person'.

"Oh, right, there's something that's giving us a bit of a headache—that girl."

"Is there a problem? Is she still a minor?"

"Sigh, that's right. She's still a full six months away from turning sixteen, but we can't just let her go like that. Judging from Tsukuyomi's previous style of doing things, they would retaliate against anyone who ruined their plans in a crazy way."

Kitahara Masaki initially thought Amuro Tooru just wanted to vent, but then he suddenly realized that the atmosphere surrounding his speech had changed, becoming one that symbolized trouble.

They're not trying to get me to help the police again, are they?

"Ahem, well, we understand that Officer Kitahara, you haven't been handling any cases lately, and the First Investigation Division hasn't had much work either. So we'd like you to escort that girl to Hokkaido, where she can get away from the internet and has our Public Security Bureau's newest safe house."

Kitahara Masaki cursed inwardly, "A safe house in Hokkaido? Could it be some kind of gimmick by the police department higher-ups to save money?"

"As you know, Japan still has a witness protection system, so we need to protect a minor girl..."

"Alright, alright, I'll go, okay? Just send me a copy of all the information the Public Security Bureau has about Tsukuyomi."

“Well… this isn’t in accordance with the rules, but since Officer Kitahara has done us a great favor, I’m willing to break the rules for you this once.”

You can just talk about it. Every day it's basically illegal searches and organized murders and arson. I guess your superiors are afraid of you shooting them in the back, which is why they let you continue to go undercover.

As expected of Mikasa's formidable skills, she truly lives up to her reputation.

Chapter 79 The Fake Young Lady's Personal Bodyguard

"Hello, are you Ms. Aokawa Ayaka?"

"Yes, I am Aokawa Ayaka."

Kitahara Masaki found it hard to believe that this timid little girl in front of him actually had two criminal records. Indeed, appearances can be deceiving.

In order to get the girl to a safe house in Hokkaido as soon as possible, Kitahara Masaki and she boarded the luxury train, Hokutosei No. 3.

Of course, this was a trip reimbursed by the police. Although he had to be fully focused while sending her there, he could enjoy himself on the return trip. However, Tsukuyomi's people didn't make a move until they boarded the train. It seemed they wanted to settle things on the means of transportation?

"Excuse me, officer, are we going to Hokkaido?"

“That’s right, there’s a safe house in Hokkaido that can better protect you. And for the rest of the trip, you can just call me Mr. Kitahara, since the word ‘police officer’ always attracts attention.”

"Ok, I see."

Seeing her obedient appearance, Kitahara Masaki felt relieved. It wasn't that he thought she had seen the light, but rather that she wouldn't be too flamboyant during the trip.

"It's already past midnight. Let's go to the dining car for a meal and then rest."

Kitahara Masaki planned to avoid mealtimes. If it was crowded, his concern wasn't about Aokawa, but rather that he might be recognized again.

However, once he got to the dining car, Kitahara Masaki realized he was completely wrong, because he saw the Grim Reaper trio again, and it was impossible not to see Uncle Mori drinking red wine.

“We’ll sit in the corner.”

After taking his seat, Kitahara Masaki listened quietly to the conversation, which mostly revolved around a middle-aged man's exploits. He was said to have bravely chased away robbers who tried to rob his jewelry store, leaving them with nothing. Then a mayor appeared, claiming the jewelry store owner had staged the whole thing because the robbers had said, "This is completely different from what we agreed on," before leaving. The mayor then angrily accused the jewelry store owner of doing anything for his mayoral campaign, while the jewelry store owner and his secretary vehemently refuted his claims.

The once quiet food cart became noisy, and Kitahara Masaki gripped his knife and fork tightly, stopping his eating.

"Officer... Mr. Kitahara, is something happening?"

"Don't worry, I will protect you."

For a train like the Big Dipper that isn't entirely controlled by an electronic system, Tsukuyomi couldn't possibly dismantle it from thousands of miles away or perform emergency braking. At most, they could control the temperature control system and the lighting power supply, and they would have to board the train first.

Furthermore, bombs are impossible. Kitahara Maki obtained the train ticket through connections, so it's impossible for Tsukuyomi to plant a bomb beforehand or send another piece wearing a bomb vest onto the train.

Amuro Tooru assigned this task to Kitahara Masaki not just because the Public Security Bureau was short-handed, but more importantly, to use the girl as bait to lure the Tsukuyomi members onto the bus.

So this Hokutosei Train is a trap set by Kitahara Masaki and Amuro Tooru, and now they're just waiting for those unlucky guys to fall into it.

brush--

As the two sides were arguing fiercely, Uncle Mori stood up to mediate when the lights on the food cart suddenly went out, and at the same time, the door of the food cart was pushed open violently.

Those guys who were making a lot of noise suddenly fell silent, and they all froze in a state of impending panic.

"Gayalize, you treacherous bastard! Die!"