No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"Now set the bus to return trip mode, and then make a call from inside the bus to your company headquarters!"

"I told you to set your destination as the return trip, not that you actually had to turn back. Follow this route!"

These robbers looked like professionals; it was a planned kidnapping, and they probably had some ulterior motive. However, this completely ruined Vermouth's plans to go skiing.

Maybe I'll just drive myself next time I go out.

"Hey! We've hijacked this bus. Our demand is the release of Yajima, who's currently in detention!"

Yajima was the ringleader of the robbers in the recent jewelry store robbery. He was arrested quickly after the robbery, and now his accomplices are trying to get him out, probably because only he knows where the jewelry is hidden.

But none of that matters now. Vermouth pretended to be scared and hugged Haibara tightly, emphasizing that 'I'm just a poor hostage.' Haibara was initially a little resistant to this physical contact, but later realized that she couldn't resist and could only enjoy it, just like a kitten whose eyes had lost their luster.

Conan, sitting in the back seat, abandoned the idea of ​​contacting the police after seeing how audacious the robbers were, because he estimated that in a few minutes, the area around the police car would be full of police cars.

He glanced at Vermouth and Ai Haibara sitting in front of him and couldn't help but pray for the hijackers. "Why did you have to hijack this bus? Kitahara-san is definitely going to teach these guys a lesson."

"Oh! Cool kid! Is this common in Japan? I've never seen this when I was in the US!"

Judy, who was sitting next to Conan, suddenly said something that scared Conan half to death.

Is this English teacher alright?! We've been kidnapped! Can't you act like a hostage?!

At the next stop after Conan and the others boarded the bus, Jodie and three other strangers got on. Among these four, Jodie was an FBI agent, and Shuichi Akai was also mixed in with the other three. He was wearing a mask and coughing incessantly, looking like a sickly old man. Originally, he and Jodie planned to have Jodie have a chance encounter with Vermouth first, and then observe her openly and secretly to see if she had any problems. However, the sudden occurrence of armed robbers hijacking the bus completely disrupted Shuichi Akai's plans.

When did Japan become so chaotic? In Shuichi Akai's memory, Japan should have strict gun control. Now these two robbers each have a gun, and there seems to be something ominous in that ski bag...

The most crucial point is that today, because it's a tracking mission, he didn't bring a gun to avoid any minor troubles, so he only had his fists left.

"Hand over all cell phones! Any communication devices that can contact the outside world!"

The robbers took out a large bag and calmly collected the passengers' cell phones, seemingly unconcerned that anyone would refuse to hand them over. Seeing that the robbers didn't search the passengers at all and relied on them to hand over their phones voluntarily, Shuichi Akai, Conan, and Vermouth all realized that these two robbers had accomplices!

It's obvious that the accomplice would be in a position where they could monitor everyone, so the accomplice's position is also quite clear: he or she is sitting in the last row.

Shuichi Akai was also sitting in the last row. To his left was an old man with a hearing aid, and to his right was a woman chewing gum.

As an FBI agent who is very familiar with all kinds of electronic devices, the old man's hearing aid was indeed not a disguise, which means that he only had one accomplice, namely the woman.

But the armed robbers are standing next to the driver, which is still too far from the last row. If they rush up rashly, they will only become sitting ducks.

The other deities were basically the same, sitting motionless in their seats. The robbers' plan was quite meticulous, but this time the bus they hijacked was full of deities—sniper god, witch, death god, genius scientist, black technology inventor, juvenile detective club, and even the FBI, who were seen as special agents by outsiders, were slightly inferior to these people.

After the hijackers made their demands, the police immediately received a call from the bus company. Upon seeing such a large group of people on the hijacked bus, even Kitahara Masaki couldn't sit still. He immediately stole a motorcycle from the Metropolitan Police Department's garage and chased after the hijacked bus.

Vermouth, who happened to be sitting by the window, suddenly moved closer to Kitahara Masaki after seeing him riding a motorcycle, as if adjusting her seat. She then hugged Haibara and, like soothing a child, held Haibara's hand and softly sang a nursery rhyme. Haibara, who initially thought Vermouth was afraid, realized she might be using some kind of sign language under Vermouth's manipulation. Combining this with the image of the motorcyclist suddenly appearing outside the window, she immediately understood that Vermouth was conveying some message to Kitahara Masaki.

"Companion, the last one, a woman."

Upon deciphering the meaning of the sign language, Kitahara Masaki immediately understood the implication: these robbers had even arranged for one of their accomplices to impersonate a passenger and monitor the passenger's every move.

"Attention all units! There are more than two hijackers on the bus. The woman in the last row is also an accomplice. She is using chewing gum to notify the hijackers in the front row what is happening in the back. Attention all units! At the same time, a high-energy reaction has been detected in the hijackers' ski bags, suspected to be a bomb or similar item. Snipers, stand by. No one is to fire without my order."

"Roger that!"

Takagi and Sato, who were driving behind the bus, were both shocked by this series of events. The robbers had accomplices posing as passengers, and they even brought a bomb on the bus. This information would not be noticeable without careful observation. Even though his girlfriend was one of the hostages, Kitahara-senpai was still so calm!

The First Investigation Division's admiration for Kitahara Masaki rose again, but all this information was given to Kitahara Masaki by others, who then relayed it. Vermouth told him about the accomplice, and the bomb was naturally detected by the drone.

"I initially thought that Kitahara would lose his composure because his girlfriend was upstairs, but it turns out I was overthinking it. I think it'll be fine to leave the rest of the operation to him."

Inspector Megure, who was following behind, breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to have the other police officers set up surveillance points along the only route ahead, he saw Kitahara Masaki sitting sideways on the motorcycle, with his hands off the steering wheel, and then he pulled out two police revolvers.

"Hey, what's Kitahara up to?"

bang bang bang! ! !

Before anyone could react, Kitahara Masaki had already fired three shots, shattering the bus window, and then used his motorcycle as a starting point to leap directly into the bus.

What?!

Chapter 133 Take this penetrating bullet!

Two armed robbers, and an accomplice who is likely carrying a detonator. According to the map, this road leads to a long tunnel.

Their plan was supposed to be this: after entering the tunnel, they would have two male hostages put on the ski suits that were originally worn by the hijackers, then pull their accomplice, who was pretending to be a hostage, onto the bus. They would then tell the driver to speed up and shake off the police behind them. Once they had shaken off the police, they would get off the bus with one hostage, and the bus would continue driving forward or they would kill the hostage. But in reality, after getting off the bus, they would press the detonator, blowing up all the passengers and the driver, leaving no witnesses.

The plan was pretty good, but it's been seen through now. So as long as we keep following them until they run out of gas, they'll definitely be forced into a negotiation with the police, and as long as they're still in the car, they definitely won't detonate the bomb.

Therefore, for the police, as long as they keep tracking the bus, they can succeed.

However, as he was thinking this, one of the robbers in the car suddenly noticed Vermouth hugging Haibara.

"Hey, I didn't notice at first. I thought you were a middle-aged woman with a child. Turns out you're the girlfriend of that celebrity, Kitahara Masaki."

Although Vermouth's presence masked her aura considerably, her beauty was still undeniable without a mask. One of the robbers, upon discovering this, approached Vermouth.

"No, I don't know any Kitahara Maki. You've mistaken me for someone else."

"Heh, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that people will find out about your child with Kitahara Masaki?"

Vermouth was indeed taken aback when she heard this, it seems that the robber mistook Ai Haibara for her child.

It seems this robber isn't very bright. Vermouth is a silver-haired, green-eyed American, while Kitahara Masaki has black hair and black eyes. How could their child possibly have brown hair?

"What a pity, your husband is a policeman, and a pretty boy at that."

Outside the bus, Kitahara Masaki watched the robber, who suddenly seemed to have fallen ill, and thought that Evelyn's identity probably made him feel that the gap between people was greater than the gap between people and dogs, which probably aggravated his weak heart.

However, he now believes he has the ability to control the fate of others, and this change in identity has caused some mental confusion—he has begun to feel that he is also a so-called superior person.

Ugh--

If things had reached a stalemate during negotiations, snipers could have easily taken them down, but the current situation is forcing Kitahara Masaki to make a move.

After all, Kitahara Masaki didn't like his people suffering losses, and he didn't think this clown wearing ski goggles was qualified to touch a witch.

[The Dark Star, Faster Than a Silver Bullet]: Successfully rescued Akemi Miyano from the Black Organization.

Bonus Item: Penetrating Bullet

This is an item with a one-day cooldown, and you can only use it once per use.

Kitahara Masaki's experiments have shown him the extent to which so-called penetration is possible.

Using the item transforms an ordinary brass bullet into a penetrating bullet, which can penetrate obstacles at the cost of reduced speed. Moreover, after penetrating an obstacle, the penetrating bullet maintains the same trajectory as before penetrating the obstacle.

After this bullet hits a living creature, it will revert to a regular bullet. In other words, this ability only exists between the time it leaves the barrel and the time it hits the living target, and each use lasts only ten minutes. It is impossible to use a penetrating bullet from yesterday today.

It's an incredibly powerful sniping tool because this bullet can penetrate normally impenetrable walls and bulletproof glass. Furthermore, the bullet's trajectory doesn't deviate, meaning there's no need to worry about what happens after penetration.

The bullet that was fired today was not aimed at the robber who had spoken rudely to Vermouth, but at the accomplice in the back seat who might have been carrying a detonator.

Because it can penetrate obstacles and accurately hit the enemy's head, it can penetrate bullets, but it cannot break any glass.

So Kitahara Masaki made a quick decision: use penetrating bullets to deal with the guy who could detonate the bomb, while regular bullets were used to break the glass so Kitahara Masaki could get into the bus. The last robber was standing next to the driver, and the backpack with the bomb was also with him, so let's use melee weapons to deal with him.

After making a few hand gestures to inform Vermouth, Vermouth immediately pretended to be very frightened, hugged Haibara and fell down next to the seat, with only her back to the glass window.

"Hehe, don't be so scared. I'm the kind of man who can escape from the police for a whole week and even steal jewelry worth hundreds of millions from a jewelry store! Seriously, am I not even as good as that pretty boy who only appears on TV? Right now, the only person you're with is..."

bang bang bang! ! !

Before anyone could react, three gunshots rang out, causing the woman in the back seat to sway and fall onto Shuichi Akai. Shuichi Akai could still see a bullet hole on the side of the woman's forehead, with blood trickling down her cheeks. However, judging from the woman's wide-open eyes, she probably didn't know what she had just experienced until the moment she died.

The glass near the middle of the bus shattered instantly, and the robber who had been hurling insults at Vermouth was hit in the head. Judy, who had been watching the situation closely, took the pistol from his hand.

The next second, just as Judy was about to confront the robbers in front of her with the pistol, a dark figure jumped in through the shattered glass window. The man, wearing a motorcycle helmet and an expensive suit, seemed to flick two streaks of silver light from his sleeves.

Before the robber next to the driver could even react, he was stabbed in the right artery and throat by a dagger. In his last moments, he only saw a man in a black suit walk up to him.

"I'm a police officer. The robbers have all been dealt with. You can pull over now."

"Huh? Oh, um..."

A full half minute passed before the driver reacted, relying entirely on instinct and his ten years of driving experience to bring the bus to a stop on the side of the road.

"Inspector Megure, all the robbers have been killed, and the prisoners they requested to be released can be re-entered into prison."

"Huh? Oh, um..."

Even Kitahara's brother couldn't say it, so Inspector Megure almost slapped himself twice. He thought Kitahara Masaki was a calm policeman who wouldn't flinch even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, or if a deer ran past him on the left, but he was immediately proven wrong.

My face really hurts.

Chapter 134 Shuichi Akai: Are you a sore loser?

"Are you OK?"

After confirming that all passengers had disembarked, Kitahara Masaki asked Vermouth a question.

"It's okay. I just fell down when the glass shattered, and the seat blocked most of the shards."

A small portion of the fragments naturally embedded themselves in the robber's body.

"Ahem, Brother Kitahara, why didn't you tell us about this operation? It was far too dangerous. What if the bombs on their backpacks accidentally detonated?"

The woman holding the detonator was sitting next to Shuichi Akai. That man would definitely find the detonator and dispose of it properly.

"Don't worry, Inspector Megure. When I dealt with that robber standing next to the bomb, I used a dagger, not a bullet, so it won't cause the problems you're thinking about. Besides, the bomb disposal team has already successfully defused the bomb, hasn't they?"

"Hmm... wait a minute! You didn't even inform us before you took action, which makes it impossible for us to provide you with any effective support!"

Ah, I was a bit angry at the time, so it's understandable that I accidentally forgot about you.

"Haha, Inspector Megure, don't be so angry. In any case, the outcome is good, no passengers were injured, and this bus hijacking case is over. However, we still need to have the passengers give statements to rule out the possibility that there are accomplices among them."

When Kitahara Masaki used a drone to conduct reconnaissance on the bus, a man wearing a mask appeared in the footage. Even through the screen, Kitahara Masaki recognized him as Shuichi Akai. Not to mention that Jodie, an FBI agent, was also on the bus. Presumably, they were planning to use a chance encounter as an excuse to investigate whether Evelyn was a member of the organization.

Kitahara Masaki didn't expect Akai Shuichi to appear so quickly, so he had to take countermeasures to restrain Akai Shuichi. Therefore, this kidnapping case is an opportunity for Kitahara Masaki to openly investigate Akai Shuichi.

Previously at the amusement park, even though Vermouth didn't reveal any evidence related to the organization, she was still included on their list of suspects. Now it's our turn to make a move.

"What's wrong? Haven't you finished collecting the passengers' personal information yet?"

"They've all been collected."

"Okay, very good. Now, please have them go to the Metropolitan Police Department to give their statements."

Shuichi Akai is currently using the alias Yukihiro Kato, posing as a university student—this is likely his false identity in Japan. Exposing him shouldn't be difficult, as as one of the few FBI agents with free rein, his false identity would probably have significant flaws.

Since his previous actions would certainly differ from the fake identity he had fabricated, Kitahara Masaki, as a police officer, naturally had a reasonable grounds to interrogate him.

As Kitahara Masaki, who was at the scene, was thinking this, Akai Shuichi, sitting in the police car, suddenly started coughing rapidly and said to the police officer who was driving: