I'm in Detective Conan, and the system has appointed Batman.

Conan, Heiji Hattori: ?

Keigo Higashino also wrote this novel?

Are you kidding me?

If you were talking about Detective Galileo, White Night, or The Secret, I'd believe you. But what do you mean by "The Devotion of Suspect X"? Is this even a novel? Are you trying to fool some naive, innocent high school girl?

As high school detectives, they naturally had some impression of Keigo Higashino's novels.

I have absolutely no recollection of this novel existing.

Seeing Ran Mouri's look of sudden realization, Heiji Hattori quickly retorted.

"No, no, no, this novel absolutely does not exist."

"Keigo Higashino's latest novel is called Journey Under the Midnight Sun. I don't remember anything about the Devotion of Suspect X, so it's definitely not what it means. But the three of us probably wouldn't have thought of that. Think about it some more."

Chen En: ?

What? You don't have any?

A hint of doubt appeared in his eyes, completely unaware that The Devotion of Suspect X was a novel from 2005, while the current timeline was only around 1999.

Just then, Takagi Wataru rushed over with luminol reagent.

Without saying a word, he started spraying the escalator.

The next instant, the previously hidden symbol on the escalator came into view.

That's a symbol (口).

Upon seeing this, Chen En frowned, and his previous guess resurfaced in his mind.

□○×△

Okay, so you still say it's not a game controller.

Sony wielded immense power and committed heinous crimes.

I suggest a thorough investigation to determine if any Sony employees are in this building!

Chapter 974 Top Demon King Protects Batman

What does this mean?

“□×△?”

Heiji Hattori and Conan couldn't help but frown.

They were finally rendered helpless by this code.

Not a buddy?

Could it really be referring to the four symbols on the game controller? Is Sony really behind this?

However, upon seeing this, Chen En merely glanced at it before snatching the list back from Inspector Megure. His gaze swept over the names on the list before settling on a particular one.

Upon seeing Chen En, it seemed that he had discovered something.

Inspector Megure immediately followed the lead of his own boss.

A group of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officers surrounded Chen En, forming multiple layers around him.

Conan and Heiji Hattori, who were pondering the situation, were squeezed outside.

This immediately left Conan and Heiji Hattori completely bewildered.

Dude, what happened to the era of high school detectives?

Why are you all circling around an adult detective?

I was thinking that guy's name wasn't Kindaichi either.

"Brother Chen En, have you discovered anything?"

Inspector Megure asked somewhat nervously.

"Or do you already know who the murderer is?"

When faced with Inspector Megure's question, Chen En simply nodded and spoke directly.

"This is the murderer."

He pointed to a name on the list.

Inspector Megure and Wataru Takagi immediately followed Chen En's finger and looked at the name.

Four large characters were clearly written on it.

Kokuyoshibunta.

Upon seeing this, Inspector Megure and Wataru Takagi were taken aback.

How can we see the connection here?

What is the relationship between these four symbols and Kuniyoshi Bunta?

"Brother Chen En, I don't quite understand. Could you explain it in more detail?"

Heiji Hattori, who was standing next to him, also pushed aside the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officers.

He held Conan in his hands and placed him next to his chin. The two detectives, one big and one small, turned their heads to look at the name Chen En was pointing to, their eyes filled with doubt.

"Yes, Brother Chen En, what's the meaning of this statement?"

On the left is Brother Chen En, and on the right is Brother Chen En.

Upon hearing this, Chen En's face darkened.

I'm truly grateful to have you two such lovable clowns around.

However, this question was quite easy for Chen En to answer; he simply said it casually.

"This is just the kind of word game that elementary school students play in my hometown."

“If you cut off the top of Givenchy, what’s left is ○×△.”

"However, this person's Chinese characters are written in a rather abstract way. Why is the mouth written as a circle and the lower half of the character '太' as a triangle?"

Upon hearing this, everyone came to their senses.

It turned out to be the case.

It seems this puzzle is actually quite simple, but they are too caught up in it to understand it.

Chen En was from out of town.

Having been exposed to Chinese characters since childhood, it's not surprising that one could immediately recognize the true answer to the riddle upon seeing the complete symbol.

As for the remaining explanations...

Conan said with a smile.

"Actually, writing the mouth as ○ is a fairly common way of omitting words."

"Some people just want to save time and like to shorten it. They probably think that others can understand it anyway, and it's faster to write it this way."

"Professor Agasa often wrote the 'mouth' radical in his name as '○'."

Heiji Hattori, who was holding Conan, nodded in deep agreement.

He said it with a hint of complaint.

"But this guy really does try to save trouble when he should, and then he tries to save trouble when he shouldn't."

"He extended the dot at the bottom of the character '太', making the two sides connect, and the position of that stroke is also wrong, making it look like a triangle. You can't cut corners like this."

However, considering that this person left a death message when he was about to die.

Let's not complain too much then.

Although this way of writing is a bit abstract, we can't be too demanding.

"So that's how it is."

Inspector Megure and Wataru Takagi suddenly realized what was happening, and then came to their senses.

“I just checked, and Kuniyoshi Bunta is currently working at the company mentioned above.”

"Let's go up there and catch Kuniki Bunta right now, don't let this guy have a chance to escape!"

Just do it.

Inspector Megure led a group of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officers as they quickly climbed up the emergency staircase.

Chen En and Hattori Heiji followed closely behind.

Soon the group arrived at the floor where the company was located.

Kuniyoshi Bunta was acting as if nothing had happened, carrying out official business inside. He didn't seem like the murderer who embezzled company funds that Kiyohisa had mentioned and asked Nakajo Katsunori to investigate.

He appeared completely unconcerned when faced with the sudden arrival of numerous police officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

He exuded an aura that suggested the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was powerless against him.

This caused Inspector Megure and Wataru Takagi to furrow their brows slightly.

This kid's got some nerve.

This is such an attitude.

However, since Inspector Megure had already identified Kuniyoshi Bunta as the culprit, he naturally wouldn't hesitate any longer. He greeted the department head, Kisei Norihisa, and immediately spoke to Kuniyoshi Bunta.

"I just borrowed the meeting room next door from Minister Laisheng. Mr. Kuniyoshi, please come with me to make a statement."

"I suspect you are directly involved in this case. The deceased's death information clearly contains a coded message pointing to your name. Please cooperate with our police investigation."

The deceased's death notice contained a coded message pointing to my name?

A hint of doubt appeared in Kuniyoshi Bunta's eyes.

In his memory, after he stabbed the victim to death, the victim did write his name on the folder and files, but he had already pulled the files out of the folder, and only half of his name remained.