Conan: When Shinjiu and Maolilan swap bodies

There was no fear.

Unexpectedly, she felt a deep sense of regret and a strange sense of peace.

Shuichi...

She called out softly in her heart, as if this were just a silent farewell she made before setting off on countless missions.

I'm sorry, but it seems I have to leave first this time.

We must rescue Jin Chun.

You must... survive.

Fryward saw the sudden light settle in her eyes—not a plea, not fear, but a calm farewell he couldn't comprehend. This made her feel a strange unease.

She pulled the trigger.

The gunshots were particularly deafening in the empty room.

Judy's body trembled slightly, and her hand holding the gun fell limply to her side.

The last thing I could see was the hazy moonlight outside the window.

In a daze, she seemed to see that man's back again, resolutely walking into the unknown darkness in the morning light or sunset.

This time... it's really goodbye, Shuichi.

Consciousness sank into boundless darkness.

The blood-stained fingers loosened slightly, and the pistol gently fell to the dusty ground.

Chapter 450 This time, the defeat was truly complete.

Fryward stepped forward, confirmed that the breathing had ceased, and kicked away the gun beside her.

She pursed her lips and gave a brief report into the communicator: "One enemy cleared on the perimeter. Over."

"Withdraw!" Gin's suppressed and tense voice came through the communication, carrying the pain and ferocity he was forcibly suppressing.

"Gin, are you injured?" Flaward keenly noticed the unusual sign.

As she quickly moved towards the designated meeting point, she couldn't help but ask, her tone a mixture of surprise and disbelief, "What happened? You didn't lose, did you? How could you lose like this?"

"Did Shuichi Akai fail to save his sister? Or did something else go wrong?"

Freward's puzzled voices kept coming from the communication, and Gin's anger surged.

This short guy appeared out of nowhere, but his skills and marksmanship are terrifying.

Add to that Shuichi Akai... if he hadn't used a grenade, they might not have been able to leave.

But a loss is a loss.

He said nothing, enduring the pain from his leg wound, and made his way through the night, quickly moving away from the battlefield.

A few minutes later, the three arrived at the meeting point one after another.

Vodka's expression tightened when he saw the injury on Gin's leg, and he quickly opened the door.

Gin waved to stop him from helping him up and got into the car himself.

Cohen followed closely behind, silently sitting down on the other side, and began to examine his sniper rifle, whose scope had been destroyed by Akai's shot, his face still expressionless.

Fryward glanced around and got into the passenger seat.

Once everyone was seated, the vehicle immediately drove into the night.

Gin took out his first-aid kit and began to apply simple bandages to the wound.

After bandaging himself, Gin closed his eyes and began to replay everything that had happened that night in his mind.

Shuichi Akai's actions were going too smoothly, far too smoothly.

First, use a feint to draw attention and create a disturbance, then lure the sniper to move and expose themselves, thus rendering the sniper position useless.

It wasn't obvious at the time, but looking back now, there's a strange feeling that the defenses had been figured out.

The road surveillance did not serve any warning purpose and even completely evaded the sniper's surveillance during the infiltration.

The shot that damaged the remote control also bothered him greatly.

There are many types of triggering mechanisms for remote-controlled bombs, including simple signal transmission commands and booby trap designs that detonate upon physical destruction or upon detecting the disappearance of a signal.

How could the person who fired the shot be sure that the remote control in his hand was the former, and not the latter two?

Was it known in advance, or was it simply a high-stakes gamble before the explosion?

Only five people were involved in this mission and knew about the defense deployment.

There were four people in the car, plus a rum.

Was there a mole who leaked the information? Or has Shuichi Akai become so capable that he can quickly uncover all of Shuichi's plans upon arrival?

If it's the former, who would it be?

If it's the latter, then this enemy is becoming increasingly formidable.

Thinking of this, he opened his eyes, his gaze unusually sinister.

Setting up so many traps resulted in the death of an FBI female agent!

This time, the defeat was truly complete!

……

The gunfire and explosions inside the warehouse had ceased, replaced by a deathly silence.

Shuichi Akai leaned against a pillar, his rapid breathing gradually calming down. His clothes had several scorch marks and tears, and the wound on his left arm was still bleeding and throbbing.

Gin escaped after the final round of fighting, using the explosion as cover. He was wounded, but there was no doubt that he was still alive.

Zhen Chun had already hidden herself in a relatively secluded corner, escaping immediate danger.

Akai nodded to his mother, who was covered in dust. She was safe now, but a heavier unease gripped his heart.

Judy Cameron.

How's the situation on the outside?

He turned on his headset, his hoarse voice tense: "Judy, Cameron, report the situation."

There was complete silence in the headset, except for a faint electrical buzzing.

"Judy Cameron?"

He raised his voice and repeated the call.

There has still been no response.

A chilling premonition crept up my spine.

He glanced at his mother and Masumi, and Sera Mari immediately understood what he meant and nodded to him.

Without further hesitation, Akai endured the gunshot wound and dull pain in many parts of his body, and quickly moved towards the outer area that Judy and Cameron had previously been in charge of.

Through the hole in the side door of the warehouse, the factory area outside was even darker.

He searched in the direction of the abandoned office building, relying on his memory and the directions mentioned in previous communications.

Then he saw Cameron.

Cameron leaned against a pile of rubble, his face ashen in the moonlight, his right hand pressed tightly against the area below his left shoulder, dark bloodstains between his fingers, and his breathing heavy and labored.

Upon seeing Akai appear, he struggled to stand up, but the movement aggravated his wounds, causing him to gasp in pain.

“Mr. Akai…” Cameron’s voice was weak, “Judy…she’s inside…”

He pointed to the dark staircase of the office building, his eyes filled with pain, self-blame, and lingering fear.

Akai's heart sank.

He didn't even reach out to help Cameron; his feet had already moved towards the abandoned building that stood like a tombstone before his consciousness could even register it.

With every step, the wounds on my body protested, but something colder and harder overcame the pain.

The stairwell was filled with dust and... a faint smell of rust, and blood was like a clear guiding line in the stairwell.

Akai's pupils adjusted to the darkness, and then he saw.

In an abandoned, empty room, moonlight slanted in through a broken window, outlining a familiar figure huddled against the wall.

Her short, golden hair had lost its former luster, becoming messy and dusty. Her face was turned to one side, and her glasses lay nearby, the lenses shattered.

She leaned there quietly, as if she was tired and had simply fallen asleep.

But Shuichi Akai had seen too much death. He knew that wasn't sleep.

He stopped in his tracks.

For a few seconds, time seemed to stand still.

All I could hear was the roar of my own blood flowing and the distant sound of the wind outside the stairwell.

All the pain on my body became incredibly clear at this moment, yet it was also as if I were looking through a layer of frosted glass, becoming blurry and unreal.

He slowly walked forward and knelt on one knee.

He didn't immediately check her carotid artery, nor did he even touch her. He just watched.

Looking at Judy's final, frozen expression—there wasn't much pain, there was even a strange calmness, only her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she still had lingering worries.

"Shuichi, you too... must be careful."

Not long ago, the gentle yet weighty words of advice from inside the car echoed in my mind, so clear they pierced my eardrums.

He reached out, his fingertips hovered for a moment, and finally gently landed on the side of her neck.

The skin had lost its warmth, and the pulse was silent.

Shuichi Akai closed his eyes.

When it opened its eyes again, all the intense emotions in those eyes had sunk to the bottom of the sea, leaving only a cruel calm on the surface, and a chill even greater than the Siberian permafrost.

Chapter 451 There are no winners

Shuichi Akai withdrew his hand and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind Jodie's ear—a subtle and brief gesture.

Then, he picked up the broken glasses from the ground, held them in his palm, and felt the cold metal edges digging into his skin.

He stood up, no longer looking at Judy, but turning to Cameron, who was staggering towards him.

Cameron's face was a mixture of physical pain and immense grief; his lips trembled as he tried to say something, but no complete sound came out.

Akai's voice was unusually calm, even colder than usual. He quickly checked Cameron's wound; it was a penetrating wound with severe blood loss, but not fatal for the time being.

"Can we walk?"

Cameron, his eyes red-rimmed, nodded heavily.

"Take her with you."

Shuichi Akai spoke in an unquestionable commanding tone, but after a pause, he added a sentence in a slightly lower voice.

"...Let's take her back."

Cameron's tears finally welled up. He wiped his face hard, enduring the excruciating pain, and together with Akai, carefully lifted Jodie's body.

Shuichi Akai bore most of the weight, and Jodie's cold body leaned against his injured shoulder, its warmth penetrating through her clothes and reaching her heart.

He walked steadily with each step, his wounds protesting, warm liquid constantly seeping from them, but he seemed oblivious to it.

The moonlight cast long shadows of the three people onto the dusty ground.

Two men, alive but scarred, silently walked out of the factory area, carrying their fallen comrade.

And the path of revenge will inevitably lead to an even darker future.

Shuichi Akai's face was expressionless, except for his tightly pursed lips and taut jawline, which betrayed the burning pain and murderous intent that was frozen beneath the extreme cold, enough to incinerate everything.

Tonight, he lost an important companion, someone who had always stood behind him.

He will carry this burden with him until the day of reckoning.

At the edge of the factory area, seeing her brother's figure staggering out of the shadows, Sera Masumi immediately went to meet him.