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Chapter 206: Little Li's Flying Dagger
The air in the restaurant seemed to congeal. Only the young waiter's intermittent wails stimulated everyone's eardrums like fingernails scratching a blackboard.
"Ah... hand... my hand..."
He hung from the wall, toes barely touching the ground, his body twitching from the intense pain. The steak knife piercing his palm was like a steel nail welded into the wall, completely motionless.
It was a steak knife used for cutting Beef Wellington. The tip was rounded, and the blade had fine serrations—it wasn't designed for piercing. Let alone piercing through the bones of an adult male's hand and embedding itself deeply into a reinforced concrete wall!
Forget human strength; even a pistol might not be able to achieve this!
"Quick! What are you standing there for! Save him! Call an ambulance!" Inspector Megure recovered first, roaring at the dazed officers.
Takagi Wataru hurried over, trying to rescue the waiter. He grasped the blood-stained handle with both hands, took a deep breath, and pulled outward with all his might.
"Hnnng!"
It didn't budge.
The waiter let out a squeal like a slaughtered pig. "Ah! It hurts, hurts, hurts! Don't move it! Please don't move it!"
Takagi wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked back awkwardly. "Inspector, I... I can't pull it out."
"What?"
Inspector Megure's eyes widened as he strode forward. He looked at the steak knife, of which only the handle remained visible. The surrounding wall plaster showed a radial crack pattern, with fine dust still trickling down.
This wall was a load-bearing wall!
"You two, pull together!" Inspector Megure commanded.
Two burly patrol officers stepped up. One held the waiter's wrist to prevent secondary injury, while the other had to brace one foot against the wall for leverage, gripping the handle with both hands.
"One, two, three!"
Crack!
Accompanied by a tooth-aching friction sound and flying concrete chips, the steak knife was finally forcefully pulled out. The waiter rolled his eyes back and fainted directly from the pain, his body sliding limply to the floor.
Looking at the steak knife, which was now severely deformed with the blade twisted into a spiral, all the police officers present sucked in a breath of cold air.
Was this done by a human?
This is practically a humanoid T-Rex!
Everyone's eyes, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, shifted in unison from the twisted steak knife to a table in the corner of the restaurant.
There sat a young man. Silver hair, casual clothes, a lazy posture. The young man was slender and showed no signs of physical training.
Inspector Megure finally recovered from his shock. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and walked toward the corner with stiff steps. Takagi followed closely, his hand on his holstered gun, though his fingers were trembling slightly. Faced with a monster who could throw a steak knife like an armor-piercing shell with his bare hands, the sense of security provided by a pistol was limited.
"This... sir."
Inspector Megure stood before the table, his throat dry. "That knife just now... you threw it?"
Blake put down his napkin and looked up, revealing a gentle smile.
"That's right. Is there a problem, officer?"
"No... no problem. No, there is a problem!" Inspector Megure was incoherent. He took a deep breath, trying to maintain his dignity as an Inspector. "You subdued the criminal and saved the hostage; this is an act of bravery. But... how did you do it?"
Blake wiped the corner of his mouth methodically. "Actually, this is just a self-defense technique from my hometown."
"Huh?"
Inspector Megure and Takagi opened their mouths simultaneously, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
Self-defense technique?
Blake bullshitted without changing his expression, even showing a hint of lingering fear. "The situation was critical, so I didn't think too much. I just didn't expect the quality of the restaurant's walls to be so poor."
The restaurant manager standing nearby wanted to cry. Injustice! My Lord! That is a proper reinforced concrete load-bearing wall! I didn't embezzle a single cent of the renovation money!
"Ahem, in any case, thanks to your action, a tragedy was avoided." Although Inspector Megure had a belly full of complaints, he could only salute officially. "However, we might need your cooperation for a statement later."
"No problem." Blake nodded with a smile.
At this time, the commotion on the other side had also subsided. Supported by Mori Ran, Kisaki Eri walked over. The "Queen of the Legal World," who usually dominated the courtroom, still looked a bit pale, and the thin bloodstain on her neck was shocking. But her eyes had regained their composure.
She walked up to Blake and bowed deeply.
"Sir, thank you very much." Eri's voice was a bit hoarse but sincere. "If you hadn't acted, I'm afraid I..."
She didn't continue, but everyone understood the consequences. The killer was completely insane at that moment; one slash would have meant a severed carotid artery.
"It was no trouble at all."
Blake waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over Eri's face, which still retained its charm, a flash of appreciation in his eyes.
"That's right! Thank you so much!"
Mori Kogoro also leaned in. Although he usually seemed unreliable and always argued with his wife, the anxiety and fear in his eyes just now couldn't be faked. He grabbed Blake's hand and shook it vigorously, incoherent with excitement. "I am the famous detective Mori Kogoro! Anyway, thank you for saving Eri! If you need anything in the future, just ask me!"
"Dad!"
Mori Ran pulled her father's sleeve in embarrassment, then flashed a bright smile at Blake. "Sir, really, thank you so much. I'm Mori Ran, this is my father Mori Kogoro, and this is my mother Kisaki Eri."
She paused, curiosity sparkling in her clear, big eyes. "Just now... are you Chinese?"
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You could tell?"
"Because of your name." Ran pointed to the credit card Blake had placed on the table earlier, which had Pinyin printed on it. "Bai Ye (Blake)''... That's a Chinese name, right? And that flying knife technique, I've seen it in movies. It seems to be called... Little Li's Flying Dagger?"
Blake couldn't help but laugh aloud.
Little Li's Flying Dagger?
You are absolutely right!
Blake began to bullshit with a straight face. "Correct! It is indeed Little Li's Flying Dagger. My master is Li Xunhuan."
"Amazing!"
Ran's eyes lit up. As the captain of the Karate club, admiration for the strong was carved into her bones. "To be able to achieve that level with just a steak knife, this is definitely not ordinary kung fu! If there's a chance, could I ask for your guidance?"
"Ran-neechan, that big brother's hands are so white."
A tender, childish voice suddenly interjected, interrupting Ran's admiration. Conan had squeezed between the two at some point. He looked up, wearing his trademark innocent smile, but his two small hands unceremoniously grabbed Blake's right hand.
"Wow, Big Brother's fingers are so thin and long, and there are no calluses at all!"
As Conan spoke, his fingers quickly felt over Blake's palm, fingertips, and the web of the hand.
None.
Absolutely none.
A storm surged in Conan's heart.
People who practiced firearms would have calluses on the web of the hand and index finger. People who practiced Kendo would have calluses on their palms. People who practiced Karate or boxing would have calluses on their knuckles. Even for this special throwing knife technique, the fingertips would definitely have marks left by long-term friction.
But this person's hand...
The skin was fine and smooth, the joints defined; it was even more perfect than a pianist's hand.
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