Chapter 8: Completely Bewildered
Tokyo Tower District - Evening
"Anya's papa is so rich! My dad reads car magazines every day, and I'm pretty sure there's a car like that in one of them. It must cost a fortune!"
Genta gazed enviously at the GT-R's taillights. A car that expensive could buy him eel rice until he turned eighteen.
Ayumi added, "It looks brand new too."
"Alright, let's head home. We'll continue the treasure hunt tomorrow."
Conan didn't care about the GT-R. As for being wealthy, the Kudo family was definitely among Tokyo's elite, so luxury cars didn't impress him. He just wanted to go home—it was already getting dark, and the kids needed supervision.
Going home too late would earn him a lecture from Ran.
Unfortunately, Genta and Mitsuhiko grabbed him by the back of his collar, their eyes conveying a crystal-clear message.
"Okay, okay! I'm really scared of you guys."
Natsukawa Residence
Natsukawa sped off, taking Anya home.
"Don't wander around the house. I'm heading out for a bit—I'll bring you dinner later."
BANG! The door slammed shut, and the GT-R's engine roared to life.
"Is Papa going to punish criminals, Bond? Let's go watch!"
Bond merely glanced at Anya with a dismissive snort. No way, it's way too far!
"Bond is such a bad dog! Not cute at all, hmph!"
Beika Bridge - Half an Hour Later
Natsukawa arrived at Beika Bridge. He remembered that only here, at night, would the neon lights reflected in the water form a fish shape.
Buildings lined both riverbanks, but Natsukawa vaguely recalled that the hidden treasure should be somewhere like an observation deck.
Combining the fact that the fish's eye was positioned on the left side, Natsukawa quickly pinpointed a location.
There was an observation deck on the right side of Beika Bridge. Though the lights were off at this hour, Natsukawa had recently explored all of Tokyo and knew the city intimately—finding it was child's play.
Ten minutes later, Natsukawa departed the observation deck carrying the maple leaf gold coins.
He encountered Conan along the way—along with his tail!
Natsukawa didn't acknowledge Conan, but waited until he'd passed before intercepting the three men in black trailing behind.
All three possessed Western features and towering builds. The bulges around their waists indicated they were armed.
Whoosh!
Natsukawa surged forward, swiftly dispatching all three robbers.
These escaped Italian criminals seemed remarkably unprofessional—he expended minimal effort, and they went down before they could even react properly.
He also confiscated their weapons, which provided a temporary solution since the Organization hadn't delivered his equipment yet.
However, Natsukawa didn't take everything. He searched the unconscious men and found three spare magazines, plus the magazines from their three pistols—six magazines total. These were standard M9 Berettas, each magazine holding fifteen rounds.
He removed the magazines from two pistols and tossed them aside, taking only one M9 and the six magazines—enough for his immediate needs.
He didn't call the police. He simply bound the three men securely, then leisurely departed.
Observation Deck - Meanwhile
"Conan, where's the treasure?"
In the darkened observation deck, the three Detective Boys members looked utterly bewildered. Where's the promised treasure?
"It should be here!" Conan picked up a game token from the floor and pointed upward.
A bag was hanging from the ceiling.
"Is it game tokens?"
Genta was incredibly excited—the treasure really existed!
Conan frowned in confusion. He hadn't expected there to actually be a treasure. Another question nagged at him: Was the treasure really just game tokens?
The kids fumbled around for a while, finally locating a long bamboo pole to lower the bag down.
CLANG—
The moment the bag dropped, game tokens bounced everywhere, nearly sending the Detective Boys into ecstasy.
"So many! We can play Kamen Rider Fighting for months with these!"
These game tokens were naturally Natsukawa's handiwork. He couldn't let the kids walk away empty-handed, so he'd visited a nearby arcade and purchased a massive bag of tokens as a reward for the Detective Boys.
Something's not right! Something's very wrong!
Conan felt increasingly uneasy, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what was bothering him. And who were those three suspicious men in black he'd spotted earlier that evening?
He'd actually formed a hypothesis before arriving at the observation deck—a theory about those three men in black.
Those three were clearly of European or American descent, and combined with the treasure map and the news he'd seen during their hunt about an Italian theft gang stealing maple leaf gold coins, he'd concluded the Detective Boys had likely discovered a treasure map left by the gang leader.
He'd even called the police beforehand, but what now? The treasure they'd found was game tokens, not maple leaf gold coins, and those three Western-looking men hadn't appeared yet. His tranquilizer watch and power-enhancing shoes had been completely wasted.
While Conan wallowed in disappointment, Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko had already begun dividing the game tokens.
The four of them were present, so they'd receive the lion's share. Anya had been intercepted by her father midway through, so she could only claim a small portion.
But even a small portion wasn't insignificant—their initial estimate exceeded a thousand tokens!
Before they finished the division, police sirens wailed outside.
Genta looked up blankly. "What's going on?"
Mitsuhiko's hands trembled with fright, and the game tokens suddenly lost their appeal. "Could these tokens have been stolen? Didn't we just see a news report about maple leaf gold coins being stolen?"
"Please, these aren't gold coins." Ayumi rolled her eyes.
"No, I mean—if gold coins can be stolen, why can't game tokens?"
All three froze simultaneously, nearly bursting into tears, their hopes shattered.
Actually, Conan was the most distraught. He'd confidently called the police in advance, even using his voice-changing bowtie to impersonate Kogoro Mouri's call. Now he was in serious trouble.
Soon, the police arrived at the observation deck, led by Inspector Megure.
"What's this?"
Conan suddenly noticed three men in black handcuffed behind Inspector Megure, each restrained by an officer. Judging from their appearance, they were the three Westerners he'd spotted earlier.
"Oh, it's you kids. Where's Mouri? He was a tremendous help. We've been hunting for these Italian criminals for weeks."
Inspector Megure glanced at the four Detective Boys members, then at the 'gold coins' scattered across the floor, looking quite satisfied.
Due to the dim lighting, Inspector Megure mistook the game tokens for actual gold coins.
"Since Mouri isn't here, Conan, go back and thank him for me. I'll take the gold coins and the culprits first."
"Inspector Megure, you should take a closer look."
An officer picked up a game token, looking bewildered. Where are the gold coins? How did they turn into game tokens?
Inspector Megure's eyelid twitched, but he remained silent. He walked over to the officer and took the token from his hand.
"Hmm? Isn't this supposed to be a gold coin? Why is it silver?"
Inspector Megure had no experience with arcade games and knew nothing about such things—he only felt that the maple leaf gold coin seemed somewhat misnamed.
"This... this is a game token!"
The officer spoke with difficulty, feeling profoundly disappointed.
Looking back at the apprehended theft gang—yes! The criminals were caught, but why were there only game tokens?!
"We didn't steal any gold coins!"
The quick-thinking gang member seized the opportunity.
What incredible luck! Without evidence, they can't charge us!
Inspector Megure's face darkened.
"Hmph, your boss has already confirmed your identities. I strongly advise you to surrender the maple leaf gold coins immediately!"
The criminals were caught, but the maple leaf gold coins had vanished.
Next Morning - Natsukawa Residence
"The Italian theft gang was completely arrested last night, but the 15,000 stolen maple leaf gold coins have not been recovered. The Tokyo Museum is dissatisfied with the Metropolitan Police Department's performance and has issued a ¥30 million reward, requesting public assistance in locating the maple leaf gold coins."
Natsukawa watched the news report about the maple leaf gold coins.
¥30 million?
Natsukawa smiled but remained silent. Fifteen thousand gold coins! Though they were only gold-plated rather than pure gold, their value was still considerable.
Most importantly, they possessed significant collectible value. Last night, he'd had Frank list them on the dark web, and someone had already offered $10 million USD.
Converted to Japanese currency, that was a staggering ¥1.4 billion!
"Papa! I want to buy a doll! Chimera needs a playmate!"
Anya, eating breakfast, didn't understand the ¥1.4 billion Papa was discussing, but since she'd contributed to obtaining it, requesting a doll wasn't unreasonable!
"Sure, whatever you want is fine."
Natsukawa chuckled. Who wouldn't be elated to receive free money? And Anya had indeed played a crucial role.
"Oh, right—why did you activate the alarm yesterday?"
Natsukawa suddenly remembered a loose end. It was Anya who'd triggered the alarm, which led to his discovery of the maple leaf gold coins.
Had Anya spotted those hidden Italian gang members?
"Oh, Anya accidentally sat on it! It was an accident, not intentional. Hehe."
Natsukawa nodded, unbothered. He was driving Anya to school today, giving Bond a well-deserved break. Carrying Anya to school every day—though not terribly far—wasn't exactly close either.
And after dropping her off, he could visit the print shop to get his detective agency sign made.
Mouri Detective Agency - Morning
"Thank you so much, Natsukawa-san!"
Ran stood at the agency entrance, sincerely expressing her gratitude.
Following the principle that giving one ride or two made no difference, Natsukawa had also offered Conan transportation. He also wanted to observe Conan's expression.
Conan looked somewhat listless today, probably because he hadn't slept well last night. His eyes were bloodshot and heavy bags hung beneath them.
"Did you find any treasure yesterday?"
Natsukawa asked with feigned innocence.
Even a great detective needs to experience setbacks to grow.
Well, truthfully, Natsukawa just wanted to see Conan looking dejected.
Conan replied, "We found a bunch of game tokens."
"Wow, game tokens! I want some too!" Anya waved her little hand enthusiastically in front of Conan.
"They're with Ayumi and the others. If you want some, just ask them when we get to school."
"Okay!"
Natsukawa observed him in the rearview mirror for an extended moment, only asking again when they reached the school gate, "What happened with the game tokens? You don't seem very happy. You don't act like a child at all."
"Uh, hahaha, of course I'm happy!"
Conan forced a smile. His behavior just now certainly hadn't resembled a child's.
Compared to adults' obsession with gold coins, children should actually prefer game tokens they could play with immediately. He'd indeed overlooked this detail, giving himself away in front of Natsukawa.
However, it wasn't a serious problem. As long as he didn't reveal he'd been shrunk, nobody would believe it anyway—it was too absurd.
"Conan's expression just now seemed like an adult's!" Anya whispered after they'd exited the car.
"Anya noticed too?"
Natsukawa watched Conan's retreating figure, smiling slightly. "That's because Conan-kun is a very mature child."
Or rather, a seventeen-year-old high school detective trapped in a child's body.
*[End of Chapter 8]
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