Chapter 115: I Was Quick—I Snatched It Back
At that moment, the men in black trench coats recovered their weapons. Kuroba Kaito had only managed to knock the assault rifles from their hands—most of them remained uninjured.
Now that they'd regained their bearings, rage boiled up inside them, followed swiftly by murderous intent.
Natsukawa immediately found himself suppressed by overwhelming firepower.
Shell casings clinked crisply against the marble floor as bullets rained down like a steel net closing in.
"You bastard! You actually dared to disrupt our organization's operation! I'll send you straight to hell!"
The disguised operative grinned viciously, gesturing wildly for his men to maintain their assault.
His heart ached seeing six or seven of his subordinates permanently down.
The bullets rapidly shredded the display case, though fortunately the wooden exterior concealed a steel-reinforced core that could hold out for a while longer.
Of course, Natsukawa wasn't someone to be trifled with either.
An oval-shaped military green object arced through the air from behind the display case.
The operative clenched his fist, signaling his men to cease fire. His eyes narrowed as he tracked the oval object that had landed not far from his position.
"That's... a grenade?!"
"Take cover!"
Practice made perfect.
Having already experienced lying prone once tonight thanks to Phantom Thief Kid's flashbangs, this time he dropped to the floor with incredible speed, even managing to find adequate cover in the process.
But this was just too undignified, too humiliating!
The operative felt incredibly aggrieved. In all his years working for the Organization, this was the first time he'd ever been forced into such a pathetic situation—hitting the deck twice in one operation.
In his mind, this wasn't tactical evasion but shameful submission!
BOOM!
The explosion sent thick black smoke billowing throughout the exhibition hall. Fortunately, only Eternal Bloom had been on display, and Kid had already taken it—otherwise Director Ozawa would probably need to commit seppuku tomorrow.
All remaining windows shattered spectacularly. To the fans and reporters gathered outside, the scene looked absolutely magnificent and dramatic.
Phantom Thief Kid's escapes always left behind such beautiful chaos—truly inspiring admiration and longing.
Inside the exhibition hall, the operative waited several tense seconds. Finding no further movement after the explosion subsided, he sensed something was wrong and immediately rushed to the display case where Natsukawa had been hiding.
"He escaped! Damn it!"
The operative whirled around to check the display pedestal, discovering that Eternal Bloom was already gone.
The jewel stolen, half his team dead, Kid still at large, and they'd antagonized the Japanese National Tax Agency.
The operative felt like everything had gone completely to shit.
At least if they didn't reveal their identities, the authorities wouldn't know who they were!
"They're inside! Everyone listen up! No survivors! Shoot all armed hostiles on sight!"
"Yes, sir!" Responses echoed from what sounded like at least a hundred men.
"Damn it! When did police reinforcements arrive so fast?!"
The voices outside the door were particularly jarring. The operative gritted his teeth, glanced at the tightly sealed exhibition hall entrance, and waved helplessly, signaling immediate retreat.
The black-coated operatives moved with practiced efficiency. The helicopter hovered before the shattered window frame as each remaining man carried away a fallen comrade's body.
Their Organization absolutely could not be exposed.
Therefore, not a single corpse could be left behind.
Sixty seconds later, the main doors collapsed inward with a thunderous crash, the resulting gust of wind blowing the last wisps of white gas out through the broken windows.
However, there wasn't the expected massive police force behind those doors. The dramatic entrance seemed almost anticlimactic.
Behind the collapsed doors stood only a single child wearing reflective glasses.
"Conan! What are you doing here?!"
Natsukawa pushed open a hidden floor compartment and poked his head out, immediately spotting Conan striking a detective's dramatic pose.
This was a concealed compartment specially prepared by Inspector Nakamori, who'd originally planned to hide here and ambush Kid upon his arrival.
Instead, the inspector was now sprawled unconscious on the floor along with two hundred other officers.
Which made it the perfect hiding spot for Natsukawa.
The scene was absolute chaos—some areas soaked in blood, police "corpses" scattered everywhere—leaving Conan, who'd come with grand ambitions of catching Kid, completely stunned in place.
He didn't even register Natsukawa's greeting.
"Conan! What are you spacing out for? Come help me up!"
Natsukawa's black slacks had a tear in them, blood trickling steadily from the wound beneath.
Although the display case had provided decent cover, he'd still caught a grazing shot to his calf.
It wasn't a major injury, but he definitely needed Miss Yor's tender care—otherwise the wound might worsen considerably.
Conan snapped back to reality and quickly rushed over to help Natsukawa to his feet.
"Natsukawa-san, what are you doing here? And what happened?! These police officers..."
Conan's heart pounded frantically. As he pulled Natsukawa upright, he stepped on some loose debris, lost his balance momentarily, and took a stumbling step backward before regaining his footing.
Even he had never witnessed anything like this before. Two hundred people lying unconscious was far more shocking than the previous gunfight at the Hatamoto estate.
Natsukawa said casually, "You mean Inspector Nakamori and his team? They're fine. Just knocked out by sleeping gas."
Just then, Inspector Nakamori groaned in pain and jerked upright with a start.
He wanted to curse whoever had just stepped on him.
However, the thick smell of gunpowder made him shudder, his gaze glazing over as he completely forgot about the pain of Conan stepping on his fingers.
"Kid... did he... did he kill people?!"
Inspector Nakamori sounded genuinely incredulous. Blood was everywhere, and the acrid smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils, making him deeply uneasy.
"It's alright, Inspector Nakamori. This time it was probably someone impersonating Kid to steal the jewel, and they just happened to encounter Kid's enemies. The blood was left by one faction—it has nothing to do with the real Kid."
"You're saying my officers are all okay?"
"Of course. Look closely and you'll see. There's basically no blood or wounds on them, their chests are rising and falling normally—they're just unconscious."
Nakamori Ginzo had been nearly scared to death. After Natsukawa's prompting, he immediately began checking on his subordinates.
Aside from some officers who'd been hit by shrapnel from the explosion, a few unlucky ones had caught stray bullets—but they were all relatively minor injuries, nothing life-threatening.
After all, Natsukawa had been the primary target of the trench-coated operatives, so hitting the unconscious officers had definitely been accidental.
After recovering his composure, Nakamori Ginzo issued rapid orders over his radio. Soon, officers from outside broke through the barricaded entrance and began systematically waking the unconscious men one by one. Those with injuries were carefully carried out for medical attention.
It was only then that Nakamori Ginzo noticed something peculiar.
"Hey, kid! Where'd you come from?! Why are you inside the exhibition center?! I sealed off this entire building—not even a mosquito could have gotten in! Were you hiding somewhere since this afternoon, you little brat?!"
Somehow, this kid just looked incredibly annoying to him.
He resembled Kaito as a child somewhat, though maybe even more so without those glasses.
Conan flashed his most innocent, pure smile. "I came in through the first-floor bathroom window. That window wasn't locked."
"A window? Impossible!"
Nakamori Ginzo was incredulous. After racking his brain for several moments, he finally identified the security gap.
The bathroom skylight.
That skylight had been too small to worry about, so it hadn't been secured.
He hadn't feared Phantom Thief Kid entering through there—unless Kid knew how to shrink himself or was actually a child.
Neither scenario had seemed realistic, which was exactly how Conan had exploited the opening.
Seeing Nakamori Ginzo's increasingly unfriendly expression, Conan panicked internally, his toes curling inside his shoes.
This officer wasn't the easygoing Inspector Megure. He didn't know if invoking Uncle Mouri's name would help here.
But at this critical juncture, he had no other options. To avoid getting thrown out or worse, he invoked the famous detective's reputation.
"I'm the assistant to the great detective Kogoro Mouri! Mouri-ojisan sent me to help Natsukawa-san!"
"Kogoro Mouri?"
Nakamori Ginzo's voice dropped to a dangerous low tone.
Conan sensed something was distinctly off about the inspector's reaction, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
He only felt that the officer didn't trust him, so he nodded vigorously. "You can ask Natsukawa-san if you don't believe me! Right, Natsukawa-san?"
Conan flashed an innocent smile and looked expectantly toward Natsukawa.
Natsukawa hesitated, wanting to warn Conan that Inspector Nakamori and Uncle Mouri definitely didn't get along well. But Conan's pleading eyes clearly expected immediate confirmation.
"Yes, little Conan is Uncle Mouri's assistant!"
THWACK!
Conan stumbled and nearly hit the ground, his face filled with utter confusion and bewilderment.
Uncle Mouri's reputation had failed him yet again.
But Inspector Nakamori's violent reaction seemed excessive.
Has my brilliant brain taken so many hits lately that my deductive abilities are deteriorating?
"That Mouri idiot! How could he send a kid into such a dangerous situation?! Call him right now—I'll give him a piece of my mind!"
Nakamori Ginzo was practically indignant, seizing this perfect excuse to unleash his frustrations on Kogoro Mouri.
However, remembering the immediate priority of dealing with Phantom Thief Kid's aftermath, he reluctantly suppressed the urge for now.
"Eternal Bloom... was it stolen?"
He glanced dejectedly at the bullet-riddled display case. Eternal Bloom was clearly missing from its pedestal, its fate obvious.
If it weren't for Kid's reputation, this gem probably wouldn't be recovered at all.
"Nope. I was quick—I snatched it back."
Natsukawa pulled Eternal Bloom from his inner jacket pocket.
Actually, Natsukawa had switched the real Eternal Bloom from the very beginning.
Kaito hadn't realized it was a fake for two critical reasons:
First, this was his debut operation impersonating Kid, and his appraisal skills weren't quite refined yet.
Second, the Organization's interference had completely disrupted Kaito's carefully laid plans, leaving him no time to properly examine Eternal Bloom's authenticity.
It definitely had nothing to do with Natsukawa's helpful reminder to Inspector Nakamori about using decoys.
"That's excellent news." Nakamori Ginzo breathed a massive sigh of relief. The jewel wasn't lost, so their mission wasn't a complete failure.
As for capturing Kid himself...
Well, Natsukawa had already explained that someone was merely impersonating Kid to commit the theft.
So technically the case had nothing to do with the real Phantom Thief Kid. He could go home and finally get some sleep.
End of Chapter 115
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