NABC Chapter 88 Stirring up trouble between the winery and the zoo
Chapter 88 Stirring up trouble between the winery and the zoo
Chapter 88 Stirring up trouble between the winery and the zoo
The sudden sound made Kaito Kuroba's hair stand on end. He quickly sprang into action and created distance, his face expressionless, his eyes, hidden by the brim of his top hat, filled with vigilance.
"Oh my, isn't this the famous crime-fighting hero, the righteous detective? Or are you a magician too?"
Akutagawa Hiko didn't respond, but calmly poked at Kuroba Kaito's sore spot: "You were really resentful in those words just now. It seems someone has been tormented quite a bit by another detective, I think his name is Hakuba Saguru, right?"
Upon hearing this, Kaito Kuroba almost lost his composure, stubbornly retorting, "He's just a brat with obsessive-compulsive disorder who can't appreciate art. The fact that I can easily escape every time speaks volumes."
Akutagawa Hiko, with an "I'll do whatever you say" expression, reached into the pocket he'd been carrying: "This should count as our first formal meeting, and I brought you a gift—"
Kaito Kuroba didn't believe the person opposite him would be so kind, and remained secretly vigilant, ready to escape at any moment: "Oh, really? Well, thank you very much, Detective."
When Akutagawa Hiko pulled his hand out, Kuroba Kaito's eyes under the brim of his hat widened instantly, and his whole body stiffened. If he weren't currently known as Kaito Kid, he would have screamed without a care for his image.
"Eat my fresh fish shuriken!"
Four lively, wriggling fish flew directly toward Kaito Kuroba's face, following the trajectory designed by Hiko Akutagawa.
Under Conan's deadpan gaze, Kaito Kid was so frightened that he covered himself with his cape. Before the police could even arrive, the flashbang and smoke bomb landed, and he immediately started his hang glider.
Ignoring the flying mannequin, Akutagawa continued throwing small fish into the shadows of the stairwell. Conan, drawn by Akutagawa's actions, immediately activated the newly added thermal imaging function on his glasses.
Conan was a little puzzled by Akutagawa's leniency, but it didn't matter; he could take care of it himself.
The power-enhancing shoes were immediately switched to the second level, and a soccer ball was launched from the belt. The soccer ball then transformed into a white beam of light and flew towards the Phantom Thief Kid, who was trying to sneak away.
Kaito Kuroba inwardly condemned the two for their cheating, pulled out his playing card gun and set it to the highest setting. The playing cards collided with the soccer ball, and an explosion occurred.
Akutagawa Hikoya then threw a slippery, scale-covered fish with eerie-looking eyes at Kuroba Kaito's face.
Kaito Kuroba could no longer maintain his poker face and screamed.
Conan was taken aback when his once-unbeatable soccer ball was blocked, but no matter, he raised his watch and fired a shot.
Everything should have been foolproof, but a fish stopped them.
Conan looked at Akutagawa Hiko, who was causing trouble, with a puzzled expression, only to find that Akutagawa Hiko was looking at the sky and the ground but not at him, and was whistling!
In just a short while, when Conan looked in the direction where Kaito Kid had fled, he had already disappeared.
Conan sat cross-legged on the ground, as if he wouldn't get up until he received an explanation.
Akutagawa Hikona was amused by Shinichi Kudo's rare childlike behavior. When he first watched this anime, Shinichi Kudo would wake up early with a piece of toast in his mouth, and his school uniform smell was incredibly strong. It's quite interesting that he's acting so childlike now.
Akutagawa Hiko simply sat down cross-legged, reached out his hand towards the spot where Phantom Thief Kid had just fled, made a hand seal, and a gust of wind blew by.
A piece of paper landed in his hand.
"Don't sulk. Phantom Thief Kid can't get into trouble right now. You know about the zoo, right?"
Conan was completely bewildered. He knew very little about the winery, so how did a zoo suddenly appear? Why were all these strange things popping up one after another?
"Like the distillery, the zoo's leaders are also pursuing immortality. However, unlike the distillery, which wants to achieve it through drug research, the zoo's people, who use animals as code names, are pursuing a legend."
Conan's eyes widened. How come there are two villains like these, who are pursuing immortality just like in shonen manga, all of a sudden?
Next, Akutagawa Hiko told Conan the legend of "Pandora".
"This is so illogical—"
Before Conan could finish speaking, he looked at the incredibly illogical sight before him and hesitated to speak.
After letting his information-overloaded brain catch its breath for a moment, he finally asked, "Does Pandora really exist, and could she grant immortality?"
To Conan's surprise, Akutagawa Hiko shook his head: "I don't even know where the end of the world is, how would I know whether this thing is real or fake?"
"Even you don't know?"
Akutagawa tapped Conan's worried head: "Whether the legend is true or false, the people at the zoo believe it. Something that touches on immortality is definitely very dangerous, both in itself and because of the unrest caused by its effects."
Conan stared at the direction where Phantom Thief Kid disappeared and asked, "So Phantom Thief Kid wants to find that gem to achieve immortality, and you want to lie in wait and steal it back?"
The first half of the sentence is wrong, but the second half is correct.
For the sake of his future plans, Akutagawa Hiko still defended Kaito Kid: "No, Kaito Kid, or rather, the second Kaito Kid."
His goal is to destroy Pandora.
Conan remembered what Akutagawa Hikaru had said on Tsukikage Island, and now it seemed that his words were not unfounded.
"The original Kid, he disappeared for so many years because he accidentally hindered the zoo's collection of gems. From the information I received, he was assassinated."
Akutagawa beckoned to Conan, and when Conan leaned in, he whispered his plan to him.
Both the winery and the zoo are known for their mystery. They may know of each other's existence, but they may not know much about each other's background.
Both sides are keeping their positions very secret, perhaps believing the other to be an obscure little organization.
The deepest secrets on both sides, known only to a very few, are even more impossible to know.
Hiko Akutagawa plans to team up with Kaito Kid to give the two motionless, turtle-like organizations something to do, such as having them fight each other.
Even if the silver bullet research yields some results, that old raven won't let Pandora go. Even without the ability to grant immortality, it's still a gem with immense collectible value.
And the zoo, an organization that has made absolutely no progress, would certainly be very interested in the silver bullet, a product of the immortality project.
Rather than cooperating, these outlaws would probably prefer to wipe out their opponents and seize their territory, funds, and all their gains.
"Both are incredibly patient and mysterious organizations. How can we find their weaknesses if we don't move? Once the information leaks out, let's see if they can still sit still."
After hearing the plan, Conan was amazed. When it came to tricking people, he was definitely not as skilled as this person.