Conan: Ran, I really am Shinichi, you have to believe me!

Page 161

"What? You want me to kill someone?"

Hearing this idiot young lady's words, Conan was completely shocked. His mouth agape, he asked in disbelief:

"What do you mean by this? Why do you think I've played the police for fools? Why do you think I've killed people everywhere..."

Recalling the many sins he had committed in the past, and how his brothers had also unfairly blamed him, Conan finally admitted helplessly:

"Forget about that, but what makes you think that a weak elementary school student like me would kill someone, let alone help you kill someone?"

Just as Conan was about to try and defend himself, Yotsubi Reika turned on her computer, opened a webpage, and showed Conan a ranking list of world killers made by his fans.

On this list of assassins, Conan's name ranks first, far surpassing the names of other assassins.

After opening the hyperlink about him and glancing at the descriptions and introductions, especially his heroic deeds, the cases he committed, and the people he killed, Conan gasped in shock.

"This is slander! This is fabrication! I did none of the things mentioned above!"

These cases just happened around me. I definitely didn't kill them; the killer is someone else!

However, no matter how Conan explains it, he is influenced by the fabricated true stories on the website, especially since these events are largely true and actually happened around Conan. They are just stories about how Conan made others scapegoats, with the mastermind replaced by Conan.

Whether others believe it or treat it as a story, Conan doesn't know. But in front of him, a woman who seems a bit dim-witted yet strangely confident and extremely arrogant takes it seriously, believing that Conan is a super-powerful assassin. She writes him a large check, asking him to kill Yuuji Nikaido.

"Conan, that lowly servant Nikaido dares to defy his master and force me to marry him. He's got a death wish! I want you to destroy him."

"Conan, if you can kill that lackey Nikaido, I'll give you tons of money and make you the head of all the other lackeys."

To be the head of a lackey? Isn't that being a lackey?

I am the great detective Conan, and you want me to not only kill for you for a little bit of money, but also be your lackey? Is there something seriously wrong with your brain?

Seeing that Conan was intimidated by her domineering aura, Yotsuba Reika said with no small amount of pride:

"Conan, I have many handsome male slaves who worship me and call me master."

Young and promising handsome men like Ichiji Takashi, Mifune Takuya, and Gojo Osamu are all my little lackeys. As long as you can help me kill that traitor Nikaido, I'll make you their leader.

Second only to one person, above ten thousand others, hahahaha…

Looking at this arrogant, laughing woman, Conan was convinced that she was sick, and seriously so.

Anyway, Yotsuki Reika, who was immersed in her own beautiful fairy tale world, didn't let Conan say much. She just stuffed money into his hand and gave him the task of killing Nikaido Yuuji.

In Yotsuki Reika's mind, Conan had previously taken it so seriously when she bribed him to find his lost pet cat, passing the obedience test. Now, asking him to kill someone was no different from finding a cat, right?

No, in Beika Town, finding a cat is much harder than killing someone.

With Death around, you might not be able to find the cat, but you can definitely kill the person.

Having forcefully decided that Conan must help her kill someone, and not allowing him to refuse, Yotsubi Reika finally sent Conan away. Before leaving, she gave Conan an invitation to attend her birthday party on the weekend.

Faced with the mentally unstable Yotsuki Reika, Conan had no choice but to agree to her request first, and then try to find a way to investigate the matter thoroughly, while stopping and dissuading her from killing Nikaido Yuuji.

Hearing the somewhat familiar name Takuya Mifune gave Conan a direction for his investigation.

Although Conan has a bad memory, he had just met Ran's mother, Eri Kisaki, at the Kanto Karate Tournament a few days before he shrunk, but he didn't remember seeing Eri Kisaki at the coffee shop a few days ago and couldn't recognize her.

Although his memory sometimes gets very bad, he still remembers some unimportant things very clearly, such as Takuya Mifune.

Conan clearly remembered that the last time he saw a pretentious young man with a ponytail on the Suzuki Corporation's cruise ship, when Kaito Kid came to steal the Dark Star Pearl, he saw a dark-skinned young man named Takuya Mifune.

Recalling the time when Kaito Kid boarded the ship to steal the Dark Star, he encountered Kuroba Kaito, who claimed to be his cousin and looked exactly like him.

Because he suspected that Kaito Kuroba was his own brother who looked exactly like him and killed without blinking an eye, Conan went to investigate Kaito Kuroba's identity.

After some investigation, he discovered that Kaito Kuroba had a clean background, with his own father, Toichi Kuroba, who was a world-famous magician who had died eight years ago.

Conan doesn't know if Kuroba Toichi is his father Kudo Yusaku's brother, as he hasn't investigated. However, Kuroba Kaito's neighbor is Police Officer Nakamori, whom he watched grow up and knows very well. Kuroba Kaito also had a loving and happy family life as a child, which doesn't match his own twisted brother. Therefore, Conan is more inclined to believe that Kuroba Kaito was also hacked by his brother, since they look exactly alike.

Because of the many things that happened later, and the fact that the high school student Kaito Kuroba had a clean background, aside from being a bit mischievous and fond of playing pranks, Conan was busy with other things and let him go for the time being, and did not continue the boring investigation.

Whether he was really his cousin or not, Conan didn't care.

Even if he were just an ordinary high school student who knew a little magic, would Conan really ask him for help and then get him into trouble?

If Conan hadn't heard the name Takuya Mifune today, he wouldn't have remembered this person who lived in Ekoda and looked exactly like him.

Anyway, as long as this person isn't his own wicked brother, then it has little to do with Conan.

Now, Conan's most important task is to find Takuya Mifune so that he can understand the relationship between Reika Yotsuhiro and Yuuji Nikaido. After all, their surnames are ranked second, third, and fourth, which must have some deeper meaning.

Chapter 222 Conan: I'll protect him. I can even stop it on the spot and resolve your feud.

Thanks to Conan's hard work, Kogoro Mouri lived a happy life for a few days with the money Conan earned from finding the cat. After spending all of Conan's reward, he even got the chance to attend a banquet and eat a free feast.

Because in Reika Yotsuba's eyes, Conan is a killer who passed the obedience test, Conan received an invitation to her birthday party.

After several days of investigating the relationship between Yotsuba Reika and Nikaido Yuuji, and preparing to resolve the life-and-death hatred between the engaged couple, Conan decided to attend Yotsuba Reika's birthday party and find an opportunity to persuade this crazy woman.

You are the only daughter of the head of the prestigious Yotsubi Group. If you don't like Nikaido Yuuji, you can just dump him. Why hire someone to kill him?

This is the conclusion and thought that Conan came to after investigating for several days without finding any fundamental conflict between them. He only found that Reika Yotsuba, the spoiled young lady, had a bad temper, and that Yuji Nikaido, the man from humble beginnings, was opportunistic and had a bad character.

Conan originally planned to attend Yotsubi Reika's birthday party alone, but he failed in the end. On the day he went, Jiang Chengbei discovered him, so Jiang Chengbei insisted on going with him without saying a word.

Conan wasn't really willing to go with Jiang Chengbei.

Although everyone perceives Conan as a jinx who brings death wherever he goes, Conan himself believes that the real jinx, plague god, and death god might actually be Jiang Chengbei. After all, Jiang Chengbei has encountered just as many cases and murders as Conan, but in many cases, he just happened to witness the killings and intervened, which is why his death rate is lower than Conan's.

He was afraid that bringing Jiang Chengbei along would bring bad luck to Sijing Lihua's birthday party, and that something bad might happen at the party.

Fortunately, apart from Jiang Chengbei wanting to go with him, the Miyano sisters, who had heard the news, were not interested in it and did not want to go. Meanwhile, Kogoro Mouri, who had a sum of money, was out having fun and was unaware that Conan was going to a birthday party hosted by a large conglomerate, where he could freeload. Therefore, only Conan and Jiang Chengbei attended the party that day.

Of course, it wasn't without its advantages for Jiang Chengbei to go along, because the location of Sijing Lihua's birthday party was a large villa in the desolate mountains far from the city. Not only was it far away and in a remote location, but there were also no other residents around. It was just a large villa all alone. If there were any problems with the mountain road leading there, it could immediately become a classic example of a snow-covered mountain lodge.

If Jiang Chengbei goes with him, Conan won't have to spend a fortune on a taxi or expend a lot of chakra to go by skateboard.

Jiang Chengbei has a car. Although Conan always felt that there was something wrong with Jiang Chengbei's car, and he always had the feeling that it was an unlicensed car, he thought that Jiang Chengbei was a public security police officer. Maybe he was being too sensitive. It was actually a public car, and he was just using it for private purposes.

Jiang Chengbei drove them to the beautiful mountain manor of the Yotsuji family, located in the wilderness.

The house is very big and luxurious, but it's a bit remote.

In the real world, neon lights might be a place with a large population and limited land, but that's definitely not the case in the world of Detective Conan.

Whether they are wealthy conglomerates, company presidents, bosses, or middle-class families with some money, many families in Detective Conan, regardless of their wealth, always own a secluded mountain villa in the wilderness, surrounded by few neighbors and located for several kilometers around. In short, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and you can't find anyone when you go out. After committing a murder, it is easy to turn the place into a "snowstorm mountain villa" scenario.

After Jiang Chengbei and Conan arrived, Conan was quickly taken aside for a private talk by Yotsubi Reika.

During their private conversation, Yotsuba urged Conan to take action and deal with Nikaido Yuuji, who was forcing her to marry him. Conan tried his best to get Yotsuba to talk about why she was being coerced by Nikaido Yuuji. He also advised Yotsuba to give up the idea of ​​killing him, saying that killing would not solve the problem.

After wasting some time and making no substantial progress, they parted on bad terms. Once Yotsuki Reika had left and Conan was alone, Jiang Chengbei emerged from his hiding place:

"Kudo, I never imagined that your identity as a high school detective was just a facade. You acted so respectable in front of everyone, but I never expected that you were actually an assassin. I misjudged you."

"It's alright, I've recorded your conversation, and you're now under arrest."

After saying that, Jiang Chengbei waved the DV camera at Conan in one hand and showed Conan the police notebook in the other.

Seeing the despicable smile on Jiang Chengbei's face, Conan calmly defended himself:

"I didn't, I'm not a killer."

Although I took the money, I didn't intend to kill her. I just planned to keep her calm and prevent her from hiring another assassin to kill Nikaido Yuuji, then find a way to resolve the conflict between them, and finally dissuade Yotsuki Reika from having the intention to kill.

After hearing Conan's words, Jiang Chengbei didn't refute them. Instead, he put on an honest and easily fooled look.

"Conan, are you telling the truth?"

Okay, I'll believe you this once. I'll assume you're genuinely trying to resolve their conflict and consider you a good person.

"But if Yuuji Nikaido dies in the end, it will definitely be because you plotted his murder. I will uphold the law impartially, and no matter how good our relationship is, I will not show favoritism. I will definitely arrest you and send you to prison."

Seeing Jiang Chengbei's unconditional trust in him, Conan felt something was off, but he still patted his chest and assured him:

"Don't worry about that. Since I know that Yotsuba Reika has the intention to kill Nikaido Yuuji, I will definitely keep an eye on her and prevent her from doing so. I can protect Nikaido Yuuji."

Jiang Chengbei was quite satisfied with Conan's confident assurance. Last time, he used a miniature camera to record the video of Yotsuba Reika hiring Conan to kill someone. Today, he also filmed the conversation between Yotsuba Reika and Conan. It was pretty good.

After obtaining evidence that Conan had been paid to commit murder, Conan then busied himself monitoring Yuji Nikaido among the guests to ensure his safety, while also eavesdropping on gossip and occasionally inquiring about the love-hate relationship between Reika Yotsuji and Yuji Nikaido.

While Conan was busy protecting Nikaido Yuuji, it quickly got dark, and then the birthday party held by the head of the Yotsubi Group, Yotsubi Reika's doting father, began.

Since Kogoro Mouri wasn't there this time, the Western-style birthday party didn't feature a middle-aged man who ate like a glutton, drank excessive amounts of red wine, made a huge fuss, and acted like a complete oddball. As a result, the party went very smoothly.

After the banquet ended smoothly and everyone drove away, the sports cars driven by Yotsuki Reika and her group of followers, who were left behind, all had their tires punctured and were unable to go down the mountain to get home. When the telephone line was cut, the only outsiders present were Jiang Chengbei and Conan, as well as Jiang Chengbei's intact car.

When she realized that both she and her target's car had punctured tires and couldn't get down the mountain, Yotsuki Reika's eyes lit up, and she nodded to Conan with satisfaction.

She felt that Conan, the number one assassin on the internet, was finally going to take action tonight after her urging, and that she would even witness Nikaido Yuuji being killed. Yotsuba Reika was very satisfied.

So when Jiang Chengbei pretended to say that he could take three or four people down the mountain and then find people from the foot of the mountain to come up and pick up the rest, Sijing Lihua and her followers refused. They said they only wanted to ride in sports cars and didn't care about Jiang Chengbei's car.

At this point, apart from Jiang Chengbei's car, all the other villas in the mountains far from the city have punctured tires and are no longer drivable.

Besides Jiang Chengbei and Conan, the other two outsiders, there are seven people whose names start with one and end with seven.

Apart from Nanao Mi, who is a maid in the Yotsubi Reika household and an old woman in her seventies or eighties, the other five men whose names begin with numbers are basically Yotsubi Reika's suitors. They all have to be mindful of her mood and follow her lead.

In Yoshii Reika's mind, she felt that Conan was the one who punctured the car tires. Otherwise, why would it be that all of their sports cars were punctured, but Conan and Jiang Chengbei's car was fine?

And Conan has already taken her money. She's so charming that all men have to kneel at her feet. Conan is ranked number one in the world. She's a criminal mastermind who can frame others after killing someone and make them take the blame for her. This time, she punctured the tires of these yacht club members' cars and forced them to stay here. She's definitely preparing to take action.

Either Conan killed Nikaido Yuuji himself, or Conan orchestrated a scheme to kill someone else, instigating or using someone present to do so.

This is what Yotsuba Reika is thinking now. In order to stay and watch the murder plot set up by Conan, Yotsuba Reika happily rejected Jiang Chengbei's suggestion that he could take a few people down the mountain.

Yotsubi Reika guessed that Nikaido Yuuji would be killed next. Five of the other six digital people didn't know anything. They refused to take the car from Jiangcheng North down the mountain, just to follow in Yotsubi Reika's footsteps.

When Yoshii Reika said she wouldn't go down the mountain or take a regular car, they were just echoing her and trying to please her; they knew nothing else about it.

Compared to Yotsubi Reika, who guessed most of the information correctly but got the most important details wrong, the five digital beings who knew almost nothing, and one digital being who was about to take action, Conan became more vigilant and focused on protecting Nikaido Yuuji.

In his mind, it was similar to that of Yotsuba Reika. He believed that the person who punctured the tires of the high-end sports car was either Yotsuba Reika or another assassin who had been bribed by Yotsuba Reika.

Since Yotsubi Reika is the sole heir of the Yotsubi Group, a pampered princess with immense wealth and power, there's no way to deal with her without solid evidence. Even if I report her to the police for hiring someone to kill me, a 7-year-old elementary school student, I can make her take the blame.

Don't be ridiculous. On the surface, you're at least a 7-year-old elementary school student. If you want to believe that Yotsuki Reika hired you to kill someone, you should at least prove that you're a killer, right?

Otherwise, if she had simply said it was a joke, that she had too much money and didn't know what to do with it, and that she was giving a little money to a cute elementary school student like herself, even without the massive legal team of the Yotsuji Group, people would have believed it.

Therefore, if you want to save Nikaido Yuuji's life, you can only find out the reason for their conflict and resolve it with your own strength, or capture Yotsubi Reika or other assassins that Yotsubi Reika has found on the spot and harden the conflict.

Based on Conan's years of experience in solving cases, when he successfully stops the murderer from killing someone, catches the murderer, and makes him fail in his attempt to kill, he always has a way to take this opportunity to resolve the conflict between the murderer and the target, so that they can reconcile and forget their grudges with a smile.

If Conan were to give an example, he could mention Dr. Ogawa, who received a gift and some money every month not long after he became a primary school student.