Chapter 199: Genta and Mitsuhiko, in Danger!
"By the way, how many people are in the Detective Boys now?"
Since Conan was here, was Anya here too?
Ai Haibara felt it would be best to join the team so she could better keep an eye on Anya.
"Anya, Ayumi, me, Genta, and Conan make five people. If Haibara-san joins us, our group will become six."
"Anya's here too?" Ai Haibara turned around and glanced at Anya, who was covered in cold sweat, showing a knowing expression.
But what's wrong with this little girl? Has Natsukawa already told her that I'm going to stay at her house to tutor her?
Why does she look at me like I'm some kind of demon?
I'm not a terrorist. At most, I've researched APTX 4869. As for those people who died from the drug, that's Gin's fault. I'm just a researcher—research is my job. I have no right to interfere with how Gin uses the drugs.
(╥﹏╥) Okay, Mama Yor, I want to go home.
The school bell rang.
Anya had been living in fear all day, and the school bell finally gave her a sense of security.
Glancing at Ai Haibara, who was still packing her things, Anya quickened her pace, trying to distance herself.
However, she'd only taken two steps when Ayumi grabbed her arm.
"Anya, we haven't checked the mailbox yet! Maybe there will be another request today~"
Ayumi wasn't about to let Anya off the hook. They were the Detective Boys—they had to stick together. Even if they were going home, they had to check the mailbox for any requests for help.
Meanwhile, Natsukawa left the temporary base in Shibuya.
After their conversation, Natsukawa confirmed that Gin wouldn't be going to the transaction himself, but had only sent Vodka as his representative.
"If it's Vodka, then there's no problem."
If it were Gin himself making the transaction, he was worried about being discovered.
If it was Vodka, then it was fine. That idiot—scratch that—was rather dense, and even if there were any flaws in the plan, he wouldn't notice.
However, Gin had suspected something about the explosives.
He'd asked Natsukawa if the theft from the munitions depot was related to this transaction.
After all, the timing was too coincidental.
He'd just informed Natsukawa that he wanted explosives, and then the munitions depot was robbed. He didn't believe there was no connection.
Natsukawa shook his head, indicating he didn't know, and Gin didn't press further.
As long as he could get free explosives, he didn't care about the source—as long as it wasn't a trap set by Public Security.
Natsukawa went home and made dinner first. He wasn't home when Ai Haibara first came to the house, and he didn't know if she would have any complaints.
But it wasn't a big problem. Sherry was already an eighteen-year-old adult and should understand.
After finishing cooking, it was already past six o'clock.
"She's still not back."
Standing at the window and looking down at the street below, Natsukawa suddenly remembered that in the original timeline, after Ai Haibara entered school, a case occurred almost immediately.
It was a counterfeit money case, and Conan had even mistakenly thought that the group making counterfeit bills was related to the Black Organization.
Conan and Ai Haibara should be able to handle such a small matter well. He didn't need to worry about anything—the possibility of an accident was extremely low.
There was no time to deal with Moriya Teiji that evening. Yor was in an even worse situation. Due to the explosion and the stolen explosives, she'd been seconded to Division One again and would likely be working late.
After feeding Bond a serving of dog food and leaving a note on the table, Natsukawa left for his meeting.
Things had been busy lately, but there was no other way.
Having just become one of Gin's trusted operatives, he definitely needed to appear diligent and useful.
After Natsukawa left, Bond ate a few bites of dog food, then suddenly looked up at the door as if thinking about something. He shook his head and stopped eating.
Wait, where's my dinner?
Bond tilted his head, thinking for a while, then went to the living room. He used his paw to open the latch on the balcony door, pushed it open, and ran out.
He was supposed to be fed three times a day. Going without lunch at noon was one thing, but it was already evening and Anya hadn't come home to feed him yet.
The dog didn't understand why, so he prepared to search for his master's whereabouts, silently using his precognitive abilities to predict where Anya had gone.
After a long moment, his eyes suddenly widened, and he ran off in one direction.
Meanwhile, the Detective Boys officially became a six-member team (5+1), beginning their investigation into the disappearance of the older brother of a classmate from Class A.
Conan was initially uninterested, but after seeing a portrait of Natsume Soseki at the classmate's house, he gradually developed a bad feeling.
Natsume Soseki, missing person, painting.
Conan immediately connected this to counterfeit money.
He'd recently seen news reports about rampant counterfeit bills, and there was a possible connection. The older brother of the classmate from the next class might have been hired by a counterfeit money ring to paint portraits of Natsume Soseki for the thousand-yen bills.
Whether it was detective's luck or something else, when they passed a convenience store, Conan spotted a suspicious person using a counterfeit thousand-yen bill with Natsume Soseki's portrait to buy cigarettes.
Thus, Conan officially linked Natsume Soseki with the counterfeit thousand-yen bills.
To prevent the Detective Boys and their client from getting hurt, Conan initially planned to shake off the others and investigate on his own. However, the clever kids discovered his plan and followed him again.
Night had completely fallen. Dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and streetlights guided the Detective Boys.
"Is this the place?"
Conan pondered for a long time near the police station next to Otsuka Station, in front of the Beika Trivia News office.
"This should be it, no doubt about it. There's a printing press and men in black—it's definitely a counterfeit money gang."
"Men in black? Could it be the Black Organization you just escaped from?"
Conan was a little worried. Those men in black were not easy to deal with, and their group of six were all children with no fighting ability. Going in would be suicide.
Ai Haibara leaned close to Conan's ear and teased, "Possibly. What are you planning to do, Detective?"
"Judging from your expression, these men in black printing counterfeit money don't seem to be from the Black Organization." Conan looked directly into Ai Haibara's eyes, which remained calm and unwavering.
If the men in black printing the money were members of the Black Organization, Ai Haibara should have been just as alarmed as him.
But how did she know these people weren't connected to the Black Organization?
Sure enough, this girl was hiding something from him.
Conan's expression turned serious. Just as he was about to ask, Sherry waved her hand dismissively. "The Organization wouldn't do something like this. Wouldn't it be more effective to rob a bank or extort money from wealthy targets?
Although counterfeit money isn't easy for ordinary people to detect, the people who do business with the Organization aren't amateurs either. Naturally, they can tell if the money is real or fake.
Printing counterfeit money is too inefficient and the risk factor is too high."
"So Gin and his group don't have a counterfeit money operation?"
"Of course not."
Conan sighed, his enthusiasm dampened by Ai Haibara's explanation. He glanced at the police station next to the "newspaper office" and sneered. "The most dangerous place is the safest place. The police probably wouldn't even imagine that someone would be printing counterfeit money right next to a police station."
"Is my brother in that newspaper office?" The little boy from the next class frowned. He wanted to rescue his brother, but considering their age, going in would only give the criminals another hostage.
"Let's go! Let's expose the true face of this newspaper office right now!"
Genta and Mitsuhiko didn't consider the consequences and started heading straight across the road to open the first-floor door of the newspaper office.
"Wait!"
Conan's expression changed drastically. He stepped forward and stopped the two children, pointing to the police station next door. "The criminals who print counterfeit money might have guns. Let's call the police first."
The two children were a little dissatisfied, but after thinking about it, it seemed to make sense, so they reluctantly agreed.
"Anya, why don't you call your Mama Yor?" Ayumi called out to Conan, who was about to contact the police. "Isn't Anya's mama a police officer at the Metropolitan Police Department? Wouldn't it be better to just call her?"
"Yeah, I forgot about that."
Conan walked over to Anya, who was lost in thought, and waved his hand in front of her eyes a few times.
"What are you doing?" Anya irritably pushed Conan's hand away. She was already unhappy, and Conan was bothering her at this moment. She was half-tempted to send the video of him knocking out Uncle Kogoro to someone.
"Hurry up, call your Mama Yor!"
Anya said "Oh," then suddenly paused after reaching into her pocket.
"What's wrong?"
"I think I forgot to bring my phone. I left it in my desk drawer."
"You messed up at the crucial moment!" Conan sighed impatiently and headed towards the police station.
Mitsuhiko and Genta muttered a few words to each other and, taking advantage of everyone's attention being on Conan, sneaked into the newspaper office.
They had to show Ai Haibara the Detective Boys' abilities and let her know that joining their team was the right choice.
It was just a counterfeit money gang. Once they exposed their identities, the criminals would definitely surrender.
And with the police station right next door, the two kids weren't worried about what the criminals might do to them.
"Woof!"
Anya suddenly heard a dog bark after snapping out of her daze. At first, she thought she was imagining things, but then she felt something furry nudging her leg.
Looking down, she saw Bond.
"Bond, what are you doing here?" Anya was surprised and stroked the dog's head, somewhat puzzled.
Bond should be sleeping soundly at home at this time. Why was he out looking for her?
"Woof woof woof."
Bond barked several times, as if talking to Anya.
"I see." Anya and Bond made eye contact, as if she understood Bond's barking.
"What... what's going on?" Ai Haibara's expression was strange. This Anya was even more peculiar than she'd imagined. She could actually communicate with a dog?
"Anya has a very special ability, you know. She can talk to Bond!" Ayumi said with a smile. "I used to think Anya was making it up, but later I found out that Anya really does seem to have the ability to communicate with Bond."
"..."
Ai Haibara said nothing, dismissing it as childish imagination, not realizing they were actually telling the truth.
Conan returned looking dejected after finishing his conversation. Judging from the expressions of the two police officers who'd received him, the conversation hadn't gone well.
They probably thought Conan's report was a child's prank. After all, who would believe that a counterfeit money operation was right next to a police station?
"How did it go?" Ayumi asked.
"No good. The police don't believe me at all."
"Could I borrow the police station's phone? I remember Mama Yor's number."
Anya, having finished her conversation with Bond, looked serious. She glanced around and noticed that Mitsuhiko and Genta were indeed missing. She immediately became anxious.
Bond had just told her that Genta and Mitsuhiko had broken into the counterfeit money operation, were discovered, and would be taken hostage by the counterfeiters when the police arrived.
This wouldn't do. As the leader, she had to protect her members' safety.
She had to act now.
She could worry about Ai Haibara later. Her priority was to rescue Mitsuhiko and Genta.
Before Conan could answer, Anya had already strode to the police station and, looking pitiful, borrowed a phone from a police officer.
"Huh, where are Genta and Mitsuhiko?"
Ayumi looked around curiously at where the two had been standing.
"Oh, they seemed to have sneaked into the newspaper office," their client from the next class pointed to the slightly ajar door of the newspaper office.
"Damn it!" Conan's expression changed drastically. He glanced at Anya, then at the door, and finally walked in with a grim face.
"What about us?" Ayumi hesitated, unsure who to follow.
"Let's go upstairs with Conan and check it out." Ai Haibara thought it wouldn't be a big problem. With her and Kudo there, dealing with a few criminals should be manageable.
A minute later, Anya returned to her original spot after making the call, only to find that not only were Genta and Mitsuhiko gone, but Conan, Ayumi, and Ai Haibara had also disappeared.
Glancing at the half-open door beside her, Anya already had a guess.
"Oh no, what if Conan and the others have been kidnapped too?"
She didn't care much about Ai Haibara—she didn't like her anyway.
But Conan and Ayumi were both members of the Detective Boys, and as the leader, never abandoning anyone was her motto.
Instantly, she forgot about Mama Yor's instructions.
Just as she took a step forward, Bond grabbed her sleeve tightly with his mouth.
"Let me go! As the leader, I can't watch my members walk into danger!" Anya's gaze was resolute, as if nothing could sway her determination.
However, reality was cruel.
She couldn't overcome Bond's strength and was firmly held in place.
Anya glanced at the newspaper office, then at the police station, and decided to call Mama Yor again.
It would be dangerous for Conan and his group to go in like that. If they waited for Yor to arrive, it might be too late.
Anya might be young, but she wasn't stupid. She couldn't just sit around waiting.
It would be best to have Mama Yor directly contact the local police and ask them for immediate help.
Although Mama Yor had just said it was best to wait for her to arrive with backup, as the police force was limited and the counterfeit money gang might escape, there was no time to worry about that now.
When Anya entered the police station for the second time, the group upstairs had already encountered the criminals.
"Don't move!"
Conan stood at the second-floor doorway, pressing down on the trembling shoulders of their client from the next class, shaking his head inwardly.
Children shouldn't come to places like this. It's too dangerous and could easily lead to trouble.
"Genta and Mitsuhiko..."
Their classmate covered his mouth with one hand and pointed behind Genta and Mitsuhiko with the other.
The two were standing in front of a television displaying surveillance footage from various locations throughout the newspaper office.
Behind them, a large man in black approached with a sinister smile.
(End of Chapter)
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