Chapter 34: Pusi Qinglan’s Failed Counterattack

Pousi Qinglan wondered why such items were in her bag. Narrowing her eyes and holding her breath, she hesitated between killing these people and making a quick escape.

Chi Feichi, catching a glimpse of Pousi Qinglan's reaction through the smoke, moved forward wearing the face of Inspector Shiratori. He feigned an attack to force her into a decision.

"Don't run!" Conan also provided a distraction from within the smoke.

Seeing that more than one person remained conscious, Pousi Qinglan decided to leave immediately. She fired a shot at Chi Feichi without checking if it hit, then ran to the deck, leaped over the railing, and escaped into the sea.

Conan chased after her, but it was too late. He stared at the now-calm surface of the sea with a somber expression.

Beside him, a figure rushed out, scanning the water with a cold, sinister look. "Damn it! She got away!"

Conan turned in surprise. Inspector Shiratori?

No! Inspector Shiratori could not have reacted that quickly to a surprise attack! Even if he had, and hadn't been knocked out by the sleeping gas, he wouldn't have such a terrifying look on his face...

Who was this? Who on earth was this person?!

After diverting Conan's attention for Pousi Qinglan, Chi Feichi shed his gloomy expression and looked at the increasingly wary Conan. He was genuinely worried that Conan would use his "scientific" soccer ball to knock Pousi Qinglan unconscious in the water. Now that she was far from the ship, this bounty target was safe from the "Grim Reaper小学生."

Conan stared at the "Inspector Shiratori" before him, his mind racing. Disguise? Was it Kaitou Kid? No, if he remembered correctly, Kaitou Kid should have disguised himself as Chi Feichi to board the ship. Then who was this? An accomplice of Kaitou Kid?

"Conan, let's head inside," Chi Feichi said with a smile, using Inspector Shiratori's gentle tone. "With an armed criminal on the loose, it's dangerous for a child to be standing out here."

"Uh... okay~" Conan felt a chill at the speed with which this person changed his demeanor, and he ran into the cabin.

Inside the cabin, the others had been awakened one by one by Kuroba Kaito. The police decided to wrap up and return to organize a pursuit. Chi Feichi, still in the guise of Inspector Shiratori, left with the police by helicopter. Once they arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department, he found an excuse to slip away, left the building, and "borrowed" a car by the roadside to head toward the Yokosuka Castle.

Meanwhile, after jumping into the sea, Pousi Qinglan oriented herself and swam hard toward the shore. They were still quite a distance from the Tokyo port, and even she wasn't sure if she could make it. Fortunately, she stumbled upon a rusty, abandoned fishing boat drifting at sea. She observed her surroundings warily before climbing aboard to rest, completely unaware that two people were discussing her via email.

Kuroba Kaito: [The place where she jumped is quite far from Tokyo Bay. If she can't find a boat, there's a high probability she'll drown.]

Chi Feichi: [I prepared an abandoned fishing boat for her. It's enough for her to recover her strength and swim to shore.]

Kuroba Kaito: [Are you sure you aren't just letting her go?]

Chi Feichi: [No. Rumors aren't entirely reliable, but they can provide information. Based on her past actions, she is ruthless, cold-blooded, vengeful, persistent, and has a severe hoarding disorder. Knowing there is another egg at Yokosuka Castle, she won't stay away. She will head there early to prepare, hoping to steal the egg and take revenge on Kogoro Mouri for exposing her identity. Profit and vengeance are enough to lure her there.]

Kuroba Kaito: [But have you thought about this? The sleeping gas and tear gas were things you took from me. When she finds things in her bag that don't belong to her, won't she suspect she's walked into someone's trap? She might just hide out of caution.]

Chi Feichi: [Besides those two beads, there is a Kid card in her bag, which I swiped from you. It says "I have accepted the treasure." Combined with "Kaitou Kid's" usual style, Pousi Qinglan will likely guess: "Kaitou Kid wanted to use me to be mysterious, but he didn't realize he just happened to help me..."]

Kuroba Kaito: [Uh... have you already gone to Yokosuka Castle to intercept her?]

Chi Feichi: [Two more hours of driving.]

Kuroba Kaito: [Then what about me? The kid is already suspicious of this identity, and I still want to go see the masterpiece of the "Magician of the End of the Century."]

Chi Feichi: [Don't you have a way?]

Kuroba Kaito: ...

Why did it feel like not only Pousi Qinglan, but even he was being orchestrated down to the last detail?

He shook his head, cleared his inbox, left the restroom stall, and pretended to be washing his hands after using the toilet. The restroom door opened, and Conan's small figure appeared. "Aren't you going to chase that guy and get your revenge?"

Kuroba Kaito paused, then continued to dry his hands with a towel as if nothing were wrong. "When did you find out?"

"When I asked if you had seen or heard of a grey-eyed Chinese person, I already noticed you. You probably thought someone who doesn't talk much and doesn't show much emotion would be easy to impersonate, which is why you chose Mr. Chi," Conan said. "But what you didn't know is that he doesn't use lazy fillers like 'ah.' Although he is quite lazy, he is so lazy that he doesn't even use those; he just gets straight to the point."

Kuroba Kaito: "..."

That was Chi Feichi acting! Acting! He hadn't switched back yet, okay?

"And what confirmed that you were a problem was... Non-Akai!" Conan continued. "Mr. Chi almost always carries Non-Akai with him. Although Non-Akai often hides under his clothes, occasionally he will peek out from Mr. Chi's sleeve. You can disguise yourself as Mr. Chi, but Non-Akai is a snake. Such a pet is likely only carried by its owner, Mr. Chi. This is the biggest flaw you couldn't avoid."

Kuroba Kaito seemed to have learned a trick from Chi Feichi on how to deal with detectives: say nothing, don't be too obvious, and guide them secretly. The intelligence of these detectives could actually be used to one's advantage. He said with great interest, "So, you've already confirmed it?"

"Of course. I already called Hattori to check at the hotel where Mr. Chi is staying," Conan stared at Kuroba Kaito. "He found Non-Akai in the bushes outside the hotel. I assume that when Mr. Chi left the hotel this morning, you used some method to put him to sleep and then disguised yourself as him to board the ship. If we look in the nearby restrooms or storage rooms, we should be able to find him."

"You won't find him," Kuroba Kaito said with a smile, wearing Chi Feichi's face, smoothing things over for him. "I still need to use this identity for a while; he can't be discovered yet."

"What do you want to do?" Conan pressed. "Aren't you afraid I'll expose you?"

"Feel free to try," Kuroba Kaito shrugged. "But do you think Scorpio will just give up? With me following to Yokosuka Castle, it's a safeguard."

Conan frowned. "You want that egg too?"

"No, I just want to admire it," Kuroba Kaito knew Conan wouldn't believe him, so he tossed out another bait. "Besides, that Miss Ran seems to be suspicious of you for something..."

Conan recalled carefully, his expression shifting. Come to think of it, Ran's behavior today was indeed a bit strange. Could it be...

"With me here, I can solve the code and deduce things in your place," Kuroba Kaito coaxed. "In the identity of Chi Feichi, making some brilliant deductions is perfectly normal."

After weighing the pros and cons, Conan chose to compromise. He glanced at the "Chi Feichi" face and said with a bit of schadenfreude, "Mr. Chi is very close to Non-Akai. You didn't leave Non-Akai with him and just tossed him outside—that's a grudge that's going to be hard to settle."

Kuroba Kaito's footsteps faltered. He walked out of the restroom, his face darkening. "Can't I just not want to touch a snake?"

It was that guy who left Non-Akai there to trick you all, wasn't it...

Seeing Kuroba Kaito about to leave, Conan turned and said, "If you have any designs on those two eggs, I will still expose you!"

"As you wish."

"Hey, did you bring help this time?"

"No."

Kuroba Kaito left directly. Conan stood at the entrance of the restroom in deep thought. If it wasn't one of Kid's accomplices, then who on earth was the guy disguised as Inspector Shiratori?

...

Late at night. Near Yokosuka Castle, a car drove into the woods. Not long after, another car arrived and also turned into the woods.

In the car, Pousi Qinglan took out the Kaitou Kid card from her bag and stared at it for a moment. When did Kaitou Kid put this in her bag? She had checked when boarding during the day; there was nothing in the bag that didn't belong to her. That meant the thief had snuck onto the ship, wanted to use her to create a mystery, and also knew her identity and appearance. Maybe he had discovered something else; he had to be dealt with.

The same went for the others she had come into contact with, especially that detestable detective! He had acted like a bumbling middle-aged man, yet he was hiding so much!

As for this card... Should she leave it at the scene after she finished off those people to mislead the police and distract them?

Pousi Qinglan paused, then chuckled. After getting out of the car, she threw the card away and headed toward the castle. There was no need. The police would eventually suspect her anyway and were already arranging to hunt her down. So, she would infiltrate early. When those people walked into her trap, she would bury them along with this castle!

Pousi Qinglan's eyes gleamed with coldness as she walked to the castle gate. She skillfully picked the lock and carefully pushed the door open. She felt a gust of wind coming from the side and tried to dodge while raising her gun, but her counterattack failed, and she lost consciousness.

Chi Feichi used a handkerchief soaked in ether to ensure she stayed deeply asleep. With gloved hands, he picked up the gun from Pousi Qinglan and examined it before confiscating it. A PPKS, German-made, a variant of the PPK series—light, compact, with multiple safety features. It wasn't his favorite, but it was a decent trophy. The bounty didn't specify that the gun had to be turned in; keeping it as a backup was fine. The police could close the case even without the weapon as physical evidence.

However, Pousi Qinglan had used this gun to kill Ryu Kawakami. Once she was in prison, the police would know the gun was in his possession. If he used it, ballistic analysis would link it back to him. It could serve as a backup weapon.

Chi Feichi cleaned up the traces of his entry, took her out of the castle, and looked at the marks on the door where it had been pried open. There was no way to clean that up...