Chapter 36: Prepared the Serum Just as Promised

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“Some famous detective has already received the news that Scorpion was arrested. That means this bit of magic can be considered complete in front of the audience.”

Kuroba Kaito continued, “There were originally only two people, but in the eyes of the audience, there became three—the Phantom Thief Kid disguised as Chi Feichi, Chi Feichi left behind in Osaka, and the bounty hunter disguised as Inspector Shiratori.”

“As far as Chi Feichi and the Phantom Thief Kid are concerned, Chi Feichi deciphered the Phantom Thief Kid’s code, attacked him, and drove him away, while the Phantom Thief Kid disguised himself as Chi Feichi. Watching the whole performance, the audience will feel that two archenemies have clashed, with neither side gaining the upper hand. After all, once the label of ‘archenemy’ is attached, no one will think the Phantom Thief Kid and Chi Feichi are working together.”

“As for Chi Feichi and the bounty hunter, Chi Feichi wasn’t on the ship, so there’s no way he could have known what was happening aboard it. Besides, he was in Osaka, a victim of the Phantom Thief Kid, while the bounty hunter had come from Tokyo, apparently tracking Scorpion through some other channel and coming specifically for her. The two of them seem to have no connection at all.”

“As for the Phantom Thief Kid and the bounty hunter, they simply happened to meet by chance. In fact, the bounty hunter had no interest in the Phantom Thief Kid whatsoever and was determined to capture Scorpion.”

“Step by step, the misdirection turned two people into three, while quietly separating the relationships among all three and eliminating any future worries.” Kuroba Kaito walked over to Chi Feichi, then turned his head. His smile was brilliant, yet carried a hint of profound meaning. “An outstanding debut… Bounty Hunter July!”

Feichi shot out from Chi Feichi’s sleeve and sank his teeth into Kuroba Kaito’s arm with a sharp snap.

The smile on Kuroba Kaito’s face instantly froze.

Couldn’t he stop attacking people without warning? Did Kaito have it easy, trying to look cool?

Chi Feichi took out a syringe filled with antivenom. Once Feichi released his bite, he expertly gave Kuroba Kaito an injection.

Feichi had asked him earlier to prepare some serum for Kuroba Kaito. He hadn’t forgotten.

Kuroba Kaito lowered his head and looked at his arm, momentarily speechless. “You… you two…”

“Feichi just missed you.” Chi Feichi headed outside. “That shouldn’t count as a magic performance, should it?”

Kuroba Kaito really didn’t want Chi Feichi to change the subject so easily, but the new topic did appeal to him. He followed along. “No. Judging from the overall arrangement, the detailed misdirection, and the final result, it can count as magic. It was just missing a spectacular burst at the end, so the dramatic effect was lacking. There was also one flaw. When you appeared in Osaka, you could actually have asked me to help deliver Scorpion to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Appearing in two places at once would have reduced suspicion that you were July much faster…”

“That idea of yours is just like the plans criminals make to establish an alibi,” Chi Feichi said. “In reality, the more comprehensive the considerations and the more meticulous the plan, the more flaws it will reveal. At the time, you were moving with the audience. If you had suddenly gone somewhere else to help, it would have been easy to leave behind a discrepancy. Once a flaw appeared, even if it were only a single point, the entire plan would have collapsed.”

Kuroba Kaito thought for a moment. “I could have asked Mr. Jii to help you.”

“Scorpion is dangerous. Mr. Jii might not have been able to handle her. One moment of carelessness while delivering her could have cost him his life. I think it was better for me to keep watch myself.” Chi Feichi rejected Kuroba Kaito’s suggestion again.

“Just as before, when you wanted to personally keep an eye on how things developed so Scorpion wouldn’t suffer any accidents?” Kuroba Kaito guessed. “Otherwise, you could have had me board the ship disguised as you from the beginning and let me guide your plan. You don’t seem to trust other people very much.”

Chi Feichi said, “No. I trust my own abilities more. I was afraid you would make a mistake.”

Kuroba Kaito fell silent.

That was far too blunt. He had no consideration for Kaito’s feelings at all…

“Besides, there are no eternal secrets,” Chi Feichi said. “All I had to do was put on a show, make sure Conan didn’t become suspicious for the time being, and deceive everyone else. I never thought I could keep it from him forever.”

“You really think highly of him,” Kuroba Kaito said with a sigh. “Still, you’re right. There really are no eternal secrets. Just like his secret… When did you find out?”

Chi Feichi said, “That’s confidential.”

Feichi remembered what Hattori Heiji had called Conan earlier and poked his head out of Chi Feichi’s sleeve. “A secret? Kudo?”

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Chi Feichi was speechless. Even Feichi knew?

Conan really was too careless…

“Yeah. He’s Shinichi Kudo, a high-school detective.”

“Oh, Ku… Kudo Shinichi?” Feichi was utterly bewildered.

Feichi knew who Shinichi Kudo was. He had heard passersby mention the name more than once back when he was on Pet Street.

But wasn’t that person a high-school student? How had he turned into a little child?

Seeing Chi Feichi talking to the snake again, Kuroba Kaito was immediately covered in black lines. His partner was wonderful in every way, except that his mind was a little abnormal…

Chi Feichi commented, “What he did is the truly astonishing magic.”

“Indeed. The fountain of youth.” Kuroba Kaito tried hard to maintain a calm expression. No matter what, he couldn’t dislike his partner. “He’s still young and already has a childhood sweetheart for a girlfriend. There’s no reason he would pursue something like eternal youth. He must have run into some kind of trouble that turned him into this… By the way, speaking of trouble, don’t you think the news leaked far too quickly this time?”

“In one day, the police confirmed that Scorpion had been arrested, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department issued a press release.” Chi Feichi took out his phone and opened the Bounty Hall forum, letting Kuroba Kaito look. Two out of the ten newest posts concerned July. On a worldwide bounty-hunter forum, that proportion was already astonishing. “Although the police statement didn’t mention July, and ordinary people assumed the police had made the arrest, the bounty forum is already in an uproar. Scorpion isn’t an unknown figure. The attention probably won’t die down over the next day or two. I’ve even raised my rates… Also, you got your information from Conan, and Conan must have learned about July from the police as well. Combined with the police department’s highly efficient announcement that Scorpion had been captured…”

“They never intended to keep the bounty hunter July a secret. They’re even helping build momentum.” After analyzing the situation, Kuroba Kaito asked in confusion, “Did you offend the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department?”

“No. It’s the Public Security Bureau’s detectives who are trying to stir things up. Someone sent me an email saying they meant no harm. Still, if they help build momentum, it benefits me.”

Whenever Chi Feichi mentioned this matter, he thought of the “Zero” signed at the end of the email.

The sender was probably Amuro Tooru. He had even added, “If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at any time.”

Judging from that, the person who wanted to arrange a meeting with him was probably Amuro Tooru as well. From there, Chi Feichi could make a guess… The other man was likely planning to test him further. If he proved reliable, they might send him to the Black Organization to cause some trouble.

However, attracting the attention of that organization would be extremely troublesome. He wasn’t a bounty hunter in need of money. He merely wanted to climb the reputation rankings in peace and enjoy himself.

“Public Security detectives? What a nuisance… In any case, be careful,” Kuroba Kaito said, no longer dwelling on it. “Are you going back to the castle?”

“It’s too late today. I’ll stay in Tokyo.” Chi Feichi took out his phone and checked his account’s transfer records. The 9.17 million dollars had already arrived. “I promised to treat you to a feast. Shall we go tomorrow?”

Kuroba Kaito walked along with both hands clasped behind his head. “Tomorrow’s Monday. I have to go to school…”

A school day in Conan’s world?

Chi Feichi suddenly found the idea rather novel. “Then let’s wait until the weekend.”

Kuroba Kaito turned his head curiously. “By the way, how much did you make this time?”

Chi Feichi didn’t hide it. He showed Kuroba Kaito the deposit record.

Kuroba Kaito stared at the string of numbers, calculated for a while, and remained silent for a long time before finally looking up at Chi Feichi. “Scorpion was worth that much money?”

“It’s not strange. She had offended a lot of people. She killed a hundred people, and the relatives of ten of them wanted revenge. If each family contributed an average of ninety thousand dollars to the accumulated bounty pool, it would come to that much.” Chi Feichi erased the search history and put away his phone. “Besides, she killed more than a hundred people. Some of them were wealthy collectors who possessed relics of the Romanov dynasty. If their relatives genuinely wanted revenge, one person alone might contribute several million dollars to put a bounty on her.”

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Kuroba Kaito looked at Chi Feichi’s expressionless face. “That’s a hundred million yen! Aren’t you happy?”

Chi Feichi replied calmly, “It’s only enough to buy one egg that the Suzuki Corporation once tossed casually into a warehouse. Oh, and there would still be a little left over.”

Kuroba Kaito thought about it and realized that was indeed the case. The Suzuki Corporation had even given that egg away as though it were nothing. For a moment, he felt that a hundred million yen really wasn’t such a big deal after all. Even so, he remained delighted. “When you put it that way, I’m a man who voluntarily gave up eight hundred million yen!”

Chi Feichi corrected him. “A boy.”

Kuroba Kaito fell silent.

…

The next day.

Chi Feichi woke up and went out for his morning exercise. When he returned to the front of his apartment building, he saw two large freight trucks parked outside. A middle-aged man spotted him and walked straight over.

“Young Master Feichi, I’m Oyama Ya, the person in charge of the True Pond Group’s Tokyo Baizhen Mall. You can just call me Oyama.” The man introduced himself with a smile. “We bought the bamboo rats you requested from China and had them brought here as quickly as possible!”

Chi Feichi looked toward the two freight trucks and suddenly had a bad feeling.

From inside the trucks came occasional mutters:

“Stop pushing, stop pushing. I get seasick. Let me lie down for a while…”

“Eat, eat, eat. I’m hungry. Eat…”

Seeing Chi Feichi looking at the trucks, Oyama had his men open the cargo doors, then turned back to him. “There aren’t many people who sell bamboo rats. We asked around everywhere before finally finding suitable sellers. Since we didn’t know what size you wanted, Young Master Feichi, we bought one hundred young rats and two hundred adult bamboo rats. We got some of every size category. Please take a look first!”

The cargo doors opened, revealing rows upon rows of metal cages…

as well as rows upon rows of bamboo rats lying inside.

Chi Feichi was speechless.

He wasn’t sure what year it was at the moment, but there probably weren’t many people raising bamboo rats yet, making it difficult to find a seller. They really weren’t easy to buy.

But still…

They couldn’t find any easily, so they bought three hundred?

Where was he supposed to raise them?

Were these people insane?

Hearing the commotion, Feichi poked his head out of Chi Feichi’s collar. Looking at the large gray bamboo rats filling the truck, he too sank into a stunned silence.

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