Inside the Mouri Detective Agency, Kogoro Mouri stared intently at the small TV on the desk.
He even couldn't resist folding his arms tightly and leaning forward.
Unbelievable!
Too terrifying!
For some unknown reason today, all the horses he bet on actually won!
Since the very first round after he placed his bets, he had accumulated eleven consecutive wins!
"Could it be that the Horse God has finally noticed me?!"
Kogoro Mouri raised his hands in joyous celebration.
But at that very second, the TV in front of him suddenly flickered and turned into static snow.
Mouri pounded the TV several times, but nothing changed. Frustrated, he started stomping his feet.
Meanwhile, this entire scene was being observed by Gin and the others from a distant rooftop.
Chianti, holding a sniper rifle, watched with a smirk.
"Is this guy really Cointreau's uncle? I just accidentally broke the TV antenna, and he's already this pissed off."
"Hey, it looks like something's stuck in Mori's ear,"
Conan noticed Kogoro Mouri still ignoring the TV, then sat down, picked up a newspaper, and discreetly inserted an earpiece into Mouri's ear.
This action couldn't help but remind Gin and the others of a bugging device.
After pondering for a moment, Gin pulled out a listening device.
Although Cointreau was a complicated person, they wouldn't hold back — this matter had to be clarified.
"Can you hear me, Kogoro Mouri?"
Gin's cold voice echoed.
"I've got you in my sights from behind. Before your suit gets hit, I have some questions for you."
Speaking coldly, he shifted his gaze to Mouri, watching for his reaction:
"Why did you install this bugging device? You have ten seconds. If you intend to answer, take your left hand off the earpiece and raise it."
Gin's icy countdown transmitted directly into Conan's earpiece.
A suffocating pressure swept over Conan's face, turning it pale.
Jodie Starling also stared intently at the approaching Mouri Detective Agency.
What should they do?
Even if they reached the agency before the countdown ended, it wouldn't be in time to stop Gin and his group's bullets.
Under intense tension, James Black pressed the accelerator hard.
Gin's countdown was down to six seconds.
Vermouth remained silent, anxious deep inside.
What exactly was Cointreau doing?
Since this situation was anticipated, shouldn't she tell him to adapt?
Gin is terrifying.
Finally, unable to stay silent any longer, she spoke up.
Gin glanced coldly in her direction.
Seeing Vermouth wanting to say something, he clenched his fist and covered the microphone.
"Not considering notifying Cointreau?" Vermouth said casually,
"Don't blame me—Cointreau attacked me because I used someone close to him as a bargaining chip."
Gin's cold glare didn't waver.
But Vodka hesitated.
He swallowed hard.
So that's the real story... why Cointreau suddenly attacked Vermouth to teach her a lesson.
If Mouri Kogoro got killed by the big brother, maybe Cointreau would get really pissed off.
Cointreau had even killed Shuichi Akai—what if he wanted to kill the big brother too?
Looking at it from another angle: even if Cointreau didn't kill him, what if he wanted the big brother to feel the pain of losing someone close?
Would he then come after me?
Feeling a chill down his neck, Amuro Toru instinctively rubbed his neck.
Maybe I should just ask Cointreau...
Gin still said nothing, but his gaze seemed colder.
Yeah, big brother,
What's even more important is that Chianti—who always shouted about killing—had become cautious.
Although her finger was on the trigger, there was no murderous intent.
Chianti looked at her partner Korn, who seemed just as hesitant.
"Hey Korn, you don't plan to wait for the countdown to end before shooting and instead expect me to fire first, do you?"
Korn's expression twisted strangely.
He turned his head, eyes quietly fixed on Chianti.
Chianti suddenly cursed, "Damn it! How can you be so stubborn?"
"You're no different!"
"Damn you all!"
They both wanted to curse but couldn't argue.
An awkward silence filled the air.
Neither of the two sharpshooters was in the mood to fire.
After a pause, the bolder Chianti glanced at Gin:
"Gin, why don't you take the shot?"
Gin nearly crushed the bugging device in his hand.
At that moment, James Black finally drove the car near the Mouri Detective Agency.
Though uncertain why Gin's countdown suddenly stopped, driven by urgency, Conan opened the sunroof and kicked a soccer ball toward the agency's window.
Crash!
The glass cracked, startling Kogoro Mouri, who was nervously watching the horse race results.
He suddenly stood up and opened the window, roaring:
"Hey! Who the hell did that?!"
He stuck his head out and saw Conan below with an embarrassed face.
"Sorry, Uncle! I accidentally kicked too hard."
"You brat..." Kogoro gritted his teeth.
Vermouth's heart skipped a beat watching this.
This scene was exactly the same as the text Cointreau sent at the start!
If she hadn't interrupted Gin's countdown, that ball would have arrived just a second before the timer hit zero.
How could someone plan this so perfectly?
Cointreau... is he even human?
Vermouth shuddered.
Before Gin could speak, another window a few blocks away opened.
Hayashi Yoshiki's face appeared, quietly observing the situation.
Then he smiled gently at those below.
"It's dangerous kicking the ball on the rooftop. What if someone gets hurt, Conan?"
"Brother Yoshiki's here too?"
"Yeah, I've been here a while."
"That brat Conan..." Kogoro Mouri still scowled fiercely.
Seeing Conan looking awkward, Yoshiki smiled and said:
"You should be grateful for Mouri-san's final horse race results. If the last bet had won, he'd probably have been in a good mood and let you off."
"Really?"
"Ah! Damn you, it's your fault I had to take off my headset!"
Only then did Kogoro realize his earpiece had been removed. He quickly turned around and put it back on.
Gin glanced at the bugging device in his hand once more.
He tightened his grip and stopped any sound from leaking out.
"Hmph, Cointreau usually seems so calm... not bad at all."
Chianti grinned.
Vermouth looked at Gin and immediately understood he had mostly put aside his intent to kill, so he smiled and said,
"So, what do you plan to do now?"
Gin took out his phone and called Hayashi Yoshiki.
Hayashi, after saying "Wait a moment," went back inside.
Kogoro Mouri sat back down to continue listening to his horse racing news, while Hayashi went into the inner room
and embraced a blushing Ran Mouri.
The young girl's soft, pink cherry lips looked especially moist.
"Can you wait for me a bit?"
"I don't want to anymore, Yoshiki."
After teasing her to the point of slight breathlessness, her lips gave a lazy kiss before Hayashi walked up to the rooftop of Mouri Detective Agency.
He pressed the redial button on Gin's phone.
"What's the matter?"
"Our operation just now went wrong. Someone planted a transmitter and a bug on the Black Organization member Kir. The only person who met Kir before us today was Kogoro Mouri. Kir, Mizuno Reika?"
"You know?"
"So you suspect Kogoro Mouri tried to get the Black Organization's information?" Hayashi sounded a bit surprised but quickly said,
"Impossible. I asked Kogoro to meet Mizuno Reika because I didn't want to deal with the trouble myself."
That cleared Mouri's suspicion considerably.
Gin would not suspect Hayashi.
Compared to the rest of the Black Organization's useless and undercover agents, Kir was like a war god, always finishing missions flawlessly—even killing Akai Shuuichi. The Organization trusted him to indulge his killing obsession. Hayashi definitely wouldn't harm the Organization.
"Wait. Knowing your nature, if you suspected anything, you would have been killed already. You haven't, so..."
Hayashi's voice suddenly shifted subtly.
Gin nodded affirmatively.
Almost immediately, he noticed Kir's gaze directed at them.
As Kir's eyes landed on their group, his voice over the phone turned urgent:
"Are you stupid? Get out of here now!"
Gin's reaction was instant.
Realizing the bug might be a trap, he quickly turned around, noticing the rooftop was the perfect sniper spot.
"No, retreat immediately!"
Hayashi gave the order without hesitation.
Chianti waved to say goodbye to Hayashi but was still a bit stunned by the order—the next second, a bullet whizzed past her shoulder.
"Ten o'clock direction! Four hundred yards!"
Corn immediately spotted the incoming bullet's origin, raising his rifle to aim.
The sniper scope revealed an old man's face; the man also aimed his gun. Both fired decisively.
Biu!
The bullet pierced the man's head, but Korn got shot in the shoulder, groaning and staggering.
"It's okay... I'm wearing a bulletproof vest."
"No time, find cover!"
Gin shouted coldly,
"Give me the gun!"
The five immediately took cover behind the rooftop walls.
Bullets sporadically hit the rooftop's railing, chipping concrete and spraying dust.
Gin silently tracked the bullets' direction until Hayashi found a gap.
"Cover me, Vodka."
Without hesitation, Vodka stood up, gritting his teeth.
Bullets hit Vodka, splattering blood, but Gin's movements were sharp—he snatched Korn's rifle without hesitation.
Despite Vodka's inferior sniper skills compared to Akai Shuichi, his reactions were still swift.
With a few shots, Gin took out several snipers' heads.
Vermouth silently watched the scene.
Was this all Kir's self-directed plan?
Where did all those backups come from?
The sniper threat quickly eased, but the killers seemed to have received a signal—the stairwell echoed with hurried footsteps.
As the door burst open, several killers peeked out, only to be immediately shot down by Vermouth.
"Stop wasting time here. Retreat."
Gin ordered coldly.
The five moved cautiously.
As they reached the stairwell, Gin grabbed a wounded but still alive killer as a human shield to quickly clear the way.
Bang! Bang!
More killers appeared, but Gin and Vermouth's movements were faster, and the group quickly approached the building's base.
At that moment, Hayashi's phone rang again.
"Don't get in your cars."
Without hesitation, Gin repeated,
"Don't get in the car!"
Chianti, rushing to get to a car, froze.
Suddenly, a black sedan screeched to a halt in front of them; the driver and passenger swiftly pulled guns and fired at Gin and his group.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bursts of gunfire and flying casings caused pedestrians nearby to scream in panic.
Chianti was accidentally hit and cursed angrily but immediately saw the two attackers dead inside the car.
Gin, however, wondered if the car might be a trap.
Finally, Hayashi decided it was better to hijack a car than to get into a potential ambush.
No hesitation.
Gin and the others quickly ducked into an alley and slipped onto another street.
The gunfire had alarmed many people, but across the street, most still had no clue what had happened. When they saw the black-clad, menacing group running by, they panicked.
Gin shot and killed a civilian driver.
After pulling the man from the car, wounded Vodka took the driver's seat.
"Did we get the car?"
"It'd be funny if it had a bomb."
"Don't treat everyone like an idiot."
Gin snorted coldly.
He had carefully observed the stolen car—its owner was waiting at the green light, and nothing seemed suspicious.
Hayashi seemed unbothered by being called a pig earlier.
Looking at the disconnected phone, Hayashi narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling.
Under Death Note's control, Gin's choice of car was also manipulated by Hayashi. All Hayashi had to do was write in the death note: "At a certain time on a certain road, shot in the head by a carjacking thug."
He pocketed his phone and headed downstairs.
Before entering the room, he heard Kogoro Mouri's muffled voice talking about the horse racing result—once again, Hayashi's plans hadn't gone as expected.