He walked to the bottom of the ladder in disbelief, staring at the playing card in Zhang Yang's hand, then at the broken surveillance camera in the corner. The look on his face was a mix of amazement and disbelief.
Subier was a little impressed. The rumors online had just played out before his eyes—Kaitō Kid's playing cards really were that powerful.
At the same time, he was furious. A camera in this location had been destroyed, which meant Kaitō Kid had already entered the manor.
There was no way to damage this camera from outside.
"Kaitō Kid, how interesting… he's really inside the manor!"
"Search the place now—he must still be here!"
As soon as Subier gave the order, the guards all sprang into action.
Which was exactly what Zhang Yang wanted.
Only with the guards moving all over the place could Zhang Yang move freely without drawing attention.
Otherwise, he'd stand out too much moving around alone.
Subier clutched the card in his hand, both nervous and excited, completely unaware that Kaitō Kid was standing right in front of him. He simply hadn't seen through Zhang Yang's disguise.
Outside the manor, fans were still fighting over the dozens of fake dummies. Chaos reigned, with shouting, scolding, and screams nonstop.
Bruce and Harrison moved through the crowd, weaving in and out as they searched for anyone whose reaction stood out from the rest. While everyone else was cheering and worked up, they hoped to spot someone acting differently.
"Damn Kaitō Kid… we've actually ended up helping him!" Bruce growled, pushing his way through the crowd. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
An FBI director, being used by a master thief—just the thought made his blood boil.
What made it worse was that he couldn't do anything about it. He had no choice but to go along with it, or things would get even worse.
Soon, Harrison and Bruce met up again. They looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.
No one in the crowd stood out. Everyone was fixated on the dummies Kaitō Kid had planted.
"Shit! Kaitō Kid brought us here, but who the hell are we supposed to catch?"
"Damn that Kaitō Kid. He still won't give us a clue!"
Bruce cursed out loud in frustration, shoved and jostled by the excited crowd around him.
Harrison let out a long sigh, patted Bruce on the shoulder, and motioned for him to follow.
"Let's get out of here for now. It's too chaotic in this crowd."
"What's Victor doing? Why isn't he stepping in to manage the scene?"
At that moment, Victor had already stationed all available agents around the manor. Compared to the setup at the museum, this time's security was much tighter.
Every direction outside the manor was covered by Enforcement Bureau agents.
They'd formed a massive net around the estate, ready to close in the moment Zhang Yang showed up.
"Harrison and Bruce, those two idiots… isn't catching Kaitō Kid supposed to be their top priority?"
"And yet they're actually taking orders from him, helping him catch someone else!"
Victor wasn't the only one mad at them—he was just as angry in return.
This was France, and Victor had no intention of ending up like them—outplayed by Kaitō Kid.
But seeing Bruce and Harrison so unmotivated about catching Kaitō Kid only made him more displeased.
Back in the manor, with all the guards moving around, Zhang Yang also began making his move.
Taking advantage of a moment of inattention, he quietly slipped through a window and into the inner estate.
"Subier didn't reveal the location of the necklace in the challenge video. So where would he hide it?"
Zhang Yang put on his monocle and began scanning the items in the room.
The manor was still brightly lit, which made Zhang Yang feel uneasy.
To be safe, he found the fuse box and dumped a bucket of water on it, cutting off the power to the whole estate.
"That's more like it."
He smiled with satisfaction, set the cup down, and headed upstairs.
The entire manor went dark again. Outside, the noisy crowd suddenly quieted down.
[What the hell? The lights are out again?]
[Shit! You stepped on my foot! Weren't you the one who punched me earlier over the dummy?]
[Did Kaitō Kid already sneak into the manor? You idiots made me miss it!]
[What kind of prep did Subier do? How can they mess up something as basic as lighting?]
[Oh my god! If Kaitō Kid's already inside, does Subier even stand a chance anymore?]
A moment ago, the crowd had been focused entirely on grabbing the dummies. No one had been paying attention to anything else.
Harrison and Bruce were rushing over with a team, planning to keep order in case of injuries. But now, they didn't need to.
Everyone was staring at the pitch-black manor, whispering and speculating.
Back in the control room, Subier grabbed the walkie-talkie, finally losing his cool.
"Damn it! What the hell are you doing? Why is the power out again?"
"Isn't there someone guarding the generator room? What the hell happened?"
Earlier, Kaitō Kid hadn't entered the manor yet, so Subier hadn't been worried. He'd calmly ordered the backup generators to be started.
But now it was different. The cameras had been destroyed by playing cards, and Kaitō Kid was most likely already inside.
A blackout now? No way Subier could stay calm.
Nobody could. Even the guards inside the manor knew something had gone terribly wrong.
Soon, a voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"Mr. Subier, the generators are running fine. It looks like a short circuit tripped the power. The breaker won't reset!"
Hearing the report, Subier became even more certain that Kaitō Kid was already in the manor.
He dropped the walkie-talkie and stormed out of the control room, heading straight for the villa.
On the second floor, Zhang Yang had already scanned a few rooms and started noticing something odd.
Using the layout of the villa and 3D scanning, he spotted a gap behind the master bedroom.
He searched several times but couldn't find a way into the missing space.
"Subier actually has a hidden room behind the bedroom!"
Zhang Yang grinned smugly.
A rich guy like Subier was bound to own all sorts of valuable stuff.
But the villa didn't have anything that stood out. Not even a safe.
That was strange. For someone this wealthy, a completely clean house was suspicious. A hidden room behind the bedroom made a lot more sense.
Just as Zhang Yang was looking for the entrance, he heard hurried footsteps coming up the stairs.
Subier had arrived.
Zhang Yang immediately stopped searching. He messed up the bed and knocked over the lamp, then quickly hid inside the nearby walk-in closet.
When Subier entered the room, he saw the mess—sheets tossed, lamp on the floor—and cursed under his breath.
"Shit! Damn you, Kaitō Kid!"
Zhang Yang had left the scene like that on purpose. It was a message: I'm already here.
It would force Subier to check the hidden room and see if anything had been taken.
Subier had done his homework and come well prepared, but Zhang Yang still had the upper hand.