"That bastard Moran is cheating!"
Having just cursed the man's cowardice, Hideki Moroboshi leaped out from his hiding spot, pointing an accusatory finger directly at Colonel Moran.
"Brat, watch your tone."
"Do you have any proof?" Colonel Moran stood up, his eyes turning cold and dangerous.
Cunning, greedy, and ruthless—these three words defined the man known as the second most dangerous individual in London. No matter who you were, crossing paths with him required the utmost caution.
"Of course I do. That monkey is quite the little helper, isn't he?" A smug smile played on Moroboshi's lips as he pointed to the primate perched on the nearby cabinet.
"What?!" Moran's opponent whipped around, looking genuinely shocked.
Moroboshi proceeded to lay out the details, explaining exactly how the Colonel was using the monkey and the berries to signal the cards.
"Moran, you despicable cheat!" The opponent slammed his hands on the table and stood up, roaring in fury. From the looks of it, this wasn't the first time he had fallen for the trap.
"It's your own fault for being stupid enough to fall for it," Moran replied, shoving his hands into his pockets with a look of complete indifference now that the ruse was up.
"You can settle your little dispute later," Moroboshi interrupted. "Where is Professor Moriarty?"
He raised the heavy revolver he had swiped from Holmes's residence, leveling it at the Colonel's chest.
That idiot.
Conan's expression darkened. Only now did the Great Detective realize where Moroboshi's sudden surge of "courage" had come from. He was relying on the weight of a gun he didn't know how to use.
The moment the Professor's name was mentioned, Moran's demeanor shifted violently. He became agitated, almost feral. Ignoring the gun pointed at him, he took a heavy step forward, his voice low and threatening. "Brat... how do you know that name?!"
"Stay back!" Seeing the man closing the distance, Moroboshi didn't hesitate—he pulled the trigger.
But reality was cruel. The bullet merely grazed the air beside Moran's shoulder. Instead of a hit, the massive recoil of the heavy revolver sent a numbing shock through Moroboshi's small hands, causing the weapon to clatter uselessly to the floor.
"Hey!"
"Seize that brat!"
At Moran's roar, the entire poker club erupted into motion. Seven or eight burly men lunged toward Moroboshi, and the room descended into total chaos.
Conan couldn't just stand by. Using the chairs and the layout of the room, he managed to trip two of the pursuers, giving Moroboshi a desperate chance to scramble away.
Ran and the others, who had been waiting outside the back door, heard the commotion and immediately joined the fray.
"Conan, are you okay?" The "Unicorn Girl's" combat prowess was undisputed; she sent a man sprawling with a perfectly executed flying kick.
"This is bad... they're all converging on us." Conan's eyes narrowed. If something went wrong now, the entire group could be wiped out in one fell swoop.
Just as the detective was frantically dodging an attacker, a heavy wooden chair came hurtling through the air toward him.
"Watch out!"
Seiichiro Kikukawa threw himself onto the detective, shielding him with his own body.
"Kikukawa!"
As his body began to dissolve into shimmering shards of light, Kikukawa offered a small, tired smile. "It's nothing... Consider this me paying you back for earlier."
Back at the broken bridge, if it hadn't been for the "Four-Eyes" saving him, he would have been eliminated long ago.
With a final "Good luck," Seiichiro Kikukawa vanished before their eyes. He was the first of their group to be eliminated from the London world.
"Hey! Did you screw up the synchronization between these game worlds or something?!"
Before the group could even process their grief, a familiar voice rang out through the hall.
"Tsu... Tsuneo???" Conan stared, utterly dumbfounded.
The air flickered with a digital shimmer, and two figures suddenly materialized in the center of the room.
"Two Tsuneo-niichans?" Ayumi and Mitsuhiko looked as if they had seen a ghost. Did he already clear his stage?
"Heh, you didn't send me here just to bail them out, did you?" One Tsuneo had the other—the Administrator—locked in a brutal grappling hold. The two were mid-brawl, their clothes tattered and their bodies covered in grievous wounds.
"Get out of the way!"
Seeing the strangers appear out of nowhere, two of Moran's thugs charged at them, shouting threats.
THUD!
THUD!
With terrifying synchronicity, Tsuneo and the Administrator each grabbed a thug by the head and slammed them into the floor with bone-shattering force. Their eyes were predatory, filled with a cold, violent intensity.
Stay out of this!
Looking at the two thugs whose heads were now literally embedded in the floorboards, everyone in the club froze. The "plot" had taken a sharp, bizarre turn.
In the next instant, the two battling Tsuneos flickered and faded, vanishing from the sight of Conan and the others as the "glitch" corrected itself.
"There were... two Tsuneo-niichans fighting each other," Mitsuhiko muttered, rubbing his eyes. He tried to convince himself he had just seen an optical illusion.
In the corner, Hideki Moroboshi frowned. A player is forcibly modifying data within the game world... it's causing some kind of BUG.
"Who the hell are you people?" Colonel Moran asked, his voice low. Even he was shaken by the sudden arrival and departure of those two human monsters. The aura of dread they radiated was something no NPC could fake.
One of his subordinates hurried over, picking up the fallen revolver.
"S.H..."
The initials "S.H." were engraved clearly on the metal—the mark of Sherlock Holmes.
"Holmes's pistol. I suppose I don't need to ask who you are anymore." Moran raised the barrel, pointing it squarely at the group.
Ran moved instinctively, shielding the children behind her, ready for a life-or-death struggle. Moroboshi stood alone in the corner, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed as if he were occupied with something else entirely.
Conan, meanwhile, noticed a bearded man clutching a bottle of red wine—the same bottle he had seen sitting at the head of the table earlier.
"That's it!"
While the tension was at its peak, Conan suddenly bolted. He lunged forward, catching the bearded man off guard, and successfully wrestled the bottle away.
"Brat!" Moran barked, surprised that the kid would dare move.
"If you fire, this bottle is history!" Conan held the wine high, a sharp, confident smile on his face.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Moran replied, his face a mask of indifference, showing no emotion.
"Judging by the empty seat at that table, you're waiting for someone, aren't you?"
"That chair is clearly different from the others. It's been reserved for someone special... for Professor Moriarty, isn't it?" By the time Conan finished, his tone was absolute.
"Regrettably, your deduction is incorrect."
Moran showed no intention of lowering his weapon.
"Then go ahead and shoot. If you don't mind the Professor's wine being smashed to bits, that is." The Great Detective held Moran's gaze, unblinking.
He was gambling. He wasn't just gambling on whether the seat belonged to Moriarty—he was gambling on whether this bottle was precious enough to serve as a hostage!
As the man and the boy stared each other down in a suffocating silence, the bell above the entrance chimed.
"My apologies, but Lord Moriarty says he wishes to see you all."
An elderly man in a top hat spoke, his head bowed politely. From his attire, he appeared to be a high-ranking butler or manager.
"He is waiting for you in his carriage. Please, follow me." The old man gave a slight bow and turned to lead the way.
"Wait a minute!" Moran shouted. After everything that happened here, we're just letting them go?
"Do you intend to defy Lord Moriarty?" The old man turned back, his gaze and voice completely flat.
Moran opened his mouth to protest, but the words died in his throat. He didn't dare speak another word.
Conan glanced between the two men, then followed the butler's lead, leading the group safely out of the club.
Note:
Hello everyone!!
I want to send my warmest New Year wishes to all of you. May the new year bring you all your wishes, along with good health and countless joyful moments with your loved ones!
Holiday Announcement:
To rest and spend time with my family, I will be taking a Lunar New Year holiday from February 15th to February 22nd, 2026. I will officially return on February 23rd.
During my break, I will focus on translating more new chapters so that when the holiday ends, I can release chapters regularly for you all!
Thank you so much for your continued support.
Happy Lunar New Year!