In the world of Detective Conan, however, he was bound to the Naruto System.

Chapter 291 Conan: I'm no longer that weak me

Chapter 291 Conan: I'm no longer that weak me

"A brat is a brat, tch—"

Kogoro Mouri chose to ignore the situation and told Nanami Tsukumo to take them to the basement as soon as possible so they could solve the case and go back home. He hadn't even had dinner yet when he was brought here.

In contrast, Akutagawa Hiko and Mouri Ran ate something to fill their stomachs when they met, giving Conan a much better chance to freeload when he went out shopping with them.

Only Kogoro Mouri himself, ever since Ran Mouri took over the cooking duties, has never lifted a finger to cook. He's never even bought groceries, so how could he possibly cook?

Ran Mouri watched as Ayano Tsukumo happily pulled Conan away, and for some reason, she suddenly felt a little jealous. She quickly shook her head to put these thoughts aside.

At the same time, I comforted myself.

Her current feeling is probably a complex mix of emotions, like watching her little white pig, who used to cling to her, suddenly learn to feed the cabbages in the field.

"Wait, what are you thinking? They're still so young, it's definitely just a pure friendship between children."

Thinking of the birthday party invitation that was exactly the same as the ones for Conan, Ai, Ayumi, and the others, Ran Mouri became even more certain that it did not contain any dirty adult emotions, and felt at ease letting Conan, her little helper in solving cases, leave.

"Oh, in that case, I'll go prepare dinner; it's almost lunchtime."

Momochi Yuji's words instantly increased Kogoro Mouri's favor towards him. This student, who had only recently joined, did not seem to be deeply affected by the death of Tsukumo Motoyasu, and was considered the calmest member of the Miracle Magic Troupe.

Therefore, he took on the responsibility of entertaining guests without hesitation.

The basement of the Ninety-Nine House is not as secluded as the small Western-style house that Akutagawa Hikaru encountered before, which had been converted into a dungeon. After all, it is meant for daily use, and turning it into that would obviously be asking for trouble.

After climbing a short flight of stairs and pushing open a sturdy wooden door, Shichie Tsukumo turned on the warm yellow light. Unlike the stereotypical image of a traditional basement as cold and gloomy, this basement had a very lived-in feel.

"This basement used to be my husband's private room, where he would come up with and practice magic tricks. Recently, his students have also been coming here often."

The first thing Akutagawa Hiko saw was a photo of Kinoshita Yoshiro, a young man wearing a black top hat and white gloves with a confident smile and a ball of flame floating in his palm.

"Detective Akutagawa, this is a photo of my husband's most prized and talented student, Kinoshita. Sadly, he passed away fourteen years ago in a training accident. Is there a problem?"

Akutagawa nodded: "This photo is too clean compared to the other magicians' photos; it seems someone deliberately wiped it clean."

Shichie Kujukō seemed to understand, but Kinoshita Yoshirō was Kujukō Motoyasu's most beloved student back then, so perhaps he took the time to clean it up.

Akutagawa Hiko neither confirmed nor denied Ms. Nanae's explanation: "Putting that aside, the soundproofing in this basement is quite good. Even if you shouted for help inside, no one outside would hear you, right?"

After learning from Shichie Kuju that the deceased loved classical music and would sing it loudly when he was alone in the basement, Hiko Akutagawa began to move forward with the main plot.

First, Akutagawa Hiko arrived at the body's traces fixation line, stroked his chin, and said, "The body's condition at the time was quite strange. It looked like both hands were tied behind its back, which is why it couldn't call for help."

Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but laugh out loud at Ran's reproachful expression: "Hahahaha, even you can be wrong sometimes. Didn't the police say that there were no signs of restraint on the deceased's body? When Mrs. Nanae and the others found the body, they didn't find that he was tied up either."

Akutagawa Hiko wasn't angry. From another perspective, didn't this just show that in Kogoro Mouri's eyes, it was unbelievable that he would make a mistake in this regard?

He simply smiled slightly: "Soleiwadokana, look."

Hiko Akutagawa walked up to a painting depicting Motoyasu Tsukumo, wearing a ring and manipulating a doll with a thin thread: "Was he wearing a performance ring when the body was discovered?"

Natsumi nodded repeatedly: "That's right, but there wasn't any thin thread back then."

Despite being proven wrong, Kogoro Mouri was very dedicated to his work: "Everyone present was a magician. Cutting the thin thread and hiding it was too easy. All three of your husband's students are suspects."

"How—how could this be—"

Kujuro Shichie, who wholeheartedly believed that her apprentices were all good kids, was clearly finding it hard to accept.

"By the way, what do those two playing cards mean?"

Kogoro Mouri took out two playing cards that were stuck together from his breast pocket and rubbed his hair in annoyance: "Damn it, I was thinking about that too."

There was a desk in the room with a pile of playing cards on it, and the landline phone in the room was buried inside.

After confirming that the police had already inspected the scene and left a record, and that what was now being reconstructed by Shichie Tsukumo based on her memory to facilitate the detective's investigation, Hiko Akutagawa took out his phone.

"Come look here, those two playing cards are stuck together, doesn't it look like a replay button?"

Kogoro Mouri held up the playing cards to the phone and compared them to the real thing. He found that it really did look like something, and quickly clapped his hands, saying, "It must be Mr. Motoyasu giving his last words. If my deduction is correct, I can press the redial button and get through—"

Unfortunately, after pressing the redial button, the phone indicated that the number dialed was not in service.

No matter how useless the police may be, this phone is right there on the table, and a careful inspection will not be difficult to find that it has been used.

The police gave a clear explanation: the phone call was actually made by Tsukumo Fumino as a joke.

However, the logical flaws are also quite obvious.

Having mastered the power to spoil the plot, Akutagawa Hiko wrote down the numbers on the phone, so naturally he didn't need to rack his brains like Kogoro Mouri to guess what the code meant.

"Look, if you connect the keys on the telephone in order, it forms ————"

Kogoro Mouri's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "DC freckles?!"

Kujuro Shichie asked, puzzled, "Mako should refer to Miyoshi Mako, but what does DC stand for?"

The appearance of a person's name does not necessarily mean that person is the murderer; it is also very possible that the deceased wanted to convey some information through that name.

Therefore, the "DC" problem, which has not yet been solved, is of utmost importance.

Meanwhile, Conan, who was being led by Miyoshi Asako into increasingly secluded areas, became secretly alert, ready to escape with the innocent and unsuspecting little girl beside him at any moment.

He's not the Conan who's weaker than that big dog named Loki anymore!