Daisuke Jigen and Conan returned to the royal palace looking completely battered. The mont Hayashi Yoshiki saw Conan co back so early, h
Daisuke Jigen and Conan returned to the royal palace looking completely battered.
The mont Hayashi Yoshiki saw Conan co back so early, he already knew the outco.
— Gin got away.
The other vehicle carrying sniper Grappa and his team likely wouldn’t yield anything useful either... because everyone in that car had already been marked by Hayashi Yoshiki.
As for the explosion in the tunnel, of course, Hayashi Yoshiki hadn’t taken that long motorcycle detour just to admire the scenery.
Conan deeply regretted the outco, but Jigen didn’t seem to mind.
For him, this result was good enough to report back to his employer.
Upon returning to the palace, Conan imdiately checked to see if Ran was safe, then went looking for Hayashi Yoshiki to discuss the events of the day... but paused when he saw the bandages wrapped around Yoshiki’s arm.
"Too bad... we really might’ve caught Gin today."
He recounted everything that had just happened.
"It is a sha," said Hayashi Yoshiki, his tone calm and composed. "But don’t dwell on it too much. Soone like Gin would never allow himself to be taken alive... if things ever truly go south, he’d probably shoot himself to avoid leaking organizational secrets."
"So they really did show up here for the country’s minerals."
Conan lifted his head and looked at Hayashi Yoshiki, who was also a mber of the Organization.
"You’re right. To ensure a steady supply of Vespania ore, they planned to help Gerard ascend the throne."
"Then why are you here...?"
"Don’t get the wrong idea. Their actions have nothing to do with . I was just as surprised as you when I discovered what they were doing."
Hayashi Yoshiki paused. "Before you returned, I had already solved the case of Queen Sakura and Prince Gill’s murder. I’ve also handed over all the evidence to Keith. Gerard’s chances of becoming king are now zero."
"I don’t an to accuse you... But won’t the Organization punish you for interfering and ruining their plans?"
"Of course they will. But that’s not sothing you need to worry about."
Seeing how unconcerned Hayashi Yoshiki was, Conan still had many questions, but he knew that if Yoshiki didn’t want to talk, no amount of asking would change that.
Now, he could finally understand why Haibara Ai sotis looked so frustrated with Hayashi Yoshiki.
Then again, there was that mysterious transport truck that had flipped and exploded... sothing about that still nagged at him.
"By the way, Conan, haven’t you been calling Jigen ’Dad’ a lot lately?"
Hearing that, Conan’s face flushed. Hugging his head, he imdiately turned and walked away.
Daisuke Jigen was Lupin’s companion—a thief. In a way, you could say Conan had adopted a criminal as a father figure.
One could only imagine what Kudo Yusaku would say if he found out.
Elsewhere—
Thanks to the tunnel explosion, Gin’s team had managed to escape and was now hiding in an inconspicuous location.
Gin, Qinlei, and two lower-ranked mbers sat together.
Having failed the mission, Gin radiated a nacing aura that warned everyone to stay away. Sitting there, he thodically disassembled and reassembled his Beretta M92F.
He’d already done it five tis.
Neither of the two subordinates dared speak, and even Qinlei didn’t want to test Gin’s patience.
The suffocating silence persisted until Vermouth returned.
"The mission was a complete failure."
Gin’s eyes flicked toward her.
Vermouth stepped forward and placed a photo in front of him.
It was a picture of Daisuke Jigen.
"That guy was the one chasing you—Daisuke Jigen... Lupin III’s partner. He’s said to have once been the world’s most elite hitman."
"Also, before I escaped the palace, Gerard’s cris had already been exposed with undeniable evidence. There’s no way he can make a coback."
Gin’s brows furrowed.
"Cointreau...?"
With Cointreau’s skills, solving the case really was as easy as drinking water.
But exposing Gerard’s cris had also seriously undermined the Organization’s interests... even if Cointreau hadn’t known Gerard had their backing.
The Organization wouldn’t care about such things.
To interfere with their plans at this scale, the Boss was bound to be furious.
"No, not him," Vermouth said suddenly.
"That duke never had any real chance of winning. Why do you think Cointreau and that girl who looks just like the princess were even there?"
"Even tonight—especially during the coronation—the real princess was never going to show up."
"The duke thought killing the princess before the ceremony would solve everything. But the real one... she’s probably still hidden in Japan."
Gin’s breathing faltered.
Quietly, he reassembled the scattered parts of his gun. Then, one by one, he loaded bullets into the magazine and clicked it into place.
"Looks like the Organization chose a fool to make the deal."
"Seems Rum’s last eye is as good as blind."
After those chilling words, Gin suddenly aid the loaded gun at the two silent subordinates.
Bang! Bang!
Two bullets sent both n collapsing in disbelief.
Qinlei jumped up instinctively, heart pounding, staring at Gin in shock.
Just as she was about to speak, Gin turned the gun on her and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet pierced Qinlei’s skull, sending a spray of blood into the air.
The long-legged woman fell to the ground, eyes wide open in eternal confusion.
"Aren’t you overestimating Cointreau a bit too much?"
Vermouth silently watched the scene unfold.
Gin, still cold-faced, then aid the gun at her forehead.
Vermouth imdiately raised her hands in surrender. "OK, OK! I swear I won’t leak any intel about Cointreau being in this country."
Gin let out a scornful laugh.
Still, he lowered the gun.
Gerard’s defeat had been inevitable from the beginning. But within the Organization, there were always opportunists who might think otherwise.
The two subordinates had rely followed orders. Qinlei, however, had leaned more toward Rum’s faction... she’d definitely report every detail once things were over.
If Rum found out that Cointreau had also been in the country and working for the palace, that half-blind fool might very well shift the bla onto him.
"...What about Glappa?" Gin asked, recalling the sniper who had tried to take Cointreau out at the palace. To prevent any leaks in case of capture, Gin turned to Vermouth.
She gave a slight smile.
"He’s dead. The truck flipped so badly... honestly, if I didn’t already know what happened, I’d think Cointreau orchestrated the whole thing himself."
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