At that moment, Victor remembered the gunshots from the manor earlier and immediately called Bruce. He told him about the large amount of explosives found around the estate.
"Director Bruce, you must be careful. Don't let those explosives go off. The bomb squad will be there soon!"
Bruce broke into a cold sweat after hearing Victor's warning.
The detonator had been in his hand. If he'd fallen for Maket's provocation and pressed the button, he would've gone down in history as a criminal.
He held the controller tightly, then stormed over and punched Maket again.
"Fuck! You're insane!"
"Harrison, he really did stash a bunch of explosives outside. Victor's men already found them!"
Maket threw his head back and laughed wildly.
The explosives had been discovered, and he was already captured. There was nothing left to hide.
As the final firework bloomed in the night sky, Harrison and Bruce escorted Maket out of the manor.
Victor was busy organizing the arriving bomb disposal agents, ordering them to sweep the entire area for hidden explosives.
When he saw Bruce returning, he walked up quickly.
"All those explosives were planted by him?"
Both Harrison and Bruce nodded in unison.
"And Kaitō Kid? He got away?"
That answer was obvious.
Victor grabbed Maket by the collar and shouted angrily, "Damn it! Do you have any idea how much prep work we did?"
"All of it ruined by you, you bastard! You threw our entire operation into chaos!"
Maket just stared at Victor with a cold sneer and said nothing.
Bruce shoved him toward the Enforcement Bureau agents. "Take him back and lock him up."
The moment the fireworks lit up the sky, Harrison and Bruce knew they'd completely failed.
That dazzling display made everything clear.
But Victor still couldn't accept it. If Maket hadn't planted those explosives, he believed their setup was flawless. There was no way Kaitō Kid could've escaped.
After the onlookers were cleared from the manor gates, heated discussions quickly erupted online.
Even so, many still saw the fireworks rise above the manor.
[Kaitō Kid has escaped unscathed. The Enforcement Bureau locked down the entire estate!]
[Unbelievable. There were explosives near the manor? I don't believe Kaitō Kid would've planted them!]
[Probably just an excuse. They knew they couldn't catch him, and needed a reason to drive us away.]
[Shit! Victor's an idiot if he thinks pushing people out fixes anything!]
[Who knows if those explosives were real or fake? They already let two world-class wanted criminals into France. At this point, nothing's surprising!]
At that time, fans still didn't know about Maket or why there were explosives near the manor.
Public opinion heavily leaned toward mocking Victor. Trust in him had completely collapsed.
After the agents took Maket away, Bruce, Harrison, and Victor finally entered the manor openly.
They went straight to Subier to confront him.
When Harrison saw Subier, he got straight to the point.
"Mr. Subier, mind explaining why Maket was wearing a security uniform and roaming freely on your estate?"
Both of them had received invitations to the competition. That gave Harrison every reason to suspect they were working together.
After all, it seemed unrealistic for one person to take on Kaitō Kid alone.
But if Subier and Maket had teamed up, their chances of success would've been much higher.
"Director Harrison, I did get the competition invitation," Subier said.
"But I honestly have no idea why Maket showed up!"
As he spoke, Subier pulled the invitation from his pocket and handed it to Harrison.
"This is the one I got. Without Kaitō Kid's signature, I can't enter the competition."
Harrison took the invitation and examined it carefully. It looked no different from the ones Jeff and Daweika had.
"I just wanted to lure Kaitō Kid out and either get his signature or catch him."
Subier spoke calmly, without any emotion. That was why he'd issued the challenge publicly and laid out his plan.
But Victor was still fuming. Even if Subier was being honest now, it was already too late.
"Mr. Subier, Kaitō Kid has escaped time and again. Did you really think you could catch him?"
"Or did you think he wouldn't know about the competition?"
Subier gave a helpless shrug. Things had already gone wrong. His challenge had failed.
Not only had he failed to catch Kaitō Kid, he hadn't even gotten his signature. Worse, Maket had caused a huge mess.
Victor was boiling with rage, but had no outlet. Subier had powerful connections. Even as an Enforcement Bureau Director, Victor had to tread carefully.
After checking the invitation, Harrison let out a sigh.
"Mr. Subier, let me give you a word of advice. Anything on the dark web—whether it's a game or a contest—will only bring you trouble."
"If you'd let us inside the manor to set up from the start, none of this with Maket would've happened."
Subier didn't respond.
His challenge had failed. So had the Enforcement Bureau's operation. No matter how he looked at it, it was a total loss.
He might not want to take the blame, but there was no way to completely dodge responsibility either.
Rather than waste time arguing, he stayed silent.
The three of them didn't press further. They took Subier's invitation and left.
Outside, the search for explosives continued in an orderly fashion.
So far, they'd uncovered dozens of bundles.
"Damn that Maket. He stashed all this stuff around the manor, and now we're the ones cleaning up his mess."
They hadn't caught Kaitō Kid, but they were left with a mountain of problems.
Harrison glanced down at the invitation in his hand, frustrated, muttering to himself.
"Just how many of these invitations were sent out?"
Based on what they'd seen, no matter how many went out, anyone who showed up would be their responsibility to deal with.
Jeff, Daweika, and now Maket—all were leads from Zhang Yang.
The message was clear: Zhang Yang was making sure they were stuck handling the fallout from this competition.
While the three of them were each lost in thought, Zhang Yang had already uploaded a photo of the Angel's Tear necklace to his social feed.
Just ten seconds after it was posted, tens of thousands of comments poured in.
[Oh my god! That's the Angel's Tear?]
[Wow, what a beautiful necklace!]
[That necklace used to belong to the Queen of France. Can't believe Subier actually used it!]
[He must be a hardcore fan to offer something so valuable just to lure Kaitō Kid!]
[Damn it. Kaitō Kid got away with the Angel's Tear. Who knows where it'll end up now!]