Piecing together the available clues, Uncle Maori stood up and shared his deductions with everyone present.
"Miss Natsumi, in my view, the two eggs depicted in this painting were crafted by your great-grandfather himself."
"After the Russian Revolution, your great-grandfather and his wife made these two eggs and brought them back to Japan."
"Perhaps it was after the gems on the second egg were sold that the Yokosuka Castle was built. As for the first egg, it's highly likely still hidden within the castle."
"And the message hidden in the castle is meant to be conveyed to you through this magic mirror!"
"As expected of the sleeping detective!" Tsuneo clapped, cheering him on.
After such a long time, this uncle had finally come up with a fairly reliable deduction.
"Well said!" President Suzuki nodded in agreement.
Uncle Maori flashed a self-satisfied smile.
Hahaha! That's exactly it!
Hearing this, Kosaka Natsumi opened the leather bag she carried with her and said, "Actually, besides the painting, I have an old key here. Could it also be related to the other egg?"
As she spoke, she pulled out an intricately designed, antique brass key.
"Exactly, Miss Natsumi. In my opinion, this key is likely used to unlock the vault hiding the second egg," Uncle Maori nodded, affirming her suspicion.
"The Dream Egg, adorned with gems…"
"If we find it, it's worth a billion—no, at least one and a half billion!"
As the conversation neared its end, the guests fixated on the Memory Egg began discussing the value of the other egg.
"Is this why Kid wants to steal the Memory Egg?" From the corner of the room, Conan furrowed his brow, looking up at Tsuneo.
To follow the trail and find both eggs?
No matter how you looked at it, something felt off.
"That thief doesn't exactly seem strapped for cash," Tsuneo remarked, recalling the figure he'd heard at the police conference.
A total theft of 38.7 billion yen!
How many meals could that buy?
"Mr. Maori, would you be willing to accompany me to the castle when we return to Tokyo?" Kosaka Natsumi extended an invitation to the seemingly astute detective.
"I'd be delighted," Uncle Maori agreed.
"Please, may I join as well?"
"Me too!"
"Please, let me film it!"
"I want to go too!"
Shiroev Chinnikov, Shoichi Inui, Ryu Hikawa, and Seiran Urashi—the four of them swarmed forward like flies drawn to a scent.
"See that? That's human nature," Tsuneo said with a chuckle, observing their behavior.
Greed.
Every one of them held a respectable social status, capable of pulling out hundreds of millions of yen without blinking, yet they were still scheming over these little prizes.
Conan, noticing that Miss Natsumi had agreed to let everyone come along, watched them with wary eyes.
The moment they heard about the second egg, their gazes had shifted.
"Time to eat!" Tsuneo declared, turning to leave the meeting room.
He'd been up all night, boarded the ship early in the morning, and hadn't even had breakfast yet.
"Wait up!" Conan dashed after him.
The great detective couldn't shake the strange atmosphere in the room. He needed to talk strategy with the repairman and prepare in advance.
…
In the cruise ship's dining hall.
"I got it, I got it! Can you stop nagging?" Tsuneo said, chewing on his steak and nodding impatiently.
The head chef on this ship was seriously talented.
Delicious!
"Those guys are definitely up to something. When we get to that castle, we need to keep an eye on them," Conan said, sitting cross-legged on a chair with his arms crossed.
Their expressions had changed, just as Tsuneo had pointed out.
Greed!
"If it comes to it, we'll just toss them into the sea to feed the fish," Tsuneo said, glancing up at a waiter approaching with a tray and giving him a friendly nod.
The waiter: …
Did I just hear something I shouldn't have?
This guy, talking about that with a kid…
"Seriously, they haven't done anything yet, and they haven't offended you," Conan said, exasperated, after the waiter left.
Watch what you say in public!
"By the way, don't forget to restock my fridge at home. You've been slacking on that lately," Tsuneo reminded him.
This little guy hadn't been diligent enough recently.
If you want me to help, show some sincerity!
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Conan nodded repeatedly, then turned his head, muttering under his breath, "You'll eat yourself to death one day."
"What was that?!"
"Nothing! I was asking if you wanted me to grab some fruit for you."
"Go for it," Tsuneo waved him off.
"Got it!" Conan scampered off on his short legs to fetch some freshly cut fruit from the kitchen.
Seriously, am I his servant…?
…
Tsuneo sat on the sofa, watching the great detective and Ran bandage the pigeon's wounds.
The repairman noticed the pigeon's red eyes, which seemed almost human as they sized up the three people in the room. He half-suspected the little creature was sentient.
Maybe it was something the Doctor whipped up.
Or perhaps it was Kid in disguise…
"There we go. Once the wound heals, it'll be able to fly again," Ran said, finishing the bandage and placing the white pigeon in a nearby bamboo basket.
The little thing stayed calm and quiet, not fussing or flapping.
"Great," Conan said, breathing a sigh of relief.
After holding it all night, he'd grown attached.
"I'm off to take a nap. You stay here and behave," Tsuneo said, ruffling Conan's head before tossing him to Ran and heading out.
"A nap?" Ran glanced at the clock on the wall.
They'd only just left port; it was still far from noon.
"Heh heh…" Conan gave a wry smile.
How could she know this guy had stayed up all night, doing who-knows-what…
…
Meanwhile, at the Osaka Police Headquarters.
Every officer was on the verge of collapse, rushing through the corridors with stacks of files, too busy to even greet familiar faces.
"Another earthquake is coming," a middle-aged officer in a suit, with narrow eyes, said gravely.
He was Heizo Hattori, Chief of the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters.
"Ugh," Ginshiro Toyama sighed, shaking his head.
The first half of the night had been chaotic thanks to Kaitou Kid blowing up the power station. Then, in the latter half, that Dark Knight had appeared out of nowhere.
Compared to the mess Kid left behind, the Knight's actions were the real headache.
Dealing with some yakuza organizations was one thing—manageable.
But the items obtained through illicit means from various company bosses were a nightmare to process.
Many of them were tied to bribery and corruption.
"Take it slow," Heizo said.
"Still, compared to that thief, I have a bit more appreciation for that Knight," he added with a squinting smile.
(End of Chapter)
-----------------------------
If you enjoy this story, please check out my Patreon to read 30–40 advanced chapters ahead!
I'll leave the Patreon link below: [pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for always supporting me!