"This is so fun! Let's sing it one more time!"
Inside Dr. Agasa's yellow Beetle, the three Detective Boys were singing happily.
Before setting off for this camping trip, they had meticulously checked everything, terrified that the Doctor might forget something again.
The nagging famous detective had been kicked out of the pickup truck by Tsuneo and the others, and he was currently leaning his head against the car window, swaying with the motion of the vehicle.
"Doctor, what on earth did that guy Tsuneo say to my mom on the phone?" Conan asked, tilting his head with a look of utter speechlessness.
Why did I get scolded so thoroughly out of nowhere...
"Well, it's mostly because you didn't pick up the phone..." The Doctor touched his nose sheepishly.
The handyman was an expert at shifting conflict. Who knows what he said, but Yukiko's rage had suddenly been redirected.
"By the way, just in case, Doctor, could you make a gadget for me to handle emergencies?" Conan felt that simply finding someone to act out a scene wasn't quite secure enough.
"What kind of gadget?" The Doctor was a bit puzzled.
"For example, a robot that looks exactly like me, can move and talk, and ideally can be remote-controlled." The famous detective was letting his imagination run wild.
If that robot could go to school in my place, that would be even better.
"If I could make a robot indistinguishable from a real human, I'd be a billionaire by now!" The Doctor laughed.
The two vehicles soon arrived at their destination, one following the other.
Both the route and the location this time had been randomly selected by the handyman. Absolutely, positively, nothing would go wrong this time! At least, that was what Tsuneo thought.
"Alright, tents are pitched!" Tsuneo stood with his hands on his hips, admiring his masterpiece.
Three tents, all set up!
"Then we will handle the lunch preparations. Tsuneo-kun, you take the children to the nearby woods to gather some firewood!" The Doctor began unloading the prepared ingredients from the car.
"Okay!"
The three kids agreed happily, dragging the handyman toward the adjacent forest.
"Barbie 6, Barbie 7, Barbie 8, Barbie-Q..." Genta was gathering firewood with great enthusiasm, though whatever he was counting under his breath was completely unintelligible.
"What is he counting?" Tsuneo squatted to the side, equally curious.
"The main point is probably the 'Barbie-Q' part..." Conan smiled wryly. Barbecue. That was indeed how a glutton would count.
"You two better not be slacking off." Haibara's head popped out from behind a tree, staring at the pair.
These two were just squatting there, plotting who-knows-what. They had only picked up a few sticks between them—combined, they hadn't even gathered as much as Ayumi.
"I know, I know." Conan shifted his feet and started picking up wood again.
"Hey! Come look at this, quick!" Just then, Mitsuhiko shouted from a distance.
Tsuneo dropped the few sticks in his hand onto the ground and vanished from his spot with a whoosh.
I chose this spot personally. Don't tell me something weird is happening again???
"That guy..." Haibara shook her head, gesturing for everyone to pile their wood together before going to check the situation.
"I found something really interesting!" Mitsuhiko stood at the mouth of a cave, speaking to the group.
The entrance had been blocked off with stone stakes and rope to create a simple barrier, and a "DANGER: DO NOT ENTER" sign was posted nearby.
"It's just a limestone cave, isn't it?" Conan didn't see the interesting part.
"It's this. Look at what's written on this stone." Mitsuhiko pointed to a knee-high stone beside the entrance.
The handyman was already squatting there, reading it.
Advance toward the path of the Auspicious Dragon, and thus the heavens shall bestow their radiant blessing upon you!
"The heavens will bestow a radiant blessing?" Genta looked confused, not understanding the meaning of the inscription.
"It means this light possesses all sorts of good fortune," Mitsuhiko explained.
"Does this mean...?" Ayumi's eyes began to light up.
The three children spoke almost in unison: "There's treasure here!"
"Absolutely not!" Haibara immediately reached out a hand to stop them.
History had proven that whether it was real or fake, every time something related to treasure came up, chaos ensued. None of you are going in there!
"I agree." Tsuneo stood to the side, biting his thumbnail, concurring with her statement.
How is this possible?
I didn't listen to the Doctor this time. I literally pointed at a random spot. Why on earth would something like this appear here...
"But with Tsuneo-niichan here, it'll be fine!" The three kids looked at the handyman simultaneously.
Let's go explore!
"You guys take them back first. I'll go inside and take a look." Tsuneo spoke to the two "little adults," then took the watch off Conan's wrist, turned on the flashlight function, and walked into the cave.
The handyman was a little curious about what kind of monsters or ghosts might be hiding in the location he had chosen.
"Conan, can we really not go and see?" Mitsuhiko held the firewood in his arms, looking regretful. It wasn't every day they found an interesting cave.
"There's probably nothing inside anyway." Conan shook his head.
Didn't you see that female scientist behind us, staring without blinking?
"Do you think Tsuneo-niichan will be able to find the treasure?" Genta was holding the most wood, but he didn't seem to be struggling at all.
Ever since the Blue Castle incident where the little fatty had hurt his butt, he had been relatively obedient to the handyman. Right now, he wasn't clamoring to go inside and investigate.
"If he finds it, that would be great. Then he could live a bit more comfortably!" Ayumi nodded.
"He already lives pretty comfortably..." Conan smiled speechlessly.
These three seem to operate under the assumption that Tsuneo is miserable...
Inside the limestone cave.
Tsuneo shone the watch light around erratically, his footsteps light as he ventured deeper.
"Hey, move faster. Dump this guy's body in there."
"Got it!"
From deep within the cave, the faint sounds of conversation and the beam of a flashlight drifted over.
Judging by the voices—excluding the corpse they mentioned—there were three living people.
"Dumping a body in a stone cave in the deep mountains... how thoughtful..." Tsuneo muttered. He turned off the flashlight and moved forward in the dark.
With his eyesight, he only needed a moment to adjust. Even in this environment, he wouldn't be blind.
"Big brother, this guy was really unlucky. To think his face was seen right after pulling it off."
"Yeah, but now there are only three of us left to split the money!"
The conversation between the three continued. It sounded like they had just robbed a bank somewhere.
The man they killed had let his face be seen. So, before they could even secure the money, his accomplices had silenced him.
Tsuneo picked up two fist-sized rocks from the ground, weighed them in his hands, and let out a cold sneer as he walked step by step toward the source of the sound.
"In the camping spot I chose... people like you must absolutely not exist!"
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