Chapter 346: The Life-Risking Love Broadcast 6
"Perfect landing!" Venti flashed a bright, carefree smile. He swept one arm out, pressed his other hand gently against his chest, and offered a flawlessly elegant bow toward the bound and gagged detective.
Still completely dazed by the sudden drop from the sky, Takagi blinked owlishly. It took a few seconds for Venti's cheerful voice to register. When it did, the detective finally snapped back to reality. He thrashed against his bindings, shaking his head vigorously as he tried to shout a warning. Unfortunately, the thick tape over his mouth muffled his frantic cries into a series of desperate "mmph, mmph" sounds.
"Don't rush. Rest assured, I know everything." Venti offered a comforting wink, his tone light and entirely unbothered by the freezing wind. He took a few leisurely steps forward, his boots tapping softly against the precarious wooden surface.
Stopping right above the hidden explosive, the bard crouched down. He reached a slender hand underneath the wooden board, feeling around the freezing metal and wiring.
"Ha! I knew it was here!" Venti's eyes lit up with triumphant amusement. With a swift, practiced motion, he pulled his hand back from the underside of the plank. Resting casually in his palm was the heavy, strapped-on time bomb that had nearly sent them all to oblivion.
Back at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the atmosphere in the monitoring room was suffocating. The entire audience of officers and children had been frozen in stunned silence ever since they watched the boy in green casually leap from a hovering helicopter.
Now, watching Venti land safely on the narrow wooden board and effortlessly snatch the bomb before it could plummet, a collective, shaky exhale echoed through the room. The crushing tension that had gripped their chests finally began to dissipate.
"Looks like I guessed wrong. Big Brother Diluc doesn't seem to be the Darknight Hero after all." Genta slumped his shoulders, his voice laced with heavy disappointment.
Standing right next to the burly boy, Conan Edogawa kept his eyes glued to the screen. The young detective had been deeply analyzing the impossible physics of Venti's landing, but Genta's remark offered a brief moment of relief. 'Good,'Conan thought, adjusting his glasses.'It seems he finally realized that this ridiculous Darknight Hero doesn't exist at all...'
"Big Brother Venti is the real Darknight Hero!" Genta suddenly cheered, pumping a fist into the air.
Conan hadn't even finished his internal sigh of relief before the follow-up sentence hit him. The corner of the detective's mouth twitched violently, his deadpan gaze shifting toward the energetic kid.
"Klee, could you please do me a favor and contact your brother?" Inspector Megure knelt slightly to meet the little girl's eye level. "Ask him exactly where they are. That way, the police uncles can arrange for a rescue team to pick them up."
Seeing Takagi effectively out of immediate danger washed a wave of immense relief over the seasoned inspector. However, Megure knew they couldn't just sit back and rely entirely on civilians. Takagi had been bound and exposed to freezing temperatures for hours; the man's core body temperature was likely dangerously low. They needed to dispatch an ambulance immediately to prevent severe hypothermia.
, that bard had jumped directly from a helicopter hovering nearly two stories above the ground. Even though Venti appeared completely unharmed on the surveillance feed, human bones weren't meant to withstand that kind of impact. It was essential to get the boy a thorough medical evaluation.
"Mm-hmm! Klee can help!" Hearing the inspector's request, the little girl in red blinked her large, bright eyes and nodded enthusiastically.
Without missing a beat, she pulled out her custom communication terminal and dialed Diluc's number. The line connected almost instantly.
"Big Brother Diluc, where did you find Officer Takagi?" Klee asked, her voice ringing out clearly in the quiet room. "Inspector Megure says he wants to send people to pick you guys up!"
A brief pause followed as the deep voice on the other end replied.
"Mm-hmm, Klee understands!" She nodded at the device, completely unfazed by whatever instruction she had just received, and promptly ended the call.
"Big Brother Diluc says they are currently in Komae-cho!" Klee reported, looking up at the inspector with a bright smile.
Armed with the specific location, Megure sprang into action. He barked orders into his radio, urgently coordinating nearby patrol cars and emergency medical personnel to rush to the construction site in Komae-cho.
"Huh! Why is the helicopter flying away?!" a technician monitoring the tablet suddenly shouted, pointing at the live feed.
Megure whipped his head toward the screen, his brow furrowing in deep confusion. "Klee, this is..."
The inspector realized that the red-haired pilot had maneuvered the aircraft away the exact second the phone call ended. A knot of worry tightened in Megure's stomach. Had Diluc misunderstood his intentions? Did the man think the police were trying to arrest him for vigilantism?
"Don't worry, Big Brother Diluc just explained it to Klee!" The little girl planted her hands firmly on her hips, puffing out her chest with a proud smile. "He said..."
Clearing her throat, Klee lowered her voice, doing her absolute best to imitate Diluc's stoic, serious baritone. "That drunkard bard can handle the rest. There is nothing left for me to do here. Klee, tell the police on your side that it's getting too late, and I'll fly the helicopter over to pick you up in a bit."
"Wow! Klee, your brother is going to fly a real helicopter just to pick you up?!" Ayumi squealed, grabbing Klee's arm and shaking it excitedly. "That is so romantic! It's exactly like a scene with a rich demoiselle in those evening TV dramas!"
"So Big Brother Venti really is the Darknight Hero, and Big Brother Diluc is just his assistant?" Genta scratched his chin, his brow furrowed as he stubbornly tried to piece together his imaginary comic-book lore. "Like, he's responsible for driving the getaway vehicle for the hero?"
"I read in a book that civilian helicopter flights require applying for a strict, pre-approved flight path," Mitsuhiko chimed in, looking at Klee with a deeply serious expression. "Your brother being able to secure clearance in such a short amount of time is incredibly impressive."
'...' Conan cast a sideways glance at the freckled boy.
Mitsuhiko was absolutely right., it appeared Diluc had managed to secure a flight path directly to the heavily restricted airspace of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Conan reasoned that Diluc's status as a wealthy foreign noble must have pulled some serious strings behind the scenes.
Yet, this casual display of logistical power indirectly proved just how much hidden influence the members of the Teyvat Organization truly wielded in Japan.
Still, Conan couldn't shake the nagging curiosity gnawing at the back of his mind. What exactly did Diluc mean when he said Venti could 'handle the rest'?
Back on the tablet's live feed, Venti held the heavy explosive in his hands. He tilted his head, casually inspecting the glowing red digital countdown on the display.
"Luckily, there's still plenty of time. This clunky thing won't explode for another dozen hours or so," the bard mused aloud, his tone as breezy as a spring morning.
Without an ounce of hesitation or fear, he nonchalantly tossed the highly lethal time bomb onto the wooden board behind him. Dusting off his hands, Venti turned and walked with light, bouncy steps toward the shivering Takagi.
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