frightfiction Chapter 1321 A Thief Never Leaves Empty-Handed
Chapter 1321 A Thief Never Leaves Empty-Handed
Chapter 1321 A Thief Never Leaves Empty-Handed
"Detective, what brings you here now?"
Facing the young detective who was running up breathlessly, Akita Reiko was very gentle, probably because they had gradually become familiar with each other over the past two days.
The dress she wore was pure white and bright, with a smooth and draping material. Therefore, to maintain its best condition, it was best to avoid changing positions and reduce friction between it and other surfaces.
So even now, while resting on a bench by the lake, she sits upright, neatly arranging her skirt beside her legs, her bottom barely touching the seat, as if afraid of ruining the appearance of the skirt, completely disregarding that such an awkward sitting posture is certainly not comfortable.
"The performance just now went very well. Everyone was praising your performance. When you left the stage, someone even said that your voice had a great texture, like a stream flowing through a snow-capped mountain." After pondering for a while, Shinichi Kudo still didn't know how to start a conversation, so he could only sit down on the other side of the chair and find a topic to start the conversation.
"It was just luck." Akiba Reiko lowered her head. "Many people don't have experience playing instruments, but everyone has experience producing sound. Humans are naturally sensitive to the human voice and can perceive what constitutes a quality sound. This is both the fortune and the misfortune of vocal music."
Unless there is a serious defect, a person with normal hearing can learn a little bit about an instrument after a certain period of systematic learning. However, for a person with insufficient talent, it is a pipe dream to sing accurately.
In the field of vocal music, talent includes vocal qualities, physical functions, and even hearing and musical perception. This is something that many people are destined for at birth, and upon closer examination, the logic behind it is actually quite cruel.
Professions where hard work doesn't always pay off are often frustrating and painful for participants.
Shinichi Kudo, feeling like he'd been shot somewhere in the knee: "————"
"I've been looking forward to this day for so long, and when I actually stood there, I was calmer than I expected." Ignoring his silence, Akiba Reiko slowly revealed her feelings, just like she had yesterday. "When I started singing 'Strange Festival,' that feeling was even stronger. It was like going back to the past."
Sensing the nostalgia in her voice, Shinichi Kudo had a sudden inspiration and began to steer the conversation in that direction: "Mr. Soma, you were both students at Domoto Academy, so do you have any memories here?"
"There are indeed some lakes here. But back then, this was just woodland outside the academy. This lake is connected to the canal upstream, running through the entire academy. We used to often take walks by the water. We are both very close to nature and love the academy." Akiba Reiko smiled. "Being able to sing by this lake now is like fulfilling part of my dream from back then."
However, the remaining part could not be completed after Hikaru Soma's departure.
Realizing she might be referring to Hikaru Soma, Shinichi Kudo blinked quickly, racking his brains for conversation, and soon came up with another reason.
"After all, 'Amazing Grace' is very meaningful to you. When you sang this song, were you thinking of Mr. Soma? I felt that you sang it with particularly rich emotions."
This is not something Shinichi Kudo made up on the spot.
"Amazing Grace" is one of the few songs that Reiko Akiba insisted on singing solo. Before her performance of this song, even those with a slightly sensitive ear could perceive the surging emotions accompanying her singing.
"Of course," Akiba Reiko answered decisively this time, "Always."
She was once enveloped in abundant and sincere love. Whenever she sang this song, she felt as if her lover had never gone far away, standing beside her as always, smiling and quietly listening to her singing.
Today, perhaps due to the effect of the organ, this sense of companionship was especially strong, as if Hikaru Soma had not left, but was sitting somewhere in the audience, smiling and gazing at her in the darkness.
Shinichi Kudo blinked faster again.
He wasn't sure if this was a prerequisite for the Phantom Thieves to use such a special ability, but considering the various mystical and idealistic cognitive theories he had heard from Ai Haibara, he felt that only Akiba Reiko in this state could possibly fulfill that wish.
Ah, right, my wish—
Having considered this, Shinichi Kudo adjusted his tone, saying with approval, "No wonder, it sounds really beautiful and moving. Keep it up, and I believe that during the actual performance, you will let everyone feel this love."
"I'll do my best. Thank you, Detective." Reiko Akiba smiled and said, "Alright, we're at the concert hall now, I'll be fine. Instead of worrying about me, you should spend more time with your friends. I can tell they care about you a lot."
Unaware that Shinichi Kudo had come to try and give her psychological advice, Reiko Akiba assumed he was simply fulfilling his duty as a caregiver to prevent prisoners from harming her, and thus offered her this advice.
As someone who's been through it all, she could easily see why the detective, who had some interest in classical music but wasn't really a music fanatic, would participate in rehearsals so tirelessly.
Later, perhaps it was the cases and mysteries that led him to come; initially, he was definitely there to keep someone company.
"That's hard to say." As Shinichi Kudo spoke, he raised his hand to touch the back of his neck and looked thoughtfully at the stone steps behind him.
To get from the back door of the concert hall to the lake, you have to walk up twenty or thirty steps along the riverbank to reach the lakeside. At this time, the place was deserted and there was no one else in sight, but he had a strange, unsettling feeling that he might be attacked.
"Aren't you being a little too cautious?" Akiba Reiko said, both amused and exasperated.
"Have you forgotten about how you were drugged while practicing at the academy?" Shinichi Kudo reminded him. "The culprit is definitely closely related to the concert, so don't let your guard down."
We can't let anyone ruin this concert.
If before it was simply about stopping crime and protecting the innocent, Shinichi Kudo's determination is now even stronger.
This might be the only chance Miss Qiuting has in her life, and she can't let anyone, anyone, ruin it.
"Alright, I can't do anything with you. I know, I won't leave alone." Akiba Reiko shook her head, gathered her skirt, and stood up. "Mr. Hansmura is almost here. After the organ tuning, I need to confirm some details with Mr. Domoto and Ms. Chigusa. What about you? Are you going to have dinner with your friends, or are you coming along?"
"I'd also like to see the pipe organ up close. Is that alright?"
"Of course. Let's go then, we can see how a pipe organ is tuned."
Shinichi Kudo, of course, wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by. He followed Reiko Akiba's footsteps while secretly taking out his phone.
He doesn't need to go to the person in question; he can contact the helper he needs.
For some information, you can simply send a message to confirm.
On the other side of the venue, in a sparsely populated small garden, a few people were sitting around, confirming the final situation.
"Have you confirmed that there won't be any stragglers?" Tang Ze asked, looking at the diagram spread out on the table.
"It's confirmed. Fu and Takumi chose to use remote control to control the explosion. In addition to the buttons, he also placed airflow sensors in the pipe assembly of the organ, which means that both control terminals are connected to the same central control." Kenji Hagiwara pulled up the panel photos he had taken at the time. "There are a total of 24 lights, and the explosives corresponding to each light have been completely recovered."
"He's making quite a show of it," Matsuda Jinpei remarked. "Luckily, the tube he chose produces 24 sounds. If it were a tube that produces sounds frequently, wouldn't it have exploded after just one song?"
The number is 24 because he placed the explosives on 24 of the stadium's main load-bearing pillars.
The central concert hall, thanks to its well-planned sound insulation and various protective features from the initial construction phase, boasts an astonishingly high ceiling, entirely supported by a mechanical structure on the dome.
After these 24 pillars are blown up, not only will all the entrances and exits around the concert hall be blocked as the pillars collapse, but the concert hall will definitely not be able to withstand the final explosion.
The 25th sound will be the roar of the entire concert hall collapsing.
To be fair, although he is only a tuning expert, he has a good understanding of the score and the piece "Takumi". For anyone else, just finding the right timbre, pitch and corresponding pipe would be a lot of work.
"As long as it doesn't explode, it's fine." Tang Ze nodded, then looked at Hoshikawa Teru on the other side.
Sonoko Suzuki hosted a banquet for guests from all walks of life, and Goro Akechi was naturally among those invited.
With Shinichi Kudo and Heiji Hattori both present, it would be embarrassing for him not to show up. Moreover, this was an opportunity to increase the number of people with different identities competing against each other and slow down the rate at which their identities were revealed.
Naturally, Hoshikawa Teru was dragged out to take the blame.
Just like Yusuke Kitagawa received, Goro Akechi, though not subjected to a similar mob on such occasions, still received plenty of pleasantries thanks to his popularity and relationship with the Suzuki Group.
So, Hoshikawa Teru, taking advantage of the fact that everyone at the table was his own person, had a long face and looked utterly bored.
Learning something is one thing, but whether you want to use it or not is another.
No matter how much Tang Ze tried to brainwash him, he was now convinced that his lack of social skills was simply due to his personality, and not because the organization or the Tun Kou family had caused him to become mentally unstable.
"Sigh—" Hoshikawa Teru sighed deeply before continuing, "The identities have been taken care of. They're all on their way and will enter this afternoon."
Yusuke Kitagawa and Mineki Kisaragi did not need to be invited, while Goro Akechi went through the Suzuki family's channels. Kyosuke Haga, as mentioned before, was definitely among those invited.
Each of these three directions has its own space for complimentary tickets. Although a large portion of Suzuki's tickets have already been taken, the developer's influence is still too high, so there is still some room available.
Therefore, they now need to use these three different channels to rationally distribute the rest of the Phantom Thieves and squeeze them into the arena.
This matter was naturally left to Goro Akechi, who was theoretically skilled in this area, to handle.
Tang Ze nodded in satisfaction, then added, "What we can't be sure of yet is whether Sophia's situation can be replicated, or whether awakening the Masked Warrior's potential is a necessary condition. In any case, Yuhe, you still need to prepare your Plan B."
Tang Ze's third eye is now the Proma version, which has been enhanced and upgraded multiple times.
While it doesn't quite reach the level of X-ray vision, the visible and invisible information it can see is already quite sufficient.
Under Tang Ze's third eye, Akiba Reiko, chanting "Amazing Grace," shone like a light bulb, making it hard not to itch to touch her.
As the saying goes, a thief never leaves empty-handed. Since the criminal has already come all this way, and the probability of him succeeding is already zero, he has to do something.
If they can't even take away some fries, then the Phantom Thieves are really just here to listen to music.
Kaito Kuroba, with his ornate sleeves rolled up to his elbows and leaning on the table, glanced at Kyosuke Haga, managed to hold back his words, and bravely remained silent.
He really wanted to shout, "Why did you include me in your plan?", but considering that Kyosuke Haga was still unaware of the complicated situation surrounding Yusuke Kitagawa's pseudonym, he could only sit there silently and pretend to be an expert.
Deep down, he felt like he had been tricked into coming out to kill.
It's the detective circle again, then Ruyue Fengshui, and now even the Phantom Thieves' own group isn't spared. When Tang Ze called him out, he didn't say that this role-playing task was to fool even his own people, and he had to stay connected the whole time.
This workload demands extra pay!
As he was pondering, his phone, which was tucked into his sleeve, vibrated. He pulled it out and looked at it, and was somewhat surprised to see the sender's name.
While he was checking the messages, Haga Kyosuke, Asai Narumi, and Karasawa all took out their phones to check the messages one after another.
Although it's not a highly planned operation, since it's still in the preparation stage for separate activities, we should pay attention to any real-time updates sent by others.
Asai Narumi was the first to raise her eyebrows: "I didn't expect this detective to be so quick-witted. He realized it so fast."
"It's hard to say." Haga Kyosuke shook his head slightly. "He may not have figured out anything; he may just want to help Akiba Reiko."
"So why am I involved?" Kaito Kuroba retorted vehemently. "Why didn't he just come to you directly?"
Hey, the communication software you phantom thieves use is so good that you can even contact detectives privately? This is definitely not the work of a legitimate phantom thief, is it?
This whole thing, with its connections to both the legitimate and criminal worlds, reeks of shady underground deals. Are they rigging the match?
Unfortunately, due to his current identity, he was holding Kitagawa Yusuke's phone, so he had no choice but to continue.
"Hmm, Shinichi Kudo's hand speed is pretty fast." Tang Ze's focus was a little different, which made everyone at the table who were waiting for his evaluation roll their eyes.
Tang Ze smiled, but didn't mention that Shinichi Kudo had sent messages to both of his identities.
A flexible mind is probably the most distinct difference between a detective and a police officer.