Guarding the Black Star

Ran glanced at Kuroba Kaito, then recalled the face she hadn't seen in so long, and silently nodded.

Fujino chimed in, "I thought this guy was Kudo Shinichi just now."

Sonoko observed Kuroba Kaito from the side. "This guy really looks like Kudo Shinichi. No wonder Ran mistook him for him."

Nakamori Aoko asked in surprise, "Does Kaito look a lot like Kudo Shinichi?"

Upon hearing the unanimous words of the group, Kuroba Kaito couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Goodness, does he really look that much like Kudo Shinichi?

Kudo Shinichi, that name sounds familiar...

He remembered—could it be that bastard who shot him from the helicopter before?

"I'm so sorry about that!"

After learning the truth, Ran bowed slightly and apologized to Kuroba Kaito.

"Oh, it's okay."

Kuroba Kaito looked at Ran, who was bowing to him, and a sheepish expression appeared on his face.

No wonder I heard a washing machine making a noise when I passed by that girl.

It turned out he had mistaken someone for someone else; he thought he was calling out to someone else.

Meanwhile, he kept glancing at his childhood Nakamori Aoko.

They look so alike, how come there's such a big difference?

At this moment, Suzuki Sonoko was looking left at Ran and right at Aoko, sensed that something was wrong.

"Speaking of which, besides Kudo Shinichi, Ran, you and Aoko look very alike."

"Is there?"

Aoko and Ran spoke up almost simultaneously.

The others, seeing the similar appearances of Ran and Aoko, all nodded in unison.

And so, the little incident quickly passed.

Although it hasn't been long since they met, Sonoko and Aoko have become quite familiar with each other.

They even exchanged phone numbers...

Is this how most high school girls are?

Fujino was somewhat unlike Sister Li.

On the road in the rain.

"So, there are many people in this world who look very alike, and you two still don't believe it."

"They really do look alike."

Sonoko nodded deeply to Fujino, then sighed, "If I don't look closely, I can't tell which one is Aoko and which one is Ran."

Ran silently held up her umbrella, pondering what had just happened.

That pair of childhood sweethearts really resembled her and Shinichi.

For a fleeting moment, a strange sense of envy welled up inside me...

"By the way, Fujino- Senior, could I ask you for a favor?"

At that moment, Sonoko suddenly remembered something. "The Beika Museum is going to hold a world-renowned jewelry exhibition in a while, and my Black Star will also be participating in the exhibition. If possible, Fujino- Senior, could you help protect the Black Star?"

Fujino was stunned and said, "Black Star?"

"That's right."

Sonoko nodded. "It's a pearl that brings good luck. My dad said it's the guardian spirit of the Suzuki family."

After a moment's thought, Fujino asked, "Is there any evidence that Kaito Kid is going to steal the 'Black Star'?"

"Some!"

Sonoko took two pieces of paper out of her pocket and handed them to Fujino and Ran respectively. "These are the notices from Kaito Kid. If possible, in addition to Fujino- Senior, Uncle Mori can also come and help."

Ran took the notice and asked doubtfully, "But even if we don't ask my dad and Fujino- Senior to get involved, the police can still solve the problem."

Actually, I wanted to see what that guy really looked like.

Sonoko chuckled, "Ran, don't you want to see the true face of the world-famous phantom thief?"

As she spoke, Sonoko lit up with infatuation. "He must be a cool middle-aged man, right? Like those handsome European and American uncles..."

"I think it's possible that he's just a high school student like us."

Fujino's words interrupted Sonoko's infatuated expression.

Sonoko was taken aback by what she heard, then looked at Fujino in surprise. "What do you mean by that Fujino- Senior?"

"If I remember correctly, Kaito Kid has been missing for eight years, hasn't he?"

"That's right."

"Since he has been missing for eight years, it means that the original Kaito Kid may have died or retired."

Fujino paused for a moment, then continued, "And the Kaito Kid eight years later is most likely not the original Kaito Kid. He is very likely his son or disciple who inherited his name."

"It really is possible..."

After listening to Fujino's analysis, Sonoko rubbed her chin, a rare serious look on her face. "In that case, Fujino- Senior needs to catch that guy even more!"

"I want to see just who this legendary Kaito Kid really is!"

After returning home, Fujino sat on the sofa and opened the System Task interface that had previously displayed the notification sound:

Detective Profession Mission: Protect the Pearl Black Star

Mission Objective: Protect the Black Star despite the warning from Kaito Kid.

Mission Rewards: Two million yen, two hundred Detective Reputation

Mission countdown ends April 20th

Mission Location: Queen Elizabeth

April 14th?

Fujino glanced at the tasks on the system interface and murmured to himself.

He then took out his phone and glanced at the date: June 23rd.

"..."

Fujino took a deep breath, suppressing the speechless thought in his mind, "Looks like I'll have to wait until the Suzuki Zaibatsu's anniversary celebration to have Sonoko invite me."

Then, he pulled out a notice from Kaito Kid from his pocket:

April Fool's Day

When the moon separates the two (the moon is positioned between the artificial satellite and the sun).

Under the name of Black Star (BS, which is the first letter of BLACK STAR, referring to the BS television network).

Invited to the Waves (the direction of BS television broadcasts).

I will definitely arrive.

[The Detective World Has Been Opened - Enhances Host's Reasoning Ability by 100%]

Based on vague memories of a past life, and enhanced by reasoning abilities.

Fujino quickly deciphered the secret of the code in the message.

In other words, Kaito Kid will appear on the roof of the Haido Hotel.

That said, Haido Hotel seems to be a very special place.

Kaito Kid's first arrival, the place Pisco revealed, and many of the murders took place there.

However, these codes are still a bit too far-fetched...

I really don't know what Kaito Kid is thinking.

That's true. If it were too easy to guess, there would be no point in him sending out a warning letter.

The next day, March 31st.

Outside the Beika Museum, police cars lined up, and the police officers were all wearing bulletproof vests and bulletproof suits.

Besides some police cars, several bulletproof and blast-proof armored vehicles were parked nearby on both sides of the Museum.

Even from the sky, the faint roar of helicopters could be heard.

It gives the impression that all of Tokyo's police force has been mobilized here.

"The police really went all out in capturing Kaito Kid."

Fujino stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the heavily sealed-off area outside, and couldn't help but sigh and scoff softly.

Even so, Kaito Kid still managed to escape from the police.

Is it that Kaito Kid is just too strong, or that the Japan police are just too weak?

Such a powerful lineup isn't actually needed to deal with Kaito Kid.

For a phantom thief of that caliber, all you need to do is find a Shinigami Elementary School Student.

However, it seems that the Shinigami Elementary School Student has not yet become Kaito Kid Killer.

"Brother Fujino, you're here too!"

Just then, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind.

Fujino turned his head and saw Mori Kogoro waving at him, with Ran and Conan following behind him.

Uncle Mori and Conan are still dressed in the same old outfits, but Ran is dressed more elegantly.

A blue top paired with khaki adventure-style jeans.

You can doubt that Ran has no sense of direction, but you can never doubt her taste in clothing.

"Mouri-niisan."

Fujino responded with a slightly puzzled look, "But speaking of which, why are you guys so late, Mouri-niisan?"

"It's all because of this brat!"

Uncle Mori glanced sideways at Conan, who was following behind him and Ran, deep in thought with a piece of paper in his hand, and complained, "If this kid hadn't stayed up so late last night, we wouldn't have been late today!"

"Haaah..."

Conan yawned, revealing his dead fish eyes.

It's because you didn't have a car, uncle, that you got stuck in traffic on the bus, which is why you're so late.

Of course, he would never say those words aloud.

If he were to actually say that, he'd probably get a red-glowing light bulb stuck on his head soon.

Da da da!

Just then, the sound of leather shoes hitting the ground rang out.

Fujino looked in the direction of the sound and saw a slightly overweight middle-aged man walking towards him.

Behind him followed a girl with short hair, wearing a red long dress and a pale yellow suit.

Clearly, the girl is Suzuki Sonoko.

The middle-aged man was Shiro Suzuki, the current head of the Suzuki Zaibatsu Suzuki Jirokichi.

Suzuki Jirokichi wore glasses, and his facial expression gave people a very friendly feeling. Apart from his thick eyebrows, he also had a mustache under his nose.

"Fujino, Great Detective Mouri, thank you so much for accepting my invitation. With the help of the young Great Detective and the Sleeping Kogoro, it's like adding wings to a tiger!"

Suzuki Jirokichi started with pleasantries and shook hands with Fujino and Mori Kogoro, instantly making the two feel much closer.

They even forgot that the person in front of them was the head of the Suzuki Zaibatsu, Japan's leading zaibatsu.

All I can say is that he truly lives up to his reputation as the head of the Suzuki Zaibatsu; his emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills are off the charts.

I had a fight with someone today, so I'm sorry for the late update.

This 6k refers to two 3k chapters, which is equivalent to three updates.