The Legend of the Star-Patterned Blade / Sonoko Suzuki Takes Up the Challenge

Fortunately, the agreement he made with Jiang Hang should still stand.

Jiang Hang will help find what his father didn't finish back then, and in return, he will help Jiang Hang find someone during their trip to Hokkaido.

In that case, his trip to Hakodate wasn't entirely in vain.

In the current situation, the only one who probably feels somewhat awkward is Kogoro Mouri, who accepted the invitation to come to Hakodate.

The person who invited him, Maki Juri, is now in the hospital, and the other members of the crew also had many embarrassing secrets revealed during the fight between the two women. They certainly have no mood to hold any more parties now, and they all left after getting off the plane.

Meanwhile, Kogoro Mouri, who remained behind, looked at his daughter and her friend with a helpless expression.

Now that no one's treating us, what should we do next? Sleep here for the night and then go back?

Chapter 549: The Legend of the Star Prism Blade

With Sonoko Suzuki around, the second daughter of a conglomerate who never had to worry about money, Kogoro Mouri's worries were quickly dispelled by Sonoko Suzuki's generosity.

While Jiang Hang was still receiving thanks from the airport staff, Sonoko Suzuki expressed her regret at not being able to attend the gathering, indicating that it would be impossible to see Kaito Kid again at tonight's event.

As a loyal fan of Kaito Kid, Sonoko Suzuki always maintained complete trust in Kaito Kid, even though he had suffered several losses at Jiang Hang's hands, she only thought that Kaito Kid was letting her off the hook.

She firmly believed that Phantom Kaito Kid last night were merely a bluff; he hadn't actually gotten close to the gem all night, so Kaito Kid would definitely make another move.

That's what she thought too, which is why she went to Hakodate with Ran by plane.

In some ways, she is similar to Inspector Nakamori Kaito Kid in certain aspects.

However, Maki Juri now in the hospital due to poisoning, and it's likely that Kaito Kid won't be appearing again.

Since we're already here, it would be too boring to just go back now. We've already taken time off to travel, so we might as well stay a few more days.

So Sonoko Suzuki then started thinking about the attractions and ski resorts in Hakodate, and booked several rooms for herself at hotels near Hakodate. After dealing with the police, she planned to take everyone there.

She also took the initiative to invite Jiang Hang and the first-class passengers who had been downstairs. It wasn't until the plane landed and they saw the ambulance and police cars below that they learned what had happened upstairs— the Miyano Sisters.

However, these matters had already been arranged by Miyano Akemi. Apart from Conan wanting to stay in Jiang Hang to find out what other moves he and Kaito Kid were planning, the two sides had virtually no similarities in their schedules for the next few days.

Before being taken away by Kogoro Mouri, Conan only knew from Miyano Akemi that they were planning to go to Goryokaku the next day, and that was all he knew.

So, will Goryokaku Kaito Kid's next target be in Goryokaku, or will Kaito Kid investigate something related to Goryokaku?

However, after today, it will no longer be a full moon night. Considering that Kaito Kid usually operates on full moon nights, this seems a bit unreasonable.

Jiang Hang mysteriously stated that he didn't know either.

The Kaito Kid disappeared shortly after the plane landed, only giving him a particularly disgusting look before leaving, and then inexplicably patting his head. It's unclear what that guy was planning to do.

However, Conan also plans to find an opportunity to investigate Goryokaku's matter and see if he can figure out Jiang Hang and the others' purpose.

Seeing Conan being dragged away by Kogoro Mouri, Jiang Hang just wanted to finish the thank-you speech at the airport and the police questioning as soon as possible.

For a detective, especially a renowned detective like him, solving cases doesn't take much time. Instead, the time spent negotiating with the police and giving statements at the police station far exceeds the time spent solving cases.

They were supposed to be able to get to their booked hotel to rest by 8 o'clock, but Jiang Hang ended up staying at the airport and the nearby police station until 11 o'clock at night before he could get away.

Fortunately, the police in Hokkaido were quite polite; after completing the questioning, they even drove him back to his hotel themselves.

It was only after returning to the hotel that he had time to Toichi Kuroba to ask what unfinished business he had left in Goryokaku, Goryokaku, that his son was still thinking of helping him clean up the mess after all these years.

Not long after, he received a strange diagram of a katana from Toichi Kuroba.

It looks like an ordinary samurai sword, but the most eye-catching part is the tsuba, which is deliberately made into a five-pointed star shape.

According to Toichi Kuroba, this is the final mystery. Once the secret on this sword is solved, the whereabouts of a "treasure" that was hidden away back then will be known.

Although Toichi Kuroba didn't reveal any more information, Jiang Hang only needed to look at the knife the other party sent him and do a quick online search to find out its origin.

The Star Prism Blade seems to have some connection to Toshizo Hijikata, the famous vice-commander of the Shinsengumi a century and a half ago.

However, it would be normal for him to be associated with Toshizo Hijikata.

After all, Hakodate is the place where Toshizo Hijikata in battle, and his statues can be seen in many places in Hakodate.

In short, it should have been during the six months after Toshizo Hijikata captured Goryokaku and garrisoned it that a swordsmith forged a total of six Star Prism Blade based on Goryokaku, and these swords have been passed down to this day.

Although these Star Prism Blade seem to have been used only once in history by Toshizo Hijikata, it is unknown when it began to circulate that the Star Prism Blade might hide the last treasure of Toshizo Hijikata and the Shinsengumi.

Jiang Hang naturally held a pessimistic attitude towards such rumors.

After all, when Toshizo Hijikata arrived at Goryokaku, the Shinsengumi had already fallen apart. If there were any treasures left behind, they should have been distributed as military pay at that time. How could they have been left to be searched for by later generations a century and a half later?

Anyway, even if there really is some treasure, at most we'll find some military treatises or last letters left behind by Toshizo Hijikata.

Based on this speculation, Jiang Hang asked Toichi Kuroba again, asking if he had actually found the so-called treasure back then, but simply chose not to reveal it.

Toichi Kuroba's abilities and personality are definitely superior to Kaito Kuroba's at present. He is a top-tier figure on par with Yusaku Kudo. In addition, the two of them occasionally engage in mutual praise and collaboration. Jiang Hang really can't imagine what kind of mystery could stump them in the Conan and Kaito Kid movie, as long as they don't touch the red lines of certain organizations and forces.

Of course, the most important point is that with Jiang Hang's hacking skills, he can easily find some traces of the six Star Prism Blade circulating in the market and know roughly where some of them are kept.

This is the only one that appears to be the only genuine Hoshinobi Star Prism Blade actually used by Toshizo Hijikata, but it is difficult to find information about it online, and it seems to have been lost many years ago.

So, the fact that Toichi Kuroba was already able to take pictures with the Star Prism Blade clearly indicates that the missing Star Prism Blade most likely ended up in his hands.

It's unclear whether it's still kept at Kuroba's house or taken to the Foundation for collection.

"Just consider it a small test for my child as a father."

"The time should have been postponed a bit more. After all, he is still too immature in my opinion. It wouldn't be a problem for him to run into some obstacles in Goryokaku. Please take good care of my child."

"As a thank you, I can provide you with some information that you probably haven't been paying attention to yet."

Chapter 550: Sonoko Suzuki Accepts the Challenge

Although Toichi Kuroba didn't say it explicitly, he had already hinted at it quite clearly.

One possibility is that he actually discovered the secret behind these Star Prism Blade back then, but due to some reasons, it was made to appear as if he hadn't found it.

The other interpretation is that this is a test he left for his son to deal with when the time is right.

Does the fact that the timing isn't right yet mean that the Star Prism Blade that serve as clues aren't all in Japan right now, so even if Kaito Kid racks his brains, he won't be able to find the location of the final treasure without sufficient evidence?

Jiang Hang did a quick online search and found that in the past two years, several Star Prism Blades had been bought by a Dubai oil tycoon at auction as collectibles. Although the prices weren't too high, getting them back would probably be quite troublesome.

As for the other swords, apart from the True Star Prism Blade that Toichi Kuroba, which he has now hidden somewhere, the rest should be in the hands of a local merchant in Hakodate whose ancestor greatly admires Toshizo Hijikata.

Jiang Hang examined the photos and found that, apart from the True Star Prism Blade that Toichi Kuroba had given him, which had a five-pointed star-shaped tsuba, the tsuba of the other blades were all oddly shaped and had nothing to do with five-pointed stars.

Based on Jiang Hang's experience, since Toichi Kuroba only sent over the blueprints for this True Star Prism Blade, does that mean Toichi Kuroba believes that as long as he has this blade, he can find the final treasure?

In other words, the likely purpose of those knives is to be put together, use the clues to find the whereabouts of the real Star Prism Blade, and then use the puzzles on the real Star Prism Blade to solve the mystery of the true treasure?

Thinking about it this way, Toichi Kuroba was indeed quite polite, at least he skipped the step of needing to go abroad to buy a sword for him, and he thought that he only needed this blueprint to solve the final mystery.

"This isn't just digging a hole for his own son, it's also a way for him to see my capabilities," Jiang Hang said, scratching his head as he looked at the blueprint on his phone.

Therefore, riddle writers should also get out of mystery works.

I wonder if he hates puzzles in games? Jiang Hang is the type who spends at most half an hour on a puzzle level, and if he still can't figure it out after a longer time, he'll just go online to find a walkthrough.

Although his thinking became much more flexible after becoming a detective, he still struggled with riddles, which were dominated by the questioner's subjective ideas.

So, after looking through the pattern, Jiang Hang decided to find a few external brains to help him.

He then passed the diagram and the historical events related to the Star Prism Blade to the Miyano Sisters and Conan in turn.

He also didn't forget his two assistants in Tokyo and his biographer.

They've been immersed in the world of Assassin's Creed these past few days, so they should be quite familiar with that exploration system where the map is full of question marks. Maybe they can help find something out.

If he weren't so familiar with Vermouth, he would have at least sent the email to Vermouth so she could help him put in a little more thought.

In short, when faced with these questions, Jiang Hang decisively stated that it concerned a legendary samurai sword, a secret treasure from a hundred years ago, and that the blueprint was needed to find the treasure hidden around Goryokaku.

Seeing Miyano Shiho gritting her teeth at her phone, Miyano Akemi smiled.

"Isn't this great? Since he's willing to share these mysteries with you, it means Jiang Hang wants to search for these treasures with you. This kind of treasure hunt, which isn't stressful, is a great way to strengthen your relationship."

In response, Miyano Shiho waved her hand, indicating that her sister still didn't understand Jiang Hang.

"I think he definitely sent more than just this to me; he probably sent all of this information to other groups as well."

The reason is simple.

She and her sister received the message around the same time, and the message did not directly address them by name.

Miyano Shiho could tell at a glance that this was clearly a mass message from Jiang Hang, and she didn't even know who he had sent this question to.

"Then why not find the location of the so-called 'treasure' before others solve this mystery?" Miyano Akemi remained calm.

She pointed to herself and her younger sister, indicating that Jiang Hang had only brought the two of them with him on this trip.

Even if they coincidentally met Conan's group at the airport, and even if they were both going to the same destination, Conan schedules would diverge after arriving in Hakodate. Even if Conan received Jiang Hang's text message, he might not have enough time to find out the answer.

Therefore, in the end, the initiative in solving this mystery still lies in their hands.

Hearing her older sister's analysis, Miyano Shiho nodded thoughtfully.

Then she picked up her phone again and began to examine the samurai sword that was forged more than a hundred years ago based on the Goryokaku sword.

With just this one drawing and some historical anecdotes about the sword, Miyano Shiho looked at it for a long time but couldn't come up with any useful clues.

Miyano Akemi was also helping her younger sister with this.

Meanwhile, Conan was in his room playing cards with Ran and Sonoko when he received Jiang Hang's text message.

He saw the blueprints for a samurai sword. Although he wasn't very clear about the specifics, after seeing the so-called "treasure," he immediately understood Jiang Hang's meaning.

This is probably the "deal" between Jiang Hang and Kaito Kid.

Jiang Hang asked Kaito Kid to help find the high school detective who made a mistake in his reasoning, while Kaito Kid needed Jiang Hang to help investigate the location of the treasure.

Although this katana doesn't seem to have anything to do with the gems that Kaito Kid usually likes to steal, perhaps the location of that secret treasure contains the gem that Kaito Kid wants?

However, his attitude at this moment was similar to Jiang Hang's initial attitude. Neither of them believed that this treasure was a treasure left behind by Toshizo Hijikata. They thought it was just something that later generations had hidden in Toshizo Hijikata's name, using the name of this sword to conceal something.

Because Conan was staring intently at his phone as if it were some secret, Sonoko Suzuki frowned and leaned over to take a look.

"What are you looking at on your phone, you little rascal?"

Since it was just a blueprint for a knife, Conan didn't try to hide anything and simply said that it was something Jiang Hang had given him, and he even described the rumors of the secret treasure in a slightly exaggerated way.

It looks as if Jiang Hang has fabricated a secret treasure using the name of the former Shinsengumi and is using a game to make Conan search for it in Hakodate.

Sonoko Suzuki believed things that most normal people wouldn't even think twice about, and she believed them wholeheartedly.

Of course, it's also possible that some TV dramas related to the "Shinsengumi" have recently been broadcast, Sonoko Suzuki, who now treats those stories starring celebrities and which have been beautified and dramatic as true history, became interested as soon as she heard the name Toshizo Hijikata.

"So, Toshizo Hijikata did indeed die in battle in Hakodate," Sonoko Suzuki wiped her eyes. "And I even asked my father to help me collect a lot of items related to the Shinsengumi, which are still stored in my family's warehouse."

Hearing about Sonoko Suzuki's extravagant lifestyle, Conan couldn't help but secretly roll his eyes.

However, as they were talking, Sonoko Suzuki seemed to find the person on the other end of the phone somewhat familiar, so she simply took Conan's phone and looked at it more closely.

"Star Prism Blade... that name sounds familiar... is it one of the collectibles my family recently acquired?"

As she said this, Sonoko Suzuki ran to the side, took out her phone, and called the Suzuki family's butler to inquire about the list of items related to the Shinsengumi that her family had recently collected.

With the help of the entire team, in less than ten minutes, Sonoko Suzuki had already obtained a densely packed list.

After searching for a while, Sonoko Suzuki found a samurai sword among hundreds of items, which was a supporting character but also named the Star Prism Blade Sword.

"I knew I should have seen this name recently, but the two are so different. The Star Prism Blade in the picture Jiang Hang sent looks much more like 'Goryokaku'."

She muttered to herself, seemingly feeling that her family's collection had been outdone by Jiang Hang's.

However, she didn't seem to have any intention of competing.

Although Jiang Hang doesn't act like the heir to a top-tier tycoon at all, her parents specifically warned her not to mess with Jiang Hang.

The Suzuki family is one of Japan's leading conglomerates, ranking among the top in the world.

But the Pioneer Foundation is also a top-tier organization, and even more mysterious and low-key. It seems to be a mysterious organization that was quietly transformed and born from a super power that has existed for thousands of years during the turmoil of World War II.

In short, the Suzuki family has only been established for half a century, and in terms of historical foundation, it certainly cannot compare with the power of the Pioneer Foundation.

Therefore, after seeing the obvious difference between the two Star Prism Blades, she only thought about whether she could go to Jiang Hang to try out the feel of his Star Prism Blade.

Conan, on the other hand, was thinking a bit more. He took the list from the Suzuki family and quickly discovered that a significant portion of the items were related to the Shinsengumi and Toshizo Hijikata, including the Star Prism Blade. These items were from the collections sold by the "Axe" family in Hakodate over the past two years.

So Conan skillfully asked Sonoko Suzuki questions in a childlike tone, wanting to know some information about the Onoe Family.

"Fue... I think I have a vague impression of them. They were a fairly well-known family in Hakodate, but the Onoe Family has probably been doing poorly in recent years and is now selling off all of their properties in Hakodate. My family is probably still negotiating the price with the Fue family."

Sonoko Suzuki muttered to herself, then looked at Conan: "Speaking of which, the founder of the Onoe Family was also a huge fan of the Shinsengumi. He collected a lot of items related to the Shinsengumi during his lifetime, which is why his descendants are putting so many Shinsengumi items up for auction now that the Onoe Family is on the verge of bankruptcy."

"So, is it possible that the other side has even more of these Star Prism Blades?"