Sato Miwako Swore to Arrest Bai Ye

"Sato Miwako Swore to Arrest Bai Ye"

"Uncle Nagahashi, just who is that guy?"

Having just suffered a defeat, the Three Sisters went to Uncle Nagahashi. They had considered the possibility of failure, but at most, they had imagined losing to Kaito Kid or Lupin the Third.

As equally famous thieves, the two of them were certainly no weaker than Cat's Eye.

But being crushed by some unknown nobody, used as a mere stepping stone—

It was impossible for them not to have thoughts about it.

"No idea. It was like he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. There's no information on him even on the dark web."

Uncle Nagahashi shook his head. As the Kisugi Family's butler, he helped the Three Sisters manage their businesses while also gathering intelligence for Cat's Eye.

Most of the intelligence was provided by him, and this time had been his mistake as well. He had accounted for the other two, but never expected someone else to suddenly appear.

"Ah!!! This is so annoying!! That guy used us as a stepping stone!"

Taisuke Ai clawed at her hair, irritation flashing across her face.

"Sigh, being a thief really is getting harder and harder these days!"

Taisuke Rui joked. They had only become thieves because they had been forced into it.

"Big Sis, that was Father's collection. It might even be connected to Father's death. That guy took it, so... shouldn't we get it back?"

Taisuke Hitomi glanced at the still-optimistic Taisuke Rui and reminded her.

This was not the time for that. Their father's collection had to be recovered. Now that the Tear of the Queen had been taken by the Masked Man, getting it back later would only be more difficult.

"First, we need to find information on that guy."

Taisuke Rui shook her head. How could she not want to?

But under the current circumstances, they had no information on the Masked Man at all. If they could not even get intel on him, how were they supposed to find him and take back the Tear of the Queen?

"But judging from what happened before, that guy will definitely keep committing crimes. So we still have a chance!"

The reason Taisuke Rui remained optimistic was that the Masked Man would continue stealing in the future.

As long as he made another move, they would surely be able to catch a weakness.

"That's right. That guy seems desperate for attention. His motive seems a little... artistic?"

"Ah, a crazy artist?"

Taisuke Hitomi and Taisuke Ai agreed. They had heard everything Bai Ye said earlier.

Someone like that would not commit one crime and vanish. He would definitely strike again.

"So, let's investigate properly from now on. We've failed once, but next time, we'll show him what Cat's Eye is made of."

Taisuke Rui nodded. Seeing her two younger sisters pull themselves together, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Losing was not scary. What was scary was never recovering after a loss.

Next time, Cat's Eye would not lose again.

"Lupin, you bastard! You wasted the intelligence I got for you like that!!"

Inside an abandoned building, Mine Fujiko glared at Lupin the Third with a look of exasperation. She had given him the intel, yet he still failed. She had even thought out what she would do after getting the gem.

"It's not that! The main problem was that we had no information on that guy!"

Lupin the Third defended himself. It was obviously because they had no information on Bai Ye. If he had known anything about Bai Ye, there was no way he would have failed.

"He didn't play by the rules. We all sent calling cards, but he didn't. We were in the dark while he was in the open. Failing was perfectly normal!"

"..."

Mine Fujiko stared at Lupin.

His excuse was fresh and unconventional, but she really could not find a reason to refute him.

Because it was indeed her failure to provide Lupin with intelligence that had caused this.

"Forget it. You failed, so I'm leaving!"

Mine Fujiko glanced at Lupin, then put on her sunglasses and turned to leave.

She knew she could not blame Lupin entirely, but she had placed high hopes on him. In the end, Lupin had actually failed, and to some unknown nobody at that.

Still, it did not matter. Though she had failed this time, tomorrow's headlines would be about Lupin, not her.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Kuroba Kaito was reflecting on why he had failed today.

The more he thought about it, the more troubled he became. He scratched at his hair. This was his first defeat in history!

Damn it!

"Hey, it's me. Did you do what happened today?"

Gin's distinctive hoarse voice carried a hint of disbelief from the other end of the line.

Gin had taken the time to watch today's broadcast. Originally, he had wanted to see whether this guy was suitable for cooperation. If he did not even dare go there, Gin had planned to kill him the next time they met.

After watching the broadcast, however, he could not figure out one thing: how exactly had Bai Ye escaped from there?

"It was me. I've already got the Tear of the Queen."

As he spoke, Bai Ye took the phone away from his ear, snapped a photo of the Tear of the Queen, and sent it to Gin in a multimedia message.

Seeing the Tear of the Queen in the picture, Gin fell silent.

It was really him?

"Good. The mission is complete."

"The money."

Bai Ye was straightforward. Two million dollars. Wasn't it time to settle up?

"The account."

Bai Ye gave him an anonymous account number, and the money soon arrived.

"All right, I'm hanging up if there's nothing else."

After receiving the money, Bai Ye prepared to end the call. He had no interest in chatting with old men in the middle of the night.

"What about the item?"

"Come on, Big Brother. You only asked me to steal this thing for two million. You never said I had to give you the thing in exchange for another two million. Me accepting the job doesn't mean I have to hand it over to you, does it? Do you understand inequalities?"

"You want to rob us?"

Gin's face instantly darkened. Was this guy playing him?

"Give me a break! Are you sick, or am I sick? This thing is worth over ten million, and you offered me two million to get it. Why wouldn't I just sell it on the black market myself? Are you trying to make a profit as a middleman here? You didn't provide any intelligence, and you didn't provide any other help. You expect me to just give you something worth ten million for free? Do you take me for an idiot?!"

Bai Ye felt that Gin had to be insane. Otherwise, he could not possibly make such a demand.

So an item worth over ten million dollars was only worth two million once it got to him?

"Big Brother, I request a one-on-one fight with him!"

He was far too arrogant!

Seeing his boss's darkened expression, Vodka immediately wanted to show his loyalty.

"I need to appraise the gem. If it is what we need, I can buy it from you at market price. If it isn't, you can keep it. These two million will count as payment for the mission!!"

After a brief silence, Gin said something that even Vodka could scarcely believe.

It seemed Gin's earlier thinking had indeed been too simplistic. The gem was worth far more than two million.

The other party was not wrong.

"Fine, but looking at it costs one hundred thousand!"

You're even more ruthless than me, aren't you?!

Gin's face darkened further. The next second, he hung up.

One hundred thousand just to take a look? Why didn't he just die?

"You really look awful, Gin."

The bar door was pushed open, and Vermouth walked in from outside. She casually set her motorcycle helmet on the counter and could not help teasing Gin as she saw his dark expression. It was truly a rare sight.

"Vermouth, I need you to do me a favor. Help me steal a gem."

Gin turned to Vermouth. For the time being, he did not want to fall out with Bai Ye. The other man had some ability, so he wanted Vermouth to make a move first and see whether she could get the gem.

"What? You watched that showdown between thieves today and decided to change careers?"

Vermouth had just returned from the scene. She had planned to head back after finishing her business, but while passing the square, she had been drawn in by the showdown on the large screen.

So she had stopped to watch for a while. She had to admit, the Masked Man's performance had been rather unexpected.

"No. Big Brother wants the Tear of the Queen. Haven't we been looking for that gem lately? Maybe the Tear of the Queen is it."

Vodka explained from the side.

"That guy made a deal with me to steal it, but he opened by asking for ten million. I don't want to completely fall out with him right now, so if you can, try stealing it."

Gin explained calmly.

"Oh, I get it. You want the goods, but you don't want to pay for them, right?"

Understanding flashed across Vermouth's face. Put it that way, and it was easy to understand.

"Do you have any intelligence?"

"Not yet."

"Then how am I supposed to steal it?"

Vermouth was speechless.

So he knew nothing and wanted her to steal it?

Did he think she was a god?

"I'll give you intelligence later. Aren't you going to America?"

"Not anymore."

Vermouth shook her head. She had already returned this time and would not be going back. Someone else would handle things in America.

"Fine. I'm leaving."

Gin nodded, then stood up to leave. He did not want to stay around Vermouth for too long.

Besides, there were matters at the laboratory that required his attention.

Back at the laboratory, seeing Gin's expression, Shiho Miyano muttered that anyone unaware of the situation would think someone owed him money.

"How is the drug coming along?"

Research on APTX4869 had not been fully completed. Every stage still resulted in death, which was not what the organization wanted.

"Not yet."

"What about the previous investigation? Is Kudou Shinichi confirmed dead?"

Kudou Shinichi had been force-fed APTX4869 by Gin in the park, but his death had remained unconfirmed until now.

"He's dead."

A strange glint flashed through Miyano Shiho's lowered eyes.

"Continue the experiments, Sherry."

Gin nodded and turned to leave.

"Experiments... Soon, I'll escape Hell."

Miyano Shiho raised her head and watched Gin leave. Perhaps Gin still believed she knew nothing.

Her sister was already dead. She would not conduct any more experiments for the organization. She wanted to leave this place. If she could not leave, then dying would be fine too. Her sister was already dead, and there had long been no one left in this world she cared about.

The next day.

The entertainment section's front-page headlines were all about yesterday's battle between master thieves. In particular, the newspapers heavily sensationalized how the police had watched helplessly as several thieves escaped safely.

"I knew it! That guy was actually called the most artistic thief of the new era!! A thief is a thief! He became famous by stepping on us!!"

Sato Miwako picked up the newspaper and looked at all the praise for the Masked Man, as well as the talk glorifying artistic thieves. She could barely hold herself back.

"There's nothing we can do. Looking online will only make you angrier. Plenty of people are saying the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is incompetent now. And like Kaito Kid, that guy gained a lot of fans from this incident. Some people are even asking where they can buy clothes like his!"

Shirahatori Ninzaburo rubbed his forehead. He had predicted yesterday that this would happen, but it seemed he had underestimated the situation.

Because the Masked Man had taken the gem right under the noses of three great thieves and even toyed with the police, his popularity had skyrocketed.

The Masked Man's mystery, combined with the words he left behind at the end, only reinforced it all.

"But this is a slap in our faces! I'll personally arrest that bastard!!!"

Sato Miwako swore that she would bring the Masked Man to justice.

So what if he was a master thief?!

Did that give him the right to trample on their justice?

Besides, he was just a thief, yet people actually admired him. Had this generation really become like this?

Sato Miwako would never allow such a thing. She had failed to catch him yesterday, but next time, she definitely could. She would personally arrest Bai Ye!

"But aren't we not in charge of this...?"

Takagi Wataru weakly raised a hand and offered a reminder. They handled criminal cases. Catching thieves did not really have much to do with them, did it?!

"I'll submit an application to Inspector Megure right now. From now on, I want priority in pursuing that guy!"

Everything was for justice!

"As expected of Officer Sato!"

Watching Sato Miwako's decisive manner, Shirahatori Ninzaburo felt his affection for her rise a few more points in an instant. He had decided—he would submit an application to Inspector Megure as well!

"The front-page headlines are all about me. Looks like my first performance was a success."

Bai Ye was very satisfied with today's front-page headlines. His earlier efforts to think about what he should say had not been in vain.

He could not wait to begin his next performance!

But before that, he needed to prepare the Agency.

Now that he had money, all he needed was to build its reputation and let people know such an agency existed.

"I'll call it the Odd Jobs Shop. Then I'll spend money promoting it. Hopefully, some interesting things will happen next!"

He uploaded the Odd Jobs Shop app, found several traffic-promotion companies, and spent money advertising his Odd Jobs Shop online.

At the same time, somewhere in a school, a certain girl stared at the advertisement and fell into deep thought.

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