The piercing roar of the helicopter tore through the surrounding air. Its enormous shadow, swept along by the airflow, engulfed Conan entirely.
He kept his head raised, staring fixedly at the helicopter above as he gripped the arm of his glasses and adjusted their focus.
Everyone else in the helicopter wore noise-canceling headsets. On a night like this, it was nearly impossible to make out any identifiable features, but Gin's distinctive silver hair still left a faint impression even in such darkness.
Gin. Gin again.
Flying a helicopter, executing a codename member right in front of him...
No, this was even more direct and brutal than last time.
Conan slowly lowered his gaze. The focus of his lenses shifted sharply with the movement of his head, locking onto the sling being reeled back in.
The person hanging beneath the helicopter from the sling was not particularly strong-built, but tall and slender. Their short hair whipped into a mess in the gale as the people aboard the helicopter rapidly hauled them up.
The powerless aquarium grounds lay in darkness. The brief burst of fireworks had not been enough for him to see the shooter's face.
Aside from the black clothes, he could only roughly make out the person's height and build. Shrouded by the pitch-black sky, they looked like a colorless shadow.
An unsolvable mystery, forever.
Conan stared fiercely at the rising shadow. Only after the person had been pulled directly beneath the helicopter did he finally catch a trace of color in the tiny bit of red light reflected from one of the helicopter's components.
Conan's eyes slowly widened.
While he stood frozen, the shooter had already climbed through the helicopter door and vanished completely into the night.
Without troubling Gin for help, Tangze nimbly climbed into an empty seat