Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Page 132

Vermouth raised an eyebrow: "What are you doing following Kogoro Mouri?"

"Shikishima invited a detective over, not just for a speech. They also want to find that billion yen. We're just going to watch someone else gather clues for us."

Sano offered a casual explanation, while Vermouth smiled and narrowed her eyes: "In that case, let me keep an eye on them. After all, I'm your senior, and I don't think you'd want to see me doing fieldwork, it's too tiring."

Hearing this, Sano's interest was immediately piqued again. Of course, he didn't think that Vermouth was simply trying to avoid fieldwork and was putting on airs as a senior in front of him.

This was probably a deliberate attempt to get Sano away, or to put it more directly, to prevent him from having any interaction with Ran Mouri.

interesting.

"That's for sure, I'll follow your instructions, senior."

Sano stopped talking nonsense and started eating noodles. After lunch, they found a small, run-down hotel and booked two rooms. The two then went their separate ways.

Hopefully, Vermouth will be reliable and not miss or even conceal any important information.

Instead of wandering aimlessly, Sano changed his vest and put on a casual hat before approaching a convenience store owner and expressing his interest in the rumor of the naval ghost.

However, as soon as those four words were uttered, the convenience store owner's expression immediately changed drastically. He became extremely rude, stating that he knew nothing and told Sano to get lost.

Sano, of course, had a perfect solution to this.

"Snapped!"

Sano threw a wad of ten thousand yen bills at the boss's face: "Can we talk now?"

I've been wanting to experience the feeling of slapping someone in the face with money for ages. It's really awesome!

The convenience store owner was suddenly hit with a large wad of cash. He was about to get angry, but after seeing what had hit his face, he fell silent. Then, trembling, he picked up the stack of bills, counted them once, then again, swallowed hard, and forced a smile, saying, "Can I add more...?"

"Give it back to me, I'll ask someone else."

Sano reached out to grab the money back, and the convenience store owner immediately panicked: "Hey, hey, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything, okay!"

Then, with the convenience store owner's vivid explanation, Sano learned the whole story of the legend of the "Naval Ghosts".

It is said that a group of defeated naval forces came to Shiki Island a long, long time ago. The residents of Shiki Island, who should have treated them well, betrayed the naval forces under the lure of a bounty.

They even helped the enemy hunt them down, eventually leading them all to a cave on the island where they were all killed.

Since then, strange things have been happening on Shiki Island from time to time. Out of fear, the residents of Shiki Island began to worship the navy as gods again, and only then did peace and tranquility return.

Then came the matter of the Shenlong spacecraft.

The islanders of Shikijima all say that it was caused by the ghosts of the navy, which is why they lost contact and disappeared for seven years.

In addition, many people have seen ghosts wearing naval armor in the forest, and even in caves where naval ghosts are enshrined, chilling wails and screams can be heard from time to time.

Finally, five years ago, a group of university professors from Tokyo, specializing in naval history, came to investigate matters concerning the souls of naval veterans.

According to the convenience store owner, the university professors went directly to the cave dedicated to the navy to conduct their investigation without asking any questions, which angered the spirits of the navy.

Two or three days later, the naval ghosts reappeared and directly attacked the university professors.

The convenience store owner didn't know what happened to those university professors afterward, but he was certain that the investigation was not continued.

Having gotten the answer, Sano didn't stay in the convenience store any longer. He turned around and went to another restaurant, where he got a similar rumor from the owner in the same way.

...Don't ask if this is too wasteful of money. Anyway, it's a mission expense, and I'll just ask Gin for reimbursement later.

Otherwise, Sano must be out of his mind to use his own money to slap someone else in the face.

Of course, besides asking about the naval ghosts, Sano also asked about another thing, which was about the lighthouse on the island.

The final answer was consistent.

The current lighthouse keeper at Shikishima Lighthouse is a man named Hamada.

It is said that Hamada is not actually a native of the island, but an outsider who came to the island about seven years ago looking for a job. Since the island's lighthouse was short of a keeper at the time, he was hired as the keeper.

...Seven years, which is exactly the time that the Shenlong spacecraft disappeared. Another major suspect.

It took Sano less than an hour to listen to the gossip from both sides.

Sano looked up at the sky and felt it was still early, so he decided to go directly to the naval cave to take a look.

The cave dedicated to the navy is located in a very remote forest, so that most people would go there without being discovered, except... the lighthouse.

Looking at the white lighthouse, Sano felt that Hamada's suspicion was growing stronger, even stronger than that of the man from the travel agency in Tokyo.

Hopefully, Conan's troublesome nature will manifest itself more slowly so I can talk to both of them tonight.

Sano lowered his hat slightly and continued towards the naval cave.

The naval cave wasn't very big; to be precise, it wasn't even as big as Sano's room. Inside, there was just a simple... altar?

A gust of wind blew in my face, chilling me to the bone. As if due to the wind, strange sounds echoed through the cave; those so-called screams and wails were probably what I was referring to.

Sano was not surprised that the residents of Shikishima believed the sound of the wind to be the voice of the dead.

Let alone the 1990s, even thirty years later when technology was developing rapidly, Sano had seen many villages with feudal superstitions.

The folly of the world will always far exceed your imagination.

However, the wind in this cave does seem a bit off.

Chapter 164, page 163: Senior, don't you find it disgusting?

Sano glanced back at the motionless trees outside the cave, then quickly began to search the altar. He eventually discovered that the altar didn't actually have any mechanisms; it was simply used to block a large hole behind it.

...Could it be any simpler?

Without hesitation, Sano crawled into the cave. After getting used to the darkness, he found that there were obvious artificial steps under his feet.

Sano descended the steps, and a light appeared before him. At the end of the steps was indeed a large cave on the edge of Shiki Island, near the sea.

The cave was completely empty; there wasn't even a speck of dog poop, let alone any gold.

Sano searched the cave for a while, but found nothing except for a new break at the edge of the cave entrance.

It seems that the Shenlong was hidden here before. It was probably caused by the storm that the cave entrance collapsed, allowing the Shenlong to drift away.

Sano didn't stay there any longer. He quickly set off back to the Navy Cave, restored the altar to its original state, and then returned to the inn where he had arranged to meet Vermouth.

About an hour later, Vermouth returned to the inn and exchanged information with Sano.

"You're saying Kogoro Mouri drank too much at noon and was attacked during his speech in the afternoon?"

Vermouth nodded: "Yes, although the village chief said it was an accident, I saw it. Someone put a ignition device in that ball. It must have been put there on purpose. The purpose was either to kill Kogoro Mouri directly or to scare him away."

Sano understood the meaning behind Vermouth's words.

It's clear that someone on this island knows where the billion dollars of gold is, or at least has a major clue, which is why they don't want Kogoro Mouri to stay any longer, lest he discover something.

"It shouldn't have anything to do with the village chief. I overheard their conversation afterwards. Kogoro Mouri initially wanted to leave, but the village chief told him directly that all ships' right to sail had been blocked, and everyone is now trapped on this island."

"The old man behind them offered to send Kogoro Mouri and the others away, but the detective seemed to have been provoked and said he wanted to stay and find the person who attacked him and the ten billion gold."

At this point, Vermouth paused for a moment: "Also, I saw something strange."

"Before Kogoro Mouri was attacked, at the back door of the lecture hall, that guy from Tokyo got into an argument with someone from the island. It seemed like they knew each other, or maybe they mistook each other for each other. I found out that the guy from the island was named Hamada."

Sano rubbed his fingers together and nodded, saying, "There's no mistake. The person who attacked Kogoro Mouri should be Hamada. He's the one who hid the Shenlong before. If we want to find the ten billion gold, we have to start with him."

Vermouth looked at Sano and nodded thoughtfully. It seemed that the other party had found something useful during the intelligence gathering that afternoon.

"Then, shall we move tonight?"

"The operation will take place tonight."

……

Sano and Vermouth slipped out of the hotel after dark, but their operation was doomed to failure before it even began.

"What about people?"

Inside the lighthouse, Sano and Vermouth searched twice but couldn't find Hamada. In fact, before they arrived, the lighthouse seemed to have been ransacked, and it was a mess everywhere.

If Hamada hadn't just left the house, then someone must have kidnapped him before Sano and Vermouth could.

"I was careless; I should have kept a closer eye on him first."

Sano wasn't the only one with a grim expression; Vermouth did too, especially the latter.

After all, Vermouth considered herself a veteran, a high-ranking member of the organization, and even kept referring to herself as a senior in front of Sano.

As it turns out, not only did Sano not notice, but he himself didn't notice either.

Isn't this just plain embarrassing?

Are there any suspects?

Sano gave an irrelevant answer: "Do you know where that guy from the travel agency in Tokyo lives?"

"know."

Vermouth didn't waste any words and quickly led the way to the travel agency man's residence.

But another unexpected event occurred. Before the two had run far, a series of urgent bell tolls began to ring.

what's the situation?

Sano frowned, while Vermouth quickly explained, "Generally speaking, this kind of bell ringing indicates that a major event has occurred on the island."

"Let's split up. I'll go find that guy, and you go see what happened."

"it is good."

After Vermouth told Sano the exact location of the man's residence, she went to the place where the bell rang, while Sano continued with his original actions.

In another inn, Sano, using a passerby's hat as cover, quietly spotted his target who was still awake.

The man seemed to feel a little anxious because of the bell, but since he didn't know the meaning of the bell, he didn't make any rash moves.

The reason Sano didn't make any rash moves was simple: he didn't find any trace of Hamada in the inn.

The tea on the table was still steaming and more than half full. It was highly likely that the man hadn't gone out before. So, Hamada's lighthouse wasn't searched by him.

That said, whether Hamada was simply not at the lighthouse or had simply disappeared is another matter entirely.

Sano frowned slightly, finally deciding to stop observing and take action, tying up the guy first.

The hammer flew through the air, and before the man could react, he was knocked to the ground. After several more blows, he was knocked unconscious, indicating that he had committed serious crimes.

"Dong dong dong."