At these words, the entire place erupted, and the passengers instantly fell into a panic.
"What nonsense are you spouting, kid!" Robber No. 1's face changed drastically, and he denied it sharply, but the panic in his eyes betrayed him.
"Everything I said is true!"
Conan continued to shout, trying to awaken everyone, "Our only way to survive now is to unite and subdue them before they get off the car! Otherwise, all of us will die!"
The atmosphere in the carriage instantly became tense, and many passengers were eager to act.
Seeing this, the two robbers immediately pointed their guns at the crowd and shouted, feigning bravery. "Nobody move! If anyone moves, I'll shoot them first!"
Because of exchanging jackets with the robbers, Akai Shuichi and Dr. Araide were currently closest to the two robbers.
They obediently raised their hands, signaling that they were not a threat, and showed a look of fear.
Just as the two robbers thought they had regained control of the situation, Akai Shuichi and Dr. Araide, as if by prior agreement, acted simultaneously.
Akai Shuichi stepped closer, his left hand blocking Robber No. 1's gun-wielding arm, and his right hand delivering a precise elbow strike heavily to his ribs, while simultaneously tripping him with his foot.
"Ouch!"
Robber No. 1 was caught off guard, cried out in pain, and was cleanly slammed onto the floor in a body slam, his pistol flying out of his hand.
Almost at the same time, Dr. Araide also displayed extremely high-level skills. He flashed to the side of Robber No. 2, used a small grappling technique, seized Robber No. 2's gun-wielding wrist, and twisted it hard.
"Crack!"
"Ah—!"
Robber No. 2 screamed, his pistol falling to the ground, and he was firmly locked in a joint lock by Dr. Araide and pinned to the ground.
Almost in the blink of an eye, these two armed robbers were subdued.
Seeing this, the female accomplice in the back row, who had been chewing gum, turned pale and rushed forward, raising her bag to strike Akai Shuichi's head.
But Akai Shuichi seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He kicked Robber No. 1 forward, turned around, and grabbed the female robber's wrist.
Without any mercy, he twisted her arm behind her back, firmly controlling her by the seat.
"Well done!" "That's great!" Cheers erupted from the passengers.
However, before the passengers could rejoice for too long, Robber No. 1, who had been slammed to the ground by Akai Shuichi, endured the severe pain and, while Akai Shuichi was distracted controlling the female accomplice, suddenly rolled on the ground and grabbed the pistol that had fallen nearby.
He knelt on the ground, panting heavily.
The gun was not pointed at the difficult Akai Shuichi or Dr. Araide, but at Jane Doe, who was sitting in the front row and was closest to him now.
"Nobody move!!" Robber No. 1 shrieked, veins bulging on his forehead, "Let go of our people! Otherwise, I'll shoot her immediately!"
In his opinion, this red-haired woman had been sitting in her seat without moving, obviously scared stiff, and should be easier to deal with, usable as a bargaining chip.
As long as he had a hostage, escaping should still be possible.
The atmosphere in the carriage became tense again.
However, Jane Doe, who was being pointed at with a gun, unexpectedly showed no fear at all.
Instead, she tilted her head slightly, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
"Heh heh, idiot."
She chuckled softly, looking at Robber No. 1 with an expression like he was an imbecile, "I say... is there something wrong with you up here?" She lightly tapped her temple with her finger.
"What do you mean?!" Robber No. 1 was enraged by her reaction and pushed the gun barrel forward again.
"What I mean is," Jane Doe slowly spread her palm, where a pistol magazine lay conspicuously, "who are you trying to scare with an empty gun that has no bullets?"
"What?!"
Robber No. 1's pupils constricted. He subconsciously looked down at the gun in his hand, then looked incredulously at the magazine in Jane Doe's hand, "No... impossible! How could you..."
Jane Doe shook the magazine in her hand, her tone playful. "This is the magazine from your gun. When you fell just now, I took your spare magazine from your pocket, emptied all the bullets from it, and then, while you weren't paying attention, I swapped the full magazine in your gun for this empty one. How is it? Doesn't it feel much lighter? You didn't notice at all, did you? No way, right? No way? Then you're a really unprofessional robber, it's a headache..."
Robber No. 1's face instantly turned pale upon hearing this.
From the feel alone, he really hadn't noticed any change in the weight of the pistol.
But looking at Jane Doe's confident demeanor, he couldn't help but believe her somewhat, his mind a mess.
Logically speaking, Japan is a country with strict gun control, and ordinary people couldn't possibly carry pistol magazines.
The one in her hand was ninety-nine percent his own magazine!
But... when exactly did she do it?!
Just as Robber No. 1 was in a state of confusion and believed Jane Doe's words, Jane Doe flicked her wrist and directly snatched the gun from Robber No. 1's hand.
Then, under the astonished gazes of Robber No. 1 and everyone in the car, she unhesitatingly raised the gun towards the car roof—
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several deafening gunshots rang out consecutively, the bullets hitting the car roof, leaving a series of bullet holes.
She directly emptied the magazine, proving that there were bullets in the gun and the magazine had not been swapped.
"You were messing with me just now?!" Robber No. 1's face was ashen.
Jane Doe blew the smoke from the gun barrel, then tossed the empty pistol aside like trash, mocking. "That's why I said you're an idiot. You believe such nonsense? Didn't you ever think, how could I possibly steal a spare magazine from your pocket, empty the bullets, and then swap out the magazine in your gun without you noticing? How much time would that whole operation take? Didn't you think about it?"
"Ba~ka~!"
Robber No. 1's entire face turned a purplish-red, then as if he suddenly remembered something, the shame and anger on his face quickly turned into a crazed, sinister grin.
"Hahaha! Do you think you've won?!"
He reached into another pocket of his ski suit and pulled out another identical black pistol, pointing the barrel at Jane Doe again.
"Didn't expect that, did you?! I have a second gun!!"
Robber No. 1 laughed maniacally, his finger on the trigger, "This time, let's see how you'll play tricks! Weren't you very eloquent just now? Now, who do you think is the idiot?"
He was already impatient to see a look of regret on Jane Doe's face.
However, Jane Doe chuckled softly, directly inserting her finger into the barrel of her gun, without the slightest hint of panic.
"When you fell just now, I took this gun from your pocket, emptied all the bullets from it, and then put it back. How is it? Doesn't it feel much lighter? You didn't notice at all, did you? No way, right? No way? Then you're a really unprofessional robber, it's a headache..."