IW: Chapter 298 - The Century Showdown! Everyone's Anticipation!
"Jewel, we need your help to steal a jewel."
"The one Kaito Kid and Cats Eye have been eyeing recently?"
"Exactly, it seems you're eager to make a move, aren't you?"
On the other end of the phone, Vermouth's face flashed with a hint of surprise; she hadn't said anything, yet the other party knew.
It seemed he had been paying attention for a while, right?
Looking at it this way, is this a sure thing?
"No, I don't want to."
Bai Ye refused without hesitation.
Are you kidding me?
He had just agreed to protect this jewel for them.
And then he would turn around and steal it himself?
What would that make him?
An inside job?
Wouldn't that be a blatant slap in his own face?
He certainly didn't want his Office's first case to be a failure.
What's more, if his identity were exposed later, he would definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame.
So Bai Ye would absolutely not accept this, even if the other party offered him a very, very generous reward.
"More money."
Vermouth gritted her teeth; she wasn't surprised by Bai Ye's refusal.
In her opinion, wasn't Bai Ye just trying to bargain with her over this matter?
Alright then!
Anyway, it wasn't her money, so adding more was fine.
"It's not about adding money; I don't want to take this mission. Go find someone else."
After Bai Ye finished speaking, there was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
His attitude also made Vermouth a bit confused.
He didn't want to accept it?
"I understand."
Although she still had many questions, Vermouth didn't force the issue.
If Bai Ye wasn't willing to accept the mission, then so be it.
After hanging up, Vermouth turned to Gin, shrugging helplessly and saying, "He refused, there's nothing I can do."
She and Bai Ye weren't particularly close to begin with.
Vermouth had always wondered why Gin had contacted Bai Ye first, but then she ended up being the contact person, while he hid behind the scenes.
Gin lowered his head, took a deep drag from his cigarette, and then exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Big Brother, why don't we do it ourselves?"
Vodka had long since seen that fellow as unreliable.
And his Big Brother even wanted to recruit him into the organization, seeming to think highly of him.
Wouldn't his title as a loyal subordinate be gone?
Vodka decided to take action to show off his own strength!
It was just stealing something; even without a master thief, he, Vodka, could do it!
Everyone worked for the organization.
He had carried a gun for his Big Brother, shed blood for the organization; let alone stealing a jewel, even if it meant going to the moon, he, Vodka, wouldn't say a word!
"Are you an idiot?"
Gin looked up and glanced at Vodka, cursing.
He hadn't expected Vodka to have the confidence to say such things.
What was he thinking?!
He wouldn't actually think he could do it, would he?
"Every profession has its specialties; stealing isn't something we're suited for."
Gin understood this principle.
But thinking of Vodka's brain, Gin eventually shook his head and said no more.
At least he was a loyal subordinate.
Recently, Gin had also noticed more and more traitors within the organization.
This left Gin mentally exhausted, but also made him feel he needed to take good care of Vodka.
Finding a loyal subordinate was indeed somewhat difficult now.
However, letting them act on their own didn't seem necessary.
Mainly, they weren't suited for it themselves, so Gin would naturally not agree to it.
"I could give it a try."
"You?"
Compared to Vodka, when Vermouth said that, Gin was somewhat moved.
Vermouth and he weren't in a superior-subordinate relationship.
So, most of the time, Vermouth's actions depended on whether she was willing to go.
If Vermouth was willing to go, Gin would be very happy to give it a try.
Vermouth could disguise herself; stealing a jewel by blending in wasn't necessarily impossible.
If Vermouth could steal this jewel from these thieves this time, then there would be no need to cooperate with Bai Ye afterwards.
What Gin valued about Bai Ye was his thieving ability.
Now that he had formed the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, he might focus more on that.
Plus, he didn't know Bai Ye's true identity.
So Gin was still very wary of Bai Ye.
It was only because both sides were still cooperating that Gin hadn't interfered too much.
Now that there was a better option, Gin naturally wouldn't choose the backup.
"No problem, you can give it a try."
"Then I'm leaving."
Vermouth wasn't acting on a whim; she hadn't had any missions recently.
Besides, in her opinion, stealing a jewel wasn't difficult at all.
So she decided to give it a try.
"Big Brother, can she really do it?"
After seeing Vermouth leave, Vodka also asked the question in his heart.
This woman didn't seem reliable no matter how he looked at her.
"Who knows? If she can get it, she can get it. There's not much loss anyway."
Actually, while Gin was attentive to the mission of collecting jewels, it wasn't his top priority.
The reason he kept cooperating with Bai Ye was because he thought, since the organization had money anyway, hiring someone to steal jewels seemed pretty good.
He would pay, the other party would do the work; the organization had used this trick more than once or twice.
But the cooperation with Bai Ye made Gin very unhappy.
In the past, they always held the initiative, but now they had no way to deal with Bai Ye.
"By the way, what about the investigation into the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"
Regarding Bai Ye, they finally had some information.
Gin looked at Vodka; this mission had been given to him earlier.
Plus, that inexplicable power, although Gin currently felt it was the other party's trick, he also preferred to investigate it thoroughly.
"Big Brother, there's no information yet. They're elusive and don't even contact people in the underworld, so no one knows their origins."
Vodka shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
He had indeed investigated before that.
But unfortunately, he hadn't found anything conclusive.
"Never mind, let's take it slow."
Gin didn't hold much hope for this matter, just telling Vodka to continue the investigation.
"Big Sister, it's Kaito Kid again! Why does he always try to steal the same things as us?!"
Cats Eye Cafe.
Ai Kisugi looked at Kaito Kid's notice of intent to steal the jewel.
She swore that if Kaito Kid dared to show up in front of her, she would definitely give him a good punch.
Their actions were merely to reclaim all of their father's collectibles and search for their father's whereabouts.
"He seems to have a special fondness for jewels."
Kisugi Rui wiped the cup in her hand; she understood Ai Kisugi's inexplicable anger, but wasn't going to comfort her.
Their own identities weren't exactly legitimate, were they?
Although they said they were reclaiming their father's collectibles, at the end of the day, they were still stealing.
Were they really nobler than him?
Ultimately, the police were right; they were just thieves.
"Indeed, judging by his targets, he seems to have always had a special fondness for jewels, and he always returns them after each theft."
Kisugi Hitomi said, and Ai Kisugi, who seemed to have calmed down, asked with some confusion, "Then what's his goal?"
Was it simply to show off how strong his thieving skills were, how amazing he was, even tricking the police?
Stealing jewels and then returning them was simply inconceivable.
The reason the police didn't use weapons when pursuing Kaito Kid was partly because he was very popular.
Although it might sound ridiculous, if the police really did use them, it would probably cause dissatisfaction among Kaito Kid's fans.
Secondly, Kaito Kid always returned the stolen items after each theft.
And Chief Inspector Nakasone Ginzo, who was in charge of catching Kaito Kid, also seemed to want to catch him with his own abilities.
"Perhaps he has other goals, just like us."
Simply stealing things for money was what Lupin III did.
These phantom thieves had some higher pursuits.
Of course, sometimes Lupin III didn't necessarily do it for money.
"What about the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts seemed to have overshadowed all other thieves recently.
Their unique method of theft quickly gained them many fans.
Of course, Kisugi Rui wasn't concerned about their fans, but whether they would participate in this operation.
Kisugi Rui felt quite frustrated by the last operation.
She seemed to have made no mistakes, yet the other party easily took the jewel.
"They don't seem to be acting."
The thieves were quite courteous.
If they didn't issue a notice, they didn't seem to act.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, whether acting alone or as a team, always delivered a notice to the target.
"Our opponent this time is only Kaito Kid."
"Let's prepare well; that guy is also very formidable."
As an opponent, Kaito Kid...
Wωω▲ T Tκ an▲ ￠ O
Kisugi Rui didn't dare to be careless.
She knew very well that his strength was also not to be underestimated.
They had fought many times.
Naturally, she knew exactly what his strength was.
"Don't worry, I've already told Eishi Uncle; we'll definitely win this time!"
Ai Kisugi said confidently.
She believed they could do it this time.
"Is that so?"
Kisugi Rui didn't say anything more about her sister's confident words.
She just felt a little uneasy.
She shook her head, thinking perhaps she was overthinking it.
"Aoko, I really can't go to the movies with you tonight."
Kuroba Kaito looked at the girl in front of him, troubled.
As Kaito Kid, how could he go to the movies with Aoko tonight?
He also found it strange; there had been no sign before, but Aoko suddenly came to him and expressed her desire to go to the movies with him.
"Then why don't I go on a date with Aoko-chan?"
"You!?"
Kuroba Kaito instantly became furious looking at Hakuba Saguru.
Are you kidding me?!
How could he allow this guy to date Aoko?
For some reason, Hakuba Saguru transferred to his school, and they even became classmates.
The other party didn't know his identity yet.
But for Kaito, he had always regarded Hakuba Saguru as a rival.
Compared to Nakasone Ginzo, Hakuba Saguru put a lot of pressure on him, and also made him feel a hint of fun.
But that wasn't a reason for Hakuba Saguru to propose dating Aoko!
"Why? Aren't you unwilling?"
Hakuba Saguru asked curiously.
Since Kaito was unwilling, it seemed there was no problem with him going to the movies with Nakasone Aoko, right?
"No reason!"
"Then..."
"Aren't you trying to catch Kaito Kid? Do you still have time to date here?"
Kuroba Kaito impatiently interrupted Hakuba Saguru.
"So, if I catch him, I can date Nakasone-san, right?"
"Of course..."
Bang!
Before Kuroba Kaito could finish speaking, Aoko's fist landed directly on Kaito's head.
"You two, that's enough!"
"Sorry."
Two apologies.
Hakuba Saguru didn't originally intend to date Aoko.
It was just that when he first transferred, Kuroba Kaito was holding a newspaper and mocking him with Aoko.
This also made him feel a tiny bit of displeasure.
The reason he said that was just to get a small revenge on Kuroba Kaito for mocking him earlier.
Seeing that Nakasone Aoko seemed angry, he also politely apologized.
However, he would not give up on his vow.
The moment their eyes met, they seemed to have formed this rivalry.
Kuroba Kaito swore in his heart that he would definitely play a cruel trick on this detective.
Then he would let him know how pathetic his abilities were in front of him.
"Childish."
Koizumi Akako glanced at the arguing people, subtly shaking her head.
However, the class was excited about the upcoming confrontation between Hakuba Saguru and Kid tonight, with most classmates saying they would support them on TV or at the scene.
And Koizumi Akako was also preparing to go watch.
Her Red Magic had recently hit a bottleneck, and she didn't want to work in isolation.
Everything would wait until evening.
This grand showdown, featuring the recently renowned high school detective Bai Ye and the detective Hakuba Saguru, along with the thieving trio of the Cats Eye sisters and Kaito Kid, couldn't help but attract a lot of attention.
Even the TV station's pre-show ratings were significantly higher.
Everyone was looking forward to this showdown.
As for the police?
All Mihana viewers said that when you trust the police, they'll give you a big surprise.
They didn't care at all.
Instead, they were very interested in whether these detectives could protect the jewel.
"Indeed, I knew this would bring higher ratings!!"
Suzuki Jirokichi looked at the news report.
His heart was incredibly excited at this moment.
The reason he invited the detectives was partly because he thought they might be able to help.
The other reason was to ride the wave of popularity!
That's right!
Don't be fooled by the old man being tricked by Kid every time.
He still loved to show off in front of the media.
So this time, he planned to gather the detectives and then catch both Kid and Cats Eye in one fell swoop.
Then he would be able to boast endlessly in front of the media.
He even had his speech prepared!
"Uncle, aren't you a bit too..."
Sonoko stood beside him, wanting to speak but hesitating.
But thinking of the two handsome high school detectives and Kid, her words got stuck in her throat.