Chapter 2172 - 2170: Conanology Detective Method (This Ben Orange Cat Is Now Fearless)

Ultimately, after confirming this lead, Fang Zheng went to Tokyo Tower together with Yoko Okino to check the situation. After all, the police forces were stretched thin, and whether there really was a bomb at Tokyo Tower was still doubtful. But for Fang Zheng, even if there was a bomb, it wouldn’t matter.

However, if a bomb were discovered, it would mean the perpetrator is confirmed.

Tokyo Tower, which opened early in the morning, was naturally crowded. Fang Zheng showed his officer’s badge, and soon the staff at Tokyo Tower quickly came over, leading them to the observation deck.

"Have you done any comprehensive maintenance and inspection work on Tokyo Tower recently?"

Sitting in the elevator, Fang Zheng looked at the staff in front of him and immediately asked, and the staff member nodded.

"Of course. Two days ago, we had someone perform maintenance on Tokyo Tower’s elevator system."

"Two days ago?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng and Yoko Okino exchanged glances.

"When was this?"

"It was after closing time. According to records, the maintenance personnel from the elevator company came to perform the maintenance, so we just let him in..."

"You let him in just like that?"

Hearing this, Fang Zheng squinted at the staff member.

"What was that person’s name? Is there a record?"

"Um... Is there a problem?"

Facing Fang Zheng’s questioning, the staff member seemed a bit uneasy. At the same time, the elevator door opened with a "ding," and the three of them stepped out while Fang Zheng fixed his eyes on the staff member.

"In fact, we suspect..."

"Boom!!"

However, Fang Zheng had yet to finish speaking when a low explosion suddenly resounded, and then the entire tower shook.

"...someone has installed a bomb in Tokyo Tower."

Fang Zheng silently finished his sentence, then looked at the staff member in front of him, whose face had turned deathly pale. Well, now there’s no need to suspect anymore; someone had indeed installed it, and it had exploded.

You guys are a bunch of fools whose security is useless.

"Alright, listen to my command now."

Fang Zheng no longer said much and quickly issued a command to the staff.

"Evacuate all tourists at the site, but don’t tell them about the bomb. Just say that a circuit fire was detected, and to avoid dangerous situations, Tokyo Tower needs to be closed for maintenance today. Also, notify the surveillance room for me; I want to view the surveillance footage from two nights ago."

"Ah, yes, please follow me!!"

At this point, the staff member quickly regained composure, nodded with a pale face, and immediately led Fang Zheng and Yoko Okino to the work area. Soon, the staff at Tokyo Tower on duty followed Fang Zheng’s orders and retrieved the surveillance footage from two days ago. Sure enough, a white Toyota was captured in the footage and the man appeared in front of the surveillance cameras.

"Great, all done!"

Looking at the footage on the screen, Fang Zheng snapped his fingers. Perhaps due to the early morning, the person did not disguise himself—it made sense; from the current scenario, he pretended to be an elevator maintenance worker to infiltrate. If he dressed too suspiciously, the guards surely wouldn’t let him in. Although he deliberately pulled down his hat brim to evade surveillance, he didn’t expect the surveillance cameras captured not only him but also the license plate number of the white Toyota he drove.

Then Fang Zheng immediately made a phone call.

"Hello, it’s me. I’m at Tokyo Tower. I have confirmed that the perpetrator installed a bomb here. Hmm... That’s right, I found the surveillance video of the perpetrator appearing. Go search for a white Toyota with the license plate number XXXXXXX immediately!"

For the Metropolitan Police Department, once a clear target is identified, obtaining other information becomes much easier. Soon, the intelligence was swiftly compiled and reported—the vehicle owner was identified as Nakata Saburo, age 42, unemployed, with no criminal record. The photo was sent over and compared with this side; although it couldn’t be confirmed 100%, there was a 70-80% match... It’s definitely this guy!

With the lead in hand, the Metropolitan Police Department quickly mobilized, issuing orders to all police officers to search for this white Toyota across the city. Considering the perpetrator might have a remote bomb, all officers were instructed not to make a fuss upon discovering the suspect, and the arrest method would be determined later once the suspect was found!

"Alright, we’ve caught the tail."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief. Whether or not the bomb can be found this time, at least the person is identified, and for police officers, once the criminal loses the mysterious Little Black identity, they’re very close to being apprehended.

"Um..."

At this moment, Yoko Okino spoke up somewhat uneasily, pointing at a screen nearby.

"There’s a little girl crying continuously on that screen... What is going on?"

"Hmm?"

Hearing Yoko Okino’s words, Fang Zheng and the staff turned their heads and looked at the elevator monitoring. Sure enough, in one of the elevators, a little girl was holding a doll, curled up in the corner, crying continuously. Seeing this scene, the staff member was shocked and hurriedly grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Hey, what’s going on? Why is there still a child left in the elevator? Wasn’t everyone supposed to be evacuated?"

Soon, a reply came from the walkie-talkie.

"S-Sorry, but the explosion just now halted this elevator’s operation, and we can’t rescue the child from inside..."

"What?!"

When Fang Zheng and others reached that elevator, they quickly understood why the little girl couldn’t be rescued. At this moment, the elevator was only half-exposed at the door direction, just enough for a child to climb in and out, while the child’s mother was next to it, calling for her child.

However, perhaps due to being suddenly frightened, the little girl just clutched her teddy bear, curled up in the corner of the elevator, refusing to move regardless of how much her mother spoke to her.

"With this gap, an average adult definitely can’t fit through."

Fang Zheng raised his head, looking at the gap in front of him—Hmm, was this prepared for Conan?

Can’t be this Conanology.

"Um, Mr. Fang Zheng, may I try?"

At this moment, Yoko Okino spoke up.

"I think maybe I can rescue that child."

"Alright."

Glancing at Yoko Okino and then at the staff member, Fang Zheng nodded.

"Well then, I’ll leave it to you to give it a try."

After all, Yoko Okino is an idol; she should be good at comforting children, right?

Soon, Yoko Okino swapped positions with the mother. She cheerfully leaned over and waved to the little girl in front of her.

"Hello, Akemi."

"..."

The girl widened her eyes curiously at Yoko Okino in front of her, and at this moment, Yoko Okino also took off her glasses.

"Can you talk to me?"

"Ah...! Ah...!"

Seeing this, the girl suddenly exclaimed, excitedly reaching out to point at Yoko Okino.

"It’s the sister from TV!"

"That’s right, it’s me. Can I have a chat with you?"

"Hmm...!"

Perhaps because she saw a celebrity she could only see on TV, the little girl became excited, putting her previous fear aside.

"Sister, what does it feel like to be in the TV? Is it small there? Is it narrow?"

"I watched you make a lot of dishes on TV; I also had my mom make them, but they didn’t taste as good as yours on TV..."

"How do you appear on TV, sister? I asked my mom, but she couldn’t explain..."

Yoko Okino, not just a celebrity idol, despite knowing there’s a bomb here and it might explode at any moment, still answered the girl’s questions with a smile. Soon, the girl dropped her guard, embracing her teddy bear, and slowly walked towards Yoko Okino.

"Then come out, Akemi. If you come over, I’ll personally make you a dish like the ones from TV, okay?"

"Hmm... Pinky promise..."

"Sure, pinky promise..."

Seeing the girl had already walked over, Fang Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief. Then he turned his head and found the elevator staff staring wide-eyed at Yoko Okino.

"Wait, she is..."

"She is a police officer from the Metropolitan Police Department, just has a resemblance to Yoko Okino."

Fang Zheng directly interrupted the staff member’s words.

"Moreover, I hope you don’t spread this matter around, otherwise, as a return, we’ll also tell the media at the press conference afterward that the reason the criminal was able to install a bomb on Tokyo Tower was due to your security failure... do you understand my meaning?"

"Ah, yes, rest assured, we definitely won’t spread it!"

Listening to this, the staff also turned pale; if this were to be leaked, they would surely be doomed. Comparing it to the excitement of a policeman looking like Yoko Okino, however... it falls far short compared to work.

At this moment, Yoko Okino also carried the little girl out and returned her to her mother, while the little girl was now crying loudly in her mother’s arms. Seeing this, Fang Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, you can come down now."

"Okay."

Yoko Okino also smiled at the two, and upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, she nodded her head. However, just as Yoko Okino was about to come down from the chair she was stepping on, suddenly, with a dull sound, the whole elevator instantly slid downward, and at the same time, Yoko Okino was somehow pulled inside, and she just fell directly into the falling elevator!

Oh my god!

Witnessing this, Fang Zheng was also shocked, and he almost instinctively dashed forward, grabbed Yoko Okino, and rolled into the elevator. Almost the next moment, the elevator just slipped from the elevator shaft and stopped after a while.

"Sorry, Mr. Fang Zheng."

At this moment, Yoko Okino, pale-faced, was in Fang Zheng’s arms.

"I didn’t do it intentionally, at that moment I suddenly..."

"It’s okay."

Looking at Yoko Okino, Fang Zheng was also at a loss for words; he had overlooked that Conanology side characters easily encounter clues, but also easily face danger—look at Sonoko, she had almost been eliminated by criminals several times.

Like when Yoko Okino lost her balance and fell, normally people fall backward, but only she lunged forward...

One can only say Conanology is truly amazing.

"Looking at it this way, the criminal deliberately waited for this moment to trigger the elevator’s fall..."

Fang Zheng stood up, glanced around, and he no longer considered "why would a criminal be stupid enough to think the police would climb into an elevator that a grown-up couldn’t fit into," it’s Little Black after all, committing crimes comes with the ’wish-comes-true’ buff, any bizarre setting can succeed...

Like when Fang Zheng himself went against America, to be honest, that plan had a lot of loopholes, and with so many people acting at the same time, who could guarantee someone wouldn’t panic and report, or someone might look too nervous and be suspected, or someone might be stopped during security screening... Fang Zheng had considered all kinds of possibilities.

However, the reality was that the whole plan executed smoothly without any incident... thus it’s evident that being a criminal in this world is quite comfortable, as long as you don’t foolishly seek out Conan or other detectives, basically, whatever crime you wish to commit will definitely succeed. Of course, whether you get caught is another matter.

Hmm, looking at it this way, the police in this world are indeed quite miserable, facing a group that boosts one percent probability to one hundred percent called Luck Emperor masters.

According to this pattern, the next step should be...

Fang Zheng raised his head and glanced at the elevator’s ceiling.

"Yoko, stand on my shoulders and open the ceiling above."

"Ah, yes."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s command, Yoko Okino nodded, but soon showed confusion.

"Shouldn’t we be waiting for help?"

"In this situation, I think it’s unlikely, so let’s open the ceiling first."

"Okay."

Yoko Okino was very obedient; she immediately took off her high heels, stood on Fang Zheng’s shoulders, and opened the ceiling above. Then Fang Zheng reached out, grabbed the edge of the exit like a gymnast, and turned up. He then took a flashlight and shone it around.

"Ah, as expected, it’s the pattern."

"Mr. Fang Zheng?"

Upon hearing this, Yoko Okino suddenly became uneasy.

"Your meaning is..."

"The criminal installed a bomb on the top of the elevator, it’s already activated, now if we make even slightly larger movements, it might explode."

"What... what?!"

In response to Fang Zheng’s words, Yoko Okino was stunned.

"Then, then what should we do? We should quickly leave here!"

"That probably won’t work, this bomb is equipped with a bugging device, that guy is probably monitoring our movements here, if we leave here, then he will immediately remotely detonate the bomb."

"So, what should we do?"

"It’s simple, just disarm this bomb."

Fang Zheng silently took out his phone.

"I learned at Hawaii at least."

After receiving Fang Zheng’s phone call, the Metropolitan Police Department immediately took measures to evacuate the people around Tokyo Tower. To prevent the criminal from eavesdropping, Fang Zheng quickly issued orders via text message — First, he wanted plainclothes officers to search around Tokyo Tower for the white Toyota. After all, if the criminal wanted to remotely detonate the bomb, they would not be too far from Tokyo Tower, and hiding within the crowd is the safest. So the most conventional way is to find that white Toyota, lock onto the target, capture them in one swoop, and then force them to reveal the location of the bomb.

Furthermore, Fang Zheng instructed others to conduct a comprehensive investigation of crowded areas today. The fact that the adversary chose to act today suggests that they would definitely place the second bomb in a populous location; otherwise, placing it in an empty place would be pointless. With the Tokyo Tower experience, Fang Zheng also requested them to immediately retrieve surveillance footage from the past few nights from various locations, to quickly identify the target.

Meanwhile, the police delivered bomb disarming tools to Fang Zheng. Afterwards, Fang Zheng instructed Yoko Okino to relay their guidelines, as he began to disarm the bomb himself.

Throughout the process, Fang Zheng appeared very composed, not because he had disarmed many bombs, but because Fang Zheng himself had a trump card up his sleeve.

He certainly didn’t learn everything like Conan did in Hawaii, Fang Zheng hadn’t done any bomb disposal before. But this thing has remote detonation, meaning it uses information frequency access — that’s simple enough.

On Earth from Fang Zheng’s previous life, the police had an instrument called the "bomb frequency interference instrument," which simply and forcefully interfered with all frequencies, making it virtually impossible to remotely detonate a bomb. Of course, Fang Zheng’s personal terminal had the same capability, and more than that, Fang Zheng could reverse hack into the detonator, then simulate the criminal’s control signal to stop the bomb.

So for Fang Zheng, disarming the bomb wasn’t important at all; he could eat hot pot while singing, flirt with girls while disarming the bomb, all while knowing the bomb wouldn’t detonate.

The reason Fang Zheng patiently acted here was that this bomb wasn’t the focus, the second bomb was the key.

"Just wait and see."

Fang Zheng disarmed the bomb while chatting with Yoko Okino.

"When we’re almost done, this guy will definitely leave a message like three years ago."

"Will that really happen, Mr. Fang Zheng?"

Hearing this, Yoko Okino felt somewhat incredulous, and Fang Zheng nodded.

"Of course, this type of crime is quite common. Criminals often have their characteristics and patterns, whether they’re thieves, robbers, murderers, or bombers, they generally follow a pattern to commit crimes."

"Why is that?"

"Because of experience. Not everyone is like Phantom Thief Kid who comes up with a new style each time they commit a crime that feels like a stage play. For ordinary criminals, if a method is safe and prevents them from getting caught, they’ll keep using it. Changing to a different method temporarily could lead to problems that might get them arrested by the police. In contrast, using a familiar method enhances safety and allows for refinement."

At this point, Fang Zheng sneered, which is considered basic police knowledge; the Metropolitan Police Department probably considered this too, although now they do everything they can and leave the rest to fate...

If it weren’t for the laws against forced confession, Fang Zheng felt the Metropolitan Police would interrogate that guy to death if they caught him.

"But conversely, this allows police to identify the criminal, making it easier to merge cases. This is the gap between criminals and the police."

At this point, Fang Zheng’s lips slightly curled up.

"Police and criminals, in essence, are a cat and mouse relationship. The mouse might escape the cat’s capture over and over, but with just one misstep, that mouse is doomed."

"In this light, the police’s job is really tough."

Yoko Okino couldn’t help but feel emotional, her view of the police wasn’t particularly profound before, but spending the day with Fang Zheng yesterday and today, Yoko Okino felt she gained a new understanding of the police profession.

But just at this moment...

"Ah, here it comes after all..."

Looking at the text appearing on the screen, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly, then glanced at his phone. The Metropolitan Police Department was still screening today’s major event locations... Hmm, let’s see, Beika Plaza, shopping street... Huh? Teitan High School?

Seeing this, Fang Zheng squinted his eyes.

Remember that Ran mentioned today seemed to be a national simulation test... Oh, got it.

Fang Zheng picked up his phone and sent a text message again.

"Go retrieve Teitan High School’s surveillance, search the campus."

He could be one hundred percent sure the bomb was placed at Teitan High School.

Why?

The reason is simple. This is the world of Detective Conan, so according to Conanology, those affected must be Ran... Otherwise, how would Conan lose his temper?