What started as slight resistance had now turned into an unspoken expectation.
But Akashi knows that this won't end well.
Sure enough, Lv4『Pear God Fall』 was triggered once again.
Its activation rate was astonishingly high!
Before he could react, his small frame collided with Ran, sending her tumbling to the ground again.
The two of them flipped, jumped, and crashed onto the floor in a chaotic mess.
This sensation was different from when he was with Jodie.
Jodie, being Caucasian, had a softer build. Falling against her had an almost suffocating perfection to it.
But Ran, a high school girl, had a youthful elasticity that made it a completely different experience.
At the same time, Akashi's V2 Grasp of Immortality skill activated.
[Ding! 『 Grasp of Immortality』 successfully cast. Constitution increased by 1 point, reaching 42 (57)!]
Today's 『 Grasp of Immortality』 had already been used on Eri and Jodie.
Three uses in total—resulting in a direct boost of 2 constitution points!
Perhaps Lv2's 『 Grasp of Immortality』 consistently increased constitution by around 2 points each time.
With a physique now four times the limit of an ordinary person, Akashi was becoming more and more unbelievable.
No, respectable was the better word.
Then again, it was only fair. Jodie had certainly put him through enough suffering before.
That American woman had a lot to answer for!
Ran, who had fallen to the ground, let out a small cry—not of pain, but of sheer impact.
Having tumbled with Akashi so many times, she was now completely accustomed to this kind of accident.
Her lavender eyes narrowed slightly as she pressed her hands against the floor, struggling to sit up.
Her slender form moved gracefully as she settled into a relaxed sitting position, her legs neatly stacked.
She didn't rush to stand.
Somehow, she knew that if she tried, she'd just end up falling again.
Might as well stay down for now.
But then she glanced at Akashi, noticing something amiss.
With a concerned look, she sighed, "Oh, Akashi, why are you so careless?"
"You got hit by me again—it's all 'swollen'!"
Saying this, she reached out and helped Akashi up as she stroked his 'lil bro' carefully.
"If you're injured, let your sister take care of it."
Akashi on the other hand looks at her blankly. His expression seemed to say, Don't try to fool me, it's you who want to do something!
Clearly, Akashi hadn't even used his new Prayer Skill!
So how did this happen?
It can only be said that once Pandora's Box had been opened—it could never be closed again.
Moreover, with her mother not at home, Ran felt an unexpected sense of urgency.
Now is the time to seize the opportunity!
Besides, once you do something once, the second time comes easily.
The little devil in Ran's heart had been unleashed.
After all, the same thing had already happened at the hot spring hotel.
So… what harm was there in being a little proactive?
This was what a good sister did—she helped her little brother solve his problems!
Meanwhile, somewhere else—
Conan, who was being dragged away by Genta, had absolutely no idea what his childhood friend was up to at that moment.
At first, he was full of irritation toward Genta.
But as their investigation at the Toshiya household progressed, he found himself slowly drawn into the case.
That was just how Conan was.
Whenever a case appeared, everything else faded into the background.
And soon, he made a fascinating discovery—
Toshiya's kidnapped brother wasn't just anyone. He was a brilliant artist, especially skilled in painting ancient portraits.
Before his disappearance, he had even displayed his works at an art exhibition.
And there, he had met a mysterious woman—
A woman dressed in a black dress and a black hat.
As soon as Conan uncovered this, his entire demeanor sharpened.
Black dress.
Black hat.
It had to be them!
The ones who had forced him to take that poison.
The very mention of black sent a jolt through Conan's mind, and before he knew it, his thoughts drifted away from Ran.
Later, as they made their way to the exhibition hall to investigate, Conan's sharp eyes caught sight of a suspicious figure.
A man wearing a felt hat.
Something was off about him.
He clearly had loose change in his pockets, yet he was repeatedly using thousand-yen bills at various stores, exchanging them for smaller denominations.
Conan's expression turned serious.
Counterfeit bills!
Toshiya's brother…
His best work was painting portraits.
And the portraits on these fake thousand-yen bills—
They were so realistic, they were practically indistinguishable from the real thing!
And these old-fashioned vending shops and small kiosk-style coffee houses?
They didn't have currency detectors.
They relied purely on human judgment.
Which meant—
This counterfeit operation was already in full motion!
Conan instantly realized that these people were part of a criminal gang specializing in counterfeit banknotes.
Toshiya big brother…Most likely, he had been used to draw counterfeit money!
With that thought, Conan quietly followed.
Behind him, a clueless Toshiya trailed close by with the Detective Boys, while little Loli Haibara, dressed in a hat and coat and hiding behind a newspaper, took up the rear.
She held her phone in hand, occasionally recording the situation as if treating Conan like a guinea pig in one of her experiments.
Soon, they followed the man in the felt hat onto the subway, riding all the way to a Station before getting off.
The man wasn't particularly cautious and had no idea he was being tailed by a group of children.
Oblivious to their presence, he made his way back to his usual counterfeit operation site.
Ironically, the building he entered was located right next to the police station.
Seeing this, Conan immediately led the Detective Boys to the station to report it.
But there was a problem—
They were all just kids!
Especially when Conan declared that the building next door was being used for counterfeiting, the officer at the door simply chuckled in amusement.
He thought they were just playing a prank.
Haibara, watching from the side, could only sigh and shake her head.
Her evaluation of Conan dropped a few points.
In situations like this, just tweak the story a bit and give a more convincing reason!
Then, she noticed Conan stepping aside to make a phone call.
Meanwhile, Genta—being Genta—took charge of the rest of the group and boldly led them toward the stairs.
Haibara watched them go and sighed again.
These three are nothing but troublemakers.
But she couldn't just stand by and let them foolishly walk into danger.
Without hesitation, she trotted forward and grabbed Genta before he could go any further.
Haibara activated all three of her talents at once—
Logic, persuasion, and a deadly glare.
In an instant, the mischievous trio froze in fear.
The little ones, who had been sneaking around with such confidence, suddenly lost their nerve.
Genta and Mitsuhiko tried to explain, insisting they were investigating—not trespassing.
But Haibara wasn't interested in their excuses.
Instead, she instructed them to stay put and watch.
Then, without another word, she dashed toward the police station.
A few moments later—
Under the stunned gazes of the children, several officers stormed out of the station with serious expressions.
They charged straight into the counterfeit operation's building.
And behind them, Haibara reappeared, her expression suspiciously close to tears.
Ayumi, still processing what just happened, couldn't help but ask:
"Ai-san, how did you do it? How did you manage to get them to respond so quickly?"
Haibara simply smirked.
"Secret."
It was actually quite simple.
She had just fabricated a reason.
She told the police that her father had suffered a huge loss in stock trading and was about to take his own life.
As long as the acting was convincing and she played the role of a desperate girl pleading for help, the police would naturally take action.
Meanwhile, Conan—who had been using his voice changer to make a call—noticed the commotion and quickly ran over.
Mitsuhiko and Genta, still in awe, turned to Conan.
"Conan, Haibara-san is better than you!" Genta declared.
"She got the police involved in an instant!"
But before Conan could respond—
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunshots echoed from the building above!
Everyone panicked and immediately ran for cover inside the police station.
The gunfire lasted only a few moments before fading into silence.
Not long after, the officers emerged from the building, escorting several unconscious men in handcuffs.
Among them—
Toshiya's missing brother, Nakata.
The moment he saw him, Toshiya rushed forward and threw himself into his arms.
Meanwhile, the officer who had dismissed the kids earlier now looked completely embarrassed.
He never expected that the "counterfeit money gang" these children had reported…
Would actually turn out to be real.