Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

"Ah—!"

Faced with the black muzzle of a gun, the woman's face instantly turned pale.

She glanced at the briefcase placed beside her hand, her fingers trembling slightly.

She knew that people who dealt in this kind of insider information were usually shady characters. The two men in black today definitely looked like gang members or something... But still, this was way too dangerous!

She thought about the 400 million yen she handed over and her own salary of just over 100,000 yen per month, and immediately lost all interest in protecting the briefcase...

No matter how valuable the contents were, it wasn't her money. Risking her life for this little salary? Not worth it.

She was being threatened at gunpoint! Surely even her boss would understand, right?

Trembling, she stood up, took two steps back against the train wall, and raised both hands.

"It's that briefcase. Everything's in there. I haven't even opened it..."

She surrendered quickly, truly showcasing the survival instincts of a typical Beika resident. After all, those who didn't understand this basic logic usually didn't live long.

Silently approving of her good sense, Kazawa took two steps forward, lifted the briefcase with his free hand, and glanced at the expressionless Conan. Then he held up the case and gave him a signal with his eyes.

What are you standing there for, huh? Come take your bomb already!

Conan snapped out of it, eyes widening as he stared at Kazawa.

What the hell are you doing?! Where did you get that gun?! Why did this suddenly jump to a crime drama channel?!

Wait, never mind... This involves a bomb, so I guess we were already on the crime drama channel...

Why are you zoning out again? Come take the case! Look at the time! Kazawa shot him a glare, totally unbothered.

To everyone else, the scene looked like a terrifying armed criminal using a vicious glare to force a barely one-meter-tall kid to become his hostage.

So scary. Too evil!

No way! I have to alert the train police outside the car...

A salaryman sitting behind Kazawa gritted his teeth, secretly pulled out his phone, and began rapidly typing out a message to report the situation — displaying the full quality of a citizen from the world of Conan.

Conan swallowed hard, facing Kazawa's death stare, and stiffly walked up to him. He carefully took hold of the briefcase — possibly containing an active bomb.

Poor kid! He's so scared he's frozen! Damn it, why hasn't the train police noticed anything?! Hurry up already!

Kazawa grabbed Conan and began pulling him toward the door, still not lowering the gun in his hand.

He clearly remembered — the detonation trigger for this bomb was a phone call that the woman would make later. If he put down the gun now and she randomly dialed it, Kazawa would have to pull off a barehanded double-glass emergency escape performance.

It was definitely safer to move closer to the door first. Then, open the emergency exit, throw the case out, blow it up, switch into Joker form, and vanish...

Kazawa stepped backward one step at a time, mentally planning out the next moves.

But naturally, he forgot a very important element in this whole plan — which means things were definitely going to go wrong.

"Conan! Conan! Are you here?! Where did you go—"

A clear, anxious female voice called from the car door. Kazawa froze in place and whipped his head around.

Ran Mouri, with a worried and displeased look on her face, was tugging at the door — and with a sharp pull, slid it open.

Before she could fully take in the situation, she saw a tall man with black hair, one hand holding a gun and the other grabbing Conan by the collar, just a few steps away.

Conan's face was ghostly pale, clutching a black briefcase tightly to his chest, helplessly retreating with the man...

A dangerous criminal! He's taken Conan hostage! Ran's eyes flashed.

Crap! There's no way to explain this now!

Kazawa quickly adjusted his stance, lifting his arm to block just in time—

Only to receive Ran's full-force spinning kick directly to his forearm.

"Ugh—" Kazawa winced as his arm went numb, losing feeling momentarily.

"Let him go!" Ran roared, using the blocked motion to lift her other leg and aim straight for Kazawa's face.

No way he could take that. Not with his real body. That was a bone-cracking kick.

Kazawa quickly backed off two steps, dodging her attack.

Oh no!

Conan tightened his grip on the case. He couldn't let it fall, but he also couldn't get too close to these two fighting — the bomb definitely wouldn't like being shaken up.

If Ran accidentally hit the case during her onslaught, everyone on the train might die.

Gritting his teeth, Kazawa tossed the gun aside, deftly dodged two more of Ran's attacks, and dove back toward Conan.

That gun wasn't even real — the organization had only given him two sniper rifles this time. What he held was a model gun from his item stash. It wasn't lethal, and now that they were in combat, it was just a burden.

Ran saw him lunging for Conan again and moved in to grab him and throw him down.

But Kazawa quickly yanked off his jacket, slipped out of her grasp, and lunged to Conan's side.

He even had time to glance at the woman who had been making the deal with Gin.

As expected, the moment she was no longer held at gunpoint, she shakily took out her phone and started pressing buttons, clearly about to make a call.

Great, now I really do have to rip through a train window!

Plans never keep up with changes...

Kazawa shook his arm, which still throbbed from Ran's kick, and reached for Conan. "Give it! Hurry!"

Conan, still stunned by how this situation had spiraled into madness, handed the briefcase over on instinct.

Kazawa didn't care about keeping his disguise anymore. He quickly used his "Third Eye" to scan the case.

Crap — the red indicator got brighter! It's counting down!

Kazawa leapt onto the vacant seats, tore off his wig mid-jump, and activated his mask. A series of starting buffs like "Attack Boost" and "Agility Up" flashed over him in a burst of crimson glow.

With all his force, he kicked the reinforced window frame of the premium carriage.

For emergency escapes, you kick the corners. Kazawa had undergone professional emergency response training and knew this well.

CRACK! The double-layered glass fractured with a sharp sound, and the rushing wind from the speeding train instantly blasted into the carriage, making everyone turn away and shield their faces.

When they looked again, they saw the black-clad Joker Kazawa ruthlessly kicking out another section of the window, opening up a person-sized hole.

6 seconds!

As he counted silently in his head, Kazawa threw a stack of "calling cards" from his inventory — Joker's signature pre-heist notices. The cards scattered through the car, fluttering like red and black butterflies in the wind.

5 seconds!

Kazawa crouched low. The scarf around his neck whipped wildly in the wind, slapping the seats. He adjusted his stance and struck a stylish pose, grabbing the scarf.

With a yank, the red cloth transformed into a flexible rope, which he wrapped around his arm.

4 seconds!

He turned back, raised two fingers to his temple, and gave Conan and Ran a mock salute.

"With skills like that, Miss... maybe don't aim for the face next time."

Then, with a swift flick of his arm, the rope shot out and hooked onto a pole along the tracks. Kazawa leapt, and with a Tarzan-like swing, launched himself out of the train.

"Joker!" Conan cried out, reaching instinctively to stop him, but only caught air.

BOOM—!

A massive explosion shook the area just ten meters from the train. The case had detonated in midair, and the shockwave knocked Conan back inside the train corridor.

"No—Joker—!" Conan looked up in horror at the explosion's center.

Then he saw it—

Through the dust and smoke, a strip of red cloth stretched taut from a trackside pole.

Dressed in black and red, Joker swung away, even turning to wave theatrically back at the stunned onlookers.

Conan: "..."

He's still trying to look cool at a time like this?! I was actually worried for nothing...

Of course, if he really had no way to escape, he would've just thrown the case and bailed — not jumped out with it.

Conan exhaled deeply and collapsed onto the soft carpeted floor of the premium carriage.

That was way too dangerous...

So, Gin's words — about someone opening the detonator without hesitation — referred to that woman's phone call?

And how exactly did Joker instantly know which case had the bomb?

He only glanced at it once!

Conan racked his brain, glancing sideways at the woman still frozen in place.

"Ah..."

Ran finally blinked and looked at the black jacket in her hands.

"That was... Joker? The Joker, the Phantom Thief Joker? So he knew about the bomb and was trying to save people?"

She recalled what Joker said before he jumped, and blushed a little.

Maybe she'd acted too rashly. Jumping in and kicking him in the face — yeah, maybe that was excessive...

"Ahhh..." Hugging the jacket, she muttered awkwardly, "I think I kicked him a few times... I hope he's okay?"

Conan: "..."

No, he really didn't look okay. Joker had clearly been rotating his arm like crazy — he probably got injured blocking her kicks.

Terrifying...

Ran might've dealt more damage than that whole suitcase bomb...

Conan's lips twitched as he silently reaffirmed his resolve to keep his secret identity buried deep.

If Ran ever found out he was Joker, he'd be dead before he could explain. She could probably flatten him with just her pinky...