At Osaka's harbor, a group of people hurriedly loaded the stolen artifacts onto a cargo ship.
This had been the Red Siamese Cat's original plan. It hadn't gone perfectly, but they'd still managed to grab a few valuable pieces.
"Why haven't the boss and the others come back yet?"
"Don't rush. We still have time, don't we?"
"Time? You call sitting next to a pile of virus canisters relaxing? If you ask me, we never should've bothered stealing artifacts. Wouldn't it be easier to just blackmail Japan for money? We could've asked for U.S. dollars! I'll never understand what the boss is thinking."
"Who knows? Maybe he's planning to use these antiques to boost his status. He's always saying that one day he wants to be a famous man, remember?"
"What a pain in the ass."
Heh. Talking behind the boss's back, huh? Liu A'dou smirked silently. But it didn't matter—those men didn't know their boss had already been caught. His own job was just to destroy the virus. The rest, he'd leave to the Japanese police.
He moved quickly, working in secret. Without anyone noticing, he completely destroyed every vial of the virus and vanished. Now that the Red Siamese Cat had lost their trump card, the police would have no trouble rounding them up—especially since the cargo included national treasures of Japan. There was no way the authorities would take this lightly.
Another good deed done without leaving a name.
That was enough. He wasn't about to take over the police's job too.
When Liu A'dou returned to Tokyo, Haibara Ai had already changed back into her child form. She was sitting quietly, staring blankly at The Lady of the Sky in her hands.
Liu A'dou knew she was savoring the feeling of accomplishment. Not just the thrill of success—but also the intoxicating rush of breaking the rules.
"You can keep your first gem as a souvenir," Liu A'dou said.
"No, I want to return it," Haibara replied. "Didn't you say Kaitou Kid's goal isn't the treasure itself, but the process of stealing it?"
"Of course. To a phantom thief, jewels don't hold much value. They're just props for the performance. Go ahead and return it—just make sure no one catches you."
"I know."
Liu A'dou didn't ask her how it felt to play the role of a phantom thief for the first time. She needed to experience that for herself. He was certain Haibara would make an excellent thief—she fit the part perfectly. A woman with secrets, capable of balancing two identities and personalities. That was her charm. Without secrets, there could be no mystery.
And Haibara's method wasn't a copy of Kaitou Kid's style. The hallucinogen trick had been her own idea—to compensate for her lack of sleight of hand with chemistry. Phantom Thief Sherry was destined to be different. She would have her own signature—using drugs and illusion to craft a dreamlike world.
"Officer Satou," someone called. Tokyo Metropolitan Police and Osaka Police were now conducting a joint operation to locate any remaining traces of the poison gas.
Satou and Takagi were partnered again. Takagi, unable to hold back any longer, finally asked the question that had been on his mind for days—whether Satou had been troubled lately.
People usually thought of Takagi as timid, always acting meek around his coworkers. But that was only an act. Deep down, he was braver than most gave him credit for.
Plenty of men in the police department admired Satou, but her competence intimidated them all. Only Takagi had the guts to keep confessing his feelings despite getting rejected time and time again. It was no wonder that, after all his persistence, Satou had eventually been moved by him. Even Shiratori, for all his charm, couldn't change her somewhat twisted view of love.
In the detective world, childhood sweetheart romances were everywhere. Too many to count. Too many loves that lasted forever. If Matsuda hadn't died, Takagi never would've had a chance—because first loves never fade in this universe.
Take Professor Agasa's childhood sweetheart, for example. Decades passed, yet their feelings never changed—a bond that could make anyone jealous. Or Inspector Shiratori and Teacher Kobayashi, who found each other after years apart. Even Conan's middle school music teacher had a tragic connection with her fiancé, who almost killed her.
Hell, even Chiba, that overweight officer, had a childhood friend from elementary school. This entire world was built on the author's obsession with childhood sweethearts—and maybe a bit of cruelty.
So Satou's love story was predictable too. Matsuda died, and the one who filled the void was Takagi. Unless Takagi died as well, those two were fated to be together—no matter how unremarkable he was otherwise.
Liu A'dou didn't mind most of the classic childhood sweetheart romances in the detective world, but some had gone completely off the rails—like that music teacher and her scheming fiancé, who only got close to her with ulterior motives.
As for Liu A'dou himself, he had once had a childhood friend too. The feeling of growing up together was nice, but he wasn't perverted enough to "train" little girls. At most, he'd just sneak a peek at the view under a short skirt now and then.
The whole "childhood friends getting married" trope was something Liu A'dou had never really understood. Even though he and Aoko were as close as siblings, marriage had never once crossed his mind. He simply couldn't wrap his head around it—how could you marry someone you already knew that well? When there's no mystery left, where's the excitement supposed to come from?
Of course, his situation might've been different. He wasn't some clueless teenager anymore. He had a more mature view of love, and he tended to think things through too much.
Still, that didn't stop him from having his own opinions about the relationships in this world—especially when it came to the main cast. For example, he'd always thought Satou and Takagi didn't really match well. But it wasn't his business, so he'd never said anything out loud. Love was between two people—if they liked each other, that was that. And to be fair, aside from having a modest salary, average talent, and an unremarkable personality, Takagi didn't really have any major flaws.
Among all the girls Liu A'dou knew in this world, some had already found partners worth mentioning. Ran's boyfriend—no need to say more—was the Reaper himself, Conan. A top-tier man in every sense. Once he grew up, he'd definitely make a name for himself across the world.
Sonoko's boyfriend wasn't bad either—Kyōgoku Makoto. His combat strength was practically unmatched.
Then there was Kazuha and Hattori Heiji. Heiji came from a good family, had sharp reasoning skills, and was an expert in kendo. Give him a few years, and he'd probably end up as a major figure in the Osaka Police Department.
As for the Tokyo police officers, Miyamoto Yumi—the one who loved to gossip—had a famous ex-boyfriend, the shogi "Taikou Master" Haneda Shuukichi. He was a celebrity in his own right, and if he was still alive, they'd probably have already gotten back together.
Then there was Miike Naeko, quiet and not particularly skilled, who had a crush on her childhood friend, the geeky Officer Chiba. Those two actually seemed like a good fit.
But Satou and Takagi… now that was the odd pair. A strong woman and a weak man. Honestly, Takagi probably didn't even measure up to Mouri Kogorou.
Sure, Mouri looked lazy most of the time, but when he got serious—his reasoning, marksmanship, and physical ability were all first-class. If he weren't that capable, there's no way he could've tamed someone as strong-willed as Eri Kisaki.
Maybe it was Liu A'dou's inner streak of old-fashioned masculinity, but he couldn't help doubting that couple. Then again, maybe that was exactly why they worked. Because Takagi wasn't as strong as Satou, she could lower her guard around him. She could let go of her pride and learn to listen.
After all, marriage didn't have to be about the man being better than the woman. As long as they were happy, Liu A'dou had no reason to criticize. Maybe Satou and Takagi could balance each other out.
It was like in Doraemon—Nobita absolutely didn't deserve Shizuka. But in the end, she still married him, because Nobita was a good person—someone who could feel joy for others' happiness and sorrow for their pain.
Maybe Satou was like Shizuka—possessing a kind of compassion that went beyond normal women, able to accept and love the man beside her without caring what others thought. Maybe she could see qualities in Takagi that others never noticed.
And Takagi, men like him—or Nobita—were simply built differently.
As for Liu A'dou, he wasn't like them. He had no plans to become a Takagi or a Nobita.
That kind of man wasn't in his nature.