socalfunplaces Page 174
Page 174
The driver looked down in shock, his left shoulder stained crimson with blood.
"Sniper! There's a sniper! Land quickly, land quickly!!"
The panicked screams, transmitted through the still-connected radio, reached Inspector Megure and Conan, who had just disembarked from the helicopter after its emergency landing.
"What? There's another sniper!?"
Seeing Inspector Megure's utterly bewildered expression, Conan's face grew even more grim. He made a bold guess: "No, that guy couldn't possibly have known in advance that the police would be arriving, much less that the police had a second helicopter, or even which direction it would be coming from, and thus couldn't have deployed in advance. So, this bullet is probably..."
Following Conan's train of thought, Inspector Megure couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his eye.
"You mean that bullet was also fired by that guy just now!?"
"That's impossible. That helicopter is at least a kilometer away from here. How could anyone possibly be able to do that from such a distance..."
But recalling how the helicopter he was riding in had its rotor hit by a shot from hundreds of meters away, Inspector Megure suddenly fell silent again.
...Although both possibilities are so incredible, for some reason, the latter seems to be more likely to be the correct answer than the former.
Unlike Inspector Megure, Conan had already mentally assessed the enemy's sniping capabilities to the highest level after the emergency landing.
...After all, the feeling of a bullet grazing your temple is really not pleasant.
I was fine when I was busy getting the helicopter to land, but now that I've calmed down, I feel like my legs are about to give way.
Conan looked at the glasses in his hand, which were missing a leg, with a complicated expression. The right lens was also covered with cracks.
This time, I was really just a hair's breadth away from losing my life.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they narrowly escaped death.
It's a pity, it looks like we won't be able to catch those two guys...
Conan angrily threw his glasses on the ground, but a few seconds later he remembered that they were a piece of equipment that Professor Agasa had painstakingly made for him, so he silently bent down and picked them up.
...Should it still work after some repairs?
On the other side of the rooftop, Sano clicked his tongue.
...Tsk, did it miss?
After unleashing the fatal strike, the effective range of the rifle in Sano's hand doubled, and the simulated trajectory length could even reach 1,500 meters, making it incredibly easy to hit a target a kilometer away.
However, the trajectory at the end of the bullet also becomes much wider, so it is understandable that the hit rate is not as accurate.
But that's enough.
"gone."
Sano modified his sunglasses, thus regaining his sight, and quickly left with his rifle in hand, with Vodka hurriedly following.
Without the trouble of air power, Sano and Vodka were able to leave very smoothly before the police could launch their next operation.
Vodka, who was driving in the driver's seat, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although I was still terrified, thankfully it was a close call.
It seems that Sano only lost control slightly this time, rather than simply targeting him.
Sano sat there in a daze for a while, then suddenly told Vodka to turn left.
Vodka paused for a moment, then instinctively turned on his left turn signal and asked, "Isn't the mission over? Where are we going?"
"Go back to school to take the exam."
Chapter 194, Section 193: Vodka suspects you're sick.
Sano's nonchalant reply surprised Vodka once again.
...I forgot that Sano came to do this task during a break from his exams.
So, a criminal who just arrogantly fired seven shots in front of the police is now going to school to take an exam, and it's a make-up exam, no less.
If I were to say this out loud, I doubt anyone would believe me.
It's just so absurd no matter how you look at it...
Lost in his thoughts amidst the vodka, Sano called a stop halfway through the journey, got off the bus, and walked back to school.
Then that afternoon, a headline quickly appeared as breaking news.
"The faceless bomb-wielding maniac has reappeared, sniping three people in broad daylight, including a high-ranking official, while also wounding two others and shooting down two police helicopters. The final bullet was fired from a kilometer away, a truly astonishing feat!"
...Leaving aside the exaggerated claim of "shooting down two helicopters," which was clearly just a publicity stunt.
The targets targeted by Sano were all of relatively high status, especially since his death occurred on the Heisei Express, which has recently been making headlines.
Therefore, this matter is undoubtedly impossible to cover up and will inevitably cause a sensation.
The report also briefly mentioned the kidnapping of the sea urchin sniper, who was forced to snipe at the high-ranking official, and incidentally brought up Sano, the high school detective who had gained some attention.
That very evening, Sano received a call from Gin.
"I heard from Vodka that you deliberately told the police the couple's location?"
...For Gin, today was undoubtedly another indescribable day.
Since he chose to entrust this task to Sano, Gin can accept it whether it succeeds or fails.
What Gin found unacceptable was that Sano, who seemed to have returned to normal, "lost control" again during this mission.
Having received the report from vodka, Gin's understanding of the whole affair was naturally much deeper than what was reported in the newspapers.
For example, Sano is the so-called No-Face, but the high school detective who led the police there was also him.
Does he really have to maintain his reputation as a high school detective?
If Gin remembers correctly, what he told Sano was indeed "long-range sniping assassination".
But look at what Sano has done?
Under police watch, seven shots were fired in succession?
Although it meets the criteria of long-range and sniping, it doesn't fit the word "assassination".
Is there any connection whatsoever?
What's the difference between this and just taking a machine gun and opening fire?
In particular, Gin sensed a strange sense of familiarity in Sano's "out-of-control" and reckless behavior.
...Just like the East Capital Loop Line incident and the two incidents with the Full Heaven mission.
Do you really enjoy getting something for nothing?
While it's certainly a good thing to be able to catch a white wolf without any money, isn't the risk taken to catch this white wolf a bit too great?
...However, when talking about the Toto Loop Line incident, Gin was reminded of the theft of the Japanese gunpowder depot that was related to it.
When the report first came out, Gin thought it was Sano who did it.
But it turned out that this was not the case.
Not only did Sano not do it, but he also found all the bombs.
I don't know where the information came from.
...Of course, that's not important. What's important is that Sano's bomb disposal skills in this incident really surprised Gin.
While it's common sense that someone with good driving skills can also fix minor car problems, according to the description of the bomb-wielding peripheral member, Sano's problem was far from "minor."
Rather, it is absolute mastery, even at the expert level.
This guy is always like that, constantly surprising people.
Just like now, he has demonstrated sniping skills that are far superior to those of Shuichi Akai, that disgusting rat.
...Gin was not surprised at all by the information in the report that "the faceless man hit the target from a kilometer away".
Two days earlier, during Sano's sniper simulation training, Gin had seen Sano's numerous "kill records" exceeding 1,000 meters.
Otherwise, Gin wouldn't have ordered dozens of peripheral members to scavenge every sniper rifle in the organization just because Sano said he "wanted to choose a gun."
Those with ability have privileges.
Sano's abilities are so powerful and comprehensive that they are almost unheard of and unseen by Gin.
Such talent should, in any faction, be vigorously cultivated.
...But now, this highly capable subordinate has a flaw that is causing Gin, as his superior, a great deal of trouble.
While it's true that no one is perfect, why pick on this particular imperfection?
Even if we were to cut off one or even two of the top-notch abilities that Sano has shown so far, we could make up for this deficiency.
Gin didn't think it was unacceptable.
...If I had to describe Gin's current mental state, it would be—
I knew you liked to court death, but I didn't know you liked it this much.
It's only because Sano is capable enough that he wasn't caught; otherwise, Gin would probably be out there with a gun to silence him by now.
"Ah...you mean this?"
Sano, on the other end of the phone, was unaware of Gin's thoughts, but he had certainly anticipated and prepared for the other party's "interrogation."
"...That guy's sniping position is further forward than mine, so if I don't take him out, either I have to fire first and risk failure, or he'll fire first and alert the enemy."
Sano recounted the excuses he had come up with for the two exams that afternoon.
Gin was silent for a moment before asking, "Then why did you call the police?"
"...Well, I was thinking that if the police could arrest the other party before they could make a move, I wouldn't have to risk confronting them."
Sano said this.
A lame excuse.
Gin immediately recognized the perfunctory tone behind Sano's excuse.
They claimed to be doing everything to avoid risks, but what they ended up doing was the biggest risk.
Who the hell would believe this nonsense?
Of course, even though Gin's mental state isn't particularly good right now, he doesn't intend to cause trouble for Sano because of it.