socalfunplaces Page 172
Page 172
Sano was unaware that Vodka, who was standing nearby, was already secretly plotting how to harm him.
After hanging up the phone, Sano realized that while he was listening to Kyosuke Kazato's nonsense, a new text message had appeared on his phone. He opened it and saw that it was from Inspector Megure.
The gist of the message is that a couple of days ago, Conan, that troublemaker, was fishing by the river with his team when they stumbled upon a balloon tied to a remote-controlled boat being shot and popped from a distance.
After observing through binoculars, Conan discovered that someone was practicing sniping with a rifle... and they actually bumped into each other. What a coincidence!
And most importantly, Conan also saw someone pointing a pistol at the person practicing sniping, clearly forcing him to practice.
The next day, Inspector Megure discovered that among the many Metropolitan Police Department officers currently on leave, a young officer who had once been a national rifle shooting champion had gone missing, along with his girlfriend.
Therefore, the police now suspect that the officer was forced to practice shooting someone with a sniper rifle.
According to Conan and Kogoro Mouri's joint "deduction," Inspector Megure and his team should have found the location and time of the sniping.
However, as time went by, Inspector Megure and his team, who were lying in wait at the sniper location, did not find anything amiss, so they sought Sano's help again.
The only clue so far is a message that Conan found on the rooftop of the building where the other side was practicing sniping—a message that appears to have been left behind by the police officer.
A string of numbers and letters on a computer.
...What nonsense! To put it bluntly, they just want my help to solve the mystery and find the person.
Sano curled his lip. Finding the murderer is one thing, but finding someone requires solving a mystery first? Does he really think he's a detective?
However, considering the rifles, sniping, and Conan's mention of sniping timing, Sano's extensive experience tells him—
If nothing unexpected happens, my mission is likely to go awry.
"Brother Jia, check if there's anything wrong with the nearby high points."
"what?"
Upon hearing Sano's words, Vodka, who was immersed in his own pleasant fantasy, was initially startled, thinking that he had been exposed. After realizing what had happened, he became puzzled by Sano's instruction.
What's the purpose of looking at nearby high points?
Although Vodka didn't understand the purpose of Sano's order, he still did as he was told without hesitation.
...Let's play it safe for now, and once the other party is cured, we won't have to be so afraid anymore.
After scanning his surroundings with his binoculars, Vodka suddenly uttered a soft "Hmm?"
"Rye, on the rooftop of a building 500 meters away, there seem to be a few suspicious guys around..."
As expected.
Sano took the binoculars and looked at the building.
There were five people in total, four men and one woman. One of the men had a sea urchin hairstyle and was holding a rifle. The other three men were holding handguns. Only the woman was tied up and left in a corner.
"It seems our target has been set up by someone else."
Sano bit his finger again. To be honest, what bothered him wasn't this, but whether Conan would discover the truth and then bring the police to interfere with him.
"Beep, system task has been triggered."
[Please ensure the survival of the police officer couple. Completion will earn you 100 enhancement points. Remaining time for the mission: 0:14:59].
...Tsk, this is ridiculous.
Sano pulled out the map and glanced at it. Sure enough, the police officer couple in the mission target were the two guys on the rooftop of that building.
In that case...
Sano looked down at the "message" in the message sent by Inspector Megure on his phone screen, and after reading it for a while, he turned it upside down.
I see, so it's the Heisei Limited Express number.
Sano made a phone call, cleared his throat, and told Inspector Megure the location of the couple on the rooftop.
The mission only has fifteen minutes left, and it's too late to get there now.
Although the distance between the two sides is not too far, the problem is that they are both on the rooftop, and it takes a lot of time just to go up and down the stairs.
There were two people watching the sea urchin sniper, and a third person watching the hostage.
Even if the sniper is only assigned to deal with one person, the remaining two would be difficult for Sano to eliminate before the opponent could react.
Therefore, Sano needs to bring in "outside help".
...As for the voice, it was a little voice-changing technique that Sano had learned. Although it wasn't as lifelike as those masters of disguise, it was about 70-80% accurate. Especially since it was through a mobile phone, it shouldn't be a big problem to fool people.
Vodka, who was standing to the side, had not had much contact with "Shinichiro Sano" and could not tell the difference.
Otherwise, Sano couldn't possibly make a phone call in front of Vodka, or in a different place under a different alias, could he?
That's like protesting too much.
Even after Sano hung up the phone, Vodka, who was standing next to him, was still unable to recover.
"Rye, you..."
Seeing Vodka hesitate, Sano pulled out a casual hat, put it on, and asked calmly, "What's wrong?"
"……nothing."
What Vodka really wanted to ask was why they had lured the police to such a close location.
Although Vodka didn't know what was going on, he wasn't stupid. How could he not know that if the police arrived at the building, it would inevitably cause unnecessary trouble for the two of them in their next mission?
...Based on ordinary experience, Vodka might suspect that Sano is actually an undercover agent and that he is bringing the police here to arrest him.
But when this happens to Sano...
That's just impossible, isn't it?
Vodka shook his head, then suddenly froze.
Wait a minute, is Sano... about to lose control?!
After a period of calm, Sano's unruly nature is finally about to take over, and his "team-sabotaging" tendencies are about to kick in. So, he's deliberately trying to create chaos, preparing for a major battle with the police later, and then taking care of himself in the process, right?
...Wait a little longer.
Why did Sano lose control at this particular moment?
Could it be that Sano saw through his thoughts just now, or that he felt that Sano knew the reason for his "loss of control," so he was actually planning to use the opportunity to silence him?
In an instant, a storm raged through Vodka's mind, eventually settling into the single word "danger," which forced him to instinctively take two steps back.
"Ok?"
Sano glanced at Vodka. What was wrong with this guy now? Had he been startled by something again?
Never mind, it's a trivial matter; the important thing is the task.
Sano raised his gun and aimed it at the building where the sea urchin sniper was located. After changing his sunglasses back to sniper sunglasses, he aimed the simulated bullet trajectory at the man next to the woman.
...In addition to a lot of practical training in the previous two days, Sano had also passively absorbed a lot of knowledge related to sniping.
The simplest way is to use the markings on the sniper scope to estimate the distance to the target.
Just like now, the rooftop of that building is about 600 meters away from the rooftop of Sano's place.
Based on the sniper unit that Chianti mentioned, which is specifically for snipers, the range is approximately 700 yards.
...Speaking of the 700 yards distance, Sano finally understood why Gin and the others looked like they hoped he could hit the target at 700 yards that day.
The 700-yard distance was once the record set by the organization's best sniper, and no one has been able to break it to this day.
Unfortunately, that person turned out to be Shuichi Akai, that rat, which explains why Gin and the others hoped someone would break the deadlock.
However, if we calculate based on the fact that one yard is approximately equal to 0.915 meters, then Shuichi Akai's highest sniping record is around 640 meters, while Chianti and Cohen's are even less than 550 meters.
...Can someone like this really be considered a top-tier sniper?
Sano vaguely remembered those top snipers in his past life who could snipe targets thousands of meters away with ease.
Is it that the two worlds have different levels of expertise, or is it that I, who am just relying on hearsay, am actually too ignorant?
Sano shook off these random thoughts and focused on the present.
If the police fail to do their job, then prioritize taking out the guy next to the hostage. If things go well, the sniper might be able to take down another one, turning the three-on-one situation into a one-on-one one.
Even if Sano doesn't have time to fire a second bullet, the opponent still has a chance to win in a one-on-one fight.
...To be honest, Sano thought the success rate of this plan was not particularly high, but it was the highest among all the countermeasures he could think of.
I hope it will be successful.
A few minutes later, the sound of the train running on the tracks could be faintly heard.
Vodka glanced at the approaching Heisei Express, then at Sano, who was 800 miles away from the gun barrel. He wanted to warn him but dared not. If he didn't warn him, he was afraid of failing the mission and incurring the scorn of his boss and the resentment of Sano.
...I don't even know if I'll survive today, and I'm already starting to worry about tomorrow.
This is really worrying!
Vodka felt he was starting to go bald.
Hasn't he arrived yet?
Sano frowned slightly as he looked at the sea urchin sniper in the scope, who had also taken a aiming stance and whose fingers were trembling slightly.
They've already given them their location; are they going to play the last-minute trick of arriving at the critical moment?
Just as Sano was hesitating about whether he should take the risk and fire, Vodka suddenly spoke up.
"Rye, a police helicopter is here!"
Has it finally arrived?
Sano waited a few more seconds until he saw the people on the rooftop. They seemed to notice the so-called helicopter and their expressions changed. Only then did he finally pull the trigger.
"boom!"
A bullet flew out quickly and hit the man who was watching the hostage directly in the forehead, killing him instantly.
After the bullet was fired, Sano pulled the bolt again without the slightest hesitation, and changed the trajectory of the bullet to the two targets next to him.
At the same time, a helicopter also entered Sano's sniper scope view, causing the two men to panic. The sea urchin sniper took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack from behind, knocking one of them unconscious with his rifle.
Thus, the situation became a one-on-one duel, just as Sano had anticipated.
...They're pretty useless, both the sea urchin sniper and those guys who forced him to carry out the sniping.
Sano complained as he pulled the trigger. After the bullet flew out, he instantly adjusted his sniper sunglasses, pulled the bolt, and turned the muzzle towards the oncoming train.