bantayden Chapter 1771 - 1769: Hua Li’s Grand Entrance (Rolling on the Ground with a Belly Full of Food)
Chapter 1771 - 1769: Hua Li’s Grand Entrance (Rolling on the Ground with a Belly Full of Food)
Tokyo National Museum art exhibit.
Like all the idiots who receive phantom thief prediction letters and stubbornly believe they will successfully catch the thief, the Tokyo National Museum did not choose to close or cancel the exhibition but kept it open.
Not only that......
"There are so many people here."
Looking at the bustling scene, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but sigh; he thought such a monotonous exhibit wouldn’t have any visitors.
"Hehehe, that’s all thanks to us, Mr. Fang Zheng."
Walking beside Fang Zheng, Frenda heard his sigh and chuckled.
"Riko not only sent the invitation to the organizers but also to various media and news agencies, even online outlets. Now, the whole of Japan knows about this, after all, this is the information age."
"Indeed, it is the information age."
Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded in agreement. As Frenda mentioned, previously, if a phantom thief sent an invitation, and managed it well, the news wouldn’t spread. But now, if you broadcast the news online and tap a few media outlets for publicity, such events can spread across Japan overnight.
"So these people are actually here for the spectacle?"
"Of course, it’s a chance to witness the appearance of a phantom thief firsthand. Who would pass on such a spectacle? Thus, this is what it becomes."
True indeed.
"By the way, what does this prediction letter mean?"
Fang Zheng said, while unlocking his phone and scrolling through, as Frenda mentioned, the internet was filled with news about Phantom Thief Lupin IV’s imminent heist at the National Museum. Among them was Riko’s prediction letter, filled with cryptic words like any phantom thief’s letter.
"Guided by the shepherdess, I will come with the wind, amidst attention welcoming the child yearning for the mother’s embrace — Lupin IV."
"Hehehe, Mr. Fang Zheng, do you want to know? In the end, you still need me to tell you... it’s not really a secret."
Speaking, Frenda leaned closer to Fang Zheng’s ear.
"According to Riko, the shepherdess refers to the moment Holmes first noticed Professor Moriarty during the Terror Valley incident. At the time, he found a painting by 18th-century French artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze, titled ’Shepherdess’ in Moriarty’s study. That painting was once sold for one hundred and twenty thousand francs. And it was this painting that sparked Holmes’ suspicion, thinking Moriarty, as a professor, couldn’t possibly have so much money......"
"Hmm, so?"
"According to Riko’s explanation, the name Shepherdess appears in the record of Terror Valley on the twelfth page, third line, tenth column... That’s her arrival time — 12:30, but in reality......"
At this point, Frenda chuckled.
"That’s in the English version, in the French version, it’s the twenty-fourth line, first column, which is 24:01. So it seems these police have found no clues at all."
"Hehe, Riko is really bent on harassing Arya."
Hearing this, Fang Zheng shook his head helplessly. Clearly, Shepherdess is used to refer to herself, and Riko’s prediction letter actually translates to "Under Professor Moriarty’s guidance, I will visit at 24:01 to steal the treasure."
That’s not all, what Fang Zheng found amusing was that all the clues were related to Sherlock Holmes. If Arya is truly a member of the Holmes Family, she should be able to figure out this clue, but if she fails to and Riko succeeds, she’ll certainly be taunted by Riko into isolation.
After all, she’s a descendant of Sherlock Holmes, yet she can’t remember her ancestor’s deeds?
But Fang Zheng didn’t plan to meddle, it ultimately was just a playful prank by a little girl. If Riko truly wanted to persecute Arya, she could simply transform into Arya and leave hair or DNA at the crime scene, forcing Arya into jail with her mother.
Not only that, even without Frenda’s words, Fang Zheng noticed Riko playing a little word game, the prediction letter didn’t specify a day, only mentioning "amidst attention," so generally one would assume the heist would occur when the Tokyo Museum exhibition opens, but in reality, even if it’s just with police here, it counts as amidst attention. Not to mention Riko previously applied to Fang Zheng for full network live broadcast......
Fang Zheng now understood what Riko intended.
A full simulcast would certainly be under everyone’s attention.
So...... times have changed, folks.
Watching the martial investigator students dressed as staff moving around, along with the heavily guarded police, Fang Zheng sighed.
Meanwhile, in the museum director’s office, the martial investigators, police, and exhibition executives all stared gravely at the prediction letter before them.
"So far, we can only speculate that the predicted date should be today."
Said a high-ranking police officer, then turned to the director.
"Director, do you have any idea what the thief intends to steal? The ’child yearning for the mother’s embrace’ should be a clue, right? Is there some specific artifact?"
"This...... this......
The director was sweating profusely, not knowing what to say. He could certainly see the alleged meaning, but truly had no idea, they had heard rumors about Lupin IV, who often steals relics from museums and returns them to original owners. Logically, the relic Lupin IV intends to steal should follow suit, but the issue is......
"We truly have no leads......"
Finally, the director bowed his head.
Because realistically, most artifacts on display here were previously plundered from other countries!
If truth be told, any one of them could be it!
"Ugh......"
Looking at the prediction letter, Arya frowned deeply, as an S-rank martial investigator, she had never encountered such a conundrum, Arya sensed that this time the culprit deliberately aimed to trouble her. But even so, she could not unravel the mystery...... this left Arya feeling quite defeated.
"Regardless, what we must do now is to heighten vigilance, we cannot allow that thief to succeed again! That guy deliberately posted the prediction online, summoned so many people, just to fish in troubled waters! Hence, we need to amplify our security, absolutely no leniency!"
Quite interesting.
Sitting on a chair not far away, sipping coffee, Fang Zheng glanced at the heavily guarded museum and nodded inwardly. He had to admit that Riko truly had Lupin’s genes, she deliberately misled people into considering she would take advantage of the crowd to fish in troubled waters.
With more people, naturally security becomes thinner, it’s common sense that it’s easier to mix in when there’s fewer people, but Riko went against this, indeed, a larger crowd may disperse focus, but precisely because of this, security must exert even more effort than usual.
It’s like a marathon, letting others rush ahead while you hang back, then leisurely strike once they exhaust themselves.
After all, intense security is very draining; as the saying goes, it’s not a thief stealing one fears, but a thief fixating.
Huh?
At this moment, Fang Zheng suddenly sensed a gaze upon him, he looked up towards the distance, seeing on the museum’s opposite rooftop a short-haired girl standing there watching him. Noticing something amiss, the girl promptly spun around and left as Fang Zheng’s gaze fixed on her.
Reiji? What is she plotting?
Narrowing his eyes in thought for a moment, Fang Zheng shrugged.
Oh well, we’ll find out when the time comes.
Quickly, the day came to an end.
"Today’s exhibition ends here, please leave the museum in an orderly manner, guests."
Accompanied by an electronic sound, visitors left the museum looking speechless and disappointed.
"Honestly, I thought I could see Phantom Thief Lupin IV!"
"Based on my deductions, she should’ve appeared!"
"This shows your deductions are completely wrong, drop it, you’re just a member of the deduction club, really think of yourself as a detective, huh."
"Oh, what a waste of time, I actually took a leave to wander around here all day......"
Looking at the small crowds dispersing, the Martial Investigators and police responsible for security finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the police inspector in charge of the site quickly issued orders.
"Closely monitor the museum immediately, conduct an inventory investigation of all artifacts, and seal all exits!"
"Yes!"
Soon, the Martial Investigators and police moved again, then worked together with museum experts to inventory the collections.
They were even prepared for some artifacts being swapped or missing, but unexpectedly, even after the inventory was completely finished, no errors were found.
What’s going on?
"Anyway, today is over, you can go back to rest."
Although the police inspector at the site was unsure of the situation, he eventually believed it was likely a misjudgment on his part, maybe the opponent didn’t choose today, and now it’s no longer a time of public attention, most people should be asleep, right?
Though Phantom Thief Lupin IV is elusive, he never lied to deceive anyone.
There should be no issues tonight.
Thinking of this, the police inspector also let the Martial Investigators who assisted in security go back to school, and also let some police go back to their posts and rest, while he stayed here to continue studying the notice letter.
It was already approaching twelve o’clock.
"Time’s up, Professor Moriarty."
Standing atop the tower, gazing at the museum not far away, Frenda revealed a triumphant smile, looking at Fang Zheng beside her, who was wearing a mask.
"Yes, indeed."
Fang Zheng glanced at his watch.
"It’s already twelve, one more minute."
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one......
Just as the second hand returned to the starting point, Frenda pressed the button in her hand.
At the same time... the entire museum suddenly went dark.
Not only the museum, in fact, the entire neighborhood became dark as a result. Only the illumination shells’ Radiance kept flickering in the night.
"BIU——————— bang!"
The dazzling Radiance shot straight into the sky, illuminating the city that had become Pitch Black.
"What’s that?"
"Illumination shells?!"
Noticing the unusual Radiance originating from the sky, the police inspector immediately stood up and walked to the window to look outside, while others were staring dumbfounded.
What kind of joke is this, this isn’t wartime, firing illumination shells!
"Bang bang bang!!!"
Soon, a series of illumination shells shot up, lighting the night sky snow white. This woke those who were already resting or planning to rest in the city, and they walked to their windows to watch this bizarre scene outside, not knowing what was happening.
"Lupin is coming! Lupin IV is approaching, everyone, everybody be vigilant!!"
The police inspector rushed out of the office, shouting in an attempt to gather the guards in the museum, but what he didn’t expect was, as soon as he reached the hall, he saw a girl dressed in Phantom Thief attire standing there, holding a vase in her hands.
"Hehe......"
Facing the police inspector in front of her, Riko made a funny face at him, while the inspector quickly picked up his gun, aiming it at Riko. At this moment, other policemen also rushed in from all directions, aiming their guns at Riko.
"Hands up, Lupin IV, I’m officially arresting you now!"
"Well, that depends on whether you have the skill."
Riko giggled, then she seemingly danced backward, while the police inspector held his gun firmly.
"You have nowhere to run, the entire museum is already fully sealed, even an Old Mouse can’t get out, you might as well surrender! Although I don’t know where you were hiding before, here, you can’t escape."
Saying this, the police inspector was rather pleased, as a precaution, he had put a lot of effort into it, and after the museum closed, the entire exhibition hall was completely sealed, now Lupin IV couldn’t escape even if he wanted to!
"Indeed......"
Hearing what the police inspector said, Riko nodded.
"Now leaving here is really tough, just like you said, this place feels like a can, but......"
Riko giggled.
"With a can, you can also open it, can’t you?"
With Riko’s words falling, the next moment, a burst of air suddenly erupted, followed by the Tokyo National Museum’s dome being directly blasted away with a "boom," lifting up!