113: Chapter 113: The Righteous Assault

"Oh no!"

"Takayama Minami has been kidnapped!"

In front of the café, the Beika's little death squad watched the departing van, panic evident on their faces.

Conan's expression darkened, his gaze fixed on the receding vehicle, a strange white light seeming to flash behind his glasses.

Vroom!

Just then, the familiar roar of an engine sounded nearby.

Conan looked up to see a familiar Ford Taurus speeding past.

"Fujino?!"

Conan stared, momentarily stunned by the sight of the passing car.

He instantly recognized the driver.

It had to be Fujino!

In all of Beika, who else drove a Ford Taurus like that?!

"Fujino, wait for me!"

Conan waved frantically. "Fujino! Hey—"

Clearly, his shouts failed to capture Fujino's attention.

"What on earth is that guy Fujino up to?"

Conan watched the two vehicles disappear into the distance, a frustrated pout forming on his face.

Fujino definitely noticed him just now.

But he didn't stop...

Damn it, what game was Fujino playing?

The sky grew heavy, and a downpour began.

The air filled with the smell of rain, slightly unpleasant.

Raindrops splattered against the windshield, only to be immediately swept away by the wipers.

Tailing the van, Fujino arrived at a two-story abandoned auto processing plant.

"Is this the place?"

Parking his car nearby, Fujino approached the plant on foot.

Through his Vision Enhancement Glasses, he spotted the van he had been following parked just ahead.

The van door slid open.

Takayama Minami and Nagano Shiina were bound tightly.

One kidnapper walked ahead, while the other, holding a gun, threatened both of them as they were slowly led into the second floor of the building.

"A gun... tsk, a bit troublesome."

Fujino watched the armed kidnapper, clicking his tongue.

At his current stage, a gun still posed a problem.

However, it was merely a problem.

As long as one's thinking remains flexible, solutions always outnumber difficulties.

For Fujino, equipped with system cheats, the threat level of a gun depended entirely on who wielded it.

In the hands of a brainless kidnapper, it was little more than a harmless piece of scrap metal.

Quietly circling to the back of the abandoned building,

Fujino grabbed onto a drainpipe running along the outer wall. Aided by the Comfort-Step Seniors' Shoes, he scaled the wall with agile grace, reaching the rooftop.

Standing atop the building, the torrential rain soaked through Fujino's windbreaker.

He paid little mind to the slight chill brought by the drenching rain.

Perhaps in the past, being caught in such a downpour would have guaranteed a severe illness.

But times had changed.

Strengthened by multiple profession enhancements and the conditioning from the Physique Fruit,

he, Fujino, had become a true man capable of fighting all night and still being vigorous the next day!

Ignoring the rain, Fujino walked slowly to the edge of the roof and pulled a small mirror from his pocket.

Leaning over the edge, he used the mirror's reflection to peer through a window, assessing the situation in the room below.

Takayama Minami and Nagano Shiina were tied up in a corner.

Of the two suspects, only one remained, sitting idly on a chair in the middle of the room.

Retracting the mirror, Fujino glanced at his heads-up display.

Following the HUD's indicator, he looked down towards the ground level.

A flashing red dot confirmed that the armed kidnapper had already driven away in the van.

"Perfect chance."

Watching the vehicle drive off, Fujino casually retrieved a Strength Enhancement Card from his pocket dimension and crushed it.

[Strength Enhancement (200%) Activated. Current Countdown: 599 seconds]

Hearing the confirmation, he first took out the Endless Red Rope from his dimension, securing one end to a nearby rooftop ventilation fan unit.

He then tied the other end around his waist using a figure-eight knot.

Confirming the rope was secure, Fujino moved to the edge.

He took out the mirror again, confirming the kidnapper was still in the second-floor room.

Swiftly, he pulled the bokken charm from his neck, materializing the wooden sword. Holding the sword in one hand and gripping the rope with the other, he leaped off the edge towards the window below.

Mid-air, the black figure formed a graceful arc.

Halfway down his rappel, Fujino instantly turned.

Raising the bokken gripped tightly in his right hand, he thrust it directly towards the window before him.

CRASH!

The glass shattered under the bokken's impact.

As shards flew inwards, a black figure burst through like a phantom, executing a righteous assault into the second-floor room, landing steadily on the floor inside.

"?"

The kidnapper, startled by the noise, turned his head and saw Fujino smashing through the window, momentarily stunned.

Fujino seized the kidnapper's moment of hesitation, untied the rope from his waist, raised his bokken, and charged.

"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!"

"Argh! Aaaah!"

Fujino's bokken became a blur.

Each swing, accompanied by the sound of cutting air, was met with a pained cry.

Nearby, Takayama Minami and Nagano Shiina watched the scene unfold, their eyes wide with disbelief.

For a moment, the scene became utterly terrifying.

If they hadn't just been kidnapped themselves, they might have mistaken Fujino for the vicious criminal.

As they watched, Fujino raised the bokken high and brought it down forcefully onto the kidnapper's head.

A hollow thud echoed through the room.

The kidnapper let out one final groan, then fell silent.

Seeing the kidnapper motionless, Fujino crouched down and pried open his eyelids.

The bloodshot eyes had rolled back, pupils dilated – clearly unconscious.

Turning around, Fujino wiped a bead of sweat from his temple and approached Takayama Minami and Nagano Shiina.

As soon as he tore the tape from their mouths, Takayama Minami, recovering from her shock, asked incredulously,

"Detective Fujino, how did you get here?"

"We can talk after this is over..."

Fujino untied the ropes binding them. "You two get out of here first and call the police."

"What about you?"

As they reached the doorway, Takayama Minami suddenly turned back to ask.

"I still need to catch the other guy."

Fujino glanced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the red dot indicating the target's location on his system interface. "Hurry, or it'll be too late."

"I understand... Be careful. The other one has a gun."

Although Takayama Minami was bewildered by Fujino's actions,

she nonetheless left with Nagano Shiina.

Fujino's combat prowess had exceeded her imagination.

She knew that staying would only hinder him; ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠helping by calling the police was the best course of action.