Out-of-control players in the world of Detective Conan

Chapter 507 Strange Appearances

The three of them walked slowly through the maze, one in front of the other, trying their best not to make any noise.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Shinichi Kudo, who was at the very back, suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Did you hear anything?"

Vermouth glanced back at Shinichi Kudo, shook her head, and responded softly.

"No, what's wrong?"

"...Because the judge said there were wild beasts inside, but so much time has passed and we haven't heard a sound."

Shinichi Kudo felt very uneasy.

After all, the unknown dangers are the most terrifying.

"That's right."

Vermouth frowned, then asked a moment later.

"Cool guy, what do you think of this level?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Ming gave a reply.

"Um, I don't know either, let's just take it one step at a time."

He knew, of course, that was how Vermouth addressed Shinichi Kudo.

But he's just as cool, so it's not wrong for him to reply.

"……Yeah?"

Vermouth's lips twitched, and she asked again.

"Shinichi Kudo, what do you think?"

"me?"

Shinichi Kudo pondered for a moment, then replied softly.

"The flames in the first level are regular, and in the second level, if you can suppress your hunger with pain in the early stages of hunger, there is actually a way to survive. So there is a way to survive in this animal realm."

Shinichi Kudo fell silent and stopped talking, suddenly feeling a little irritated.

Ultimately, this was not a case that he, as a detective, should have been responsible for.

He's good at solving puzzles, if it's just a matter of fact.

But here, with the judge adding so many restrictions, he simply couldn't exert his power.

However, thinking about these things now seems pointless.

With Qi Ming here, why would he need to use his brain?

The three of them set off, and as Vermouth led the group to a corner and prepared to turn right, Qi Ming's voice suddenly rang out.

"Stop for a second!"

The slightly amplified volume made both Vermouth and Shinichi Kudo shudder.

"What, what's wrong?"

"Shine your flashlight down the road to the left."

By the light of the flashlight, Vermouth also saw that Qi Ming's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Look...look to the left?"

"good."

Something bad is going to happen, something bad is probably going to happen, right?

Vermouth took a deep breath and then slowly turned the flashlight toward the passage on the left.

And the area illuminated by the light...

Nothing at all.

However, there was no living creature, but there was one dead creature.

Vermouth looked at the round tube on the ground and asked with some confusion.

"what is this?"

Qi Ming's eyes lit up. He released Vermouth's shoulder and quickly stepped forward to pick up the round tube from the ground.

"Well done! I think we've found the key item!"

Vermouth and Shinichi Kudo looked completely bewildered.

"A key item?"

"That's right, it's a fuse!"

Qi Ming held up the fuse and laughed.

As he became more and more familiar with it, the secret room finally started to look somewhat decent.

"Without a doubt, this fuse is used to open the door."

Qi Ming spoke to the two of them with great interest.

"If I'm not mistaken, even if we find the final exit now, we probably won't be able to get in because there's no power."

"If we really want to get in, we'll probably have to find all the fuses in this maze and then plug them in at the corresponding locations!"

"I pretty much know why we haven't encountered that beast yet. It's because we haven't collected enough fuses. I reckon something big will happen just when we're almost there!"

Hearing Qi Ming's words, Vermouth didn't react, but Shinichi Kudo's gaze towards Qi Ming changed.

Can you deduce so much just by looking at a fuse?

You see, he was just wondering why there was a fuse in this place.

Shinichi Kudo finally couldn't resist asking out of curiosity.

"How did you know?"

"what?"

Qi Ming glanced at Shinichi Kudo and gave a soft snort.

"That's common sense, little brother. You'll understand once you play some horror games."

"Let's go, let's go back and check the other forks in the road. There might be some fuses we left behind."

Qi Ming returned to the center and turned around, now Shinichi Kudo was the one leading the charge.

"..."

Shinichi Kudo took the flashlight, paused for a moment, and then spoke to Qi Ming.

"Brother Qi Ming, why don't you go first?"

"You're a detective, you have to protect me and this vulnerable woman behind me."

"Good good."

Shinichi Kudo took a deep breath.

It's alright, Qi Ming is right behind me, it's not a big problem.

"Brother Qi Ming, could you hold my waist?"

"...You're trying to pull a Sichuan opera act on me, huh?"

“I’m serious, I’m not joking.”

"Alright, alright."

Qi Ming reluctantly put his arm around Shinichi Kudo's waist.

However, at the same time, Vermouth also put her hands on Qi Ming's waist from behind.

Qi Ming turned around and looked at Vermouth blankly.

"What are you going to do again?"

Vermouth turned her head and said calmly.

"You yourself said I'm a weak woman, so why can't I hold your waist?"

Seeing this, Qi Ming had no reason to refuse and sighed.

"Alright, what can I do? I'm a mature adult, so I'll reluctantly take care of you two old folks and children."

……

Half an hour later, the three of them stopped in a dead end of the maze.

During this time, they had explored most of the maze and even found the exit gate.

All that's left is to put the fuse on so we can power the gate and get through.

Qi Ming installed the fuse, and looking at the last gap on the dial, he couldn't help but spit on the ground.

"Here comes the most ridiculous part: even though I've searched every place, there's always something missing in the end, damn it."

Vermouth looked up at the ceiling with a look of utter despair.

I'm feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

The three turned around to check if there was anything they had overlooked.

But then, the flashlight suddenly started flashing.

Shinichi Kudo frowned and patted the flashlight.

"The flashlight seems to be out of power."

"No power? Did you see any batteries along the way?"

"No."

Qi Ming took the flashlight and patted it.

However, this method is obviously only used to repair electrical appliances, not to charge them.

"This design is no good. We should at least include a battery."

Just as Qi Ming was complaining, Shinichi Kudo had somehow retreated behind Qi Ming.

He touched Qi Ming's shoulder and said in a trembling voice.

"Ahead, ahead of you!"

He had seen it by accident when Qi Ming was shining the flashlight...

The light shone on the passageway ahead, and in that passageway, there was a huge dark shadow!

"what?"

Qi Ming looked at the passage in front of him and pointed the flashlight at it.

The flashlight was still flashing, but each time it flashed, a dark shadow seemed to appear in front of it.

With each flash of the lights, the dark figure seemed to get a little closer to the three of them!

dong dong——

Heavy footsteps echoed in the darkness, and Qi Ming's flashlight seemed to have completely broken down, failing to light up for a long time.

A few seconds later, the lights finally came back on.

This time, the flashlight seemed to be fully charged and stopped flashing.

And the true face of that dark figure was revealed.

They were no more than half a meter away...

Judging from its appearance, it should be a rabbit, right?

Standing nearly two meters tall, it resembles a deformed product of industrial waste and biological remains forcibly fused together.

That disproportionately large mouth wasn't filled with teeth, but with countless huge metal nails!

Qi Ming stared blankly at the beast's gaping maw, his senses seemingly only snapping back to reality at that moment.

"Whoaaah!"

Terrified cries echoed throughout the space.

However, unlike Vermouth and Shinichi Kudo, who instinctively wanted to run away upon seeing the nail mouth.

Qi Ming simply reached out his hands instinctively.

What he was carrying was... two machine guns.

"You son of a bitch, eat shit!"

Chu tu tu tu——

The gunshots and flashes of light made the space bright and jarring.

Gunshots are supposed to be frightening.

But Vermouth and Shinichi Kudo felt only immense peace of mind at that moment!