Fujino: "..."
Watching Mouri-san's serious yet nonsensical expression, Fujino was momentarily speechless.
He glanced at Ran, then at Conan.
Conan currently had a contemplative look, seemingly still not having figured out who the eleventh target was.
'Mouri-san not noticing is one thing, but Conan hasn't figured it out either?'
Looks like he had to step up again.
Thinking this, Fujino took a deep breath and said gravely to everyone in the room, "Regarding eleven, I do have someone in mind."
"Who is it?"
"Dr. Agasa."
Saying this, Fujino asked Mouri Kogoro, "Mouri-san, Dr. Agasa should be an acquaintance of yours too, right?"
"Well, yes, that's correct."
Mouri-san nodded, his face showing confusion. "But Dr. Agasa, what does he have to do with eleven?"
Conan, however, immediately got it after Fujino's hint.
He understood!
Only after Fujino mentioned it did he realize – Dr. Agasa's name 'Hiroshi' (博士), if the character 'shi' (士) was split, it formed 'ten' (十) and 'one' (一), which is eleven!
Damn it.
Whether it was the acquaintance committing the crime, ruling out Murakami Jou's suspicion, or even identifying Dr. Agasa as the next victim – he had been beaten to the punch again.
How did Fujino figure all this out?
Thinking this, Conan decided to quickly speak up before Fujino: "Ah-le-le! If you separate the character 'shi' in Dr. Agasa's name, it becomes exactly eleven!"
"Dr. Agasa?"
Shiratori frowned, puzzled. "Isn't 'Hakase' (Doctor/Professor) just a title?"
"Actually, Dr. Agasa's given name really is Hiroshi (written as 博士, meaning Doctor/Professor)," Conan explained.
"I see."
Shiratori wrote down Dr. Agasa's name in his police notebook, nodding. "Indeed, if the character 'shi' is split, it does make eleven."
After some discussion, Dr. Agasa was successfully predicted as the next unlucky victim.
The police dispatched plainclothes officers along with Conan to protect Dr. Agasa at his home.
Mouri-san insisted on going along too.
Ran stayed at Touto University Hospital to look after Eri Kisaki.
Downstairs from Fujino's home.
Fujino parked his motorcycle.
Just as he was about to open the underground garage door and push the motorcycle inside,
the screeching sound of a motorcycle braking sharply echoed from behind him.
Instantly, the piercing sound made every cell in Fujino's body tremble.
A chill enveloped him, his mind freezing from the cold, feeling like needles on his back.
Amidst the chill, he turned his head.
He saw a man wearing a red motorcycle suit and red helmet, riding a black motorcycle, aiming a crossbow directly at him.
"Not good!"
Fujino reacted instantly, rapidly activating all available enhancements.
[Detective Enhancement activated, increasing Host's physical abilities by 200%]
[Advanced Perception Enhancement activated, increasing Host's perception by 200%]
[Advanced Reaction Enhancement activated, increasing Host's reaction speed by 200%...]
As the system prompts echoed in his ears, the man pulled the crossbow trigger.
With a whistling sound, the steel arrow shot towards him at an incredible speed.
Although the speed was the same, in his eyes, it became clearly visible.
Fujino twisted his body, dodging. The arrow grazed past him.
"I can see it clearly..."
Fujino reached out, instinctively grabbing at the steel arrow as it flew past.
When he came back to his senses, he was surprised to find he had caught the steel arrow that had just brushed past him.
Actually, the fact that Megure Juzo wasn't killed by a single arrow indicated that the steel arrows and the crossbow the culprit used weren't properly matched.
Given the steel arrow's quality, firing it from a crossbow would inevitably result in some loss of speed.
An arrow's penetration power depends mainly on speed and the sharpness of the arrowhead.
"Nani?!"
Nearby, the man on the black motorcycle stared, stunned by the scene.
If he wasn't mistaken, the kid in front of him had just caught the steel arrow he fired?
Is this guy even human?!
Having missed, the man didn't linger. He put away the crossbow, twisted the throttle hard, and sped away.
Simultaneously, a system notification echoed in Fujino's ear: "New Detective Profession Task Detected. Please check."
[Detective Profession Task: The Eleventh Target]
[Task Description: Host has become the eleventh target in the serial attack case. Who could the culprit be?]
[Objective: Capture the man who just attacked you.]
[Location: Displayed on HUD]
[Reward: 1,000,000 Yen, +100 Detective Reputation, All Profession Points x1]
Fujino looked at the system interface before him, then at the steel arrow in his hand, frowning.
So the eleventh target wasn't Dr. Agasa, but him?
But what connection did he have with eleven?
Then again, Dr. Agasa's name didn't seem to have a real connection to eleven either.
That guy's choice of targets was purely forced nonsense, hiding his true motive for murder.
Closing the system interface, Fujino stored the arrow in his pocket dimension, mounted his motorcycle, and gave chase.
Originally, he planned to investigate this guy's identity and pay him a righteous surprise visit at home tonight.
Unexpectedly, he delivered himself right to the doorstep...
And apparently came specifically to kill him.
This saved a lot of trouble.
But that attack just now was truly dangerous. If he hadn't reacted quickly enough and activated the system enhancements in time...
Given the power of that steel arrow, if it had hit him square in the chest, he likely would have been instantly killed.
The more he thought, the angrier he got. Fujino twisted the throttle hard, the motorcycle engine roaring.
Hearing the roar, the man on the dirt bike also noticed Fujino pursuing him. Twisting his throttle, he began weaving through traffic.
[Driving Skill Enhancement effect activated]
Without hesitation, Fujino activated the Driving Skill Enhancement card on top of his professional driving skills and followed closely.
A long chase ensued.
Forty minutes later, the man's dirt bike ran out of fuel and screeched to a halt at a port.
"Stay back!"
The man dismounted, looking flustered, and raised the crossbow, pointing it at Fujino.
"Do you think your little toy still works on me?"
Fujino walked forward slowly, carrying his bokken, speaking coolly.
He then glanced at the cooldown timer for the Detective Enhancement.
Seeing the thirty-minute cooldown had passed, he raised his bokken, pointing it directly at the man before him. "I advise you not to put up any more meaningless resistance. It will hurt."
With that, he used the Perception Enhancement card and Reaction Enhancement card, simultaneously activating the Detective Enhancement.
"Die!"
The crossbow trigger was pulled again.
With the previous experience, this time, Fujino didn't dodge.
Slice!
Fujino took a deep breath. The bokken swung, becoming a blur, colliding with the incoming steel arrow.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the steel arrow snapped in two.
Even though his enhancements weren't all fully active now, Fujino's base strength combined with the Detective Enhancement was not to be underestimated.
Moreover, after training at the Konoha Kendo Dojo, his swordsmanship had reached previously unattainable heights.
Although the Okamoto 0.01 was just a wooden sword, it had an edge and was extremely hard; it just couldn't injure people easily.
With its extreme hardness, the bokken's edge was incredibly effective against inanimate objects.
This was a conclusion drawn from test-cutting a utility pole earlier.
"Is that all?"
Fujino held the bokken, a playful smile on his face, walking slowly towards the man.
"You... stay away!"
The man frantically fumbled for another steel arrow, loaded the crossbow, and shot at Fujino again.
Fujino continued walking forward steadily. He raised the bokken in his hand, a shadow flickered, and the arrow broke again.
Seeing the arrows were no longer a threat to Fujino, the man immediately tossed the crossbow aside, scrambled up, and charged towards Fujino, intending to fight hand-to-hand.
Then, Fujino struck his abdomen with the bokken, sending him flying backward over a meter.
"Cough, cough!"
The man clutched his stomach, saliva drooling from his mouth, dripping down from the edge of his helmet.
As the man struggled in pain, Fujino had already reached him.
Fujino stepped on his stomach, pinning him firmly to the ground. Then, with a flick of his bokken, the man's helmet was knocked off into the harbor water behind him.
What came into view was a twisted, pale, thin man's face. A few long strands of hair remained near the fringe area on top of his head.
"What's your name?"
Fujino grabbed the man's collar, asking coldly.
"Huh?"
The man paused, clearly not understanding why Fujino was asking for his name.
"I asked for your name!"
With that, Fujino swung the bokken down onto his arm.
"Ah..."
After a pained cry, the man finally weakly revealed his name: "Sawaki Kouhei..."
"Sawaki Kouhei, huh. So that's your name."
Fujino stroked his chin upon hearing this. "Okay, Mr. Sawaki. Have a good sleep, Mr. Sawaki."
Saying this, he raised the bokken in his hand, brought it down swiftly and heavily onto Sawaki Kouhei's forehead.
"Ah!"
Sawaki Kouhei let out a scream, and then... silence.
Fujino pried open his eyelid, confirmed he was unconscious, then took out his phone and dialed Megure Juzo's number.
"Fujino-kun, what's up?"
Receiving Fujino's call, Megure Juzo sounded somewhat puzzled.
"I've caught the culprit who attacked you, Inspector Megure."
"What?"
Megure Juzo exclaimed in surprise. "Fujino-kun, are you saying you've already caught the culprit?"
"That's right. That guy attacked me with a crossbow on a motorcycle when I was heading home. Luckily, I reacted quickly and dodged... But I've caught him now."
Fujino glanced at Sawaki Kouhei lying on the ground. "The culprit's name is Sawaki Kouhei. His identity should be a bartender."
"Fujino-kun, where are you now? I'll send someone over right away."
Megure Juzo asked anxiously. He truly hadn't expected that just hours after he was attacked in the morning, Fujino would catch the culprit in the afternoon.
What puzzled him, though, was why the culprit would attack Fujino...
"Kyoto xxxx Port."