Lost Lord Ranbu

Mao Lilan saw Edogawa Ranpo for the first time at the station.

How to describe it?

It should be said that it is quite eye-catching. At a glance, you can see that he is different from the passers-by, and he is even a little out of tune with the world.

A young man in his 20s was half lying on the waiting seat beside the platform. He leaned against the back of the chair, his head was tilted back, his eyes were narrowed comfortably, and he looked like a black cat basking in the sun.

She was obviously wearing a well-dressed suit that could go to a banquet, but she was ruined by the master's crooked posture.The tie was hanging loosely on the outside of the vest, and a crumpled shirt corner was exposed under the light gray vest. As for his coat—that black coat that looked expensive at first glance, he rolled it up at random and used it as a cushion. The overly long clothes fell to the ground, and a leather shoe stepped on it.

Mao Lilan couldn't help but take a second look.

If you rush up to remind the other party, "Your clothes fell on the floor, and you are still stepping on it", isn't that a bit too abrupt?But the other party didn't seem to care about the clothes, and he didn't need to do anything extra.

She looked back and stood quietly behind the yellow line waiting for the train to enter the station.

"elder sister."

A small voice sounded.

Mao Lilan looked down, and a five or six-year-old girl was looking at her timidly with her head up.

The little girl was wearing fluffy rabbit earmuffs, a light blue kindergarten uniform, and a small light yellow schoolbag on her back. She was very cute.It may be because the parents walked away and handed over the luggage to the child. She was still holding a dark waterproof bag in her arms, which looked a little heavy, and it was very difficult to hold it.

Mao Lilan squatted down, looked at the little girl at the same level, and asked in a soft tone: "What's the matter? Can't you find your parents?"

The little girl hesitated and didn't answer right away.

Two seconds later, as if she had received some warning, her face suddenly turned pale, and tears welled up in her eyes.

This reaction is obviously not what a lost child should have.

Mao Lilan, whose father was a detective and whose childhood sweetheart was also a detective, was keenly aware of something, but she couldn't confirm the situation, she just stared down at the waterproof bag in the little girl's arms.

She didn't act rashly, and said slowly: "Do you need help?"

The little girl looked at her, with tears streaming down her cheeks, but she didn't yell, like a doll programmed to speak fixed lines, repeating someone else's words word by word: "Please help me get Take a bag."

After she said this request, the last trace of blood on her face faded, she closed her mouth tightly and didn't say another word.

Thinking of the multiple bombings that Dad mentioned recently, the mastermind who was not caught, and the perpetrators' habit of using mercury column as a lead, I probably encountered the worst situation unfortunately.

The little girl in front of her was just a controlled messenger. If she didn't follow through, something even more terrifying might happen.

Mao Lilan stretched out her hand calmly, and took the waterproof bag carefully.

"Tick."

At that moment, she heard the sound of the machine starting.

——This is the official start.

After the little girl handed over the package, she immediately ran away with her rabbit earmuffs in her hands, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Mao Lilan stood motionless with her waterproof bag in both hands. The train she was going to take stopped at the station for a while, and then quickly left the platform according to the timetable.

It was impossible to say that she wasn't afraid, but she couldn't make a mistake.

clam down--

In this case, asking for help from passers-by rashly can easily cause commotion, and the bomb in your hand will explode immediately if you are not careful.The only person she could ask for help was the young man lying on the chair, because he witnessed the whole process, just ask him...

"Sir." She tried not to let the ups and downs of her chest affect the things in her arms, and called softly, "This sir?"

The young man's upturned head moved.

Mao Lilan asked for help again: "Sir, please help me, go and inform the police officer at the station that there is danger here."

The young man turned his face to her, still squinting his eyes, clearly knowing what kind of crisis he was facing, but his expression still seemed to have nothing to do with him.

"Are you begging Ranpo-sama me?"

He drew a long tone and asked slowly.

The sense of incongruity came again.

If it weren't for the young man's actions to avoid the explosion, Mao Lilan would even suspect that the other party was behind the scenes. She heard from her father's analysis that the real prisoner had been at large and never appeared at the scene of the explosion.

But this is also the strangest part. Normal people didn't show the slightest panic in the face of terrorist attacks?

For a while, Mao Lilan hesitated whether to ask him for help.

But she really couldn't guarantee that she could carry this smoothly to find the police officer on duty, and the possibility of others discovering her abnormality and coming to help was too low.After a while, her hand holding the bag will definitely tremble uncontrollably, not to mention the timer will detonate.

"Well, it's so troublesome, I really don't want to worry about it..."

The young man scratched his hair in distress, and the tail of his slightly longer hair was messily raised.He folded his legs and sat cross-legged on the chair, shaking his upper body childishly, as if he was simply worried about a troublesome matter.

"But—forget it!"

Like a child who suddenly changed his mind, the young man jumped off the chair nimbly, and his leather shoes landed on the floor tiles with a "slap" sound.His walking posture was a bit lazy, but he walked towards the source of danger step by step without any hesitation.

"If you can buy snacks for Mr. Ranpo, Mr. Ranpo will help you once." The young man leaned up to the female high school student holding a bomb and gestured a finger. His squinting eyes opened, and it was emerald green. Clear green, cold and shiny.

"Master Ranpo is hungry, so I have a special discount." He discussed in an unquestionable tone, "How is it? It's a good deal, this deal."

Trade an emergency call for a treat.

——Is this the content of the transaction?

The transaction that was too joking made Mao Lilan suspect that the other party was playing tricks on her, but it was already such a critical time, and there was no need to care about it.

"I agree, please go to the police."

Hearing this, the young man picked up his mobile phone, pressed it a few times, and quickly dialed the alarm number, reporting the location and incident concisely and clearly to the other end.

Mo Lilan's eyes widened in surprise.

That was her mobile phone, which was taken away by the young man sometime, and the mobile phone has a lock screen password, how did he open it?

The young man didn't give any explanation for this, he hung up the phone, and confidently put Mao Lilan's mobile phone into his pocket.

"Next-"

He opened the waterproof bag.

The red numbers on the electronic screen were beating in a countdown state, and there was a small column of mercury next to the transparent shell. As long as it was shaken, both of them could be blown into the sky.

"Can you defuse bombs?" Mao Lilan's voice trembled.

"Not at all, it's not my job to dismantle bombs." The young man narrowed his eyes again, and he said the most dangerous words unconsciously, "But, just look at this kind of thing..."

He didn't continue talking, and acted like a curious baby with dangerous goods.Mao Lilan didn't dare to move, so she could only stand there stiffly, letting him touch here and there.

Ten minutes later, there were only the two of them left in the station.

Police have cordoned off the outside and evacuated the crowd from the station.It didn't take long for heavily armed EOD experts to come in. They carefully observed the situation for a while, not sure why there was an ordinary person standing here.

"It's so slow, you guys." The black-haired young man reprimanded regardless of the occasion, "Is someone going to arrest that marshal? Otherwise, if the detonation fails, Master Ranbu will be angry.

"What?" The EOD team looked at each other.

"You must go." He said to himself again, and then smiled at Mao Lilan, "What Mr. Luanbu said is not wrong. After the deal is concluded, remember to honor the promise."

After he finished speaking, he took his black windbreaker jacket and walked out carelessly around the EOD team.The others had no reason to stop him and could only watch the young man leave the station.

Bomb defusing is not an easy task.

Especially for mercury bombs like this, if the angle is slightly tilted, the mercury rod will explode if it is tilted. It even has a timing device as a double insurance, and the minutes and seconds on the display are reminding that death is approaching.

The personnel in charge of bomb disposal looked solemn, and the clothes under the explosion-proof suits were already wet with sweat.

What he admired even more was that the female high school student was still able to maintain a posture after such a long time. This was not only a physical exertion, but also a mental struggle.

— No, not enough time.

Mr. Tanaka, who has been engaged in bomb disposal operations for ten years, made a rational judgment in his heart.

In the last half minute, he looked at the female high school student.

She also seemed to understand something, but there was no resentment in her eyes, just filled with tears, she shook her head in a small arc, and said nothing.

Mr. Tanaka was silent.

He put down the laser instrument in his hand and retreated slowly.

Countdown to ten seconds.

No one thought that the high school girl would survive.

The surroundings are silent.

Waiting for the last salute to death.

but--

Ten seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

The timer stopped spontaneously at 00:00:01.

Before they could figure out what happened, there was a commotion outside.

"orchid!"

A middle-aged man with a mustache and an anxious expression ran in from the entrance of the passageway of the station. He ignored the obstruction of the EOD team, and even quickly overturned a police officer who was holding him back, and rushed directly to the female high school student.

"dad?"

Mouri Kogoro ran to the front in two or three steps, and even snatched the bomb from his daughter's hand without hesitation!

"Ah!" Mao Lilan couldn't help exclaiming.

Although the timing device stopped, the mercury rod was not removed, and the balance she had maintained for half an hour was broken at this moment.

"Get down!" someone yelled.

The explosion-proof group subconsciously fell on the ground collectively, their postures were very standard.

Deathly silence.

Mori Kogoro looked angry, and threw the waterproof bag far away, completely ignoring whether it would explode or not—in fact, it did not explode, and the mercury rod seemed to have lost its detonating effect.

Mao Lilan didn't react for a while, she was in a daze.

"Is it all right?"

"The principal culprit has been caught, and the bomb won't go off. Don't be afraid." Mori Kogoro scolded the damned marshal again in his heart, and he took his daughter into his arms to comfort him, "Don't be afraid, we can go back home." home."

"……Eh?"