EBE Chapter 348 That was close, I almost had to use my brain again.
Chapter 348 That was close, I almost had to use my brain again.
"It seems this is just a little surprise left behind by Mr. Kiichi, right?"
The butler glanced at the glittering gems on the double-headed eagle crown and said.
However, the gemstones inlaid on it are definitely not real gemstones; they are probably just pieces of glass.
"Mr. Xiyi is very fond of photography, especially design related to light and shadow."
The butler casually mentioned it, then turned to Kogoro Mouri and said:
"Mr. Mori, let's look for any mechanisms on the nearby stone walls. Perhaps this wall is just an illusion created by Mr. Kiichi."
Kogoro Mouri nodded, took the flashlight, and stepped back to the stone wall on one side, feeling around.
"Little sister, don't be embarrassed. Although you didn't find the mechanism, you still discovered an Easter egg that even Detective Mori didn't find."
Natsumi Kosaka smiled sadly at Ai Haibara, and then helped by feeling around on the side wall to find the mechanism.
"..."
Ai Haibara raised her head with difficulty and glanced at him.
Seeing that Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki looked like they were about to go over and comfort her, she quickly pulled Qi Ming's hand and led him to the side.
Ai Haibara looked at Qi Ming, her expression slightly fierce as she spoke to him.
"You lied to me!"
Qi Ming was somewhat bewildered.
"What did I lie to you about?"
Ai Haibara scoffed, "Were you deliberately acting against me just now?"
Clearly, the fact that the mechanism wasn't solved wasn't her fault.
So Qi Ming was just acting; he wanted to see me give the wrong answer and embarrass myself!
"That's not the right way at all! What were you arguing about just now?!"
Seeing Ai Haibara's gritted teeth, Qi Ming poked her forehead in annoyance.
"Am I such a perverse person? There really is only one mechanism here."
However, Qi Ming also felt something was strange.
Shining a flashlight on the crown—this is clearly documented in the post-mortem analysis.
So what's going on here...?
"Hiss~ Do you think it's possible?"
A moment later, as if realizing something, Qi Ming suddenly said to Ai Haibara:
"So we skipped a level? That's why the mechanisms here didn't trigger?"
"What do you mean?"
Qi Ming said it made a lot of sense.
"In other words, under normal circumstances, we should first crack the password above before the mechanism here can make a judgment."
"The current result is that the mechanism here doesn't trigger because it thinks the one above hasn't been unlocked."
"……what?"
After Qi Ming's persuasive reasoning, Ai Haibara was successfully convinced.
Although terms like "judgment" sounded a bit too abstract to Ai Haibara, she still understood the basic principles.
"So we still need to crack the code above?"
"It should be... a fart!"
Qi Ming raised an eyebrow.
That was close; I almost used my brain.
Once the normal mechanism is triggered, a gap will open in the stone path here, revealing another secret passage.
So why didn't he just chisel away the rock?
Without hesitation, Qi Ming confirmed the location, took out a crystal pickaxe, and started digging into the ground.
After all, if you were to actually stomp on it and cause the underground passage below to collapse, that would be asking for trouble.
“Mr. Qi Ming, I think you should…”
Seeing Qi Ming preparing to dig, Suzuki Sonoko felt a little ashamed and wanted to step forward and persuade him.
However, after seeing that Qi Ming's few strokes of the pickaxe had created a dent in the ground, Suzuki Sonoko swallowed and fell silent.
After Qi Ming had been a miner for several seconds, he finally saw a stone door hidden underground.
The castle has two underground passages. If this happened in the West, the castle owner would most likely be a deranged murderer who imprisons travelers.
After searching the vicinity for a long time without any results, Kogoro Mouri and his companions returned.
They shone their flashlights on the neatly shaped pit in the ground, and Kogoro Mori scratched his head in confusion.
"When did this hole appear here? And why is it so perfectly square?"
"Ah, this?"
Without Qi Ming needing to say anything, Ran Mouri came to the edge of the pit and explained to Kogoro Mouri:
"Actually, Mr. Qi Ming has already found the mechanism. The floor... has sunk, that's right!"
"Is that so? This mechanism is quite sophisticated; it didn't make a sound at all."
Ran Mouri smiled and nodded in response, then gave Qi Ming an OK sign with her hand hidden behind her back.
Don't worry, Mr. Qi Ming, I'll keep your identity as a magician a secret!
"..."
Qi Ming did not understand what Ran Mouri meant.
"There's a path down here, come down quickly."
Hearing Qi Ming's shout, Kogoro Mouri looked at the pit, which was nearly 4 meters deep, and was somewhat troubled.
The butler was an old man. He looked down at the height and his legs involuntarily went weak.
If he were younger, he would have dared to touch the edge and jump down, but if he continues like this now, his body might be ruined.
"Aren't you overestimating us? You think we can just jump from that height like that?"
Ai Haibara leaned close to the edge of the pit and said helplessly to Qi Ming.
Qi Ming raised his eyebrows, clapped his hands, and then spread his arms out.
"You're just going to jump like that? Don't worry, I can catch you."
"..."
Is this a question of whether or not it can be caught?
Sonoko Suzuki also heard Qi Ming's words, and her expression suddenly became somewhat excited.
"I want to do it! I've wanted to do it like this for a long time!"
"No problem, Ms. Suzuki, just jump, it's guaranteed to be safe."
When Ai Haibara saw Sonoko Suzuki about to jump, she quickly reached out to stop her.
"Don't be impulsive. What will you do if you jump now and then come back up?"
Sonoko Suzuki, who had been leaning forward slightly, immediately straightened up.
That makes sense.
Ai Haibara continued:
"Besides, Suzuki... Sister, as the heiress of the Suzuki Group, what if you got hurt if my brother didn't catch you properly?"
"Well……"
Sonoko Suzuki covered her mouth, moved by Ai Haibara's reaction.
This little girl is concerned about her!
"In that case, let me go back home. There's a ladder there."
After addressing everyone, the butler walked back the way he came.
Qi Ming withdrew his hand, put his hands on his hips, looked up and glared at Ai Haibara.
“What’s so hard about climbing up? It’s just a hurdle, I can jump over it with ease…”
Before Qi Ming could finish speaking, Ai Haibara suddenly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Then, she lightly jumped along the edge.
"What the hell?"
Qi Ming stretched out his arms and then steadily caught Ai Haibara.
"It's not that you're being selfish, but you're advising others not to jump while you jump yourself."
Ai Haibara's eyelashes trembled slightly, then she opened her eyes and looked at Qi Ming with a smile:
"It's quite fun."
"...6."
Noticing the commotion below, Sonoko Suzuki peeked out.
"Hey Ai, why did you jump down? Didn't you say it was dangerous?"
Ai Haibara jumped to the ground and shook her head at Sonoko Suzuki.
"I can jump, but Suzuki-neechan can't, because I'm lighter."
Sonoko Suzuki blinked blankly.
"is it?"