"Inspector, hurry!"
The typhoon hadn't fully passed, but Mouri was already urging the police patrol boats to head out to sea in search.
At the same time, the students at the hotel were mobilized, boarding fishermen's boats to look for their kidnapped classmates. On the endless waters, among boundless waves, even one more pair of eyes meant one more chance.
'You must be safe, my daughter!' Mouri, a good father, had been terrified for hours. Now that they were finally at sea, he wished for more eyes, wished his voice could carry across the whole ocean.
"Raaaan———" His shout grew hoarse, but across the vast sea there was nothing.
The wind eased, the waves calmed. Still, there was no sign of anyone. Survival rate in the wild was always inversely proportional to time. The longer it dragged on, the colder Mouri's heart became.
Hundreds of boats patrolled, yet they couldn't even cover one-tenth of the waters around the island. Still, since it was treasure-hunting, the key would be near the underwater ruins. Even so, nothing was found. His heart sank all the way to the seabed.
"Ran, if something happened to you, how can I ever face Eri? You must be safe…"
Meanwhile, under the sea, Kid had everything ready. He recalled all his pigeons back to the ship. "You two get inside as well. I'll blow open the ceiling in a moment. A flood of seawater will pour into this dock, and we'll float up like a submarine."
"That's impossible. The ship will get smashed by falling rocks." Conan protested.
"No problem. As my friend likes to say, my calculations have never been wrong. Just sit back and enjoy the thief's show."
Everything was prepared. Kid stood on deck, strapping himself to the mast. He wrapped himself in a transparent plastic sheet to keep his uniform dry. Today, his outfit was a real uniform, not waterproof, since it had to conceal the pigeons.
"Hold on tight, everyone. The show begins now!" He pressed the detonator.
Boom—
The fragile ceiling above was instantly blasted apart, the explosives pulverizing the stone, and seawater came raging down in torrents.
Luckily, he had prepared for this. Otherwise, that much seawater would have smashed the wooden ship into splinters. Kid quickly pressed another remote. Inflatable airbags around the hull burst open, surrounding the pirate ship and shielding it.
Just as Kid had said, everything matched his calculations.
Conan was held tightly in Ran's arms, while Sonoko clung to Ran's waist. Outside, the noise was like the end of the world. Conan knew that the seawater crashing down could crush people into paste. He had no idea if the hull could withstand such an impact. If not, they'd plunge into the endless dark cold sea, a nightmare ending.
And those pigeons—Conan had one perched on his head. The thought of drowning with a bunch of pigeons was unbearable. For the first time, Conan hoped Kid wouldn't fail.
The pressure of the seawater was like a hydraulic press, slamming down onto the airbags, making an ear-piercing shriek as they pressed tight against the hull. The wood, over 300 years old—even if it had once been masterfully crafted—was now rotting timber.
Conan even spotted cracks spreading in the boards behind the pigeons. But just as panic rose, the violent rocking shifted into an upward surge.
It had begun. Conan realized the buoyancy of the seawater was taking effect. They were rising.
Conan was squeezed even tighter. Ran and Sonoko were both tense. Even though ropes tied them to the wall for safety, it didn't give them much comfort.
The real show had begun!
The typhoon had just passed. Clouds, like tufts of cotton candy, began to scatter. They also looked like spreading ink stains, constantly changing.
But under the sky, people weren't as lighthearted. The storm clouds above started to clear, yet the gloom in everyone's hearts only grew heavier. All were worried for the lives of the two girls. Eyes scanned across the sea, but the ocean gave no hope.
The drifting clouds were like a girl's skirt, like a child's brush painting, shifting into sunlight's sieve.
A rainbow appeared. "Look—!"
A loud shout spread across the ocean. It was like the last glimmer of hope. Mouri Kogorō quickly looked over.
Beneath the waves, a shadow. What was it?
A school of fish? A submarine? No—it was Kaitou Kid!
Kaitou Kid rose from beneath the sea, wrapped inside a plastic cover.
Just as he calculated, he adjusted the size of the airbags, letting the ship float up in the water. Standing at the top of the mast, he was the first thing to break the surface.
Kaitou Kid??!! Nobody expected the thief to appear from the bottom of the sea.
He threw off the waterproof sheet—the performance had only just begun.
"How is that possible?" Neither police nor students helping with the search could believe their eyes. How could a man do this? Kid not only rose from the water, he stood on the sea.
"Welcome to my stage!" In rainbow and sunlight, Kid's white uniform gleamed brighter than ever.
"Inspector, what do we do?" The inspector was dumbfounded—what could he do?
"The Blue Sapphire's coffin has been opened. From now on, the treasure will be guarded by me, Kaitou Kid!" Kid had barely finished speaking when he rose higher.
Everyone saw what was under his feet—it wasn't some magic, but a mast!
The sea churned and rolled like boiling soup. A full pirate ship rose entirely from the depths. Water burst off in glittering sprays, small whirlpools forming around the hull, bouncing sunlight alongside the droplets.
It shone like a lotus emerging from water, its new brilliance making the hull gleam as if freshly polished with wax.
"What the hell?!" The students were stunned. All they could do was cry out in disbelief. A pirate ship had surged up from the deep—this wasn't a submarine. It made no sense.
Then they saw Kid leap lightly from the mast top, drifting down like a feather onto the deck. "Hey, you can get off now."
Ran and Sonoko stepped out of the cabin with Conan, shielding their eyes from the sunlight. After hours without it, they weren't used to the brightness.
"Ran!!"
"Dad."
The classmates also saw their missing friends, and joy spread among them.
But the police and Conan weren't about to let Kid go. Even if he had saved Ran and Sonoko, Conan still had to uphold the law.
The police felt the same. They surrounded the pirate ship on the surface, cutting off every escape.
"Kaitou Kid, was this part of your calculation too?" Conan readied his tranquilizer dart as he asked.
Kid looked out across the sea, pulling out a pocket watch and checking the time. "Of course. My calculations are never wrong."
"Then how do you plan to escape? You're surrounded!"
"I've got my ways. For now, you'd better put that watch down and get off this ship, or you won't be leaving at all."
Conan was shocked. He told himself he couldn't hesitate, he had to act now. But before he could even aim, a white blur swept in. His small body was knocked back, flung into the sea.
Sonoko and Ran dove in after him. With no hostages left, it was the police's chance. "Arrest Kid!"