Inspector Megure spotted the wobbly figure and said with a smile, "Here's my backup. Let me introduce you—this is the fighting expert, Mr. Shio Sakaki."
Shinichi looked at the man. He was burly, with a scar on his face, giving off a fierce and intimidating vibe.
But the issue was, he was holding a liquor bottle, reeking of alcohol, and staggering as he walked. No matter how you looked at it, he seemed like a drunk.
Was this guy really reliable?
Shinichi had his doubts.
In contrast, Ran let out a surprised gasp upon seeing the fierce-looking man. "It's Mr. Sakaki! I didn't expect you to show up."
Shio Sakaki took a swig of his drink, glanced down at Ran, and had a sudden realization. "Oh, it's Ran. What are you doing here?"
Shinichi blinked, puzzled. "Ran, you know this drunk?"
Ran explained, "Mr. Sakaki is a good friend of my father's. He's also an incredibly skilled karate master, known as the hundred-dan fighter. He looks scary on the outside, but he's actually a very kind person."
Morpheus's eyes flickered at this.
Interesting.
Shio Sakaki from Kenichi, a friend of Mouri Kogoro.
This crossover world never failed to throw in some surprises.
Both being avid drinkers, it wasn't entirely impossible for them to hit it off.
Tokyo might seem big, but the circle of skilled fighters was small.
It wasn't that strange for them to know each other.
Shinichi, aware of his childhood friend's strength, realized that if even she respected this drunk named Shio Sakaki, the man must have some real skills.
So, he dropped his doubts and shared everything he knew—the details of the three kidnappers, their weapons, and their habits.
Though he couldn't escape during his captivity, Shinichi had used his sharp deductive skills to piece together their profiles.
After listening, Shio Sakaki took another swig and said, "Leave these guys to me."
With that, he dashed toward the kidnappers' house.
His speed was astonishing.
In less than a breath, he charged forward, crashing through the house's wall with a loud boom, bursting into the interior.
The police were stunned.
Takagi Wataru stammered, "H-he just charged in… H-how is that possible?"
A single-family home was, after all, built with concrete.
The walls were solid brick, yet this man had smashed through them with ease.
Wasn't that a bit too much?
Was he even human?
Shinichi was equally shocked. No matter how you sliced it, breaking through a wall with a flesh-and-blood body was outright absurd.
But then he remembered his childhood friend Ran, who, in a fit of anger, could punch a hole in a utility pole.
Maybe Shio Sakaki's feat wasn't entirely unacceptable.
These martial artists were just too ridiculous.
As for Inspector Megure, he was used to it. The Kenichi crew might look human, but their strength was beyond comprehension.
Sometimes, he wondered if these martial arts masters were even the same species as regular humans.
The gap was just too wide.
Meanwhile, Shio Sakaki crashed through the wall into the house's living room. The two kidnappers monitoring Yusaku Kudo barely had time to react before a burly man with gleaming eyes charged in.
They were horrified.
One instinctively reached for the weapon on a nearby chair.
But Shio Sakaki was too fast. Before the kidnapper could grab it, he took a kick to the chest.
The man flew back like a cannonball, slamming into the wall with a thud and passing out, unable to catch his breath.
The other fared no better, sent flying almost simultaneously with his partner.
While the first took a kick, this one got a punch.
The force was immense, hurling him to the ground with a crash, also knocking him unconscious.
After dealing with the two in the living room, Shio Sakaki leaped lightly to the second floor to find the last kidnapper.
The final kidnapper had been sleeping upstairs.
But the commotion below woke him instantly. He scrambled out of bed, grabbed a weapon from under his pillow, and rushed out to the second-floor hallway.
He didn't know what was happening below, but his goal was clear: Shinichi.
He was their leverage against Yusaku Kudo, and they couldn't afford to lose him.
Unfortunately, the kidnapper didn't know Shinichi had already been rescued by Nanami.
Thus, he missed his last chance to escape.
As he burst out of the room, he came face-to-face with Shio Sakaki, who had just leaped to the second floor. Without a word, the kidnapper raised his Beretta 92F and fired several shots at Shio Sakaki.
Bang, bang, bang…
The sharp gunshots echoed through the hallway, even reaching outside.
They were loud enough to be heard clearly at the Kudo residence across the street.
Yusaku Kudo's face paled. He had already discovered the pinhole cameras in his home and deduced they were left by Shinichi's kidnappers.
For Shinichi's safety, Yusaku hadn't disabled them.
Instead, he and his wife counted money in front of the cameras, putting on a show to appease the kidnappers and signal they were gathering the ransom.
This was to ensure Shinichi's safety.
At the same time, Yusaku was constantly deducing where Shinichi might be held.
But with too few clues, even he couldn't pinpoint his son's location.
Now, hearing the gunshots, Yusaku realized the kidnappers watching them were likely in the house across the street.
The shots probably meant the kidnappers were firing.
And if he wasn't mistaken, they were likely shooting because they'd run into trouble.
That trouble was very likely tied to his son, Shinichi.
The thought made Yusaku's heart race with anxiety.
Were the kidnappers shooting at his son?
But Yusaku didn't know that, due to missing key information, his deduction was flawed.
Meanwhile, after firing three shots at Shio Sakaki, the kidnapper failed to hit him.
The Kenichi martial artists had reflexes that were nothing short of extraordinary.
The moment the kidnapper raised his gun, Shio Sakaki had already anticipated it and dodged.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (removespace)