"Guarantee we won't get hurt?"
Gin sneered, his tone laced with sarcasm.
"Bold words. I don't know Victoria Housekeeping—but I know ZZZ. And I know Cunning Hares. That Cunning Hares in your organization has an irreconcilable feud with us!
And now you say 'you have no intention of being our enemy'? Don't you think that's a bit too ridiculous?"
Vodka chimed in, "Aniki is right, that Cunning Hares in your organization really messed with me and Aniki. Now, Brother has gotten into the habit of not drinking water unless it's in his sight, and I feel nauseous whenever I see shrimp and enoki mushrooms..."
"Shut up, Vodka."
A bullet grazed Vodka's ear.
After angrily warning Vodka, Gin once again aimed his gun at Lycaon.
Lycaon's expression didn't change, and he stated in a calm tone:
"While I don't know what Cunning Hares did to you, please trust the reputation of Victoria Housekeeping. ZZZ is a loose organization, its departments are independent of each other and only answer to the common Boss, Phaethon.
Cunning Hares's actions do not represent our stance. Today, we are only here to take Miyano Akemi. Please do not make things difficult for us."
Gin's finger lightly caressed the trigger, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "What if I say no?"
Lycaon showed a friendly smile, tilting his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Gin: "Then I can only regretfully resort to a more direct approach."
"Heh," Gin's lips curled into a cold smile, and his finger pulled the trigger without warning.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets shot out, accurately aimed at Lycaon's forehead, heart, and throat.
Gin smirked. At such close range, he was confident he couldn't miss.
However, it wasn't as he expected.
Lycaon's figure swayed slightly, as if he had predicted the trajectory of the bullets, and all three bullets grazed his clothes, embedding themselves in the wall behind.
Vodka's eyes widened in shock, looking at Lycaon in disbelief.
He knew his big brother marksmanship all too well.
No one had ever evaded him so easily!
Not even the former Rye, Akai Shuichi, could do it.
Gin was also stunned, looking at the Beretta in his hand, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity.
Lycaon remained composed, not showing any pride despite dodging the bullets.
He slowly raised his hand, palm upwards, making a 'ceasefire' gesture: "Now, can we stop? What I said before is still valid."
Gin's eyes completely turned cold.
"Interesting." He slowly spoke, "If you can dodge the next round, I'll let you go."
Lycaon nodded: "Understood."
Arrogant!
Gin made his assessment internally, dropping the Beretta without hesitation and pulling out a submachine gun from inside his trench coat, aiming it directly at Lycaon.
You can predict pistol trajectories, but can you dodge a submachine gun?
Gin's lips curled into a cruel smile, and he pressed the trigger.
"Da da da da—!"
Flames spat out, and a dense rain of bullets poured forth!
Lycaon's figure instantly blurred, moving so fast it almost left afterimages, his arms waving in front of him at an incredible speed.
The gunfire ceased, and smoke filled the air.
Gin had fired all the bullets from his submachine gun.
Vodka stared intently in Lycaon's direction, his jaw almost hitting the ground, muttering, "This... this is impossible..."
Lycaon still stood in place, completely unharmed.
Not only that.
Even more astonishing was that—
He slowly opened his right hand, and in his palm lay more than a dozen deformed bullet casings!
Lycaon had caught the bullets with his bare hands!
"…Are you really a human?" Vodka swallowed, somewhat questioning reality. His gaze towards Lycaon became fearful.
"Now," Lycaon's voice was still calm, as if everything that had just happened was a trivial performance, "can we leave?"
Gin's pupils suddenly contracted, and his finger on the trigger trembled slightly.
But in the end, he slowly lowered his gun and uttered a single word:
"...Go."
Vodka looked at Gin in disbelief: "Aniki?!"
Gin didn't answer, only stared coldly at Lycaon, a rare hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
—
Meanwhile, on the way to the warehouse.
Conan, who had been listening in with a bug, almost stopped breathing.
He even almost fell off his skateboard by accident.
"Catching... bullets with bare hands?"
Conan found it almost unbelievable; this was completely beyond his comprehension.
If he hadn't known Gin's modus operandi beforehand.
He would have suspected that the other side was rehearsing a play.
He had been eavesdropping since Miyano Akemi entered the warehouse.
By now, he had deduced a lot of useful information from the overheard conversations.
First, Hirota Masami's real name was Miyano Akemi.
She and a younger sister named Shiho were both members of the Black Organization, and the woman named Shiho's codename was Sherry.
Akemi seemingly had no codename, possibly indicating she was an peripheral member.
Second, Cunning Hares, which was at odds with the Black Organization, and the force known as Victoria Housekeeping, both belonged to a loose organization called ZZZ.
Within this organization, besides all answering to the same Boss, Phaethon, they were independent of each other, fought their own battles, and even lacked basic intelligence sharing.
Combining the known information, that Cunning Hares was a detective agency, and Lycaon's polite demeanor.
Conan was inclined to believe that Victoria Housekeeping, as mentioned by Lycaon, was also a relatively positive force, and decided to try and make contact with them.