**Chapter 214: You Like Watching the Drama, Don’t You?**

"That photographer from earlier," Xiaolan explained awkwardly. "He knocked on the door and just started taking pictures of me without asking."

"That guy's always been like that," Nishino Makoto said, turning his gaze toward Ryu Sangawa.

"Mr. Nishino, do you know him?" Sonoko asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I saw him abroad once." Nishino's voice deepened as he recalled, "He was filming a little girl whose parents had just died in a fire. Her clothes were tattered… That guy, he's just a scumbag."

Hearing this, Fujino nodded in agreement. "People like him will get what's coming sooner or later."

Although the Suzuki family's ship was large, its speed was incredibly slow. It wouldn't reach Tokyo until the next morning.

Bored in her room, Sonoko came over to Xiaolan's room to hang out. Along the way, they bumped into Natsumi Kousaka and Nishino, who joined them.

After everyone arrived in Xiaolan's room, Nishino suddenly ran out, holding his nose when he saw a white dove inside.

"Mr. Nishino, what's wrong with him?" Xiaolan asked, glancing at Nishino as he hurried away.

"He's probably allergic to feathers," Fujino said, looking from Nishino to the plump white dove.

…

All the girls on the ship gathered in Xiaolan's room, including Aoran, who was dragged there by Sonoko along with Conan.

As the girls chatted and snacked on treats from the kitchen, Fujino sat off to the side, feeling rather bored.

The four girls had somehow all ended up wearing short skirts. Aoran, in particular, wore a red cheongsam with a slit reaching up to her thigh, possibly to emphasize her Chinese heritage. Four pairs of long, pale legs kept swaying in front of Fujino, making his eyes sting a bit.

Luckily, his self-control was strong, and he managed to bear the mild discomfort.

…

Although Natsumi Kousaka appeared mature, after brief observation, it became clear that, despite having a big-sister-next-door vibe, her personality was somewhat childlike—even a bit ditzy.

She wasn't dumb, just adorably naïve.

During their chat, she mentioned a code phrase: "ВОЛШНИКUКОНЦАВЕКА."

According to her, she heard this strange phrase when she was little and thought it meant someone named Baru Xue was being asked if they bought meat. 

But it clearly wasn't correct.

Everyone else was equally baffled by the code, but Fujino understood part of it. Kousaka had spoken in Russian.

In his past life, Fujino had studied some Russian while reading certain, shall we say, obscure Russian literature. If he remembered correctly, the phrase should be: "ВОЛШЕБНИК·КОНЦА·ВЕКА" (The Magician at the End of the Century).

This matched Kaito Kid's calling card perfectly.

As to why Kousaka's retelling was so wildly inaccurate… It was likely due to the complexities of translating Russian into Japanese, along with some added guesswork on her part.

Conan, meanwhile, was lost in thought. He had a hunch that this phrase was crucial. Could this be a detective's intuition?

Still, his mental flash hadn't brought him any closer to solving the mystery.

He turned to Fujino, originally intending to ask for his take on it. But then he noticed something odd about Fujino's eyes.

"Miss Kousaka, your eyes are so unique!" Conan's voice was childlike as he commented, "They're gray, just like Fujino's."

"Yeah, my mom and grandmother have gray eyes too. I probably inherited it from my great-grandmother," Kousaka replied wistfully before turning to Fujino. "Detective Fujino, do you also have Russian ancestry?"

Fujino shook his head. "My ancestors were Chinese, which is why my eyes have this color. And actually, they're not gray; they're more of a dark brown."

"Chinese ancestry?" Kousaka moved closer to examine his eyes. "Now that you mention it, you're right."

"Is that so?" Aoran frowned slightly.

Only now did she notice that Fujino's eyes were, indeed, black. Uh-oh, she'd been caught in front of the person himself.

"By the way, Miss Aoran, you're Chinese too, right?" Xiaolan suddenly asked. "But why do your eyes look just like Miss Kousaka's, with that same gray color?"

Aoran froze. Her worst fear had come true—her cover was slipping!

"It's probably because China and Russia are geographically close. Some Chinese people do have gray eyes," she explained, quickly adding, "That's my situation."

Fujino didn't plan on exposing Aoran so soon. If there was to be a reveal, the timing had to be just right.

"Speaking of which, Miss Aoran, we're probably around the same age, right?" Kousaka asked while sipping tea.

Aoran, now more composed, responded, "I'm 27."

"I'm 27 too!" Kousaka exclaimed in surprise. "When's your birthday?"

A slight smile formed on Aoran's face. "May 5th."

Kousaka's surprise deepened. "My birthday's May 3rd! So we're only two days apart?"

"My birthday's in May too—May 21st," Fujino chimed in, his lips curling into a small smile before turning to Conan. "What about you, Conan? I don't think I've ever heard you mention your birthday."

"Oh, my birthday?" Conan responded without thinking, "It's only a day apart from the two of you—May 4th."

"What?!"

At this moment, Ran suddenly lowered her head and looked at Conan.

It was as if something had exploded in her mind.

In a daze, she seemed to figure something out.

She remembered that Shinichi's birthday was also on May 4th...

Ran's gaze gradually became strange.

In the end, she could only shake her head helplessly, looking a bit dejected.

Ran: *Staring.*

Conan: *Danger!*

However, Conan still hadn't noticed anything unusual at this point.

He was still happily chatting with Natsumi Kasaka.

Meanwhile, Fujino nodded in satisfaction.

Heiji Hattori had already been dealt with through a personal vendetta.

Now it was Conan's turn.

Enjoy watching dramas, huh?

Let's see how you handle a heart-pounding experience.

...

The giant ship had been sailing for an entire day, yet had only completed about half of the journey.

In the blink of an eye, it was dusk.

On the deck, the sky and sea merged into one, and the water was dyed a blood-red color by the setting sun.

The group's tea party continued until this moment.

Feeling a bit tired, everyone headed to the deck to get some fresh air.

On the deck were several dining tables, with some beer and soft drinks placed on top.

At this moment, Ryuu Samukawa, Shirou Suzuki, and Kogoro Mouri were sitting there drinking.

It must be said that Kogoro's ability to influence others was quite strong.

In just a short time, he had already influenced another one.

Kogoro leered at Urasue Seiran's thighs as he poured himself another drink.

Fujino and the others sat at a nearby table.

Since he couldn't drink for the time being, Fujino picked up a sparkling water and calmly gazed out at the sea.

"Fujino-senpai, did you really make a promise with Momiji Ooka when you were little?"

At this moment, Ran and Sonoko, who had just sat down, suddenly asked.

Ran and Conan also cast curious glances.

"A promise?"

Fujino glanced back at the curious group.

These two probably wanted some gossip again, huh?

Thinking this, he paused for a moment before speaking, "To be honest, I can't really recall any promise, but I suspect it's just a misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding?"

Just as the two were about to speak, another voice interrupted them: "Mr. Samukawa, your pendant is..."

They turned their heads and saw Urasue Seiran, her gaze intensely fixed on Ryuu Samukawa.

No, to be precise, her eyes were fixed on the ring hanging around Ryuu Samukawa's neck.

It was a ring made of some unknown material.

In the reflection of the sunset, it shimmered faintly.

"As expected from an expert on the Romanov dynasty."

Ryuu Samukawa took off the necklace from his neck and handed it to Urasue Seiran.

Urasue took the pendant.

"Maria..."

She examined the ring on the necklace and murmured, "Could this be the ring of Tsar Nicholas II's third daughter?!"

"If you say so."

After showing off a bit, Ryuu Samukawa snatched the ring back from Urasue's hand.

Urasue pressed further, "Where exactly did you find this ring?!"

Ryuu Samukawa smiled with his hands in his pockets but said nothing.

...

And then, just like that, by nightfall, he was dead.

Makoto Nishino was the first to discover the body.

[New Detective Profession Task Detected, Please Check!]

'Is it starting?'

After receiving the news of Ryuu Samukawa's death, a notification from the system rang in Fujino's ears.

He opened the system interface, and the mission screen appeared in front of him:

[Detective Profession Task: Murder on the Ship

Task Objective: 1. Solve the murder on the ship; 2. Arrest the culprit

Task Reward: 1 million yen, 100 detective reputation points

Time Limit: ——]

When everyone arrived at the scene, they saw Ryuu Samukawa with a bullet wound in his right eye, already dead at the crime scene.

Kogoro Mouri and Conan rushed into the scene, and Conan was quickly thrown out.

Fujino stood at the room's entrance, planning to try out his Detective Eagle Eye.

As Eagle Eye vision activated...

The surrounding world changed colors, and vital signs began to glow in his view.

Detective Eagle Eye activated.

Evidence in the room started to light up.

There were even footprints on the floor where the culprit had moved.

However, after the culprit left the room, the footprints were no longer visible.

But even so, it was more than enough.

Detective Eagle Eye... a bit terrifying.

(End of chapter)