Ke Xue: Shinichi and I are childhood friends.

Chapter 1292 The Cipher Hint, Football

The code read "loves football," but the person in question has never watched a single football match.

This information was so unusual and conspicuous that Yuya and the other two immediately lowered their heads and stared at the cards with coded messages written on them.

This information is clearly a hint to those who want to crack the code to focus on the football, which may be the key to deciphering the code.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

There are four cards with the secret code, all of which have two sentences written on the top and bottom: "The treasure is right here!" and "Your mom who loves football."

Between these two sentences, there is a line of symbols and numbers whose meaning is unclear.

After focusing their attention on the football, they quickly noticed that the word "foot" in the first three codes was bolded, while the word "ball" was bolded in the fourth code.

Heiji Hattori and Conan stared intently at the code, then after a moment... looked confused—they didn't quite understand.

Yuya's eyes flashed with a thoughtful look.

At this moment, Ooka Momiji looked around and asked with some doubt, "Isn't Kudo Shinichi here?"

"Ah," Ran Mouri hurriedly explained, "I've already sent the code to Shinichi, but he said he's too busy to come, so Conan and I came in his place."

“I see,” Ooka Momiji said with some regret. “Then there’s nothing we can do. But it’s okay. With Kamiya-kun here, it’s alright if Kudo Shinichi doesn’t come.”

Upon hearing this, Yuu immediately raised his eyebrows at Conan, who was stunned – what do you mean Yuu is here too? It doesn't matter if he doesn't come?

So he's dispensable!

Do you look down on people?

He immediately tilted his head back and shouted, "It's okay, Shinichi-nii is on the phone with me right now!"

Ooka Momiji paused for a moment, then said calmly, "That's fine too."

She clapped her hands lightly: "In short, I have told you all the information related to the code, so let's begin."

"Whoever deciphers the code first, please tell me. Heiji, Kamiya, and Kudo, whoever tells me the answer first is the winner."

Iori Muga added, "I want to remind you that the deciphering of this code is related to someone's safety, so please make sure to solve it as soon as possible."

The eldest of the four brothers, who lost contact after receiving the code, is suspected of having encountered an accident at the treasure's location. The code must be deciphered as soon as possible to find the treasure's location in order to confirm the eldest brother's safety.

"Furthermore," Iori Muga paused, "if Hattori loses to either Kudo or Kamiya, then Hattori must fulfill Momiji's wish. Please don't forget this agreement."

"Oh, I know." Hattori Heiji nodded calmly. "Anyway, I'm not going to lose."

Conan glanced sideways—"Don't even mention Yuya, you've beaten me only a handful of times, okay? Where does your confidence come from?"

Yuya nudged Hattori Heiji with his elbow and asked in a low voice, "What was his wish?"

Conan, also curious, leaned closer to listen.

Although Kazuha Toyama had mentioned that Heiji Hattori had said he would listen to Momiji Ooka if he lost, he didn't really know what her specific demands were.

Could it be something like this or that?

Hattori Heiji said nonchalantly, "Anyway, it's not a big deal, don't worry about it."

"Is that so?" Yuya and Conan both sneered at the same time.

I hope that when you're forced to do some unspeakable things by Ooka Momiji, you'll still be as stubborn as you are now.

Then, Ooka Momiji suggested that they go get something to eat to prevent themselves from running out of energy during the decryption process.

It wasn't dinner time yet, and we didn't feel anything at first, but then Ooka Momiji suddenly brought up eating, and for some reason, everyone started to feel a little hungry.

So Ran Mouri suggested going to a nearby pancake shop, where the pancakes were quite good.

On the way, Heiji Hattori and Conan frowned and pondered over the cipher card, while Yuya held the cipher card in one hand and his phone in the other—seemingly deciphering the code, but actually texting Shiho Miyano.

Ran Mouri asks Ooka Momiji why she came to Tokyo to meet him instead of inviting him to Kyoto.

The latter said that the nanny who left the coded message worked for a wealthy man in Beika Town before her death, and she guessed that the treasure the nanny received from her employer must be hidden somewhere in Tokyo.

Kazuha Toyama speculated, "Could the treasure be hidden in the employer's house?"

Ooka Koyo shook her head and denied it: "If my sons were looking for the treasure in the employer's house, it would cause trouble for the employer, so when she sent the code, she made it clear that the treasure was not in the employer's house."

As for other places, after her husband passed away, the nanny sold her house in her hometown, sent her son to different families for foster care, and moved into her employer's house alone to work as a full-time nanny.

The four sons have been separated since then and haven't seen each other for 30 years.

However, the nanny still keeps in touch with her sons, and the eldest son also contacts his three younger brothers via email.

So even though they hadn't seen each other for 30 years, they never lost touch.

When Kazuha Toyama heard that these people hadn't seen each other for 30 years, he couldn't help but feel suspicious—could someone have learned about the treasure and impersonated his older brother to steal it?

Ooka Momiji smiled faintly, indicating that there was no need to worry about anyone impersonating them, because the four brothers had very easily identifiable marks on their hands.

"It seems to be because of the scars they had when they were young, which were left from protecting their mother from burns. They were honorably wounded."

The group chatted as they walked, completely unaware that they had already covered quite a distance.

Iori glanced at his pocket watch and asked Ran Mouri in a low voice, "Excuse me, Miss Ran?"

Ran Mouri responded instinctively.

"Excuse me for asking, we've been walking for 10 minutes and 30 seconds, haven't we arrived at the store you mentioned yet?"

Ran Mouri chuckled dryly. "As expected of a butler, he even calculates time so precisely."

"Yes, it should arrive soon."

She looked up in the direction she remembered, a delighted expression on her face, and pointed there: "That's it, the pancake shop I was talking about! Their pancakes are absolutely delicious, I guarantee you'll love them!"

Looking at the long queue in front of the shop, Kazuha Toyama exclaimed in surprise, "What a long queue!" She also felt a little excited. With so many people queuing up, didn't that mean the shop's pancakes were delicious?

Ooka Momiji said calmly, "People in Tokyo really are very patient."

Ran Mouri seemed a little naive, laughing as she said, "Yeah, it's normal to have to wait in line for an hour at a popular store like this!"

Kazuha Toyama, who sees Momiji Ooka as a rival in love, understands the meaning behind Momiji Ooka's words—those people are really idle, wasting time queuing for a pancake.

She whispered a few words in Ran Mouri's ear, and the latter's expression immediately turned awkward.

Ooka Momiji quickly explained, "It wasn't meant as sarcasm. I said it this way so that the other person would understand the deeper meaning and avoid hurting them."

Kazuha Toyama snorted. Wouldn't saying that be even more hurtful?