Shortly after the arrest of Kisaragi Hosui, while guests were still buzzing about the shocking development, a thunderous explosion suddenly rocked the entire building.
"Why is the whole building shaking?!"
Everyone in the banquet hall rushed to the floor-to-ceiling windows, but they were too high up to make anything out clearly.
Tokiwa Mio immediately pulled out her phone and called down to the building staff.
The response made her go pale.
"What?! There was an explosion?"
"Explosion?! On which floor?!"
"The motor and generator rooms—4th basement level! Also, the server room on the 40th floor!"
Tokiwa Mio nearly collapsed.
The Tokiwa Group's mainframe computer system was housed on the 40th floor. They hadn't yet backed up the data. If the damage was severe, everything—their entire corporate infrastructure—could be lost.
And the situation kept deteriorating.
A second report came through: a fire had broken out on the 40th floor.
Gin never left room for compromise.
Hayashi Yoshiki rolled up his sleeves and calmly glanced at his watch.
No panic in his eyes.
But all around him, chaos had already erupted. The worst came when someone shouted:
"The elevators are down!"
"Wait! There's still the observation elevator!"
"Right! That one's on a separate emergency power grid!"
"It can go down to the 45th floor—then we can cross to Building B via the skybridge!"
The police quickly began evacuating guests.
But the observation elevator only carried 9 people at a time. There were hundreds of guests.
"Let the elderly, women, and children go first! The rest can take the stairs!"
People rushed for the emergency exits.
Meanwhile, Hayashi Yoshiki stayed behind with Inspector Megure.
"Brother Hayashi, you should go too."
"It's alright. I'll wait until the kids and Ran-chan are on the elevator."He smiled. "Besides, Officer Megure, you're still here, right?"
Ayumi looked up at him with wide eyes.
He gently patted her head.
Group after group boarded the elevator. Inspector Megure offered Kisaragi Hosui, still in handcuffs, a chance to go next.
But the old man stubbornly refused.
"Don't treat me like I'm some feeble senior!"
He insisted on using the stairs.
Yoshiki watched him go, then moved into a quiet corner.
He took out his notebook and pen, scribbling something with focus.
Finally, Ran, Sonoko, and the kids boarded the elevator.
Just before the doors closed, Ran called out:
"Brother Yoshiki, be careful...!"
His smile was calm as ever.
After confirming their descent, Megure turned to him.
"Let's get going, too."
"Right."Yoshiki cracked a grin. "But Officer Megure, can you run with that body of yours?"
"Of course! I jog in the park every day!"
"...Could've fooled me."
"Still haven't lost a single kilo, though!"
They laughed as they dashed for the stairs.
There were two connecting bridges between the towers—on the 60th and 45th floors.
But the VIP elevator could only stop at the 45th.
When Yoshiki and Megure reached the 60th floor, they hurried across to Building B.
"I'll check the 45th floor to meet up with Ran and the others."
"Alright. I'll keep heading down to coordinate with the police."
Yoshiki stepped off at the 45th floor's skybridge, just in time to see the observation elevator from Building A had stopped on the 47th.
He quickly made a call.
"Brother Yoshiki, our elevator stopped suddenly!"
Ran's voice was breathless. "We forced the doors open! We're heading up the stairs to the 45th!"
"I'm here now. I'll come meet you."
He hung up before she could answer.
On the 46th floor stairwell, Ran shouted into her phone—
But all she got was a busy tone.
"He's really coming here... in all this danger?"
Though she hadn't heard the conversation, Haibara Ai knew who it was. And she knew he'd come.
"What?! Brother Yoshiki is coming now?!"Sonoko yelped, finally catching on.
The building shook violently again.
They nearly toppled over.
The explosion on the 40th floor had unleashed a chimney effect—flames and thick smoke surged through the stairwell.
The fire now chased them from behind.
The skybridge was dead center in the corridor.
"The fire's coming!! RUN!!!"
The group of girls and kids broke into a desperate sprint.
From the far side of the corridor, Hayashi Yoshiki appeared, running toward them.
"Hurry! Watch your step!"
They had no time to exchange words.
Besides Ran, Sonoko, and the Detective Boys, there were two others: a young mother with a child, and a middle-aged woman fleeing with them.
Yoshiki called from the edge of the bridge.
Ran turned to look at him, worry etched on her face.
Far from the flames, in a quiet area outside the twin towers…
Gin and Vodka stood beside their Porsche 356A, watching the rising fire from afar.
"This new bomb packs more punch than I expected, aniki," said Vodka.
Gin let out a cold laugh.
This device—recently developed by the Organization—was 30% more powerful despite being the same size. Vermouth had previously complained that the bombs she'd planted weren't destructive enough. That prompted R&D to kick into high gear.
"Since the unimportant ones have already evacuated..."
Vodka raised the detonator.
A massive explosion erupted from the 60th floor skybridge.
Concrete and steel collapsed, the debris crashing onto the 45th floor bridge below——obliterating it in an instant.