Chapter 13: The Justice Messenger Descending from the Heavens

Jiang Xia had inexplicably spent the entire afternoon recording zero scores.

It wasn't until he emerged from the arcade, finished his meal with the group, and climbed onto his motorcycle that he finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his intelligence—which had been dragged to rock bottom—finally reset to its proper level.

...The boys' imaginations were truly too wild. Avoiding bombs was one thing, but why avoid gold coins?

Even as he twisted the throttle, planes and glowing spheres continued to swirl through Jiang Xia's mind.

...

The motorcycle sped down the street.

Halfway through the ride, Jiang Xia felt an itch on his neck.

The Ghost Baby was poking him again.

"Hmm?" Jiang Xia glanced sideways at it.

The Ghost Baby pointed submissively in a certain direction.

As a ghost, the Ghost Baby's sensitivity in terms of "detection" was far higher than Jiang Xia's.

—It had sensed a palpable killing intent that was "edible."

Hearing the words "killing intent," Jiang Xia thought he had run into Gin again, and his interest immediately waned.

Gin was always shrouded in a significant amount of killing intent.

However, not all of it could be harvested.

Gin had just been harvested once this afternoon. Any remaining killing intent would surely be stubborn; even if he encountered it, he wouldn't be able to tear it away.

But soon, the Ghost Baby sensed Jiang Xia's thoughts and provided some supplementary information.

—This killing intent smelled different.

It was somewhat dry, lacking flavor.

In other words, it wasn't Gin's.

Jiang Xia froze.

...

A year ago, after arriving in this world, he had spent a lot of time staking out places like cemeteries, hospitals, and police stations.

But neither ghosts nor killing intent had ever appeared.

The only one in the entire Organization who could barely serve as sustenance was Gin.

...

Yet, in these past few days, not only had Jiang Xia suddenly started picking up ghosts, but this ghost even claimed to smell killing intent...

Recalling the plot he had read as a child, Jiang Xia gradually formed a hypothesis.

—If there was one thing that had changed recently, it was likely that Shinichi Kudo was about to become Conan.

If the existence of ghosts was truly related to this "violation of the conservation of mass" event...

Then as Conan awakened, unscientific ghosts and killing intent might become increasingly common in this world.

The thought of the corpses and killing intent that were scattered everywhere in the original work caused a spark to return to Jiang Xia's eyes.

...He could finally pick up ghosts for a living?

...

Looking expectantly in the direction the Ghost Baby pointed, Jiang Xia saw a middle school.

Speaking of killing intent, one couldn't help but associate it with someone committing a crime.

And speaking of "middle schools" and "crimes"... it was hard not to think of Jiang Xia's seatmate—Shinichi Kudo.

............

As it turned out, Jiang Xia's association was quite precise.

—Going back a little further in time.

Just this afternoon, Shinichi Kudo had gone to an amusement park and happened to encounter Gin.

Feeling that Gin didn't seem like a good person, Shinichi followed him secretly, only to discover that Gin and Vodka were extorting a company president.

Surprised, Shinichi immediately began taking photos to gather evidence, but unfortunately, he was knocked unconscious from behind by Gin and force-fed a special poison developed by the Organization.

Gin's intention was to use the poison to silence him.

Who would have thought that after he left, the drug's effect on Shinichi wouldn't kill the stubborn detective, but instead shrunk him into an elementary school student.

After waking up in his shrunken form, Shinichi fled home and, upon Professor Agasa's suggestion, took the pseudonym "Conan Edogawa" and went to live with the Mouri family.

...It wasn't entirely because he wanted to live with Ran Mouri; primarily, it was because Ran's father, Kogoro Mouri, ran a detective agency.

According to Professor Agasa's logic, the shrunken Shinichi needed to

Use his brilliant deductive skills to help Kogoro Mouri become a famous detective. ↓

Have the famous detective Kogoro Mouri get involved in high-level cases. ↓

Through those cases, come into contact with the Black Organization that gave Shinichi the drug. ↓

Obtain a sample of the shrinking drug from the men in black. ↓

Have the high-tech genius Professor Agasa develop an antidote. ↓

Conan returns to being Shinichi Kudo. ↓

Report the illegal organization in the name of a famous detective and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

...

Shinichi Kudo—or rather, "Conan"—listened to these suggestions, reservedly stated that the Professor made a lot of sense, and obediently moved into the Mouri residence.

Not long after his arrival, Kogoro Mouri received a request.

—The young daughter of a wealthy man had been kidnapped by men in black. The tycoon asked him to find the kidnappers.

As soon as Conan heard "men in black," he immediately thought of the person who had knocked him out and insisted on following the case.

As he investigated, he followed the trail to Nioh Bridge Middle School.

...

Returning to the present.

At the entrance of the same middle school.

Recalling the spoilers, Jiang Xia also thought of this kidnapping case.

He twisted the handlebars to change his route. The motorcycle roared as it circled around to the front gate of the "killing intent" middle school.

Stopping to look, he saw the sign hanging at the entrance clearly read: "Nioh Bridge Middle School."

Jiang Xia: "..." As expected.

The wealthy young girl who had been kidnapped was currently being held in a warehouse within this school.

At first glance, the kidnapped girl looked cute, but she was actually incredibly bratty.

—She felt her father was too obsessed with work and didn't play with her, so she planned her own "kidnapping" to demand that her father take a month off.

However, just as the bratty child had set everything up and was sitting smugly in a hotel waiting for her father to agree to her terms...

A real kidnapper happened to pass by quietly.

Seeing the little girl sitting alone at a table, the kidnapper simply snatched her away.

After the distraught tycoon hired a detective, Conan quickly saw through the truth.

He deduced the location of the kidnapper and the girl, rode the tycoon's dog in a mad dash to Nioh Bridge Middle School, and attempted a heroic rescue.

However, Conan had overestimated his combat prowess in his shrunken state.

Not only did he fail to save the girl, but he was also given a severe beating by the kidnapper.

He even implicated the innocent dog.

...

At the school gate.

Perched on his motorcycle, Jiang Xia looked at the "Nioh Bridge Middle School" sign. Recalling things related to Shinichi Kudo, he became increasingly convinced that the killing intent the Ghost Baby sensed was emanating from that kidnapper.

Just now, when Jiang Xia had suddenly turned during his ride, his group of subordinates had all swarmed after him.

Those with good skills followed Jiang Xia's sharp turns directly.

Those with less skill prioritized safety—they would burst forward for a bit and then turn back as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, the subordinates stopped beside Jiang Xia, looking at the school gates with some confusion.

Just as they were about to ask what was going on, they heard Jiang Xia ask, "Want to play something else?"

The others froze, then grew excited: "Yes!"

They had great confidence in their boss's innovative abilities—the boss always managed to come up with new ways to play, like today's "Zero Score Challenge."

The blond one looked at the tightly closed school gates, tied a "Guts" headband around his forehead, and asked eagerly, "Play what?"

Jiang Xia fastened his helmet and gave a sinister smile: "The dragon rescues the princess."

"...Huh?"

Before the others could understand the meaning of the sentence, Jiang Xia suddenly twisted the throttle.

The motorcycle surged forward with a low roar, crushed a stone brick, and under the shocked gaze of the school security guard, traced a very "Conan-esque" parabola, leaping over the sliding gate and landing inside the campus. Afterward, Jiang Xia and his bike sped away, disappearing into the night.

The blond and the others snapped out of it, mimicked him by twisting their throttles, and chased after him one after another.

The remaining subordinates hesitated, feeling that the boss's maneuver was not easy to replicate; one wrong move and they might end up injured.

—If this were a year ago, to avoid losing face, they would have definitely charged ahead regardless.

But now, they kept the boss's teaching in mind: "No matter what you do, you must pursue the [No Damage] achievement; that is art."

Thus, after exchanging glances, they simultaneously turned toward the school security guard and drifted toward him ominously.

The guard was on duty in the security booth.

Looking at the scene outside through the window, which looked like a zombie siege, a bead of cold sweat slowly rolled down his temple.

A second later, the guard stood up with a grim face and slammed his hand heavily onto the desk...

He flipped the switch.

The school's electronic sliding gate made a creaking sound and slowly slid open.

At the school gate, the subordinates nodded in satisfaction.

If one path is blocked, switch to another; the result is the same, and the efficiency is higher.

The boss's words are indeed the truth!

...

At the same time.

In a derelict warehouse at Nioh Bridge Middle School.

Conan, riding the dog, arrived at the scene just in time.

The dog rushed forward to bite the kidnapper. Conan, meanwhile, walked over to the kidnapped girl and comforted her confidently: "Don't be afraid, it's okay now."

Before he could finish his sentence, the poor dog was given a brutal beating with a baseball bat by the kidnapper and was rendered incapacitated.

Conan had no choice but to fight alone.

However, clearly, his combat power was inferior even to that dog.

After dodging only a few times, the kidnapper caught onto Conan's movement patterns and unleashed a barrage of heavy blows.

After being critically hit for the Nth time, accompanied by the girl's anxious cry of "Conan!", Conan flew backward like a small sack, crashing into the dog.

The dog, whose head was already covered in lumps, had almost woken up.

Being hit by Conan like this, it let out an "Arf!" and raised a paw before falling back into unconsciousness.

Conan scrambled up, squeezed the dog's paw in grief, and shook hands with his fallen, loyal comrade.

Then, he raised his head again to face the approaching kidnapper.

It was only then that Conan truly realized he was no longer that high school detective whose combat power was roughly equal to a "1.5-rated civilian."

Now, any random passerby could pin him down and beat him.

Conan looked despairingly at the murderous kidnapper, feeling a hint of regret.

If only he hadn't rushed in directly just now, but had instead brought a whole carload of adults...

...

Before him, the kidnapper approached with a sneer, his blood-stained bat scraping sparks against the ground.

Under Conan's unwilling gaze, the kidnapper raised the bat high, intending to deliver the final blow.

At that moment, a beam of light abruptly shot in from the window, piercing through the stained glass and illuminating the derelict warehouse.

The kidnapper froze and jerked his head toward the light source. He saw a spot of light approaching from a distance, growing larger and larger on the window.

The window was smashed open with a bang.

A motorcycle flew in arrogantly, its tires aimed directly at the kidnapper's face as they rolled forward.

(End of Chapter)