Chapter 35: You Are All Jiang Xia's Accomplices

Ran Mouri had originally been debating whether to flake on Sonoko's invitation today to accompany Conan to give a statement.

Now that Jiang Xia had arrived, the problem was instantly resolved.

...

Soon, Ran Mouri walked downstairs with Conan. She trustingly left the little ones in Jiang Xia's care, then headed toward the bus stop without a care in the world, preparing to meet Sonoko.

...

Jiang Xia led the four "case magnets" toward the police station by himself.

As a proud spoiler-enthusiast, Jiang Xia was mentally prepared for the rowdiness of the Detective Boys.

However, things took an unexpected turn along the way.

The children didn't cling to his legs shouting things like "Please buy me eel rice!", nor did they swarm him with chirping questions, and they certainly didn't run off in all directions.

Instead, they were incredibly well-behaved, instinctively stopping at red lights, walking on green, and yielding to pedestrians. They were so disciplined they might as well have been marching in a single file line shouting "Left, right, left!"

...

Along the way, Jiang Xia turned his head with a hint of surprise to look at them several times, almost suspecting they were fake children shrunk by APTX4869.

Then he realized that the more he watched, the quieter they became.

By the end, even the occasional whispering had vanished.

Jiang Xia: "...?"

Though he didn't know what had happened, it was unexpectedly effortless.

...

It had been drizzling all day.

As they approached an intersection, Jiang Xia noticed Xiao Bai, who had been slumped lethargically on his shoulder, suddenly perk up. The little creature raised its short paws to wipe its mouth, even attempting to grab Jiang Xia's collar to wipe itself.

Jiang Xia fell silent for a moment, then flicked it away with a finger.

After landing, Xiao Bai waddled right back and unceremoniously climbed back onto Jiang Xia, undeterred.

Soon, Jiang Xia received the message it wanted to convey—mushroom soup base.

Jiang Xia froze, then understood.

He scanned his surroundings and noticed a man in a black raincoat walking toward them about dozens of meters ahead.

It was none other than Dr. Kazato, who carried the murderous aura of a hotpot.

In addition to the raincoat, Dr. Kazato was wearing a hat and a mask today. The brim of his hat was pulled low, and his mask was pulled high, obscuring most of his face and leaving only his eyes visible.

...

While the outfit was somewhat strange, it wouldn't be easily noticed on a rainy day when obscured by an umbrella.

Kyosuke Kazato had dressed heavily for a reason, and his target was certainly not Jiang Xia.

He adjusted his hat brim and quickly walked up to a telephone booth.

There was someone in the booth.

As Kyosuke Kazato approached, the man inside happened to finish his call and push the door open.

The moment the door swung open, Kyosuke Kazato suddenly pulled out a gun and fired several shots at the man.

The person in the booth clutched his chest and collapsed with a look of agony.

A string of screams—"Ah—!!" erupted from behind Jiang Xia; clearly, the children had witnessed the scene.

Almost simultaneously, the gunman in black charged toward Jiang Xia and the children.

...

At this moment, Kyosuke Kazato could only run in this direction, because several large men were sprinting after him from the other directions.

Among the group of men chasing him, one was the decadent middle-aged man who had just been buying cigarettes in the shop, and two were passing-by, bored salarymen... However, as they chased the killer, these men showed no hesitation, their momentum was staggering, and they looked nothing like bystanders performing a heroic deed; instead, they looked more like undercover officers on a long-planned mission.

Kyosuke Kazato suddenly had a bad premonition.

He realized something had gone wrong, but he had no idea what the problem was.

Fortunately, previously, those plainclothes officers had only been following him normally and had not yet formed a perimeter.

The sprinting Kyosuke Kazato: "..." In other words, he still had a chance to escape!

...

Kyosuke Kazato looked at Jiang Xia ahead, focusing specifically on the children beside him, planning to snatch a hostage as he passed by to buy himself some time to escape.

Jiang Xia glanced at the masked man charging forward and said to the four children, "Get behind me, move inward."

Three of the children were originally hesitating over whether to rush forward and stop the killer.

When Jiang Xia suddenly spoke, their brains hadn't even processed it before their bodies instinctively stepped aside toward the roadside.

Conan, however, had no intention of yielding.

He was about to grab a potted plant from the roadside to kick at the criminal and subdue him. However, before he could touch the pot, his arm was suddenly gripped tight—Genta and Mitsuhiko each took one of his arms and yanked him swiftly to the roadside.

Conan couldn't break free and could only be dragged away—a few days ago, if Conan had shouted "Let go!", the rowdy kids might have listened.

But now, with Jiang Xia's words preceding them, nothing Conan said worked.

In fact, after shouting "Let go!", Genta simply covered his mouth. Genta whispered nervously, "Behave, or you'll turn into a pig head."

Conan: "...&*%￥#!"

...

It didn't take long for the adults to cover the distance of dozens of meters at full speed.

Kyosuke Kazato raised his gun and shouted at Jiang Xia in a disguised voice, "Get out of the way!"

Jiang Xia took a step to the side.

Kyosuke Kazato breathed a secret sigh of relief; good, it seemed Jiang Xia was just an ordinary person afraid of guns.

As he passed Jiang Xia, the doctor reached out with premeditated intent, hoping to grab an unlucky child as a hostage.

However, before his fingertips could touch anyone, his neck was suddenly jerked tight, and his entire body flew backward as the world spun.

—Jiang Xia had grabbed Kyosuke Kazato by the collar from behind, using the man's own momentum to swing him in a semi-circle before slamming him heavily onto the ground.

Kyosuke Kazato hit the ground with a "thud," the impact causing the sidewalk bricks to tremble.

Stars danced before his eyes, his head rang, and blood trickled from his nose. It took several seconds for the blurred vision to gradually clear.

Dazed and in pain, Kyosuke Kazato struggled to get up.

But just then, a shadow suddenly loomed over him—Jiang Xia walked up to him, looked down, and suddenly kicked him in the wrist.

The gun traced an arc through the air, kicked away, and landed seven or eight meters away.

On the ground, Kyosuke Kazato let out a roar of pain and tried to lunge upward. However, before he could find his balance, he took another blow to the waist, causing him to stumble and crash back down.

...

Aside from that first swing, Jiang Xia's strikes weren't heavy; the force was only slightly more intense than a massage, making him look very much like a cautious, heroic citizen.

Yet, despite Kyosuke Kazato's constant struggling, he simply could not get up.

Lying on the ground, watching the plainclothes officers draw closer, his eyes turned red with desperation. After another failed attempt to rise, he let out a roar of impotent rage: "Jiang Xia!!!"

Beside them, Genta and Mitsuhiko flinched in shock.

"..." A criminal committing murder with a gun in the street actually knew Brother Jiang Xia, and he had been tossed around like a spinning top... no, a top that *couldn't* spin... the moment they met him.

...Choosing to listen to Brother Jiang Xia was indeed a very wise decision.

The two young boys exchanged a glance and silently gripped Conan even tighter, feeling as though they were performing a daily act of kindness by saving their classmate.

...

Feeling the large mass of high-grade murderous intent at his feet, Jiang Xia felt quite pleasant. Moreover, the more he struck, the more murderous intent Kyosuke Kazato displayed—now, this doctor not only wanted to kill the police but also wanted to kill Jiang Xia, the "passerby" who had obstructed him.

Jiang Xia had originally intended to keep striking for a long time.

However, unfortunately, once Kyosuke Kazato shouted his name, it was no longer easy to pretend they were strangers...

Thinking of this, Jiang Xia froze slightly, hesitated, and stepped back a little, cautiously observing the man on the ground.

When Kyosuke Kazato tried to rise again, Jiang Xia merely watched silently from the side, without interference.

(End of Chapter)