"Traveler, do you know this child?"
As though sensing Yin Kong's complicated emotions, Zhongli's voice rang out in his mind.
"We met once before, though he was still a teenager then. From what I understand, he was forced to take a very unusual poison, which turned him into what he is now." Yin Kong nodded lightly and asked, "Mr. Zhongli, did you notice something?"
He knew very well that, given the Geo Archon's personality, if Zhongli said so, he must have discovered something unusual.
Sure enough, after hearing Yin Kong's explanation, Zhongli came to a realization.
"No wonder. I noticed that his soul was somewhat unstable. So he had undergone such a transformation."
He did not ask Yin Kong why, despite having only just arrived, he seemed to know everything that had happened here earlier.
Hearing the surprise in Zhongli's tone, Yin Kong asked curiously, "But if it is merely a matter of becoming younger, shouldn't that be quite easy for you and Liyue's adepti?"
If he remembered correctly, as elemental beings, the adepti could freely alter their appearances.
Their true forms were really determined only by their own preferences.
As for Zhongli, he had personally admitted that the Geo Archon possessed countless incarnations.
Perhaps one of them even took the form of a mature, elegant woman.
"Indeed, changing one's appearance is effortless for us. But that young man seemed to have reverted not only in body, but in mind and soul as well, returning to childhood. That is something even adepti can scarcely accomplish... Hmm, was it truly the influence of that crow feather?"
Yatagarasu had ultimately displayed authority over time, so it was not particularly difficult to understand how the crow feather it left behind could make someone younger.
But Yin Kong knew one more thing: Conan before him was not the only person to have become younger.
In the future, at least Miyano Shiho—Haibara Ai—would also take that poison and shrink.
As for whether there were more examples, he was not sure.
Although he had watched the Conan anime before, he had dropped it early on once the later cases became increasingly dull and formulaic.
He only occasionally came across videos online and learned that the Black Organization had pulled off new stunts like strafing Tokyo Tower with a helicopter, while Conan had somehow kicked a soccer ball hard enough to blow up a satellite.
Could those people also possess relics similar to the crow feather, or perhaps domains capable of producing artifacts and materials?
If that were true, then he could look forward to it a little.
It was worth mentioning that, after this encounter, Yin Kong had successfully unlocked Conan's World Quest—
Detective Story, whose first act, First Clash with the Black Organization, had already been completed.
Together with the rewards for unlocking a domain and clearing one for the first time, he had easily earned seventy Primogems. That was an unexpected windfall.
When Yin Kong returned to the apartment, he found Paimon and Ono Yoko sitting in front of the computer, chatting pleasantly.
"Yin Kong, you're back?" The moment she saw him, Paimon flew over. "Judging from your expression, you must have gained a lot."
Yin Kong nodded.
"Indeed. You can rest easy now. That Abyss monster should have been truly eliminated."
Hearing that, Paimon patted her chest in relief.
"That's good. I don't want to come here only to keep fighting those dangerous, annoying creatures."
Yin Kong smiled and reminded her, "Abyss monsters are certainly annoying, but Paimon, haven't I always been the one fighting them?"
"Aren't you me? What's the difference?"
Paimon was clearly accustomed to such harmless teasing from Yin Kong. She waved it off without concern, then said mysteriously, "Oh, right, Yin Kong. You'd never guess what I did while you were at the amusement park."
Seeing Paimon acting so mysteriously, Yin Kong could not help but grow curious.
"What did you do?"
Paimon planted her hands on her hips and proudly raised her little head.
"Of course, I brought you a huge investment!"
Yin Kong froze for a moment before immediately understanding. His gaze fell on Ono Yoko.
"Miss Yoko?"
Meeting Yin Kong's gaze, the idol's face immediately reddened. She lowered her head shyly and explained softly, "Yes. Paimon told me that you were short on funds, so I thought I might be able to help."
Paimon nodded vigorously.
"That's right, Miss Yoko is rich too. With her support, maybe we can buy this entire apartment building and turn it into our base of operations!
Sigh, if only the Serenitea Pot were still here. It had so much space, and I could fly around however I wanted."
"You little rascal, don't treat Miss Yoko like Childe."
Yin Kong reached out and tapped Paimon on the head, looking helpless.
Ono Yoko was a popular idol, but she was nowhere near rich enough to rival a nation. She could not withstand such extravagant spending from them.
Hearing him say that, Miss Yoko looked ashamed.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you both. With my financial means, I truly cannot afford to buy the entire apartment building. But if I took out a loan..."
Seeing the idol seriously begin calculating how many years she would need to borrow money to purchase the building, Paimon froze, then hurriedly waved her hands.
"Miss Yoko, you don't need to apologize. I was just saying it casually. I didn't really mean for you to buy the building."
Yin Kong nodded as well.
"Paimon often comes up with wild ideas. You don't need to take all of them to heart."
"That's right, that's right." Paimon nodded in agreement at first, but soon folded her arms and eyed Yin Kong suspiciously. "Wait, Yin Kong, aren't you insulting me in a roundabout way again?"
Yin Kong merely smiled without answering.
Watching the two of them laugh and bicker, Ono Yoko's eyes held a trace of envy.
After thinking for a moment, she asked, "In that case, how much funding do you need, Yin Kong?"
Seeing how seriously Ono Yoko asked, Yin Kong stopped playing around with Paimon and confirmed, "Miss Yoko, do you truly intend to support Cunning Rabbit House?
Let me say this in advance: Paimon and I do not have grand ambitions of making Cunning Rabbit House bigger and stronger, or expanding it across the world. This investment will most likely not yield the kind of enormous returns you imagine. The returns may be low, and you might not even recover your costs in the short term."
Ono Yoko nodded gently and revealed a bright smile.
"Please rest assured. I have already prepared myself to lose everything."
More precisely, when she made this decision, she had never considered how much financial return she might receive.
The Heart-Fluttering Feeling
"Then please help us rent the agency on the first floor of this building, Miss Yoko."
Ono Yoko waited several seconds. When she realized Yin Kong did not seem to have any further requests, she could not help but stare.
"Huh? That's all?"
This apartment building was not located in any particularly bustling commercial district.
Forget a single agency on the first floor—even renting out the whole floor would be nothing to her.
What Yin Kong did not know was that, when she agreed to Paimon's request, the idol had already resolved to pour her entire fortune into it.
"Of course not. In the future, I will likely need to purchase various precious materials, such as jade, gemstones, rare flowers, and exotic herbs..."
The precious materials Yin Kong spoke of were naturally ascension materials for characters like Zhongli.
According to Zhongli's introduction, Cor Lapis was a rare crystal formed from exceptionally pure Geo energy. Among Liyue's jewelers, it was even honored as the Heart of Stone.
Even if they found substitutes for Cor Lapis in this world, they would most likely be exceptionally pure jade, precious gemstones, or something similar.
Continuously gathering such valuable jade and the ascension materials needed by future characters would clearly require a vast and steady influx of funds.
Ono Yoko's investment truly eased Yin Kong's urgent need.
Of course, one had to eat one bite at a time. With Yin Kong's current resource-gathering efficiency, raising Zhongli to maximum level would certainly not happen overnight.
"So, for now, it will be enough to rent the agency on the first floor."
Paimon nodded vigorously and clapped excitedly.
"With Miss Yoko's support, our Cunning Rabbit House can finally meet the registration requirements—uh, was I not supposed to say that?"
Realizing she had seemingly let something slip, Paimon stuck out her tongue guiltily and tried to muddle through it.
Yin Kong shook his head helplessly and laughed.
"Forget it. Miss Yoko is not an outsider anymore."
He had long since grown used to this top-tier blabbermouth from Teyvat.
Fortunately, the little one was only prone to lowering her guard around her own people. When it came to important matters, she was quite reliable.
Sure enough, upon hearing that Cunning Rabbit House had not even been officially registered yet and was essentially an unlicensed illegal business, Miss Yoko did not show much surprise. Instead, she seemed unsurprised.
Of course, what the idol cared about most was Yin Kong's earlier remark.
He had already regarded her as one of his own, and that made her heart leap with joy.
Under Beika Town's local laws, anyone wishing to properly work as a detective or in a similar profession needed to complete certain procedures.
Especially for an All-Purpose Agency like Cunning Rabbit House, they needed not only a stable office location and a certain security deposit, but usually also a guarantor with a clean record.
In reality, however, most private detectives on the market would not waste their precious funds on such troublesome and useless procedures.
After all, being a detective was ultimately a profession where ability spoke for itself.
Kudo Shinichi and Heiji Hattori, for example, were both high school detectives who clearly had none of those messy credentials. Yet Inspector Megure had never thrown them out of a crime scene because of it.
Unfortunately, if Yin Kong wanted Cunning Rabbit House to meet the system's requirements, he had to obtain official local authorization.
At that point, Yin Kong remembered that he himself was still undocumented.
Should he simply have Ono Yoko become Cunning Rabbit House's legal representative and register the agency under her name?
Yin Kong thought about it, but ultimately did not voice the idea.
It was not that he doubted Ono Yoko's character. Their day together had been enough for him to see that the idol was indeed trustworthy.
But no matter what, since Primogems were involved, it was better to be cautious.
If he merely sought convenience now and caused trouble in the future, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Of course, while she could not serve as the legal representative, there should be no problem with her acting as a guarantor. That would save them a small expense as well.
After briefly discussing the investment, little Paimon cheered.
"Yay! That means Miss Yoko can live with us too."
Miss Yoko froze, only then belatedly realizing that she seemed to be in a state of having nowhere to go.
If they rented the agency, she really could choose to move in directly.
Yin Kong lightly knocked Paimon on the head and laughed.
"What are you thinking? Miss Yoko never said she wanted to live with us. She's a popular idol. It would be bad if rumors started spreading."
Today was a special circumstance, and she was willing to make do here for one night. But that was obviously completely different from coming over to live here long-term.
"Um, is it really not okay?"
Paimon was clearly extremely disappointed and looked hopefully at Ono Yoko.
Although Yin Kong had bought her a computer so she could go online, staying alone in the apartment was still very boring.
If someone as gentle and understanding as Ono Yoko could keep her company and play with her, she would obviously be very happy.
"It, it's not impossible." Ono Yoko lowered her head, not daring to look at Yin Kong's expression at all, and muttered, "Since Paimon is asking so sincerely, and finding another place to rent would definitely be troublesome, and this place is very close to the company..."
No matter what, she had managed to convince herself.
Seeing that Ono Yoko seemed to have agreed, Yin Kong fell silent for a moment.
Before you continue