Conan, suddenly singled out by Yin Kong, froze on the spot.
Paimon nodded from the side and smugly wagged a finger.
"The next part isn't something a little brat like you can take part in. Just stay here and don't make the adults at home worry, okay?"
Hey, aren't you a little brat yourself?
And an even smaller little brat than the current "Conan."
Seeing Paimon lecturing him with such utter certainty, Conan immediately put on a pair of dead fish eyes shaped like inverted triangles.
But Inspector Megure had clearly taken Yin Kong's words to heart.
Under the officer's watchful gaze, Conan could only stare helplessly as Yin Kong and Paimon's figures, one big and one small, vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
"So this is another world? It sure is lively."
After leaving the abandoned building, Shikanoin Heizou looked at the bustling crowds and flashing neon lights on the streets and could not help voicing a similar sentiment.
"I think so too."
Paimon nodded her little head at first, but quickly shook it.
"But compared to here, Paimon actually likes Inazuma better. The people here are just way too strange. All kinds of weird cases happen almost every day... Even in Fontaine, Paimon never ran into this many criminals. They're practically as common as mint and Sweet Flowers by the roadside."
Shikanoin Heizou was somewhat surprised to hear that.
"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? Those officers just now seemed pretty responsible to me."
They might have been somewhat lacking in ability, but their character did not seem bad.
With police officers like them around, even if crimes happened a little frequently in this city, surely it could not be as outrageous as Paimon made it sound?
Paimon merely spread her hands helplessly.
"Forget it. You probably won't believe Paimon even if Paimon explains it now. You'll understand in a few days."
Something stirred in Shikanoin Heizou's heart.
He had one wish: to eliminate [evil].
In Inazuma, his way of eliminating [evil] had been to join the Tenryou Commission and become a famous detective feared by every criminal.
As long as he, the [storm], the criminals' natural disaster, existed, Inazuma's criminals would have to seriously consider the consequences of being caught before committing a crime.
If crime truly ran this rampant in this world, did that mean this place was also in need of a renowned detective like him?
Of course, the thought only flashed through Shikanoin Heizou's mind for an instant.
The priority was still to help Yin Kong find the missing cursed gold coins first.
"Traveler, could you recreate the route on the paper? If there are any turnbacks, or any neon sign patterns where you can directly find the next one without needing to search, I think those places should be the key to breaking through..."
But to Shikanoin Heizou's slight surprise, Yin Kong suddenly shook his head.
"Maybe we don't need to go through all that trouble, because I already have the memories."
Narrow Ghost Shadow
Memories already on hand?
Seeing Paimon's puzzled expression, Yin Kong immediately pointed at the little umbrella in the photo and reminded her.
"Paimon, did you forget? That game company across from this shop?"
Paimon froze for a moment, then quickly came to a realization.
"Oh, Paimon remembers! That company called [Mantendo], the one with lots of black shadows floating around everywhere?"
Although demons had gradually begun appearing on the streets, the vast majority were still mere fodder without even human forms.
Thus, a group of five or six humanoid demons appearing at once had naturally been especially conspicuous.
"Paimon remembers you saying you'd never play games made by [Mantendo] again in this lifetime."
As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of the [Mantendo] game company.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Yin Kong's group had arrived just as the company was getting off work.
Soon, they saw a crowd of employees wearing identical ties and carrying identical old-fashioned briefcases pour out in a noisy stream.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go now, Traveler!"
Just as little Paimon rolled up her sleeves eagerly, Yin Kong shook his head.
"Paimon, stay here with Shinobu and wait for me, okay?"
Judging from the humanoid black shadows they had seen before, not only were the demons hidden in this company fairly high-level, but their numbers also seemed quite substantial.
Under those circumstances, rashly bringing Paimon inside could hardly be considered a foolproof plan.
Reality was not a game. At the very least, Yin Kong did not dare hope that every enemy would ignore Paimon and attack only him.
Too bad his old man Zhongli was not at C2.
If he had been, Yin Kong probably would not have had so many concerns.
Naturally, Paimon could not help feeling disappointed, but she did not throw a tantrum. Instead, she answered sensibly.
"Okay, but you have to be careful."
Yin Kong also looked toward Kuki Shinobu, who had stepped out of the shadows.
"I'm counting on you, Shinobu."
Kuki Shinobu nodded gently.
"It's nothing. You're the one who needs to be extra careful, just like little Paimon said..."
Yin Kong smiled.
"Of course."
Kuki Shinobu quickly turned to Paimon.
"By the way, Paimon, I remember there's a snack street not far from here. Want me to take you for a look?"
After Shinobu took Paimon to the snack street, Yin Kong switched Shikanoin Heizou to the front in an empty alley nearby before entering the [Mantendo] game company through its main entrance.
"Hello, may I trouble you for a moment?"
When the receptionist suddenly looked up and saw the handsome red-haired young man smiling at her, she felt as though her heart had stopped for a moment.
Her gaze lingered brazenly on Shikanoin Heizou's two tear moles for several seconds before a gentle smile finally spread across her face.
"Of course. What can I help you with, sir?"
Shikanoin Heizou naturally noticed her somewhat forward gaze, but he had long since grown accustomed to such treatment.
"Could I ask whether you provide storage services here?"
"Yes, yes, of course." The receptionist nodded repeatedly and warmly reminded him, "For ordinary storage, anything stored on the same day must be retrieved that day. If you need long-term storage, the process is a little more troublesome, and we also charge a certain storage fee."
So that was indeed the case?
Shikanoin Heizou nodded slightly and asked.
"Then for long-term storage, what is the maximum length of time you can keep something?"
The receptionist answered.
"Three months. If an item goes unclaimed for more than three months, we dispose of it."
Only three months?
Did that bandit leader have the confidence to escape prison within three months?
Or did he have some other plan?
"Has anyone else come to arrange long-term storage recently? Especially foreigners?"
It was obviously a rather strange question, but faced with the handsome young man's smile, the receptionist clearly had no mind left to ponder it.
"Now that you mention it, two days ago, a strange person wrapped up from head to toe came to arrange storage..."
That was him.
With no doubts left in his mind, Shikanoin Heizou very politely declined the receptionist's request to exchange phone numbers.
After leaving the front desk, he soon slipped back in through the rear entrance.
In fact, he did not need to ask where the long-term storage lockers were, because the black figures had already shown Yin Kong's group the way.
Since work had ended, and because few people would come to another company for long-term storage services, their operation went very smoothly.
Along the way, they saw only these Narrow Ghost Shadows.
Yin Kong's intrusion seemed to have disturbed the demons' "party," so they almost immediately swarmed toward him.
"Can you see us?"
"Hey, you can see us, right?"
It had been so long since he had heard those familiar questions that Yin Kong could not help feeling a trace of nostalgia.
But as the saying went, once bitten, twice shy. Although Yin Kong really wanted to shout, "Innate Evil Demon Imp," then unleash a Vortex Vanquisher and wipe out these annoying pests—
His reason stopped him from acting on the impulse.
Same old routine: shield first, then switch to Fischl.
"Haha, is it finally this Prinzessin's turn to act?"
Fischl, who had yet to fight properly since being summoned, had excitement written all over her face.
"Go, Oz!"
Then, amid her protests, Yin Kong mercilessly switched her back to the rear.
After Shikanoin Heizou, equipped with [Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers], hurriedly made an appearance, the active character returned to Zhongli.
Yin Kong's series of actions flowed as smoothly as water and was completed in an instant.
Only then did the Narrow Ghost Shadows finally react.
"He can see us!"
"He can see us!"
"Food!"
Clearly, monsters possessing complete thinking abilities like the Chameleon Witch were rare among the rare.
These Narrow Ghost Shadows did not think. Yin Kong's actions were obviously beyond what an ordinary human could accomplish and showed he was not someone to be trifled with.
They only felt the attraction of flesh and blood, then rushed forward in a frenzy, intending to tear him to pieces and swallow him whole.
But that was exactly what Yin Kong wanted.
Facing the ghosts and demons surging in from all directions, Zhongli chuckled. A familiar golden glow had already lit up on the Black Tassel Spear in his hand.
Twelve Trials
The excited monsters surged forward, eventually gathering into a pitch-black tide that seemed ready to completely drown Zhongli.
Naturally, they pounced on empty air.
Because Zhongli had already vanished from where he stood and risen into the air—
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud...
One golden stone spear after another was hurled down from the Geo Archon's hand.
In Yin Kong's eyes, the demons and monsters within the black tide had blended together, indistinguishable from one another.
Yet every stone spear Zhongli threw pierced through the black tide and impaled a Narrow Ghost Shadow with unerring precision.
Although these Narrow Ghost Shadows were all above level thirty, theoretically more than ten levels higher than Zhongli was at the moment.
But one must not forget that even the Chameleon Witch from before had carelessly exposed a weakness before transforming, allowing Zhongli to seize the opportunity and kill her in one blow. What were these worthless scraps by comparison?
Not to mention that over the past three days, Yin Kong had farmed a three-star Requiem artifact set for Zhongli.
Although both the main and substats were utterly terrible, they had at least all been fully leveled.
Before you continue