Then the two girls shook their heads at the same time.
"We thought it over carefully and decided we really can't do this. Even if you don't care about the money, Jiang Hang, handling these matters is our job as agency employees. No matter what, we'd feel bad taking all the payment, so we can't accept this money!" Koharu Yoshino said seriously as she looked at Jiang Hang. Shizuka Sakaki clearly felt the same way.
Jiang Hang was stunned for a moment as he looked at the serious expressions on the two girls' faces.
Because of his system, he now basically calculated money in units of hundreds of millions. He had barely paid any attention to a few million yen, so he hadn't expected the two girls to care so much about it.
He pondered for a moment. "I really didn't think this through before. But you handled this commission from start to finish. I only showed up at the end to make an appearance..."
He split the one million yen in his hand into two portions and handed half to the two girls. "From now on, I'll take half of the commissions you handle, and the rest will be your commission. That way, you won't feel bad about it, right?"
As he spoke, he picked up the remaining five hundred thousand yen in his hand and looked at the two girls.
"I just ate a rather unpleasant bowl of wontons, so to comfort my stomach, I'm planning to eat some unhealthy barbecue tonight. Is anyone not coming?"
Mysterious Organization?
The next morning's news reported an extremely vicious gang shootout that had occurred in a certain area of Tokyo the previous night.
Late at night, the old leader of the Takashiro Group led all its remaining members in a surprise attack against the Kansai Gang, which intended to swallow up the Takashiro Group. He was ultimately shot dead by the Kansai Gang, while the remaining Takashiro Group members were arrested by police who rushed to the scene.
It could be said that from this day onward, the Takashiro Group, which had existed for over thirty years, had officially exited the stage.
At the Pioneer Detective Agency, Shizuka Sakaki and Koharu Yoshino were stunned for quite a while after learning the news.
Only then did they understand why the Takashiro Group's leader had wanted to eat that bowl of wontons. So that had been his last meal?
Aside from what was reported in the news, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was also busy dealing with the sudden vicious incident.
They had long known that the Takashiro Group was declining and would eventually be swallowed by another gang. However, they had not expected its leader to have the nerve to start a war despite being doomed, ultimately causing a major case with more than ten dead and dozens injured.
In a conference room at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Toshiro Odagiri, head of the Criminal Affairs Department, looked sternly at his subordinates.
"This incident has had an extremely serious impact. As I recall, Division Four had people watching the Takashiro Group. Why was there no movement from you when something this major happened last night?"
Division Four of the Criminal Affairs Department specialized in violent gang-related crimes. Matters like this were originally their responsibility.
Toshiro Odagiri's expression was rather unpleasant. "I also heard that Inspector Megure from Investigation Division One told you yesterday evening to keep an eye on the Takashiro Group's movements, yet you ignored it?"
The head of Division Four was sweating profusely as he explained to his superior, "According to our previous intelligence, the Takashiro Group's leader was seriously ill, and most of the group's members had been poached by other gangs. There were fewer than ten people left in total. Also, the source of Investigation Division One's intelligence was a rookie detective who had only recently entered the profession, so we did not verify the information..."
He then explained that Division Four had originally planned to disrupt an illegal transaction between two major gangs the night before, trying to shift as much responsibility away from himself as possible.
"That detective may have only recently entered the profession, but he is no rookie. He uncovered the Moon Shadow Island case, and he was also the one who brought down the infamous president of the Konaka Intelligence Agency. I believe you should know about both of those incidents," said Kiyonaga Matsumoto, head of Investigation Division One and Megure Juzo's superior.
The head of Division Four's expression immediately became rather awkward. He seemed to want to argue further, but Toshiro Odagiri stopped him.
"I will deal with Division Four's failures in this case afterward. What matters now is handling the case itself. In short, I want you to resolve this incident as quickly as possible to prevent further negative repercussions."
"Furthermore, another mysterious organization was implicated in this case, and higher-ups want us to investigate what happened as soon as possible." As he spoke, he placed a report before everyone in the conference room. "These are the casualty figures from last night's incident. Do you notice anything?"
The report showed that the Takashiro Group, with only ten men and the advantage of a surprise attack, had faced a major gang with hundreds of members. Yet the casualty ratio in this ten-against-one-hundred gang fight, as well as the participants' statements, all carried an eerie undertone.
Three members of the Takashiro Group had died: its leader, who had been weakened by age and exhaustion before being shot to death, along with two members who had also been fatally shot and died on the spot. Although the other seven had suffered injuries of varying severity, they had all ultimately survived.
On the other side, however, more than ten members of the Kansai Gang had been shot to death, while nearly twenty more were seriously injured.
But that was the strange part. Aside from those shot dead or seriously injured, dozens of Kansai Gang members had lost their ability to fight after being struck unconscious in the back of the head by some kind of blunt weapon.
If they truly had to determine a winner, the result of this gang fight could even be called a decisive victory for the Takashiro Group.
Yet according to the Takashiro Group members, they had gone there intending to die together with their enemies. In reality, apart from the success of their initial ambush, they were quickly suppressed once the other side reacted. Their leader had died during the enemy's counterattack.
Then, at some point, someone used smoke bombs. At first, they thought it was an enemy scheme. Yet when they decided to make their final stand, they discovered that the situation seemed to be improving in their favor.
By the end, there were actually more people still standing on their side. The remaining Kansai Gang members had either collapsed on the ground or fled in panic.
The Kansai Gang members who had been knocked unconscious also said that after someone deployed smoke bombs, they were attacked from within the smoke.
Yet after questioning dozens of people who had been ambushed, not a single one could clearly see what the attacker looked like. They could only roughly judge the attacker's build.
Some said they had been attacked by a short person, others said the attacker was tall. Some thought the person was an old man, while others claimed it was a burly fat man. The descriptions were all over the place, and there was no consistent answer at all.
"Based on the current situation, the Takashiro Group's leader likely sought help from a mysterious organization before this gang fight. However, he was probably the only one who knew anything about that organization. The other Takashiro Group members know nothing about it," Toshiro Odagiri said sternly, insisting that they investigate the mysterious organization's background as soon as possible.
While the bigwigs of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were holding their meeting, Jiang Hang, far away at Suzuki Manor, suddenly sneezed.
He knew nothing about any gang fight, nor did he know what kind of thing the mysterious organization being discussed by the police was.
He was merely an upright detective who had called Inspector Megure the day before to give a warning, only to find that it had done no good by evening. In order to settle the conflict as quickly as possible, he had casually tossed a few smoke bombs into the crowd, then grabbed a random stick and practiced knocking people unconscious in the smoke.
The reason he was currently at Suzuki Manor was that the "theft notice" from Kaito Kid, which he and Jirokichi Suzuki had awaited for so long, had finally arrived!
I'm Going to Slack Off
At Suzuki Manor, Jiang Hang calmly drank afternoon tea in Jirokichi Suzuki's study.
Outside the window, a flock of pure white pigeons was being fed by the Suzuki family's butler. Every now and then, several pigeons even flew onto the windowsill and cooed.
Jirokichi Suzuki sat behind his desk, eyes wide as he carefully examined the notice from Kaito Kid that Jiang Hang had just handed him.
To be honest, there was nothing special about the notice.
Kaito Kid sometimes liked to use riddles to toy with others and confuse the police.
But perhaps he felt that the obscure Beika Art Museum was not worth a riddle, so the notice merely stated when he would come to take the Suzuki family heirloom, Dark Star.
"Although I already studied that guy carefully and knew he sent out a theft notice before every heist," Jirokichi Suzuki said as he looked at the notice, his face filled with displeasure, "seeing it for real still makes me very unhappy."
"Do you have any ideas about that shameless thief, Jiang Hang?" He looked toward Jiang Hang.
"I'm just an ordinary detective. I'm better at finding people or things, but setting traps and creating difficult challenges isn't my specialty. My job is to find Kaito Kid's location when he appears. After that, it'll be up to you, Mr. Jirokichi." Jiang Hang looked at the pigeons outside the window, then continued, "If I really had to offer a suggestion, I heard the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has an officer specifically responsible for pursuing Kid. Apparently, he's been tangled up with Kid for more than ten years. He has never caught him, but he has ruined Kid's theft plans several times."
Jirokichi Suzuki snorted. "I won't ask those useless police for help. They've spent more than ten years failing to catch a petty thief who only knows how to play tricks. I think the two of us can catch that detestable thief ourselves."
Jiang Hang did not say much more about that. Instead, he continued, "Besides that, I've always heard that Kaito Kid is extremely skilled at disguises. He can change his appearance into someone else's in under ten seconds. He may disguise himself as either of us, or as someone else, when the time comes. At the very least, I think you should arrange a code phrase with a few trustworthy people."
After thinking it over, Jirokichi Suzuki agreed that a code phrase was the most convenient way to identify someone who could freely disguise himself as others. He immediately began discussing one with Jiang Hang.
They quickly came up with a code phrase for communicating with each other.
After finishing everything, Jiang Hang gave him a look, then stood and walked over to the window.
"Come to think of it, does the Suzuki family garden raise this many pigeons?" He looked at the few pigeons on the windowsill, then at the butler who was still scattering feed for the flock.
"They probably just happened to land here. Just chase them away," Jirokichi Suzuki said indifferently, waving his hand.
Jiang Hang also shooed the pigeons away with his hand, then closed the window that had been opened for ventilation.
The moment he drew the curtains shut as well, a faint smile appeared on Jiang Hang's face.
Jirokichi Suzuki stood up with a grim expression, still holding the notice Jiang Hang had handed him.
Below Kaito Kid's message, Jiang Hang had written, "Kid is eavesdropping. We'll play along."
Everything they had said earlier had merely been false information for Kid, who was using pigeons to eavesdrop.
Now that Jiang Hang had driven the pigeons away and confirmed there were no more listening devices, he gave Jirokichi Suzuki an OK gesture.
"I really did choose the right person. That Kid fellow actually began scouting and eavesdropping the very moment he sent the theft notice."
"If you hadn't been here, that brat might have heard my entire plan." Jirokichi Suzuki gave Jiang Hang a thumbs-up, though his expression remained puzzled. "But if he is using pigeons to eavesdrop, he should be nearby, right? Wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity to capture him while he's still around?"
Because Jiang Hang had easily discovered Kid's listening devices and even set a trap for that arrogant fellow, Jirokichi Suzuki's confidence in Jiang Hang had soared.
He even felt that with Jiang Hang by his side, Kaito Kid was nothing to worry about.
If the two of them continued working together, they might even become a "Phantom Thief Nemesis" duo that made every phantom thief tremble in fear!
Jiang Hang, however, shook his head. "It won't be that easy. Those pigeons may have been specially trained by Kaito Kid. Even if he is nearby, finding him won't be easy with his disguise skills."
"If we alert him now, he may abandon this theft," Jiang Hang continued, pointing at Jirokichi Suzuki. "And between 'Kaito Kid was caught while eavesdropping on intelligence' and 'Kaito Kid was caught red-handed stealing a gem by a Suzuki Conglomerate advisor,' which news story do you think would be more eye-catching?"
"Obviously the latter!" Jirokichi Suzuki slapped his hand against the desk, finally remembering his original purpose.
He had declared revenge on Kaito Kid because the thief had stolen his headlines. If he caught the thief now, with no audience around, where would he get to show off?
But if he made Kaito Kid submit before everyone's eyes in public, that would be the most glorious moment of his life!
Even at his age, Jirokichi Suzuki felt a little excited at the thought.
However, Jiang Hang's thoughts were completely different from Jirokichi Suzuki's.
Under his Eagle Vision, Kaito Kid was like a firefly in the darkness. Jiang Hang did not even need to look closely to know where he was.
But Jiang Hang had no intention of doing that.
He planned to use Kid to level up his business first. Wouldn't catching Kid now just mean increasing the game's difficulty for himself?
Besides, Jiang Hang's move this time had already left a deep impression on Jirokichi Suzuki and given him a massive first-move advantage in their upcoming confrontation. If Jirokichi Suzuki failed to seize that advantage himself, he could not blame Jiang Hang.
So from now on, Jiang Hang only needed to secretly slack off and go easy on Kid. As long as he did not drag Jirokichi Suzuki down and made sure the old man invited him along next time, that would be enough.
The Tool Team
By now, Jiang Hang had actually developed a small-scale... tool team.
Tool Number One, Takagi Wataru, was mainly used by Jiang Hang to learn internal intelligence from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Jiang Hang could also dump certain blame he did not want on him.
Tool Number Two, Jirokichi Suzuki, was mainly responsible for paying money. Together with Tool Number Three, Kid, who provided traffic and discussion, they formed a perfect linkage. With those two around, Jiang Hang no longer had to worry about his business level failing to rise.
As for Tool Number Four, the tool Jiang Hang considered to have the greatest potential, it was naturally Conan, whom Jiang Hang had recently persuaded.
After giving Conan a "careful education," Jiang Hang had been waiting for news from him.
Finally, the day before Kaito Kid was scheduled to appear, Conan, this high-quality tool, called him.
According to Conan, he had encountered a murder case and had already figured out the culprit's identity and method after investigating from every angle.
Yet after he told Kogoro Mouri every clue he could think of, the man still failed to identify the real culprit.
Seeing that the police were preparing to take the supposed culprit away and let the true murderer escape justice, Conan finally called Jiang Hang.
After learning all the clues from Conan, Jiang Hang rushed to the crime scene. Before Inspector Megure and the others could take the wrong suspect back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, he successfully pointed out the real culprit.
Then came the usual time for the culprit to reveal the motive and repent.
Although the entire process had been somewhat winding, the outcome was good in the end.
The only thing Jiang Hang wanted to complain about was that although the system had classified the case as three-star, it apparently did not approve of his opportunistic "method of solving the case." Or perhaps his participation level had been too low. In the end, Jiang Hang only received twenty million yen, with no skill or item rewards.
Jiang Hang accepted the twenty million yen with slight regret. He had originally wanted to invite Kogoro Mouri out for a drink, but seeing Conan looking as though he had lost all hope and dreams, Jiang Hang felt that he still needed to give him some counseling.
A hardworking tool like Conan could not be allowed to break down just like that!
After casually finding an excuse to take Conan away from Ran Mori, Jiang Hang listened as Conan complained about how difficult the past few days had been.
Since the diplomat incident ended, Conan and the others had encountered a total of two murder cases.
In the first incident, under Conan's painstaking guidance, Kogoro Mouri had ultimately managed to find the real culprit and uncover the culprit's method.
The second was the case Jiang Hang had just rushed over to save.
"I did my best! I found every clue and laid them all out right in front of him, yet he still couldn't figure out who the real culprit was! If this keeps happening, I'm going to die first!" Conan seemed completely unable to understand why such a person existed in the world.
"That's perfectly normal. When my teachers used to explain problems in class, they would often say things like, 'Obviously, A, B, and C are all wrong answers, so the correct answer is D.' You shouldn't judge everyone by your own standards." Jiang Hang resisted the urge to complain and cleared his throat. "I think Uncle Mori simply hasn't found his rhythm yet. If you slowly train up Uncle Mori's abilities, won't things become easier later?"
Though the chances were low. Before that, just be my tool properly.
Jiang Hang added that silently in his heart.
But Conan was no fool. He did not know whether Kogoro Mouri had any room for improvement, but he knew that if he encountered this situation a few more times, he would probably become so depressed that he coughed up blood.
"I already asked Professor Agasa. The anesthetic needles he gave me before were meant for criminals, so they could have side effects. But I've now had Professor Agasa modify them to reduce those side effects. As long as I control the frequency, I think it should be fine and won't cause Uncle Mori any problems."
Even now, Conan was still thinking about using anesthetic needles to quickly accomplish his goal.
The moment Jiang Hang heard that, he was alarmed. He had finally fooled Conan into becoming his tool for solving cases, but he had only managed to benefit from one case before this tool was preparing to quit?
How could it be that easy!
Still, it seemed he had to loosen the reins a little. Jiang Hang rested his chin on his hand and put on a deeply thoughtful expression. "Come to think of it, that's true. Over the past month, the name 'Sleeping Kogoro' has started spreading. It would be strange if he suddenly stopped sleeping, and that might actually draw more attention..."
"But the frequency still cannot be too high. To be safe, you should only use it once or twice a month, and space it out. Create the impression that 'Sleeping Kogoro' only appears when he encounters particularly difficult cases. At other times, if there's no other way, contact me to handle it," Jiang Hang said. Although this would greatly reduce the number of cases he could piggyback on, if those cases could not grant him skill rewards, his losses would not actually be that great.
Thinking about it carefully, he would probably only lose around a hundred million yen each month.
At the thought of "only," Jiang Hang could not help clutching his chest in pain.
Still, he hid his emotions well. Looking at Conan, who remained in low spirits, he remembered that Kid was coming the next day and told Conan about it.
"By the way, Kaito Kid is coming to steal something from my art museum tomorrow night. It should be pretty lively. Do you want to bring your sister Ran along to join the fun?"
Before you continue