Are You a Pervert?

The kidnapper was startled.

The Motorcycle's headlights were too bright, dazzling his vision so badly he couldn't see who had come. He could only throw himself to the side with all his strength.

The Motorcycle landed right beside him.

In the instant they crossed paths, the kidnapper's forearm took a heavy blow. His hand jerked, and the Ball Bat clattered to the ground, rolling away with a rumble.

The Motorcycle that had landed traced a perilous arc before screeching to a stop nearby.

Jiang Xia got off the vehicle, removed his helmet, and casually set it aside.

The dropped Ball Bat happened to roll to his feet. With a tap and hook of his toe, he sent it spinning through the air with a whistle of wind, then caught it firmly in one hand.

Jiang Xia weighed the Ball Bat in his hand and looked at the humanoid Killing Intent Cluster before him, a heartfelt smile spreading across his face.

Then he casually made up a fitting reason to hit someone. "Is bullying children fun?"

Seeing Jiang Xia's strangely twisted smile, a chill surged up from the kidnapper's heart.

He suddenly whirled around and charged for the door, trying to escape.

But he had barely taken a step when the warehouse doors were blasted open by a kick from outside.

—At some point, a Large Group Of young, sturdy men had gathered outside, with a row of Motorcycles parked behind them.

Their gazes passed over the kidnapper and settled on Jiang Xia, who was holding the Ball Bat. Then they all bowed in unison and shouted, "Boss!"

The kidnapper shuddered in shock.

No matter how stupid he was, he could tell that the people at the door were with Jiang Xia. There was no way he could escape that way.

Just as he turned to run for the window instead, a sharp pain suddenly exploded behind his shoulder. It felt as though his bones had Rang Once with a crack.

—Jiang Xia had struck him from behind.

The kidnapper's body tilted, and he stumbled into a pile of clutter.

He let out a belated howl of pain and struggled to get back up.

But a shadow suddenly fell over him.

Jiang Xia had appeared before him like a ghost. Without a word, he raised his hand and swung again.

With a dull thud, pain made the kidnapper's head buzz.

Trembling, he clutched his leg and glared venomously at Jiang Xia.

Then, to his utter shock, he found Jiang Xia looking back at him with an eager gaze that carried a hint of longing.

After watching him for a moment, Jiang Xia softly said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "...Seems like it really is fun."

"...?"

The kidnapper froze for a moment, then understood.

That sudden remark was a question and answer connected to "Is bullying children fun?"

But by then, the kidnapper had no energy to complain about things like You're the real Villain here! His heart was practically about to stop.

...What was wrong with this young man? Why was he smiling so happily?

Had he accidentally awakened some Pervert Murderer...?

As Jiang Xia watched the Killing Intent around the kidnapper gradually loosen, the more he struck, the better his mood became.

—To gather up all the Killing Intent, he had to make the person producing it voluntarily abandon the emotion of "Killing Intent."

Earlier, the kidnapper had been filled with Killing Intent toward the little girl and Conan.

But now, after taking several blows and finding his escape routes blocked, the kidnapper had deeply realized that he could no longer continue with this "murder" business.

As a result, the Killing Intent wrapped around him was loosening like ripe fruit.

If it had been another situation—if Jiang Xia had arrived too late, if no other rescuers had made it in time, and the kidnapper had successfully killed both children...

That could not be considered "voluntarily giving up." It could only count as fulfilling his wish. The gathered negative emotions would be consumed internally, leaving nothing for Jiang Xia to pick up.

Of course, if someone had died, Jiang Xia might have been able to pick up the soul they became.

Generally speaking, souls were more valuable than Killing Intent.

But Jiang Xia did not want to sit by and watch Conan die.

One needed a Conscience. Strictly speaking, Kudo Shinichi had helped him before.

A year ago, Jiang Xia Tongzhi had hidden in the bathroom and silently slit his wrists.

His soul had vanished impatiently, and Jiang Xia had picked up the body it left behind.

Jiang Xia had only just transmigrated then, and he had still been extremely weak. The newly acquired body was even weaker. Struck by both mental and physical trauma, he had struggled even to stand.

At the time, Jiang Xia had fumbled around his body for a long while through dizziness and blurred vision, trying to find his phone and call an Ambulance, but he could not find it anywhere.

Only upon looking carefully did he realize that the phone was soaking in the Bathtub. When he fished it out, the screen was already ruined.

At that time, Professor Agasa saw that Jiang Xia's Courtyard Gate was wide open and found it strange, so he came in to look for him.

The moment he entered, he heard the sound of water from the bathroom. This absent-minded inventor immediately assumed that Jiang Xia Tongzhi was Taking a Bath.

Being polite, the professor felt that this was not a good time to remind him to lock the door. So he scratched his Mediterranean and turned to leave.

...Fortunately, as soon as he stepped out of the courtyard, he ran into Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran, who were returning home from school.

Kudo Shinichi, with his acute sensitivity to human life, sensed that something was wrong from Professor Agasa's muttering. Then, relying on his usual habit of barging into other people's homes, he forced open the door and saved him, sparing Jiang Xia from having to drag his exhausted soul around and risk searching for another body...

Although there were many people on the verge of death in this world.

There were very few like Jiang Xia Tongzhi—young and handsome, with both parents dead and a relatively leisurely job.

For the sake of Jiang Xia Tongzhi's excellent physique and the inheritance Jiang Xia's parents had left behind, Jiang Xia would do his best to help whenever Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran ran into trouble.

But only his "best."

After all, Conan was far too good at causing trouble, and every few days he would run up in front of an Organization Cadre to play at suicidal tracking.

Jiang Xia could not follow behind him all day as a Bodyguard.

So if Conan suddenly dropped dead one day...

All Jiang Xia could do would be to pick up his soul after his good classmate died. He would feed him plenty of good Killing Intent, give him less work, and raise him nice and plump as repayment...

While thinking, Jiang Xia did not forget to keep hitting him.

The kidnapper before him clearly was not some strong-willed tough guy.

Jiang Xia had only lightly struck him a few dozen times before the Killing Intent on his body began to loosen in large patches.

The Ghost Infant let out a string of delighted murmurs, ran over, hugged a wisp of Killing Intent, buried its face in it, and blissfully inhaled.

—Though it did not smell as good as the alcohol-scented Killing Intent from that Silver Long Straight this afternoon.

At least this was something it could actually eat!