I Didn't Mean to Blow Your Cover

One second, Kimura Tatsuya had been pinching his mouth shut, smiling at his own cleverness.

The next second, his face went deathly pale, and he collapsed to the floor with a thud.

Several screams rang out in the KTV.

Jiang Xia looked at Kimura Tatsuya's bluish-white face, then at the Killing Intent that Xiao Bai and Miyano Akemi had been clutching, which was now slowly flowing back into Tera Haramari's body as though it were being internally digested. "..."

...Was there something wrong with the Potassium Cyanide in this world?

It had gone from his coat to his palm, and the poisoned hand had then been diluted by the microphone, his clothes, and so on. Even if Kimura Tatsuya had accidentally licked the poison on his hand out of nervousness just now... could such a tiny dose really take effect this quickly?

But after thinking about it, Jiang Xia understood.

As far as he remembered, everyone in this world who had taken Potassium Cyanide had died instantly. Some had even vomited blood in defiance of common sense.

Apparently, aside from physics and information technology, chemistry here had developed along its own path as well.

Seeing Kimura Tatsuya's miserable state, Jiang Xia decided to carve the words "watch what you eat" into his DNA.

At the same time, Jiang Xia fell into thought. If that was the case, could the medicine he had brought just in case still be used...?

Kimura Tatsuya lay on the floor, his expression twisted in pain. He was utterly bewildered and had no idea what had happened.

Aside from Tera Haramari and Jiang Xia, everyone else was just as stunned.

The burly man ran over to his teammate. Seeing Kimura Tatsuya struggling to breathe, he scratched the back of his head in confusion. Guided by a simple yet thoroughly unprofessional understanding of first aid, he decided to replace whatever was missing and give his teammate some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation first.

But just as he bent down, Conan, who had seen through his intentions, yanked him away.

Conan's expression turned grave. "This could very well be Potassium Cyanide poisoning. Call an ambulance, and call the police!"

Mouri Ran gave an "Mm." Before her brain had even caught up, her body had already pulled out her phone and dialed Emergency Number 110.

Suzuki Sonoko huddled between her and Jiang Xia. She glanced at Mouri Ran's phone screen, then somewhat awkwardly called an ambulance.

Although Conan had told them to call an ambulance, deep down, he felt that Kimura Tatsuya was already beyond saving.

So Conan looked over everyone in the private room, intending to deduce who the murderer was.

Then he suddenly saw Jiang Xia take out two syringes.

Conan froze. "What are those?"

"Sodium Thiosulfate and a Vasodilator." Jiang Xia tapped a syringe with his fingertip, looked at Conan, and asked quietly while Taking Advantage of the Chaos, "Can I use them?"

Jiang Xia was worried that, under this world's chemical system, one injection might make Kimura Tatsuya die twice as fast... After all, these antidotes for Cyanide Poisoning seemed to operate on the principle of fighting poison with poison.

Conan was startled by the question.

—The medicines Jiang Xia had mentioned could indeed be used as antidotes for Cyanide Poisoning... but why would Jiang Xia carry such things with him?

Well, that was one thing. Poisoning cases were common enough, and as a Detective, it was actually reasonable for Jiang Xia to carry them.

But what was unreasonable, Conan thought, was why Jiang Xia had specifically asked him before giving the injection.

He was supposed to be nothing more than a first-year Elementary School Student! Theoretically, there was no way he should know this.

At that moment, Conan recalled Jiang Xia's terrifying Observation Skills—how he could immediately drag out the culprit as soon as he entered a Scene of the Crime—and a powerful wave of guilt hit him belatedly.

Conan: "..." After shrinking, even Ran had once made a wild guess that he was Kudo Shinichi. He had only barely managed to fool her.

And Jiang Xia, though he had had little contact with "Conan" and was not particularly familiar with Kudo Shinichi either... but his Observation Skills...

"Can I use them?"

A voice suddenly rang out, shattering Conan's train of thought.

Jiang Xia tapped the syringe and asked again.

Conan came back to his senses and realized that Jiang Xia still had not injected the victim. He immediately became wary. ...Why did Jiang Xia keep asking him? Was he not planning to provide first aid unless Conan answered?

"..."

After they stared at each other for several seconds,

Conan looked at Kimura Tatsuya, whose entire body seemed to be screaming I'm done for, and gritted his teeth before nodding.

With that one nod, Kudo Shinichi's Persona might be exposed.

But saving a life came first...

Still, Conan thought in frustration, what exactly had made Jiang Xia suspect the identity of "Elementary School Student Conan"?

Was it the song he had sung just now? Did Jiang Xia think no second person in the world could possibly be that tone-deaf? Or had Jiang Xia already been suspicious before, merely keeping it to himself and using what had just happened to confirm it?

"..." As Conan watched Jiang Xia inject Kimura Tatsuya, he let out a melancholy sigh.

...Too much.

To save that bastard singer with the weird hairstyle, he had sacrificed far too much...