Conan: Tang Ze Save Me!

That evening, sitting by his bed, Tang Ze crossed out "Edogawa Conan" in his notebook filled with names. He suddenly felt like a killer systematically eliminating targets from a list.

It was strange, but it felt pretty cool. Tang Ze struck a pose with the notebook for a moment before shoving it into his item inventory.

Stuff filled with spoilers couldn't be left lying around. If Amuro Tooru found it and opened it, exclaiming "Furuya Rei!", he'd have no way to explain himself.

"Second coop, huh? Though I don't know why Conan was being so sneaky about giving me 'Stealth'," Tang Ze hugged his comforter, wrapping himself up, and mumbled, "Better than nothing. This skill might be useful for a quick Palace assault, which is pretty good."

Bundled up snugly, Tang Ze closed his eyes and quickly fell into a dream, waking up in a dimly lit bar.

"Welcome." Lavenza stood behind the bar as usual, wiping glasses. The difference today was he was slightly more enthusiastic than before, nodding at Tang Ze with a smile.

Once they became familiar, Lavenza usually maintained a distant, aloof demeanor, rarely being as polite as he was on the first day.

"Your attitude's pretty good today, anything good happen?" Tang Ze sat down as if he belonged, quickly noticing the change. "Oh! New stock!"

Originally, the liquor cabinet behind Lavenza only held a few bottles of Bourbon. While they were inexhaustible and replenished after being taken, only those few bottles were ever on display. Now, the first row of the shelf had several more bottles. Tang Ze didn't need to look closely at the labels to know what they were.

Whiskey!

It could only be this one. Although they hadn't formally met, Tang Ze had caught a glimpse of Shuichi Akai from afar today. He was a little surprised that this counted as unlocking an achievement.

"Does just seeing the person count? It doesn't matter if I don't know them?" Tang Ze picked up a glass of Whiskey poured by Lavenza and took a sip. "That's pretty good..."

Unlike the mellow Bourbon, the potent, almost throat-choking Whiskey felt fresh and suitable to Tang Ze. He wondered if Lavenza could make cocktails once he had more liquors...

If the requirements for unlocking the Organization's menu were this broad, he had some ideas! He knew many of the Organization's codenames were eliminated quickly, leaving him little time to check them off.

"After all, if the easter eggs are too difficult to design, it loses its fun." Lavenza shrugged and started pouring himself a drink too.

"That person I met today, it really was Shuichi Akai, and he's Whiskey. That means the plot has changed somewhat..." Tang Ze swirled his glass, his thoughts beginning to wander. "I wonder what abilities Shuichi Akai will reveal..."

Man, what if he just gives me sniping? That would be too embarrassing!

Tang Ze happily planned his new strategies. Dreams really did have everything!

The next day, Tang Ze woke up with a smile.

Fortunately, Amuro Tooru hadn't installed any surveillance in his room. Otherwise, just his expression upon waking today – flushed face and a strange smile – would have been enough for Amuro Tooru to drag Tang Ze to therapy for an examination. It was quite perverse.

Having formed good habits, Tang Ze picked up his phone before getting out of bed to check the calendar.

Good, it's a day off.

This high school life of one day on, one day off would make the neighborhood kids cry with envy.

Tang Ze lazily hugged his comforter and rolled over, preparing to go back to sleep.

He understood the logic; his consciousness was in the bar, and his body had gotten enough rest. But mentally, he felt a sense of emptiness, as if he hadn't slept much. He felt he needed to sleep purely for a bit longer, otherwise, he'd feel like he'd stayed up all night.

As soon as he closed his eyes, his phone chimed with notification sounds. There was a new email.

"Hm?" Tang Ze opened one eye, glanced at his phone, and found the sound unfamiliar.

Since moving to Tokyo, the people he'd added were ones he saw constantly, so they rarely exchanged messages. Tang Ze turned on his phone, which was beside his pillow, again.

"Help!!! Come quickly!!!" Opening the email, a string of exclamation marks assaulted Tang Ze's eyes. He saw the sender: "Edogawa Conan."

"Oh my god..." Tang Ze covered his eyes with one hand, feeling a sense of loss for some reason.

Didn't we just make a deal yesterday? How can they put me to work on the second day without any preamble? It seems no skill is obtained for free...

Despite his internal complaints, Tang Ze obediently got up and changed his clothes.

Since no location was specified, Conan must be referring to the agency upstairs. Obviously, nothing would happen to him in the agency, so he probably needed help to save the day.

Tang Ze resignedly took out the Golden Fan from Maru Denjirou, put it in a box, and used it as an excuse to tell Azusa Enomoto that he was going upstairs to deliver a thank-you gift. He then left the cafe and headed upstairs.

The Mori Detective Agency was on the second floor, while Uncle Mori, his daughter, and Conan lived in the residential area on the third floor. It was still very early, and the agency hadn't opened yet. A cute-looking girl was standing hesitantly in the stairwell, holding her bag by the agency's door.

Tang Ze looked up the stairwell and saw Conan standing on the stairs between the second and third floors, sneakily clinging to the handrail and peeking out with one eye, staring rigidly at the girl. Only when he saw Tang Ze appear downstairs did he seem relieved and ran down.

"Please, find a way to lure her away," Conan whispered to Tang Ze, his tone urgent and filled with the desperation of "save my life." "In about ten minutes, Uncle Mori will come down to open the door!"

Turning his head, Conan then smiled brightly and said to the girl in a child's innocent tone, "Big sister, this is the brother I told you about! He's very capable, just as capable as Shinichi! He's also Shinichi's good friend! He'll definitely know where to find him!"

The girl, who had been wavering about whether to enter the agency, brightened at his words. She took small steps down the stairs, pulled a photo out of her bag, and handed it to Tang Ze. "This is the person I'm looking for, Shinichi Kudo... You know Shinichi Kudo, right?"

"Yes, we're classmates. May I ask why you're looking for Shinichi...?" Tang Ze took the photo. It showed Shinichi Kudo in his Teitan school uniform walking through the crowd after school, looking at the camera with a slightly surprised expression, as if startled by being photographed.

Tang Ze raised an eyebrow, immediately making a connection. He felt he knew which case this was... As he thought about it, he glanced at Conan, who was staring intently at the girl as if facing a formidable enemy, and understood the reason for his plea.

"I'm looking for him. He suddenly disappeared, and I can't contact him. He hasn't been to school either. I don't know what to do..." The girl nervously fiddled with the hem of her pleated skirt, lowering her head and avoiding Tang Ze's gaze. "I want to see him. I, I'm his girlfriend!"