No, the Security Door

"Yes, that's him!" Ryoko Akagi glanced at the time on her phone, tears welling up in her eyelashes. "The game started an hour ago. If we can't find Koshu quickly... what if..."

Naturally, he lowered his hand, allowing the much shorter Conan to see the letter in his hand. Tang Ze followed Ryoko Akagi to the apartment building where the Akagi family lived.

"This is a note Koshu left..." Ryoko Akagi picked up the irregularly shaped slip of paper from beside the fax machine. "He put it on the dining table when I came in this morning. The game, the game has already started..."

Tang Ze took the note and, after a moment of feigned thought, turned back and switched on the television.

The sports channel was broadcasting the game of the Tokyo Aoyama team. Tang Ze glanced at the game time and said in a low voice, "Then we have half an hour. Miss Akagi, may I inspect the house?"

Ryoko Akagi's gaze was fixed on Hideo Akagi's face on the screen. The commentator was enthusiastically praising "The Kicking Ace's" achievements, but Hideo Akagi himself looked solemn and frowned. He had been careless in the first half and conceded a goal. He was probably worried that his missing brother might be harmed because of it.

"Yes, if it can help." Ryoko Akagi watched the score on the TV with concern, not paying attention to Tang Ze leading a primary school student to search.

The two quickly found Koshu Akagi's bedroom, which had been ransacked by the culprit. Tang Ze silently handed the note to Conan and patted his back.

"Huh?" Just as Conan was about to examine the note carefully, he saw Tang Ze push him towards the center of the bedroom, as if saying, "You can do it." "You want me to check alone?"

Tang Ze spread his hands and casually leaned against the doorframe. "You're the detective. I'm just an innocent neighbor helping a hapless detective cover his tracks, so of course, it's up to you. The client went so far as to pretend to be your girlfriend just to get Shinichi Kudo's help. That's such genuine trust. Don't let their sincerity go to waste."

For some reason, Conan felt that this guy really enjoyed watching him make a fool of himself... Conan squinted at Tang Ze for a moment with his half-moon eyes before continuing his search.

Tang Ze observed Conan's small, round face with great interest, watching various expressions unbefitting his age appear, and skillfully zoned out.

Sigh, without Ran to cause some trouble, I feel like I've missed out on a ticket. This case wasn't that flashy. The plot was driven entirely by Ran Mouri's jealousy engine, chasing Conan to the ends of the earth. Missing this part makes it feel a bit bland.

Should I pretend to let slip at school someday that 'Shinichi Kudo's girlfriend is looking for him'?

Ah, it's a bit too easy to expose myself. After all, besides Conan, I'm the only one who knows about this. Conan would come after me for it. Better not.

But it's okay. There will be plenty of opportunities to stir up trouble. Ran Mouri suspecting Conan is a situation that will recur.

Beside him, Conan, who was diligently investigating, had already found an empty game case and was trying to find the missing game cartridge among the messy belongings. He said, "Don't just stand there like an idiot. Come help me find this game."

Tang Ze sighed and didn't walk towards the pile of things. Instead, he walked to the TV where the game console was plugged in, turned on the power, and perfunctorily pointed. "There's a cartridge plugged in here. Is this it?"

Conan suspected this guy was slacking off. He walked over, sighing, "Take a serious look at the cover art. It has a name on it, so it's not like..."

As he got closer, his steps faltered. His gaze fell on the game save screen that appeared after booting up. It showed the character's level, class, and name. The hero's name was the katakana for "Koshu." The other characters were "Hideo," "Ryoko," and—

"Naoki!" Conan lunged at the TV screen, looking at the last character. He then took out the note and compared it again. "The meaning of this note! It's not 'Brother help Koshu survive.' The beginning and end were torn off. He's referring to the game characters! He means 'Brother Naoki' is supposed to help his 'Koshu' in the game survive."

"Naoki, Naoki... The partner who joined Hideo Akagi's team this year is named Uemura Naoki!" Conan suddenly looked at Tang Ze.

Tang Ze cooperatively struck a classic detective pose, resting his chin on his hand. "It seems the person who took Akagi Koshu is this guy."

The two looked at each other and nodded. They found Ryoko Akagi in the living room, her hands clasped together as she stared at the game.

"Miss Akagi, do you know someone named Uemura Naoki?" Tang Ze professionally played the role of a messenger.

"Yes, he's Hideo's good friend. He lives on the sixth floor of the opposite apartment building," Ryoko Akagi replied, forcing her gaze away from the screen. "He often comes to play games with Koshu and is very good at video games."

As she spoke, Ryoko Akagi's expression gradually stiffened, clearly understanding Tang Ze's implication.

"Then we need to hurry," Tang Ze smiled, then scooped up Conan, who had followed them out, and tucked him under his arm like he was carrying a cat. "We can't let the culprit ruin 'The Kicking Ace's' glorious record."

With that, he pulled Ryoko Akagi up with one hand and, with Conan dangling dizzily from his arm, rushed out of the house. He didn't forget to close the Akagi family's front door with his heel.

"Wait—"

"Tang Ze!"

Tang Ze completely ignored their protests as he ran.

The Free Fighting he had "borrowed" from Tooru Amuro, although it had shown excellent flexibility and attack power in combat, its actual effectiveness in reality was yet to be tested.

His physical fitness had indeed improved, allowing Tang Ze to do things like dragging two humans, one large and one small, and running at full speed.

Since Ran Mouri didn't get a chance to kick down the door, then...

It only took two or three minutes to reach the sixth floor of the opposite building. Tang Ze put down the dizzy Conan and gestured for the panting Ryoko Akagi to knock on the door.

Ryoko Akagi looked at Tang Ze's not-so-robust physique with admiration, remarking that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, before stepping forward and ringing the doorbell.

"Ding dong— Ding dong—"

After two or three rings, a male voice came from the intercom next to the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ryoko!" Ryoko Akagi pressed her face against the intercom and answered loudly.

The person on the other end was silent for two seconds, then continued in a relaxed tone, "It's Ryoko... What's the matter so early?"

"It's urgent. Anyway, open the door, Naoki!"

The intercom hung up. After a long while, as the anxious Ryoko Akagi was about to reach out and knock on the door, the lock turned, and the door opened a crack.

There was a security chain on the door! Conan frowned.

"What's wrong?" A long face appeared from the gap. He looked suspiciously at Conan, then at Ryoko Akagi.

Due to the angle, Uemura Naoki couldn't see Tang Ze on the other side, only a female high school student and a child, which made him slightly relax.

"Can I come in for a moment!" Ryoko Akagi lunged forward, trying to squeeze through the door gap, which was only as wide as two palms. "I'm sorry, but can you open the door!"

"Ah, no, it's not very convenient. My girlfriend is inside..." Uemura Naoki's heart tightened, and he let out a dry laugh.

Ryoko Akagi gritted her teeth and shouted into the room, "Koshu! Koshu! Are you in there! Answer me!"

"Hey, take it easy…" Uemura Naoki's face showed a hint of irritation as he pushed against the door, unable to keep Ryoko Akagi from squeezing inside.

"Miss Ryoko." A hand landed on the excited Ryoko Akagi's shoulder, pulling her away from the doorway. "Step back a bit."

"?" Ryoko Akagi turned back in surprise.

"?" Conan, his expression serious, looked up strangely, only to see Tang Ze sigh and raise his arms.

Wait, wait, could it be that Tang Ze also—

Scenes of his childhood friend's past victories flashed before his eyes, and Conan's pupils trembled. What was going on? Was Shinichi Kudo the only one in the world who hadn't learned any combat skills? If Tang Ze could hear his thoughts, he'd probably answer, "Yes, that's right, you're the weakest in the Red Faction."

Tang Ze gathered his strength and kicked the door in front of him.

With a loud "BANG—", the entire security door split from its hinges. Faced with this power, the door chain was as fragile as a strand of hair, snapping instantly.

Uemura Naoki, who had been leaning against the door, was sent flying backward with the metal, crashing heavily onto the ground.

"Hoo—" Tang Ze poked his head out to check the results.

The door wasn't too deformed, only slightly dented in the center, and the door frame wasn't smashed, but it had indeed been kicked flying. Tang Ze assessed the situation and gave his physical strength a simple classification—half a step behind Ran Mouri.

Not bad, good enough. Tang Ze nodded with satisfaction.