The Phantom Thief and the Detective

"……A family heirloom, the world's largest black pearl……"

"……1412, it looks like a wanted criminal's file……"

Conan, who had been diligently eavesdropping on the conversation, turned his head. He saw Tang Ze holding a notebook, scribbling and drawing, not paying attention.

He quietly straightened up in his chair and stretched his neck to see what Tang Ze was writing. Tang Ze, however, snapped the notebook shut and looked at him reproachfully, "Don't snoop on other people's privacy."

Conan couldn't see the exact contents, but he vaguely saw what looked like many names, arranged in neat rows. He asked in a low voice, "What are you writing? Didn't you say you came here because you wanted to hear about the phantom thief?"

"Just some unimportant things. You can just think of it as me writing a contact list." Tang Ze, caught slacking off, coughed lightly. He flipped open to a blank page and, as if taking notes, rewrote the information exchanged between Sonoko Suzuki and Mori Kogoro.

What else could the list of names he was recording be? Of course, it was the beat-up, no, the repentance list.

Anyway, he was the Phantom Thief of Hearts, not Yoruichi. Writing names in a notebook wouldn't cause any deaths. At most, he'd steal a few of Mori Kogoro's clients, so he felt no guilt.

Conan narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him for a moment, his disbelief evident. He then turned his attention back.

"Tang Ze, you're actually interested in this kind of thief?" Conan listlessly supported his head.

"What, you're not interested in 'phantom thieves'? I thought you guys, the chuunibyou detectives, couldn't help but chase after these mystical criminals."

"Chuunibyou? Who's chuunibyou? Don't talk nonsense. I'm a legitimate detective, okay?"

Tang Ze first extended his left hand, "The Holmes of the Heisei Era, The Savior of the Japanese Police…" Then he extended his right hand, "The Arsène Lupin of the Heisei Era, The Magician Under the Moon…"

Conan's ears turned red, and he protested in a low voice, "I didn't come up with those exaggerated nicknames!"

"But I see you like them a lot, 'Holmes'." Tang Ze snorted and continued to tease him.

Mori Kogoro, frowning at the riddle-filled予告 letter, looked up and saw them whispering together. He said displeasedly, "What are you two muttering about?"

"Discussing the phantom thief," Tang Ze immediately sat up straight.

"Those pretentious guys." Mori Kogoro was already extremely annoyed by the phantom thief. "Those newspapers are ridiculous too, insisting on linking me with the phantom thief. It's so annoying."

Tang Ze, the culprit, put on a well-behaved, innocent smile.

"Let me see!" Conan, seeing the paper Mori Kogoro was holding, darted over.

Riddles, codes, crime predictions – these held a fatal attraction for a detective. Conan, who had just claimed disinterest, immediately perked up.

"April Fool, When the moon separates the two

Under the name 'Pitch Black Star'

Invited onto the waves

I shall arrive"

After reading the contents word by word, Conan's eyes sparkled as he grabbed the paper, clearly captivated by the cryptic message.

Tang Ze's writing hand didn't stop. He raised his eyebrows in satisfaction and wrote the words "Haido Grand Hotel" on the paper.

Ran Mouri looked left and right. In this space filled with nothing but detectives and phantom thieves, she inexplicably felt a sense of being excluded.

"I don't understand," Mori Kogoro sighed. "Anyway, the time is April 1st, April Fool's Day, right?"

"Mr. Amuro…" Tang Ze looked helplessly at the person standing with his arms crossed at the top of the stairs. "I already promised you I wouldn't go. I just came down to get some water."

Tooru Amuro tilted his head, showing no intention of moving aside. He clearly didn't trust Tang Ze's words.

Tang Ze raised his hands in surrender, palms open. The key on his thumb jingled, "I'll hand over the key first, okay? I really won't go, I told you."

Tooru Amuro, unmoved, reached out and took the set of keys. He checked that they were for the cafe's main door and unceremoniously put them in his pocket.

Tang Ze seemed honest, but he was full of tricks. Amuro wouldn't let his guard down. If he really caused as little trouble as he claimed, Kazami wouldn't have to work overtime.

"Then I'll be going home after my shift. I'll return it to you tomorrow morning." Tooru Amuro put on the suit jacket hanging from his arm, locked the door securely, and twisted the doorknob a couple more times to confirm it was locked. Then, glancing at Tang Ze, who was walking towards the bar to get water, he left with a slight sense of relief.

Tang Ze stood in the darkened cafe, watching Amuro's back as he walked towards his Mazda, waving goodbye with a good mood.

Then he walked up to the attic and softly called out, "Twenty Faces."

Twenty Faces' pitch-black cloak unfurled in the unseen world. In the next second, Tang Ze's Teitan school uniform was replaced by an all-black phantom thief outfit.

He stood in front of the mirror and did a quick spin, ensuring there were no flaws. He then touched his hair, and in the next moment, his fluffy chestnut short hair transformed into white, becoming smooth and neat, reflecting a metallic silver sheen under the light.

This was, of course, not because Tang Ze had learned some transformation technique. It was a wig.

One day, while the Phantom Thief of Hearts was fighting and running in the Shibuya subway, he suddenly had an inspiration.

Since a toy gun could be used as a real gun in the Cognitive World, and an unsharpened knife could be used as a real knife, could a wig be used as real hair in the Cognitive World?

After all, theoretically, his phantom thief attire wasn't absolutely unchangeable. If he wanted to, he could use the game system to produce many strange outfits. The Cognitive World was inherently idealistic.

He decided to act on it immediately. The next day, he bought a white, high-temperature silk wig and brought it into the Cognitive World.

And wouldn't you know it, the test results were outstanding. Not only that, but it was impossible to tell it was a wig. Both in appearance and touch, it felt like real hair.

Although this disguise was a sudden whim, it was also a form of self-insurance for Tang Ze. After all, while chestnut hair wasn't uncommon in this world, if Tang Ze himself, his future aliases, and the "Phantom Thief of Hearts" all had the same hairstyle and hair color, even if nothing else, a hunch-based detective like Conan could uncover his identity with just one successful flash of inspiration.

Didn't you see Gin, who only found a single strand of hair, exclaim, "Ah, Sherry!"?

As for why he chose white, making him look even more like 9s… that was even simpler. Because it was cool!

And if a phantom thief in black clothes, black pants, and a black eye mask also had black hair… when he appeared in the night, perhaps no one would be able to see him. How could that work?

"I already told you it wouldn't have any effect, don't worry, Amuro." Tang Ze took out his phone, tapped on the navigation, and smoothly switched into another world. "It's 'Joker' who's going to join the fun. What does it have to do with me, Tang Ze Zhao?"