Jiangxia Tongzhi tilted back the cup and drank the air inside—he'd already spilled the drugged drink with great care.
He subtly glanced at the other security guards, most of whom had already gulped theirs down without suspicion. As his gaze wandered around the break room, it landed on a notice pinned to the bulletin board—a recent memo from the police.
—A gang of thieves has been targeting department stores after closing hours, stealing valuables like jewelry and antiques. Three stores have already been hit. This has prompted temporary recruitment of extra security staff at Beika Department Store.
Seeing this, Jiangxia's memory stirred.
It all clicked: the robbers' M.O. probably involved that woman, Ryoko, using her harmless looks and excellent work ethic to infiltrate the building from the inside.
From what Jiangxia remembered, no one died in this case.
But their target was... jewelry and antiques.
He idly touched the rim of his empty cup, thinking.
In the spiritual world he was more familiar with, corpses and murderers created ghosts and murderous energy. Jewelry and antiques, on the other hand, were often catalysts for forming energy cores—useful for leveling up his own powers.
But in the Detective Conan universe, things were a little different.
He'd already spent more than a year poking around museums and jewelry stores and had found nothing remotely energy-core-like.
But then, the last time Kaito Kid stole the Suzuki family's "Dark Star," an energy core formed in it immediately after the theft.
...So, were energy cores here formed through "stolen valuables," or only when "those valuables are stolen by Kidd"?
It was rare to be caught in a robbery in real time, so hey—might as well observe and find out.
As Jiangxia pondered this, the security guards around him began yawning one by one, their heads drooping.
Jiangxia took the cue and yawned too, performing his own sleepy descent onto the table just as the first guard hit the floor.
Not long after, the whole security team had passed out cold.
Ryoko smiled coolly, walked over to the control panel, and shut down the building's security system. Then she opened a few entry points and waved in her accomplices.
Her crew came prepared—they had bundles of rope and began tying up the unconscious guards one by one, stacking them like sacks of yams in a corner.
Ryoko wasn't just part of the gang—she was their boss.
Originally, she'd planned to just supervise the operation quietly.
But as she passed by Jiangxia, she suddenly paused, something gnawing at her instincts. She frowned, hesitated, and waved off the henchman who was about to rope him up. "Go tie up the others first."
She looked at Jiangxia again, then glanced at the heap of bound guards tossed in the corner, and for some reason thought, You can't just throw Jiangxia in with that pile of big dudes—what if he gets flattened?
So the others kept tying people up, cleaning up the scene.
Then one of them turned and noticed: "Wait, isn't that the detective guy we're supposed to be afraid of?"
Everyone froze.
"Boss," one of the robbers said nervously, "we can't just leave him like that. If he wakes up, he's going to be a huge pain—and we don't have time to play hide and seek in this whole building."
Ryoko knew they were right... intellectually. But for some reason, her heart just wasn't in it.
After a short pause, she grabbed a rope herself and loosely looped it around Jiangxia's body a couple of times. "There. Done."
"…" The henchmen stared at the sloppily tied knots. Something definitely wasn't right here.
But Ryoko slammed a hand on the table, snapping them to attention. "Why are you still standing around? Memorize the map. Split up and take what we came for!"
Ryoko had built up quite the reputation in the gang, and when her tone hardened, no one dared argue.
Anyway, they thought, she's staying in the control room. She'll keep an eye on the detective. And the sleeping pills should still be doing their thing.
…
First floor of the building.
Beika Department Store had an automated security system—the rolling shutter doors locked shut at a set time each night.
The Detective Boys had just left when they realized they'd forgotten something inside. They snuck back in to grab it, but by the time they finished, it was past closing. The doors were sealed. They were trapped.
Three actual children huddled against the closed gate, panicking about having to spend the night inside.
Haibara Ai, ever the realist, reminded them coldly, "This is why you don't sneak back into buildings after hours. Remember that next time."
Ayumi and the others nodded sheepishly.
Conan, trying to calm them, said, "Don't worry. There should be night guards on duty. Brother Jiangxia is working here today—if we find him, he can let us out."
He started walking toward the elevator.
But after a few steps, he noticed only Haibara was following him. The other three stayed glued to the door, looking like they were clinging to life itself.
Conan looked back. "You guys coming?"
"We'll wait here!" they said in unison, terrified.
Haibara sighed and dragged them by the arms. "If I leave you here, who knows what kind of trouble you'll run into. Let's go. Just apologize. Jiangxia doesn't hit people."
The kids had "we don't believe that" written all over their faces.
But when they remembered Jiangxia was in the same sealed building with them, their behavior miraculously improved. Buffed by fear, they quietly followed Haibara and Conan downstairs.
…
At first, the kids thought that getting out would be as easy as saying sorry.
But when they reached the security room, Conan and Haibara immediately sensed something was off.
The people inside weren't in security uniforms.
Looking closer, Conan saw the real security guards had been tied up and dumped in the corner.
At the center table sat a group of strangers poring over a map, loudly debating what to steal first. And oddly, there was one more person among them—a guy also slumped over, like he'd passed out... but weirdly not thrown aside like the others.
It was Jiangxia.
Lying there peacefully in the middle of a bunch of robbers.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 36/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*