When the robbers were studying the map and dividing up the loot…
Ryoko glanced at Jiangxia Tongzhi, who was curled up at the table. Then she glanced again, frowned, stood up, walked over, picked him up, and gently laid him on the sofa so he could lie down.
Jiangxia closed his eyes—and shifted his vision to the Tengu.
Hovering midair in ghost-form, he stared down at the scene. A big floating "?" slowly appeared above his head. Something felt… off about the female robber's attitude.
Sure, psychics could affect certain types of people by adjusting their aura, making those people more inclined to be friendly. Kudo Yukiko had been a classic example of that.
But right now, Jiangxia wasn't projecting his aura at all.
And even if he had been, the effect shouldn't be this extreme. That time he successfully lured Kudo Yukiko away, it had way more to do with their childhood friendship and her well-known tendency to run away from problems.
This robber woman didn't know him. Even if she was the "easily influenced by Jiangxia's aura" type, it shouldn't have escalated to this level.
...Something's fishy. Jiangxia narrowed his eyes.
Ryoko, of course, couldn't see ghosts, nor sense the intense scrutiny hovering above her.
She glanced at Jiangxia lying on the sofa, then turned to walk back to the table to supervise the others—
But suddenly, a chill swept down her spine, sharp and icy. It felt like... killing intent.
She turned sharply.
No one was there.
The unconscious security guards were still piled up in the corner. The only other people in the room were her henchmen, who were still nervously arguing over the map and divvying up floors to rob.
Ryoko frowned in confusion. She glanced at the air conditioner and wondered if she was just overthinking things. That "killing intent" must've just been the cold air...
…
Outside the security office, hidden in the darkness Ryoko couldn't see—
As she reached out her hand toward Jiangxia, someone was watching from more than ten meters away.
Haibara Ai stared at the scene silently, her eyes starting to burn with cold, angry light.
She reached for the fire axe next to her.
And Conan grabbed her just in time.
"Calm down!" he whispered through clenched teeth, breaking into a cold sweat. "You're just a kid right now—you can't win like this! Jiangxia's fine for the moment, we should call the police first!"
Honestly, "fine" might be an understatement. Out of all the security guards, only Jiangxia got a sofa while the rest were dumped in a heap on the floor. That was some suspiciously VIP treatment…
Conan managed to wrestle the murder weapon out of Haibara Ai's hands just in time.
At that moment, the robbers finished splitting up and exited the security office to start raiding the floors.
Only Ryoko stayed behind to manage communications and coordinate with the rest.
Seeing people leave, the five kids snuck away too, hiding in the shadows.
Once the coast was clear, Conan reached for his phone to call the police—only to pause in confusion.
Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko had suddenly appeared, each with a mop held like a spear and a small bucket on their heads for armor, charging toward the security office with determination.
Conan blinked. "…What are you doing?"
Ayumi rolled up her sleeves, lowered her voice dramatically, and said, "Rescue Brother Jiangxia! There's only one bad guy in there and five of us. I think we got this!"
Genta and Mitsuhiko nodded eagerly. If they could pull this off, they'd officially be Jiangxia's saviors! Maybe next time he wanted to beat someone up, they'd get a free pass...
Conan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Didn't you notice? That woman has a gun. What if she takes Jiangxia hostage? Or just... shoots us?"
Somehow, Conan had the uncomfortable feeling that the second option was more likely.
It took a while, but he eventually talked the bear children down from their heroic fantasy.
Then he took out his phone—only to find it wouldn't turn on.
"…Ah," Conan muttered.
He remembered now—in the afternoon, to blend in with the kids and pretend he was a Kamen Rider fan, he'd used the phone to record the entire stage show in video mode.
And now the battery was dead. Great job, past Conan.
The other kids didn't have phones. Haibara Ai did—but this was the second basement floor, and there was no signal.
So they snuck quietly up the stairwell toward the first floor, dodging the gangsters as they went.
…
Meanwhile, in the security room:
With the others gone, Ryoko stood by the control desk, watching the monitors and adjusting the walkie-talkie to direct her team.
Behind her, Jiangxia sat up from the sofa.
The noise from the radio and surrounding equipment masked his movements perfectly.
He casually shook off the loose ropes binding him. Then, as Ryoko finished giving instructions and set down the walkie-talkie, he walked silently up behind her.
Ryoko sensed something and spun around—
Only to find the young detective, who was supposed to be unconscious from the knockout drug, standing calmly beside her, studying the monitors like he owned the place.
Sensing her gaze, Jiangxia nodded politely.
Ryoko hesitated. She wasn't sure whether to go for her gun or start screaming first.
Then Jiangxia calmly raised his hand—chop! Right on the neck.
Ryoko hadn't expected someone who looked so polite to attack without warning. The knife-hand strike landed squarely, and she slumped onto the desk, unconscious and extremely unwilling.
Jiangxia glanced at the overly-friendly robber woman, suspicious. He poked around a bit but didn't notice anything particularly weird beyond her suspicious fondness for him.
He filed it away for later and dealt with the present.
First, he took her gun. Then he tied her up with actual rope, and tossed her aside like yesterday's pot.
After that, he turned to the monitors and confirmed the other robbers' positions.
Then he left the second basement floor and headed upstairs.
Borrowing ghost night vision powers, Jiangxia moved much faster than the kids, who were fumbling around in the dark without turning on their lights.
It didn't take long for him to catch up to the five of them.
…
The Junior Detective League had just reached the first floor.
They snuck into the toy section, planning to hide behind a pile of plushies and call the police, so no one from the monitoring room would see their phone light.
But just before they made it—
Haibara Ai tripped over something that had suddenly darted out.
She fell headfirst into the mountain of stuffed animals and dropped her phone.
The others rushed over and dug her out of the toy avalanche.
But the phone was gone.
A white, toy-like cat had snatched it up in its mouth and bolted away.
The puppet cat sprinted around the corner and came to a halt at Jiangxia's feet.
He crouched down, pulled on gloves, and took the phone from the shikigami-like creature. Then he flicked the puppet away and tucked the phone into his pocket—temporarily confiscated.
The Beika Department Store wasn't far from the police station.
If the kids called the cops now, the police would arrive quickly. The robbers wouldn't have enough time to steal the jewelry.
And if they didn't steal the jewelry, Jiangxia wouldn't be able to confirm whether Kid was a necessary ingredient for energy core drops.
Can't have that.
*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*