Double Chapter
Noriko Okaya did, in fact, see the news about the charred body at the bottom of a cliff.
Ever since the car crash that killed her fiancé a few months ago, she'd been obsessively checking the news for similar accidents. In her mind, Takeshi Kitagawa was the kind of trash who couldn't help but cause more disasters, so if she kept watching, he'd eventually show up again.
And sure enough, there he was—though not quite as expected.
It wasn't Takeshi Kitagawa causing trouble this time. It was his corpse that made the headlines.
...Delightful.
Noriko Okaya cried tears of joy. Then, mid-joy, she started sobbing with sadness again. And then back to happiness. On and on in a full-day emotional rollercoaster until, finally, her killing intent evaporated from sheer exhaustion.
Outside the window, the Tengu crouched silently, watching the crying lady. Moved by the moment, it put its hands together solemnly, ready to murmur "Amitābha."
But before it could speak, the mermaid trailing behind smacked it against the glass with her tail.
Then she glided through the window herself and ordered the Tengu to help haul out the blob of killing intent still lingering in the room. It was heavy by their standards—a two-shikigami job.
…
The days that followed were peaceful.
Jiangxia remembered the upcoming business trip and went out to stock up on essentials.
One week later, he arrived at the station at the agreed-upon time.
Yes, station.
Gin had decided they would take public transportation this time.
Partly because his precious car, damaged by Kitagawa, was still in the shop.
And partly because their route involved heading to Tottori Prefecture and then transferring to a ferry to reach an island. Public transport was simpler for all that.
Gin's style wasn't like your average murderer. He usually eliminated witnesses on the spot and vanished before anyone knew what happened.
So the police couldn't trace him, and even detectives—who thrived on picking the murderer from a neat group of three—were left utterly useless.
Sure, his identity was "complicated," but not to the level of wanted posters at every station. In Japan, unless you were extremely unlucky, you could roam around in a hat and sunglasses without trouble.
That said…
When Jiangxia arrived at their designated meeting spot inside the station and saw Gin and Vodka already there, he felt the need to set a boundary.
"Let's pretend we don't know each other on the way."
Jiangxia kept his tone polite. "I'm worried someone might snap a photo of you eliminating witnesses, and later, someone might trace it back to me. I could explain it away, but… some people are just waiting to dig up dirt."
By "some people," he meant the usual suspects—famous detectives with convenient timing and killer-magnet auras.
"…" Gin looked up from under his hat, staring silently at Jiangxia.
Being told this to his face wasn't exactly pleasant.
Still, when he thought about it… Ouzo was following the organization's secrecy protocols to the letter.
And it wasn't like he was reporting Gin and Vodka to the police. He was just asking for plausible deniability. That was...fair.
Without a word, Gin stubbed out his cigarette in a water-filled ashtray, nodded, and walked off with his briefcase.
Vodka lingered, blinking once, then scrambled after his boss.
Halfway through their exit, he paused and shot Jiangxia a stunned, aggrieved look.
He and Big Brother didn't mind Ouzo's murder habits, but Ouzo minded them?! Unbelievable!
Sooner or later I—cough—sooner or later, Big Brother's going to shoot him!
Jiangxia, unfazed, calmly ignored Vodka's complex "how could you betray us" face.
He did feel a tiny pang of guilt. But honestly, strolling through a public space side by side with Gin and Vodka like some mafia power trio? Hard pass.
Not today.
Because based on Jiangxia's prior digging, this trip had a high chance of overlapping with the arrival of a certain main character group.
Kogoro Mouri had an old friend in Tottori. That friend was getting married, and the Mouri family had been invited.
Jiangxia hadn't seen them at the station yet—probably running late as usual, destined to catch the train last-minute.
Which meant: now was the time to pick up his ticket before things got complicated.
The train tickets had been booked by Gin in advance. But after suggesting they split up, Jiangxia wasn't sure Gin would still hand him the ticket.
In fact, based on Gin's style, he might've taken that suggestion as gospel and decided to "split up" to the extreme—taking separate trains, meeting at the destination, never speaking again…
No way. If I miss this train, my whole case timeline collapses.
Panicking slightly, Jiangxia left the hidden corner and speed-walked to the ticket counter.
From a distance, he spotted two tall, black-clad figures—Gin and Vodka—picking up tickets. They were already turning to leave.
Gin's eyes met Jiangxia's for a moment. He said something low to Vodka.
Vodka's face went through a full spectrum of emotions: calm → shocked → reluctant. Finally, with a sulky grimace, he turned around and headed straight for Jiangxia.
Ticket in hand.
"…"
Jiangxia stopped walking, then mentally sighed in understanding.
Yep. He was coming to deliver the ticket.
But clearly, Gin had misunderstood something.
—Apparently, in Gin's mind, Vodka was the "non-threatening one." So after humbly respecting Jiangxia's "avoid suspicion" suggestion, Gin delegated future contact with Ouzo to Vodka, the supposed friendly face of the duo.
…Except to the average onlooker, Vodka looked even more like a traditional villain than Gin.
And to anyone with actual knowledge, the two were exactly the same—men in black, both oozing danger.
Jiangxia hadn't seen the main character group yet, but considering Gin's astronomical bad luck compared to Conan's apocalyptic luck…
He had a strong feeling that the moment Vodka handed him that ticket, someone important would walk by and witness the handoff.
No thanks.
He casually veered off course, slipping into a side corridor just off the main hall.
Behind him, Vodka paused.
He looked into the corridor: the light above was broken, and the whole place was dim and sketchy.
…Was it just him, or did this place scream ambush zone?
Vodka's eye twitched nervously beneath his sunglasses.
He turned around to glance at Gin.
Gin, cigarette dangling from his lips, had his hands buried in his trench coat pockets and was pointedly looking away, as if neither Vodka nor Jiangxia existed. He gave no response whatsoever to Vodka's desperate glances.
Vodka: "…"
Forget it. Gin was here, the train station was full of civilians, and Ouzo didn't have some grudge against him... probably. He wouldn't just randomly start shooting, right?
Anyway, acting panicked would only make things worse. Vodka had watched enough escape-themed variety shows to know—panic gets you killed.
So, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and marched into the corridor with the air of a hardened tough guy.
He rounded a corner—
And almost walked right into Jiangxia, who'd been waiting for him.
Up close, Jiangxia's face was calm and unreadable. Vodka's instincts flared. His fingers twitched toward the gun in his coat—
But a hand quietly landed on his wrist, stopping him mid-draw.
"Are you planning to get eliminated for pulling a gun in a public place like this?" Jiangxia asked flatly, repeating the same warning Gin had once given him—now graciously recycled for Vodka's benefit.
Then, with his other hand, he plucked the train ticket from Vodka's grip.
"Got it." Jiangxia waved the ticket once in front of Vodka's frozen face. Then he gave a disappointed glance at the killing intent that had briefly flared up—only to immediately retreat—and released Vodka's wrist. "You can go back now."
Released from Jiangxia's grip, Vodka reflexively stumbled back a step.
Then, clearly feeling the need to save face, he tilted up his chin, forced out a cold "hmph," and turned on his heel. He marched away stiffly—but at double speed.
Jiangxia didn't follow. Instead, he stayed put and looked over the ticket.
They were riding the Hokutosei sleeper train this time—direct from Tokyo to Tottori.
Earlier, his ghosts had gotten a peek at the other two tickets. Their compartments were right next to each other—an arrangement probably meant to make dealing with emergencies easier.
Jiangxia gave a subtle nod. A thoughtful layout.
Gin, after all, was like a mobile pressure cooker of killing intent. Sometimes, even glancing at paperwork could trigger a mental list of "people who need to die," and the aura would spike.
Adjacent compartments made ghost deployment incredibly convenient. Even leaving the ghosts parked in their room wouldn't drain too much energy—short-range ghost missions were always more efficient.
After Vodka stomped off, Jiangxia didn't go back the way he came. He looped around and exited from the other side of the corridor.
Then, ticket in hand, he boarded the train.
The platform was quiet—not peak season. Tokyo was the train's origin point, so it was likely some passengers had already boarded early.
Jiangxia descended the stairs, bracing himself on the rail and casually scanning the platform.
Right away, he spotted Gin—standing out like a sore thumb, radiating high-grade killing intent.
Then, just ahead of the next car, his eyes landed on a tall, thin middle-aged man wearing metal-framed glasses. The guy had a high forehead, neatly parted hair, and a quiet demeanor as he followed an older man, speaking respectfully.
But despite his docile exterior, killing intent constantly pulsed around him.
It wasn't refined or dangerous—more like low-grade background radiation—but to Jiangxia, it was still beautiful.
He briefly sized up this two-faced employee, then looked to the man he was following.
That one he recognized. He'd seen the face in a photo before—on Gin's hit list.
Keitaro Izumo. Jewelry shop owner from Koshiki City, and a prominent local tycoon.
Except, of course, the jewelry shop was a front. Izumo's real business was drug trafficking.
According to Gin's list, Izumo's assassination had been scheduled fairly late.
At first, Jiangxia assumed it was because Izumo was a lone wolf in the drug world—not a major threat, so not urgent.
But seeing the well-dressed subordinate and remembering Izumo's public status, Jiangxia reconsidered.
Maybe Gin was delaying the hit not out of mercy, but strategy.
Koshiki City was currently holding mayoral elections. And—surprise—Keitaro Izumo was a candidate.
Assassinating a mayoral candidate mid-campaign? Yeah, that would definitely cause a stir. Better to wait until he lost.
...Not that he stood much chance of winning anyway.
With this updated theory, Jiangxia walked the rest of the way down the platform stairs, boarded the train, and found his compartment.
He stowed his luggage, stretched, and planned to go poke around—maybe see if the Mouri family and their favorite bear child were onboard.
But just as he reached the door, his phone vibrated.
The organization phone.
He unlocked it. A message from Vodka—clearly typed on Gin's behalf.
"Encountered DK07. We will destroy this carriage and eliminate the target as circumstances dictate. We'll notify you ten minutes before action. Evacuate promptly with us. Until then, avoid exposure or being photographed."
Jiangxia: "…"
So much for the theory that Gin was waiting for the election to pass.
He'd barely finished thinking it when Gin had already decided to blow up a train car mid-journey.
I still don't understand this organization's operational logic, Jiangxia thought blankly.
His eyes dropped to the code: "DK07."
That was Keitaro Izumo, alright. Jiangxia remembered seeing that exact tag next to his name on the list.
Still... this whole codename thing for random non-members? When did that start?
Before, they'd just say who to kill. No numbering, no formality.
Apparently, the organization was becoming... standardized. Bureaucratized.
He just hoped this shiny new era wouldn't interfere with his ability to slack off and collect ghosts in peace.
Absentmindedly, Jiangxia began to type a reply. His fingers instinctively keyed in:
Received.
Then he paused.
Deleted it.
Typed again:
"Let me try first. I actually made some preparations for today's target. There's still a long way to Tottori, so if I fail, there's time to set off the bomb."
Frankly, it wasn't just about avoiding casualties.
Gin's shikigami bombs were... unpredictable. They tended to have collateral damage issues. And Jiangxia didn't want his carefully cultivated silencing targets to get accidentally blown to spiritual dust.
He hit send.
Ten seconds later, his phone buzzed again.
This time, it wasn't Vodka.
Gin had replied personally:
"Is his destination also Tottori?"
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 8/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:3/10*