Jiangxia looked up at the VIP hall, hesitated for a second, then pushed his wine glass aside and stood up. Time to see if he could go sniff out some murder vibes. Kaitou Kid did seem to have a natural talent for attracting hatred.
Next to him, Nakamori Aoko—who had clearly had one too many—turned her head and noticed that everyone she knew had vanished. She jumped up and hurried after Tengu, boldly patting him on the shoulder.
"Are you here to cheer on Grandpa Terai and Kaito?"
She still remembered Grandpa Terai had offered this guy a glass of wine earlier.
Before Jiangxia could answer, Aoko suddenly froze, eyes locking on the "cello case" slung on Jiangxia's back.
When she'd patted his shoulder, her hand had accidentally brushed the "instrument." It hadn't felt cold and hard like a real case—it felt... fluffy?
Suspicious, she reached out again to double-check.
But just as her fingers got close, the "cello" suddenly dodged to the side, like it was instinctively avoiding her touch.
Aoko shuddered and sobered up a little. Alive?! That thing's alive?!
Jiangxia: "..."
He quietly slid his hands behind him and propped them against the wings, pretending he'd just been adjusting the bag.
Drunk high school girls were easy to fool. Sure enough, Aoko's terrified expression slowly shifted into confusion.
She reeked of alcohol and tilted her head, eyeing the "cello" up and down like she wanted to try touching it again.
Jiangxia calmly sidestepped half a meter away.
Luckily, by that point, they'd already reached the door to the VIP hall.
A well-dressed waiter approached them and discreetly handed over a small card—the price for entering the VIP area to watch the match: 50,000 yen.
Aoko promptly forgot about the wings and stared at the ticket, squinting at all the zeros. For a high schooler who worked part-time for pocket money, this was... excessive.
Jiangxia glanced at her, reached into his jacket, pulled out ten crisp bills, handed them to the waiter, and walked through the door with Aoko.
A mature psychic never forgets to carry cash for his cover identity. Only amateurs make that mistake.
…
The VIP door opened. Aoko immediately spotted Kaitou Kid at the pool table.
"Fight! We're cheering for you!"
Kid and Terai flinched, looked toward the door—and their hearts nearly stopped. Why the hell did she bring the Tengu?!
Also, where did Aoko get the cash to get in? You can't just charm your way past the guards with cuteness, right...?
Kid glanced nervously at the security by the door. They weren't moving to arrest anyone, and there were no fresh wing-prints on their faces. He exhaled in mild relief. So far, so good.
Jiangxia's eyes scanned the room, stopping on a middle-aged man in sunglasses radiating "powerful boss energy."
Ah. The murderous aura was coming from him. He was the owner of the billiards club.
Decades ago, the boss had been the superior of Tsuujirou, the famous billiards master who'd once won the King's Cue from Grandpa Terai. So technically, the club "belonged" to Tsuujirou, but in practice, everything still belonged to this boss.
If Kid won tonight, he'd gain ownership of the club—and that was clearly pissing the boss off.
…
The match between Kid and Tsuujirou had reached a fever pitch. The crowd was totally engrossed.
Jiangxia took advantage of the distraction to sneak closer to the boss and quietly harvest some of that sweet, sweet murderous aura.
Not bad quality either.
The boss, completely unaware that someone was creeping behind him like a yinbi, stared at the table. If Tsuujirou won, he'd get a prime location and a solid reputation, all for free. But if he lost, he'd have to hand over the King's Club, his prized territory.
Losing wasn't on the table for this guy.
In fact, he was already planning to silence Kid and his "accomplices" if things didn't go his way.
The boss stared at the table, eyes burning with intensity.
Jiangxia stared at him, equally intense.
…
Kid, being a seasoned criminal and master of chaos, had zero moral qualms about cheating. His billiards skills were mediocre at best, but he executed some wacky trick shot involving a hidden filament. The cue ball zigzagged all over the table, bouncing wildly and knocking down every other ball like it had a personal vendetta.
He won.
The boss's face twisted into a cold grin. He suddenly slapped the table next to him.
The pool table clicked open in the middle, revealing neat rows of guns stashed underneath.
He picked one up. Almost simultaneously, a bunch of young men in black suits, buzzcuts, and sunglasses—basically Vodka clones minus the top hat—swarmed in from who knows where. They clattered around the boss, raised their guns in unison, and pointed them straight at Kid.
Jiangxia glanced at the mini arsenal these Vodka-lites were packing. He briefly considered wrapping it all up and handing it to the organization. Would this count toward a gun permit?
After a moment of serious internal weighing, he regretfully gave up on the idea.
The organization hadn't given him a gun mission not because they didn't think he could pull it off, but because their image of him—a friendly, helpful, 100% innocent Detective Conan side character—didn't match well with firearms. It was a "consciousness mismatch." Complicated.
Also, let's be honest: the paperwork for gun licenses was a pain.
And there were way too many witnesses here. If he handed the guns over, he'd have to explain the source and probably end up under police scrutiny. He'd rather spend that time picking up more murderous aura.
…
The boss's sudden gun pull stunned the audience—but not Kid and Terai.
Terai, familiar with this boss's style, had already anticipated trouble.
While everyone's attention had been locked on the game, Terai had quietly repositioned himself near the power switch.
Just as the boss raised his gun in full dramatic flair, Terai flipped the switch.
The room went instantly pitch-black.
At the same time, Kid raised his hand and fired. Playing cards shot out from a hidden launcher, curled mid-air, then unfurled into a fan and slammed the gun out of the boss's hands.
As the boss fumbled and swore, the sudden darkness threw his goons into complete disarray. They were already amateurs—now they were scared of accidentally shooting their own men.
Jiangxia, still controlling a puppet body, inherited ghost vision. The darkness didn't affect him at all.
He turned to Kid, who'd already ditched his disguise and reappeared in his iconic white suit. One second, he was a student. The next: phantom thief.
Kid pulled out a packet of knockout powder and tossed it into the wind.
Jiangxia calmly stepped forward and clamped a hand over the boss's mouth and nose.
That should do it.
—
All time, plot, details, and modus operandi may be changed in this book. Though rarely.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 18/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*