Conan's Corpse Picker

(Double Chap)

After Vodka finished making his suggestion, he sneaked a glance at Gin.

Seeing that Gin hadn't responded—neither approving nor dismissing it—Vodka let out a silent sigh.

But then he thought again. Big Brother didn't call it "stupid." That means he didn't reject it outright... There's still hope! There's a chance!

Sure, their guns were all well-maintained and the odds of an actual misfire were low. Still, if the hostage plan went ahead, at the very least it would cause some drama. No one liked being yanked into a scheme like that without warning—especially not someone like Ouzo, who was smack in the middle of his rebellious teenager arc, allergic to authority.

And if Gin gave the order and Ouzo refused?

Hehehe.

Remembering Ouzo's already cratered performance score in Gin's mental evaluation chart, Vodka couldn't help but smile.

...

Vodka had earned his rank as a qualified mind reader.

On the road back to Beika, Gin was indeed mulling over the hostage plan and quietly refining the idea in his head.

In Gin's eyes, Vodka was usually dumb as bricks, but every once in a while, he managed to cough up a gem.

Gin thought about Ouzo's usual indifferent attitude toward the Miyano sisters and figured—he'd probably go along with the plan without resistance.

But a hostage setup required someone to play the villain convincingly.

And looking around at the members currently on the scene, aside from Ouzo, only Pisco was present. But Pisco already had a full plate of important tasks.

If they hurriedly deployed other members, given their tragic track record, they'd probably fumble the mission and actually shoot Ouzo. That would be bad. Gin decided it was safer to wait until he and Vodka arrived before trying anything that involved guns and teenagers.

Still, they had time before reaching the hotel.

Gin paused, then began drafting an email to Jiangxia:

"Sherry may be present. If she contacts you, try to lead her to me. You should recognize her. If things get messy, kill her on the spot."

But just as he was about to send it, his finger froze over the screen.

After a few seconds, he deleted the entire message.

Instead of sending it to Ouzo, he started typing a new email—this time addressed to Pisco.

...

Gin knew Ouzo's track record: when it came to assassinations, he tended to be… overly enthusiastic.

This mission technically included "killing Sherry," which meant even if Gin asked Ouzo to wait quietly for her to show herself, he'd probably ignore it and go hunting the moment he got bored. Just like that time he targeted innocent passersby for practice because he had "nothing better to do."

And if Sherry was trying to contact Ouzo, she would definitely be cautious about it. If she sensed something even slightly off—like if Ouzo started acting sus—she'd bolt.

Sherry was genuinely kind and loved sticking her nose where it didn't belong, but she was also genuinely timid and painfully cautious. Even a light breeze could scare her off.

So this part of the job—watching for Sherry—should go to Pisco.

Someone detached. An outsider sees more clearly. Ouzo might miss details due to blind spots, but Pisco, standing nearby, could watch without drawing attention.

It wouldn't interfere much with Pisco's current assignment either.

Satisfied, Gin sent the new email:

"At the memorial, there's a high school detective named Jiangxia. Sherry might try to contact him or stay nearby to observe him. Use that to locate her.

Once you find her, send me her location. If she's in disguise, include what she looks like."

The next step was obvious: forward Sherry's location to Ouzo so he could move in and capture her before she had time to react.

This way, the two agents at the scene—two bottles of liquor, so to speak—would each have a task, working efficiently without stepping on each other's toes.

There was a risk: this email could clue Pisco in to Ouzo's identity.

But Gin wasn't overly worried.

Ouzo's codename wasn't exactly top secret. It was more like a company secret-suggestion than a hard rule, mostly to prevent bumbling teammates from dragging him down. Based on Gin's long, painful experience, it was just good policy.

Now that Sherry might be within reach, capturing her was way more important than this informal confidentiality.

Besides, Pisco was an old-school Organization member. Reliable. Tight-lipped. Even if he figured it out, it probably wouldn't matter.

And if not? Well, Ouzo looked innocent enough to pass as an actual high schooler. He could blend.

...

Beika City Hotel.

In the banquet hall, Pisco was deep in conversation with the chairman of a foreign trade company.

Right in the middle of their wine-sipping diplomacy, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

He politely excused himself, stepped aside, and checked the message.

The email made him blink. A high school detective?

Pisco immediately thought of the young man who'd been buzzing around the banquet like a one-man business card dispenser.

He stole a glance at Jiangxia.

The skepticism in his eyes didn't show on his face, but it was definitely there. Why would Sherry try to contact this detective? Were they in cahoots?

Their ages weren't too far apart. One was a runaway former cadre; the other, a high school justice warrior. Polar opposites.

The more Pisco thought about it, the more absurd it sounded. It reminded him of a light novel Vodka once tried to hide: something about a teenage boy who picks up a hot villainess falling from the sky, and then they start living together in comedic chaos.

Could stuff like that actually happen?

Pisco took a slow sip of wine and muttered under his breath:

"Shameless kids… these days they'll pick up anything."

Still, if Jiangxia really had ties to Sherry, he couldn't just be brushed off.

Gin probably assigned someone to deal with him. Unless he was too excited about catching Sherry and forgot the detail. Or maybe someone else in the room had been given that role.

Either way, Pisco thought it was safer to double-check.

He replied:

"What should I do about the detective?"

Half a minute later, a new message appeared from Gin:

"Don't provoke him. Just focus on Sherry."

Pisco: "...?"

The wording struck him as... odd.

Provoke?

Was Gin implying that he—a seasoned, 71-year-old Organization veteran—should avoid triggering a high school kid?

Was this detective really that formidable?

...

Meanwhile, across the hall, Jiangxia had been quietly watching Pisco for some time, admiring the steady aura of murder that shimmered around him.

But now, Pisco was watching him back.

It had happened right after the man checked his phone.

Jiangxia discreetly stopped looking in that direction. He felt the shift.

Pisco had taken his business card earlier with thinly-veiled disdain, like he didn't even want to spare him a glance. Why the sudden change in attitude?

What just landed in his inbox?

As Jiangxia puzzled over it, the murderous aura mermaid that had been swimming around Pisco earlier came floating back to his side. It poked him in the arm and whispered the contents of the email it had sneakily read.

Jiangxia went still.

Catch Sherry...?

Haibara Ai snuck into the venue?

Jiangxia blinked in surprise. Even someone as cautious as Haibara Ai had made it here—so could Conan be far behind?

This blind box might actually have something in it after all.

Though now that he thought about it, while Haibara Ai had already slipped in, Miyano Akemi hadn't noticed a thing. She was still floating around Pisco, completely absorbed in his murderous aura.

…Her sister-sensing skills were clearly way below her aura-sensing ones.

Jiangxia privately scolded her for this lack of sisterly connection. Then, multitasking like a true spiritual cadre, he had the Tengu fly a little higher to scout the crowd for any rogue children.

It didn't take long. Through the Tengu's overhead view, he spotted two suspicious little figures nestled at the edge of the gathering.

He wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but judging from the fact that both Haibara and Conan were present—and that Gin already suspected Sherry would show up—events seemed to be aligning with the original timeline.

Even if Haibara tried her best to stay indoors, she still had a knack for appearing at the most dramatic moments. A habit Jiangxia hadn't accounted for.

But honestly? This wasn't bad at all.

Gin, convinced that Sherry was somewhere at the venue, would be simmering with murderous intent. When he arrived—gun in hand, breath fogging in the winter air—only to find no trace of her…

That kind of despair-fueled rage would make for excellent murderous aura harvesting.

Jiangxia instinctively patted the ghost mint in his pocket.

He'd definitely be collecting a haul tonight.

But since the situation had clearly shifted, he needed to prep a few new things.

With that in mind, Jiangxia slipped into a darker corner of the venue and leaned casually against the wall.

His shikigami and ghost fetus squirmed through the shadows like fluid, merging and stacking, stretching upward until they took the shape of a lithe figure in the quiet corridor.

One minute later, Anonymous patted down her skirt, pulled her hat brim low, and quietly disappeared into the crowd.

…

While Jiangxia went temporarily AFK, Anonymous went live.

Once the puppet was deployed, his attention returned to his body. As he refocused on the hall, he noticed the banquet doors swinging open again.

Several plainclothes police officers entered, wordless, quickly melting into the crowd.

Ten minutes ago, Inspector Megure had received a call from Kudo Shinichi.

That junior of his reported that someone was planning to assassinate Councilor Nomiguchi at the memorial. Gin, when first calling Pisco earlier, had yet to realize the bug was active—and his words had been more than enough for Conan to piece things together.

…

Jiangxia watched in silence for a moment.

Then, anticipating what would come next, he grabbed a wine glass from the table, took two silent sips, and deliberately spilled a bit on his sleeve for good measure.

Now he smelled like someone who had "accidentally" had a drink or two.

Because he knew how this worked—Inspector Megure would inevitably spot him and waddle over with his usual:

"So, Jiangxia, what do you make of this?"

And if Jiangxia didn't solve the case or give a clue, it would seem suspicious.

But if he did solve the case… well, Pisco was an old-timer. The Organization could forgive an error, maybe even a slip-up, but it wouldn't forgive dying just to make Jiangxia look good. That was the kind of pot that got people shot.

He was still collecting that paycheck from the Organization and racking up ghost points. He might as well maintain some team spirit.

In short: tonight was not the night to solve the case.

There were no conveniently-timed car crashes, explosions, or fires to use as cover like last time.

But thankfully… there was alcohol.

And so, Jiangxia decided he'd just pretend to be a little tipsy.

Simple. Classic. Foolproof.

...

Sure enough, after assigning positions to his men, Inspector Megure took two steps and suddenly noticed Jiangxia out of the corner of his eye.

His eyebrows lifted with recognition. He began shuffling through the crowd toward him.

Jiangxia hadn't exactly been hiding—but he had chosen a fairly quiet spot. Still, a few glamorous ladies had cast glances his way, and Megure's instincts kicked in. Someone attracting that much attention might be trouble.

Following their gaze… he found Jiangxia.

With Jiangxia here, I might as well brief him. With his eye for detail, he could help crack the case fast.

As Megure neared, he noticed Jiangxia staring at the table, expression blank—like he was deep in thought or had just fallen asleep with his eyes open.

It wasn't until Megure patted his shoulder that Jiangxia slowly looked up.

"Inspector?" he blinked. "You came to the memorial too? No overtime today?"

"…," Megure froze for a moment, struck by the painful reality of his own overtime stats. Jiangxia really knew how to stab where it hurt.

He was just about to respond when he noticed something else.

"Hmm?" Megure sniffed the air. "Why do you smell like alcohol? You're not old enough to drink, are you?"

Jiangxia paused slightly.

Then, with the calm of a guilty man improvising on the spot, he subtly set the wine glass down behind him and shuffled his foot to hide it.

"I didn't realize it was wine," he said solemnly.

Megure: "…"

He clearly hadn't just taken a sip by mistake. And his reactions had been slightly off since Megure walked up—slow, unfocused.

Could Jiangxia even solve a case like this?

Megure hesitated. Should he brief him anyway, or give him a lecture first?

Before he could decide, the host's voice drifted gently across the room like ambiance music:

"…Next, we'll play a slideshow of Director Sakamaki's treasured memories. Please enjoy—"

And right on cue, the lights went out.

The banquet hall was swallowed by darkness, save for the projector at the front.

That projector, however, wasn't meant to light the room—just to illuminate the screen. The rest of the venue remained pitch black, perfect for shady dealings.

...

Beneath a round table near the banquet's center, Anonymous opened her eyes.

She had been on standby for this exact moment.

Lifting the edge of the tablecloth, she slipped out silently into the shadows.

Thanks to her ghost fetus-enhanced night vision, she could see clearly in the dark, even as the room fell into chaos.

She lifted her skirt slightly, eyes scanning her surroundings.

Before the lights went out, Jiangxia had already picked out several "borrowable" cameras. She just needed to snag one from the nearest photographer.

But perhaps because Conan and Haibara had both arrived, fate decided to be generous tonight.

Anonymous paused as she spotted a couple locked in a passionate kiss in the dark—not even trying to be discreet.

Nearby, a keen-eared reporter heard the muffled noises, perked up, and instinctively raised his camera to catch the scoop.

At that exact moment, Councilor Nomiguchi had wandered into position directly beneath the chandelier, following someone's quiet instructions.

And in the background of the lovers, just barely visible in the shadows...

Pisco took aim with a silenced gun.

His target: the chandelier.

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 35/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:3/10*