Jiangxia Tongzhi automatically checked for the surveillance camera, pulled up his scarf, and slipped past any camera-covered corridors on his way to the second basement level.
There was a bar down here called Hagson. The lighting was dim, and you could hear the resident singer from the entrance—she wasn't belting out any chart-toppers but was crooning some vague, classy tune that nobody under 40 would recognize.
The vibe was so oddly refined that it was hard to believe this was a secret Organization hideout. If Tequila had leaned into this kind of elegant aesthetic, maybe Conan wouldn't have sniffed him out so quickly.
Jiangxia pushed open the bar door, but before he could step inside, a shadow loomed beside him.
He turned and saw the bartender, smiling politely and holding out his hand.
"Good evening. May I see your ID? The kind with your birthdate, please."
As he spoke, the bartender casually bumped a nearby sign. Jiangxia's eyes instinctively followed.
NO MINORS ALLOWED.
Jiangxia: "…"
Jiangxia: "…"
Jiangxia: "???"
...Seriously?! Even the shadowy corners of the Organization enforce ID checks?! Is this really a criminal enterprise?!
Breaking in by force clearly wasn't an option.
Jiangxia reluctantly reached for his pocket. "I forgot it."
The bartender's smile didn't budge. "That's alright. Feel free to head back and grab it. We're open all night—no rush."
Jiangxia: "…"
He glanced at the bartender and the security guard subtly closing in, then turned away and silently pulled out his phone to send an email.
…
One minute later, Jiangxia smoothly walked back in—this time, following Gin—into a private booth.
As they reached the door, Vodka came over with drinks from the bar. He noticed Gin had moved and blinked in confusion.
"Bro, what's going on?"
Gin exhaled a long, complicated puff of cigarette smoke. "Next time, we're changing venues."
Vodka: "Huh?"
A moment later, he entered the booth, placed the drinks on the table, and then suddenly understood.
"Oh!"
He immediately snatched the drink he'd set in front of Jiangxia.
Jiangxia: "…"
He retracted his empty hand with the poise of a buddhist. Now he had subjective evidence that Vodka might be an undercover agent.
Embarrassing, sure. But they weren't here to party.
Gin got to the point, dropping a document onto the table. "Kill him. Deadline: before the next election."
...An assassination mission?
Jiangxia picked up the file. The first page had a photo of a middle-aged man: early fifties, pudgy, mustache, a shiny bald spot up top.
Jiangxia had never seen him before.
But then he read the text next to the photo. Name: Isao Tsujimura. Minister of Defense and Minister of the Cabinet Office. Also a member of the House of Representatives.
Jiangxia's eyes skipped past the titles. What caught his attention was the name—Isao Tsujimura..
According to the spoilers Jiangxia knew… this guy was a future corpse.
The profile also listed his family. Jiangxia flipped to the next page and was even more certain.
"He doesn't usually have bodyguards. He's an easy target," Gin said coldly. "But remember: we cannot let the Organization's existence be exposed. Ever."
"You've been with us a while, including training. You know how important concealment is."
Jiangxia: "…" That's rich, coming from the guy who once collapsed a street full of bystanders by spraying bullets like a game of 'Guess the civilian.'
But he gave a solemn nod under Gin's sharp stare. "Understood."
Gin nodded, satisfied. "Second-generation members are always more dependable. Submit a plan, and I'll assign your team. This is a test. Pass, and you'll be promoted. Fail…" He chuckled darkly. "You know what happens."
Jiangxia made an appropriately serious face.
Honestly, as long as he followed the "don't expose the Organization" rule, it should be fine. No way they were trusting a newbie with a job this major without a backup plan. Even if he messed up, the Organization's grand ambitions weren't going to hinge on this one hit.
Also, to him, this was more like an exam than an actual job.
The file had photos of Ikemura's family too. Jiangxia paused when he saw the man's wife: Kimie Tsujimura.
If his memory was right, she would be the one to kill Isao Tsujimura soon.
Just a few days ago, Jiangxia had run into Kimie Tsujimura.
A rich lady had approached him for an "assignment," and Kimie had tagged along, clearly doing her own recon. She hadn't introduced herself, so he hadn't connected her to the spoiler at the time. Plus, unlike in the manga, real people don't come with spiky Saiyan hair—it wasn't easy to ID her on the spot.
But in the story, her visit to a detective agency marked the beginning of her murder plot. She invited the detective home... and then committed the crime right under their nose.
So, if she's already visited the agency, that means the clock's ticking on her part in the timeline… and the murder should be happening before the election.
Jiangxia accepted the mission.
Not that he had a choice. You don't get to refuse an Organization test.
…
When Jiangxia left the bar, he didn't take anything with him. The file on Tsujimura stayed with Gin—he had only shown it briefly.
…
Over the next few days, Jiangxia half-heartedly tracked Isao's movements but focused more energy on Kimie Tsujimura.
If he could just linger near her when she carried out the murder, the "mission" would resolve itself. As for explaining the success afterward… well, he'd make up something plausible on the spot.
He had a good memory. Thinking back, Kimie Tsujimura had visited Mouri Detective Agency with a friend but hadn't returned—probably didn't like Jiangxia's "witness energy."
Still, Jiangxia hesitated, then decided to swing by the agency again. Maybe Kimie Tsujimura would be drawn back there by some force majeure.
He also hadn't delivered that Yoko Kinoshita merch from the last case yet. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
If there was still no movement, he'd just install a few surveillance cams near the Mouri residence and the Tsujimura household.
…
So the next day, instead of heading straight to the detective agency, Jiangxia stopped by the video store to pick up the Yoko merch.
At the same time, the detective agency got an unexpected visitor—Hattori Heiji had followed the address and finally arrived.
Heiji was the famous high school detective from Osaka.
The papers always loved their "West vs. East" comparisons, and as one of the top young detectives, Heiji was stuck with the nickname: "Hattori in the West, Kudou in the East."
But Kudou Shinichi had recently vanished.
And in his place on the East side was… Jiangxia.
That just didn't sit right with Hattori. The new nickname didn't even rhyme properly. It grated on him. He'd always wanted a showdown with Kudou, but schoolwork kept getting in the way.
Now that Kudou was missing and someone else had swooped into his spot, Heiji couldn't help himself. Curiosity and competitiveness flared up at the same time. He packed his bags, hopped a train to Tokyo, and declared war.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 35/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*
Glossary:
Force majeure: Literal borrowing from legal term, but used humorously here to mean some strange, unexplained influence.
Spoiler: In this context, refers to Jiangxia's meta knowledge of future events in the Detective Conan universe.