Chapter 15: A Miracle Happened

After thinking for a moment, Feng Xing Shou took out an unopened lipstick that he had collected in the dungeon yesterday from his backpack. After quickly opening it, he carefully wrote two words and drew a pattern on the empty bucket.

Then she tried to raise her hand to overlap with his hair, silently imagining that the empty bucket with writing on it in her backpack would be released from above Hagiwara's eyes. This was the first time she had tried doing this, based on the effect of her skill.

Just as she expected, the empty bucket with writing on it appeared out of thin air above Hagiwara and, following the normal speed at which matter falls to the ground, landed right in front of him, successfully drawing his gaze to follow the empty bucket...

Kenji Hagiwara was in immense pain after figuring out why Jinpei had stopped texting him three years ago and what the last text message meant. The pain was so intense that he even forgot to breathe.

But a dozen seconds later, his gaze unconsciously caught two words and a picture flashing past his eyes and falling to the ground. His excellent dynamic vision and memory allowed his brain to instantly remember the two words and the picture.

It was a childish drawing of a simple car with an arrow pointing to the word "Time" drawn in bright red. The handwriting was ugly and crooked, and the drawing was worse than that of a kindergarten child.

But at this moment, he felt like a drowning person who had been rescued from drowning, able to breathe again and feel a warm sensation spreading from the top of his head to his heart.

That's it! I have the time bug that Feng Jiang had as a survivor. She went back in time and saved me from dying in the line of duty, allowing me to discover the 'potential bad news' about Xiao Jinping in this future seven years from now.

He was certain that he could return to the past when the accident happened and save him. He and Kojinpei both had some kind of time brewing up, a time called a miracle. As long as she was there, his pain and despair were unnecessary.

We'll definitely meet again, Jinpei! Then, if there's anything you want to say, or if you want to punch me, you can just tell me face to face, without needing to text me anymore.

Hagiwara Kenji quickly regained his composure and, without needing further reminders from Hoshimori, picked up the empty bucket that had fallen to the ground and put it back into the sink to refill it, all the while giving a genuine smile: "Thanks for reminding me, Hoshimori-chan!"

"Star Guardian? Little Star Guardian?" After realizing the Chinese meaning of his words, Feng Xing Shou, who had just gotten used to being called "Feng Jiang," felt not only goosebumps but also a chill run down his spine.

What's wrong with Officer Sang? How can a grown man call me by such an inappropriate name? Even if my birthday is younger than his, I'm actually more than ten years older than him.

How could he call someone more than ten years older than him "Little Star Guardian"? And doesn't he feel awkward looking at his middle-aged face? Feng Xingshou felt like he had a lot to say to him.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't hear her if she spoke in this state, so she could only swallow her words, withdraw her hand from his hair, and stare at him sullenly. But as she looked at him, she found herself looking away uncomfortably.

This guy… damn it! Even his profile is so handsome, like a two-dimensional heartthrob stepped into reality. And he's so tall, probably at least 1.9 meters! Aren't Japanese men supposed to be short? How come there's someone this tall?

Looking at such a handsome face and model-like height, even though I'm a middle-aged woman, I can't get angry! o(￣ヘ￣o＃) It's unfair that he's so handsome. When I get back and try to correct his messy way of addressing me, I'll probably be fooled again, just like with the way he calls me "Feng-chan"...

.

Time passed in her muttering, and soon, with only 3 minutes left until the dungeon ended, Wind Star Guardian was already choking on the thick smoke and could barely breathe.

They filled up with a lot more water.

She had already collected most of the supplies from the house, so there was no need to delay any longer. Feng Xing Shou then put the water tank full of water into her backpack.

She maintained her position overlapping with Hagiwara's body, stored him in her backpack, and then walked towards the exit of the daily dungeon. The next second, she felt a familiar slight swaying sensation, and she reappeared in her car.

The same was the racing countdown reminder in the upper diagonal corner. This time, she was calm and composed, and had already skillfully released Hagiwara from her backpack space. The moment she released him, she took the initiative and said, "Let me tell you, Kaze-chan is already my limit. You better stop with that little Star Guardian. I absolutely don't want to hear about it a second time."

"Eh! Why?" Kenji Hagiwara had already guessed that she would object, but... he insisted on this as well: "It's my habit. I only call my very close friends by their first names and add a little one to show how close they are!"

"I don't care what your habits are, you're just not allowed to." Feng Xingshou didn't yet understand what he meant by "like" or "love," and only thought it was because he was used to calling his friends that nickname, so he firmly objected.

To this person who is easygoing, friendly, and always makes people feel like they're basking in a spring breeze—a personality 'completely wrong!'—Kenji Hagiwara said, "Well, since you don't like it, let's change it to something else. Hoshi-chan? Mamoru-chan? Or just use the Chinese characters 'Little Hoshi' or 'Little Mamoru'?"

"..." Hearing these two even more cheesy terms of address, Feng Xingshou no longer cared about the rule that women shouldn't bring up their age. She glared at him angrily and pointed at herself, saying, "Look carefully, I'm 35 years old this year."

If I were married, I'd be of an age where people would call me "Aubasan" (older sister/middle-aged woman) in anime-style Japanese. You're asking a woman who could be called "Aubasan" to use such a cheesy name? Did you even consider my feelings?

"Huh! So you're not married, Hoshi-chan? I understand you a bit better now!" Kenji Hagiwara's warm and gentle expression made Kaze Hoshimori's impatience seem to have already given in.

She could only look at the other person with a frustrated expression and say in defeat, "Please, what do you want me to do to change it back to the way you called me before? I will never accept it, whether it's 'Hoshimori-chan,' 'Hoshi-chan,' or 'Mori-chan.'"

"Hmm! There's nothing I want you to do right now!" Seeing that she really didn't like it, Kenji Hagiwara had no choice but to regretfully decide to switch back to his original form of address. However, the cunning man still took the opportunity to make a condition: "How about you just call me by my name instead?"

We've known each other for so long, and you've never once called me by my name. It's always something like "you" or "hey!" I much prefer you calling me by my name!

"...We've only known each other for about 24 hours, what do you mean by 'so long'!" Feng Xingshou muttered, but to avoid those cheesy and uncomfortable terms of address, she could only manage to say, "Graduate...Graduate year! Is that okay?"

"Of course!" With that shout, and as the countdown in the upper corner ended, the car stunt competition began. Kenji Hagiwara slammed on the gas, maneuvering the car forward like an arrow released from a bow...

.

Meanwhile, in the present day of 2014, Conan, who rushed to Akira Inoue's apartment by taxi, was surprised to see an ambulance parked downstairs. Two paramedics were moving Akira, whose head was bandaged, into the ambulance. He quickly ran over to ask what was wrong...

Shortly after, Bourbon saw on a television program that the famous detective Kogoro Mouri deduced the truth behind photographer Arima's arson and murder to cover it up. The evidence presented was several photographs, one of which showed a figure opening a door in the smoke.

The figure's profile, faintly visible in the smoke, caught his eye; this profile reminded him of his own deceased...

Why does his friend Hagiwara look so much like him? He thought of the strange records at the scene of Hagiwara's death.

An inexplicable intuition prompted him to send an email to his assistant, Kazami: "Kazami, send me all the information regarding Arima's alleged arson and murder to cover it up."

A few days later, Bourbon looked at the bomb disposal team's standard jacket in the evidence bag and thought of the document next to him that confirmed the DNA matched that of the deceased Inspector Kenji Hagiwara. He couldn't help but think of the times Matsuda had asked him to investigate Hagiwara's death case.

They insist that Hagiwara may not have died, and that some unexpected development may have caused him to disappear from the explosion site, or even be captured by the perpetrator who wanted to use his expertise to coerce him into committing crimes... and other absurd reasoning.

He was asked to find Hagiwara's whereabouts, alive or dead. He and Hiro had both examined the crime scene and carefully reviewed the statements of the surviving police officers.

No matter how the investigation goes, it's hard to believe that Hagiwara could have survived the explosion. The fact that no body parts of him were found at the scene strongly suggests that the eight perpetrators used some kind of special explosive.

The fire after the explosion was too intense, causing severe damage to the scene. Let's burn the shattered bodies to ashes! After all, with the development of technology, there are too many such criminal black technologies.

The sophisticated chemical explosives used by Pramia had a similar effect, and the identity of the perpetrator, the source of the materials used to assemble the eight eggs, and other details remain unknown to this day…

Unexpectedly, after seven years, he not only saw a figure resembling Hagiwara in the photos, but also found a jacket left behind by a mysterious person at the crime scene after treating the wounded. It was even a bomb disposal team uniform jacket.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel the same confusion as Matsuda had felt back then.

…………

[Congratulations to the survivor who won first place in this driving skills competition and received a Bronze Treasure Chest.]

"Wow! You actually came in first place! Your driving skills are absolutely amazing! I wonder what good stuff the bronze treasure chest will hold!"

Kenji Hagiwara was unaware that the instance they had just experienced had already attracted the attention of his old friend. At this moment, he was looking at the extremely surprised Kaze-chan, and a genuine smile appeared in his eyes: "If you want to know, just open it and see for yourself."

"Mmm!" Feng Xing Shou nodded repeatedly. They had just been teleported back to the highway from the racetrack, so she couldn't wait to get out of the car with the bronze treasure chest, take out a crowbar and open it. As the bronze treasure chest opened, the familiar light screen reappeared.

[Congratulations to the survivor for obtaining one Level 1 Engine Upgrade Blueprint, 100 Units of Gasoline, one box of 10 packs of snail rice noodles, 1000 grams of strawberries, one family bucket, 10 Units of Plastic, 10 Units of Rubber, 10 Units of Glass, 10 Units of Electronic Components, and 10 Units of Bronze!]

Upon seeing the supplies from the bronze treasure chest, Feng Xing Shou exclaimed in surprise, "Let me count, there are 10 items in total! Not only are there various materials, but also food and fruit. Is the number one game really this generous?"

“This time it was actually pretty good, but it looks like we’ll have to take second place tomorrow.” Seeing her puzzled expression, Kenji Hagiwara unconsciously reached out and ruffled her hair, explaining, “Yesterday, the Black Iron Treasure Chest that was the reward for tenth place contained a blueprint for upgrading a level one fuel tank.”

Today's first place prize is a Tier 1 engine upgrade blueprint, so I speculate that the top 10 prizes in this kind of racing competition might be various Tier 1 upgrade blueprints for cars, as well as related materials.

Since we already have the blueprints, and there's no trading channel to exchange them for other types of blueprints, we naturally don't need a second copy. Therefore, we'll probably need to secure all the rankings from second to ninth place over the next few days.

As he spoke, he glanced at Feng Jiang, feeling that his actions had offended her a bit, and hoped that she wouldn't be angry because he hadn't managed the distance properly.