Chapter 377 Conan: The man in black, stay away from Jiang Xia! (Combined chapter)

"So I followed the sound and finally determined that the problem was in that compartment." Having said this, Jiang Xia pointed in the direction of the sleeper car, indicating Asama Yasuji's compartment:

"I knocked on the door, but no one answered; I tried to pull it, but it was unlocked.

"When I opened the door, I saw that the car window in the house was broken. If I looked closely, I could vaguely see a fishing line extending from the door to the window. I felt that this scene was a bit weird - well... you should know that fishing line is a favorite tool of many murderers.

"I had a bad feeling and entered the room carefully. Just as I found the body hanging outside the window and was about to leave the room to call the police, the door was suddenly opened by the murderer from the outside..."

While Jiang Xia was telling the police about his experiences, whether true or false, and reviewing Jia Yueli's murder plan.

On the other side of the same carriage.

Vodka looked at the serious Uzo from afar, then looked at the ball of fishing line as evidence, and touched his thick neck uncomfortably. He always felt itchy on the side of his neck, as if someone had tied a deadly thin line around it.

...The closer he observed, the more he felt that Uzo's plot was everywhere. If one day, Uzo really made up his mind to deal with him, how could he avoid being trapped in a dead end?

With nothing else to do, Vodka pondered seriously for a while.

Then, instead of being able to think of a way to deal with the situation, I was scared to death by all the thrilling scenes I imagined in my mind.

So much so that when a policeman suddenly approached him for a talk, Vodka shuddered slightly and almost reached for his gun.

Fortunately, just as he was getting started, he was "accidentally" knocked off balance by Gin's hand, which was holding a cigarette next to him.

Vodka came to his senses in a startling manner, adjusted the hem of his clothes with his raised hand, and answered the police's questions as if nothing had happened.

At the same time, he secretly glanced at the cigarette that the big brother next to him exhaled, and always felt that there was a hint of impatience and rebuke in it for his behavior of pulling out a gun just now.

Suddenly, Vodka blamed himself and couldn't help but suspect that this might also be Uzo's conspiracy - people's ability to associate is extremely strong. Once a fact is determined, it is always easy to associate everything around it. Vodka now has some such signs.

However, the police's gaze towards Vodka became a little calmer.

——A dazed and frightened man in black with sunglasses looks much less threatening than a normal man in black with sunglasses.

The police who came to inquire about the situation thought: This person might just be a poor person who is too socially anxious and has to wear sunglasses in the early hours of the morning to avoid looking into other people's eyes; or maybe the big man in black in front of him actually has a pair of big watery eyes that don't match his body style, so he uses sunglasses to cover them up...

After dispelling the impression that "this man looks like a bad guy based on his appearance", the police officer in charge of questioning Vodka did not ask too many questions. After all, Vodka was not a very important witness.

He quickly turned to Gin, and after a brief inquiry, he went to look for the next passenger again.

…

In addition to Vodka, there was another person in the car who was distracted at the moment.

——Conan had a solemn expression on his face. He was hiding in a corner and thinking rapidly. His brain was working so fast that it seemed to be hot.

Although Conan was confused for a moment when Gin suddenly appeared and stepped on the gun, he thought about it carefully and gradually found the appropriate reason: maybe Gin just disliked the murderer, or maybe Gin was instinctively preventing anyone other than him from getting the weapon... In short, the act of intercepting the gun was not the point.

The focus is on Gin's performance afterwards.

——I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Conan always feels that since then, especially now, as Jiang Xia begins to find the murderer and expose the murderer’s plan efficiently, when Gin occasionally looks at Jiang Xia, there is actually a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

...This has never happened before.

Conan has met Gin several times, and in his impression, Gin's eyes are always full of disgust even when he looks at his right-hand partner Vodka... yes, just like now.

As for other passers-by, they didn't even look at him.

This strange and peculiar thing made Conan immediately alert.

He had long discovered that Jiang Xia seemed to have a special temperament that attracted criminals - for example, the psychologist who had shot a policeman in the street before, and the anonymous who was good at disguise and looked more lawless than other anonymous people, and the gun-carrying detective agency boss Toru Amuro... Oh, Boss Amuro seems to be a good person, and he shouldn't be subconsciously classified as a suspicious person... Conan's thoughts briefly deviated.

He corrected his thoughts and quickly returned to the topic.

In short, although Conan was prepared to catch hidden criminals from Jiang Xia every day, he never expected that even Gin would be included in this scope.

Thinking of this, Conan couldn't help but recall the suggestion made by Dr. Agasa when he just turned into a child - let him lurk beside Maori Kogoro as "Conan" and help Maori Kogoro become a famous detective. Then, using the identity of a famous detective, he would get in touch with cases related to the Black Organization, and finally collect enough intelligence to arrest the Black Organization...

I didn't expect that after all the hard work, Uncle Maori's popularity has increased so little that it can be ignored.

Jiang Xia did it easily.

Jiang Xia became famous very quickly and did come into contact with the man in black.

It’s just that the way of contact was not what Conan expected - there were not many men in black in the commissions that Jiang Xia received, but it was he himself who attracted Gin's attention.

...Is it possible that for the Black Organization, being a famous detective is also an identity worth using?

If you think about it carefully, this will indeed allow the organization to contact some people secretly. After all, private detectives know a lot of people's privacy. In addition, Jiang Xia still has great potential for growth. If this continues...

Conan couldn't help but think of the bloody scene in which the Black Organization threatened and bribed Jiang Xia, inviting him to join, but Jiang Xia refused decisively and was then assassinated on the spot by the angry organization.

In addition, there is another equally bad result - the organization sends people to contact Jiang Xia, become friends with him, and then make some requests that he can't refuse, inducing him to do something that seems to be just a little bit illegal, but is actually a crime, and use this to lead him into the abyss little by little...

In the end, even if Jiang Xia resolutely refuses to join the organization and become involved in its corruption, he may become disappointed with his own crimes, and then soak himself in the bathtub and try to start over... This neighbor has a criminal record, so he should be quite skilled in doing similar things.

After imagining several tragic scenes of T, Conan pressed his forehead haggardly and came to a conclusion.

——The organization must be prevented from contacting Jiangxia.

And they must do it before the organization takes too many actions, so that their sunk costs are not high and it will be easier for them to give up their intentions against Jiang Xia.

Thinking of this, Conan silently picked up the juice next to him and looked towards the carriage.

He decided that if Gin went to talk to Jiang Xia, he would immediately run over, pretend to trip, and spill the juice on Gin... cough, on Jiang Xia's clothes, and ask Jiang Xia to go back to the box to change clothes. He would follow in and find an excuse to let Jiang Xia stay in the box until the vehicle arrived, to prevent the two sides from having any contact this time.

As for the future...

Gin and Vodka appeared in a public place at the same time today. It's impossible that they are a group tour. They must have important business.

When they got off the bus at the station, they would go about their business and naturally separate from Jiang Xia. It would be hard to see them again on the way. Maybe they would forget about Jiang Xia in their busy schedule.

Even if he didn't forget, when he returned to Tokyo, Conan felt that he could still use Kudo Shinichi's voice to tell the Megure police that a murderer was suspected of targeting Jiang Xia, and asked the police captain to secretly lead people to stake out for a while. If Gin could be caught, it would be a big profit...

Conan was sometimes afraid, sometimes excited, sometimes nervous, and sometimes expectant... His mood went up and down as he held the juice cup and waited for a long time.

However, the imagined conversation did not happen.

——Jiang Xia and Gin had both been questioned, but Gin did not make an excuse to go over and make contact, and neither did Vodka.

...Maybe there are too many police and we need to avoid them?

Or is it that "recruiting members for the organization" is not within Gin's business scope, so he did not take action?

Of course, I hope I am just overthinking it - Gin has no idea about "recruiting Jiang Xia" at all, this is the best case scenario...

Conan relaxed his grip on the cup a little, took a sip of the juice that he had intended to splash on Jiang Xia, and secretly let out a breath.

He was actually a little conflicted about whether or not to tell Jiang Xia the true situation of the organization.

But on second thought, he felt that if the Black Organization did not take action, if he reminded Jiang Xia in advance, it would instead easily arouse Jiang Xia's interest in that mysterious organization.

If Jiang Xia becomes curious and takes the initiative to track and investigate Gin, things will become even more troublesome.

But if nothing is mentioned... Since Gin just took the initiative to help intercept the gun, Jiang Xia should have a very good first impression of this enthusiastic passerby. This way, the organization's chances of successfully contacting him will be higher.

...It's too difficult. How can it be so difficult?

Conan scratched his hair tiredly and took a few sips of juice.

Gradually, thinking of the inference of "first impression" just now, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and a bold idea popped up in his mind.

...It would be better to find an opportunity to go to Jiang Xia and slander Gin's character.

In this way, Jiang Xia will feel disgusted but will not bother to investigate. If Gin tries to contact Jiang Xia and recruit members in the future, Jiang Xia will remain vigilant and will not immediately become friends with strange people and fall into the organization's insidious trap.

As long as there is a buffer period between the organization and Jiang Xia, Conan firmly believes that he can take appropriate actions and lure the organization members into the trap.

By the way, there is also a helper named Haibara Ai - she seems to be very sensitive to the "breath of organization members". If someone comes into contact with Jiang Xia, she might be able to sense it when Jiang Xia goes to the doctor's house again.

Conan observed secretly while thinking wildly.

He was simulating various plans and responses in his mind when he saw Jiang Xia whispering something to the police. After confirming that everything was fine for the time being, he planned to go back to the box to rest.

When Jiang Xia turned around, he saw Gin behind him. Gin was also looking at him, and the two looked at each other briefly.

Conan looked carefully and found that there was no vigilance or disgust in Jiang Xia's expression. Instead, there seemed to be a hint of appreciation.

...Hmm? Appreciate?

For gin? ?

...This is a damn first impression.

Conan sighed in his heart, but tried hard to pretend to be innocent like a child on his face. He ran through the carriage like a follower, under the afterglow of Gin and Vodka, and caught up with Jiang Xia in small steps.

…

Jiang Xia left the social carriage that was temporarily requisitioned by the police and entered the sleeper compartment.

He heard footsteps, looked back, and found that it was Conan.

The fake kid’s face looks ugly... Is there going to be a new case?

But the police haven't left yet, this is not appropriate...

Thinking of this, Jiang Xia touched Conan's head expectantly: "What's wrong?"

Conan shook his head and said nothing, indicating that they should go to a secluded place to talk.

So he walked all the way to Jiangxia's box.

When Conan looked up and saw the location of the box, he was shocked.

——If I remember correctly, Gin just came out from next door. He actually lives next door to Jiangxia!

...Could it be that the Black Organization has already been targeting Jiang Xia?

No, it shouldn't be. Jiang Xia's movements in Tokyo at a certain time were much easier to catch than now, and there was no need to go out of his way to meet him on the train.

So it must be a coincidence.

It seems that Jiang Xia and the Black Organization have a connection... Bah, it should be said that this is a fateful showdown between good and evil.

Conan suppressed the strange intuitive thoughts that popped up in his mind and let his reason take over again.

Followed into Jiang Xia’s box and locked the door.

Conan remembered his previous slander plan.

After hesitating for a moment, he whispered and found a point of entry: "Do you know those two tall men in black?"

Jiang Xia: “…”

Can you see this?

...His intuition was really accurate. He thought that Gin and Vodka had such conspicuous looks that it would not seem unusual if he looked at them a few more times. However, Conan somehow discovered that the two knew each other.

As expected, he is Kudo-san who successfully exposed countless big guys in the future... Jiang Xia looked at Conan with a little surprise.

In the face of Conan's question, it seems that he should simply deny it and try to sever his relationship with Gin and the organization in the eyes of the Red Team.

But Jiang Xia thought about it and felt that based on the frequency with which he and Gin encountered Conan... it was very likely that Conan would see him talking to Gin in the future, or even take Gin's car.

...Instead of hiding carefully all the time, it is better to solve this hidden danger now.

For example, take the opportunity to express a good first impression of the organization members.

In this way, if Conan can't help but tell him about the Black Organization, then if Conan sees him again in the future, he can use "trying to contact the organization or even go undercover to find out the truth" as an excuse to contact Gin and the organization.

And if Conan didn't say anything, under the premise of having a good impression, "Jiang Xia had contact with members of the organization" would become a natural process, and people would not immediately associate it with "Jiang Xia was originally a member of the organization."

(End of this chapter)