The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Assassin in Anime Crossovers

"It's obvious that the killer may never have left this villa after the murder that happened five years ago, which is why the police have been unable to find the killer."

He tapped the hidden door on the ground, indicating that the police would never think of this hidden door inside the villa, but would instead go back outside to find the murderer's escape route.

"Knowing this is enough." Jiang Hang held Genta in one hand and put his arm around Mitsuhiko with the other. With these two troublemakers under control, Ayumi, being a girl, naturally clung tightly to Jiang Hang's clothes.

"And whether the problem is solved or not is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that I brought you all here. If I go and solve the mystery, what will happen to you? I brought you here, and now that the haunted house adventure is over, of course I have to take you back."

"Precisely because he is a detective, he needs to protect the people around him even more." He really hoped that Conan could listen to him, because there were just too many outrageous things Conan might do in the future. In the manga, they could be less particular, but in reality, he really didn't want to see news of the Mouri Detective Agency being bloodied by a mysterious man on the morning news one day.

Don't really think of Gin as a pitiful guy. He's a genuine killer who has no feelings except for Sherry.

He looked at Conan one last time.

"Let's go, little detective, or your little Lan sister will be unhappy."

Chapter 37: A Broken Family

Takagi Wataru is truly an exceptionally reliable and useful "tool." In the story, he was Conan's tool for understanding cases, and now he has become Jiang Hang.

Less than half an hour after receiving Jiang Hang's call, he arrived in his own car.

According to him, he wasn't on vacation today. It was just that something happened at his uncle's company, and his mother called him over to check on the situation. He had nothing to do this afternoon, so he went there to ask about it and his uncle invited him to stay for a meal.

Jiang Hang asked curiously about the case involving the other party's uncle. Takagi Wataru quickly waved his hand, indicating that it was not a serious case, just a prank, and a warning would suffice.

Upon seeing the luxurious bento box next to Takagi Wataru, which was filled to the brim and still emitting a delicious aroma, Jiang Hang immediately understood.

So he was slacking off too, huh? He knows that.

Since he taught Takagi Wataru the meditation method last time, the latter has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to him, so the two have become quite familiar with each other and are even able to joke around.

"Anyway, cough cough, there's no need to tell Inspector Megure about this. I just contacted him, and after hearing that you discovered some important clues, he's currently checking the case files from five years ago. He should be here soon... By the way, what's going on with you guys?"

After he finished speaking, Takagi Wataru noticed the group of familiar-looking kids around Jiang Hang.

Aren't these the kids from the Maple Leaf Gold Coin case? He even recognizes one of them, a kid named Conan who's temporarily staying with Detective Mouri. How did Jiang Hang get involved with these kids again?

However, for some reason, he felt that Conan's expression seemed particularly depressed.

He looked at Jiang Hang with a questioning gaze, and Jiang Hang simply told him what had happened.

Upon learning that these children were playing a haunted house adventure game at the scene of a murder five years ago, Wataru Takagi broke out in a cold sweat.

These kids are cursed! Last time, they found a treasure map worth 600 million yen in gold coins, and this time they're going to explore a haunted house and even come to the scene of a murder case from five years ago.

Looking at this group of exceptionally energetic elementary school students, Takagi Wataru couldn't help but worry about what he would do if his future son or daughter were just as energetic.

Although he hasn't even seen a glimpse of his girlfriend yet.

The members of the "Teenage Suicide Squad" have already had their fill of haunted house adventures, but they still have no intention of going home. They seem to be looking forward to seeing some kind of "police-gangster battle" scene to make them happy.

"Let me briefly explain the situation to you. When Inspector Megure arrives, you can take them over there," Jiang Hang said, completely shirking responsibility and preparing to hand over the rest of the case to the police.

“This…this isn’t quite right,” Takagi Wataru could tell that Jiang Hang was giving all the credit to the police officers, without getting any benefit for himself. “This has been a cold case for five years. If you, Jiang Hang, really solve the case, your reputation will definitely soar.”

“I was already in the newspapers after the last museum incident. This is the best advertisement until things calm down,” Jiang Hang thought, feeling a strong sense of incongruity as he thought about the glaring “Detective Jiang Hang” headline on the newspaper. “I still have to screen out those unreliable cases, and I really don’t have the energy to take on any other cases right now.”

It's true that all sorts of random requests came flooding in, but many of them were pranks, and many were about investigating extramarital affairs and infidelity, which Jiang Hang didn't accept.

Jiang Hang would never accept a commission that didn't pay much, took a long time, and could negatively impact his detective reputation.

Aside from these, after being filtered by Muchun Yuno and the system announcement board, Jiang Hang basically chose those item-finding requests that were easy for him to complete.

To be honest, Jiang Hang has been so busy these past few days that he's missed mealtimes. He's been running around all day. Even if his body can handle it, he's mentally exhausted.

If another wave of advertising and promotion comes, he really won't be able to slack off this month.

When Jiang Hang was watching Detective Conan, he complained that Conan had only shrunk for half a year in the story, yet he still managed to create over a thousand cases in those six months.

However, at Jiang Hang's current pace, starting with five two-star commissions a day, in half a year, as long as the number of commissions is sufficient and he can handle it, a thousand commissions is no joke.

But Jiang Hang felt that unless he really wanted to emulate Saitama, he would never work that hard.

Moreover, who says he didn't benefit? This case will bring him at least ten million yen and another system reward. In addition, the agency's upgrade needs will be almost completed after this case is finished, which is another significant boost for him.

Of course, there is an even more important point. After handling several recent murder cases, Jiang Hang actually had a feeling that he did not want to meet the murderer in this case.

Jiang Hang felt disgusted that Abe Yutaka killed his friend for money. If he could, he would like to beat that guy up a few more times.

Director Ochiai made an irreparable mistake because of his obsession. Jiang Hang felt complicated. He didn't even know what choice he would make if he were in Director Ochiai's shoes. Torn by this dilemma, he sought help from lawyer Eri Kisaki to try his best to save the museum.

In this case, Jiang Hang was able to see with his eagle eye that the person behind that hidden door was the son of the villa's owner five years ago. He had seen the man's photo in the villa, and he was also the murderer who had been missing for five years.

Completely different from the spirited image in the photo album, the person now looked as dejected as a wild man, imprisoned in the deepest part of the secret door. If it weren't for Hawkeye, he wouldn't have recognized this as the same person.

Besides the other person, there was another person in the villa, his mother.

She had aged considerably, her head full of white hair making her look like a ghost from a ghost story. From the details inside the villa, it was clear that she had imprisoned her son.

He didn't know why the other person had become like this. Logically speaking, the owner of that villa could have easily sold off his property to provide a comfortable life for the mother and son, but instead, he chose to avoid all attention in this way.

It was obviously because of that accidental murder case from back then.

But he couldn't understand such actions. In his eyes, the mother and son's minds were completely twisted, and he really didn't want to deal with such people.

He dislikes murder cases and is equally unwilling to see a family so shattered because of a murder case.

Chapter 38: Conan's Imagination Returns

After the police arrived, it didn't take long for a haggard mother and son to be led out of the "haunted house" looking dejected.

The mother, with her head full of white hair, still couldn't accept the reality. On the way to her arrest, she kept muttering to herself, "Where did things go wrong? Why was I discovered... What have I done these past five years..."

Although there has been no formal trial yet, the son confessed everything immediately after being arrested by the police.

Five years ago, he accidentally killed his father. To protect her son, his mother hid him in a secret passage in the villa. The police didn't notice this at the time. Afterward, she left the place under the pretext of leaving, dismissing all the nannies and abandoning the entire villa to prevent the police from discovering her son's whereabouts.

For the past five years, the other person has lived in that secret room without ever seeing the light of day.

The mother, however, became increasingly ill, believing that as long as she could survive the police's manhunt, her son could continue to have a "bright future."

“She has completely gone mad,” Jiang Hang sighed after hearing the details of the case from Takagi Wataru.

Confining one's son in a cramped, enclosed room for five years is worse than letting him turn himself in; at least life in prison wouldn't turn a person into this grotesque state.

After her release from prison, with her family's wealth, at least her son won't have to worry too much about the rest of his life.

Even getting her son to have plastic surgery would be a much more sensible idea than this.

Furthermore, they believed that if the police's wanted period expired, they wouldn't arrest their son... No one who understands the law would have such a thought.

Putting aside the fact that living her son in that secret room for twenty long years would make it impossible for him to adapt to the world twenty years later.

More importantly, the 20-year wanted period was changed by the police many years ago. Even if more than 20 years have passed, the wanted notice will not be canceled, and the wanted criminal will still be a wanted criminal no matter how long it has been.

If a wanted criminal from twenty years ago were to walk openly down the street, the police would certainly not let this easy opportunity for credit slip by.

Jiang Hang patted Takagi Wataru on the shoulder and told him he should find a psychologist to check the mental state of the mother and son, as they had been mentally unstable for five years.

The extremely repressive life they have lived for the past five years has probably made it impossible for them to live a normal life. If this is not addressed in time, they may even take their own lives due to a momentary lapse in judgment.

He doesn't possess the abilities of a time assassin and cannot travel back five years to avert this tragedy. This is all he can do now.

Takagi Wataru nodded with a sigh.

As a police officer, especially one in the Criminal Investigation Division who specializes in major cases such as murder, kidnapping, and robbery, he had seen many criminals like this. However, no matter when he saw such a tragedy, he felt the same regret.

Jiang Hang didn't need to get involved in what happened after that. He didn't even need to go to the police station to give a statement, since he only provided a clue. The police handled the rest.

However, outsiders may not know this, but it's enough that the police remember this favor.

After sending the members of the "Teenage Reckless Youths" back to their respective homes, Jiang Hang thought for a moment and decided to keep the haunted house adventure a secret. He simply said that he had taken them out for a meal and then let them play outside for a while, thus avoiding a scolding from their parents.

When Kogoro Mouri finally took the listless Conan back to the Mouri Detective Agency, he casually said a few words to the kid who spent all his time eating and drinking at his house and causing all sorts of trouble. Then Ran Mouri quickly stepped in to smooth things over and thank Jiang Hang.

Watching Jiang Hang turn and leave, Conan realized that he still didn't fully understand this strange man.

Today's attempt not only failed, but Jiang Hang also gave them a good lesson.

The fact that detectives need to do more than just deduction and that calling the police is the most normal thing to do left Conan feeling frustrated, as if he didn't know how to call the police.

However, one thing is certain: they are definitely not detectives of the same style, Conan thought to himself.

These detectives all started out because of their love for deduction and their sense of justice, which led them step by step to where they are today.

Many ordinary detectives enter the industry simply to make money. Some notorious detectives, on the other hand, are driven by a desire for greater profits from the very beginning. They have close ties with yakuza organizations, take on all sorts of shady jobs, and will do anything for money. This is why many people hold a prejudice against detectives.

They either enjoy deduction, do it for money, or do both. In short, 99% of detectives become detectives this way.

But neither of Jiang Hang's reasons applies. Making money is out of the question; Jiang Hang is very wealthy. He didn't become a detective to make money or launder money. In fact, just the day before yesterday, when Ran was on the phone with the other party's mother, Conan vaguely overheard that the other party was planning to donate 100 million yen to that art museum. How could someone who makes such a decision be short of money?

Conan didn't find this trait in Jiang Hang, even though he was known for being kind and helpful on the streets. This had nothing to do with his love of deduction; it only showed that he had a strong sense of justice.

After several interactions, he vaguely sensed that the other person didn't seem to have any particular interest in deduction. Even when he deliberately brought up classic crime methods from detective novels, the other person would either change the subject or simply pat his head and say that kids should study hard and not read detective novels all day.

Conan pondered carefully. Jiang Hang possessed a strong sense of justice and was not short of money. Moreover, Jiang Hang didn't genuinely enjoy deduction. In fact, whenever something happened, the other party's first reaction was to call the police... Why didn't such a person choose to become a policeman and investigate cases and help others openly and honestly, instead of choosing to become a detective?

Could it be that... he was unable to become a police officer for some special reason, but ultimately chose to become a detective to assist the police in solving cases because of his personal sense of justice?

But what exactly is this so-called "special reason"?

The more Conan thought about it, the more mysterious Jiang Hang seemed. He even went so far as to imagine a family background with complex grudges and affections behind Jiang Hang.

If Conan, living in the normal world, knew that Jiang Hang possessed a "system," a kind of mechanical deus ex machina, he would probably be so angry at this answer that he would vomit blood. Even the most absurd mystery novels couldn't come up with something like this.

Chapter 39: Go for it! You can do it!

After taking the group of reckless individuals home, Jiang Hang also took the two girls home.

To be precise, it was Shizuka Sakaki who drove Yuno Koharu back, while Jiang Hang's main concern was to see how the two girls would react after encountering another case like this tonight.

After witnessing a murder case, Yoshino Koharu, the female protagonist of a youth anime, has gradually become accustomed to encountering various cases while living around Jiang Hang.

No wonder Jiang Hang reminded her so seriously during the interview; now, Koharu Yuno is almost convinced that there really are such things as "jinxes" in this world.

You were calling Detective Mori a jinx in the art museum, but you're clearly the biggest jinx! Stalking someone leads to an attempted murder, going to the art museum leads to another murder, and tonight you had a sudden idea to follow a group of kids to a haunted house for an adventure, only to run into a murder case from five years ago. If you're not a jinx, then who is?

There's no way around it. Koharu Yuno thought that the "jinx" Jiang Hang mentioned was Kogoro Mouri, but that's only the first layer. Koharu Yuno thought that the real jinx was Jiang Hang, which is the second layer. But in reality, the real jinx is Conan, who is hiding in the deepest part, which is the fifth layer. As can be seen from the layered cake theory proposed by a famous gold medal chef, Koharu Yuno obviously still has a lot to learn.

Despite her terrified expression when talking about going to a haunted house, Yoshino Kiharu is actually quite satisfied with her current life.

As long as no customers come, she can openly do whatever she wants. Her easy-going boss will occasionally take her out for a fancy meal, and the salary is high. As for the various murder cases... although they are a bit scary, isn't this the "special" life she had hoped for?