The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Assassin in Anime Crossovers

However... with Conan as his benefactor, it's likely that Yamamura Misao will appear in any future cases related to Gunma. So, it seems that Yamamura Misao's future development is quite promising.

Thinking about it this way, if Yamamura Misao were to become a regional police superintendent one day, then the Japanese police would truly be doomed.

Chapter 463: Chapter 459: Discussing the Case

After learning from Conan how he met this police officer from the mountain village, Jiang Hang only made a few mental complaints.

Anyway, Yamamura Misao is only a deputy police inspector right now. Even if he becomes a police inspector soon, judging from the fact that he always encounters Conan as his savior when a major case occurs, he can probably hold on to his position quite securely.

Even if this guy who doesn't understand reasoning at all were to become the highest-ranking official in a region, namely the Superintendent of Police, it would still take at least twenty or thirty years.

By then, Shinichi Kudo and Ran's child will probably have inherited their father's profession and become a new generation of famous detectives. Even if the Japanese police were incompetent at that time, it would be a headache for that generation.

Therefore, after a brief chat about the mountain village exercise, the two of them returned to the main topic.

The discussion mainly focuses on two points.

One question is whether there were any human factors involved in creating this suicide forest.

The second question is, what is the background of this imposter of Kogoro Mouri who suddenly appeared?

The first question requires a large amount of data to support it.

In recent years, what percentage of the suicide rate in Gunma Prefecture has been attributed to people who specifically came to the Shinsen Forest to commit suicide?

Fortunately, Jiang Hang and Conan had done some research on the place before they came. They also asked some questions to the hotel guests and nearby residents on site, so they were able to get a more accurate answer.

Regarding the second question, because Kogoro Mouri wanted to play dumb to deceive others, Jiang Hang and the other person hadn't yet checked the imposter's room, and the imposter hadn't shown up yet, so there's nothing to discuss for the time being.

However, hard reasoning can also uncover a lot of useful information:

Not many people knew that Kogoro Mouri would be coming; apart from the hotel staff, there was practically no one else.

Unless these people are big mouths who leak secrets every day, the people who planned this incident are most likely the hotel's employees.

Secondly, the person who secretly orchestrated this is most likely related to the recently discovered corpse.

If we use Detective Conan's methods to deduce this, either the deceased hid something important before their death, and now the murderer wants to retrieve that thing.

Either the deceased's relatives or friends are using this method to lure out the real killer, who is actually hiding in this hotel and trying to use this method to find out who the real killer is.

Of course, there is also a very low possibility that a group of imposters impersonating Kogoro Mouri have appeared, and the person who commissioned this job just happened to mistake him for someone else, which led to this mix-up.

Although this possibility sounds even more outrageous, it doesn't seem strange at all if you put it in Conan—after all, there are quite a few people in Conan who look similar or even exactly alike.

Mary Akai, who resembles Ai Haibara, Aoko Nakamori, who resembles Ran Mouri, and another foreign princess, are all examples of characters who resemble Shinichi Kudo, the main character.

First, there's Kaito Kid, who can perfectly adapt to any hairstyle. After Kaito Kid guessed Conan's identity and discovered that the other person looked extremely similar to himself, he even borrowed Shinichi Kudo's face more than once. This identity is not easy to arouse suspicion from others, nor is it easy to be exposed. Even if Conan wanted to explain, no one would believe the explanation of a child.

In addition, there is a character design where Hattori Heiji has his face powdered to resemble Kudo Shinichi, and one of Hattori Heiji's kendo rivals, Okita Souji, is also almost identical to Kudo Shinichi except for having slightly darker skin.

There are even people who specifically get plastic surgery to look like Shinichi Kudo, hoping to frame him.

There's really nothing to be particularly concerned about now that a Kogoro Mouri counterfeit product has appeared.

Conan didn't really take this imposter seriously; he just figured he'd deal with whatever came his way.

Kogoro Mouri was waiting for the imposter to come out and deliver the goods, while Conan wanted to find out what the imposter was up to.

"However, that imposter has been in his room for four or five hours now, and he hasn't come out yet. Could he have secretly escaped?" Conan asked suspiciously, and went to the window to check outside.

Jiang Hang shook his head: "I've already had Altaïr monitor the area above the hotel, so no one can sneak out of the hotel rooms."

“I’ve also checked the area around the hotel. There weren’t any special signs left before we arrived. Unless there’s an underground passage in the hotel, that imposter is definitely still inside.”

Since Gunma Prefecture is adjacent to Tokyo and Jiang Hang drove himself there, he simply brought Altaïr along.

This is a perfect opportunity for the eagle, which has been circling over Tokyo for the past few months, to experience hunting firsthand in the vicinity of this forest.

Jiang Hang wasn't worried about Altaïr getting caught while wandering around the forest. It was a reward from the system. Altaïr was very intelligent and wouldn't be easily deceived. At the same time, its eyesight was practically like having eagle eyes all the time, allowing it to clearly see the location of traps. Instead of worrying about Altaïr, it was better to pray for the prey in the forest.

Conan, listening to Jiang Hang's words, actually looked somewhat envious.

Altaïr had seen and witnessed the other party's abilities and combat prowess firsthand.

Although he wasn't particularly interested in keeping pets, to be honest, if he were to choose an assistant while solving a case...

Between Kogoro Mouri and Altaïr, he felt he would choose Altaïr without hesitation.

Unfortunately, according to Jiang Hang, Altaïr was raised from a young age by the Pioneer Foundation, and even within the entire Foundation, there are very few people who can own a pet of Altaïr's caliber.

Conan could only mutter to himself that he didn't understand the world of the super-rich—compared to ordinary people, the Mori family was naturally extremely wealthy.

However, compared to a Japanese zaibatsu family like the Suzuki family, their family is nothing, not to mention the Pioneer Foundation, whose total wealth is much greater than that of the Suzuki family.

After chatting with Jiang Hang about the case for a while, Jiang Hang got a little bored and asked Kiharu Yuno if she had found any useful clues online in the past hour.

Five years ago, quite a few things happened in Gunma, but there were still quite a few cases that were never solved.

In just over an hour, it would be quite an achievement if Yoshino Kiharu could skim through all the cases and organize them into a readable document.

Jiang Hang looked at the case above.

Although robbery and murder cases are rampant, there have been very few truly major cases, and the amounts involved are mostly small-scale.

Jiang Hang looked at the report about a toy manufacturer who had been extorted for 100 million yen by an unnamed and unseen criminal five years ago and then disappeared. Surprisingly, he didn't feel much connection to the story.

"But no matter what, it's still a case that hasn't been solved yet. The criminal has been holding back for so many years and is unwilling to take out and use that money. Is this going to be another case of a man who is reluctant to spend money?"

In the case of Shushiro, which Sato Miwako's father was involved in, the perpetrator was a friend of Sato Miwako's father. After seeing his friend die because of him, he felt guilty and was unwilling to use the money.

Perhaps this murderer was also involved in a similar situation?

Jiang Hang shook his head slightly, thinking that such a similar plot shouldn't be playing out in front of him again so soon.

"It's possible that the murderer's accomplice hid the money, which is why those banknotes haven't appeared on the market for the past five years."

After muttering this to himself, Jiang Hang didn't take the case to heart and instead moved on to the next case.

Just as Jiang Hang was looking at these things, a very familiar-sounding exclamation suddenly came from downstairs.

"Ahhh!!—"

That's Xiaolan's scream!

Almost at the same moment he heard the shout, Conan, like a wild horse, jumped to his feet, wanting to go downstairs to look for Ran.

Chapter 464: Chapter 460: The Newspaper in the Briefcase and the Mysterious Hair

Although Jiang Hang hadn't really heard Ran's screams much since arriving in this world, in his previous life, Ran's screams after discovering a corpse were a major feature of the early Conan series.

As for why it's described as the early to mid-stage, it's because from the middle of Detective Conan onwards, while the main storyline of the Black Organization continued to advance, Ran's side, since the Vermouth arc, has hardly had any outstanding performances in the main storyline.

Furthermore, in the later stages of the series, Conan deliberately reduced the horror and gore of those cases, which naturally made Ran's performance in the show seem like that of a female passerby with a sharp-edged head.

Therefore, hearing Xiaolan's exclamation now, Jiang Hang felt quite emotional.

After seeing that Conan had already run out of the room, Jiang Hang slowly stood up and walked downstairs.

Conan's anxiety about Ran stems from his worry that something might happen to his future wife. But in reality, even if Ran is frightened by the corpse, she still possesses fighting abilities far exceeding those of an ordinary person. How could an ordinary culprit possibly be a match for Ran? To be honest, Ran's weakest period was during the time she lost her memory.

Xiaolan has now fully recovered both physically and mentally, and may even be more resilient than before. So, while she may scream, it would be truly insane for anyone to try to ambush her while she's screaming.

The crime scene this time was in the room of that imposter Kogoro Mouri.

With just one glance, Jiang Hang already knew that the deceased was the imposter Kogoro Mouri.

After all, at first glance, the other person's appearance does look somewhat similar to Kogoro Mouri. However, his mustache looks more refined than the real Kogoro Mouri. People familiar with Kogoro Mouri can naturally tell the difference between the two at a glance. But if you have never seen Kogoro Mouri before, or have only seen his appearance in photos, it may not be so easy for the average person to recognize the two of them.

However, this fake Kogoro Mouri is now hanging from a beam in the room with a rope around his neck, his limbs dangling, his eyes bulging outwards lifelessly, and he has long since lost his breath.

When Jiang Hang arrived at the room, many people in the hotel had already come out to see what was going on because of Xiao Lan's scream. Several hotel staff members were also struggling to squeeze through the crowd to find out what had happened.

Jiang Hang glanced at the scene briefly and noticed that someone seemed to be missing.

Huh? Where is the only policeman at the scene, Yamamura Misao? Shouldn't he be the one stepping up to restore order? He's a policeman, and now that a murder has occurred, where is he?

However, since Yamamura Misao hasn't come out yet, someone still needs to be responsible for maintaining order at the scene.

Fortunately, Jiang Hang has gradually gotten used to this kind of thing.

He revealed his identity, along with the special advisor's badge issued by the Metropolitan Police Department.

With his sharp eyes and tough attitude, he quickly restored order to the area around the crime scene.

It wasn't until then that Yamamura Misao, reeking of alcohol, staggered out of Kogoro Mouri's room. Judging from his drunken appearance, he probably had no idea what had happened.

"What? Detective Mori hanged himself in his room?" It wasn't until he heard the surrounding travelers discussing this that Yamamura Misao suddenly sobered up from his drunken stupor.

He didn't notice Jiang Hang, who was maintaining order outside the door, or Kogoro Mouri, who was searching for clues inside the room.

He simply stared at the corpse hanging from the beam, not even figuring out the body's true identity, before bursting into a dramatic lament.

"Waaaaah, Mr. Mori, we've only had a little bit of wine, but you look so different than before?"

"Was it because I was drunk that I couldn't see clearly?"

"But why would you suddenly do something so stupid? That sleeping Kogoro Mouri is really sleeping forever in this place... Is this why you came to the Head God Forest?"

Listening to the village police officer's "sincere" condolences, even Kogoro Mouri, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"What are you babbling about? I'm still alive and well. You should see clearly who actually died."

Kogoro Mori knew this wasn't the time to argue with people, so he directly instructed Misao Yamamura: "Thanks to Jiang Hang and my efforts, no one else has entered this room since we discovered the body. You'd better contact the Gunma Prefecture police station right now and have them send forensic experts to examine the cause of death."

Kogoro Mouri's words of warning startled Misao Yamamura again, and he even subconsciously made a "ghostly" expression.

Even Kogoro Mouri had to wonder how this guy, who had neither the ability nor the mental fortitude, had become a police officer.

Fortunately, after regaining consciousness, Yamamura Misao's professional ethics remained high. He quickly contacted the Gunma Police Station and began explaining the situation to the hotel staff standing outside the door.

Upon learning that the person who had just died was actually an imposter Kogoro Mouri, the innkeeper Yoshiro Toda was naturally the most surprised.

With the police's assurance and Jiang Hang having already revealed their identities, the "Mihua Twins" are quite well-known.

Therefore, they quickly confirmed that the real Kogoro Mouri was still alive, and that the one who had died was just an imposter.

"I never expected such a thing to happen. I'm so sorry, because we've never seen your true face, so this fake took advantage of our vulnerability."

Yoshiro Toda's face looked like he had a headache.

After all, he personally extended the invitation to Kogoro Mouri, and there weren't many people who knew about it. But just at this very moment, on the very day that Kogoro Mouri agreed to accept the request and arrived at the inn, a fake Kogoro Mouri inexplicably appeared.

Most importantly, this fake Kogoro Mori, after taking the briefcase that had been stored there for five years, inexplicably died in his hotel within just one afternoon.