The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Assassin in Anime Crossovers

"A few days ago, Xiaolan was looking through old photo albums and found a group photo we took in elementary school. Then I noticed that the way Xiaolan looked at me had become a little strange these past few days!"

Hearing Conan's somewhat anxious words, Jiang Hang blinked.

Is this the classic scene where Ran routinely suspects Conan's identity, and Conan always uses various methods to prevent her from finding out?

"What's wrong? Isn't this great? As long as your Ran knows your identity, you won't have to rack your brains to remind Uncle Mori when solving cases. It's much more convenient for you to just tell your Ran the truth of the case."

Jiang Hang glanced at the five-star request that was still at the top of the system task announcement board—the one that let Ran Mouri know Shinichi Kudo's whereabouts—and then muttered this to Conan.

Chapter 149: Chapter 148: Conan's Worries

Before Conan appeared, Kogoro Mouri was an ordinary private detective who was neither particularly talented nor unsuccessful, and each month he would only complete some small cases of tracking and photographing evidence of infidelity.

In the month or so that Conan appeared, Kogoro Mouri turned his life around and became the famous "Sleeping Kogoro," and with fame came no shortage of money.

Serving as a consultant for crime dramas and mystery games can be a significant source of income.

Others might think this is Kogoro Mouri's strength, but it would be strange if his daughter Ran Mouri didn't have suspicions.

First of all, Conan's appearance at the crime scene is practically a carbon copy of Shinichi Kudo.

Furthermore, Conan and Shinichi Kudo looked exactly alike when they were young, and the coincidence of Conan suddenly appearing on the day Shinichi Kudo disappeared also explains a lot.

Secondly, no matter how many times they told Conan not to go to the crime scene, Conan wouldn't listen at all. Every time something happened, they would see the other party running around at the crime scene.

Of course, the most puzzling thing is her father. Before entering the "sleeping" state, Kogoro Mouri disliked Conan, but after entering the "sleeping" state, Conan became his number one assistant, and many cases were solved by Kogoro Mouri and Conan working together.

Moreover, every time her father woke up, he had no recollection of what had just happened.

And when Shinichi Kudo called her last time, he said that "he was being watched by a very powerful criminal organization and couldn't appear in front of others for his safety, but he was always watching her from not far away," which is also why Ran Mouri became suspicious.

When Ran Mouri first heard those words, she blushed and her heart raced, but now that she thinks about it carefully, Conan has always been watching over her!

For these reasons, Ran Mouri has indeed developed some suspicions about Conan and is preparing to confront him at a suitable time.

Meanwhile, in Jiang Hang's office, Jiang Hang picked at his ear and looked at Conan, who looked very nervous.

"I told you before, you were really too high-profile during the first month after you shrunk. Otherwise, how do you think I found out your identity?"

"Besides me, even Hattori Heiji, who has only met you twice, is already suspicious of your identity. Although I temporarily fooled him by saying that you are Shinichi Kudo's younger brother and a survivor of a secret experiment when you were young, since he is a famous high school detective on par with you, as long as he continues to suspect you, your identity will be confirmed by him sooner or later."

"To be honest, the fact that your Xiaolan only started to suspect you after spending more than a month with you is probably because it's too unbelievable for a high school student to turn into a child. Otherwise, she should have noticed it much earlier."

Jiang Hang paused for a moment, then looked at Conan and said, "Perhaps she's currently at home waiting for you to go and confess to her?"

Let's calculate the gains and losses for Jiang Hang after revealing Conan's identity to Ran Mouri.

First, let's calculate what Jiang Hang will lose. Based on the frequency at which Conan, the crime-solving machine, delivers one case to Jiang Hang per week, and considering that Jiang Hang used to only get monetary rewards for trying to get help from Conan's cases but not skill item rewards, and assuming that he can get 20 million yen for each case he tries to get help from, Jiang Hang will earn about 100 million yen less per month.

However, Jiang Hang can earn several hundred million yen a month by completing commissions normally without having to work himself to the bone. If he were willing to work himself to the bone to complete commissions, earning a billion yen a month would not be a problem. Therefore, this hundred million yen does not have a significant impact on him.

Then there's what Jiang Hang can get: completing Ran Mouri's five-star request, the one-time monetary reward is equivalent to several months' worth of Conan's earnings. Moreover, he's currently working himself to the bone every day to complete the mission of earning 1 billion yen in half a month to obtain an advanced skill training book; this money will greatly reduce the pressure on him to complete the mission.

In addition, he can gain at least one advanced skill, something that no amount of money can buy.

Compared to this, Jiang Hang really wanted to tell Ran Mouri about Conan's identity right now.

Of course, out of childhood nostalgia, Jiang Hang also wanted to see Conan confess his identity to Ran, a "super exciting" plot that he had been waiting for since childhood but never got to see.

If you let him tell Ran Mouri, it won't feel the same.

Seeing Conan's conflicted expression, Jiang Hang pursed his lips.

"Is it because you've been living with your Xiaolan every day for the past month and have seen things you shouldn't have, so you're afraid that you'll get a beating from Xiaolan after you reveal your true identity?"

Conan seemed to have thought of something because of Jiang Hang's words, and his face immediately turned red, and he began to stammer.

"Don't talk nonsense! How could I possibly worry about something like that!"

Conan might not have had this thought just now, but after Jiang Hang reminded him, he might really start to worry about it.

Conan finally managed to calm himself down and then sighed at Jiang Hang.

"Because telling Xiaolan about this will make her worry..."

Conan knows that he is currently living at the Mori family's house. If his identity is exposed, even if Uncle Mori and Ran are unaware, the Black Organization will probably eliminate him completely, given their style. Therefore, he is not afraid that revealing this matter will bring danger to Ran.

He is now worried that he will never be able to return to his original appearance, and that the drug may have some side effects that he is unaware of. If he were to tell others about these things, it would only make Xiaolan worry for nothing.

“I know Xiaolan’s personality very well. She’s the kind of woman who can’t stand seeing others suffer, treats other people’s problems as her own, and is also extremely sentimental. If she knew about my situation, I don’t know how much she would cry in front of me.”

Conan said this with a touch of melancholy.

His gaze fell on Jiang Hang: "I've made up my mind. If I can turn back into my original form, I'll tell Xiao Lan everything and propose to her. But if I can't—"

Conan was interrupted by Jiang Hang before he could finish speaking.

"You're not going to say something like 'silently protecting', are you? If so, I'll look down on you."

Jiang Hang pointed to Conan's current appearance at seven or eight years old: "You two only look ten years apart in appearance right now. Even if you can't turn back, you can still get married in ten years. At most, there will be some rumors about 'raising a young boy' or 'an older man eating young grass'."

Upon hearing Jiang Hang's words, Conan's expression immediately became quite interesting.

Chapter 150: Chapter 149: Jiang Hang, did you bully Conan again?

It took Conan a while to recover from what Jiang Hang had just said.

He coughed heavily a few times, feeling that he couldn't continue the conversation.

"In short, I think it's best to keep it a secret for now. If Xiaolan finds out about the Black Organization, she'll definitely want to get involved... After we take care of the Black Organization, even if I can't go back to my original form, I'll tell Xiaolan everything."

"That's an organization that's existed for nearly half a century, with deeply entrenched influence. The FBI, CIA, Interpol, and even more intelligence agencies are investigating it, but they still haven't been able to take it down. How long do you think it will take us to completely eradicate it?" Jiang Hang asked Conan. "A year, two years, or even longer? Can you keep it a secret forever?"

Conan shook his head with a complicated expression, indicating that he didn't know either. It must be a long and arduous journey, and he might even lose his life at any moment.

"Let's keep this a secret for now," Conan said, still unwilling to let Ran know his identity, just like in the original work. He even made a request to Jiang Hang directly.

"Speaking of which, Jiang Hang, aren't you good at disguise? With your disguise skills, it should be very easy for you to impersonate me!"

He continued, "Why don't you disguise yourself as me and let Xiaolan see us both together when no one else is watching? Then you can leave quickly and leave the rest to me."

Faced with Conan's pleading gaze, Jiang Hang sighed helplessly.

"Since you put it that way, it seems there really isn't any other way now..."

Hearing Jiang Hang say that, Conan thought that the matter was settled this time.

Even as he began to think about how to keep it from Xiaolan, Jiang Hang's expression suddenly changed.

“But I refuse,” Jiang Hang replied firmly.

"Huh?" Conan was completely taken aback by Jiang Hang's sudden turn of events and was stunned.

Jiang Hang patted Conan on the shoulder and said, "In the end, if you hadn't been so flamboyant before, none of this would have happened. You brought this upon yourself, so now you have to take responsibility for it."

"Right now, it's just that your Xiaolan suspects you, not that the distillery has discovered your identity, so you should be grateful."

"In short, I won't help you this time. You'll have to figure it out yourself. This is a lesson for you."

Seeing Conan's expression, which was even more unsightly than crying, Jiang Hang's face became exceptionally pleased. There was one more crucial point he hadn't mentioned.

That is, he thought it would be fun to do it.

In the anime, every time Conan's identity is suspected by Ran, someone always comes to his rescue. Professor Agasa has helped him, Heiji Hattori has helped him, Ai Haibara has helped him, and even Kaito Kid somehow found out Conan's identity and helped him out.

This routine has been repeated several times. When I was a kid, I found it exciting and suspenseful, but now Jiang Hang is really tired of it.

See, you didn't hide your identity well enough, and now Xiaolan has discovered it all by herself. You should be the one to find a way to dispel Xiaolan's suspicions, instead of having so many outside helpers.

Even if those foreign players came to help you voluntarily, this is still too much of a humiliation for Xiaolan!

Therefore, Jiang Hang stood firmly on Ran's side at this moment and refused Conan's request.

However, seeing that Conan looked like he was about to go crazy, Jiang Hang finally gave Conan some advice.

"If you really don't know how to explain it to her, just 'accept' it. Neither admit nor deny it. Xiaolan already knew that you were in a dangerous situation, and seeing your attitude, she definitely won't ask any more questions."

Jiang Hang imitated Conan's voice: "If Ran really asks about you, tell her that Shinichi asked you to tell her that he is in a dangerous situation and cannot return to you until the danger is eliminated, but he will come back sooner or later, even if it means risking his life to see her."

Jiang Hang changed back to his own voice and looked at Conan, who was keeping his head down and not speaking: "You can make a tacit agreement with Ran, and then you can continue to play the role of Conan and let her know you're safe every now and then as Shinichi Kudo. I think that's enough."

"If it were me, I might face her in this way. Of course, you can go to Professor Agasa or your parents to help you keep your identity a secret. But ultimately, it's up to you to decide this."

Jiang Hang never knew which decision Conan would make, but he felt he had managed to persuade Conan.

Watching Conan leave the agency, Jiang Hang turned his attention to the five-star request on the mission bulletin board.

He wasn't sure if leaving it in the system by default would count as completing the task, but he figured it probably wouldn't.

However, he wasn't a heartless commission-collecting machine. Apart from the alarm clock every morning, his system never forced him in anything, so he quickly put the matter out of his mind.

On the contrary, Shizuka Sakaki, who was in the office looking up information, looked at Conan who had just left with some curiosity.

"Jiang Hangjun, why did Conan seem a bit listless when he left? Did you bully that kid again?"

Shizuka Sakaki knew that Conan's parents were friends of Jiang Hang, and that they had asked Jiang Hang to take care of Conan.

For some reason, Jiang Hang seemed to particularly enjoy teasing Conan. Most of the time, Shizuka Sakaki would see Conan leave the agency looking confused, but this time Conan looked even more dejected, which is why she asked Jiang Hang about it out of curiosity.

Jiang Hang waved his hand at Shizuka Sakaki: "Nothing like that. How could I possibly bully a child? Conan came to me and said he likes a girl, but he doesn't know what to do, so he came here to ask me."

Sakaki Shizuka blinked: "But Conan is only in first grade this year, isn't this a bit too early... So what did you tell Conan?"

“Kids these days are precocious,” Jiang Hang said casually. “I told him that kids should study hard and not date early. If he doesn’t listen, I’ll tell his older sister Xiaolan.” Then he ran away.

Listening to Jiang Hang's explanation, Shizuka Sakaki couldn't help but mutter to herself: Aren't you just bullying a child?

Chapter 151: Chapter 150: Waiting for the Ultraman vs. Gomera battle!

Conan ultimately adopted Jiang Hang's suggestion.

It may seem like there's no difference from the manga, but Conan's mindset is actually completely different.

In the manga, Conan's mindset is very passive. He will never tell anyone unless Ran asks him. However, whenever he's about to confess and can't explain himself, someone "coincidentally" comes to his rescue, helping to dispel Ran's confusion. And until the very end, Ran's attitude towards Conan remains one of skepticism.

However, Conan is now taking the initiative to find Ran. Under the guise of "Shinichi Kudo," he tells Ran what kind of enemy he is facing, and at the same time expresses his feelings to Ran, as well as the promise that "Shinichi Kudo will definitely come back."

According to Conan, Ran cried for a long time in bed that night, but when she got up the next day, she acted as if nothing had happened and her attitude towards Conan didn't change.

Meanwhile, in Jiang Hang's place, seeing the "pending confirmation" notice appear for the first time on his bulletin board, he scratched his head.

The system explained that Ran Mouri already knew Shinichi Kudo's whereabouts and only needed final confirmation. Therefore, although the request was not yet completed, the monetary reward for the request was already issued.