An infinite journey starting from paradise

"Mr. Lin, I've already said that our relationship is limited to this. It's best not to meet again in the future."

Kisaragi declined Lin Shangren's offer and took out a few bills from her pocket: "This is for my treat. Goodbye."

Leaving the few bills behind, Kisaki Eri pushed open the door to the private room and staggered out. At the door, she saw Manaka Hehuan, a face full of resentment. Seeing the anger in Hehuan's crimson eyes, Kisaki Eri hurried out of the restaurant, feeling guilty. She hailed a taxi and returned to her law firm, which was also her current residence.

He Huan walked into the private room and looked at Lin Shangren who was picking up the "prostitute money" on the ground. She teased, "How do you feel? Judging from the sound of you guys, it must be quite exciting. Thank me, if I hadn't booked a few empty private rooms next door with a few Franklins and told the waiters not to disturb us, I'm afraid this place would attract a lot of onlookers."

"Thank you, my beautiful, smart Hehuan-chan."

Lin Shangren jokingly hugged the irritated Hehuan into his arms. He hadn't yet realized that his loss of composure was due to Hehuan's manipulation, and simply thought it was the remnants of the curse from the Demon Maggot Bait World that had caused him to lose control of his lower body.

"Oh, just let her go like this. Just treat her as a fleeting romance?" Hehuan asked.

"Personality is another matter. Anyway, I really like her body. But this kind of thing still depends on her own feelings. I won't forcibly take her away and use her as my personal flesh and urine. If you only have her body but not her heart, you will feel empty after playing with her for a long time."

"Tsk, scumbag, pervert."

……

Let’s not talk about Lin Shangren and Hehuan’s next actions, let’s first focus on Kisaki Eri who has returned home safely.

She didn't shower like other women who had been assaulted, trying to wash off the lingering smell. She just threw herself on the bed, buried her head in the pillow, and cried bitterly.

There's nothing to feel wronged about. After all, she was the one who took the initiative.

A sense of guilt? Yes, she felt guilty towards her husband, Kogoro Mori, who she hadn't divorced yet. But they had been separated for ten years, so their marriage was essentially dead, right?

Pain? Yes. But why was she in pain? Because she had betrayed her husband? Hibiki Eri didn't know. She just wanted to cry. She wanted to use her tears to dilute the addiction that Lin Shangren had left on her.

She just wanted to cry her heart out and then fall into a deep sleep, so that she could forget everything that happened today. When she woke up, she would still be the victorious queen of law, and her life would not change at all. She had already clearly rejected Lin Shangren, and although she felt a little sorry for him, this was the only way.

"It's just a fleeting romance after all. As long as he doesn't get entangled... there's no need for a young man as outstanding as him to get entangled with an old woman like me, right?"

What Hibiki doesn't know is that her fate is already entangled with Lin Shangren, her nemesis, her assistant, and even her daughter...

"As long as you get some sleep, everything will be back to normal..."

Thinking of this, Kiyomi fell into a deep sleep with her pillow soaked with tears.

Chapter 147: The deceased was stabbed in the back and diagnosed as suicide

His attention turned back to Lin Shangren and Hehuan. The two had already left the Italian restaurant, but did not return to the residence of Nimachi in Beika Town immediately - because he had discovered Mitsuko Asaya, Lin Shangren planned to first investigate whether the Cat's Eye Sisters really existed in this world.

"According to the original story, the Cat's Eye Cafe should be across from the Inunaki Police Station, but there's no such place in this world's Tokyo."

Since the crystal compass couldn't track anyone Lin Shangren hadn't met yet, and his [Furnace of Hundred Aspects Wedge] had already been used up, Lin Shangren couldn't extract the [Spoon Killer's Spoon]. Furthermore, if he actually used the spoon to search for his sisters from his past life, he'd have to beat them up with it. Needless to say, that would be an awkward situation. So, Lin Shangren opted for the crude method of a blanket search.

"Hey, hey, I asked you to call me out so we could go out and play, not to be your means of transportation," complained Fururu, who was sitting under Lin Shangren's crotch. "The worst part is, you actually parked me outside the police station and the restaurant for so long. Now you want me to carry you two around Tokyo. Lin Shangren, aren't you going a little too far?"

"I'll give you a reward tonight."

Calming the motorcycle under his crotch, Lin Shangren continued to use his shadow touch to explore the surrounding environment. Suddenly, he squeezed the parking brake and stopped Fululu on the side of the road.

"Have you found the place you are looking for?" Hehuan, who was sitting behind Lin Shangren, asked.

"No, I didn't find the cat's eye, but I found an interesting place."

Lin Shangren looked at a huge brown-red building on the other side of the street. On the left side of the building, a vertical banner with black letters on a white background read "Medieval Art Exhibition" in large letters.

"Where is this...?" He Huan suddenly understood after looking at the words on the scroll. "Animated armor, art museum murder! Is this the art museum?"

The Art Museum Murder Case is one of Conan's classic early cases. Rumors circulated about a medieval art museum where armor would resurrect and wander the streets in the middle of the night. Intrigued by this rumor, Ran Mouri dragged Conan and Kogoro Mouri to the museum. Death had arrived, and a murder had occurred. The owner of the museum was murdered by a strange figure in armor, the entire incident captured on surveillance cameras. The truth was that the museum's former curator, angry at the owner's plans to close the museum, murdered him and framed the owner for reselling the museum's collection. Ultimately, the curator was apprehended by the police, laughing, after being exposed by the dual detective, Conan Mouri.

"This should be it." Lin Shangren said, "I plan to buy this place."

He Huan asked suspiciously, "Take over this place? To help the museum director change his ways?"

"For fishing enforcement."

Lin Shangren replied,

"Since we can't find the Cat's Eye Cafe right away, and checking the police household registration is so difficult, and there's even the possibility that the Aisei sisters haven't returned to Japan yet, I might as well prepare the bait and wait for the fish to bite. I believe the Aisei sisters' father is Michael Heinz, right? Since their goal is to collect their father's collection and uncover the truth behind his disappearance, I'll open an art gallery housing Heinz's collection and wait for them to steal it."

If Lin Shangren had watched both Cat's Eye and City Hunter in their entirety, he would have had a better idea. However, he only watched a portion of Cat's Eye on a late-night children's channel as a child, and he had only seen the movie version of City Hunter, where Jackie Chan cosplayed Chun-Li.

Even the fact that the two works share the same worldview was something he had heard from Hou Yi while chatting with his roommates in college. So, with only a rough idea of ​​the plot, he came up with this plan for the time being.

"Eh? Is it just a sting operation? I thought you felt sorry for the old curator." Hehuan said.

"How can I pity that kind of person?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's easy to understand if you think about it. Old Deng, in his sixties or seventies, can move freely in his armor and master the art of killing with a sword. What do you think he would have been doing between 31 and 45 years ago?

Even if we don't mention that, there's nothing worthy of pity about someone who kills people just because they want to close their own art museum, right?" Lin Shangren explained.

"Ah... indeed."

"However, I do have other considerations." Lin Shangren said as he got out of the car and walked into the Medieval Art Museum with Hehuan.

"Hey...don't pull me over again!"

……

With his superpowers and considerable financial resources, Lin Shangren easily purchased the museum from its owner. As for the subsequent events, such as firing the former director and the employees involved in art resale, the massive acquisition of Michael Heinz's collection and various gemstones, and the subsequent reopening of the museum under the new name "Xiu Mu Museum," all happened later.

In short, after casually buying an art gallery, Lin Shangren found a nearby property that was given to him by [Devil's Fake Passport] and moved in with Hehuan.

It was on the 25th floor of a high-end apartment building in the center of Beika-cho. Through the windows of the apartment, you could see Tokyo Tower in the distance.

"Classmate Xiao Ai is a good person. She arranged this place so that I can watch the show from a distance when Gin shoots down Tokyo Tower, right?" Lin Shangren thought.

The room was fully furnished, the water and electricity were functioning normally, there were no signs of life, and it was spotless, as if it had been prepared long ago, just waiting for Lin Shangren and Hehuan to move in.

After using Fireball to heat up the food they'd packed from the restaurant and using a reduced-power version of Ice Roar to quickly chill a few cans of beer and happy water, Lin Shangren and Hehuan had a simple dinner. Then, like an ordinary young couple, they curled up on the sofa and watched TV together.

It has to be said that the world's current entertainment industry is still somewhat lacking. Apart from boring variety shows such as "Q&A", there are only Yoko Okino's concerts and Taiga dramas on TV.

"The enemy is in Honnoji Temple, I've tasted enough...hiss, this guy is called Hijikata Yukisaburo, right? He's the costume drama actor who killed his wife in the 108th episode of Conan. Wow, it's worthy of being Japan's Brother Tan. You can see the murderer by just changing the channel." Lin Shangren complained and took a sip of beer.

When he switched to a channel that was playing "Godzilla", Lin Shangren finally stopped.

"Godzilla's isomorphs are interesting. I wonder what's going on with the Kamen Rider show in this world. And it seems like there's no Ultraman or Super Sentai in this world... This won't do. I need to find time to go to Tsuburaya Productions, where Godzilla is filming."

Thinking of this, Lin Shangren focused his attention completely on the TV screen, so much so that his sensitive demon hunter senses and shadow touch did not notice who had just opened the neighbor's door.

……

The next day.

"No...ah this...um...hiss...makes sense."

Looking at the scene outside the window, Lin Shangren, who had just woken up, took a full five seconds to go from doubting his own eyes, to being confused, to trying to understand, and finally to being relieved.

The reason was simple: the season had changed outside the window. Yesterday it was midsummer, and today it was snowing. If some major injustice had occurred in Japan, it would only mean that this world's timeline had gone haywire again.

"Great, the food on the table isn't spoiled, and the ice I froze hasn't completely melted. It just spent a normal night... How the hell is this normal?!"

Resisting the urge to complain, Lin Shangren quietly teleported to the bathroom to wash up, then prepared breakfast, ready to start this wonderful day.

Lin Shangren didn't have much to do today. He simply had to deal with the remaining matters regarding the Medieval Art Museum and quickly establish some connections, both official and covert, to locate and acquire Michael Heinz's collection. If time permitted, he also wanted to return to Nimachimune's residence to check on Dr. Agasa.

Because there was so much to do, and they had to teleport between locations, He Huan didn't accompany Lin Shangren today. Instead, they stayed in the apartment with Fululu in her Amethyst Bat form. Fululu could communicate with Lin Shangren, and in her Amethyst Bat form, she possessed building-destroying destructive power. With her protecting He Huan, nothing would go wrong.

Anyway, Lin Shangren worked until the evening, finally finishing up all matters related to the art museum. Just as he was about to return to the apartment, the sleeping Ashrose woke up.

[Good morning, my Lord, did you miss me? ~(￣▽￣～)]

"First of all, it's night time now. Secondly, it's okay, I don't miss it too much. Finally, what about the world quest? Why hasn't it been sent out yet so late?" Lin Shangren asked.

[Um... well, this world has a lot of exploration quests, and they're quite complex. So I wasn't able to finish them all right away. So far, I've only managed these two. Please see the quest bar. (?＞?＜)]

[Goal 1: "Lover TV, Start": Prevent a murder that hasn't happened yet. After preventing five murders, you'll receive a chance to draw a prize. There's no upper limit. (Prevented murders: 3)]

Objective 2: "The End of the Century Phantom Thief Nemesis": Capture Phantom Thieves during their thefts. The more Phantom Thieves you capture, the greater the reward. If you capture them without using special abilities, you'll receive additional rewards.

"This...will the rewards for this world mission be a little more? From what I know about you, it's good enough that you don't take kickbacks. How could you be so generous?" Lin Shangren asked in confusion.

[Ahem~ Well, of course, it's because the prize pool this time is a bit disappointing. After all, the power level of this world is there. ?ω?]

"I knew it. What do the 'special abilities' limited to mission two refer to? Are they the abilities and equipment granted by the system? Or are they all supernatural means? I'm already a demon hunter, so I can do without sigils and psychic magic. But a demon hunter's senses are a passive ability that can't be turned off." As he spoke, Lin Shangren had already walked into the elevator of the apartment.

[Well, Demon Hunter Senses are definitely not prohibited, but other superpowered abilities like Shadow Control, Psionics, Ring Magic, and Alchemical Items are definitely prohibited. Otherwise, there's no point in flying over to Kuroba Kaito's house and taking him down right away. Hehe~ Of course, if you don't want the extra reward, you can just go with a simple, brute-force approach. ?(????)]

"Well, it's just a small thief, right? If the Japanese police had any sense, they wouldn't have let Kidd get away with it for so long."

As he spoke, the elevator had already reached the 25th floor. Just as Lin Shangren was about to teleport home, he suddenly heard a child's voice.

"Wow, the twenty-fifth floor~"

This is a childish, pretentiously childish voice, and the owner of the voice is naturally Edogawa Conan, the elementary school student of the God of Death. Behind the elementary school student of the God of Death are his black and white impermanence: Maori Ran and Maori Kogoro.

"Oh my god, could it be that Maori Kogoro knows how awesome I am and plans to film an episode at my house?!"

Lin Shangren remained calm like a seasoned man even when he encountered the victims. He took a few steps forward and ran into the Maori family of three, accompanied by a man and a woman.

The man had an ordinary, passerby face. The innocent eye's identification revealed his name to be Yamagishi Eiichi, an idol manager. The woman, on the other hand, was a true beauty, with dazzling golden curls, a pair of bright blue eyes, and a very sweet appearance and makeup, at least three pluses.

【Name：Okino Yoko】

[Race: Human female]

【Identity: idol, singer, actor】

[Status: No abnormal status]

[Note: A national super idol, the world's top singer of the Heisei era, currently in distress due to a stalker incident.]

"I know which episode this is." Lin Shangren thought helplessly, "Good news, my apartment is not a haunted house. Bad news, this apartment is next door to a haunted house."

"Ah... Are you Mr. Lin?"

Mao Lilan recognized Lin Shangren.

Even though he had just gone deep into the other party's birthplace and made a big fuss yesterday, Lin Shangren still greeted Mao Lilan without blushing or beating his heart: "Ah, it's Ms. Mao Li, and... little Kudo."

"It's Edogawa, uncle. My name is Edogawa Conan," Kudo Shinichi, or rather Conan, quickly interrupted. He didn't want his identity as "Kudo Yusaku's illegitimate son" to be known to Maori Kogoro. Ran had already been somewhat estranged from him since she learned he was Shinichi's younger brother. If Uncle Maori found out, he'd definitely be kicked out. How could he live with Ran then... well, using Uncle Maori's detective identity to investigate the Man in Black?

"Edogawa Conan... Yeah, I get it." Hayashi Naoroto said, deliberately revealing a look of pity and anger, as if to say "Kudo Yusaku is really a beast."

Seeing this scene, Conan was sure that the guy in front of him must have misunderstood something again.

Maori Kogoro looked at Lin Shangren and asked, "Xiaolan, who is he?"

"This is Shinichi's neighbor Mr. Hayashi. Like Dr. Agasa, he is also a scientist. Mr. Hayashi, this is my father, Kogoro Mori, a detective." Xiaolan introduced.

"Lin Shangren, a little-known pharmacist." The yellow-haired man smiled and stretched out his hand to the victim.

Looking at Lin Shangren's smile, Maori Kogoro felt a little awkward for no reason, but he still stretched out his hand and shook hands with Lin Shangren.

"You are a detective, right? Are you here to investigate a case?" Lin Shangren turned his gaze to Okino Yoko behind Maori Kogoro, "And this beauty, you look familiar..."

"She is the hottest star right now, Ms. Okino Yoko."

Before Yoko Okino could respond, Kogoro Mori, who was wearing a well-tailored suit and looked quite steady at first glance, bared his teeth at Naoto Hayashi like an ardent fan.

"You don't even know a popular idol like Ms. Yoko. Are you really living in the Heisei era?!"

"what?"

"Hiss, to be honest, three days ago I was still in the Showa era." Lin Shangren said in his heart.

"I'm sorry, I just came back from Italy and I don't know much about the Japanese entertainment industry."

Hayashi Naoto scratched his head. There was no point arguing with a fanatic like Kogoro Mori; just obey. He couldn't sleep with Yoko Okino, but Hayashi Naoto had already slept with Eri Kisaki.

"You can remember all of Yoko Okino's experiences and various information since her debut, but you can get your childhood sweetheart's birthday wrong and even give her the wrong birthday present. You deserve to live out your life alone, old man." Lin Shangren thought to himself.

"It's okay. I'm not that famous, so it's normal that people don't know me. But thank you Mr. Maori for thinking so highly of me."

Yoko Okino is worthy of being a top idol. Not only is her professional ability excellent, but her attitude towards passers-by and fans is also quite decent.

Hearing Miss Yoko's gentle words, Kogoro Mori suddenly smiled brightly.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little awkward, Mao Lilan suddenly changed the subject: "By the way, why is Mr. Lin here?"

Lin Shangren pointed to the apartment next to Okino Yoko's house and said, "I live here. Yesterday, Hehuan and I went to the nearby Medieval Art Museum. I was too lazy to ride my bike back to Nimachime, and I happened to have a few apartments here, so I stayed here for the night."

"Then why is Uncle Lin still staying here today?" Conan asked.

"Well, since Hehuan really liked that art gallery, I bought it. There were a lot of paperwork to go through, so I decided to stay here with Hehuan for a few more days."

Faced with Hayashi Naoto who blatantly showed off his wealth, Mao Lilan subconsciously thought of her good friend Suzuki Sonoko. She felt that Hayashi Naoto should meet Sonoko's standards for choosing a partner: handsome, and not Kudo Shinichi.

"So why did Mr. Maori come here? Is there a case to investigate?" Lin Shangren looked at Yoko Okino and her agent with pretended confusion.

The words "idol" and "detective"—those two words, in the hands of some unscrupulous gossip media, could easily lead to outrageous stories. Yamagishi Eiichi hired Maori Kogoro to investigate Okino Yoko's stalker harassment. He chose Maori Kogoro because, despite his limited talent, he had no fame. This was to keep Okino Yoko's harassment a secret from the media.