Conan: When Shinjiu and Maolilan swap bodies

What does it feel like to be followed?

Ran Mouri had experienced this before.

However, most of the people following her are Conan.

Conan's tracking skills are both good and bad.

As soon as she comes into contact with any man, Conan will immediately be exposed and discovered by her.

Ran Mouri took a deep breath and began to act according to the basic methods taught by Aozawa.

She first slowly circled around the first floor of the mall, paying attention to what was behind and to the sides.

The crowd was bustling, and she felt as if someone was always watching her, but she couldn't pinpoint a specific person.

"It's a bit difficult..." Ran Mouri thought to herself.

Chapter 228 Shake them off, then find me

Theoretical knowledge proved so inadequate in practice. She decided to add variables—the transformation space.

She would take the escalator upstairs and then the elevator downstairs, moving up and down between floors, constantly changing her position, keeping an eye on who might be following her.

This method of relocation did indeed lead her to discover one.

This was a middle-aged man who pretended to be shopping in a mall, but every time she moved, he would immediately quicken his pace, and they even rode the same vertical elevator together.

She took out her phone and sent a message to Qingze.

[I've found one, he's a middle-aged man, right?]

A middle-aged man?

Qingze raised an eyebrow.

Of the three detectives he hired, none were middle-aged men.

He moved the mouse and clicked on the surveillance camera where Ran Mouri was located.

Ran Mouri was at a corner of the mall, and behind her was indeed a middle-aged man acting suspiciously.

"interesting."

He twirled the lighter in his hand, watching the surveillance footage with great interest.

Ran Mouri didn't mind not receiving a reply from Qingze.

She pretended to stop in front of the cosmetics counter and carefully observed the man through the reflective mirror.

The man in the wrinkled Brazilian suit, with greasy hair and shifty eyes, peeked out from behind a pillar not far away.

His gaze lingered on her, his eyes frequently landing on her legs, which were clad in a school uniform skirt.

Ran Mouri narrowed her eyes.

Although her father was a detective and a womanizer, he would never stare at underage girls with such a sticky gaze.

This is probably not a detective arranged by Qingze.

Without lingering, she followed the emergency exit signs in the mall toward the fire escape.

A true stalker would carefully choose a more natural way to continue following her, such as following her into a fire escape, making them very easy to spot.

However, if it's a pervert who specifically stalks girls, they might take this opportunity to follow them.

Sure enough, as she pushed open the heavy fire escape door and entered the relatively quiet and dimly lit stairwell, the hurried and slightly clumsy footsteps followed her in.

The greasy man caught up breathlessly and almost bumped into Ran Mouri, who was standing quietly at the corner.

He was startled, then flashed a smile that he thought was kind but was actually lewd: "Little sister, it's dangerous for you to walk here alone. How about I take you out?"

"No need, thank you."

Ran Mouri stared sharply at him, emanating a dangerous aura.

"You've been following me since the women's clothing section on the second floor, and now you've followed me all the way here. What are you trying to do?"

The man was taken aback by her imposing manner, a flash of panic crossing his face, quickly replaced by anger and embarrassment: "You brat, what nonsense are you spouting! Do you own this staircase? What do you mean by stalking you?"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Ran Mouri's hand.

Ran Mouri is certain: this guy is a stalker.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, swiftly slashing at the man's outstretched wrist, striking the tendon on the inside.

"what!"

The man screamed in pain as his arm instantly went numb and went limp.

Before he could react, Ran Mouri's foot had already accurately kicked his shin.

The force was controlled just right, enough to make him lose his balance in excruciating pain, but not enough to cause serious injury.

"Bang!" The man fell awkwardly down the stairs, his eyes immediately filled with fear.

Ran Mouri looked down at him, the imposing presence she exuded while playing Koniak was naturally revealed, and this indifferent coldness frightened the man so much that he kept shrinking back.

"Aren't you going to confess?"

"I...I...I was wrong, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have followed you..."

The man quickly apologized and admitted his mistake, almost kowtowing.

Ran Mouri squinted at him. Judging from his stalking methods, this man was probably a repeat offender who had secretly followed countless girls. He couldn't be let off so easily.

She picked up her phone and called the police, "Officer Takagi, I've caught a stalker who's been following a girl. Could you come over here for a moment?"

After Officer Takagi takes the stalker away, Ran Mouri continues her "exam".

She continued to move around, but instead of using the elevator, she used the fire escape to relocate.

After a period of continuous movement, she finally discovered two unusual people.

A trendy young woman wearing headphones stood by the mall's railing. She could be seen on several different floors and in different locations throughout the mall.

She kept a certain distance from her and didn't look directly at her, but Ran Mouri noticed, through the reflection of the metal handrail, that the woman's gaze would fall on her after she turned around.

Another was a slightly tired middle-aged office worker carrying a shopping bag, leaning against the window of a children's clothing store on the second floor, seemingly waiting for his family.

His tracking techniques are similar to those of young women; he will appear in your field of vision from time to time, and by using the process of elimination, he is relatively easy to find.

She took out her phone, secretly took a picture of the two of them, and sent it to Qingze.

I found two.

This time, the message was replied to instantly.

It has taken you 45 minutes since you arrived at the mall.

Ran Mouri felt embarrassed. Although it took some time to call the police and wait for Officer Takagi to arrive, it was indeed a bit too slow to find two people in 45 minutes.

This was even after she knew in advance that someone was following her.

Ran Mouri puts away her phone and continues her search.

Only by finding the person can we get rid of them.

Otherwise, even if you leave the mall and shake off your pursuers, you won't be considered to have passed the test if you haven't discovered who they are.

About 20 minutes later, Ran Mouri finally located the third stalker.

The stalker was also a young man, dressed in a mall employee uniform, walking around inside the mall as if on patrol.

Because of his clothing, Ran Mouri subconsciously ignored the past.

I found the third one too.

While sending messages, she also summarized her shortcomings.

Firstly, they are not perceptive enough about what others are looking at and lack the ability to observe their surroundings, making them susceptible to the influence of stereotypes.

Qingze is left...

She had walked around the mall several times but hadn't seen anyone who matched Qingze's figure.

Qingze can't cut off his legs, nor can he suddenly become shorter. As for sitting in a shop and keeping watch, that's not very realistic either.

She's constantly moving; how can you track her if she's sitting still?

She suddenly looked up at the numerous security cameras in the mall.

Qingze doesn't play by the rules. Rather than following her around in a miserable way, he would choose a simpler and more direct approach.

[Mr. Qingze, are you in the monitoring room?]

Qingze's lips curled up slightly; he was able to realize that he was in the monitoring room, so he still had some sense.

Hurry up, it's been an hour. Shake them off and find me.

Chapter 229: Barely Passable

Upon seeing the message, Ran Mouri put away her phone and gave the monitor a confident smile.

Now that the people have been identified, getting rid of them is not a problem at all!

She took the elevator to the first floor, entered the clothing store, and, using the clothes as cover, walked out from another direction.

After going back and forth several times, she walked into the fire escape again.

Recalling the mall map she had seen, she pondered the possible location of the monitoring room.

These shopping malls all have a dedicated monitoring room located in the staff's office area.

Although there are no obvious signs in the office area, it is not difficult to find.

Not long after, Ran Mouri pushed open the door to the monitoring room.

The monitoring room was dimly lit, with no lights on, and only computer screens displaying the monitoring footage.

Ran Mouri looked around and found Aozawa leaning against the wall by the door.

"Mr. Qingze!"

Qingze put his hands in his pockets and said casually, "A bit slow, I'll barely give you a passing grade."

Ran Mouri wasn't discouraged. "I've learned from this, I'll be faster next time!"

"Let's go eat."

Qingze strode out of the monitoring room, and Maoli Ran followed closely behind.

"Mr. Qingze, isn't tracking me with surveillance cameras considered cheating?"

"What kind of cheating is this? Who said you have to do the tracking yourself?" Qingze squinted at her. "I can just track your phone, and I can know where you are wherever you go. I don't even need to move my legs."

"Huh? What did you do to my phone?"

Ran Mouri quickly checked her phone, but couldn't find anything on any of the apps.

"What do I need to do? I'm not a hacker expert, but it's as simple as hacking into a phone and enabling location services."

"You also have hacking skills? Are you that versatile?" This was the first time she had ever heard Qingze mention this skill.

She looked up at Qingze, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

So far, she hasn't discovered anything that Qingze can't do.

"A lone wolf can go it alone, of course, because he has the ability."

Qingze was quite pleased with that look, and the corners of his mouth curled up, adopting a nonchalant and detached demeanor.

Only skills that you have in your own hands are true skills. If you want to live well, you must know a little bit of everything.

He doesn't have a fixed partner, but dealing with surveillance is essential. Although there are organized intrusions into the system, it would be best if he could do it himself.

As for how much effort and sweat he put into his studies, that goes without saying.

Ran Mouri nodded, her admiration undiminished.

Most people admire strength, and she was no exception.

"Doesn't that mean my phone would be easily hacked?"

"I installed a protection program inside, which will immediately alert me if someone intrudes, and I will also receive a notification. There's not much on your phone, just be sure to clear the messages."