After being forcibly returned to his seat, Conan tried to sneak off again—but was immediately spotted by Ran Mouri.
Conan froze. Then, helplessly, he turned to Jiang Xia for backup.
He figured since Jiang Xia already knew his secret—that he was actually Kudo Shinichi—he could help smooth things over with Ran, even without explaining the whole Black Organization mess. Maybe just convince her to let him move around on his own a bit.
…Of course, he had to be careful. He didn't want Jiang Xia to say something like, "Mouri-san, don't you know? Conan is actually Kudo Shinichi, he won't get lost, let him wander." That would be a disaster.
While Ran and Sonoko Suzuki were chatting, Conan leaned over to Jiang Xia and whispered in his best Shinichi voice, "I need to leave for a while, can you…"
"Leave? You mean get off the train?" Jiang Xia blinked at the mountains outside and sighed. "Yeah, probably not the best idea. We're in the middle of undeveloped mountain areas. Easy to get lost. Might even be wild animals."
Ran turned her head at the commotion.
She immediately grabbed Conan, who was now glaring at Jiang Xia like You betrayed me! etched across his face. "The Shinkansen doesn't stop in the middle of nowhere, and I'm not letting you play in the mountains. Stop making trouble."
Then she looked apologetically at Jiang Xia.
Kids these days were way too crafty. Probably thought Jiang Xia looked the easiest to manipulate—so quiet and easygoing, obviously the soft persimmon among the three.
Conan's expression warped slightly as he was dragged into a lecture about train manners and safety.
As Ran scolded him, Conan glanced across the aisle at Jiang Xia…
…who was currently yawning and leaning back in his seat, clearly preparing for a nap.
Conan froze.
Just now, he'd suspected Jiang Xia of deliberately selling him out.
But now, seeing that sleepy, bored expression, he wondered if maybe Jiang Xia had just been too tired to understand the situation. Maybe he was the one who wanted to run off into the mountains, and accidentally projected that thought while Conan was talking.
Either way, with Ran now in Full Alert Mode, there was no use trying to beg Jiang Xia for help.
Conan needed a new plan.
But before he could think of one, Gin and Vodka wrapped up whatever shady deal they were doing and returned to the train car.
Conan's face instantly shifted into Serious Mode. He adjusted his high-tech glasses and held his breath, listening in through the bugging device.
…
Jiang Xia glanced at Conan's face, watching the growing shock and horror.
He hadn't sent any ghosts to spy on his boss's conversation this time. But still, he could guess what they were talking about—probably just the usual: revealing code names, dropping hints about a bomb, and conveniently leaking information for Conan to overhear…
The train began to slow.
Jiang Xia looked out the window. Gin and Vodka were definitely getting off soon.
He closed his eyes, and a few of his shikigami and ghost assistants slipped away, floating toward the train's bathroom.
…
Originally, Conan thought the Black Organization was just some underground drug ring.
But after hearing that they bombed the Shinkansen just to kill someone, his whole worldview shattered.
While he was still trying to process What kind of organization does that?!, the train came to a halt at Nagoya Station.
Gin and Vodka, now carrying 400 million yen in cash, stood up to leave.
Conan hadn't expected them to vanish so quickly. These two were slippery and left zero trace wherever they went. He had to follow them—this was a rare chance.
He bolted to the train door.
Just as he was about to jump out, a woman in a long black dress stepped into the train—and casually grabbed his arm.
The doors slid shut behind her.
In the dim lighting of the train, she leaned down toward him and whispered, "Children shouldn't wander."
Conan looked up and froze.
The woman's face was pale—beautiful, yes—but eerily lifeless. Like a wax figure no one finished painting. Or a corpse that hadn't started decomposing yet.
There was a tattoo under her eye—an intricate, dizzying letter "z."
Letters and numbers… why did that immediately make him think of biochemical weapons?
And that voice… it was so familiar. Conan's mind reeled as he blurted, "Anonymous?!"
The woman—Anonymous—didn't answer. She just stared down at him.
An oppressive aura washed over him.
Conan had a thousand questions.
What's your real name? What's your goal? How do you know we're after treasure? Why are you on this train? Are you with those two guys? What is your organization?!
But none of that came out. He swallowed it all.
Anonymous seemed pleased.
She picked him up like a sack of rice and handed him off.
Conan's feet left the floor. His heart lurched—then he heard a familiar voice.
"Thank you, thank you! Really, thank you so much!"
Ran Mouri caught him, full of gratitude, looking at the mysterious beauty who'd rescued her "little brother."
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 23/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
Glossary:
Soft persimmon – A metaphor meaning someone who is easy to manipulate or "the easiest target."
Black Organization – The shadowy crime syndicate in Detective Conan, responsible for turning Shinichi into Conan.