The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Assassin in Anime Crossovers

Perhaps the other party originally had his own plan to escape punishment, but it seems that because of Jiang Hang's arrival, and the fact that the victim had called out his name earlier, he now seems to have given up on escaping, and just sits silently on the ground, looking at the corpse in front of him in silence.

Is this really the only way?

Jiang Hang looked at the murderer, wanting to get an answer from him.

In response, the armored killer slowly removed his helmet, revealing his true face.

He was an elderly man, and it was hard to imagine that at his age he could wear such heavy armor and wield a long sword to kill people.

“I have been the director of the Beika Museum of Art since the bubble economy era, and I started working at the museum when it was first established, which adds up to almost fifty years. Even though this museum doesn’t have any particularly valuable collections, most of my fondest memories are in this museum and the artworks inside,” Director Ochiai calmly recounted his past, without any intention of absolving himself of any guilt.

That last sword strike seemed to have burned him out completely.

"Of course I know the current situation of the art museum, and I also know that the original owner of the art museum was experiencing a financial crisis and had no choice but to sell the art museum. I would be very happy if someone is willing to take over the art museum."

"But...this man deceived us. Before buying the museum, he clearly said that he would continue to run the museum and would find a way to revitalize it. But not long after he bought the museum, he showed his true colors and wanted to demolish it and turn it into a hotel. He even wanted to pack up and resell all the artworks in the museum...I absolutely cannot tolerate such a thing."

There seemed to be a sense of relief in his eyes.

“I have seen through this man. His greedy nature is unchangeable. And from the moment I took action, the outcome was already decided. His so-called guarantee was just to save his own life. If I let him live, I can let him take revenge on me, but this art museum and the artworks inside will also be implicated by me... I can no longer stop.”

He sighed heavily, then turned his gaze to Jiang Hang.

"This will probably make the news after it happens..."

Jiang Hang nodded and said to the other person, "Those tourists who have visited the art museum before will probably feel sad after learning about this."

What's even more heartbreaking is that if this hadn't happened, those tourists probably wouldn't have known that the art museum was about to be demolished.

A few years later, after the hotels are built here, apart from those who live nearby, probably not many people will remember this art museum.

It would be too cruel to say such a thing aloud, so Jiang Hang didn't say it.

"This is my fault..." Curator Ochiai shook his head, looking very dejected. "But I have already made up my mind that even if I become a demon, I will not regret it... Young man, can you tell me your name?"

Jiang Hang was silent for a moment, then solemnly said to the other party, "Jiang Hang is just an ordinary detective. I'm sure you already know what the consequences of doing this will be, so I don't need to say anything more."

Deep down, Jiang Hang could understand the other person. In fact, if Jiang Hang didn't care about getting injured, he would still have a sliver of a chance to save the person from the other person's sword when the other person attacked.

But he ultimately did not do so.

Director Ochiai had put all his effort into that final, fatal sword strike. Given that his opponent was so prepared, even if he managed to stop him, Director Ochiai's next move would either be to kill both himself and the man while he was still injured, or to commit suicide right in front of him, ending it all.

If Conan were in this situation, regardless of the identities of the culprit and the victim, he would do everything in his power to save them.

But Jiang Hang couldn't do that, at least not when facing a prisoner like Director Ochiai.

When facing Director Ochiai, he will not help him get rid of his crime; instead, he will simply sit with him at the crime scene and wait for the police to arrive, just like he is now.

As for what happens next, that's a legal matter.

"Jiang Hang...a detective?" After hearing Jiang Hang's self-introduction, Director Ochiai suddenly laughed a few times, seemingly very happy and carefree. "What an interesting result! Detective and criminal, such a combination is truly a perfect work of art. I'll remember you, Mr. Jiang Hang."

His gaze fell on a painting not far away. Jiang Hang followed his gaze and saw a painting of a hero who had fought a bloody battle and defeated a demon before turning away.

"If demons appear in the world, heroes will surely come to destroy them. However, in the process of destroying demons, heroes who are stained with demon blood will eventually become demons themselves. Therefore, this painting is called Divine Retribution. Isn't it ironic? In my original thought, he would die like the demon in this painting, but now it seems that he has no chance."

He mentioned the word "demon" several times, presumably because of this painting.

His gaze returned to Jiang Hang, and he stared intently at him, as if trying to memorize Jiang Hang's appearance.

"If you ever become a renowned detective and someone wants to write your autobiography, even though I'm just an insignificant murderer, don't forget to include me..."

Jiang Hang seemed to understand the subtext of his words.

The hero who slays the dragon will eventually become the dragon himself. A detective who walks the line between law and crime, while dealing with various cases, may at any moment fall into darkness from which he cannot escape.

No one would write an autobiography for that kind of detective.

Perhaps the other party noticed something about him.

Jiang Hang nodded in agreement, granting Director Ochiai's request.

If that day ever comes, he will bring his autobiography to the recipient, regardless of whether the recipient is in prison or already deceased.

Although he was just an assassin disguised as a detective.

Bowing down to the darkness to serve the light sounds romantic.

But if he could, he would like to walk in the light, but also be able to hide in the darkness when necessary. Doesn't that seem more romantic?

Chapter 25: Conan: Isn't this supposed to be a scene from a mystery anime?

After receiving a report from Yoshino Kiharu and then receiving a call from Jiang Hang on the way with more details about the case, Inspector Megure quickly arrived at the crime scene.

There's not much to say. The murderer, Ochiai, surrendered himself on the spot and confessed to his crime, readily explaining his motive and method of killing.

During the other party's confession, Jiang Hang remained almost completely silent. Only when Inspector Megure questioned him about his presence at the crime scene did he briefly mention the rumor he had heard, stating that his investigation had coincidentally led him to witness the murder.

He barely expressed any of his own opinions, and after the police arrived, he left the rest of the inspection work to them.

His sneaking into the closed exhibition hall wasn't illegal, and even if he concealed the fact that he used a wire to pick the lock, making such a choice in the face of a murder case wouldn't lead to any police prosecution; at most, he'd just get a verbal warning. He simply didn't want to create any trouble for himself.

Somewhat dramatically, Kogoro Mouri and his group only made their belated appearance when Inspector Megure ordered his men to bring Ochiai back to the police station for questioning.

"Inspector Megure?" Kogoro Mouri was somewhat puzzled, not expecting to encounter him here.

“It’s you,” Inspector Megure said, slightly surprised to see Kogoro Mouri.

Kogoro Mouri used to be his colleague, but the other man was not very reliable when he was a policeman. After he resigned and became a detective, Inspector Megure had not heard of him for a long time. It was only recently that the other man helped solve a few cases, which made Inspector Megure change his opinion of him. However, when he thought about the other man's unreliable personality in the past, Inspector Megure still had a headache.

However, since they were former colleagues and the other person had recently helped him out, Inspector Megure briefly told him about the murder case that had occurred there.

Upon hearing of a murder, Conan, who is always by Kogoro Mouri's side, tries to sneak into the crime scene to find evidence. This has been his habit for many years. After shrinking, he is less likely to be noticed, which gives him a slight advantage in this regard.

He had only sneaked into the exhibition hall when someone grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him up.

"Conan, the culprit has already turned himself in, the case is closed, there are only police officers recording the crime scene inside, you should go back to your Ran sister's place."

Jiang Hang was the one speaking. In the anime, he had seen Ran or Kogoro carrying Conan like this countless times. He had wanted to do it for a long time, and now that he had finally gotten his wish, he felt really good.

Upon hearing Jiang Hang's words, Conan was first instinctively surprised, and then a wave of doubt washed over him.

Why would the other party say that?

I look like an ordinary elementary school student right now. Even if they catch me, they should say something like, "It's dangerous inside, children shouldn't go there." It's obviously not appropriate to say something like "The case is solved" or "The crime scene is at the scene" to a child, right?

Could it be that the other party noticed something amiss about me?

Come to think of it, I've only been shrunk for half a month, and it seems I've been too lax. If this continues, more people will definitely notice.

Thinking of this, Conan's body stiffened.

That's right, Jiang Hang did it on purpose. Conan is the kind of guy who's willing to risk his life to solve cases. The reason he hasn't been discovered by the Black Organization is because there are too many traitors in the Black Organization.

He knew he could only scare Conan temporarily; when a case occurred next time, Conan would definitely forget about it.

There will be many more incomprehensible actions to come.

It's like he repeatedly pulls off some crazy moves to turn back into Shinichi and then go see Ran, as if he's afraid the Black Organization won't notice him. His attitude towards hiding his identity from Ran also gradually shifts from "worried that Ran might be in danger" to "worried that Ran might beat him to death on the spot"—a strange transformation.

However, Aoyama initially only planned to draw a short or medium-length manga. It was only because Conan became so popular that it became an extremely long series. The main storyline, which was originally quite compact, started to be padded out in various ways after entering the middle stage.

The worst off is the Black Organization. In the past twenty years, it has gone from a powerful and authoritative organization to a notorious disgrace. Apart from Gin and his henchmen who are still diligently doing what villains are supposed to do, all the other characters who appear are either traitors or undercover agents, which is truly shameful.

After mentally criticizing the plot of the manga again, Jiang Hang shoved Conan directly into Ran's arms, letting Conan properly enjoy Ran's "face wash education."

You should thank me properly again; you don't usually get to enjoy such perks.

He muttered this to himself, and then he saw Conan's face turn completely red, and he looked like he might get a nosebleed at any moment.

"Conan, you've been running around again, haven't you?" Ran didn't notice Conan's smug expression and quickly apologized to Jiang Hang, feeling embarrassed.

"It's alright, it's alright. Kids are naturally active, it's normal," Jiang Hang waved his hand dismissively.

Xiaolan, who noticed that Jiang Hang came from the crime scene, asked him curiously, "I heard from Inspector Megure that the perpetrator has turned himself in. Could it be that you, Mr. Jiang Hang, solved the case?"

Having finally calmed down, Conan immediately perked up his ears, wanting to find out the details of the case and how the other party found the culprit from Jiang Hang's words.

Having experienced the Maple Leaf Gold Coin case, he had placed Jiang Hang in a very high position in his mind. Although he was still not as good as him, he was still a detective not to be underestimated.

"It's nothing, forget about solving the case. I just happened to enter the crime scene and found the murderer who hadn't left yet." No matter who he told, no one would attribute it to his reasoning ability; they would just say it was a coincidence.

Jiang Hang glanced at Conan, knowing that the other was definitely suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and wouldn't stop until he heard the details of the case. Jiang Hang, who never indulged in suspense, also satisfied Conan's obsession and briefly explained the case.

However, in his explanation, Jiang Hang omitted the fact that the victim was killed by Director Ochiai in front of him, and instead said that the murderer had already killed the person when he entered the crime scene.

After hearing what happened, Xiaolan just felt that Jiang Hang was very unlucky, and she was also a little worried about what would happen if the murderer's side also targeted Jiang Hang.

After hearing Jiang Hang's description, Conan felt somewhat disappointed.

That's all? Just this?

This was Conan's first thought.

When Conan heard that the curator was disguised as an armored killer, several different methods of committing the crime had already appeared in his mind, and he had also imagined several directions of reasoning. In the end, the key to solving the case was that Jiang Hang happened to run into the murderer, and after the murderer realized that he had been discovered, he simply confessed on the spot.

There should at least be an action scene to showcase the protagonist's abilities. If it ends like this, so blandly, no one would buy into it as a movie.

This has absolutely nothing to do with reasoning!

Over the years, Conan has become accustomed to discovering crime scenes, witnessing murderers make various disguises, and then searching for clues left behind by the murderers and outwitting the real culprits to finally find them. This has given him a strong urge to criticize Jiang Hang.

It was at this moment that Yuno Kiharu also came out of the restroom on the other side.

It's clear that she's not in a good state right now.

After the police arrived, she mustered up her courage and went into the crime scene, but then couldn't hold it in and ran into the bathroom.

She felt a little better after spending nearly twenty minutes in the bathroom.

"Jiang Hangjun...you really scared me to death earlier. First, you pried open the lock with a wire, and then you suddenly told me to call the police and ran inside to confront the murderer...Do you know how scared I was?!"

She had only intended to complain to Jiang Hang, but suddenly, she saw Ran Mouri standing next to Jiang Hang and quickly shut her mouth.

In any case, it's not really appropriate for others to know that you used a wire to pick the lock.

However, while Yuno Koharu kept quiet, Conan frowned.

Picking the lock?

He remembered that Jiang Hang had indeed told them before that he had come to the art museum specifically to investigate the rumors after hearing about the walking armor in the museum.

They had passed by this exhibition hall before, but because there was a sign outside saying it was closed, they didn't pay attention and went directly to the exhibition hall behind it.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Hang was serious and went to break into the house to investigate the rumors about the walking armor.