The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

"Ms. Mori, Ms. Suzuki." Turning around, Tang Ze smiled at his two very familiar friends. "Long time no see. Are you here to clean for Kudo-kun next door again?"

At this moment, Tang Ze naturally switched to Joker's everyday attire, with white hair and red eyes, plus a loose black graffiti jacket, along with some jingling trendy accessories, making him look like someone who plays in a band.

It's not exactly similar to his personal style, but it's worlds apart.

The reason why Tang Ze suddenly thought of using this identity to run away and meet Conan was, of course, because he saw that Conan was working so hard with his brainstorming and wanted to make the test more difficult for him.

Judging from the buff Conan gave him, this guy has finally overcome the obstacles of information asymmetry and glimpsed a trace of Tang Ze's hidden essence.

Indeed, occasional close calls can be attributed to good luck, but constantly being in danger and then being rescued for various reasons seems a bit too deliberate.

In the past, Conan never suspected anything about this, mainly because he himself, with his protagonist's constitution, had gone through something similar. However, after the danger was absorbed by Karasawa himself, and Conan and the others became safer, it was too much to ask Conan to completely stop using his brain.

However, Tang Ze, who had anticipated this, remained calm.

What's coming will come eventually. Before we're completely exposed, let's keep playing music and dancing while we still have time to have fun.

"I don't know how to clean, it's such a hassle, once is enough." Recalling the last time, Ran Mouri couldn't help but grip the ground with her toes. "Now the housekeeping service comes to clean regularly."

Tang Ze nodded, answering with feigned seriousness, "Oh, so that pink-haired gentleman who recently moved into the Kudo residence is the Kudo family's butler? He doesn't seem like it..."

“No, no, Mr. Subaru was a guest who stayed there for some reason.” Sonoko Suzuki quickly clarified for Subaru Okiya, “He’s a graduate student, and he’s very capable.”

"Oh, so you're our new neighbor. I'm so sorry, he's been here for several days and I haven't even gone to say hello. You seem to know him?"

"We haven't known him for very long, but he seems like a reliable and mature person, not at all like someone his age. He's really amazing..."

Tang Ze listened to Suzuki Sonoko's praise, controlling his expression and not letting himself reveal a smile.

Although Shuichi Akai's face doesn't show his age thanks to his mixed-race features, and thanks to Yukiko Kudo's skillful touch, his sharp features have been smoothed out. You could easily mistake him for someone in his early twenties who hasn't been out of college for long. However, just thinking that his older cousin is actually older than Tooru Amuro, already 32, makes this conversation all the more hilarious.

He said that pretending to be young is an unavoidable part of their Sera lineage, and even Shuichi Akai can't escape it.

"Would you mind if I went with you to visit him? Graduate school, huh? What a highly educated person." Tang Ze patiently listened to Suzuki Sonoko's praise, and then took the opportunity to reveal his purpose.

Conan is probably still agonizing over this, so it's time to go tease him and throw out a smokescreen.

----

"This is the third day. If this person is really trapped there, then his situation is already very dangerous."

Conan looked at the map with many markings and couldn't help but worry after crossing out several options for Hondo Eisuke.

This is Tokyo, a city filled with skyscrapers. There are quite a few buildings that meet the screening criteria, and considering that they are high-rise residential buildings, the number of residents is also quite large.

If the reasoning stops at this step and the on-site investigation is conducted, it's uncertain whether the person seeking help will be able to wait for the rescue to arrive.

“I think we should call the police.” Shuichi Akai glanced at the newspapers, magazine pages, and maps scattered on the table, thought for a moment, and then said directly, “Conan, you just returned to Tokyo, so you probably haven’t had time to catch up on all the recent news. If the person disappeared before the day before yesterday, then I can probably guess who the victim is.”

As he spoke, he turned on the TV in the living room, which startled Conan.

He wasn't stunned because the other person was casually using the TV. He had lent his house to them as a temporary base, and they were allowed to use his things as they pleased. What surprised him was that the enormous wall-mounted TV was clearly not the original one in his house.

"You bought such a big TV..." Conan's expression was subtle. He didn't know whether to tease the other person about having so much money since leaving the FBI, or to remark on their focus on quality of life and leisurely lifestyle...

“The original one hadn’t been used for too long and was a bit old, so it wasn’t very good. I replaced it.” Shuichi Akai said in a very ordinary tone. “I didn’t buy it. It was a hand-me-down from Jodie. I just didn’t throw it away at the time.”

Judy's mission to conceal her identity ended with Vermouth's hasty escape. She no longer has a permanent residence in Tokyo, and the room in her luxury apartment has naturally been sold.

As for the extravagant 100-inch TV inside, even if they wanted to leave it to the next homeowner, they would worry that this luxury model, which is rarely seen on the market, might cause problems with the disposal of movable property, so they simply moved it along with the TV during the cleaning.

Shuichi Akai only started to make use of the warehouse because he was the only person who knew about it.

"Ah, hahaha..." Conan chuckled dryly a few times. "Should I say thank you?"

...Hopefully, Ms. Judy won't suddenly remember this little thing and discover any clues.

"Don't worry, those reckless guys won't think of such a small problem." Shuichi Akai, who had guessed what he was worried about, remained calm. "Look at this news."

What appeared on the screen was a news program that was being broadcast live. Half of the screen displayed an ID photo of a middle-aged man with a square face, with the caption "Mr. Ikuo Shirota, who has been kidnapped".

The host's calm voice came through the loudspeaker.

"...The identity of the kidnapper who jumped to his death during a police chase early this morning remains unclear, and the whereabouts of the kidnapped shipbuilding company president, Mr. Ikuo Shirota, are still unknown..."

"The kidnapped shipbuilding company president?" Conan frowned. "The kidnapper committed suicide?"

Once he returned to Tokyo, his first concern was undoubtedly the murder case and other more serious incidents; he hadn't yet paid attention to this case.

“There’s been a lot of news about this these past few days, including in-depth investigations, euphemistically called ‘helping to analyze the suspect,’ and discussions about President Shirota’s rise to power.” Hondo Eisuke shook a still-intact paper airplane in his hand. “If it’s him, it explains why he resorted to such a strange method of seeking help.”

Ikuo Shirota was kidnapped on his way to leave the company to discuss business. As a hostage, he obviously couldn't have a cell phone on him. Moreover, since it hadn't been long, he didn't have much opportunity to communicate with his kidnappers. He didn't know when the kidnappers would return.

He needed to find a way to save himself, but he dared not directly send out a distress signal. If the kidnappers noticed, they might kill him to protect themselves.

He didn't know that the kidnapper had committed suicide, nor did he know that his situation was no longer so dangerous; this is why he kept writing coded messages.

"That's true, but it's still too strange." Conan looked at the paper airplanes on the table, some broken and some still intact. "He's a hostage, drawing and writing and throwing paper airplanes. Do you think the kidnappers would let him go just because they can't understand what he's drawing?"

He understands the logic, but this president's thinking is still a bit too unconventional.

Throwing paper airplanes outwards is a clear passing action, not to mention that he threw so many as a precaution.

The number wasn't even a few dozen; he threw away about a hundred or two hundred a day. Even if he used them sparingly, he must have torn up a lot of newspapers and magazines in the room.

If the kidnapper hadn't committed suicide and had returned to his place of confinement normally, wouldn't people be able to tell if anything was missing?

This is assuming he was both hungry and exhausted and had the ability to launch paper airplanes directly from indoors in one go. He had been missing for five or six days, and it was already quite remarkable that he still had the energy to write, draw, and fold paper. There are probably quite a few that he didn't throw out and ended up indoors or stuck in windows or balconies.

It's made the news. More than one media outlet is reporting on the paper airplane incident, and it's even being covered on television news. Even if the kidnappers are incredibly stupid, they should realize something's wrong by now, right?

Could this be the reason why they were able to revive their company and grow into a large and powerful enterprise? Their thought process is unusual?

"We can't blame him entirely," Hondo Eisuke said, feeling conflicted. He still managed to say a few words in defense of the unfortunate victim, "The kidnapper jumped to his death right in front of them. No matter how badly he was injured, so many hours have passed, and they still haven't been able to confirm his identity. Mr. Shirota, maybe he just doesn't trust the police's capabilities, or even ordinary residents..."

Following his logic, Conan couldn't help but start thinking that the system developed by Naomi Argento might actually be quite useful to the Japanese police: "..."

“This gives us even more reason to look for him. If we don’t step up our efforts, he might never think of calling for help before he dies, or he might worry that the kidnappers have accomplices nearby and wouldn’t dare to ask for help at all.” Shuichi Akai sighed. “Let’s take another look at the map.”

"There are still several suspect locations, but I think we can already prioritize them based on our current calculations. Um, Mr. Okiya, do you have any portable binoculars? How about we head out now to do some visual reconnaissance..."

"Mr. Subaru! Mr. Hondo! Have you seen the news?!"

Before Conan could finish his suggestion, Sonoko Suzuki burst in.

She grabbed the remote and pressed a few buttons, switched to a different channel, and saw a live news broadcast of a live connection.

"'I'm currently in the park in front of the Mihua Tower apartment building where I discovered a new paper airplane today. Let's take a look at the design of this paper airplane first…'"

"Look, there's a new paper airplane. People are already discussing its meaning. This time, we should be able to solve the mystery..."

Sonoko Suzuki's excited voice was interrupted before she could finish speaking.

"Mihua Tower Apartments!"

Upon hearing the place name mentioned by the reporter on TV, Hondo Eisuke and Conan simultaneously pointed to a marked spot on the map.

“If that’s the location, then it makes sense!” Hondo Eisuke raised his voice. “There have been a lot of strong winds in the city recently, and the current widening of the affected area is due to the wind.”

"Yes, but the fact that the Mihua Tower apartment building has always been in a suspicious area speaks volumes!" Conan agreed with his opinion.

"Although we still can't be sure if this person is President Shirota..."

"Anyway, it could very well be a matter of life and death, so let's just go and confirm it. We should be able to see it from the observation deck of the New Rice Flower Hotel..."

The two of them stood up and started to walk out while muttering to themselves, but then they stopped at the same time.

The two people who were a step behind Sonoko Suzuki were standing outside the door. When they saw the white-haired, red-eyed boy next to Ran Mouri, their expressions became subtle.

Conan, needless to say, was still preoccupied with related issues before Ran Mouri's phone call temporarily entangled him in this paper airplane case. Now, upon seeing the person involved, his detective instincts to observe the mystery kicked in again, and he subtly scanned the Joker in front of him.

The eyes were still the same blood-red color I had seen before, and the pupils reflected light naturally as the light changed, without any trace of artificiality.

The white hair strands are also unusual; the color is indeed rare, but it doesn't look like a wig at all, with no flaws even at the roots...

Having witnessed so many masters of disguise whose identities were indistinguishable from the real thing, Conan knew that these things didn't necessarily prove anything. They were likely just the result of even better disguises. However, he couldn't help but think of Hattori Heiji's many outlandish assumptions, which led him to stray a little in an unscientific direction.

Since cognitive abilities can disrupt other people's thoughts and emotions, create something out of nothing, and fabricate reality, is it possible that people with this ability can actually fake things on an even more exaggerated scale?

Just like a true phantom thief who is always adept at creating counterfeits, it seems only natural that a phantom thief who steals from the soul would be skilled at fabricating illusions...

Hondo Eisuke's situation is even more complicated; he's now practically a subordinate of Akai Shuichi.

Although he still had a vague understanding of the situation next door, seeing Akai Shuichi frequently climbing over the wall without avoiding him, he could somewhat realize what it meant to have a white-haired peer on this street.

With more than just a former FBI ace in his sights, he dared not slack off.

In other places, failing training might at most result in unemployment, but if he underperforms or causes trouble, he could end up graduating from his training program altogether...

"Looks like I've come at the wrong time." Looking at the two who suddenly became unusually quiet, as if their tongues had been snatched away by a cat, Tang Ze smiled at them with his eyes crinkling. "Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Amamiya, who lives next door... What are you two discussing? What about the Mikata Apartments? What happened?"