Suzuki Sonoko heard Conan suddenly stop shouting and laughed.
"Learning to be jealous at such a young age, huh?"
Originally, Suzuki Sonoko had already reached out to pick up Jiangxia Tongzhi's puppet.
But the moment she heard Conan's words, she casually changed course, stuffing the strange kid straight into Ran Mouri's arms instead.
Then she turned back, ruffled Conan's hair, and said earnestly,
"As a kid, you need to learn to be generous."
Conan: "...×#@%!"
Ran carried the child she just picked up back to the dining room, plopped him onto the sofa, and happily patted his head.
More cute kids (▽`), happy +1, +1, +1...
However, no matter how cute, some things couldn't be overlooked.
——It was still very weird for a random kid to pop up out of nowhere in a villa.
Luckily, Jiangxia had already cooked up an excuse.
He said he'd come here with his parents, gotten bored at the banquet, wandered off to play, accidentally fallen asleep inside a cabinet, and only woke up when he heard noises from the dining room and came looking.
By the way, under the sympathetic gaze of the crowd, he solemnly introduced himself:
"My name's Tanaka Shiro. My dad is Tanaka Jiro, and my mom is Keiko."
The corner of Conan's eye twitched.
Fake. Definitely Fake. All three names—no, at least the last two—probably fake... maybe even the person himself was fake.
But the others didn't doubt a thing.
In their eyes, there was no way a first-grader could have drowned anyone by shoving him into the water.
The addition of this new kid didn't cause much of a fuss.
Suzuki Sonoko and Ran figured Xiaobai must be hungry after sleeping so long in the villa, so they decided to head to the kitchen to find him something to eat—and help Granny Yone make coffee while they were at it.
As soon as they left, Conan jumped off the sofa and ran over to Jiangxia.
While no one else was paying attention, he grabbed Jiangxia—who was bundled up in a little white puppet outfit—and pulled him into a deserted corridor.
"Why are you here? Are there Organization people here too? Or were you coming for me?"
Jiangxia: "..."
...So many questions.
Also, even though he was wearing a kid's skin, he got the distinct feeling that Conan wasn't seeing him as a real child at all.
Jiangxia didn't bother pretending anymore.
"I have my own reasons for being here. Let's just say... it has nothing to do with you."
Conan's face fell a little at the rejection, but he'd kind of expected it—he knew Xiaobai wasn't the type to spill information.
Besides, Conan had more pressing concerns right now.
He thought back to his plan about joining the "Avengers Against the Black Organization" team.
"You're also a victim of the Black Organization's poison. Judging by how often you show up around me, and the way you act toward me, you must've figured it out too—
That's right. I'm a victim of that drug as well, so..."
Jiangxia: "..."
...Why does Kudo-kun always like to rip off his own vest and wave it around in front of people.
Conan totally missed Jiangxia's complicated look.
Seeing Xiaobai stay silent, he took it as a bad sign.
Still, Conan pressed on.
"So, can I join? I'm really good at reasoning!"
Jiangxia blinked. "Join us?"
...Did he want to become a ghost too?
...Forget it. Sustainable development was important.
Thinking about all the ghosts and murderous energy he'd harvested ever since Conan showed up, Jiangxia tactfully declined:
"No. You're too weak."
A vein popped on Conan's forehead.
Getting heartbroken by seeing Ran hugging Xiaobai was bad enough. Now even the client himself was insulting him...
Conan glared at the kid who wasn't even as tall as he was, and muttered,
"Ha? Powerful...?"
BOOM——
A thin little arm swung past Conan's face and punched the wall.
The wall dented immediately.
The concrete inside cracked with a sharp click, crumbling like tofu and revealing the dark night outside.
Conan: "..."
Jiangxia calmly lowered his hand and gave him a glance.
Seeing Conan staring blankly at the ruined wall and clearly too shell-shocked to continue his line of questioning, Jiangxia clapped the dust off his palms, dragged a nearby cabinet over to block the hole, and strolled away.
The puppet's physical abilities were tied to Jiangxia's real body—and boosted by the shikigami and energy core on top of that.
Right now, the puppet's strength actually surpassed Jiangxia himself.
Even tiny Xiaobai had long since reached a level way beyond normal humans.
Compared to that, Conan's strength level was completely mismatched.
Unqualified.
Totally unqualified.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 61/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*