I, Zhongli, wander the world

The incident on Saibo Street finally turned into a small section in Yokohama newspapers.

"The dud bomb explosion left over from the war caused secondary damage to the xx area of ​​Leibo Street. Citizens are requested to pay attention to their own safety when traveling..."

Edogawa was sitting on the sidelines in disorder, chewing a thick snack, and vaguely read the headline in the newspaper, "Is the person who compiles the news an idiot? Duds?"

Zhong Li turned over a page of the newspaper in his hand, and calmly replied: "They just know that no one in Yokohama will believe the news published in the local newspaper."

And no one would go to Leibo Street for nothing, so just write and give a reason.

"Hey—is that the reason again?" Edogawa frowned disdainfully, he was most impatient with these twists and turns, so he quickly skipped this topic, "Ah! Mr. Zhongli, I want to see The four-panel cartoon in that newspaper!"

Zhong Li took out the pages of the newspaper with comics drawn and handed them to Edogawa Ranpo, and generously took the rough snacks shared by the little detective.

It was an ordinary afternoon for the Armed Detective Agency.

The armed detective agency that has just been established is very new. Unlike Wanxiangtang, which is a temporary base, this office on the fourth floor of the red brick building has been carefully decorated, and even the walls are newly painted.The employees are not just like when it was first established, there are only Fukuzawa Yukichi who is the president and Edogawa Ranpo who is the detective. In addition to the recently joined underage Nakahara Chuya, ordinary people have also joined the job As a clerk or a miscellaneous job, it can be said that everything is developing in a good direction.

Since he was not a member of the Armed Detective Agency, Zhongli would not come here under normal circumstances, and occasionally came here to make an appointment with his own children to go back together.The reason why he was sitting in the detective agency this afternoon was that the president Yukichi Fukuzawa, who was away temporarily, asked him to take care of the child.

After all, if the president is not around, there will only be two minors left in charge of the detective agency, and those adults who are civilians can't control them at all.

In the past two days, there were no cases that were urgent enough to go out to investigate, and the rest were just things that Edogawa ranpo took a look at.So the two little investigators stayed in the office, Edogawa Ranpo ate some dim sum and read newspapers with Zhongli, while Zhongya Zhongya was reading junior high school textbooks and exercise sets.

——Even if there is no formal graduation ceremony, he still has to work hard to become an excellent junior high school student!

Zhong Yuan, who was dizzy from studying, didn't even hear the knock on the door.

Clerics are all working indoors, and there is no extra manpower outside. Edogawa Ranpo, who didn't want to move at first, could only reluctantly put down the newspaper in his hand, and walked to the door while patting the crumbs of snacks in his hand.

It's time to recruit more junior investigators.

Edogawa Ranpo thought so, and opened the door of the detective agency.

"Hi, here, come-"

He slammed the door shut again with a backhand.

Zhong Yuanzhong, who was shaken out of the ocean of knowledge, also trembled, raised his head and blinked in confusion.

The knock on the door rang again persistently. Edogawa Ranpo didn't even open the door this time. He turned his back to the door and covered his ears and said loudly, "Don't knock! We won't accept your commission!"

"Ranbu, what's the matter?" Zhongyuan Zhong also came over strangely.

Edogawa Ranbu said angrily: "There is nothing! Mr. Orange is not allowed to open the door!"

Unexpectedly, Edogawa Ranpo would suddenly be self-willed at this time, Zhong Yuanzhong also raised his hand helplessly, and said, "But Ranpo, you have to tell me what's wrong with that person outside, right?"

enemy?Potential hidden danger?Or simply not pleasing to the eye? ——Don't doubt, based on his understanding of Edogawa Ranpo, there will definitely be cases where he refuses to accept the order simply because he doesn't like it.

At this moment, a muffled voice came through the door: "This voice...is that boy from that time?"

"Ok?"

Zhong Yuanzhong was also taken aback, his memory is not bad, and the voice sounded familiar to him, "You are..."

The door was pushed open from the outside.

A long-haired man wrapped in thick clothes stood outside the door. His facial features were typical of Europeans and Americans, and his face was unhealthy pale. He was looking at Nakahara Chuya in surprise.

"Are you that person that day?" Zhong Yuanzhong was also a little surprised.

That day, this person left after asking about the curse spirit, claiming that he had a mission, and he couldn't persuade him to leave together.I didn't expect to meet again at the detective agency now.

"You obviously found Mr. Juzi's identity before you came here." Edogawa Ranpo directly exposed it without any politeness.

The man did not change his face, and sincerely praised: "You can see the truth at a glance, as expected of the famous Mr. Edogawa."

As if his feigned surprise just now was just a small test.

"...Even if you praise me, I won't be happy!" Edogawa Ranpo said loudly, turned around and ran back to the office, angrily sat down next to Zhongli who was calmly reading the newspaper.

He lowered his voice: "You don't stop him either."

"In the end, futile actions are meaningless." Zhongli comforted, "Why don't you think carefully about how to hold the initiative in your own hands."

"The initiative..." Edogawa Ranpo frowned and fell into deep thought.

In front of the door, Zhong Yuanzhong also scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Luanbu sometimes makes a little awkward, you come in first." As he said, he moved sideways to get out of his seat.

The man came here because he had a request to make, the two came to the reception room, and a civil servant brought tea and then quietly retreated.

Zhong Yuanzhong also took out his own small notebook for recording in a decent manner.

"My name is Lan Tang."

The man named Lan Tang wrapped up his clothes and first introduced himself, "I think you should have guessed it, I am from the other world."

After all, except for the people in the other world, there is no one who is so nervous that he knows the danger and wants to find the curse spirit. Zhong Yuanzhong also nodded, signaling the man to continue.

"A friend of mine is missing." Lan Tang said slowly with a look of reminiscence on his face, "I once lost a memory due to an accident, so I don't remember his name, I just have a general impression. He is about the same as me Old age, with golden hair..."

Zhong Yuanzhong was also earnestly taking notes. For a while, only the sound of the man's slow explanation and the rustling of the pen tip across the paper were left in the reception room.

"...With that little bit of memory, I found an organization whose main business was smuggling. But that's all. They were aware of my investigation, and in order to prevent me from provoking me for personal reasons Due to the dispute between my organization and that organization, I had to suspend all investigations..."

Zhong Yuanzhong also thought about it and raised his head.

"So you want to entrust a detective agency to help you investigate?"

"So you want the detective agency to attract firepower for you?"

Different words that appeared at the same time were entangled, and Edogawa walked in aggressively, and sat down seriously on the sofa next to Nakahara Chuya and directly opposite Rantang.

Lan Tang's lips moved slightly, "No, I didn't..."

"You have." Edogawa Ranpo is as aggressive as a cat with fur, "You never thought about trusting the detective agency at all, you just wanted to make a false commission to let the detective agency attract the attention of that organization, and then take the opportunity to yourself investigation!"

Zhongyuan Zhong also looked at his little notebook in shock and distress, "So what he said is all false?"

Then the transcripts he carefully recorded were not for nothing!

"No, most of what he said was the truth, the only thing that was false was the commission itself." Edogawa Ranpo snorted from his nasal cavity, obviously very upset.

It's no fun to pretend to be stupid at this time, Lan Tang shrank and wrapped his clothes a little tighter, and said unintentionally: "Then, what are you going to do, young man."

Throw yourself out?Secretly implying that the organization locked itself?Lan Tang thought casually, and subconsciously rubbed his fingertips lightly, preparing to respond according to the degree of trouble.

"Change your commission." Edogawa raised his chin in a flurry, "We will help you get that clue, there is no need to make extra efforts to attract firepower, just change it to this."

"what?"

"that's it?"

Nakahara Chuya and Lan Tang's questions were almost in unison.

"That's it." Edogawa Ranpo confirmed, "But there are additional conditions on my side, we will keep a copy of the information, no problem?"

Lan Tang smiled softly, "If you can really get it, this kind of thing doesn't matter."

After discussing the commission, several people walked out of the reception room.

When seeing off the guests, they passed the sofa in the office area again, and Lan Tang naturally saw the man sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper again.

After hesitating again and again, he still stepped forward.

"Excuse me... have we met before?" He asked hesitantly, only feeling that Zhongli gave him a little too familiar feeling.

Zhong Li shifted his eyes from the newspaper to Lan Tang, met his eyes briefly in mid-air, and then quickly staggered away.

"Never."

One party is unconscious and the other is awake, it is indeed not "seen".

After Lantang left, the two teenagers discussed the entrustment for a while, and finally decided that Nakahara Nakaya would touch the organization alone.

"Don't worry, there's no need for too much in-depth investigation. As long as Mr. Juzi goes, the information will come naturally." Edogawa ranpo confidently made an "ok" gesture, but didn't explain too much to Zhongya Nakahara.

"Why do you even have to sell this?"

"Because it's fun!"

The teenagers discussed intensely, Zhong Li just read the newspaper from the sidelines, and did not participate in the internal topics of the Armed Detective Agency.

And after the adult, the president of the detective agency, came back, he also left soon.

Originally, two old scholars planned to drink tea and appreciate poetry together, but seeing the tense expression on Fukuzawa Yukichi's face when he came back...

It must be that he is not in the mood to sit and discuss with him.

After leaving the gate of the detective agency, seeing that it was still early in the morning, Zhongli decided to go for a stroll in China Street, and check whether the newly established Quyi Museum opened today.

China Street is some distance away from the location of the Armed Detective Agency, Zhong Li walked forward at a walking pace, and as soon as he turned the corner, he bumped into a young man head-on.

To be precise, it was Zhong Li who stretched out his hand to support the latter's arm before the other party hit his arms.

Start very lightly.

Faint shouts and footsteps could be heard from the corner of the street, and the anxious young man grabbed Zhongli's sleeves as if grasping at the last straw, raised his head and said, "I'm sorry, but can you please help me! "

Zhong Li lowered his head and looked at him.

In the close-up view, those iris-colored eyes are full of false fear and real desolation.