Jiang Xia gently kicked aside the dead leaves, gazing at a half-dry muddy shoe print on the ground.
The owner of the shoe print had a foot size of approximately 43, which translates to 265 in the island nation's common sizing. The print showed an anti-slip spiral pattern with wear on the edges.
There were other similar footprints ahead.
Jiang Xia knew that these were actually left by a bag snatcher.
Today, Jiang Xia had prepared thoroughly before leaving home, intending to handle his own important matters.
Unexpectedly, halfway there, he was suddenly called away by his superior with a phone call—a bag belonging to an important researcher in the Black Organization had been snatched, and Jiang Xia's superior, the workaholic known as Gin, remembered that Jiang Xia was familiar with the area, so he temporarily assigned him to find the bag.
Jiang Xia casually parked his motorcycle and followed the muddy shoe prints on the ground.
Through the earpiece near his cheek, a woman's clear, cold voice spoke: "The robber was half a head taller than me, with red highlights on the edges of his hair, and a burn scar on the back of his right hand near the thumb."
Miyano Shiho described it in great detail, her tone calm and unruffled… not at all like an unfortunate person who had just had her bag snatched and been pushed to the ground.
"I understand," Jiang Xia knew most of the people in this area. As soon as he heard about the red highlights and burn scar, he had already pinpointed a likely hoodlum.
He estimated the distance: "The bag should be recoverable, it won't take long, give me 5 minutes."
Miyano Shiho hummed in response.
After a moment of hesitation, she wanted to add, "Be careful."
But when she opened her mouth again, the call had already been disconnected, and a brief "beep-beep" sound came from the receiver, returning to silence.
“……”
Miyano Shiho silently looked at the darkened phone screen.
When Jiang Xia answered calls from Gin or other Officers, he would always wait for the other party to hang up first, but this time…
Although this could be explained by "time urgency."
Miyano Shiho always felt that the truth was that Jiang Xia didn't want to hear her voice for even a second longer.
……
Jiang Xia didn't understand others' complex feelings; he just wanted to finish his overtime quickly and then go do his own thing.
He took off his earpiece and put it in his pocket, then turned several corners through the intricate streets, arriving in front of an old, three-story apartment building.
The apartment building was painted green, with a low wire fence around its perimeter and a dilapidated, locked unit door. The security conditions were passable.
However, it could only deter law-abiding citizens.
Jiang Xia's gaze swept over a row of mailboxes, confirming the red-haired man's room number.
Then he climbed the coarse wire fence, which was very friendly to thieves, all the way to the top, and then, stepping on the edge of the mesh, he agilely leaped over, lightly landing on the third-floor balcony, intending to launch a righteous surprise attack on the red-haired man.
Jiang Xia was an ordinary transmigrator; his name in his previous life was Jiang Xia.
After transmigrating here, the new body's name was similar to his, with the surname "Jiang Xia," but later, following local custom, a given name was added, making it "Jiang Xia Tongzhi"—which had a distinct island nation flavor but seemed subtly off upon closer inspection.
The original owner's psychological state was not very healthy. When Jiang Xia arrived, he had cut off a good portion of his wrist, almost not making it.
In contrast, Jiang Xia Tongzhi left behind a well-trained, excellent physique, with strength and reaction speed far exceeding ordinary people.
This brought Jiang Xia some comfort.
……
Although his left hand's movements were slightly sluggish, Jiang Xia had the enhancement of Conan's abilities. In less than five seconds, he landed on the balcony of the red-haired bag snatcher's home.
Inside the room, the red-haired man was sitting with his back to Jiang Xia, in front of the TV. He was laughing like a duck at a comedy show while rustling through a pile of cash in his hand.
The TV volume was very loud. Jiang Xia gently pushed open the sliding door, walked behind the red-haired man, and delivered a chop to his neck.
The quacking laughter abruptly stopped. The red-haired man collapsed instantly.
The PRADA women's wallet on his lap also fell to the ground.
In Jiang Xia's previous world, a hand chop to the neck was a matter of luck—if lucky, it could knock someone out; if unlucky, it could send them straight to the crematorium.
But in the Conan world, there were no cases of death by hand chop; it was as if everyone had a switch on the side of their neck that, when hit, could instantly knock them out.
Jiang Xia stepped around the unconscious red-haired man, picked up the scattered money, gathered it, put it back into Miyano Shiho's wallet, and then left with the bag.
As he walked out of the apartment Daimon, Jiang Xia glanced at the digital watch on his wrist: 15:49:57.
There were still over forty seconds left until the "five minutes" he had promised Miyano Shiho.
Jiang Xia spent some time petting a passing stray cat to pass the time. Exactly five minutes later, his phone chimed.
—Gin had sent the meeting address.
As soon as Jiang Xia finished reading it, the email automatically deleted itself, just like the call record from earlier, appearing and disappearing like a ghost.
“……”
This villainous Officer was clearly very strong, yet overly cautious…
Jiang Xia shook his head and stood up, identifying his location. Carrying Miyano Shiho's bag, he walked towards the place Gin had mentioned.
The Black Organization, as the boss-level antagonist organization in the Conan world, consistently left an impression on those in the know as mysterious, secretive, and ruthless in its methods.
And based on Jiang Xia's observations during this time, this impression was indeed largely consistent with the truth.