Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Clang clang clang clang clang...... clang clang clang clang clang...... clang clang clang clang clang... (BGM resumes)

My name is Ran Mouri, an ordinary high school student. One day, I went to a park to play with my childhood friend Shinichi Kudou, and he accidentally witnessed a Black-clad Person’s deal. He was so focused that he didn’t notice the partner of the Black-clad Person behind him. The man forced poison down his throat, and once he regained consciousness——— he found his body had shrunk!

If they knew Shinichi Kudou was still alive, they’d come back to take his life. So, on Dr. Agasa’s advice, he decided to hide his true identity and called himself Edogawa Conan.

To grasp clues about the Black-clad Person, I took him to my father’s house, who is a detective...... He also formed the Boy Detectives with classmates Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko.

Even if he’s small, his mind is still sharp. With my presence, he can still become a wise Detective!

There’s always only one truth!

"......... What is this?"

Looking at the images on the TV, Little Ai was dumbfounded.

"I just made a pilot, called ’Detective Conan’. What do you think?"

Fang Zheng shook the remote in his hand, looking smug.

"See, a male-female combo makes work easy, the brainy detective and the karate beauty face baffling cases together, isn’t it a fantastic theme?"

"...... I wondered what you were doing in your room last night, turns out it was this......"

Seeing this, Little Ai was at a loss for words.

"Well, it was because I had free time......"

"If it’s free time, go work, my sister’s work is overwhelming."

"Professional things should be done by professionals, isn’t your sister doing well?"

"Haaa......"

Hearing this, Little Ai sighed helplessly.

"Well, anyway, I’m off to school. You should change your clothes; it’s winter, and you’re still wearing summer outfits."

"Yeah, I feel it’s a bit warm lately."

"Just don’t catch a cold."

Watching Little Ai silently put on her jacket, buckle her backpack, and walk outside, Fang Zheng commented, then looked out the window at the bare branches——— just past one night, the leaves were all gone, and moreover......

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng quietly pressed the remote, and soon the TV image switched.

"...... Today’s snow probability is 85%, please keep warm when going out......"

MMP, I really can’t tell if the year has passed or not.

Whatever, doesn’t matter.

Whether the year has passed or not, he doesn’t get a say, does he?

With this thought, Fang Zheng yawned and went back to his room to sleep.

After a long time, a rapid ringtone woke Fang Zheng from his sleep.

"Hmm? Little Ai? What’s up?"

Yawning, Fang Zheng activated his personal device, and then asked, soon came Little Ai’s anxious voice from the other side.

"We, we found it!"

"Found what?"

"Gin’s car! Today, Edogawa and I found Gin’s car on our way home from school!"

Oh ho, now you said that, I’m not sleepy anymore!

Listening to this, Fang Zheng immediately woke up.

"Where’s the location?"

"It’s...... hang on, Edogawa, what are you doing?!"

"......"

Hmm, why do I have a bad feeling?

The personal device was silent for a moment, then Little Ai’s voice sounded again.

"Sorry, they’re back, we can only retreat."

"No worries."

However, soon, Conan’s confident voice appeared.

"I’ve planted a tracker and bug on their car, and Dr. Agasa is here too!"

"Switch the signal to me."

Fang Zheng silently shook his head, watching this Detective getting cocky, didn’t know how he managed to sneak onto Gin’s car, but with protagonist aura...... he just wouldn’t die, right?

Not only that, Conan, using the bug, successfully gained intel about the Black Organization going to Beika Hotel’s memorial at six to eliminate a target, and they might use the drug that shrank Conan to kill, and this time code-named "Pisco."

However, this was over quickly. After that, Gin discovered the bug and tracker and destroyed them, and Conan’s tracking ended there.

"Got it."

After listening to the intel, Fang Zheng thought for a bit, then gave orders.

"Conan, you and Little Ai immediately return to the Mouri Detective Agency, Little Ai, call Ran, tell her to come back too, I’ll find a way to solve things at Beika Hotel."

"Wait a minute!"

Hearing this, Conan was agitated.

"I want to go too!"

"Just stay put, what can you do there? Can you shoot? Can you fight? Our information says one person, max three will go there, you causing trouble is courting death, isn’t it? Stay put, I’ll notify you of the outcome."

Then Fang Zheng cut the contact, got up from his bed and stretched.

The next moment, Fang Zheng swiftly switched the Soulstone.

It seemed like a strange change occurred in the world at this moment, but soon restored to its original form.

"Then, let’s begin."

Muttering softly, Fang Zheng walked to the closet and opened the door, then reached inside to press a hidden spot. Soon, the inside of the closet flipped over, and Fang Zheng began to change clothes.

White shirt, Pitch Black suit, bright red tie, black gloves, brand-new shoes. Soon, a charming, handsome man appeared in front of the mirror.

Fang Zheng reached out, lightly tugged the glove’s edge, pulling out a fiber line, then quickly retracting it. He reached out again, took two silver pistols from the gun rack, glanced at the iris flower emblem on their barrels, then tucked them in his coat.

Then, Fang Zheng closed his eyes, reached up to touch his hair, slowly touching the back of his head.

There, a barcode’s sting faintly came, with a chill and death in its sensation.

At this moment, Fang Zheng’s lips curled.

Well then, let’s see who among the Black Organization or me, the Black Assassin, is more skilled.

Knowing the time and place, the rest of the investigation wasn’t an issue for Fang Zheng.

"Already cleared, Mr. Fang Zheng, the memorial is for film director Akira Sakai, held at six in Beika Hotel, mainly inviting entertainment industry and acting world celebrities."

"Weren’t we invited?"

Hearing Akemi Miyano’s report, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow, while Akemi Miyano chuckled.

"This... Mr. Fang Zheng, we at Umbrella are a security equipment company, not an entertainment company...... "

"Then buy an agency, how about buying Yoko Okino’s agency?"

"Mr. Fang Zheng? You’re joking?"

"Not joking, got money, can be wilful, cost isn’t an issue. Just buy it. Remember, Umbrella isn’t just about security stuff; in future, every circle like entertainment, film, art, all those circles get me in, easier disguise, got it? And if buying, buy big, not some no-name small fry."

This isn’t urban business warfare, Laozi is too lazy to mess with such crappy things.

The problems that can be solved with money aren’t problems at all.

"Okay, I understand, I’ll handle it right away. But about today’s memorial service..."

"I can sneak in myself for today’s memorial service."

"Alright, understood."

Upon hearing this, Akemi Miyano immediately cut off the communication and began to take action. If it were someone else receiving Fang Zheng’s order, they probably wouldn’t execute it so swiftly. But Akemi Miyano is different; although she was just a low-level member, she came from the Black Organization and knew their reach penetrates all industries. If Fang Zheng intends to confront the organization comprehensively, he indeed needs a simultaneous advance across various fields.

At this moment, Fang Zheng drove to the Beika Hotel and quickly located the memorial hall on the second floor.

One must admit, as a world-renowned director, this memorial service was quite remarkable. On usual days, Fang Zheng definitely wouldn’t have managed to sneak in. But with the Soulstone, he effortlessly blended in with the crowd amidst silence and slipped into the hall unnoticed.

Next step, it was about finding Pisco.

Fang Zheng stood in a corner among the crowd, observing his surroundings in silence. He didn’t know what Pisco looked like, but Fang Zheng could sense killing intent. When someone is about to kill, there will naturally be killing intent. As long as Fang Zheng can sense this, he will be able to pinpoint who is causing trouble!

"So, next, let’s take a look at the life slides of Director Sakai!"

Accompanying the host’s words, the lights in the hall quickly dimmed, and then slides appeared in front of everyone.

And at this moment, Fang Zheng finally caught that hint of killing intent... No, that’s not right!

Two sources?!

Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, quickly scanning the pitch-black crowd. At this moment, he sensed two waves of killing intent!

Could the Black Organization have sent two people?

It’s not impossible; just like how Gin and Vodka work in pairs, maybe the organization sends people in pairs as a precaution against mishaps?

"So then..."

The host continued to speak as flashes from cameras illuminated the background. And then, Fang Zheng sensed one pulse of killing intent growing stronger, prompting him to step back, squinting again, and then locking on his target—a kindly-looking elderly man with graying hair who was raising his right hand and aiming a gun at the ceiling.

"————!"

The next moment, a faint flicker of fire followed by a loud "bang" rang out.

"What happened? What went wrong?"

The unexpected noise startled the crowd, and soon, the formerly dim hall lights brightened again. In the next instant — the sound of screams from the scene of the tragedy echoed anew.

In the light, it was visible that a Crystal chandelier had fallen to the ground in the center of the hall, with a mutilated corpse beneath it.

No one noticed that Fang Zheng had quietly used the chaos to leave the scene through the employee passage. Simultaneously, he used his personal terminal to contact Little Ai.

"It’s me, I’ve just left the hall and confirmed Pisco’s identity."

"Really?"

Little Ai was instantly shocked to hear this.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Depending on the situation, whether he’s human or ghost, he needs to be caught. But I plan to use a bait-and-wait strategy."

"What do you mean?"

"That idiot exposed himself; he orchestrated an accident to kill, but ended up getting caught by a reporter in the act. Serves him right for being unlucky."

"The organization won’t let him off."

Little Ai immediately grasped the situation.

"Exactly, so I plan to use him as bait, see if we can draw out more fools—worst case, retrieve the drugs for something in return. We’ll see how it goes."

"Wait."

Conan interrupted at this moment.

"Can’t you have the police arrest him? He has a gun now; they should be able to test for gunpowder residue."

"He has an accomplice on the scene, plus he covered the gun with a handkerchief to hide the gunpowder residue. It’s too late for the police now..."

Fang Zheng shook his head. Conan’s idea was good, but in the world of Conanology, he couldn’t truly trust these police. Not because they’re incompetent, but because the world itself is unfriendly to them. Especially Pisco being a Black Organization member, possibly a main character—they’ll definitely protect someone like that.

Just like Akemi Miyano robbing a bank and escaping amidst the Skynet System and dozens of police cars—simply unbelievable...

Fang Zheng’s intuition proved correct.

When the police rushed to the scene, they quickly investigated and concluded that the chandelier’s hook had failed due to aging, resulting in the accident. As for the deceased, they could only call them an unfortunate victim.

Attending a memorial service only to encounter a death put everyone in a bad mood, prompting them to leave early. The elderly man codenamed Pisco also discreetly left the Beika Hotel and headed to the adjacent old building. Dressed in janitorial clothes, he lowered his head as he entered, scanning the surroundings to ensure he was alone before proceeding to the wine cellar. However, at that very moment...

"Whoosh———!"

With the sound of a gunshot, blood blossomed from Pisco’s knee, and the elderly man collapsed immediately.

Pisco opened his mouth to scream, but an icy gun barrel was thrust directly into his mouth to silence him. Meanwhile, Fang Zheng raised his other gun, aiming at Pisco’s knees, elbows, and shoulders for another round of shooting, swiftly rendering him a complete cripple.

"Pisco, right."

Fang Zheng looked up at the elderly man, while Pisco glared silently back.

Fang Zheng was not in the mood for conversation; he reached into Pisco’s coat pocket, pulling out a rectangular box, opening it and glimpsing a red-and-white capsule—well, if his guess was right, this was APTX4869.

"Nice find, I’ll take this pill, and also..."

Yet before Fang Zheng finished his sentence, he suddenly felt a chill from behind. He then instinctively lunged forward as a gunshot echoed, causing sharp pain in his shoulder.

Damn, electromagnetic shielding is useless?!

This is so illogical!

Fang Zheng sensed that the moment this bullet flew, his electromagnetic shielding suddenly vanished as if interfered with, indicating whoever fired it was no ordinary individual—similar to Saiin-ji Sekai in the World of Love who could stab with a kitchen knife... absolutely a main character!

Is it Gin?

Fang Zheng turned to glance behind, spotting a slender figure slipping past the window, and at the same time, the fallen Pisco had stopped breathing—the bullet hole on his forehead marked his irrevocable demise.

Looking at Pisco, Fang Zheng decisively stepped back, crashed through a nearby glass pane, and burst out of the old building.

"Boom!!!"

Nearly at the moment Fang Zheng escaped, the entire old building exploded, engulfed by flames.

"..........."

Fang Zheng slowly stood, firmly gripping his dual guns. Then, three shadows loomed from the left and right sides, closing in.

On the left were Gin and Vodka, while on the right was a blonde beauty.

"What’s going on, Belmod?"

Gin coldly eyed Fang Zheng before asking, as the blonde beauty opposite him sneered faintly.

"I don’t know either; he seemed to have been waiting for Pisco all along, plus, the organization’s developed drug has been taken by him."

"Is that so..."

Listening to this, Gin paused briefly and then raised his gun at Fang Zheng.

"Hand over what you’re holding, and I’ll let you die painlessly."

"Quite the opposite."

Simultaneously, Fang Zheng slowly raised his gun, targeting the figures on both sides.

"I won’t let you die painlessly."

"Is that so........"

Seeing Fang Zheng, Gin sneered, while Fang Zheng also grinned sinisterly at him.

As their gazes cross paths, Gin suddenly recalled something, his expression shifting.

"It’s you?!"

At the same moment, Fang Zheng pulled the trigger.