Chapter 220: Cooperation, Yokai

There's a normal generation gap—and then there's this generation gap.

After a brief but overloaded exchange of information, Kid's terrifying image of the tengu as a man-eating monster that dried humans into jerky… started to shift a little.

Morality aside, at least this was a yokai with standards.

Kid had always suspected the tengu only robbed him for the gems. It didn't kill him, which meant he was still useful. The day he stopped providing gems, though, he had a feeling he'd be ripped into dried phantom thief strips.

Sure, Kid wasn't the type to be cowed by the underworld—but having your life constantly dangling over a pot over a slow burning fire does build up pressure.

Now, however, it turned out the tengu was… actually a decent monster?

Kid glanced at the tengu quietly nibbling on a gemstone. For a second, it felt like watching a neighbor sipping juice between classes.

The world is strangely peaceful today, he thought.

Kid stared at the gem. "These things… they recover over time, right?"

He'd heard that the Suzuki family's "Dark Star" had regained some of its luster. Maybe the damage from the monster's gem-nibbling wasn't permanent.

The tengu nodded. "Yeah, it'll grow back. You can steal it again later."

Kid: "…"

He didn't want to commit repeat thefts, thanks.

While Kid sank into contemplative silence, Jiangxia Tongzhi had already turned his attention elsewhere.

——Several vehicles were approaching, stealthily.

They weren't police cars, but judging by the jewel's signal transmitter, someone official had followed it here—Jiangxia spotted Nakamori from the police department among them.

He looked down at the sapphire in his hand. No more energy. He casually tossed the dried-out gem to Kid.

Kid knew how to return jewels without leaving evidence. Leave the cleanup to the professional.

Jiangxia turned, flapped his wings, and soared into the sky.

The energy core was spent. Time to deal with some murderous energy—and earn a little household subsidy.

——Back on the rooftop earlier, the man in black leading the group had definitely intended to kill Kid. There was still lingering murderous aura around him.

And as a mid-boss tier villain, Snake had a solid, respectable aura—plump with opportunity.

Jiangxia did the math: if he sent a shikigami to wallop Snake, he'd absorb the killing intent stuck to the puppet and still come out ahead in the energy economy.

So, when he'd flown off with Kid and the energy core earlier, he'd quietly dropped a ghost to tail Snake for future GPS tracking.

He'd burned through too much murderous aura back at Mermaid Island. Sure, it was a good time, but now the ghost mint stockpile was hurting.

This was a chance to restock.

…

Kid's night vision wasn't on par with Jiangxia's puppet, but it was still decent—he also noticed the police approaching.

He took the returned gem from the tengu and quickly rendezvoused with Terai.

Terai had once been assistant to Kid's father, Kuroba Toichi. After the original Phantom Thief "died," Terai resumed his role as Kid's trusty sidekick.

Now, every time Kid went out, Terai made sure he was carrying a tracker—just in case he got randomly tossed in a corner by the Tengu again.

The moment Kid jumped into the car, he pulled out a locator and pointed seriously at the coordinates. "We're going here."

Back when the Tengu dragged him off the rooftop, Kid had spotted a convoy of black cars lining up neatly below. His thief instincts were tingling.

They weren't cops. Probably the Men in Black. And they seemed to know something about the Organization, which meant they were worth following—even if they were armed.

So Kid had fired off a black-tech tracker in the chaos. Judging by the current signal on the screen, it had landed squarely on top of a car.

Time to go chase some plot.

…

Despite his age, Terai's driving was still terrifyingly fast.

He looped around back roads and caught up to the convoy of black-suited suspects, tailing them quietly as they headed toward the mountains.

Eventually, the convoy stopped outside a secluded courtyard—ancient architecture, trees all around, a stream bubbling nearby.

One by one, the Men in Black got out of the cars, heading toward the courtyard.

Terai parked the car at a distance.

With the rustling trees and stream covering the engine noise, they weren't too far behind.

Just as Kid opened the door to get out and investigate, a shadow zipped silently overhead.

The two of them looked up.

It was the Tengu. It swooped low over the Men in Black and dropped something.

The next second, a huge cloud of smoke exploded outward, swallowing the group.

Terai blinked, squinting at the smoke. It looked… familiar. "Master, isn't that…"

Kid was stunned, then suddenly remembered. "Ah. That was in my pocket earlier. I thought…"

…I thought the Tengu was just interested in the smoke-and-anesthesia bombs disguised as shiny round gems. Maybe it wanted to decorate its nest or something.

It hadn't seemed important at the time. Especially after it started dropping secret temple lore.

But now?

Did the Tengu come here with a plan?!

…

Hovering above the smoke cloud, Jiangxia observed calmly.

Then he dove down, circling around behind the group and yanked Snake out of the smoke—head covered with a black cloth sack.

Holding his breath and flailing like a caught chicken, Snake was hauled into the forest by the monster.

Terai's jaw dropped.

He remembered reading about the foggy dog's habits. This creature was known to snatch humans and hang them from trees like pantry items…

As visions of tree-hung meat racks danced in his mind, he broke into a sweat and reached for the handbrake.

But just as he was about to drive off, Kid threw open the passenger door, shouted "I'll go take a look!" and darted into the woods.

…

Kid's face was deadly serious.

Didn't the Tengu say it wouldn't eat people if it had enough gems?

Could it have lied?

In this world… If you can't even trust monsters, then what's left?

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 41/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:2/10*