Chapter 228: The Fated Ten

During the game show's deduction segment, Jiangxia deliberately slowed down his pace of solving the case.

During a break, when no cameras were pointed at him, he kept glancing at Hijikata Kosaburo, then quickly looking away before the man could meet his gaze. He seemed… mildly worried about being caught doing something.

After the recording wrapped, Hijikata approached Jiangxia for a chat and handed him a business card. Jiangxia responded with a smile—one that looked suspiciously guilty, but was actually sincere. (Probably.)

…

According to the show's rules, no phones allowed during recording.

Once the show ended and Jiangxia was outside, he accepted an invitation from Hijikata Kozaburo for a little ghost-picking session, grabbed his phone back from the staff, and stepped into the sunlight.

He tucked the business card into his pocket and tapped his phone's screen.

A flood of missed calls greeted him.

Most were from Ran Mouri, Kogoro Mouri, and Conan.

…Why the sudden panic? Did that digital serial killer finally kick off their act?

Jiangxia was about to call back to ask what happened—

—but before he could, a police car screeched to a halt right in front of him.

Two officers leapt out. Jiangxia recognized them—they'd been present at murder scenes before. One of them shouted "We found him!" into a phone, and both came striding toward him like a SWAT raid.

Jiangxia: "…?"

…What is this energy?

Why do they look like they're here for an arrest?!

…Wait. Was he finally caught for speeding on his motorcycle in the middle of the night…?

…

A bit earlier.

Within half a day, Inspector Megure, Eri Kisaki, and Dr. Agasa had all been attacked one after another.

None were seriously hurt, but all three moved in overlapping social circles. And curiously, the attacker left behind a paper prop at each scene.

The police quickly deemed this a linked series of attacks.

Conan dug into the evidence and found the connecting thread:

The first victim was Inspector Megure—full name Megure Jūzō. After the attack, the culprit left behind a short cardboard dagger. It matched the weapon held by the King of Spades in a deck of cards—the number 13.

Next was Eri Kisaki. The name "Kisaki" sounds like "Queen." The attacker sent her poisoned food decorated with a paper flower—just like the one the Queen holds on playing cards.

The third target was Dr. Agasa. His name, "Agasa Hiroshi," when rearranged, contains the components for "eleven." After the attack, a sword-shaped churro was found in his yard—mimicking the weapon of the Jack of Spades.

It was solid, card-themed logic. So naturally, Mouri Kogoro and the police deduced the next victim would be someone associated with the number "ten"…and that the person had to be in Mouri Kogoro's social orbit, just like the previous three.

Despite his bandages, Inspector Megure dove into the case. He suspected the culprit might be Murakami, a man who had just gotten out of prison. Ten years ago, Murakami had beef with Kogoro back when Kogoro was still a cop.

So now, Kogoro was the center of the storm.

While the police launched a citywide search for Murakami, they also pestered Kogoro to think: who else in his circle could be linked to "ten"?

Kogoro racked his brain and finally thought of a potential target: a club hostess he frequented—her name was Towako.

But Ran thought of someone else entirely.

She shot to her feet, panicked:

"Jiangxia's name has a 'ten' too! The 'zhi' in 'Tongzhi' can be dropped, and in 'Tong'—next to the wood radical is a 'ten'! Plus, when you look inside the 'with' character, there's even a hidden Arabic numeral ten!"

Kogoro: "!"

Inspector Megure: "!"

The police immediately reached out to both possible targets.

Towako picked up right away. She was still lounging at her fancy club, surrounded by security. Nothing suspicious there.

But Jiangxia never answered.

The longer Conan stared at the failed calls, the more grim his expression became.

If Ran's interpretation was right, Jiangxia's name had three "tens" in it—two in Chinese characters, one in Arabic numerals. He was practically a walking bullseye in the digital killer's number game.

And Jiangxia was a detective too—just like Kogoro. If the murderer hated cops or detectives, that made Jiangxia's situation even more dangerous.

And worst of all—he wasn't answering the phone.

…Was he already dead?

Conan shook his head hard, trying to banish the thought. Optimistically, Jiangxia's skills were way above those of Megure and Dr. Agasa. Maybe he didn't pick up because he was in the middle of counterattacking—maybe he'd already turned the tables and was currently stepping on Murakami's spine.

After all, the last time Jiangxia got obsessed with knocking out a bomber, he didn't answer his phone either.

…But with every minute that passed, that rosy hope dimmed.

Even Iron Man wouldn't take this long to finish a fight.

So if Jiangxia wasn't ignoring the phone because he was smacking the culprit around, then… had the attacker actually succeeded?

Megure's expression darkened. He immediately dispatched more officers to search for Jiangxia.

…

Meanwhile, Jiangxia was being bundled straight from the TV station entrance into a police car.

Several paparazzi, staking out the building, perked up at the sound of sirens and instantly raised their cameras. A celebrity being escorted by police? Jackpot!

They snapped away like mad—until they realized who the "celebrity" was.

And then their excitement fizzled out into mild disappointment.

Oh. It's just that freelance corpse picker. Again.

They sighed, lowered their cameras, and turned to photograph a sparrow on the sidewalk instead. More interesting. Less predictable.

…

Jiangxia honestly never expected this.

He'd worked so hard recently—he even picked up a cat for good karma—and yet it all amounted to nothing.

——He didn't even get to wait for Katsuyoshi Asahi's "Nine." The "Ten" had already dragged him in.

Though Jiangxia's full name was Jiangxia Tongzhi, barely anyone called him by his given name.

Japanese names often have multiple readings—phonetic, syllabic, or just plain weird.

Unfortunately, "Tongzhi" happened to share a phonetic reading with some words that Jiangxia found… a little too dramatic. And kind of awkward.

So, to save face, Jiangxia started telling people, "Just call me by my last name—it feels like I'm carrying on my parents' legacy." Very touching.

As a result, everyone close to him just used his surname.

And strangers? Well, they didn't know him well enough to use his given name either.

For Jiangxia, his surname was his full name. Very efficient. Very modular.

So yeah. Picking up other people's discarded names—or bodies—is a skill, too.

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

Progress: 4/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

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

Progress:2/10*