Yes, Kaitou Kid has finally realized:
The thing that stole the "Dark Star" from him that night wasn't a "bodyguard with high-tech artificial wings from the Suzuki family."
It was probably a real monster.
—After that incident, Kid and his crew did some digging.
They soon discovered that the Suzuki family had no such fancy flying devices and never hired that kind of bodyguard.
Instead, after a bit of deeper investigation, they uncovered some old reports about the Tengu—a monster possibly connected to two recent deaths.
The incidents happened at Shanni Temple, hidden deep in the mountains. That place had always had an eerie legend about the Tengu. Two monks were found hanged one after another from the temple's high eaves. The scene looked like something only a flying creature could pull off.
Now, Kid isn't like Conan—he's not that much of a materialist.
So, after hearing all this, Kid's view of the Tengu shifted. From "weird Suzuki bodyguard" to "man-eating monster." He now treats the Tengu with extreme caution.
Even though the Tengu hasn't shown signs of wanting to eat him yet, it keeps snatching up his treasures mid-job and… devouring them on the spot. Then it tosses the remains back at him, like it's just snacking on dried fruit and tossing the shells.
Kid has tried all sorts of methods to shake off the Tengu. None have really worked. To avoid the police, most of his escapes are airborne—but homemade gliders just can't compete with natural wings.
So he escapes. Then he gets robbed. Then he escapes. Then he gets robbed again…
Honestly, stealing from under police siege doesn't even feel fun anymore.
Because in the end, the theft is only temporary. The Tengu always shows up for a second round.
Still, for the sake of his "dead" father, Kid can't stop stealing…
He sighed quietly, set down his binoculars, grabbed his tools, and prepared to sneak into the venue.
…
This time, Kid found the heist ridiculously easy—the police practically walked straight into his trap.
He found this a bit suspicious at first, but quickly discovered the reason: there was a transmitter secretly hidden inside the gem. The police were trying to use it to trace his hideout.
Kid stared silently at the transmitter before pocketing the gem.
It would've been nice if he could use the transmitter to find the foggy dog's lair. But unfortunately, the monster only cared about eating the treasure. Once it was done, it'd just spit out the gem somewhere. Totally useless.
…
Even though the police were clearly going easy on him, the building's ground floor was still heavily guarded. So Kid stuck to the plan—escape via rooftop.
Just as he opened his glider, a gunshot rang out behind him. The bullet snapped the glider's support rod.
Kid staggered, nearly crashing into the roof.
He spun around in alarm—behind him stood a row of men in black suits and fedoras.
The one in front, Snake, pointed a gun at him and sneered coldly: "I believe I warned you—not to go after that gem again."
That voice made Kid frown.
A while ago, he'd received a threatening phone call. The caller had mistaken him for his father and said that if he didn't stop targeting gems, he'd be killed.
…Looks like that call came from this very man.
Kid suddenly felt that the truth behind his father's "death" was beckoning to him. Maybe Kuroba Toichi had clashed with this group before he was murdered.
But now, with the glider broken, he wasn't in any shape to investigate anything.
Kid faced the cold muzzle calmly, mind racing as he tried to think of a way out—maybe stall for time, maybe counterattack.
He pulled out a fake "sapphire" to hand over, hoping to buy a few seconds.
Just then, an unnatural gust of wind whipped up from the edge of the roof.
Kid felt something was off. Before he could react, the cape behind him was yanked—someone had grabbed him from below.
Kid lost his footing, cloak dragging him off balance—and off the roof.
Snake's eyes widened in shock. From where he stood, all he saw was a hand stretch up from below, snatching Kid straight off the roof.
The gem was still on Kid.
Snake's expression darkened. He rushed over with his team and looked down from the edge.
But all they saw below was a quiet, empty night. No Kid. No mysterious hand.
…
Kid found himself floating in midair, staring at the glowing city lights beneath him.
A hand stretched out beside his face.
Then came a very familiar voice from behind: "Give it to me."
Kid: "…"
In the past, the Tengu would at least say what it wanted—"Give me the Dark Star," "Give me the **** Full Moon," that sort of thing.
Now? It didn't even bother.
Kid suspected the Tengu had gotten too lazy to remember the names of the gems. Probably just remembered him as "that white-clothed phantom thief who's easy to rob."
He glanced at the hand, then at the 100-meter drop below, and felt the parachute tucked behind him.
There were still some scattered cops nearby. And in his white costume, he stuck out like a spotlight.
Jiangxia mulled this over and decided not to take the gem immediately. Instead, he flew Kid in a few wide loops around the building.
After throwing off potential pursuers, he landed in a quiet corner.
Kid eyed the Tengu, who was checking the area for threats, and took the chance to slip free of his half-hearted grip, backing away warily.
Suddenly, news headlines flashed in his mind—about how the monks at Shanni Temple had been found hanged from high places. People suspected it was the Tengu… "storing food."
Kid rested a hand on his tranquilizer gun. His voice was serious:
"You're not planning to eat me, are you? Or do you just want me to steal stuff for you?"
Jiangxia: "…?"
He gave Kid a confused look. After a pause, he seemed to figure out where the "man-eating" rumor had come from.
Thinking of Kid's strong sense of justice, Jiangxia felt this weird pot absolutely couldn't be left hanging on his back.
He lifted his chin slightly and said, tone flat with a hint of disgust: "Humans aren't exactly… gourmet cuisine."
…Was that a polite way of saying "I don't eat people"?
Kid narrowed his eyes. "Then what about the two monks at Shanni Temple?"
"The old monk did it himself," the foggy tengu replied impatiently, folding his wings. "I just dropped by the temple, and he clutched his heart and collapsed the moment he saw me. Before he died, he muttered something about wanting to be hung from a high place. Said it might help bring attention to the temple if something weird happened again."
Kid: "…He collapsed?"
…That sounds like sudden death!
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 35/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*