Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Just then, a member of the Black Reaper, dressed in a special forces uniform and presumably just passing by to make some extra money, walked into the store.

After they picked up their food and left the store, several customers who had been chatting together in a corner of the coffee shop immediately shifted the topic to this.

"...Do you think this 'Everywhere Connects' product is really reliable? There are delinquent teenagers coming and going in the store every day. Isn't the owner worried that it will affect other customers' spending?"

"Hey, they're just a bunch of kids. They don't resort to extortion or blackmail. They just work hard to earn money through their own skills. Isn't that a good thing?"

"That's right. I heard that these kids have been doing good deeds since they got together, and now they have a legitimate livelihood. Even if they stop studying altogether in the future, they won't be left without a way out and will no longer harm society."

"..."

The gossip was neither too loud nor too quiet; Sano could hear it all clearly.

Therefore, both Conan and Ai Haibara unconsciously showed a hint of surprise on their faces.

...After all, the direction of public opinion seems to have shifted rather quickly.

The customers who dine in at this cafe in Sano are mostly local residents, or even owners of other shops around the area. They occasionally gather here to gossip and chat. These few people are one such example.

That's why Poirot Cafe's sales were so low before.

Because the upper limit for passenger flow is limited.

...Of course, those are all digressions. The important thing is that these people have quite a bit of knowledge about the existence of the Black Reaper and the related entity, All-Knowing.

Although their words just now could be described as mixed, compared to earlier comments, they were clearly more inclined towards the "good" side.

This inevitably makes people feel a little strange.

...Sano watched the two puzzled people from the side, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips.

Indeed, this change in phenomenon is all thanks to Tosano.

In order to change the current public's resistance to All-Tong due to the stereotype of delinquent youths.

Sano specially selected some people from the Black Reaper to form a special group.

Its name is—the Strategic Deception Group!

Just like its name suggests, the greatest role of the Strategic Deception Group lies in the word "deception".

The full name is, Deception!

...Well, basically it's about getting these people to blend into the gossip circles of everyday life, spreading the friendliness and benefits of the "Black Reaper," lowering people's assessment of his danger level, and thus reducing people's aversion to delinquents, or more accurately, the Black Reaper.

Finally, this will further affect all communication channels.

Chapter 301, 300, Reward: One Bullet

There's actually no trick to this method.

After all, changing a person's stereotype is inherently difficult; there are no shortcuts, and it can only be achieved through time and gradual refinement.

This is similar to how the earliest violent gangs in Japan persistently engaged in friendly behavior with the public in order to legitimize their existence.

Sano's establishment of the Strategic Deception Group was, at most, an acceleration of this process.

Public opinion relies on guidance.

Choose a suitable point to start with, and then add a little something extra.

The speed at which public opinion shifts under such subtle influence is quite beyond imagination.

The changes in the growth curve of NaDuTong's performance alone are enough to prove that this step was not a mistake.

As a result, Xiao San even started discussing with Sano about expanding recruitment at Natoto.

It involves recruiting real workers from the community to handle non-core daily tasks.

Especially in the dispatch center, where the work is rather tedious, nobody wants to go, and people are forced to take turns working there.

"You guys have fun, I'm leaving now."

Sano had no interest in staying at the antique shop any longer, so he said goodbye and left first.

The day after tomorrow, Sano received a call from Asai Narumi.

They said they had found a troublesome criminal gang that they couldn't handle alone, so they asked Sano to come and help.

...To be honest, Sano originally intended to refuse.

But upon closer reflection, Sano had been busy with missions lately, and Black Mask, a relatively high-profile superhero, hadn't made his presence felt for quite some time.

...Although Gin, the victim, certainly knew that Black Mask was working hard, others did not.

Am I destined to be a workaholic? Why do I keep creating work for myself even when I have nothing to do?

How long have you been resting?

Sano muttered to himself as he controlled the masked clone to head to the meeting point he had agreed upon with Asai Narumi.

But just at this very moment, something new happened at the main body as well.

[Please ensure the survival of the mission target within the time limit. Completion will earn you 200 enhancement points. Mission time remaining: 03:59:59.]

Sano pulled up the map and saw four red dots that were clearly not in the city.

...It seems like today is the weekend, so it's probably Conan and his friends who went camping.

But why are there only four?

Shouldn't there be five?

After touching his chin, Sano didn't think much of it, quickly went out, changed his clothes, put on a passerby hat, hailed a taxi, and headed to the location of the mission target.

……

Inside the pitch-black stalactite cave, Conan and the trio of real children were fleeing for their lives.

Today was supposed to be the day Conan and his team went camping with Professor Agasa.

According to the task assignments, Ai Haibara and Professor Agasa stayed at the camp to prepare food for the evening, while Conan took the three real children out to collect firewood.

As they continued picking up the stones, the group came across a stalactite cave with strange slogans carved on it.

The trio, believing there might be "treasure" inside the cave, decided to search for it, and Conan had no choice but to follow them.

As it turned out, the four of them did indeed find the treasure.

One corpse and three armed bandits.

As a reward, Conan was shot, and his kidney was immediately hit, bleeding profusely.

After all, having been caught dumping a body, the three thugs naturally intended to silence Conan and his friends.

Fortunately, thanks to the dim lighting in the cave, the group was not killed or captured immediately.

Even so, the three men still managed to guard the entrance to the cave, and Conan and his friends had no way to get out.

After failing to contact Ai Haibara for help using the detective badge, and with three armed robbers beginning to close in and search the cave, Conan had no choice but to leave a unique distress signal at the cave entrance. He then had Genta carry him as they fled deeper into the cave.

Then, as they fled, they came to another fork in the road.

Conan racked his brains and directed the group to flee down the road where he had thrown a glowing watch, intending to play a game of "I predicted your prediction, you predicted mine" with the three thugs.

Then, Conan felt the footsteps behind him getting closer and closer.

...Damn it, I was seen through in an instant? These guys are so fast, I'm about to be caught, but there's nowhere to hide, no room to maneuver at all, so I can only keep running forward.

Conan was in excruciating pain in his kidneys, which made his breathing extremely rapid and heavy. He was so sweaty that his clothes were soaked as if he had just taken a shower.

Is it just my imagination? Why does it feel like the footsteps behind me are already very close?

That shouldn't be the case. Those guys have guns. If they really caught up, they should have just opened fire. There's no need for them to get that close.

Before Conan, whose consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred, could react, a cold voice rang in his ears.

"Stop running, no one is chasing you."

"ah!!?"

Faced with this sudden order, the trio screamed in fright.

Conan wasn't much better off; in fact, he felt much more sober.

However, when the four of them turned around to look, the fear in their pounding hearts seemed to turn into more surprise.

"Black Death!?"

Conan never expected that "Black Death" would appear here. Last time... never mind, none of that matters. What matters is that it seems like they and the others are saved!

"Damn it, we ran into the gang of criminals who robbed the bank a few days ago. They killed one of their accomplices because someone saw his face, and they planned to dump the body here. We just happened to see them, so they tried to silence him!"

Conan explained the current situation in a very fast-paced manner.

However, Sano's attention immediately fell on Conan's red-stained waist.

...Oh, this plague-ridden pig has actually been shot?

That's truly a happy ending for everyone, a cause for celebration!

Ahem, no, no, I'm getting off-topic. The important thing is that those guys actually had guns.

This plague god really knows how to make trouble for himself, always attracting dangerous people.

If Sano had known beforehand that the danger of this mission involved a gun, he wouldn't have sent the Black Mask, the bulletproof vest, to help Asai Narumi; instead, he would have sent her here instead.

It will at least be more stable.

“...Those criminals were originally my target, but I didn’t expect you to run into them first.”

Sano didn't want to explain why he happened to be there, and in the style of "Kuroshiki," he shouldn't explain such a thing.

However, considering that not explaining the situation would easily arouse suspicion, Sano explained the reason in the form of "roasting".

Although this reason was made up on the spot.

Upon hearing the reason why Sano was there, Conan was stunned for a moment, and then he began to bitterly laugh at the bad luck they had today.

"Alright, I'm not going to waste any more time talking to you. Let's hide for now, I'll go take care of those guys."

Now that Sano has a general understanding of the situation and has determined that the danger is behind them, but they just didn't encounter it earlier, the task at hand is to solve the problem.

...Dealing with three armed thugs bare-handed is simple in some ways, but complicated in others.

The key is that there must be conditions that are favorable to Sano.