Persona: Devil Summoner

"Good guy..."

Long Si was completely stunned. He had never thought that there were so many people in the world who loved art. Just this personal exhibition alone had so many people buying tickets. I don't know how much a ticket costs, and so many people...

With Ryuji's mathematical ability, he probably can't solve this puzzle.

Gao Juanxing's eyes lit up. Although she hadn't entered the exhibition hall yet, she could already see several masterpieces hanging on the wall through the glass door. Art is like this. It all depends on interpretation. Just like Picasso's paintings. If you think his paintings are nothing, then they are nothing. To you, they are just worthless waste paper. But if you like them, then millions or tens of millions are just a joke.

Kitagawa Yusuke wore a white suit today, which matched his slender figure and blue hair, making him look like a living stone statue. He was helping at the door when he saw Takamaki An's eyes shining. He quickly walked over to her, his joy evident in his tone: "You're here! Beautiful lady..."

Before he finished speaking, he noticed in his peripheral vision an unhappy Ryu Si, and Amamiya Ren and Jiang Tianwei who had unknowingly come over. His expression suddenly changed, and his tone became cold, almost like the face-changing performance of Sichuan Opera. No, his last name is Kitagawa, so it should be Kitagawa Opera, hmm.

“…You guys are here too?”

He looked at everyone with disdain, and it was obvious that he was disdainful of the three light bulbs.

"Didn't you give us the tickets?"

"It's okay to come and appreciate art, but remember not to cause trouble to others."

After Kitagawa said this, he immediately turned around and showed his courtesy to Takamaki An. Takamaki An was already interested in art, and with Kitagawa as a professional painter, she was even happier. The two of them chatted and laughed as they went in to look at the art.

Morgana was the only one left with a look of shock on his face: "Ms. Xing! You were just given to that pretty boy like that!?"

"Hey, don't come out, pets are not allowed here..."

When Long Si saw a cat's head popping out of the backpack, he quickly stuffed its head in.

"Well, Kitagawa-san may sound harsh, but he's surprisingly perceptive."

Jiang Tianwei muttered quietly, "Yes, we gathered here today to investigate. At least, that's what we said on the surface. Who are we investigating? Of course, it's [Banme].

It is said that when a person is about to die, his words are kind. The stalker we dealt with in the space of acquaintance before... I think his name was Nakanohara or Nakaharano, anyway, it was a similar name. At the very end, this person shouted heartbreakingly that the Phantom Thieves should deal with [Barame]. This Madarame and this Madarame Ikryusai happened to have the same last name, is it a coincidence? Investigating this matter is the reason why the Phantom Thieves gathered today.

It’s just that, as soon as Takamaki An arrived, she was immediately attracted by art, so there’s no way to expect her fighting ability.

Jiang Tianwei looked at the artworks around him. He considered himself a vulgar person who could not understand such high-end artworks. He had only one criterion for judging a painting, which was whether it looked good or not.

So, from this perspective, this master named Madarame is just ordinary. For Jiang Tianwei, it is more interesting to go back and play games instead of staying here to look at Madarame's paintings.

Jiang Tianwei did not choose to go with the other two friends. After all, when it comes to visiting an art exhibition, it would be fine if you didn't go with a girl, but it would be too subtle if several men came together.

When it comes to famous painters, they often have their own styles. Typical representatives include the Impressionists represented by Van Gogh and Monet, the Cubists pioneered by Picasso, and a series of masters who specialized in religious paintings during the Renaissance. If you put their paintings together, you will find that although they each have their own different styles, the masters' own styles are relatively unified.

Master Madarame's paintings have varied styles, different expressions, and even more varied themes. It is as if there are countless souls living in Master Madarame's body, creating different paintings.

This kind of example is not uncommon, but usually, science calls this kind of person schizophrenia or split personality...

(It was much more boring for an old man to visit an art exhibition than I thought.)

Jiang Tianwei thought about this, sighed deeply, and prepared to send a text message to everyone before leaving alone.

However, this Madarame painting exhibition is so huge that you can't see the end at a glance, and Jiang Tianwei can't find the exit. This is where this exhibition is not done well. Normally, there should be good guidance inside the venue, at least you should mark the entrance and exit clearly!

Since we can't find the exit, we can only go back from the entrance.

Thinking so, Jiang Tianwei went upstream and walked out against the crowd. Naturally, waves of people poured in one after another. Although Jiang Tianwei was clearly on land, he felt the feeling of surfing.

After walking a few dozen steps, he was pushed back by the crowd. Jiang Tianwei even stumbled and was pushed back several steps by the crowd, and sat down on the ground...

"Ka! What the hell! This kid! Reshoot this one!"

Suddenly, a thunder-like sound came from the side, startling him. Turning his head, he saw a lady in a suit, frowning and glaring, with a look of anger! Beside her, there was a man holding a long-pole microphone to record the sound, a man carrying a camera to shoot, and a man wearing sunglasses and a vest full of pockets who looked like a director. The group of people formed a strange team.

And Jiang Tianwei had obviously accidentally sat down in their territory.

"Um, are you okay?"

On the other side of the thunder-like sound, a girl's soft voice was heard, and a girl with long straight black hair stretched out her hand towards Jiang Tianwei who was sitting on the ground.

This person looks so familiar...

The more Jiang Tianwei looked at her, the more he felt as if he had seen her somewhere before. Sometimes, people are like this, and they will have this inexplicable sense of familiarity, which is generally called déjà vu...

"Ah, are you Togo Ichirakusan?"

Ahem, yes, sometimes, it’s not necessarily a sense of déjà vu. Maybe it’s just really familiar. Anyway, that’s the way it is.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I wish all my book friends a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. I will update it in the evening~

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 88: Encounter with Shogi Idol

Japan can probably be called the country with the most prosperous idol industry.

In this country, there are not only idols of various styles, but also various types of idols. Actors can be idols, singers and dancers can be idols, and this kind of idol exists in every country. But why is it said that only Japan is the most prosperous?

Because in Japan, anything can be an idol. You can feminize cities, objects, animals, etc. and make them idols. You can't sing, dance, or act? Then you can try other things. Kendo idols, archery idols, aikido idols. If you are not good at sports, you can try to be a comedy idol, a shogi idol, a flower arrangement idol...

In short, there is no idol that Japanese people dare not be, except what you can't imagine.

And now, the Togo Ichiraku in front of Jiang Tianwei is a shogi idol.

Although she herself doesn't like this statement, it is the fact. Although she wants to be a chess player, she is not one yet. But her popularity is already very hot.

This time too, Togo Ichimi's agent - her mother - heard about Master Madarame's solo exhibition and immediately planned a project called "A beautiful chess player gazes at Japanese paintings, Japanese beauty and art become one." In short, it was a project of similar type.

Therefore, the woman in the suit was so furious when she saw that the stinky man Jiang Tianwei destroyed this beautiful picture.

If it was a light novel or comic, the producer would have fallen in love with Jiang Tianwei's beauty at first sight, and then Jiang Tianwei would naturally start to win the favor of the beautiful girl from Dongxiang. But unfortunately, reality is not a work of artistic processing. He disrupted the filming, and the result was that everyone took a five-minute break and started filming again five minutes later.

It was the first time that Jiang Tianwei saw Dongxiang Yiersan in action. During the five-minute break, he saw her take out a folding chessboard from her bag like a magician, unfold it, and skillfully place the chess pieces on it.

However, the chess pieces of both sides were not in the original positions, and the number was not right...

(Is it a dead end?).

Dongxiang Yiersan quickly stopped moving her fingers, held her chin, and thought about the solution to the endgame. The chatter of the staff around her and the noise of the crowd around her seemed to have nothing to do with her.

(I thought that Togo Ichimi was an artificially created shogi idol, but it seems that she really likes shogi...)

Jiang Tianwei curiously leaned over to take a look. Dongxiang Yiersan noticed someone leaning over, raised his head and asked, "Do you like shogi?"

“Ah, although I played it on an app.”

Jiang Tianwei smiled, opened the screen of his mobile phone and shook it in front of her. A photo of Dongxiang Yiersan flashed by. He blushed and said, "Those are all from my mom...those are the jobs that my agent helped me get - where do you think I should proceed with this endgame?"

As I said before, if you play Gobang or Chinese chess, he can still fight you to some extent, but Japanese shogi? He doesn't even know the rules. When playing in the APP on weekdays, the computer will tell you which chess piece can go to which place, and will not let you choose where it cannot go. But in reality...

Jiang Tianwei looked at the names on the chess pieces. He knew every one of them, but he couldn't remember how to play each one. He had combined the playing methods of shogi and xiangqi in his mind, and couldn't understand how to solve this endgame.

Before Jiang Tianwei could figure out what was going on, he instinctively sensed the danger. He dodged to the left and saw a big hand reaching towards the place where he had just stood. Judging from the position, it should be grabbing his ear or hair?

Jiang Tianwei dodged quickly, leaving the man empty-handed. His five fingers painted with nail polish exuded a vulgar scent. He probably bought the brand name products directly without considering whether they suit him. This was the most tasteless behavior of a nouveau riche.

The person who came was none other than Dongxiang Yiersan's manager, who was also her mother. At this time, the angry King Kong was also glaring at Jiang Tianwei as he remembered: "Who are you! Don't talk to Yiersan casually! If a scandal spreads, can you bear the responsibility?"

In just a few words, Jiang Tianwei clearly realized that the most powerful person in the crew was this woman. Jiang Tianwei didn't want to communicate with this domineering woman for even a second. Although he didn't mind arguing with her, this kind of argument was meaningless... and...

Jiang Tianwei saw the other party's unreasonable attitude and estimated that he would not be able to win the argument with her. The premise of a debate is that both parties can listen to each other and discuss the views and ideas put forward by each other. If one of the two parties only expresses emotions unilaterally no matter what you say, you will definitely not win. In the end, it will only develop into a war of words. Unless you really fight, it is impossible to convince the other party. But the problem is that if you really fight, according to Japanese law, you will have to go to the police station for a few days, which is not worth the loss.

So Jiang Tianwei said nothing and walked away. From a distance, he could still hear the mother scolding him: "You are not an ordinary student now. In the future, you must keep your distance from people of unknown origin, especially in public places like this."

After a while, Jiang Tianwei finally left the art museum. He checked his phone and saw a message from Long Si saying that he and Amamiya Ren were really not interested in art, so they left together. He left a contact address and asked him to meet up after he was done.

Jiang Tianwei originally thought that the place they had arranged to meet was a private room in a hotel, or some other secluded place, but when he got there, he found that it was a glass skywalk in Shibuya. He and Amamiya Ren were leaning lazily against the railing. Gao Juan Xing was scolding them. Seeing Jiang Tianwei coming, Long Si was as if he had been pardoned, and quickly waved: "Hey, Jiang Jiang, this way!"

Jiang Tianwei smiled bitterly and said, "Shall we follow this group?"

"Hmm, isn't this in line with the Chinese saying! If you are a big shot, you have to live in seclusion or something like that?"

Ryuji couldn't understand many Japanese proverbs, not to mention Chinese idioms, so Amamiya Ren took the initiative to explain: "It means that the great hermit hides in the city."

"Ah, China does have this saying, but aren't you being too careless?!"

Jiang Tianwei sighed: "I really don't understand what these people are thinking? We are thieves! No matter how you think about it, we shouldn't gather in such a crowded place, right? Forget about ordinary gatherings, aren't we going to discuss the thieves' targets next? !

So, we are discussing our plans here in the busy streets of Shibuya, right?! Isn't this just like what they say in the crosstalk, writing a robbery plan on the train, and the train goes straight to the police station... In broad daylight, with people coming and going and traffic everywhere, you are discussing the thief's theft plan in a place like this?!

"Forget it, just follow me..."

Jiang Tianwei sighed deeply, waved his hand, and signaled several people to follow him.

There is a place that can be said to be perfect for today's needs...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 89 New Secret Base

When talking about the culture of phantom thieves, one thing that cannot be missed is the phantom thieves’ lairs.

In other words, a secret base.

This base, no matter if it is a Batman-sized super-huge base or the Phantom Thief's own home, no matter what the scale, you have to have it. In this base, everyone can talk about those secrets that cannot be known to others without any scruples. The highlight is a confidentiality.

But... sadly, no matter how secretive the secret base that appears in a work is, it will eventually be invaded.

Jiang Tianwei led a few people through many twists and turns and walked to a closed store on the streets of Shibuya. The blue-gray roller shutter door fell down and the doorplate outside was removed. At the door, a man was sitting on the railing at the door of the store with a briefcase under his arm and a popsicle in his mouth, looking bored. The half-melted popsicle dripped with sticky colored sugar water, soaking his wrinkled shirt.

This is the Chinese restaurant where Jiang Tianwei used to work.

Later, the boss and his son went to China to explore the most authentic Chinese flavors, so the store was closed. Originally, they were going to find someone to help with the renovation, but later they were unsure of the style, so they never rebuilt it after demolishing it, and it is now just sitting there.

Jiang Tianwei has the key here. The boss gave it to him specially, saying that he should come here to help clean up when he has time, and he will be paid on a daily basis, just like hiring a cleaner. It can also be regarded as a compensation for the sudden dismissal of Jiang Tianwei.

It just so happens that the lounge in this building, which has been almost demolished, has not yet been constructed. Although all personal belongings have been taken away, there are still tables, chairs and benches, so it is no problem to host a meeting with five or six people.

Although there are cameras in the lounge, the transmission line buried in the ceiling has been broken and is completely unusable. There is no need to worry about being monitored. Although there are no electrical appliances in the room, the power supply is still available, and the old fan in the room can still keep running.

The entire lounge highlights privacy and a little bit of comfort.

Jiang Tianwei took out the key and opened the door. Several people came in one after another. They were all surprised. They didn't expect that there was such a suitable place for a secret base.

"Is this your shop?".

Kaomaki An asked involuntarily.

"This is where I worked before. The boss is not here now, so he gave me the key. You can use it without worry. Well, do you think that Madarame is that Madarame?"

Jiang Tianwei was the last one to come in. He locked the door, drew the curtains, and turned on the lights.

"I think it's possible."

As Ryuji spoke, he opened his phone, which showed a message board called the Phantom Thief Channel. There were all kinds of messages on it, some of which could be considered as letters for help. The stalker incident was discovered on the Phantom Thief Channel.

The message Long Si clicked on was a message saying that there was a big bad guy who used the disciples as nutrients, plagiarized their works, and exhibited them under his own name. It was said that he would also abuse the disciples in the iron house, and such a big villain should not be let off.

"As soon as we went in, we heard a reporter interviewing the old man. He said that his workshop was a tin house, and the reporter also said that his style was ever-changing and it didn't look like it was painted by the same person. You see, if he plagiarized his disciple's work, then that makes sense!"

Surprisingly, Long Si's mind worked very quickly and his thoughts were very clear. He didn't seem like the type of person who would fail a test. I guess he just didn't put his intelligence into studying.

"Now that you mention it, when Kitagawa and I were visiting an exhibition, I praised a painting, and Kitagawa acted very strangely, as if that painting was not worthy of praise... Could it be that that was the painting that was plagiarized by the teacher?"

Takamaki An also made a complementary argument.

It seemed that the discussion was becoming clearer and clearer, but Jiang Tianwei knew that oftentimes, this so-called clarity was just preconceived notions and fabrications. It was like if a person was very bad, then he did this bad thing and that bad thing too.

Now everyone is beginning to suspect Madarame, so everything seems suspicious.

"Whatever I think, I think Master Madarame is worth investigating."

Amamiya Ren said, holding her chin with one hand: "It's just that we don't have any good way to investigate him now... unless..."

As Amamiya Ren said this, he turned his gaze to Gao Juan Xing. Jiang Tianwei and Long Si also reacted and turned their gazes to Gao Juan Xing's exquisite body.

"What? Unless what? Why are you looking at me?"

"Ms. Gao, are you interested in dedicating your life to art?"

Jiang Tianwei said jokingly, Gao Juanxing curled her lips: "I told you not to cut my last name in half! Besides, what's the point of dedicating yourself to art!"

"Look, now that we have the information that Master Madarame may have abused his disciples and plagiarized paintings, then isn't the best way to go directly and ask Master Madarame's disciples?"

Jiang Tianwei was trying to induce her, and at this point, Gao Juan Xing also understood: "You mean, you want me to accept to be Kitagawa-san's model!?"

"Well, that's it! Then we can just ask him what he thinks of Madarame. If we can get proof from him, wouldn't that be confirmation?"

Gao Juan Xing thought that made sense. Although she had never been a painting model, she thought that since there was a model suffix like a graphic model, it should not be much different, right? Probably...

So she immediately picked up her phone and called the number Kitagawa had given her, and sure enough, the matter was settled quickly...

"He said that he doesn't have to help at the exhibition tomorrow, and he hopes that we can go directly to his home - that is, Master Madarame's workshop."

"As expected of you!"