Anime, but the Phantom Thieves of Heart

Lan Ke occasionally wanted to give the other person some gifts. No matter what he gave her, she would accept it with a smile and express her liking for it. However, Lan Ke knew that her "liking" was not because of the gift itself, but because of the fact that she gave it to the other person.

The same thing happened today, but the more the other party did so, the more guilty Lan Ke felt.

After all, the other party chose to follow him and leave the "Cat Kingdom" in order to see a wider world.

"But she's different from Tina. Tina can at least move around near the 'Gate,' but Emilia is a true 'mid-demon' and can only move in the 'cognitive world.' If that's not possible, why not take her to the 'Aquarium'?"

The atmosphere of both the 'Impression Space' and the 'Cognitive World' tends to be gloomy and dull, and is not suitable.

Just bringing a "person of the opposite sex" to "Jotaro Kujo's palace", Lan Ke instinctively felt that there was some danger.

This was the source of Lan Ke's distress, and he couldn't help thinking about it until he 'woke up'.

But at this moment, he instinctively tensed his muscles.

Because he found that there was "light" in his room!

You have to know that he went back to his room after dinner and did not turn on the lights during this period. Where did the light come from?

While restraining the changes in his body, Lan Ke followed the light and looked over, then he saw a figure sitting next to a small lamp.

The slightly slender back under the light made her look a little weak, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Xu Lun.

This made Lan Ke breathe a sigh of relief. After all, if it was Xu Lun, then at least he would not be in danger. He also quietly moved forward.

Xu Lun was seen supporting his head with one hand and resting his other hand on a not-too-thick "textbook".

Perhaps because of the hypnotic power of the book, Xu Lun had fallen asleep completely at this time, and there was even a hint of crystal at the corner of her mouth.

If Lan Ke thought she was a "literary girl" when he saw her from behind, now that he saw her from the front, everything was exposed.

However, judging from the creases on the book, Xu Lun had obviously been reading it for a while.

It's a pity that although she has tried very hard, she still succumbed to the 'sleep demon' in the end. It is still a little difficult for her to read.

But even so, she still worked hard to learn diving.

"She said she didn't care about Jotaro, but she was secretly learning to dive..."

If you think about it this way, Xu Lun seems pretty cute too?

Thinking of this, Lan Ke couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

But unfortunately, Lan Ke's smile did not last for a few seconds. Xu Lun, who was already asleep, suddenly smiled with his eyebrows curved, and muttered in a vague murmur.

"The sea is really interesting, Lan..."

Lan Ke, who was originally smiling, was stunned after hearing Xu Lun's words, and then the expression on his face became a little horrified.

and many more? !

Jolyne learned to dive not because she wanted to understand Jotaro better, but because of... him?

Chapter 39: 'Case within a case'

Izu is extremely hot in the summer, but the sea breeze at night is moist and a little cool, which makes Xu Lun, who is sitting at the low table, shiver unconsciously.

After her body shook unconsciously, she opened her eyes dazedly. After a few seconds of awakening, she suddenly realized that something seemed wrong with the surrounding environment.

The memories before falling asleep kept emerging in my mind.

After dinner, she was bored so she planned to come to Lan Ke to "play", or rather complain. After all, Lan Ke and the others were doing such interesting things without asking her out?

As for the fact that she still can't dive?

It doesn’t matter!!

Unfortunately, when she came to Lan Ke's room, she found that Lan Ke was already fast asleep on the bed. She was a little upset because of the disappointment and the fact that he had caused trouble without her during the day. So she sat at the head of the bed and looked at Lan Ke, who was still frowning slightly even though he was fast asleep. Her desire to play a prank faded a lot.

Although she was not as good as Lan Ke, a "genius" who started learning theoretical knowledge for who knows how many days in advance and then passed the diving certificate after a few practical tests with professionals, she realized the seriousness of diving after being reminded by Chisa Furukawa countless times, so she studied very seriously and naturally knew that diving was an extremely physically demanding activity.

She should have gone back to her room at this time, but for some reason, looking at Lan Ke's profile, she picked up the "textbook" on Lan Ke's desk, which was exactly the same as hers, and began to read it.

Is diving really that fun?

she does not know……

But she did become interested in diving because of Lan Ke.

But it turned out that she was not a good student. After watching for a while under the lights of Hunan, she fell drowsy and just woke up.

'You fell asleep in a boy's room?!'

Although she usually dresses differently from ordinary people, it is more because of rebellion. She is extremely conservative in some aspects.

She almost instinctively wiped the corner of her mouth, not knowing if there was something inside, and then suddenly turned around and looked to the side.

There was an 'indentation' in the bed, proving someone had slept there before, but now it was empty.

"Where have you been, Lan?"

Xu Lun instinctively stuck her head out of the window, and then saw Lan Ke, shirtless and wearing shorts, learning fencing under Polnareff's guidance.

I don’t know if it was because of the high intensity of the training or because it was so hot, but Lan Ke’s hair, which had been covering part of his eyes to reduce his presence, was pushed back, revealing his emerald-like eyes.

In fact, the reason why Lan Ke is often misunderstood, but no one doubts his mixed-race identity after getting to know him, is not only because he is extremely low-key and does not seem to dye his hair, but also because of his eyes.

At this time, Lan Ke, who was practicing fencing wholeheartedly under Polnareff's guidance, stared straight ahead with his eyes, looking bright and energetic.

Seeing this, Xu Lun did not speak to disturb the two of them, but stood alone by the window, silently gazing at Lan Ke below...

Because he was too focused and the person he was looking at was not hostile, Lan Ke did not notice Xu Lun's presence.

However, Polnareff, as a 'master of cold weapons', noticed Jolyne, but he did not point it out.

After all, when it comes to the relationship between Lan Ke and Jolyne, unlike Jotaro who has complicated feelings, he has the same attitude as Kakyoin Noriaki and can be said to be happy to see it happen.

After practicing swordplay all night, Lan Ke went to the 'cognitive world' to reunite with his teammates after 12 o'clock.

He was still cautious today, until he saw Busujima Saeko with a smile on her face and Lucy who was talking to her about something, Lan Ke breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that the improvement in their relationship that he had seen before was not just an illusion.

Thinking of this, Lan Ke's pace unconsciously quickened.

"Is everyone here?"

Lan Ke, wearing a bird-beak mask, was no longer casual and lazy as usual, but was now capable and dignified. The others nodded without any further ado, and then reported in turn according to their positions.

"Based on observation, although the 'target' has increased security around the office, no other personnel have been mobilized. This suggests there is no other 'external support' available."

Emiya Shirou, who was in charge of the overall control, finished his report first and then quietly retreated to the car.

The other party was as capable and trustworthy as ever, and Lucy showed no sign of weakness.

"Everything is normal within the surveillance footage, and personnel transfers are proceeding as normal. However, there's a problem with the 'screenwriter' we interviewed earlier. According to my investigation, he's related to 'Yadai'."

Lucy's words instantly piqued Lan Ke's interest.

Just like Josuke Higashikata felt that there was something wrong with the "screenwriter", Shirou Emiya and the others also felt that the screenwriter's appearance was too coincidental. Lucy started the investigation without even reporting to Lan Ke.

Sure enough, the problem was quickly found.

"His biological father was once the captain of a freighter owned by the 'Yadai Shipping Company,' but that ship sank years ago after striking an iceberg. His mother, driven by public opinion, took her son and remarried in another city. Meanwhile, the ship's deputy captain rose to prominence after that incident, and 'Yadai Hideto' was also the chief designer of that freighter."

There is no need to say anything more.

There is nothing wrong with this identity alone, but the problem is that the other party not only has this identity, but also appeared at the "Yashiro Shipyard" on this sensitive day, and acted as if he didn't know Yashiro Hideto, as if he was deliberately hiding something.

Lan Ke absolutely did not believe that the other party appeared here by coincidence.

"OK, I'll use 'Alternate Dimension Navigation' to confirm it later."

After saying that, Lan Ke looked at the last person present again, Busujima Saeko, who had not appeared in today's operation.

"Although my level is still quite far from reaching 'Rider', 'V', and 'Leader', I have tried my best to improve it a lot~"

As Busujima Saeko finished speaking, Lan Ke opened the 'Team List' and glanced at Busujima Saeko's level. The glaring 12 made Lan Ke's eyes widen unconsciously.

When Lan Ke just awakened his "Personality Mask", he was extremely absorbed in leveling up, an hour every morning and three hours after school, but it took him nearly a week to reach level 12.

After all, 'reality' is different from 'games'. Not only do you need to find the target first, but you also consume more than just HP and MP, but more of your 'physical strength'. Therefore, he needs a certain amount of time to rest and recover during the high-intensity monster-killing process.

But it’s only been two days since Busujima Saeko woke up, right?

It is impossible for the other party to keep spawning monsters. As the 'teacher representative' of the dojo, the other party also needs to spend a lot of time in the dojo.

But even in this situation, her level is almost catching up with Lucy.

You have to know that the other party joined the team several days earlier, and Lan Ke was also leading the monster hunting...

"'Oni' you've had a hard time these past few days."

"No, this is actually a good thing for me..."

If an ordinary person said this, Lan Ke would probably think that the other person was being polite, but looking at the increasingly bright smile on Busujima Saeko's face, Lan Ke knew that these words were absolutely from the heart.

A battle fanatic, or a battle fanatic whose "desire for destruction" was suppressed due to objective factors, finally found a world where he could "chop" at will -

Lan Ke really wanted to say, "Thank you for your hard work, shadows."

But this obviously cannot be said in front of teammates.

"Ahem~ Try to work moderately, don't overwork yourself..."

Lan Ke's words were quite subtle, but the smile on Busujima Saeko's face became even brighter.

"I'll take care of myself~"

Seeing this, Lan Ke didn't say anything more, but spoke again.

"Then according to the previous plan, tomorrow I will be responsible for the 'target's' personal safety in the 'material world'. 'V', you and 'Oni' will be responsible for the strategy of attacking the temple, and 'Rider', you will be the support."

"OK."

"no problem."

"Ah."

The three of them nodded almost at the same time. After all, this was something they had agreed on last night.

For Lan Ke and his friends, "getting to the island" was the most troublesome thing. After they really "got to the island", they found that the level of this "hall" was even lower than they had imagined. Lan Ke and Emiya could even go straight all the way there.

So Lan Ke simply decided to give this relatively weak "hall" that might have been created not long ago to Lucy and Busujima Saeko to try out.

It just so happened that Busujima Saeko had just joined the team, and Lucy was mainly responsible for the external work last time. This time, the two of them were responsible for the strategy of the hall, which could not only increase their combat experience, but also help them improve their levels. It could be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Of course, Lan Ke can also use the "Team List" to keep an eye on their situation at any time, and he can go to support them at any time if necessary.

After arranging the work for the next day, Lan Ke took a few people to leave the "cognitive world" and then locked onto the shadow of "Kusaka Hiranari" through the "extra-dimensional navigation".

"Sure enough, that guy isn't normal either..."

Looking at 'Kusaka Hiranari (shadow)' who had been 'isolated' in a 'single room', Lan Ke couldn't help but sigh.

What surprised Lan Ke even more was that the other party didn't seem to be afraid of their appearance, but instead showed an expression of doubt with a hint of hostility.

"The Phantom Thieves of Hearts? Why are you looking for me? Shouldn't you be looking for that 'scumbag'?"

"Scum? You mean 'Yashiro Hideto'?"

"What else?! Oh, no, there's another guy, the bastard who rose to prominence by stepping on my father's corpse!!"

Should we say it is worthy of being called 'Shadow'?

In the real world, the police wouldn't know how long the questioning would take, but this time the other party didn't even bother pretending, just spilled the beans and told everything, and Lan Ke narrowed his eyes slightly.

His intuition told him that the situation might be more complicated than he imagined...

Chapter 40 'Exploded (Physical)'

Kusaka Kansei's words did not surprise Lan Ke. After all, since the other party possessed the "shadow" and appeared near the "Eighth Generation Hideto" at this "coincidental" time, it was likely that the other party had some entanglement with the "Eighth Generation Hideto".

Faced with Lan Ke's questioning, the other party was unable to be honest, or he had been suppressing himself. When Lan Ke asked, he poured out all the causes and consequences.

According to the other party, there are fundamental problems with the freighter designed by the "eighth generation British" and the reason why the freighter driven by his father had problems was also because of the problem of the watertight compartment. If the watertight compartment could not be closed at the critical moment, the ship might still have a chance to reach the nearest port.

And the 'other scum', the then deputy captain, forced his father to stay on the ship in order to help 'Eito Yashiro' cover up the matter, and finally pushed all the responsibility onto his father.

"It's all because of those two guys!! They're the ones who destroyed my family!! I want revenge on them!! I want revenge on them!! I'm going to turn those two bastards and everything related to them into ash!!"

As 'Kusaka Kansei (Shadow)' muttered to himself, the opponent exploded directly, physically exploding and revealing his true form 'Flame Demon' under the shadow.

A demon made entirely of fire.

Looking at Kusaka Kansei who kept shouting "I will burn this world to ashes", Lan Ke couldn't help but sigh.