Anime, but the Phantom Thieves of Heart

"Where are you?"

"Where is it? Let's see which of Edogawa, Arakawa, or Shibuya finishes first... Wait, hey? What about Minato-ku showing up too?!"

"Click~"

The call was hung up, and Higashikata Josuke was in a bad mood...

Chapter 9 As long as I have no morals, you can't use morality to kidnap me

"Oh, so this is what the 'Phantom Thief of Hearts' looks like? What a disappointment! I thought it was a female thief as beautiful as 'Cat's Eyes'! I even prepared so many people to catch you! What a disappointment! How are you going to compensate me?!"

On the second underground floor of the Impression Space, Lan Ke quickly found his target, 'Congressman Ogawa', according to the guidance of the 'Alternative Dimension Navigation'.

But the other party's reaction surprised Lan Ke a little.

The few 'shadows' he encountered before either threatened him with bluffing or attacked him without any reason, making it basically impossible to communicate normally.

But the 'shadow' in front of him seemed to have not only guessed that he might be targeted, but had even made preparations in advance.

This made Lan Ke's heart skip a beat. After all, the "Congressman" in the original book was one of the masterminds behind the scenes. Lan Ke even almost thought that a "pancake" would pop up from some corner.

Unfortunately, the facts proved that he was worrying too much. The so-called "preparation" of the other party was meaningless. After all, no matter how many bodyguards the other party hired, it would not affect the "impression space".

Not to mention that even in the real world these so-called bodyguards would not be able to stop him.

Thinking this way, Lan Ke stopped wasting time.

"I don't have much time, and you talk too much nonsense, so you can only blame yourself from now on. It's you who forced me to speed up..."

As he spoke, he took out his palm and pointed at the other person from a distance. The man, who had no idea what was happening, was stunned at first, and then——

"Ahhhh!!!"

Accompanied by a wailing sound, the opponent's shadow was instantly engulfed in flames, and the original 'human form' was instantly covered by the black mud representing 'desire'.

When the black mud completely submerged it, a black horse with huge two horns on its head appeared in front of Lan Ke.

Lan Ke raised his eyebrows at this.

What a coincidence, it turned out to be a 'two-horned beast'.

But when you think about it, it doesn't seem to be a problem. After all, the other party just said "female thief" on the left and "imprisonment" on the right, which is in line with the "Bicorn's" habit. It's not surprising that it would possess him.

My own bicorn had a similar temperament before it surrendered... Well, it hasn't changed much now, it's just that it has restrained itself a little because it's 'surrendered to a more powerful evil'.

Thinking of this, Lan Ke became even more unhappy.

Facing the 'two-horned beast' who was yelling 'I'm going to eat your kidneys', he pointed the long staff in his hand, and then a flash of lightning hit the opponent directly.

The weak-electric Bicorn instantly fell to the ground due to the paralysis of the electric shock, and then a bone shield hit its face hard.

Use a bicorn to fight with the opponent?

Lan Ke isn't the type to get carried away with hot-bloodedness. Since he knows his opponent's weaknesses, it's naturally easier to attack them.

The simplest way to deal with a Dicorn that is weak to electricity and good at physical attacks is for Lan Ke to use 'Gio (electric attack)' as the main attack, while the 'Skeleton Warrior' that can block physical damage will fight it.

There is no need for any special methods. Facing such a weak opponent, Lan Ke just needs to crush it like a chariot.

A few minutes later——————

"I'm so sorry for not letting you have fun, Phantom Thief!"

Looking at the man lying on the ground in a very standard 'dogeza' posture, Lan Ke didn't know how to complain for a moment. Should he say that the other party slid to his knees completely?

But at this moment, the other party spoke again.

"But I hope you, Phantom Thief, will forgive my mistakes. I will learn from my mistakes and serve the people wholeheartedly in the future..."

"boom!!"

"Ahhhhh!!"

With a loud bang, the opponent was kicked hard by Lan Ke and flew straight into the wall of the "Impression Space" behind him, making an extremely exaggerated sound. The opponent let out a scream in unbearable pain, but before he could open his eyes, a low and suppressed male voice sounded in his ears.

"Want to serve the nation? Then wait until you've atoneed your sins! Now there's only one thing you need to do, and that is to tell me everything you've done."

Councillor Ogawa opened his eyes and looked at the terrifying bird-beak mask under the dim light, and even his voice became distorted.

"Yes!! Phantom Thief!!"

Looking at the man who had a painful expression on his face but knelt down again, Lan Ke couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Although he was a scumbag, he was indeed a qualified "politician". He actually bargained with a heart-stealing thief?

That’s pretty good!

Lan Ke in the impression space was using a notebook to record what this 'Congressman Ogawa' had done.

Accepting bribes and engaging in adultery to sell government intelligence to intelligence dealers; using the power of parliamentarians to plunder wealth; wantonly using PUA to manipulate his own subordinates...

Listening to everything the other person said, although it was very unpleasant, for some reason I always had a feeling that "ah, this is indeed something that this kind of person would do, it doesn't seem strange at all."

"Crack~!"

Lan Ke slapped himself on the forehead.

"No, no, this is obviously not normal. I think I'm a little abnormal for thinking this is normal. Or maybe it's the world that makes me think this is normal that's actually a little abnormal?"

While muttering to himself, Lan Ke strengthened his inner thoughts.

Sure enough, the world needs 'healing'!

Lan Ke's progress is pretty good, but the progress at the police's side is worrying.

"I'm truly sorry for disappointing the people!!"

'Congressman Ogawa', kneeling on the ground in the same dogeza position as in the memory space, completely ignored the flashing lights.

In contrast, there is a fanatical media.

If the police hadn't stopped him, the other person would probably have been surrounded by microphones by now, right?

Toshio Utsumi, who arrived at the scene as soon as possible, had a very ugly expression on his face.

It's not just because these crazy media have seriously affected their work, but also because of what 'Congressman Ogawa' said before.

Including the one this morning, this is already the fifth 'Phantom Thief Incident' that has occurred today.

Although compared to the "Zeyueba incident" in the morning, the impact of the three subsequent cases was not too great, and in fact, only the police knew about it besides ordinary passers-by at the scene.

The first case involved a journalist who fabricated fake news and used his position to maliciously slander certain people, helping Ze Yuezhi to "take advantage of the situation";

The second episode is about a bank manager who deliberately tricks young women into taking out loans, and then forces them to sell their bodies to repay the loans;

The third person is an unknown priest who provides Ze Yuezhi with some information about married women who come to pray.

But the fourth case was different. Although he was just an ordinary local councilor, let alone a member of Parliament, even if he was introduced in the general news, it would basically only be in the corner of the video or picture or in the text "etc.".

But just the words "MP" are enough to attract people.

Almost at the same time the other party called to surrender, reporters also swarmed in, and no one knew where the information was leaked from.

But because the cases occurred almost simultaneously, apart from Josuke Higashikata, who happened to be near the crime scene and whose abilities were recognized by his superiors, who was in charge of the case with the least impact, the other two cases were handled by the two "Inspectors" Megure Jusan and Nakamori Ginzo respectively, while the "Assistant Inspector" Utsumi Toshio stayed at the "headquarters" just in case.

Until the fourth case appeared.

This is nothing, as a policeman should just handle the report. But the problem is that when the reporter asked why he, an ordinary congressman, hired so many bodyguards at home, he said very frankly, "Because I suspect that the so-called Phantom Thief of Hearts is a female thief like the previous Cat's Eye, so I want to catch her."

As for what to do after being caught?

No one asked, and even if they did, it couldn't be broadcast. Everyone understands it anyway.

However, this topic shifted everyone's attention from him to Toshio Utsumi's identity.

"Officer Utsumi, if I remember correctly, you were the officer responsible for hunting down Cat's Eye back then, right? I wonder what you think of what Councillor Ogawa said?"

What do you think?

He wanted to shove his gun down the other person's throat!

After all, the so-called 'cat's eyes' are his fiancée, elder sister-in-law and younger sister-in-law.

Hearing that the bastard in front of him dared to disrespect his wife and others, one can imagine the anger in his heart.

But he also knew that he couldn't reveal even the slightest flaw.

"I don't want to comment on this. As I said back then, according to our internal police assessment, 'Cat's Eye' is a thief who steals the works of specific artists. The vast majority of their works now exist have been stolen by 'Cat's Eye'. Until new works are discovered, 'Cat's Eye' will probably not appear again..."

Toshio Utsumi seemed not to understand what the reporter said and kept repeating the same things he had said at the previous press conference.

As for the results of the Cat's Eye theft?

In a way, 'Cat's Eye' is different from 'The Phantom Thieves of Hearts'... No, considering the order in which they appeared, it should be said that 'The Phantom Thieves of Hearts' and 'Cat's Eye' are similar in that their targets are basically criminals, and therefore their belongings are basically 'stolen goods'.

The stolen property that has no owner is of high priority among the cases handled by the police.

Therefore, Toshio Utsumi had no psychological burden at all when talking about these things.

Now he just hoped that these reporters would leave as soon as possible so that he could take them back to the police station for a thorough "questioning".

At the same time, on the other side, Lan Ke, who had completed his "change of heart", had used "extra-dimensional navigation" to return from the "impression world" to the "material world".

However, he did not leave the bathroom immediately. Instead, he looked at the time on his mobile phone again.

According to his plan, he would use the special movement mechanism in the 'impression space' to quickly move from different 'impression space exits' to distribute the 'advance letter', and then 'steal the heart' and forge an alibi.

The notice letter and the stolen heart have been completed, and the next step is to forge an alibi.

It takes about a quarter of an hour to get to Mihua from Taitung by subway, which is why Lan Ke said before that he was in a hurry.

If he was only late for a few minutes, it could be explained as him being delayed at the station for a while, but if the delay was too long, it would be difficult to explain.

According to the time recorded on his mobile phone, the bus would arrive at the station in about 2 minutes, so he needed to wait a while before going out.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take out his 'Death Note' from his 'backpack'.

This notebook, which Lan Ke gave this ominous name because of his bad taste, records the targets Lan Ke plans to steal hearts from and their crimes.

This is also the reason why Lan Ke did not use the more convenient "mobile phone" to record.

The data on his phone might be stolen, but he stuffed the Death Note directly into his backpack except when he was using it. And there was no one in this world who could go to the Velvet and steal his things.

This is a good opportunity to use this time to see if I can lock onto a few more targets in the "Impression Space".

Lan Ke could see that although ordinary monsters would drop gold coins or items, most of them were just "junk" and were of no use at all.

After all, due to the issue of values, what seems like treasure to these "devils" might be just garbage to Lan Ke.

In contrast, these shadows that can be listed in the 'Impression Space' are much better. At least after defeating them, you can obtain 'Skill Cards', 'Sealed Armor' or 'Supplies'.

However, when Lan Ke entered the name into the 'Other World Navigation' according to the information provided by the other party, something unexpected happened.

There is no display in the other-dimensional navigation?

Lan Ke, with a look of surprise on his face, quickly checked his name. He wondered if he had typed it wrong.

┅澪一弍２/３○⑼㈧

But after re-entering it, it still didn't matter. This made Lan Ke even wonder if that 'Congressman Ogawa' was fooling him?

But that's not right. It's impossible for the other party in the 'impression space' to lie. After all, he is directly interrogating the other party's 'heart'!

So where is the problem?

After thinking for a moment, a doubtful guess emerged in Lan Ke's mind.

Strictly speaking, "shadow" is not equal to "bad person in the social sense", because the requirement for the birth of shadow is "distorted desire".

This also leads to people like Jotaro Kujo, who, although Lan Ke does not know the detailed reasons, cannot be said to be bad people. Not only do they have shadows, but they even form a "palace".

By the same token, the absence of "shadows" does not mean that they are necessarily "good people in the social sense". After all, just like a mentally ill person thinks he is normal and the world is abnormal, perhaps in the eyes of some people, what he does is really normal.

There may be some distortion in their hearts, but the degree of distortion is not enough to form an anchored 'shadow'.

Thinking of this, Lan Ke couldn't help but complain.

"Are these guys truly human? Or is it true that as long as I have no morals, you can't use them to hold me hostage?"

With extremely complicated feelings, Lan Ke continued searching, but when he reached the last line, he was stunned because the clue was a little subtle.

Its name is——————Tachikawa Style!

Chapter 10 If you don't want others to know...

'Congressman Ogawa' is just a local councilor and his status is not very high, but that's only compared to others.