I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

After a while, the two seemed to be competing with each other, and started spinning around in circles.

Zhu Yu: ???

It's okay. Although NPCs always refuse to talk to players, players also have a basic understanding of "coercion".

Finally, just as Ranpo was about to turn around again, Zhu Yu couldn't hold back any longer. She quickly stepped forward and grabbed the other's shoulder. The force wasn't heavy, but it was enough to make the other unable to move.

Taking advantage of the pause, she quickly walked around to the other side, bent down slightly, raised her hands and gently cupped Ranpo's face, forcing him to raise his head and let his awkward eyes meet hers.

"Ranpo, it won't happen again."

Zhu Yu noticed that there were still chocolate crumbs on the corners of his mouth, so she wiped them away for him.

Haha, the player is so thoughtful, why not take down Little Ranbu!

"I'll be in a difficult position if Ranpo doesn't talk to me," Zhu Yu added sincerely. "Please don't ignore me."

Ranpo stared at him blankly, the awkwardness in his eyes slowly fading, replaced by a bright, sparkling emotion. After a long while, he awkwardly turned his face away, pushed her hand away, and his ears quietly blushed.

"Damn it, it hasn't even been an hour yet..." Ranpo muttered, his voice softer than a mosquito's buzz, yet clearly reaching Zhu Yu's ears. "The famous detective isn't so easily fooled."

She paused, then quickly added, "I understand!"

"I'll reluctantly forgive you, you idiot assistant."

Zhu Yu's ears automatically filtered out the word "idiot" for her.

Idiot? Who's the idiot?

Anyway, I'm not a player.

As if sensing her thoughts, Ranpo remained noncommittal, then raised his chin and let out a small "humph" from his nose: "Let's put the past behind us, but KOKO, you'd better listen carefully to what the great detective has to say next."

"The famous detective acknowledges you! You'll always be the famous detective's assistant..." Ranpo narrowed his eyes dangerously at her, continuing, "So don't have any more strange ideas~"

It's just a temporary partnership, and they're going to break up as soon as it's over? That's a bit much! The famous detective can't stand it.

Seeing Zhu Yu nod obediently, Ranbu was satisfied. He took out a box of chocolate bars from his pocket, took one out and stuffed it into Zhu Yu's mouth.

Zhu Yu subconsciously bit off a piece and chewed it.

Ranpo leisurely took out one as well, and bit it off—

In the blink of an eye, the chocolate bar in their mouths disappeared, the world before their eyes changed abruptly, and the two had returned to the real world.

Zhu Yu smacked her lips and found her mouth a little empty, so she took out some teething biscuit sticks she had made before from her backpack and started chewing.

"I want a famous detective too!"

Okay, one box.

Noticing that Po was standing crampedly to the side like he was being punished, Zhu Yu handed him a box as well.

"Thank you so much." Po was somewhat surprised.

The three of them stood in Po's room and started munching on teething biscuits.

As guests, Zhu Yu and Ranbu were very comfortable, while Saka, as the host, was restless.

Po: Have they made up? It seems like they have...that's great...but it's so quiet, why isn't anyone talking? Should I be the one to start a conversation? Uh, what should I say...?

Po was caught in a dilemma.

Chapter 176 Greetings from a Partner

Since Ranpo decided to stay in the United States for a while longer, Zhu Yu was no longer in a hurry to return to Yokohama. Seeing the progress on the task panel slowly increasing, she felt relieved and decided to wait for Mori Ougai to call and urge her before making any decisions.

Zhu Yu comforted himself: It's not time for the players to appear yet, no rush.

However, her prolonged absence caught the attention of her friends in Yokohama.

[Chūya]: How have you been lately? Are you settling in alright?

—It's alright, I'm used to it.

[Chūya]: Ah, I see... Yesterday at the "Old World" a ditto was saying that he felt like he hadn't seen you in a long time.

—It has been quite a while.

Zhu Yu was puzzled when she received a text message from Chuuya that seemed to have no coherent meaning. What exactly was Chuuya trying to say?

If there are any hidden storylines, please reveal them to the players as soon as possible.

So she took the initiative to message him: Chuuya, what's wrong?

This time, Chuuya was a bit slower in replying to messages.

[Chūya]: It's nothing, it's just that Yokohama has been a bit unsettled lately. It's good that you stay away for a while longer. Be careful. We'll be waiting for you to come back.

—Okay, Chuuya.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Yu, following Dazai's habit of sending messages, added a "heart" emoticon.

After a long time, Chuuya still didn't reply. Just as Zhu Yu was about to put down her phone, thinking the conversation was over, she noticed a message pop up on her phone.

【Chūya】: [Heart][Heart][Heart]

Zhu Yu: Hmm... What's this, Chuuya?

After staring at the screen for a long time, Zhu Yu realized it was just ordinary emoticons and didn't pay any attention to it.

Zhong Ye often travels for work, and usually after sending a message, he has to go about his other business. He won't see Zhu Yu's reply until he finishes his work. The two chatted casually.

Occasionally, when he called, there were often some unexpected situations, which meant that while he was eliminating the enemy in a hail of bullets, he would tell Zhu Yu on the other end of the phone, "Something unexpected happened, but it will be fine soon."

After a series of crackling sounds from the other end of the phone, Chuuya asked, slightly out of breath, "You didn't have to wait long, did you?"

Then, naturally, we continued with the previous topic.

His conversations usually consisted of talking about where he was on a business trip, how the souvenirs he bought for her were already in her office and she could open them when she returned; or sharing his daily life—he won another billiards match against the flag-themed group, discovered a delicious restaurant, bought a hat he really liked; and then there were his vehement complaints about Dazai Osamu's terrible behavior...

They don't communicate very frequently, but the atmosphere is very lively.

Zhu Yu felt that this little game was very well designed in these details, just like the NPCs were real people, living their own lives when the player did not interact with the NPCs.

If players want to understand NPCs, they need to step into their lives.

It really sparked her curiosity.

She would only interact with NPCs when she was in the mood, and focus on doing quests when she wasn't.

As for Dazai, his messages appear unpredictably every day. Sometimes he bombards you with a dozen messages in a minute, and other times he doesn't send a single message all day. If you reply slowly, he'll suddenly blurt out, "Hey, KOKO-chan, you're probably not busy with anything right now, right? Why aren't you saying anything~"

Each message also includes many cute emoticons and emojis.

Sometimes Zhu Yu would have a hallucination of chatting with a cute high school girl.

Dazai's topics veer off-topic; one second he's talking about which store has discounted bandages, the next he's talking about which tree is growing so well it's perfect for hanging, interspersed with a few comments about his new friends.

You can't just give a perfunctory answer, or they'll see through it (sweating).

Today's players are also complaining about the game's overly-model designs for certain NPCs...

Dazai calls less often than he texts, and even when he does call, he usually remains silent at first, only speaking after Zhu Yu speaks first.

If Zhu Yu doesn't end the conversation and hang up first, he can keep the call connected without saying a word, letting his shallow breathing on the other end of the line confirm his presence.

At first, Zhu Yu wasn't used to hanging up the phone proactively. Several times, after being startled by Dazai's voice suddenly appearing in her ear after a "rest," she realized that sometimes players do need to take the initiative to end the conversation.

As expected, Dazai cannot be judged by common sense (nods).

Of course, besides her friends, the Port Mafia members, including Koyo, would urge her, both openly and subtly, to return to Yokohama.

Mrs. Nakamori told her to enjoy herself with her friends and, worried that she might not have enough money, transferred some more money to her card.

Zhu Yu: !!!

President Fukuzawa would quietly ask her if Ranpo had been careful to control his dessert intake while he was in America. Whenever this happened, Ranpo would suddenly appear from somewhere and say with a straight face, "The famous detective didn't consume too many desserts, right, Assistant?"

Seeing Ranpo's confident demeanor, Zhu Yu believed him and quickly replied to Fukuzawa Yukichi, "Ranpo said no, please rest assured."

Ranpo's eyes widened instantly.

*

The group is about to depart for Yokohama.

The internal conflict in Yokohama's underworld has entered a new phase, with the disputes gradually affecting ordinary civilians. The Armed Detective Agency is under increasing pressure and urgently summons Ranpo back to provide support.

Mori Ougai was also somewhat eager to make a move, but since it wasn't the best time to act, he was able to remain patient for the time being, only hinting in his words that she could come back to help.

After discussing it, the group decided it was time to go back.

Upon hearing this news, people reacted in various ways.

Po was a little disappointed. It had been a long time since he had met someone he got along with so well, but now he was about to part ways...

Although Miss Meichuan—no, since we're friends now, I guess I can call her Miss Kuko, like Ranpo-kun does—sometimes her actions are indeed hard for him to handle, but she's very attentive to his feelings and very enthusiastic...it's hard to dislike her!

And his eyes are bright, and when he looks at someone intently, he looks like Karl (very quietly).

Ranpo is a very talented person with unparalleled talent, and he cherishes the time spent discussing mystery novels with him.

These two were opponents he was determined to defeat, and Edgar Allan Poe would never give up!

He will definitely come to Yokohama to find you, you two!

It seemed as if a raging fire was rising from behind the slope. Unfortunately, even the most fervent fighting spirit was extinguished the moment he saw Karl jump off his shoulder and cling to Zhu Yu's legs again.

Poe: ...My Karl!

Isabel was also very reluctant to part with them, and she decided to prepare heartfelt farewell gifts for them.

On her monthly shopping day, she enthusiastically held Zelda's hand as they walked through the mall, looking for things she could give as gifts.

Chapter 177 Current Teammates

Isabelle still held the silk scarf she had just chosen between her fingers, a faint scent of perfume wafting around her, everything seemed like an ordinary scene played in slow motion—until a short gasp suddenly came from the crowd.

At first, there were only sporadic disturbances. People on the periphery were still tiptoeing and looking around, while those who were perceptive had already subconsciously tightened their grip on their companions' hands. The originally smooth flow of people suddenly twisted into a knot and dispersed outwards.

Isabel was small and hadn't had time to see what was happening, but the unusual surroundings made her heart tighten.

"Mom, what's wrong?" She had just asked when a deafening explosion came from below the mall.

The sound was like a giant hammer pounding on her eardrums, causing her to experience constant tinnitus.

Then came the sharp crack of shattering glass, followed by a cacophony of screams from countless people. The once bright lights flickered twice before going out, leaving only the eerie green glow of the emergency lights flickering in the thick smoke.

“Don’t be afraid, baby.” Zelda’s voice rang out above Isabel’s head, and the next moment she was held tightly in her mother’s arms.

The surrounding crowd surged toward the exits like a school of startled fish. The once respectable and self-proclaimed elites could no longer remain calm and only wanted to get out of this dangerous place as quickly as possible.

Zelda groaned as she was bumped, using her back to shield herself from the ever-pushing crowd, tightly protecting her daughter in her arms, afraid that they would be separated in the surging tide.

A pungent, acrid smell wafted from the thick smoke, and the scene remained chaotic. Fortunately, the bodyguards around the two reacted quickly and tacitly, spreading out to protect their employers. Some led the way, vigilantly scanning their surroundings, while others covered the rear to prevent others from pushing them in.

The group bent over and moved towards the emergency exit under the cover of thick smoke. They finally saw the green fluorescent sign for the emergency exit and were about to breathe a sigh of relief when, as soon as they reached the mall entrance, the glaring sunlight illuminated the scene at the entrance—a group of men wearing gas masks were holding guns, with the muzzles pointed at the surging crowd.

"Everyone, squat down! Anyone who moves will die!"

The tallest man in the group shouted and fired a shot into the air.

The customers closest to the door screamed and crouched down, trembling with fear. Some tried to resist, but were shot dead. The scene successfully intimidated the others present.

Someone offered money to save their life, but the other party just sneered and shot them dead again.

It was a terrorist attack! Zelda realized immediately, her heart sinking.

She just tried to call the police and send a message to her husband, but both attempts failed.

The signal was blocked; these terrorists probably have ill intentions.

Zelda's heart clenched suddenly, as if gripped by an icy hand, making it difficult to even breathe.

The group squatted down as the terrorists instructed.

The bodyguards quickly moved in front of them, forming a human barrier. She lowered her head and, out of the corner of her eye, saw through the bodyguards' arms that the dark muzzles of guns were pointed at her.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly racked her brains for a way to work with the bodyguards to take down the terrorists. The bodyguards were armed too; if they just had the right opportunity...