Tokyo Knights: The Odd Jobs X Files

According to Ai's account, Li Xin is not a bad person. There's nothing wrong with being kind to someone like that, since all she gave was a plate of cookies and a glass of milk.

"Big sister, second sister, I'm back!"

Lai Sheng Ai rushed in excitedly and saw Li Xin silently drinking milk. She came to Lai Sheng Tong's side in surprise and whispered to her, "Second sister, this strange person actually ordered milk!"

Lai Shengtong said calmly, "Actually, I was going to order hot water, but I found it too troublesome, so I just poured him a cup of hot milk."

Anyway, the three sisters didn't open the coffee shop to make money, so even if it was a losing business, as long as it allowed them to be a little lazy, Hitomi Kisugi would do it.

Love in the Next Life: "..."

Kiyosa Ai, who never expected there to be such a trick, felt that her IQ had been outmatched.

Damn it, it's clearly that weirdo's fault, but why does it feel like it's my problem?

In the next life, I will love to cry out for justice for myself.

"Alright, enough talk, change your clothes and get ready to help."

"Next life, Tong says to next life, Ai."

"Ok."

Without further hesitation, Ai quickly changed into casual clothes and an apron, and the lively and adorable part-time student, Xiao Ai, made a dashing entrance!

Seeing that there weren't many customers in the shop, and that her eldest and second eldest sisters didn't need her help, Lai Sheng Ai secretly approached Li Xin from behind, wanting to scare him.

"Hey, Mr. Ashin, hello!"

Lai Sheng Ai patted Li Xin on the shoulder while he was drinking milk. Li Xin was caught off guard and choked on the milk, coughing violently.

After his prank succeeded, Lai Sheng Ai laughed triumphantly, only to see Li Xin cough up a large pool of blood.

Next Life Love: "!?"

Just as Kiyosa Ai was shocked and didn't know what to do, Li Xin calmly pulled out a tissue from the table, wiped the blood off his hands and the table, and then casually threw the tissue into the trash can at his feet. Seeing Kiyosa Ai's stunned expression, Li Xin said indifferently, "Old problem, none of your business."

The thought that my love for the next life was hanging in the balance finally settled down... just kidding!

She had just made him vomit blood. Even if Ai had the most forgiving heart, she couldn't just pretend nothing had happened. She sat down opposite Li Xin and asked, "Mr. Xin, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? Or injured?"

Li Xin calmly replied, "It's just an old wound, nothing serious."

Seeing Li Xin's calm demeanor, Lai Sheng Ai couldn't help but believe him more than halfway. She joked, "You scared me to death! I thought you were here to extort money from our shop. After all, the coffee shop next door has been envious of our Cat's Eye Coffee Shop's business for a long time. It's not impossible that they would hire someone to maliciously smear our shop."

Li Xin was taken aback, then asked very seriously, "Can I ask the coffee shop across the street for money?"

Although he hadn't intended to make money this way, if he could...

"Mr. Ashin, I was just joking..."

"I love you in the next life," she said with a hint of helplessness.

"Oh……"

Li Xin said with great regret, then thought for a moment and asked, "If I go to their shop and vomit blood, and blame it on them, will your shop give me money?"

Love in the Next Life: "..."

What a business genius you are! You can even apply what you've learned to other situations!

However, after hearing Li Xin speak like this, Kiyosa Ai's wariness of him lessened somewhat. She whispered to Li Xin, "I heard from Yuko that you helped them solve the murderer's problem. Thank you."

Li Xin calmly replied, "I already received the money."

"Thank you anyway."

"Next life, I'll rest my hands on the table and support my chin with them," she said.

Seeing that Kisei Ai and Li Xin were chatting, Kisei Hitomi wanted to stop them. After all, Li Xin was different from ordinary customers. It was unclear whether he was friend or foe. Kisei Ai was naive, and if Li Xin had any ill intentions towards them, Kisei Ai could easily fall into his trap.

However, Lai Sheng Rui stopped Lai Sheng Tong and shook her head slightly.

She had a different opinion about Li Xin, feeling that even if she didn't need to become friends with him, she didn't need to be too distant from him either, because she might need to ask him for help someday.

Through her conversation with Azuki Nazuki, she roughly guessed that Li Xin was a kind of cleaner, someone who specialized in helping people solve their problems. Such people were somewhere between black and white, belonging to the gray group, and were considered half of the same kind as them.

Meanwhile, Lai Sheng Ai, bored out of his mind, suddenly asked Li Xin, "By the way, Mr. A Xin, what exactly do you do?"

Li Xin didn't hide anything and said directly, "Why would I do something if there's money to be made?"

Although his main profession is assassination, Li Xin is not picky about any business that can make money.

"What kind of answer is that..."

"I love pouting in the next life," she said, dissatisfied.

Li Xin thought for a moment and said, "Right now, the thing I want to do most is to catch either the phantom thief 'Cat's Eye' or 'Kid'."

Kiyoshi Ai's heart tightened suddenly, and then she asked, "Why? Is it for fame?"

"No, it's for the reward."

Li Xin's answer was concise and clear.

"Kid" is a well-known international thief with an international bounty of several million US dollars. If "Kid" is captured and handed over to the Suzuki Zaibatsu instead of the Metropolitan Police Department, a bounty of one billion yen can be obtained.

"Cat's Eye" has only been famous for a short time, and his bounty is only 100 million yen. However, the artworks he steals are priceless treasures, each worth hundreds of millions or even billions of yen. The authorities promise that anyone who can recover the artwork stolen by "Cat's Eye" will receive a reward of one-tenth of the value of the recovered artwork. These rewards, if accumulated, might be worth more than "Kidd." If either of these two phantom thieves can be caught, the money to rebuild Shibalipu Village will be secured. Therefore, Li Xin is determined to capture them.

Love in the Next Life: "..."

Seeing that Lai Sheng Ai had suddenly stopped talking, Li Xin asked in confusion, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Wasn't this topic started by "Love in the Next Life"? Why is it that "Love in the Next Life" is silent now?

What should I say?

"I'll roll my eyes in my next life."

Li Xin thought for a moment and said to Lai Sheng'ai, "Wish me luck."

Lai Sheng Ai sneered and said, "Fine, good luck!"

I wish you bad luck! Have you lost your mind? You actually dared to say you wanted to catch "Cat's Eye" and ask "Cat's Eye" to wish you good luck! Humph!

She cursed Li Xin in her heart, but suddenly, an idea came to her. She asked Li Xin, "Mr. Li Xin, what are your plans for catching 'Cat's Eye'?"

Li Xin asked in confusion, "Why are you only asking about 'cat's eye'?"

“I’m a fan of ‘Kidd’ and I don’t want you to go after ‘Kidd’.”

In the next life, I'll love to lie through my teeth.

“That won’t do, ‘Kidd’ is worth a lot of money.”

Li Xin shook his head, but then he remembered that his beloved sisters had given him cookies and milk. He thought for a moment and said, "But if I really catch 'Kidd,' I'll let you meet him and take a picture with him."

He remembered that these young girls seemed to like this kind of thing. He had seen in the newspaper that a woman named Sonoko Suzuki had placed an ad saying that she would pay ten million yen to anyone who could help her take a photo with "Kidd".

Well, perhaps before taking "Kidd" to the Suzuki conglomerate, we can take "Kidd" for a photo shoot to make some money. He's truly a business genius!

Chapter Fourteen, Step One

"Ring ring ring!"

The wind chimes on the coffee shop door rang, the door opened, and a large group of people filed in, quickly occupying nearly 90% of the seats in the Cat's Eye Coffee Shop.

Some of the people in the group were in civilian clothes, and some were in police uniforms, but they all came in groups. Without asking, these people were police officers working at the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, and they were also the largest customer group of Cat's Eye Cafe.

A young man sat down at the bar and said to the three sisters of Cat's Eye Cafe with great familiarity, "Sister Xiaolei, please give me the usual three dishes. Xiaotong, I'm sorry I have to work overtime tonight and can't go to the movies with you. Xiaoai, you're out of school? High school students are so lucky to get out of school so early!"

Li Xin felt that the man looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, he quickly remembered that this man seemed to be the young police officer he had seen before, the one who had been scolded mercilessly on the Metropolitan Police Department building.

"Mr. Ashin, the shop is busy, so I won't chat with you any longer."

In the next life, I will love Li Xindao.

But you were the one who contacted me first, I didn't ask you to chat with me...

Li Xin thought to himself, "This is what I'm complaining about."

"Junfu, what's going on? Why are you working overtime again!"

Hitomi Kisugi pretended to be very angry and questioned her boyfriend, Toshio Utsumi.

Utsumi Toshio said with a wry smile, "Don't ask me, go ask that damn 'Cat's Eye.' He's the one who's going to steal something in the middle of the night, otherwise why would I stand him up!"

Hitomi's anger was initially feigned, but when Toshio Utsumi said "damn 'cat's eye'," she became genuinely angry and turned her back on Toshio Utsumi.

Rui Kisugi prepared Utsumi Toshio's so-called three usual items—coffee, sandwiches, and fried rice—and personally served them to him, while casually asking, "Toshio, is that 'Cat's Eye' going to make its move again today?"

Utsumi Toshio first ate a sandwich to fill his stomach, then took a sip of coffee to refresh himself. When he heard Kisugi Rui ask, he replied without any suspicion, "Yes, 'Cat's Eye' has its eye on a valuable oil painting called 'The Daughter of Rome' this time. But don't worry, Rui-nee, we've laid down many precautions this time, and we definitely won't let 'Cat's Eye' succeed!"

"Oh, really? It seems you're quite confident this time, Toshio. You must have prepared some flawless plan, right?"

Lai Sheng Lei smiled and said.

"Of course!"

Speaking of this, Toshio Utsumi became very enthusiastic. He gestured to Rui Kisugi and said, "I definitely wouldn't tell anyone else, but since it's Rui-nee, I might as well tell you. We've already set up three lines of defense around the art museum. Anyone who gets close to the museum won't escape our eyes. Those lines of defense are located at..."

After being scolded by his boss all afternoon, Toshio Utsumi was eager to gain recognition. Thinking that everyone around him was his colleague and no one would betray him, he openly and frankly explained in detail the encirclement of "Maoyan" that day.

As she listened, she used her almost photographic memory to memorize everything, and then said, "It's truly flawless. It seems that this time, Toshio, you'll definitely be able to catch the 'cat's eye'!"

"That's right, Junfu, I wish you catch the 'cat's eye' soon, then get a promotion and a raise, and marry Second Sister!"

"Later Life Love also came up with a smile and said."

"Ah, well... well... it also depends on Xiaotong's willingness, hehehe!"

Toshio Utsumi was shy and genuine.

Hitomi was initially a little angry with Toshio Utsumi, but when she saw that Toshio Utsumi had once again revealed the entire plan to capture "Cat's Eye" to them without knowing anything, she felt a little sorry for him.

This time, Toshio will surely get a severe scolding from his section chief who loves to yell at people, right?

Hitomi Kisugi felt a pang of guilt, but she couldn't stop. They weren't stealing the artworks for money; they had a deeper purpose: to find their father, the original owner of the artworks, Michael Heinz.

Years ago, the father of the three Kisugi sisters, the famous art collector Michael Heinz, suddenly disappeared, along with his numerous and priceless art collection. After losing their father, the eldest sister, Kisugi Rui, took on the heavy responsibility of being the head of the family, raising Kisugi Hitomi and Kisugi Ai to adulthood, while also taking over the family business. Instead of falling apart due to the loss of Michael Heinz, the Heinz family's business has grown bigger and bigger, and it has now become one of the top families in Europe.

Because her father disappeared along with those artworks, Rui Kisugi believed that the missing artworks held clues to her father's disappearance, so she decided to retrieve them all. After being missing for many years, those artworks suddenly reappeared in recent years, and thus "Cat's Eye" was born. An art thief specializing in chasing Michael Heinz's collection began to take action.

"Second Sister, Brother Junfu is asking you a question!"

"I'll love to stir things up in the next life."

"Who wants to marry a policeman!"

Lai Sheng Tong deliberately feigned disdain and said, "Low salary and frequent overtime, marrying someone like that would ruin your life!"

Although she never thought it was wrong to take back her father's collection, she couldn't deny that as a phantom thief, she and as a police officer, Toshio Utsumi, were on opposing sides and enemies. She desperately wanted Toshio Utsumi to resign, as long as he wasn't a police officer, he could be anything, even not work at all. After all, her family had more money than they could spend in ten lifetimes, so she didn't need Toshio Utsumi to earn money. Therefore, she often said things like, "Let Toshio Utsumi resign."

Utsumi Toshio couldn't help but smile wryly upon hearing Kisei Hitomi's words.

He and Hitomi Kisugi had been lovers since high school. He knew very well that Hitomi wasn't a materialistic girl. After he became a policeman, he spent less time with her, which was why she opposed Toshio Utsumi becoming a policeman. When he gave up his dream of becoming a journalist to apply to the police academy, Hitomi had tried to dissuade him in every way, but he was determined to go his own way. So when Hitomi said these hurtful things, he couldn't refute her. He could only whisper, "I just thought that if I became a policeman, I could protect you..."

Hearing Toshio Utsumi mutter to himself, Hitomi Kisugi's heart softened again.

Every time, really every time, she wanted to be ruthless and break up with Toshio Utsumi, but Toshio Utsumi's innocence and kindness made it impossible for her to be decisive towards him.

Seeing that the atmosphere between Hitomi and Toshio was a bit tense, Ai Kisugi quickly tried to ease the tension by deliberately asking Shinichi loudly, "By the way, Mr. Shinichi, I remember you said that you also wanted to catch 'Cat's Eye'. May I ask what your plan is for catching 'Cat's Eye'?"

As expected, Hitomi Kisugi and Toshio Utsumi were drawn to Ai's words, and the tense atmosphere between them eased temporarily.

This was the first time Toshio Utsumi had met Lee Shin, but at first glance, he felt that Lee Shin was not a simple person, so he listened carefully to his answer.

He knew that since the bounty was placed on "Cat's Eye," many people had their eyes on it, including some skilled bounty hunters.

Bounty hunters are not well-known in Japan, but they are quite popular in Europe and America. Because of the activities of "Kid" and "Cat's Eye", many foreign bounty hunters have come to Tokyo. When the section chief scolded him today, he said that it was all because he had not caught "Cat's Eye" yet, which made those bounty hunters come because of the smell, and the security in Tokyo was going to deteriorate!

Those bounty hunters were clearly more interested in "Kidd," so how can you blame me for only being responsible for catching "Cat's Eye"? Why don't you go and yell at Officer Nakamori from the next class?

Toshio Utsumi cursed.

Because of being scolded by his section chief, Toshio Utsumi harbored some hostility towards bounty hunters, and his gaze toward Li Xin became more scrutinizing.

"My plan is not that complicated, just three steps."

Li Xin said calmly, "First, find the 'cat's eye,' then chase after it, and finally, catch the 'cat's eye,' and you're done."

Kisugi Ai and Utsumi Toshio were taken aback for a moment, and then they both burst into loud laughter.

What kind of plan is this? It's not like putting an elephant in a refrigerator!

Even Lai Sheng Tong couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle. Lai Sheng Lei also wanted to laugh, but seeing Li Xin's serious expression, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to laugh.