Detective Conan: Shadow Legion Office

5: Chapter 5 The Unexpected windfall: The Italian gold coin incidentDays flowed like the waters of Beika Town, seemingly calm on the surface but with undercurrents surging beneath.

Lin Long’s office gradually gained some fame. President Tanifuji’s promotion was indeed effective; many people came to his door based on the reputation of ”quickly finding missing pets” and ”finding old neighbors’ addresses.” Most commissions were trivial matters, but they were steady and enough for Lin Long to maintain a facade of peace.

Beneath that peace, the Shadow Guards never ceased their actions.

In these few weeks, many more cases occurred in Beika Town: a councilman’s secretary embezzling public funds, a jewelry store theft, a celebrity being harassed by sasaeng fans... Lin Long had the Shadow Guards intervene selectively, quietly absorbing the malice black qi each time without exposing themselves.

In just half a month, the numbers on the system panel had jumped to a staggering level:

[Current malice black qi: 7620 points.]

[Number of Shadow Guards available for summon: 8.]

[Distance to unlocking ”Shadow Sharpshooter” (requires 5000 malice black qi + 100 Soul Points): Conditions met. Unlock now?]

”Unlock.”

Lin Long sat in his executive chair, lightly tapping the virtual panel with his fingertip.

[Ding! Shadow Sharpshooter has been unlocked. Current number available for summon: 2.]

As the notification sound faded, two brand-new surges of energy poured into Lin Long’s body. Unlike the pure stealth of the Shadow Guards, the Shadow Sharpshooter’s energy carried a sharp edge, as if it could pierce through any obstacle. With a thought, two black figures slightly more slender than the Shadow Guards rose from the shadows. They held shortbows condensed from shadow energy, with faint blue energy arrows notched on the strings, and their gazes were even sharper than those of the Shadow Guards.

”Not bad.”

Lin Long nodded with satisfaction. With the Shadow Sharpshooters, his long-range suppression capabilities had significantly improved, giving him more confidence when dealing with armed thugs.

Just then, Shadow One, hidden outside the window, sent information—not text, but a real-time video feed.

In the video, Conan Edogawa and the children of the Detective Boys were walking down a secluded alley. Genta held a freshly bought bowl of eel rice, eating until his mouth was covered in oil

; Mitsuhiko and Ayumi were huddled together, studying a treasure map they had picked up from somewhere; Conan walked at the back, his brow slightly furrowed, seemingly on guard.

In the shadows at the corner of the alley, three men in trench coats with fierce eyes were staring intently at them, whispering to each other. Although the content was inaudible, the undisguised greed and impatience could be felt even through the screen.

[Strong malice black qi detected: 320 points per person, totaling 960 points.]

Looking at the faces of the three men, Lin Long suddenly found them familiar. He searched his memory for the plot of Conan and quickly made the connection—weren’t these the three robbers from the ”Italian Gold Coins Incident”?

In the story, these three robbers from Italy had stolen a batch of gold coins. During their escape, they hid the coins and drew a treasure map as a marker, which was accidentally found by the Detective Boys. They followed Conan and the others, hoping to take back the coins, but were eventually subdued by Conan’s schemes, and the gold coins were recovered by the police.

”So it’s them.”

A playful smile curled at the corners of Lin Long’s mouth. The value of those gold coins was not low; for him now, it could be considered a ”windfall from the sky.”

More importantly, the malice black qi on these three robbers was quite dense. Absorbing them might directly unlock the next enhancement for the Shadow Guards.

”Shadow One, track them and determine the location of the hidden gold coins.”

Lin Long immediately issued the command, ”Do not alert anyone, especially Conan and those children.”

[Shadow One received.]

The screen switched to Shadow One’s perspective, which acted like a high-precision tracker, closely following the three robbers. Conan seemed to have sensed being followed and deliberately led the Detective Boys in circles before finally entering an abandoned warehouse—the exact location marked on the treasure map.

The three robbers exchanged looks and quietly followed them inside.