The kidnapper flinched in surprise.
The motorcycle's headlights were blinding. His vision blurred; he couldn't see who was coming, only that someone was, and fast. Instinct took over, and he dove to the side.
The motorcycle skidded past, clipping his arm just enough to send pain shooting through it. His grip faltered, and the metal club he'd been holding clattered to the ground and rolled away.
The bike screeched into a dramatic stop across the room, drawing a long arc on the floor.
Jiangxia Tongzhi dismounted, pulled off his helmet, and casually tossed it aside.
The dropped club had rolled to his feet. Without missing a beat, he nudged it up with the toe of his shoe—whoosh!—it flipped into the air, and he caught it in his hand with a satisfying snap.
Jiangxia twirled the stick once, looked at the man in front of him—who was still radiating murderous intent—and smiled from the bottom of his heart.
Finally, a solid excuse to bash someone:
"Is it fun to beat up kids?"
The kidnapper caught sight of Jiangxia's twisted smile and felt a chill run straight down to his soul.
He spun around and made a break for the door, hoping to escape.
But just as he took his first step—BANG! The warehouse door flew open with a crash.
A group of extremely unfriendly-looking people stood there.
They spotted Jiangxia straddling a motorcycle like some kind of delinquent protagonist, and shouted in unison:
"Boss!"
The kidnapper trembled. Hard.
Even if he'd been a few crayons short of a box, he could still tell that the newcomers were with Jiangxia.
Which meant that door wasn't an option.
He turned toward the window—but WHAM! Pain exploded in his shoulder.
Jiangxia had nailed him with the club from behind.
The kidnapper stumbled into a pile of discarded crates and collapsed with a groan.
He tried to push himself up, moaning, but a shadow loomed over him before he could get far.
Jiangxia walked up silently, ghost-like, and without a word—THUD!—brought the club down again.
The kidnapper's brain went buzz. He curled up, clutching his legs, eyes wide with pain and something like fear.
Then he noticed Jiangxia looking down at him. Not with disgust, not with fury… but with eyes filled with a weird kind of eager curiosity. Like he was admiring a shiny new toy.
Jiangxia seemed to think for a moment, then murmured with deep satisfaction,
"…Feels pretty good."
The kidnapper suddenly understood.
That line… that line was the sequel to "Is it fun to bully the weak?" A weird, perverse internal monologue playing out externally.
And in that moment, the kidnapper's heart nearly stopped.
Why are you smiling like that?!
Did I awaken some kind of psycho?!
But Jiangxia was genuinely in a good mood—he could see the murderous aura starting to dissipate from the man.
—To make murderous aura edible, you have to get the person who generated it to let it go willingly.
Before, this guy had been full of killing intent for the little girl and Conan.
But now? After getting beat up, losing his weapon, and watching his escape routes vanish before his eyes, the only thing he was full of was regret.
The murderous energy that had clung to him was starting to crumble, like a rotten fruit falling off a tree.
If the situation had gone another way—if Jiangxia had arrived just a bit later, if none of the others had shown up, and the kidnapper had succeeded in killing both children…
That wouldn't be "giving up." That would be a wish fulfilled.
All that negative energy would be internalized. Jiangxia wouldn't be able to collect it.
Sure, maybe he'd get a soul or two from the kids if they died, but…
Honestly, souls were rarer than murderous aura. Not every dead person turned into a ghost.
Betting on souls was like buying a blind box. You might get something cool, or you might get a bunch of useless stickers.
Better to find some nice edible murderous aura for the ghost baby instead.
Plus, Jiangxia wasn't really interested in killing Conan.
Say what you want, but he had a conscience.
Technically, Kudo Shinichi had saved him once.
A year ago, Jangxia Tongzhi—the original owner of this body—had been sitting in the bathroom, silently bleeding out from self-inflicted wrist wounds.
His soul gave up and drifted off. That's when Jiangxia crossed over and picked up the abandoned body.
It had been a rough start. New world, zero energy, one foot in the grave.
He tried to call for help, but couldn't find the phone.
Eventually, he spotted it—floating in the bathtub. Fried.
Just when things were looking grim, Dr. Agasa happened to pass by. He saw the door to Jiangxia's house wide open and got suspicious, so he came in to check.
But when he heard water running in the bathroom, that scatterbrained scientist politely assumed Jiangxia was just… taking a bath.
He scratched his shiny scalp and left.
Great timing, Doc.
Thankfully, as soon as Jiangxia got out of the hospital, he ran into Kudo Shinichi and Ran Mouri on their way home from school.
Kudo, being the nosy death magnet he was, picked up something off in Dr. Agasa's vague mutterings. He relied on his usual method—breaking into other people's houses—kicked in the door, and managed to save Jiangxia in the nick of time.
So yeah. Jiangxia didn't want Conan dead.
There were plenty of dying people in the world.
But it was rare to find someone young and handsome, orphaned, and leisurely employed.
Thanks to his good genes and his parents' leftover inheritance, Jiangxia was living decently. If Kudo Shinichi and Ran Mouri got into trouble, he'd try to help.
Emphasis on try.
—If Conan kept sticking his nose into the Black Organization's business, then hey. Natural selection.
All Jiangxia could do in that case was collect his soul, raise it right, and maybe fatten it up a little—call it repayment for saving his life.
…Anyway, none of that mattered now. Jiangxia had arrived at the warehouse in time, so the trolley problem didn't need solving.
Now all he had to do was harvest that sweet, sweet murderous aura.
And the kidnapper in front of him was clearly not built for hardcore villainy.
After a few good thwacks, the murderous aura started to loosen more and more.
The ghost baby let out a string of excited giggles, scurried over, latched onto a chunk of aura, and buried its face into it like it was a fresh croissant.
Sure, it wasn't as rich and delicious as the one from that guy earlier in the day…
But at least it was edible!