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Chapter 184 - Chapter 183: Martial Arts Master

"When the bell tolls for the end of the century, we shall meet again!"

Kuroba Kaito walked to the window, threw a smoke bomb, and transformed into a white figure, soaring into the sky. "Farewell! Great detective!"

Kuroba Kaito took a deep breath.

He suppressed the urge to beat Fujino up.

Even if he tried, he probably couldn't win.

Better to bail.

"Heh."

Fujino stood by the window, calmly watching Kaito Kid depart.

If he remembered correctly, this should be the prelude to the "Magician of the Century's End" movie.

But why was this guy telling him?

Right, it seemed if this guy really went against the Suzuki family, they would most likely hire him to protect their treasures.

Looks like he could earn another huge sum.

The Suzuki family was very generous.

The scene of Mrs. Suzuki casually taking out five million yen last time was still fresh in Fujino's mind.

Early the next morning, two police helicopters landed in the villa's backyard as the red sun rose in the east. Tanaka Kikue, having been forcibly brought to her senses, turned herself in under Fujino's guidance.

That night, at Fujino's home.

After a long day, Fujino returned home. Sitting on the sofa, he opened the system interface.

A system light screen appeared before him, flashing a notification:

[Soul Lotus Level Up! Current Level: 2 - Ability Gained: (Soul Wings)]

[Detective Profession Task Detected: Magic Gathering Murder Case]

[System Reward: 1,000,000 Yen, +100 Detective Reputation Distributed]

"Soul Wings?"

Fujino glanced at the Soul Lotus level-up notification.

He then opened the system interface:

[Soul Lotus: Level 2 (0/500)]

[Soul Wings: (Wings composed of pure soul power, can temporarily grant the Soul Lotus flight capability; Remark: Consumes a large amount of additional mental power when used)]

"Flight capability?"

Fujino looked at the system description, stroking his chin. "The skills the Soul Lotus gains are incredibly overpowered."

Flight was arguably one of humanity's most coveted skills.

Naturally, Fujino also wanted to fly.

Although he already had the Grappling Hook, its range of use was quite limited.

In certain situations, if there were no buildings nearby capable of supporting his weight for the hook to latch onto, then the Grappling Hook was useless.

Although the flight skill couldn't be directly applied to him, being usable by the Soul Lotus was still quite good.

After all, he could control the Soul Lotus. Rounding it up, it was as if he could fly.

He then turned his gaze to the system's balance interface:

[Current Balance: 5,800,000 Yen]

"Five million eight hundred thousand yen?"

Fujino looked at the system interface, his mind racing.

His two main goals now were opening a shop and upgrading the Fighter profession. Both would require a total of six million yen, not counting system discounts.

He currently had 5.8 million yen, still short by about 300,000 yen.

And 300,000 yen was just the minimum; opening a shop would definitely cost upwards of three million yen, closer to four million.

Opening a shop was a gradual process, meaning it would take some time to recoup the three million.

After thinking for a moment, Fujino made a decision.

He would upgrade the Fighter profession first.

[2,670,000 Yen deducted from Host]

[Fighter Profession Breakthrough]

[New Profession: Martial Arts Master, has been sent to Host's System Profession Interface]

"Martial Arts Master?"

Fujino voiced his slight surprise, though it was within his expectations, not too outrageous.

If it upgraded him to something like 'Rape Master'[1], that would be a bit... much. 

Without much thought, Fujino opened the system profession interface and began examining the skills of Martial Arts Master:

[Martial Arts Master: Level 1 (0/500)]

[Profession Skills:]

[Martial Arts Master (You have considerable achievements in the field of martial arts, mastering numerous fighting techniques and flashy, versatile combat stances)]

[Valiant Iron Fist: Level 3 (Increases Host's Strength by 60%; when fighting bare-handed, increases Host's all attributes by 60%)]

[Fighting Spirit: Level 1 (Primary: Increases Host's Perception by 20%, Reaction by 20%; when fighting bare-handed, gains 20% Fighting Aura)]

[Combat Insight: Passive Skill (During combat, Host gains a 20% chance to predict opponent's movements)]

[Currently Assignable Points: 2]

"Fighting Aura, and all-attribute enhancement when bare-handed?"

Fujino looked at the Martial Arts Master's skills, stroking his chin. "Even Combat Insight, that predictive passive skill, had its trigger chance increased by 10%."

Of course, these were just the explicit stats.

The moment he obtained the Martial Arts Master profession, numerous memories related to martial arts flooded Fujino's mind.

Those memories felt innate, existing within his mind.

The breakthrough for Martial Arts Master was similar in effect to other profession breakthroughs.

It broke through the upper limit of the profession skills and also granted some additional effects.

After thinking for a moment, Fujino allocated all two of his newly acquired points.

[Valiant Iron Fist: Level 4 (Increases Host's Strength by 80%; when fighting bare-handed, increases Host's all attributes by 80%)]

[Fighting Spirit: Level 2 (Increases Host's Perception by 40%, Reaction by 40%; when fighting bare-handed, gains 40% Fighting Aura)]

Valiant Iron Fist and Fighting Spirit – Fujino considered them as branching enhancements for physical and mental aspects.

Iron Fist focused on attack, while Fighting Spirit focused on reaction and perception, with a slight added bonus of imposing pressure on the enemy.

This 'pressure' was a subtle thing.

In actual combat, Fujino had a deep understanding of it. If you could make the opponent feel like they were carrying a sack of rice up several flights of stairs from the get-go, the battle was already half won.

Deep in the night, Fujino lay in bed.

With a thought, he activated the Soul Lotus, changed into the Assassin's Robes, and climbed out the window behind the third floor.

Having acquired a new flight skill, he naturally had to test it out.

Beika Town at night, police lights flickered, sirens tore through the calm, a scene of thriving prosperity.

Fujino, controlling the Soul Lotus, rode a motorcycle, roaming the streets.

Soon, he spotted a dark figure on a nearby rooftop.

The figure wore a ninja-like outfit, a dark blue top, and a black-and-blue bandana covering its face.

Even more ridiculously, as Fujino watched, the ninja leaped from one rooftop to another, the entire process making not a single sound.

"Holy crap, qinggong?" (Lightness skill)

Fujino stared at the clearly unnatural ninja, momentarily stunned.

But he quickly recovered.

In the Conan world, anything outrageous was exceptionally reasonable.

Suddenly, a system notification sounded, interrupting Fujino's thoughts: "New Profession Task Detected. Please check!"

"Triggered a system task?"

Fujino paused upon hearing this, then opened the system task interface.

Then, a profession task appeared in the interface:

[Detective Profession Task: Phantom Thief Edogawa Kozou]

[Objective: Arrest Edogawa Kozou]

[Reward: 1,000,000 Yen, +100 Detective Reputation]

"Edogawa Kozou?" (Edogawa Kid)

Fujino looked at the system interface, at the 'ninja's' name, and seemed to recall something.

He should have seen this title in the newspaper a few days ago.

Edogawa Kozou.

Of course, not that shinigami Edogawa, but the robber Edogawa.

This Edogawa Kozou was a thief and robber active throughout Japan.

The reason he was called Edogawa Kozou was because his methods resembled those of thieves from old Japanese period dramas. He often used his agile body for robbery and theft, and when pursued by the police, he would always use incredibly strange movement techniques, leaping over eaves and walls to escape.

"A thief who kills after their identity is exposed?"

If he remembered correctly, this guy should be the serial killer from the 'Traveling Troupe Murder Case'.

Edogawa Kozou's true identity was a staff member of a theater troupe.

The reason he traveled nationwide was because the troupe toured the country.

In the 'Traveling Troupe Murder Case', this guy killed because the troupe leader saw through his true identity.

Honestly, Fujino looked down on this type of person the most.

Kuroba Kaito's Kaito Kid at least earned his respect.

Although also a thief, he didn't steal from the poor, only targeting the rich.

This Edogawa Kozou fellow, being a thief and stealing from ordinary people was one thing, but actually wanting to silence witnesses after being discovered.

"Since the system task has been issued, might as well deal with this potential murderer..."

After thinking for a moment, Fujino put away the motorcycle, activated Soul Wings, and his figure took flight. The white robes billowed in mid-air with the sound of fabric rustling in the wind as he pursued Edogawa Kozou.

Edogawa Kozou leaped from one rooftop, landing directly on another.

He scanned his surroundings, searching for tonight's prey.

Soon, he found his target under a streetlight.

A woman walking alone at night.

The woman had short hair and wore a smart suit.

From his perspective, she looked like an OL (office lady) just returning home from overtime.

Mhm, a good target for robbery.

He quickly made his decision.

First, knock the woman out, then take all her money.

Tonight, he had already gathered over 500,000 yen. Honestly, it wasn't satisfying.

Let's see how much money this woman had on her.

Meanwhile, Fujino, tailing Edogawa Kozou, also spotted the targeted woman.

"Well now, this is going to be fun."

Standing on the rooftop, Fujino looked at the targeted woman, an unkind smile appearing on his face.

That woman was none other than Satou Miwako, whom he would call the Beika Virago.

Good grief, Satou Miwako again.

He remembered she had a car, right?

Why was she walking home at night?

And that OL uniform...

He understood. Could Satou Miwako be fishing for criminals again?

Fishing for criminals 2.0?

This Edogawa Kozou fellow was really unlucky, actually attracting the attention of the Beika Virago.

[1] (Note: '苔草' is likely a euphemism or internet slang, localized to the feeling.)

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