Chapter 105 : Come Out, Matsuda ()
Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu's temporary mission was completed by evening. Before that, Little Sheep Jiang Lai and the Fushiguro-Itadori-Kugisaki trio had already gotten acquainted.
They were all youthful teenagers, all jujutsu sorcerers, and Itadori Yuji had already spent time with Little Sheep Jiang Lai before. Fushiguro and Kugisaki had also heard Itadori mention him a few times, so they weren't complete strangers to each other.
They quickly broke through the initial unfamiliarity, communicating very naturally.
"I heard your technique is a materialization of that game [Me and Spirits and New Routes], sounds quite interesting." Kugisaki Nobara looked quite interested, "Same summoning type as Fushiguro."
This game was popular in both the Detective Conan and Jujutsu Kaisen worlds. Although Kugisaki Nobara in the jujutsu world wasn't much of a gamer, she had downloaded and played it once or twice, and occasionally saw some merchandise related to this game.
"Probably because I really love playing this game, I awakened this kind of technique along the way." Little Sheep Jiang Lai scratched his slightly curly brown hair, smiling brightly, "I'm super good at the game!"
"I can testify to that!" Itadori Yuji gave a thumbs up, "When I was staying here before, I saw Watanabe playing it on his phone, but unfortunately this game doesn't allow free team formation."
"If we could form teams freely, I would have kicked that ill-mannered stinky teammate long ago." Little Sheep Jiang Lai puffed out his cheeks, then after half a second, pondered, "Oh wait, I can't kick him too early. It would be such a waste not to squeeze out some pocket money first."
Kugisaki Nobara & Fushiguro Megumi: "?"
The style suddenly changed, leaving both slightly stunned.
But Itadori Yuji had heard Little Sheep Jiang Lai's conversations with Nanami Kento before, so he just recalled: "Mm... is that the [Zenin Young Master who got scammed out of 1.8 billion]?"
Kugisaki Nobara immediately exclaimed in shock: "1.8 billion?!"
Fushiguro Megumi's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, also showing subtle surprise.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai coughed: "Actually, not yet. I'm just planning it, setting a small goal." He smiled slyly, "Not shearing a fat sheep wouldn't be my style."
"Isn't that a bit much? That counts as fraud." Kugisaki Nobara instinctively said.
"I'm a legitimate businessman, this definitely doesn't count as fraud. Although I never explicitly stated it verbally, if investigated afterward, it can be considered high-quality companionship fees, mental distress compensation, equipment usage fees, finger-typing fees, and so on for this period."
Little Sheep Jiang Lai sat cross-legged on the sofa, somehow producing a small calculator from nowhere and began clicking away, "Then according to interest rates, calculated by days for exponential growth......"
Itadori & Fushiguro & Kugisaki: This is way too practiced, and it's definitely fraud!!
Amid the trio's momentary shock, Little Sheep Jiang Lai lifted his face, saying seriously: "It's fine, he's worth it. This is the blessing of that legitimate Young Master of the Zenin family." The brown-haired boy's dark eyes looked utterly innocent.
The Fushiguro-Itadori-Kugisaki trio's understanding of the Zenin family mostly came from daily rumors, things about being closed off and isolated. Additionally, they occasionally heard bits and pieces from their seniors Zenin Mai and Maki at school.
Zenin Maki and Zenin Mai had separated from the Zenin family when they were very young. The two of them, in certain unguarded moments, had vaguely mentioned a "mysterious great demon."
That masked demon had taken the young children's hands and walked step by step out of that man-eating cage.
The Fushiguro-Itadori-Kugisaki trio weren't entirely clear about what the "demon" their seniors mentioned was, but they hadn't pressed for details either.
From the somewhat melancholy expressions their seniors occasionally showed, they could see that the demon who had led them out of their cage hadn't appeared for a very long time.
Just certain fleeting glimpses were enough to be remembered for countless years.
Although they weren't clear about who the mysterious great demon from the past was, the Fushiguro-Itadori-Kugisaki trio clearly knew quite a bit about the internal situation of the Zenin family.
None of them had any good feelings toward that large family filled with feudal discrimination.
Moreover, they also knew about the rumored legitimate heir of the Zenin family, Zenin Naoya.
The Zenin sisters Maki and Mai rarely mentioned the past, but through those occasional few words, they could glimpse the image of the sharp-tongued, arrogant, feudalistic male chauvinist Naoya.
At this moment, Kugisaki Nobara thought for a few seconds, then nodded: "Not bad, give that guy a good scamming! Who told him to always bully Maki-senpai and the others back then."
Then they continued asking about Little Sheep Jiang Lai's technique.
After that, Itadori Yuji and Kugisaki Nobara enthusiastically petted the Leafeon that Little Sheep Jiang Lai had summoned, just like they used to pet Fushiguro Megumi's Divine Dogs.
No one could resist fluffy creatures.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai jokingly said "five thousand yen per pet," and seeing Itadori Yuji and Kugisaki Nobara's stunned expressions, he painfully said things like "never mind, building connections is also part of making money, consider the free petting as tuition fees."
"You really seize business opportunities everywhere, Watanabe-kun," Kugisaki Nobara patted Little Sheep Jiang Lai, "Already a money lover at such a young age."
"Can't help it, it's a habit." Little Sheep Jiang Lai smiled in response, "But everyone has their own hobbies. Loving money is also one kind."
They chatted for a while longer before Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu returned from completing their mission.
Dinner was eaten out, as a simple welcome banquet. Everyone ate heartily and made simple self-introductions at the dinner table.
After dinner, they split into two groups to rest.
Nanami Kento's house couldn't accommodate all three of the Fushiguro-Itadori-Kugisaki group simultaneously, they couldn't have people sleeping on the sofa all the time. Therefore, their evening accommodations were split between two places.
Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro Megumi stayed at Nanami Kento's house, the two of them next door to Little Sheep Jiang Lai's room.
Kugisaki Nobara stayed at Haibara Yu's house, since Haibara Yu happened to have a younger sister at home, making it convenient for two girls of similar age to get along.
Nanami Kento had moved from Tokyo to this area back then because Haibara Yu's hometown was in Kawasaki City. Therefore, his chosen residence was close to Haibara Yu's, both on the same street.
Staying in two places at night but gathering during the day was very convenient.
Since they would start practical training the next day, they rested relatively early that night. After dinner, without much small talk, they simply washed up and went to their rooms to rest after returning home.
Jiang Lai closed his room door. In his own room, he didn't rush to sleep, but first opened his phone.
He had never forgotten to explore his persona's technique [Electronic Spirits]. Ever since he first used it and met Noah's Ark Hiroki from the Detective Conan world in another form, Jiang Lai had been paying attention to this aspect.
Noah's Ark Hiroki, who wandered through electronic data, also hadn't forgotten to help with experiments.
Noah's Ark Hiroki copied code, compiled new programs, and after adjustments and experiments, discovered ways to help manually control spirits in the Detective Conan world.
This was quite a rewarding and surprising exploration!
When his technique first awakened, Jiang Lai had realized that his new technique seemed flashy but was actually quite limited.
Although there were many selectable spirits in the game [Me and Spirits and New Routes], since combat wasn't turn-based and required manual control, Jiang Lai could basically only manipulate one or two spirits at a time. More than that and he couldn't concentrate on controlling them.
Auto mode seemed somewhat rigid, not as effective as manual control.
This time, with Noah's Ark Hiroki's help, Jiang Lai found a way to further develop this ability: his Detective Conan world friends could help control some spirits through gaming!
Noah's Ark Hiroki sent the program to Jiang Lai, then Jiang Lai forwarded the program to his Detective Conan friends.
Currently, he had only shared it with the three people who knew Little Sheep was Jiang Lai's persona: Matsuda, Morofushi, and Kurosawa.
When Little Sheep Jiang Lai used his technique, the three on the other side would get online notifications on their phones.
If they happened to be free at the time, they could log into that program and see a pixel flat version of the other world's battlefield situation from the game interface, remotely helping to control the summoned spirits.
Besides this, Jiang Lai discovered that after forwarding through his phone, the program interface had an additional black and white yin-yang fish-like circle in the upper right corner.
Jiang Lai: "......" Did Phone-kun upgrade something for this program?
Logically, Phone-kun's upgrades were all beneficial to himself (the phone stand), just uncertain what the specific effects would be.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. Considering various factors, he didn't rush to have his Detective Conan friends click on this additional black and white yin-yang fish, planning to experiment when both sides had time.
Not long ago, Matsuda Jinpei from the Detective Conan world had just solved several big cases and was enjoying a small vacation. He privately contacted Jiang Lai, saying he could experiment during this period.
At this moment, Jiang Lai, who had closed his room door, sent Matsuda Jinpei a message saying that if he had time, they could try now.
He had just sent the message when Matsuda Jinpei replied with [OK, coming right away].
Jiang Lai continued typing on his phone keyboard. Before he could reply with the next sentence, he distantly sensed fluctuations in his technique.
His heart was slightly startled, but he still followed his instincts and used his technique [Electronic Spirits]!
Little Sheep's phone switched to combat mode again, the screen displaying the spirit selection page. Jiang Lai immediately saw a new spirit ranked first.
It was a black wolf-dog with devil horns on its head, slightly curly fur, roguish charm, and even a cigarette in its mouth, looking very familiar.
Jiang Lai was only stunned for a second, then unhesitatingly selected this new spirit!
If he guessed correctly, Phone-kun's upgrade to this program should be......
Light flowed through the air, and after cursed energy fluctuations, a squatting wolf-dog spirit appeared on the scene!
The black wolf-dog was first stunned, then upon seeing Little Sheep Jiang Lai, quite humanely showed some joy.
Jiang Lai: "......Matsuda?"
"It's me! I never expected to actually see you!" The black wolf-dog with devil horns, Matsuda Jinpei, had a magnetic voice. When he spoke, the cigarette in his mouth magically dissipated into the air, reappearing at his lips when he closed his mouth.
Matsuda Jinpei made no attempt to hide his high spirits. The joy of reuniting with an old friend brought irrepressible excitement.
Jiang Lai's mood was also quite elevated. Being able to see his Detective Conan friend again (albeit in a special way) made him very happy!
One person and one wolf-dog couldn't pat each other's shoulders and backs to joke and chat as usual, but they could share a truly warm and heartfelt embrace.
Matsuda Jinpei shook himself, changing from squatting to standing. The handsome wolf-dog over two meters long carried himself with graceful dignity, but this cool posture didn't last long. In the next second of taking a step, his feet got tangled and he suddenly did a split on the ground!
Jiang Lai: "??!" He instinctively reached out to help, but the huge wolf-dog's weight was definitely not something his current teenage body could support, so he also fell on his butt.
One person and one wolf-dog stared at each other.
After two or three seconds of awkward silence, Jiang Lai spoke first: "......Um, are you not quite used to this body?"
"Hey hey, there's nothing I can do about it! I used to walk on two legs!" The split Matsuda Jinpei grimaced as he shook himself, squatting back up. He casually complained, "Speaking of which, isn't there some kind of practice adaptation manual?"
"Doesn't seem like there is." Jiang Lai thought seriously, then coughed and smiled with a wink, "Maybe we could find Furuya......"
"Furuya?" Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow slightly, not understanding why they should look for him.
Then Jiang Lai delivered the second half: "......Furuya's Haro."
Matsuda Jinpei: "......"
Haro, the cute little dog that Furuya Rei had once adopted, was truly a master-level character who had skillfully mastered walking on four legs!!