Chapter Fourteen: Sodium Aluminate!

“Good morning, Tang Ze-kun. Is that the new coat you bought?” Azusa Enomoto, wiping down the bar counter, looked up and saw Tang Ze descending the stairs in a British-style trench coat, smiling at him.

“Yes, good morning, Miss Enomoto.” Changing into his usual familiar style, Tang Ze felt great. While greeting her, he picked up a cloth and helped wipe the table.

Tang Ze worked diligently, head down, but Azusa couldn’t help but smile to herself.

Putting the fashion sense of a thirty-year-old man on an eighteen-year-old with a baby face didn’t add him any maturity; it only made him seem more youthful.

Maybe because his face was rather cute, he tried to dress as grown-up as possible?

Azusa adjusted her impression of Tang Ze in her mind, leaning more toward thinking of him as an adorable child, and still couldn’t resist praising, “You have great taste, Tang Ze-kun.”

Completely unaware, Tang Ze cheerfully helped open the shop door and hung up the “Open” sign.

Naturally, he wasn’t going to school today.

Having transferred to Teitan High School three days ago, with two days off, Tang Ze was fully supportive of Kogaku World’s holiday schedule.

After organizing his gear and greeting Azusa, Tang Ze set off toward Maruden Jiro’s mansion.

Because of last night’s warning letter, Maruden Jiro was probably on edge, and the Maru household was likely surrounded without any gaps.

Unfortunately, the sword of Kogaku couldn’t sever the officials of P5.

As he moved through the alley and rounded the corner, Tang Ze tapped a button on his phone.

He stepped into the empty streets of the cognitive world, and his figure instantly vanished into the shadows.

A dozen seconds later, a figure chasing Tang Ze entered the same corner.

He looked at the deserted alleyway and raised an eyebrow, unsurprised.

Tang Ze Zhao truly possessed anti-surveillance and counter-tracking abilities, Akai Shuichi confirmed once again.

*Click*—the sound of a gun being chambered.

Akai Shuichi immediately turned sideways to dodge the bullet and glanced toward the alley behind him.

Amuro Tooru held his shiny silver HK P7M8, aiming at him with pure malice.

“Rei, why are you here?”

———

Unaware that the two followers behind him had collided thanks to his skill, Tang Ze cheerfully switched to his Phantom Thief form and dashed toward Maruden Jiro’s residence.

Heightened alertness of the mansion manifested as a group of shadows with glowing red eyes patrolling under eerie crimson lights. Maruden Jiro’s shadow no longer swaggered on the street; the main gate was tightly shut.

Having played games for years, Tang Ze remained unflustered, even feeling that the absence of background music made it less exciting.

Because the layout of the palace wouldn’t change based on the owner's vigilance, his infiltration route was still viable. If more patrols meant he was discovered…

Then he’d just have to eliminate all the shadows that spotted him!

A seasoned gamer, Tang Ze knew well that as long as everyone who saw him was dead, it was still considered a successful infiltration.

Scaling walls, climbing rooftops, leaping, sneaking — all done in one seamless flow.

Whether it was the bonus from awakening or not, this untrained teenager’s body exerted 100% of Tang Ze’s strength in the cognitive world: light, nimble, and full of power.

Even though the courtyard now had twice as many guards as yesterday, their spotlight-like eyes bathed the yard in red light, Tang Ze easily followed the rooftops and slipped into the inner courtyard.

The main house, surrounded by numerous samurai shadows, was shrouded in a red mist. Maruden Jiro donned the armor of a general, brandishing a katana, glaring fiercely at the courtyard.

Good heavens, the atmosphere was truly hellish.

Tang Ze steadied himself on the eaves and looked down, then reached up to grasp the mask on his face.

Then he leapt.

Still midair, the mask in Tang Ze’s hand burst into flames, and the fierce visage of Nioh Menso rose behind him.

Infiltration? What infiltration?

Tang Ze glanced at the fully stocked skill list of Nioh Menso and, grinning provocatively at the roaring Maruden Jiro, smiled broadly.

Do you understand the value of a third playthrough?

Last night, of course, he didn’t just focus on thrashing Leon. He took out his fully compiled Persona compendium, packed with finely tuned, convenient skills, and combined it with his hefty savings of ninety million yen to quickly synthesize a new one.

A Persona with a completely full skill list, covering every attribute, was born just like that.

“Come on, scum.” Tang Ze swung his hand back and caught a dagger, holding it in front of him. “Let me see what kind of garbage you are.”

His disdainful tone instantly enraged Maruden Jiro. Taking a step forward, the armored man bellowed, and the samurai shadows closed in around him.

“You sneaky brat! I’ll sever your hands and legs, your head will hang at the gate to dry, so you’ll understand what happens when you provoke a daimyo!”

Having finished this lengthy speech, the plate-armored Maruden Jiro exploded, black mud cracking and falling to the ground, revealing his true twisted form.

One blade after another, swords of various lengths wrapped around the floating armor like ribs; an even longer great sword stood upright behind him, plunged into the earth.

More symbols of power and authority—gold seals, helmets—hovered around this monster, drawn by the black mud, like a web covered in prey.

“Ugh, it’s a spider, kinda gross,” Tang Ze sneered, adopting a fighting stance. Nioh Menso emitted a hoarse laugh as its dark misty tendrils spread wide.

“Blah blah blah, really no villain has any style. Let’s go, Nioh Menso, Persona—!”

———

“Huh? The meeting’s canceled?” Kogoro Mouri looked at the calendar, puzzled. “Didn’t Mr. Maru say today was the only day he was available?”

“Really sorry, Mr. Mouri.” Maruden Jiro’s secretary’s weary chuckle came through the receiver. “After dinner last night, Mr. Maru’s family received many threatening letters. He’s very nervous today and declined all meeting requests.”

“Threatening letters?” Originally somewhat annoyed, Kogoro immediately grew serious. “Are these personal threats?”

“Well, it’s hard to define…” The secretary hesitated. “Some think it’s a prank, others suspect rivals are creating a smokescreen…”

“Can you tell me the details?” Kogoro straightened up, sensing the scent of a case. “Threatening letters are no small matter.”

The sound of letters flying through the city was loud indeed. After thinking for a moment, the secretary stopped hiding the truth.

“Are you able to receive faxes? I’ll send the threatening letters by fax. We’d be deeply grateful if you could help us identify who’s causing trouble.”

Conan, whose ears perked up at the words “threatening letters,” quietly moved closer to Kogoro’s desk. Gripping the edge, he craned his neck to listen.

Kogoro, after hanging up, smacked Conan lightly on the forehead in mild annoyance. The fax machine groaned and began spitting out paper.

“What’s this? A warning letter?” Kogoro frowned at the fax, the sentences clearly pieced together from newspaper print.

“The ‘Phantom Thieves of Hearts’…” Conan persistently stuck his head out, reading aloud the closing lines.

…What kind of chuunibyou manifesto is this letter?

Conan’s lips twitched but he instinctively memorized the strange signature.