"Miss Mouri Ran, thank you for your suggestion."
"I'll definitely go watch the match tomorrow."
Without even considering that he had work the next day, Lin Xinyi readily accepted Mouri Ran's invitation.
After all, being a superhero was far more exciting than making money. If he could actually master real martial arts, then maybe—just maybe—the 890,000 yen monthly salary wouldn't seem so... hmm, no, it was still a lot.
But since he'd already agreed, there was no backing out now.
As the "Security Director," a position second only to one higher-up who rarely made inspections, skipping half a day of work once in a while shouldn't be an issue.
Besides, watching top-tier martial arts competitions could be incredibly beneficial.
So, after discreetly observing Miyano Shiho's reaction and seeing that the "young lady" had no objections, Lin Xinyi decided to skip work and attend the match.
With that settled, he exchanged phone numbers with Kudo and Mouri Ran, agreeing on a time to meet the next day.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
The medical team had carefully extracted Ishikawa from the wall and loaded him onto an ambulance.
The officers, acting on Aoki's testimony, had begun searching for the third suspect.
This case was basically wrapped up.
"Brother Lin!"
Having finished handling the scene, Inspector Megure enthusiastically approached.
The plump officer had a way with words:
"Thank you so much this time!"
"If you hadn't been there, we might have let the culprit fool us completely!"
"Uh..."
Standing nearby, Kudo Shinichi felt slightly out of place—because in the past, Inspector Megure had always said those words to him.
But now, he was just background, while the one being praised was Lin Xinyi.
"It was nothing," Lin Xinyi replied humbly.
"It was just a small favor."
After a brief moment of modesty, he took the opportunity to address Inspector Megure with a slightly hesitant tone:
"Inspector Megure, I have something urgent to take care of right now."
"If possible, could we postpone the statement recording?"
Miyano Shiho had already waited for nearly twenty minutes because of him, and Lin Xinyi felt rather guilty.
Right now, he had no time to sit around answering police questions—he needed to get her to her sister as soon as possible.
Inspector Megure, being rather accommodating, nodded without hesitation:
"No problem."
"After all, you're only a witness in this case."
"For the statement... we can just have Kudo handle it instead."
Kudo Shinichi: "..."
So now you remember me, huh?
Inspector Megure, you're way too blunt.
For some reason, the great detective suddenly felt a sense of melancholy, as if the new generation was replacing the old.
And in reality, that was exactly what was happening.
Inspector Megure indeed had the intention of "swapping out the old for the new."
With a friendly tone, he continued speaking to Lin Xinyi:
"Brother Lin, after the case this morning, we did a brief background check on you."
"Turns out, you studied medicine at Columbia University before returning to Japan—no wonder you're so professional!"
There was a tone of respect in his voice.
"Uh... So I was a Columbia graduate?"
Lin Xinyi was learning this for the first time.
A complicated mix of emotions welled up within him:
If I graduated from Columbia, why the hell am I working as a security guard?!
Sure, in the real world, there are Peking University grads selling pork and Tsinghua grads working as security guards...
But the original Lin Xinyi studied medicine!
As someone in the industry, Lin Xinyi knew exactly how prestigious Columbia's medical program was.
Especially forensic medicine—Columbia's forensic science program was world-renowned.
Yet, after earning a degree from such an elite institution, the original Lin Xinyi's job choice was... chief of security?
And not just that—he ended up so miserable that he wanted to kill himself?!
How did he play such an incredible hand so poorly?!
The more he uncovered about this world, the more things felt off.
Having just come to terms with the reality he was in, Lin Xinyi now found himself deeply curious about his "past life."
But he had only been here for half a day and lacked enough information—no amount of overthinking would lead to answers.
As Lin Xinyi sank into contemplation, Inspector Megure seized the moment and continued:
"Brother Lin, your qualifications and abilities have been recognized by everyone."
"So, after a brief discussion among the Criminal Investigation Department's leadership..."
"If you're interested, you could actually join our department."
The reputation of Japan's police force had been repeatedly battered by famous detectives, and they were in desperate need of skilled personnel to restore their credibility.
And Lin Xinyi was the perfect candidate:
Unlike those detectives who stole the show the moment they appeared, forensic investigators solved cases through teamwork, scientific methods, and procedural work—allowing police officers to share some of the credit.
So both Inspector Megure and the higher-ups in the Criminal Investigation Department were very interested in this rising star.
In fact, after the grisly suicide dismemberment case that morning and discovering Lin Xinyi's elite background, the department had already planned to recruit him.
And now, before they could even reach out formally, he had coincidentally appeared before them again.
Thus, Inspector Megure took the opportunity to extend an invitation:
"If you're willing, you can start working anytime."
"Everyone at the Metropolitan Police Department would welcome you with open arms."
"Oh?" Lin Xinyi raised an eyebrow. "Is it that easy to join the police? No entrance exams or anything?"
Inspector Megure had clearly prepared for this question:
"That's not a problem."
"You can start as a forensic consultant on a part-time basis."
"As long as you perform well, we can officially recruit you through a special appointment process."
"By the way, forensic consultants are external experts hired by the police—doctors and scholars who assist us in autopsies and forensic analysis."
Now Lin Xinyi understood:
A forensic consultant was basically an external expert.
In his previous life, China also had similar external experts recruited from universities—though they were usually academic giants or industry leaders, not junior professionals like him.
These experts rarely performed autopsies themselves; they primarily provided guidance, training, and lectures for in-house forensic teams.
But in Japan, the role had a slightly different meaning.
Since Japan's police force had too few in-house forensic pathologists, they often outsourced autopsy work to university forensic labs or private forensic institutes.
In China, Lin Xinyi wouldn't have been qualified to be an external forensic expert.
But in Japan?
Given what he'd seen of their police force's competence...
Calling himself an "expert" didn't seem like much of a stretch.
"Uh... I'm not really interested at the moment."
Despite feeling overqualified, Lin Xinyi politely declined.
After all, he'd already decided to live a peaceful and carefree life—he wasn't about to go back to working with corpses every day.
That was his stance.
But Inspector Megure wasn't giving up so easily:
"That's alright, Brother Lin."
"You can take your time to consider. The pay is quite good."
"And you can work part-time as a forensic consultant—you'd only need to assist when you're free."
"Oh, and if you agree..."
"We can offer you a police rank equivalent to an Assistant Inspector (Keibuho) and appoint you as the head of Forensic Pathology Division Three."
"Forensic Pathology Division Three? Head?"
Lin Xinyi had no idea what kind of position that was.
And he wasn't familiar with Japan's police ranking system either.
But looking at how overworked Inspector Megure was, "Inspector" didn't seem all that high up...
And Assistant Inspector sounded even lower.
However, Inspector Megure's next words completely shattered his expectations—
"Well... not counting part-time consultants..."
"Forensic Pathology Division Three doesn't actually have any forensic pathologists."
Lin Xinyi: "..."
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