Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Sigh, it seems I really can't hide it from her this time. I should tell her—

Squeak—the door to the ward was pushed open.

Ran walked into the ward with a gentle expression, but Conan always felt that there was something hidden beneath that gentleness.

Could it be that Xiaolan has been waiting for an explanation for so long and is getting impatient?

Conan sat up slightly and looked at Ran as she walked in from outside: "Ran-neechan, didn't you go back to rest?"

Ran gazed out the window, the wind whipping her skirt and long hair, her slightly melancholic eyes completely disarming Conan.

He organized his thoughts and decided to tell her the truth.

"Ran-nee—Ran, it's me, it really is Shinichi Kudo." I think you probably guessed it already...

Ran blinked slightly, turned her head, and crystal tears slowly dripped down her cheeks. She knelt beside the hospital bed: "Shinichi, it really is you, it really is you—"

Conan's tiny arms grabbed Ran's shoulders: "Yeah—"

"Click—whoosh—"

The sound of a bullet being chambered was so clear in the darkness. Without the slightest hesitation, after passing through the silencer, a soft click was heard, and Xiaolan's tearful smile froze in place as she slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Ran...Ran!!!" Conan anxiously tried to reach out and grab Ran, but his arms were too short. He only managed to grab a strand of hair. Before he could react, with a soft tearing sound, a wig appeared in his hand.

"Ah?"

Chu Ming thought this was the peak of his acting skills. Just as he was slowly falling to the ground with a sad expression, he felt a chill on his scalp. The wig suddenly fell into Conan's hand, leaving him in a dilemma, unsure whether to fall or not.

Conan, still in his ready-to-roar pose, held the wig. He stiffly turned to look at Ai Haibara, who was holding a gun, about to deliver her lines, when Chu Ming, unreliable as ever, caused a commotion...

All three of them were extremely embarrassed.

In the end, Chu Ming, with the thickest skin, tore off his disguise and casually took his meticulously crafted horned wig from Conan's hand: "Surprise~"

Ai Haibara gritted her teeth, pressed the switch on the gun, and pulled the trigger. A bouquet of flowers emerged from the muzzle: "Surprise~"

Conan held back for a long time, but finally couldn't hold back any longer: "You two—you two actually, actually planning to do this kind of thing again!!!! Brother Chu Ming, you actually dressed up as a woman! You actually disguised yourself as Ran!! You, you—I—"

Conan was so angry he was incoherent. He had almost, just a hair's breadth away, confessed his true feelings to Ran!

Ugh, you bastard!!

Seeing that Conan's face was almost contorted with anger, Chu Ming quickly pushed Ai Haibara forward: "Actually, we have other ways. We don't need you to tell her the truth, right, Ai?"

Ai Haibara's lips twitched. She pulled a pill from her pocket, her tone cold: "This is a temporary antidote I made based on the ingredients of baijiu. It will allow you to temporarily revert to your identity as Shinichi Kudo. However, I don't know the exact duration. But you should also know that you can't be in the light right now. After secretly seeing your childhood friend, find an excuse to leave. During this time, I'll disguise myself as Conan. However, this pill hasn't been tested; you're the first test subject. So, Great Detective, would you like to give it a try—"

Conan took the pill without hesitation, his eyes shining: "So, I can see Ran using my own identity now?"

“That’s good, but I don’t know exactly when the medicine will take effect. Just in case, take the medicine on the last day of the carnival, right before the performance.”

Conan nodded repeatedly. The first thing he would do after becoming Shinichi Kudo was to confess his feelings to Ran!

Otherwise, Ran will be tricked by that Araide Tomoaki who suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

Chapter 224 Are you guys cosplaying?

Garden party.

Chu Ming led Ai Haibara, disguised as Conan, into the Teitan High School's carnival venue, just as Ran was about to go on stage to perform in a play.

"Ran-neechan." Ai Haibara, wearing a mask and voice changer specially made by Dr. Agasa, disguised herself as Conan and greeted Ran behind Chu Ming.

"Conan, you're here~" Ran looked at Conan with a gentle gaze. In her heart, she had already decided that Conan was Shinichi Kudo and was just waiting for him to confess.

Perhaps fearing that Conan's identity would be exposed, Vermouth, disguised as Araide Tomoaki, called Ran over and discussed the plot with her.

Chu Ming couldn't help but twitch his lips as he looked at Shinichiro's strange maternal love for Ran.

That gaze is so creepy...

If Conan were really here, he'd probably be jealous again, but Ai Haibara, seeing this scene, simply put her hands in her pockets with an air of aloofness and said, "Then I'll go to the audience seats first."

Chu Ming waved to them and raised his camera: "Good luck with your performance! I brought this camera specifically to film your show so we can burn it onto DVDs and enjoy it later~"

Ran was stunned by Conan's completely different behavior from before.

As the stage play began, upon seeing Ran, who played the princess, appear, Kogoro Mouri excitedly stood on a chair, waving his arms and legs, proudly announcing to everyone around him, "She acted so well!! That's my daughter! The one playing the princess is my daughter! Isn't she beautiful!"

Chu Ming held up the camera with one hand to film Kogoro Mouri's performance, while Kogoro Mouri grabbed his other hand and lifted it up to cheer for Ran.

Kazuha curled up her legs and hid away from Kogoro Mouri. Feeling the mocking gazes around her, she couldn't help but cover her face: "Why is this old man so embarrassing—I don't know him, I don't know him..."

Just as she was muttering to herself, the princess, played by Xiaolan, was dragged out of the carriage by the villains. Overcome with rage, she jumped up and shouted, "Xiaolan, use your karate to beat those bastards to a pulp!!!"

Chu Ming silently turned the camera back to her. She's too engrossed in the role now; she'll regret it when she watches the playback later.

Just like him back then...

Suddenly, a few black feathers slowly drifted down from the sky, and Shinichi Kudo, dressed in knight's attire, descended from the sky onto the stage.

He slowly stood up, turned to look at Xiaolan behind him, reached out and grabbed her shoulders, gently embracing her as if she were his most precious treasure.

Kogoro Mouri was furious at the sight before him: "That bastard! How dare he? How dare he treat my daughter like this? My daughter isn't even married yet!!! He actually lay hands on her! I'll kill him—"

Chu Ming and Ye grabbed Kogoro Mouri's arms on either side and pulled him back, saying, "Uncle, calm down. This is just a stage play, it's all fake! Didn't you say before that you were going to marry Ran to Dr. Araide?"

While Chu Ming was giving advice, he steadily held up the camera with his other hand. These were precious images of Shinichi and Ran, and they had to be filmed properly.

"How can you take a joke made after drinking seriously! Ah, why is that kid's hand still around Ran's waist? Let go of him right now!" Kogoro Mouri was almost going crazy, but he couldn't break free from Chu Ming's grasp, let alone go on stage to cause trouble.

"...If you still remember the vow you made when you were young, then write your proof on my lips."

Even through the mask, Chu Ming could clearly see Shinichi Kudo's flushed face and his determined downward kiss.

"Aaaaaah—this is too reckless!! No, no, what nonsense are you talking about, Ran—" Kogoro Mori couldn't break free from Chu Ming's iron grip, and slumped to the ground in dejection, staring at the knight on the stage with a fierce glint in his eyes, seemingly considering what color sack to use to put Shinichiro Araide in and beat him up after the performance.

Through the small screen of the camera, Chu Ming watched the two get closer and closer.

"what--!!!"

Shinichi Kudo instinctively spread his cloak, shielding Ran behind him, and looked in the direction from which the scream had come.

Damn it, it was just one second too late! Chu Ming angrily turned off the camera. Would he have died if he had been a second later?

Oh, it seems he's already dead...

Because the incident occurred at a school, the police responded quickly, and Inspector Megure arrived at the scene shortly afterward.

"The incident occurred at approximately 2:40 PM, which happened right at the climax of the entire play." Xiao Lan, dressed in a princess-style tulle dress, slowly walked over.

"Oh, it's Ran. Right, today is Teitan High School's school festival. Since you have a performance, he should—"

Seeing that the scream had interrupted their approach, Kogoro Mouri, who was now dressed and with a relaxed brow, walked over and asked, "Inspector Megure, who are you looking for?"

Inspector Megure looked disgusted. "I'm looking for you."

This scourge even targeted his own daughter's school, bringing such a tragedy to the school.

"Haha, Inspector Megure, you're too kind. Although I'm known as a famous detective, you can't rely on me like this~"

Inspector Megure's lips twitched, ignoring Kogoro Mouri's shameless words: "...No one went near the body, right?"

"No! Ensuring the scene remains intact while awaiting the police is a detective's duty!" Kogoro Mouri declared righteously, but then, noticing something out of the corner of his eye, he changed the subject, "However, officer, you know, some detectives have a certain curiosity—cough cough."

Inspector Megure was speechless. He looked in the direction of the body and sure enough, a figure that looked very familiar but not quite familiar was squatting next to the body.

Seeing everyone looking at him, the person squatting couldn't help but turn his hat around, and a thick Osaka accent came through: "It's potassium hydrochloride."

"..."

"..."

Seeing that everyone was just staring at him without saying a word, Hattori thought he had impersonated Shinichi Kudo too well and couldn't help but continue his reasoning with a smug look: "Normally, people lose their color after death, but this guy's lips and nails not only didn't turn purple, but instead turned pink. This is evidence of potassium cyanide poisoning."

Watching Hattori Heiji try so hard to resemble Kudo Shinichi, Chu Ming couldn't help but cover his face. "Your accent is so heavy!!!" he thought. "And you've painted your face so white, did you use a whole pound of foundation?!" He exclaimed, "Look at Kudo Shinichi's grinning face hidden under his mask, it's practically reaching his ears! He's mocking you!"

First Conan imitated Hattori's Osaka accent, then Hattori imitated his Tokyo accent... They really are good friends.

Look at the scene! Fake Conan, fake Shinichi, fake Shinichi Araide Tomoaki—are you guys playing cosplay here?

Chapter 225 Kudo Shinkuro

Kogoro Mouri looked at Hattori, who was talking eloquently, and asked, "Don't I feel like I've seen you somewhere before? Did you not look like this before?"

Actually, Kogoro Mouri wanted to ask Hattori where he got his skin whitening treatment.

"Oh dear, I've only been gone for a short time, and you've already forgotten about me?" He reached out and took off his hat. "I'm Shinichi Kudo."

No, you are Shinkuro Kudo.

The others twitched their lips as they watched his clumsy performance, which he thought was flawless.

Heiji Hattori slowly approached Ran. Under the light, his skin was even whiter than Ran's: "That kid with glasses called me and told me to come back to see his Ran-neechan's play, right, kid?"

"You...this...could it be...is it...is it...—" Xiaolan took a step back, speechless.

Kazuha suddenly appeared between the two of them: "What are you doing, Heiji?"

Kazuha reached out and wiped Hattori's face, leaving a clear black mark: "Why are you putting so much powder on your face? And your hairstyle is different too..."

Chu Ming could feel Hattori's embarrassment even from behind. Hattori stammered, pointing to his face, "You, you're not talking nonsense. I, I am, Kudo Shinichi, the real deal, um, the real deal."

"What nonsense are you spouting, kid?!" Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but stride forward and separate him from Ran.

Seeing that his attempt to hide it was failing, Hattori had no choice but to wipe off the powder from his face, instantly turning it black: "Hahaha, I was just joking, trying to lighten the mood, hahaha—"

"...Seriously, we already have enough of a moron like Mori here, we don't need to import another one from Osaka..." Inspector Megure couldn't help but complain.