Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"?" Kogoro Mouri looked over in disbelief. What had he just heard? Wasn't he Inspector Megure's favorite little brother?

"Hahaha, I was just kidding, hahaha. Isn't this joke funnier than his? Hahaha—" Seeing that he had accidentally blurted out his own吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical remarks), Inspector Megure promptly began to play dumb.

"Damn it, my flawless plan was all Kazuha's fault—" Hattori squatted down next to Chu Ming and kept muttering to himself.

"Do you have some misunderstanding about 'perfect'? Or are you redefining 'perfect' as 'full of loopholes'?" Chu Ming rolled his eyes. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Kazuha. Even if Kazuha hadn't appeared, you would still be the epitome of Shinichi Kudo."

Hattori looked indignant: "I think I did a pretty good job of pretending."

You and he are indeed quite similar in terms of confidence; Conan is also very confident in his acting skills.

Chu Ming glanced at Shinichi Araide standing backstage. Although Vermouth would definitely not report Kudo Shinichi's appearance, if Vermouth found out that he hadn't reported it either, she might suspect something.

Or maybe we shouldn't let Shinichi Kudo appear in public at all?

Thinking of this, Chu Ming stood up to find evidence and end the case early, so that Kudo Shinichi wouldn't have to take off his mask.

But just as he stood up and started to walk away, Shinichi stopped him.

Vermouth had just seen Shinichi Kudo, and it was only after confirming his identity that she gave up the opportunity to play the knight. Her angel wasn't someone any random stinky man could touch.

She had been doubting her own eyesight, initially believing Conan to be Shinichi Kudo, but now that Shinichi Kudo was standing right in front of her, and Conan was sitting obediently in the chair—

—Wait, behave yourself? According to her investigation, Conan is never this quiet when he's at a scene…

Sure enough, Shinichi Kudo did turn into Conan, but somehow managed to temporarily turn back.

Vermouth's gaze swept over Chu Ming. Things were not going to be easy with Granburg here. She had to keep a close watch on him and not let him discover that the person inside the knight's armor was Shinichi Kudo, who had been killed by Gin long ago.

Chu Ming was stuck in his seat by Vermouth and couldn't get out. Looking at Shinichiro, who was trying to make small talk with him, Chu Ming was speechless.

"New Doctor, I've found a clue. This crime scene isn't exactly a pleasant place. How about we talk another time?"

To Vermouth, these words sounded more like Chu Ming telling her that he might have discovered a clue about Shinichi Kudo and was now going to investigate...

No, we can't let him go.

Looking around, he noticed that everyone was focused on the case and no one was looking this way. Shinichiro leaned close to Chu Ming's ear and said, "Don't worry about this case. Let that dark-skinned guy who looks like Bourbon solve it. There's something they're investigating about his sister, so they need to see his investigative style. Consider it a favor your sister owes you."

???

Hattori's detective style?

Chu Ming watched as Hattori sidled up to 'Conan,' completely ignoring 'Conan's' obvious aura of "Don't touch me," and whispered as he put his arm around Hattori's shoulder to discuss the case. However, Ai Haibara gracefully pulled Hattori's hand away with her delicate fingers.

...Vermouth's excuse is somewhat perfunctory, and besides, Osaka Black Chicken rarely sees Kudo transform, so he's unlikely to steal his thunder. I really want to see Vermouth's expression after her miscalculation.

Chu Ming sat down obediently and chatted with Vermouth in a casual manner.

Before they could even exchange a few words, the police were already preparing to close the case as a suicide.

"Inspector Megure, please wait a moment!" A clear voice interrupted Inspector Megure's conclusion.

Vermouth froze. That voice—

"This is absolutely not suicide, but a very simple case of homicide!" The knight in armor stood at the door, his posture as upright as a pine tree, and he slowly took off his knight's helmet.

"It's been a long time, Inspector Megure."

Under the spotlight, the young man was full of vigor and vitality, holding his helmet in one hand, his whole body seemed to be glowing.

"Shinichi Kudo?" Chu Ming sat up straight abruptly, his suspicious gaze fixed on the boy. "I remember he was on the list of people on the 4869 medication list?"

Chu Ming's eyes gleamed with a strong sense of wickedness. He picked up the camera and aimed it at the boy whose face was revealed on the stage. Just as he was about to take a picture, Shinichi Mamoru stood up and blocked his view.

Seeing Chu Ming looking at her suspiciously, Vermouth controlled her emotions and pressed the shutter button on the camera in Chu Ming's hand: "Wait a minute before filming. That person is in disguise. I suspect it's an FBI agent trying to lure us out. Filming him now is too conspicuous and could easily be discovered by the FBI."

It's impressive that Vermouth managed to come up with a reason that Chu Ming couldn't refute in such a short time.

Chu Ming didn't insist any further and put down the camera in his hand: "Then I'll go and chat with him a bit later."

Vermouth had no reason to stop him anymore, so she could only look at Shinichi Kudo with a hint of worry.

Chapter 226 Confession (1)

Chu Ming slumped back in his chair, listening to Shinichi Kudo's reasoning. He noticed Vermouth's intensely focused gaze on the boy and mischievously gave her a warning.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, what if the FBI spots you!"

"..." She had to accept the reason she gave herself, even with tears in her eyes, and Vermouth reluctantly withdrew her gaze.

After Shinichi Kudo and Heiji Hattori finished deducing the plot together, Chu Ming just stood up and walked to Shinichi Kudo's side to speak, but saw him suddenly clutch his heart and kneel on the ground.

Vermouth was shocked. Hadn't she agreed with Granburg not to make a move?

Without thinking too much, she rushed over and said, "I'm a doctor, don't crowd around here, let me take a look."

Chu Ming tried to take two steps back, following the force of Vermouth's pull. He wanted to see how Vermouth would continue the act if Shinichi Kudo turned into Conan in front of her.

But he couldn't back down. Shinichi Kudo felt the familiar, sharp pain and knew something was wrong. He dodged Tomoaki Shinide's hand that came to help him and grabbed Chu Ming tightly instead. His eyes, blurred with pain, signaled Chu Ming to take him away.

Shinichi Kudo opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he crashed heavily to the ground.

Vermouth looked at Shinichi Kudo, who was still clinging to Chu Ming's clothes even after falling down, and then at Chu Ming, who was looking at Shinichi Kudo's face with great interest, as if he wanted to touch it to see if it was Chu Ming in disguise. She couldn't help but roar with grief and anger in her heart.

Shinichi Kudo is great in every way, except his eyesight is terrible. Take a good look at the person you're holding hands with; that's the crazy little devil from the Black Organization! If he discovers you're not in disguise, both you and Angel will be in danger!

Seeing that Shinichi Kudo wouldn't let go, Chu Ming picked him up in a princess carry. Before he could take two steps, he saw Hattori and Conan finish whispering to each other and then stand up, telling everyone present not to spread the news of Shinichi Kudo's appearance today.

Hearing Hattori's loud instructions, Chu Ming's meaningful gaze swept over Vermouth, making her panic and start thinking about what excuse she could use to deceive Granbury in the future.

Standing by Shinichi Kudo's bedside, Hattori originally wanted to send Ran out to buy something for Shinichi's sake, but Sonoko and Kazuha felt that Ran hadn't seen Shinichi for too long, so they took over the task and let Ran stay by Shinichi's side.

Currently, only Ran, Hattori, and Chu Ming are in the infirmary, looking at Shinichi Kudo, who looks like a sleeping beauty.

After a while, Shinichi Kudo twitched his fingers slightly and slowly opened his eyes.

Chu Ming was afraid that Kudo might say something he shouldn't if he woke up while still half asleep, so he smiled and leaned closer to remind him, "Kudo, you're awake?"

Shinichi Kudo, who thought he had definitely transformed into Conan in front of everyone, heard Chu Ming's prompting and stretched out his hand in front of his eyes. Sure enough, it wasn't the short, chubby hand from before.

Great! He thought that because of the case, his medication time was limited, and his plan to confess to Xiaolan was ruined.

"Lan, I have something to tell you tomorrow..."

Seeing that the person was awake and hadn't revealed anything, Chu Ming got up and went out. The moment he left, he heard Shinichi Kudo talking to Ran in a very low voice.

...But why wait until tomorrow?

Can't you say it today? It'll be too late if you don't say it now! What if you transform again tomorrow before you even have a chance to speak?

It's true what they say, youth is the age when transformation time is short.

The next day, after 'accidentally' learning from Sonoko that Shinichi Kudo and Ran's date was at the observation restaurant in the Beika Central Building, Chu Ming and Heiji Hattori, who had taken a day off, sat furtively at a table in the corner.

"Do you think Kudo will really confess today?" Hattori asked quietly, deliberately hiding himself in the shadows.

"Probably, if nothing unexpected happens." Chu Ming blocked Hattori's burning gaze. "Tone it down, I'm recording you, don't get caught."

"Okay, record it clearly and send me a copy later."

"What do you want it for? Do you want to study it and then confess your feelings to Kazuha?"

Hattori, enraged and embarrassed, stood up and shouted in rebuttal, "Are you an idiot? I already said that I and that—"

Chu Ming grabbed his neck and hid under the table, covering his mouth as he did so: "You bastard, keep your voice down, they've turned around."

Meanwhile, Shinichi Kudo, who was having a candlelight dinner with Ran, turned his head and looked around in confusion.

"Shinichi, what are you looking at?"

"I think I heard Hattori's voice?"

"What? Hattori and Kazuha have already flown back to Osaka. I really don't know how you two can be so familiar with each other after only meeting twice. And Chu Ming too, you've only met him a few times, why are you so close to each other..." Ran muttered casually.

Shinichi Kudo scratched the back of his head. Indeed, Shinichi Kudo had only met them twice, but Conan was very familiar with them.

"By the way, Shinichi, what exactly do you want to tell me?" Ran looked up at Shinichi Kudo, who was cutting steak across from her, with a puzzled expression.

"Ah, well... I was thinking, well..." After stammering for a long time, Shinichi Kudo couldn't utter a single word, which made Chu Ming and Hattori, who were hiding to the side, extremely anxious. Hattori, in particular, had his face turn bright red and wished he could grab Shinichi Kudo's mouth and make him finish speaking.

Chu Ming used one hand to calm the restless Hattori, while using the other hand to steadily film the two of them with the camera.

"I remember now, this is where Kudo's father proposed to his mother, tsk tsk, this kid's got some skills~"

"How do you know that's where his parents proposed? You weren't even born yet!" Hattori asked suspiciously. "Are you making this up to fool me?"

Chu Ming rolled his eyes and moved the camera further away to avoid recording their conversation during filming.

"Don't you usually read old news? About twenty years ago, Shinichi Kudo's father, Yusaku Kudo, was here when he solved a case where a suicide was disguised as a murder. Then, in front of everyone in the restaurant, he loudly confessed his love to Yukiko. The picture in the newspaper was so romantic."

"Hey, how many people would collect newspapers from decades ago?" Hattori grumbled in dissatisfaction.

Of course there is, the organization... Not to mention twenty years ago, even fifty years ago, the old newspapers are well preserved. Everything is traceable. He found it when he was bored and went to visit the intelligence group a while ago.

On the other side, after dodging the question for a while, Shinichi Kudo finally mustered up the courage to get down to business.

"Xiao Lan, I've come today because I have something important to tell you. Actually, I've always—"

"what--!!!"

Chu Ming paused in his shooting, and Hattori's eyes instantly sharpened.

Ran peeked out and asked, "What's wrong, Shinichi? Why is someone screaming?"

Only Shinichi Kudo suppressed his intense curiosity and blatantly lied: "I was probably startled by a mouse or something, that's how it is, actually I—"

Hattori, unusually, didn't rush to the scene immediately, holding his breath and waiting for Shinichi Kudo to finish speaking.