Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"No, I was sent by Mihua Hospital to this hospital for an exchange, but I was already on the bullet train when they suddenly told me that I didn't have to go to the hospital for the time being. That's great, I don't have to go anywhere. I can play for a couple of days first."

You play too? That won't do. If Gin can't find any men, won't he get ganged up on and beaten up when he goes back?

I don't care, you go out to play without me, so if I get beaten up, I'll drag you down with me.

Next time, you go back first this time.

I do not……

Chu Ming and Lafitte exchanged a brief but amicable glance, neither able to convince the other, and finally decided to give up. While Chu Ming didn't know how Lafitte had solved his mission, all of his recent missions were with Bourbon.

The group walked towards the exit, where a dignified and gentle-looking woman was already standing, peering into the station.

Upon seeing Kogoro Mouri, the woman's eyes lit up, and she quickly came forward: "Are you Mr. Mouri? I am Yoshino Reika, the secretary of the vice president of Domoto Tourism Company. Nice to meet you."

Kogoro Mouri's eyes lit up when he saw the woman's appearance: "Oh my, is this lady here to pick me up? You're so beautiful!"

Chu Ming glanced at her. Nine times out of ten, the good-looking supporting characters in Detective Conan are the murderers, or of course, they could also be the victims.

Squeezed into Yoshino's car, the group couldn't help but gasp at the various protest signs along the roadside: "Why are there so many protest signs? It seems the villagers don't agree with you developing tourism projects here!"

As they talked, Kogoro Mouri seemed to realize something: "So your company president invited me here not just to attend an opening ceremony, but if he wants to use my fame for publicity, then..."

"The president will discuss this with you in detail later. Okay, we've arrived. Please come in."

Sigh, if they really wanted to gain public approval, why didn't they hire a famous detective or celebrity from all over Japan, but instead chose to hire a Grim Reaper? This company president is really pitiful.

Sitting in the reception room, Chu Ming watched as several families inside were arguing fiercely, each trying to interfere with the other, and no one else could get a word in edgewise. He couldn't help but envy Lafitte, who had already gone upstairs to sleep.

He should have known better than to join Kogoro Mouri in the fun.

Just then, Secretary Yoshino suggested that the group take a cable car ride to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Chu Ming was the first to agree, as he was probably going to get bored to death if he sat there watching them fight and argue.

Kogoro Mouri, however, was not very fond of the suggestion, since he was afraid of heights.

Chu Ming led Conan down the cable car and looked down. The mountains were towering and surrounded by green trees. A wide road wound its way up the mountain and all the way to the top.

Kogoro Mouri had been chatting with the head of Domoto Tourism Company when the cable car arrived at the cave and suddenly everything went dark.

"This cable car goes inside the Celestial Maiden Statue?" Chu Ming asked, somewhat shocked.

This celestial maiden statue must be hundreds of years old. Even if the cable car passes over it, it's much better than passing through its belly.

What were they thinking? No wonder the villagers are boycotting them.

A group of believers in a celestial maiden worshipped the giant stone statue every day with the heart of a pilgrim. Then one day, a tourism company, in order to make money, cut a hole in the statue of their god and built a cable car so that the group of tourists could pass through it every day, laughing and joking...

Whether from a metaphysical perspective or from the perspective of cultural relic preservation, this is not something to be encouraged. It just goes to show how well Japan is doing...

Chapter 249 Because trouble was bound to happen sooner or later

As the cable car was in motion, Yoshino Reika looked at Kogoro Mouri and the others, pointing proudly below the cable car and saying, "Look, below are the statues of the Five Hundred Arhats. We are now passing through the body of the celestial maiden above."

Chu Ming rested his chin on his hand and turned to look down: "Why carve a cable car tunnel through the middle of the statue? Wouldn't that be more expensive? Couldn't we just go around it? And why put five hundred Arhats inside the celestial maiden statue?"

Yoshino Reika smiled gently: "Passing through the body of the celestial maiden symbolizes that we have had a close contact with the gods, which has an even better meaning."

"..." Chu Ming felt that he could not understand the meaning of this.

"Besides, those villagers said that the celestial maiden would cast a curse, so the company president had people carve Arhat statues here to ward off evil."

I don't quite understand this thought process...

As the cable car gradually emerged from the tunnel, and the light gradually brightened, Secretary Yoshino pointed to the celestial maiden statue that slowly appeared before them and introduced it to everyone.

"This celestial maiden statue was carved into the rocky mountain about 800 years ago, and it is truly remarkable that it has been preserved to this day. The outstretched hand of the celestial maiden holds the legendary wish-fulfilling pearl, which is said to be able to eliminate disasters and misfortunes, and even make wishes come true if you pray sincerely. In order to make it more convenient for people to pray to the pearl, our company specially built a platform there. Standing on the platform, you can clearly see and even touch the pearl."

"..." Even Chu Ming, who had no concept of gods or Buddhas and no sense of awe, thought this was too outrageous.

This series of actions brought the celestial maiden down from her pedestal. Tourists could even reach out and touch her hand on the platform, and ride the cable car through her body. No wonder the old nun was so angry. Anyone would be moved to see their faith desecrated like this.

Leaning on the railing at the finish line, looking down at the undulating peaks and overlapping mountains, the winding mountain road, and the lush greenery that weaves a magnificent tapestry, Xiaolan couldn't help but exclaim, "The scenery here is so beautiful! I've never seen such a beautiful view before."

Chu Ming nodded, then pulled out a Polaroid camera from somewhere: "Such beautiful scenery, it would be a shame not to capture it. Let me take some pictures for you."

Kogoro Mouri and Ran readily agreed, but Conan, remembering how Chu Ming had made him look short and stout, tentatively suggested, "Brother Chu Ming, how about... we find someone else to take the picture?"

Chu Ming's expression changed, and he pretended to be fierce: "Does Conan look down on my photography skills? Let me tell you, my photography skills are top-notch. Whether it's composition, lighting, or layering, I have no problem with them!"

Conan pursed his lips. He didn't know if there was a problem or not. He only knew that Chu Ming especially liked to stand and take pictures of him, making him look like a winter melon.

Seeing the two laughing and joking, Secretary Yoshino, who was standing nearby, came over and said, "How about I take some photos for you?"

Before Chu Ming could react, Conan jumped up, grabbed the Polaroid camera, and handed it to Secretary Yoshino: "Then I'll trouble you, Yoshino-neechan~ Thank you, Neechan~ Chu Ming-ge, come and take a picture!"

The group took photos, laughing and joking. To avoid making the jealous king jealous, Chu Ming didn't take a photo with Ran alone, but instead squeezed Conan to the side, and the three of them took a group photo.

He carefully kept the group photo of the three of them, and later he would cut Conan out of the photo himself and show it to Lafitte to provoke him.

Let him just sleep and miss out on some good things~

It was already evening when everyone returned to their hotel.

Lafitte was sitting in the lobby of the hotel suite, looking out like a waiting-for-husband statue. When he saw Xiaolan return from the stairwell, he sat up straight and turned his face slightly towards the door, trying to make sure that Xiaolan could see his most perfect profile the moment she came in.

Unfortunately, Chu Ming was the first to enter. Upon seeing Lafitte, who was spreading his tail feathers like a peacock, he immediately and unintentionally stood in front of Ran, using various methods to block Ran's view of Lafitte. Chu Ming even considered Ran's peripheral vision. He instructed Conan to block her completely, so Ran didn't even notice that Lafitte had been practicing his perfect profile in front of the mirror all afternoon.

Enraged, Lafitte strode over to Chu Ming, grabbed him, and, with a fake smile, demanded in a low voice, "What are you doing! Do you know that blocking people from dating is a crime punishable by lightning?"

Chu Ming maintained his smile, and from a distance, the scene looked incredibly harmonious. Little did anyone know that Chu Ming's smiling mouth uttered words that made Lafitte want to beat him to death: "You old cucumber painted green, you're so old and still chasing after underage girls, have no shame."

Lafitte maintained a smile, but in reality, he gritted his teeth: "We'll talk about age later. You name your terms. What will it take for you not to interfere with me?"

Chu Ming suddenly took two steps forward, turned his back to Lafitte, and said to him, "An old cow eating young grass, ptooey."

"Baka!! I said we'll talk about it next time, not that you have to turn around and talk to me!!!"

If it weren't for the large number of people here, Lafitte would have loved to nail all his scalpels to Chu Ming's body.

Chu Ming completely ignored the jumping-up Lafitte, snorted as he turned around, made a face at him, and then squeezed over to Conan.

Kogoro Mouri was sitting at the table drinking beer from a wine glass, taking advantage of the alcohol to complain about the scene of the Domoto family interfering with each other in the reception room earlier that day: "Tsk tsk, look at the scene today. When they inherit the estate, there will be a good show. It will definitely be a bloodbath. Look at the cases we have encountered before, aren't those big families all like this?"

Xiaolan's face darkened: "Dad, don't talk nonsense. Don't provoke others like this. How is it about inheritance!"

Chu Ming silently gave Kogoro Mouri a thumbs up in his heart. As expected of a famous detective, he was so good at gossiping. He sounded like a prophet right off the bat. Or was he actually a jinx?

Conan looked up with an innocent expression: "Aren't opening ceremonies usually held in the morning? Why is this one starting at noon?"

Kogoro Mouri, who was quite drunk, waved his hand and said, "What do you know? This was definitely a decision they made after careful consideration. Why are you asking so many questions, you little brat?"

Conan, unconvinced, looked at Chu Ming with a questioning gaze.

With a serious face, Chu Ming rambled on to Conan, "Why hold it at noon? Of course, it's because something bad is bound to happen sooner or later."

Conan was speechless and silently turned his head away. There wasn't a single decent person among them!

Seeing that Conan clearly didn't believe what he said, Chu Ming also pursed his lips. What are you doing? Don't think he's joking, okay? He's telling the truth!

Chapter 250 Bet

The opening ceremony started promptly at noon.

Fireworks were going off on the display stand with a banging sound; I don't know what the point of setting off fireworks in the middle of the day is.

Chu Ming followed Kogoro Mouri to the audience seats. Lafitte was provoked by the photos Chu Ming showed him the night before, and he insisted on coming out with him.

"Huh, where did that brat Conan go?" Kogoro Mouri looked around but didn't see Conan anywhere.

Xiaolan couldn't hide her worry: "He went to the toilet."

Thinking of this, Ran turned to Laffitte and asked, "Mr. Watanabe, I'd like to take Conan to see it when we get back to Tokyo. I wonder if it's convenient for you?"

Upon hearing this, Watanabe immediately patted his chest and assured him that he was available anytime.

Looking at Lafitte, who had a cool and aloof appearance but was putting on such a bold and unrestrained demeanor, Xiaolan smiled at him awkwardly but politely to express her gratitude.

Lafitte pulled out his phone, his wolfish ambitions obvious: "Miss Lan, let's exchange numbers. That way you can contact me directly later. Don't call me Mr. Watanabe anymore. Just call me Brother Tian, ​​like Chu Ming does."

Seeing Lafitte taking advantage of the situation and starting to use more intimate terms of address, Chu Ming rolled his eyes. He didn't want to argue with Lafitte about the form of address. Oh well, let her dig. Sooner or later, she'll break the hoe.

"Ran-neechan, Watanabe-nii, what are you doing?" Conan squeezed in between them and asked sourly.

He could see Dr. Watanabe approaching Ran with ill intent from afar! He even took out his phone—were they exchanging contact information?

Watanabe Wada was in a great mood after successfully getting Ran's phone number. He patted Conan's head gently and said, "I'm talking to your Ran sister about something. Next week, your Ran sister will take you to our hospital. I'll buy you a Kamen Rider toy then, okay?"

Listening to Lafitte's words, which sounded like he was coaxing a child, Conan summarized the key points he made: "Next week, Ran will take him to the hospital to see Dr. Watanabe."

Could it be... that they're going to treat him with a disease he doesn't even have...?

He's really not sick!!! And the reason he kept making excuses to pee before was because they didn't trust a little kid to look for clues everywhere. Now that Brother Chu Ming is taking the lead, he hasn't used that excuse for a long time!

Never mind, Xiaolan will know he's healthy after the checkup; she won't believe me now anyway...

President Domoto stood on the stage, speaking in a grand and dignified manner: "...In order to protect the cultural heritage left by our ancestors, and shouldering the responsibility of the booming development of tourism in the 21st century, Domoto Tourism, this time..."

Before he could finish speaking, the nun, Shizuka Kamiyama, whom Chu Ming and his group had met on the bullet train, rushed in: "You're talking nonsense! You'll be punished by heaven for doing this! You guests will all be cursed!! You've desecrated the sacred celestial maiden..."

Chu Ming stared dumbfounded as Shen Shanjing cursed loudly in the corridor. How could they let someone who had always been opposed to the opening ceremony in? The security was so inadequate.

In the audience, a reporter slapped his stunned partner on the head, just like Kogoro Mouri punching Conan: "Take a picture! What are you standing there for!"

His partner scratched his head, then quickly stood up and snapped a bunch of photos of Shizuka Kamiyama's face—truly close-up shots, the kind where you're only a few centimeters away from her.

Chu Ming wanted to complain even more. What could they possibly film?! The age spots on Kamiyama Shizuka's face?

Shizuka Kamiyama was dragged out by the security guards who rushed over. President Domoto's face was very ugly, and he stared at the reporters taking pictures with a fierce look: "Spreading rumors! Many reporters have been spreading rumors about the curse of the celestial maiden. Today, I, Eizo Domoto, will personally refute this nonsense. This time, I have invited the world-famous detective Kogoro Mouri to attend our ceremony."