Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

With President Domoto's introduction, Kogoro Mouri successfully triggered the "everyone knows him" buff, and a group of people looked at him with admiration, which greatly inflated Kogoro Mouri's vanity.

Looking at President Domoto standing on the stage with his flag raised, Chu Ming leaned against Lafitte and made a bet with him: "I don't think he'll live past today. After all, the more he boasts, the more miserable his death will be."

Looking at Chu Ming, who was even more eccentric than him, Lafitte had an idea: "Shall we make a bet?"

Chu Ming looked at him with a half-smile: "Are you sure?"

Lafitte's eyes gleamed: "Of course, if he doesn't die today, then you shouldn't interfere with my pursuit of my Venus."

Chu Ming scoffed: "What Venus and Aesop? If he dies today, you can find another target. I have a pretty good relationship with this detective's family now, and I'll be using them as a stepping stone in the future. If your pursuit fails and causes the relationship to break down, all my previous emotional investment will be wasted. Pretending to be a good person is tiring, okay?"

Lafitte raised an eyebrow: "I can't possibly fail... but it's a deal!"

He made up his mind: today he would stick close to President Domoto! He wouldn't allow anything to happen to this president today!!

President Domoto was about to bring guests to try out the Tenbu Mountain Sky Ropeway. Chu Ming and Lafitte followed closely behind. Lafitte, in particular, stared intently at the guests. Looking at Chu Ming, he had the air of a bodyguard captain, even more competent than President Domoto's actual bodyguard.

As the cable car entered the tunnel inside the Celestial Maiden Statue, the lights inside the cable car suddenly went out.

Lafitte immediately became alert and began to search for the location of the president in his memory.

Conan yelled at the reporters, "Quick, press the flash!"

The stark white light flashed by in an instant, and President Domoto suddenly let out a miserable scream.

Having been exposed to the magnetic field for a long time, Chu Ming could still see clearly even in the dark. After President Domoto finished shouting, he lifted the lid on the stool and lay down inside with a cunning smile.

Thirty seconds later, the cable car emerged from the tunnel, and the lights illuminated the cable car again. To everyone's astonishment, the president had vanished inside the cable car!

Conan's eyes scanned the surroundings. The windows were sealed shut, two reporters stood at the emergency exit, and Secretary Yoshino stood at the right side door. There was only a small vent in the air vent, and Conan felt that even he couldn't get out. The emergency escape equipment was also in good condition. The only change was that the words "cause and effect" had been pasted on the window.

"What exactly is going on?"

"This sticker...could it really be the curse of the celestial maiden?"

……

The people inside the cable car were talking amongst themselves, wondering how someone could suddenly disappear like that.

Rina Domoto was peering out the window, searching intently, when suddenly her eyes fell on the celestial maiden statue: "Daddy's there!!!"

Following Rina Domoto's finger, everyone suddenly noticed that in the hands of the celestial statue, the president lay there, life or death unknown, his head bowed low, a dagger deeply embedded in his chest.

Upon seeing President Domoto's body, amidst the panicked crowd, Lafitte, who had initially been somewhat agitated by the president's disappearance, remained remarkably calm.

"Don't be nervous, that's not President Domoto."

Chapter 251 Horizontal Coral?

Lafitte stood by the window, holding a telescope that was hidden somewhere. After examining it carefully, he calmly said, "Although it is dressed, you can tell from the exposed parts that the skin of the 'President Domoto' in the statue's hands is too shiny and the color is too rigid. Looking at the posture it is lying in, the details are very stiff. Even if a human body is lying there, it is impossible to contort it into that posture. So this must be a doll. If you don't believe me, let's go and take a look."

Lafitte felt refreshed. Although he didn't know how President Domoto got out, judging from the vice president's fake panic and the corpse made of a doll in the statue's hand, he figured that the president was definitely trying to use this play to slap those who kept saying there was a curse in the face.

He could vouch for it with his decades of medical experience: that corpse was definitely a fake!

Seeing Lafitte's confident words, everyone felt a little relieved and ran towards the exhibition booth after getting off the cable car.

Despite his advanced age, Lafitte's legs were still strong, and he led the group at full speed towards the exhibition stand.

Chu Ming looked at Yoshino Reika, who had stayed behind due to feeling unwell, and then at Lafitte, who was full of energy. After holding back for a long time, he couldn't help but smile. He had already anticipated the expression on Lafitte's face when he arrived there and found that the doll he thought had suddenly turned into a real corpse.

That must have been really awkward.

No, he needs to get there quickly too. Luckily, he brought a camera; he wants to document his embarrassing past!

Thinking of this, Chu Ming stopped sluggishly following behind and quickly chased after him. Soon he encountered Conan, the short-legged loser, grabbed him from behind by the collar and threw him into his arms, taking him with him as they caught up with Lafitte.

Conan was running when he suddenly found himself suspended in mid-air. Startled, he clutched his neck, which was being choked by his collar, and coughed twice: "Brother Chu Ming, are you trying to murder me?!"

Chu Ming, with one other person, continued to climb the stairs with ease, following behind Lafitte. Hearing Lafitte's slightly rapid breathing, he mocked, "La—cough, la, la. Haven't seen you in a while, you're getting weaker and weaker. How far have you run and you're already panting like this? Look at Conan, his legs are so short, yet he's following us without even breaking a sweat."

Lafitte glanced at the two people clinging to him out of the corner of his eye. Seeing Conan wrapped around Chu Ming's neck, nestled in his arms, and baring his teeth at him, he was furious. "Shut up! He—hmph, he didn't run away at all! Hmph, I'd run away with you if you carried me!"

"You wish." Chu Ming could have easily surpassed Lafitte and gone to the booth to wait for him, but he was afraid that Lafitte would see the real corpse of President Domoto lying there and then deny it, insisting that he was the one who killed him. Wouldn't that have wasted the bet?

Let him be the first discoverer.

When everyone arrived, panting, they found Mr. Watanabe Wada, who claimed to be a doctor, standing next to the Buddha statue's palm with a look of utter disbelief, while Chu Ming and Conan were examining the body.

The vice president stopped in shock, his face filled with disbelief: "How could this be? How is this possible..."

Rina Domoto let out a painful cry: "Daddy!!"

Then, as if remembering something, she turned and yelled at Lafitte, "It's all your fault!! You said it was a doll!! How did it suddenly become my father! You bastard, you—"

She lunged at Lafitte as if to punch him, but Chu Ming's gaze sharpened. He grabbed her hand, which was reaching out to scratch Lafitte, and flung it back: "It wasn't He Tian who killed him, so why are you blaming him? Can't you see for yourself? You believe everything he says. He even said he was the reincarnation of a celestial maiden, do you believe that? You idiot."

Ignoring Ms. Domoto, who was sitting on the ground crying, Chu Ming patted Lafitte, who had just come to her senses: "Stop doubting your life, let's do an autopsy."

He likes to bully Laffitte, but not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can bully members of the organization. This is why Laffitte was caught up in self-doubt and didn't realize it. Otherwise, Rina Domoto would probably have had a row of scalpels stuck in her body.

Lafitte was somewhat annoyed. He was certain he hadn't misread anything; someone must have killed the president and left him here while they were on their way.

His first suspect was Chu Ming, but Chu Ming had been following him the whole time, so it couldn't be him. Otherwise, losing the bet and having to go through the trouble of destroying evidence for him would be too much of a hassle...

Who is the murderer?! He lost the bet, and he will absolutely not let this murderer get away with it!!!

********************************

The police arrived at the scene quickly, and the forensic team began moving the body to take photos. After everything was almost done, Officer Yokomizo, panting heavily, made his way up the last step of the stairs and plopped down on the ground.

Kogoro Mouri looked serious. Hearing the panting, he turned around and saw an old acquaintance.

"Officer Yokomizo, it's you—"

Inspector Yokomizo jumped to his feet, pointing at Kogoro Mouri with a look of utter shock: "Mr. Mouri!!! It's you again!!!"

Having been teased by Inspector Megure so many times, Kogoro Mouri's face darkened when he saw Inspector Yokomizo's expression: "What, you think I'm some kind of Grim Reaper too? Should I leave? You can have the Celestial Maiden Statue help you solve the case!"

Inspector Yokomizo quickly reassured Kogoro Mouri: "No, no, I actually really want to hear Mr. Mouri's famous deductions too!"

Then he leaned on Kogoro Mouri's shoulder and whispered, "Could it really be a curse? When I came up the mountain, I heard the residents down below say that it was the curse of the celestial maiden."

Kogoro Mouri said with a serious expression, "Impossible. This is a murder case. You're a police officer, how can you spread such alarmist rumors!"

Inspector Yokomizo scratched his head, his eyes sweeping over everyone present: "So, the suspects are the group of people who were on the cable car at the time of the incident? Let me see, the Domoto family members, two reporters, ah—Mr. Chu Ming!!"

Inspector Yokomizo immediately abandoned Kogoro Mouri and rushed to Chu Ming's side: "Hey Mr. Chu Ming, we meet again. Have you figured out today's culprit yet?"

The abandoned Kogoro Mouri stared at him with resentful eyes.

Chu Ming shook his head and introduced Lafitte: "This is Yokomizo—uh, Officer, and this is my friend, Dr. Watanabe Kazuda from Beika Hospital. He just temporarily took over the autopsy work before the police arrived."

Chu Ming forgot Officer Yokomizo's name for a moment, so he simply skipped it.

Inspector Yokomizo looked at him with a deep gaze: "Mr. Chu Ming, you've actually forgotten my name...?"

Chu Ming glanced at his coral-like hair and a flash of inspiration struck him: "I haven't forgotten, I haven't forgotten, Wada, this is Officer Yokomizo Sango."

"Yokomizo Sango!!! It's Yokomizo Sango!!! Don't guess the name from his hair!!"

Chapter 252 Willing to admit defeat

Chu Ming apologized repeatedly, which made Yokogawa's expression improve slightly.

While Chu Ming was chatting with Officer Yokomizo, the three siblings of the Domoto family started their hilarious back-and-forth blaming each other again.

One person said that the eldest brother must be happiest that his father died, another said that his sister must have gotten her long-cherished inheritance and her wish must have come true, and yet another said that none of you are any good people, only I am pure and innocent, leaving everyone around them stunned.

At this moment, Lafitte pointed to a house below: "What is that place? Why is it still smoking?"

The vice president of Domoto Kanko peeked out and said, "That's the small room where the workers rested when we were digging the tunnel. Hmm, that's strange. That building should have been vacant for a long time. Why is there still smoke coming out of the chimney?"

Hearing their conversation, Chu Ming leaned over to take a look and said seriously, "Don't miss any information related to the case, Officer Yokomizo, quickly send someone down to see what's causing the smoke."

Officer Yokomizo nodded, signaling the officers around him to quickly go down and investigate.

A moment later, the police rushed up carrying an evidence bag, inside which was a burnt wooden puppet with only one prosthetic hand remaining.

The moment Lafitte saw the evidence, the smile that had been on his face vanished. He practically snatched the evidence bag, looked at it, and then stared intently at Secretary Yoshino, his face grim: "Miss, you killed President Domoto?"

Secretary Yoshino's smile vanished: "Sir, please don't talk nonsense, I—"

Lafitte held the evidence bag between two fingers and turned it over to show her: "There's a pearl on this burned prosthetic hand, exactly the same as the pearl on your clothes. That means I wasn't mistaken at the time. It was a puppet. It must have been a play that the president and you planned to put on together, but you took it too seriously? And then you killed the president, burned the puppet, and came to join us?"

As he spoke, Lafitte lamented, "Damn it! I should have been more careful! I shouldn't have run so fast; I should have stayed and kept an eye on you!"

The thought of losing the bet due to his own carelessness made Lafitte's heart ache. His beloved—no, his Venus!!!

Conan looked at Dr. Watanabe, whose face was full of grief, and sighed inwardly. Although Chu Ming's friends were a bit annoying, they were all people who hated evil.

He just doesn't like to talk about the details of the reasoning, which makes him very upset and frustrated.

Secretary Yoshino lowered her head; the evidence was irrefutable, leaving her no room for denial.

"I don't regret it." She said with a hint of stubbornness, "They killed my brother, I'm just making them pay for their crimes in blood!"

"Your brother?"

Chu Ming didn't want to listen at all, but the detectives and police officers at the scene seemed very curious and took the initiative to pick up on Yoshino Reika's words.

“My brother died in an accident during the tunnel excavation. At the time, Domoto Kanko was arguing with the villagers over the celestial maiden statue. To prevent outsiders from thinking it was all a curse from the celestial maiden, they actually bribed the relevant people to keep quiet, only giving my mother a large sum of compensation! Ten years ago, my parents divorced, and I went to live with my father in Tokyo. During that time, my brother and I often kept in touch and encouraged each other. But last year, when my mother became seriously ill and I went to visit her, she kept crying, saying that my brother's death was too tragic and that she would never forgive the Domoto family. So I decided—”

Chu Ming felt something was off as he listened, and couldn't help but interrupt her: "Did the Domoto family give compensation?"

The vice president hurriedly said, "Yes, they did. The compensation they gave was ten times the market price because the president wanted her not to make a fuss about it."

"After receiving the compensation, they still want to seek revenge on you... Although the president shouldn't have kept your brother's death a secret, he didn't shirk his responsibility either. Why would your mother, after receiving a large sum of compensation and agreeing not to pursue the matter further, still want you to seek revenge? Besides, your brother wasn't maliciously murdered; accidents are unpredictable. What are you thinking?"