Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"It's okay, you can delay a little longer."

Chu Ming, holding binoculars, directed Lafitte from afar, while standing with Vermouth watching the show. At his feet, Kazato Kyosuke was lying on the ground with his head down.

Hehe, Lafitte, you bastard, you used the bug in the bet! Now, enjoy Ran's karate skills! (o?▽?)o

As Conan counted down the seconds, the fountain suddenly shot upwards, and Ran's memories flooded back as she looked at Kyosuke Kazato, who was blocked by the fountain, and the gun he was holding.

As Lafitte held his gun and watched the fountain gradually lower, a soda can suddenly flew towards him at high speed. Startled, he quickly took a few steps to the side to dodge the projectile.

Lafitte looked at Conan in disbelief. Was this the kind of force a child could generate with a single kick? What the hell?!

Just as he straightened up, Xiaolan suddenly looked at him sharply: "I remember everything now!"

Lafitte stood up in surprise: "You've regained your memory? I—"

Just as she was about to reveal everything and boast about her achievement, Xiaolan suddenly clenched her little fist: "I not only remembered the scene of you shooting Officer Sato, but also the scene of my victory in the karate tournament!! You bastard!!"

Then she suddenly charged at Lafitte, swiftly landing several heavy punches on his abdomen. Lafitte only managed to block the last punch, and before he could even explain, Xiaolan launched a flying kick. If he hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been kicked in the face, his most prized possession. Even though he avoided the face, he was still kicked in the body, flying sideways and crashing heavily to the ground.

Lafitte lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up. He felt as if some kind of filter had shattered before his eyes.

No, where is my gentle, kind, virtuous, and lovely Venus? Why has she suddenly become so violent?

This isn't right!!! This isn't the result I wanted!!!

Watching Lafitte get a good beating from Ran, who mistook him for the culprit, Vermouth covered her mouth and laughed with great satisfaction. Chu Ming, seeing her staring at Shinichiro's disguise while still laughing, looked away, finding it a bit cringe-worthy. "Sister, you disguise yourself as Lafitte. I'll distract them later, and you switch places with the real Kyosuke Kazato. We can't let Lafitte actually get arrested. Did you give this doctor his medicine?"

Vermouth kicked Kyosuke Kazato at her feet: "I've already given him the drug. He'll suddenly fall ill and die in a few hours. It's a new drug that Potter is researching. He's quite skilled at making poisons. But what are you doing dressed up like that?"

Chu Ming pulled the unconscious Kazato Kyosuke up and applied the same wound as Laffitte's to the spot where Ran had hit him: "Sonoko said that Ran and Shinichi Kudo had a date here before, and she wants to recreate the whole scene to help Ran recover her memory. Didn't Big Brother and Vodka meet Shinichi Kudo here? They were even on the same roller coaster. I'm testing Conan, but I have a feeling something's off about him."

Granbury is so perceptive!!

Vermouth was alarmed. She glanced at Chu Ming and tentatively tried to get information out of him: "Something's not right?"

Chu Ming pretended to ponder: "Something's not right. It feels too mature, and sometimes it doesn't act like a child at all."

"You suspect—?"

Chu Ming glanced at Vermouth, then lowered his eyes in thought, saying, "I suspect Shinichi Kudo isn't dead, and Conan is his sentinel. I checked; the day after Shinichi Kudo disappeared, Conan appeared at the agency, and from that day on, Kogoro Mouri became famous nationwide. There must be something fishy going on. Maybe..."

Vermouth asked nervously, "Maybe what?"

"Maybe Conan is actually Shinichi Kudo's younger brother. Shinichi Kudo didn't die, but he can't appear in public, so he has his younger brother go by the name Conan and hide in Ran's house to drive away his love rivals."

"..." This guess is a bit far-fetched. Vermouth didn't expect Chu Ming to have such a wild imagination. "As far as I know, Kudo Yusaku and Kudo Yukiko only have one child, which is Kudo Shinichi."

"Okay, I'll think about it some more. Time to get to work."

Chapter 261 Don't Try to Take It From Me

While Ran was concerned about Conan's health, Chu Ming quickly rushed forward to shield them from view, his face full of relief: "Ran, Conan, are you alright? We originally wanted to let you visit the amusement park to see if you could regain your memories, but we didn't expect Kazato Kyosuke to escape the police and sneak into the amusement park. Luckily, you're both okay..."

Conan and Ran were somewhat stunned by Chu Ming's youthful face paired with his burly physique. Vermouth seized the opportunity to swap Kazato Kyosuke with Lafitte, who was feigning death and questioning his existence on the ground. She then casually wiped Lafitte's face, giving him an ordinary-looking face to prevent him from being discovered if he ran away.

Lafitte glared at Chu Ming hatefully, got up, turned around, and quietly ran away along the side path. Damn it, I was tricked by Granbury. That scoundrel must have deliberately tricked me into getting beaten up.

And Xiaolan... never mind, now he feels that the skeleton that used to be able to redeem his soul with just a glance doesn't seem so attractive to him anymore ヽ(`Д?)ノ

In the meantime, maybe he should apply to interrogate the FBI agents Gin arrested, see if there's anything he likes, and that bastard Granbury, daring to screw him over... just wait for his revenge!! Hmph!

Catching a glimpse of Lafitte's resentful departure out of the corner of his eye, Chu Ming looked at the video in the system's album of him being beaten to a pulp by Xiao Lan, and laughed even harder. This trip today was totally worth it; lots of emotion points, lots of emojis, and the video library was even updated! He hoped there would be more opportunities like this!

"Brother Chu Ming, whether there's a problem or not is another matter. Can you tell me what you're dressed up as?" Conan looked at Chu Ming's bulging figure and the cardboard stuffed in his clothes, and gritted his teeth in anger.

So that vodka was you in disguise? Then Gin must be Dr. Watanabe? Yeah, they both have long hair, damn it!!! They tricked him again! If Ran hadn't stopped him, he would have already been following them.

Chu Ming's eyes flickered slightly, and he gestured for Conan to look at the people behind him, so as not to let anything slip: "Sonoko paid the amusement park organizers to get the surveillance footage of you on the roller coaster that day. Didn't you feel that the people on the ride just now looked familiar? Sonoko found most of them and hired them to act as tourists. Only the two men in black from that time couldn't be found, so Watanabe and I had to impersonate them. It's all for Ran to regain her memory."

Conan reacted quickly, continuing to pout and pretending to be a child standing up for someone in the wrong: "So you pushed a little kid away just now to recreate the scene from back then? I thought it was..."

"Of course! I'm not the kind of person who lacks manners and morals! If it weren't for recreating this scene, I wouldn't have done something as tasteless as kicking a child away!"

Go away, let's play first.JPG

Vermouth couldn't help but twitch her lips behind her back. Are you implying that Gin and Vodka are morally bankrupt people?

I should have recorded it so Gin could hear it!

……

Soon, the police arrived at the scene and took away Kyosuke Kazato, who had 'escaped'. Seeing Kogoro Mouri and the others who had arrived with the police, Ran excitedly went to greet them: "Dad, Mom, Sonoko!"

With tears welling up in her eyes, Sonoko rushed over and hugged Ran tightly, bursting into tears: "Waaaaah, it's so good, Ran, it's so good that you've finally recovered, waaaaah..."

Vermouth watched Ran regain her energy and smiled with relief. However, she then became worried about whether Conan's acting had fooled Granbury. No, she had to think of a way to send Granbury on a mission soon...

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

"Where am I supposed to go, Fukui's American Island? What a strange name that is!" Chu Ming was on speakerphone, lying on the sofa, eating a chicken leg while answering the phone, his legs half-hanging on the backrest.

“Besides that name, the locals also call it Mermaid Island, the island where mermaids used to be said to roam and where there are legends of immortality.” Vermouth chuckled. “Three years ago, all the media were reporting that there was an immortal mermaid on the island. A year ago, Gin and the others took Sherry there once and even brought back some of the so-called mermaid's remains. But Sherry was very resistant to studying it at the time, and the research has never started. Potter recently wanted to study it but couldn't find the mermaid remains they brought back, so he hopes you can go again…”

“I have no interest in working for Potter. He still owes me a few favors from last time. No way.”

“The BOSS has recently suddenly placed great hopes on the experiment. Only a few core members in the action team know that the organization has this kind of research. But you know how busy Gin is. Lafitte was tricked by you last time and is now using the excuse of recuperating to avoid moving. I am being watched by that woman from the FBI and can only stay in Tokyo. The only one who can go is you, my sweetheart.”

"...Would Bourbon work?" Chu Ming asked in a desperate attempt.

“No, sweetheart, this involves the organization’s secrets. It’s not something Bourbon can get involved in. After all, it was Gin who did this mission back then. Think about it, what is Gin’s status? He’s the leader of the action team. If you go there now…” Vermouth accurately grasped Chu Ming’s thoughts.

"Damn it! Nobody can take it from me, I'm going to dig up the whole tomb and bring it out!!" Chu Ming didn't even want his chicken leg anymore and jumped up from the sofa.

"Okay, sweetheart, I'm waiting for your good news~"

Vermouth hung up the phone and let out a long sigh. She needed to keep Granbury and Conan apart for a few days. Granbury was already starting to suspect Conan, but fortunately, he still needed Kogoro Mouri's current identity to cover for him, so he didn't take action immediately.

Otherwise, given his personality, he would probably have already taken action when he began to have doubts.

However, what Vermouth didn't know was that the moment Chu Ming hung up on her, he called Conan and said that the annual dugong ceremony on American Island was about to begin, inviting him to go to American Island together.

I always bring Conan with me when I go out, so I can have more of a magnetic field. But the other day he went out for a stroll seven or eight times, and the legendary Mikasa, known as the stage for murderers, was completely safe!!! I didn't hear a single scream! Let alone any magnetic field.

Conan readily accepted Chu Ming's invitation and told him that Hattori had also contacted Kogoro Mouri, saying that he had previously received a letter asking for help, and the address happened to be on the American island.

All three Grim Reapers are going? ヾ(??▽?)ノ Is there really such a good thing?

Chapter 262 Scam

Upon arriving on the island, Conan Hattori, Kogoro Mouri, and the others were busy searching for the missing Saori Kadokawa, but Chu Ming didn't want to look for the missing person, nor did he want to help Vermouth dig up her grave.

He knew that Vermouth had arranged for him to be here only to separate him from Conan, but he wondered how Vermouth would feel when she found out that Chu Ming had actually come out with Conan.

Moreover, Chu Ming might not have had much of an impression when Vermouth mentioned American Island, but when Vermouth mentioned Mermaid Island, Chu Ming's impression of this episode immediately came to mind.

The so-called mermaid remains are actually the remains of the mother of the island's shrine maiden, Shimabukuro Kimie.

The previous Longevity Granny was Kimie Shimabukuro's mother. Three years ago, some young people in the village, in an attempt to verify whether the Longevity Granny was truly immortal, locked Kimie's mother, who was impersonating the Longevity Granny, in a warehouse and set it on fire. Before she burned to death, she called Kimie, asking her to continue pretending to be the Longevity Granny. After the fire was extinguished, people discovered a skeleton without a lower body, caused by a collapsed support column crushing it. However, after media reports, it was misrepresented as the discovery of a mermaid's skeleton.

So is there any need to dig up the grave? Absolutely not. He just needs to relax for a few days, follow Conan around and get some attention, and then throw the report that the mermaid incident was fake in front of Vermouth.

However... since Gin and the others have already been here, there's no reason why they wouldn't know that the so-called immortality is a scam.

Furthermore, rumors of immortality circulated three years ago, so why did the organization only send someone a year ago? The organization's information shouldn't be this outdated...

Chu Ming felt that this Mermaid Island might be hiding some secret of the organization, or that Gin's visit here a year ago wasn't for any mermaids at all.

"Brother Chu Ming, we're going to visit an American shrine, do you want to come along?" Conan tugged at Chu Ming's sleeve, trying to wake him from his daze.

"America? What for—oh, a shrine? I'll go too." Chu Ming had just come to his senses and didn't react for a moment.

At the American shrine, the group met Shimabukuro Kimie and asked her about the news. Ran and Kazuha also took a number to draw the Dugong Arrow.

"Brother Chu Ming, the celebration doesn't start until tonight. Would you like to come with us to explore the island this afternoon?" Ran beckoned to Chu Ming. Conan and Hattori were busy looking for clues. Kogoro Mouri was also going, but he found a small tavern on the way and was chatting and drinking with people there as if they were old friends.

"You two go ahead and explore, I'll just wander around the neighborhood." Chu Ming politely declined Xiao Lan's invitation. What kind of man would he be if he hung out between two girls? Conan and Hattori would be jealous.

After everyone had gone far away, Chu Ming took out his phone and sent a message to Gin. He always asked questions on the spot and never put them off until the next day.

"Brother, what were you doing on Mermaid Island a year ago? — Granbury"

The message had barely been sent, and before Chu Ming could even put his phone in his pocket, it started buzzing.

—Gin called.

Perhaps Gin found typing too many words troublesome and simply made a phone call instead? Chu Ming was curious and answered the phone.

"Big brother?"

"Why do you suddenly ask this?"

Chu Ming heard a low, suppressed groan of pain mixed in with Gin's voice. He couldn't help but take out his phone and examine it closely. It was indeed Gin's number, but... this...

He couldn't help but ask cautiously, "Um, brother, you don't have to answer my call right now, I can wait..."

Gin glanced at the FBI agent who was being interrogated to the point of near death, his arms and legs dissected down to the bones, then looked at Lafitte, whose face was covered in blood and whose eyes were filled with madness, before turning and leaving the interrogation room: "No problem, Lafitte is interrogating the FBI agent. He's been acting like a madman these past few days, I don't know what's wrong with him. Are you on Mermaid Island right now?"

Oh, so it was an interrogation...

"Yes, the dugong festival is about to begin. I came here to have fun, but Potter heard that there are mermaid bones here and insisted that I bring some back for him to experiment on," Chu Ming said, half-jokingly.

"It's fake. It's a woman's skeleton, and there's no such thing as a longevity woman. It's all an imposter."

"Oh, okay, did you check this out a year ago, brother?" Chu Ming asked tentatively.

"No, the organization has known for a long time that there are no more mermaid remains. A year ago, I went to the island mainly to contact important figures who used to dominate Japanese politics, to win over Japanese political figures and economic giants, and to put the organization above Japanese rules. Those old guys all want to live longer. What the organization has been researching for half a century is nothing more than these things."

"Then the organization is now..." Chu Ming was somewhat astonished. He hadn't realized how powerful the organization was in the anime. He hadn't expected it to have such a deep connection with the political and business worlds. They had woven a complex web of relationships, making the entire organization mysterious and unpredictable. No wonder so many spies had been planted in it. Was it possible that... the spies were ostensibly infiltrating to monitor the organization's movements, but in reality, they were planted by various forces to inquire about the anti-aging drug?