Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Chu Ming felt he might have figured out the truth, so he didn't continue. Instead, he changed the subject and chatted with Gin for a while before Gin, unable to bear it any longer, hung up the phone.

After harassing Gin, Chu Ming harassed Bourbon, and then went on to flirt with Porter. When he remembered that he could harass Vodka, he discovered that Vodka actually dared to hang up on him.

It must have been Gin who gave him the courage!

That's too much! He just wanted to chat with someone to kill some time, how could you treat him like this!

By the time Chu Ming had finally finished bothering his colleagues, it was already getting dark. All the dugong arrows had been drawn, and those who had drawn the arrows were preparing to wait by the waterfall. Chu Ming followed the sound and walked towards the waterfall.

"Brother Chuming, you're back? What did you do all afternoon? I haven't seen you at all," Hattori asked curiously.

"I went for a walk around the neighborhood. By the way, where's Kazuha? I didn't see her with you. Aren't you two always inseparable?"

Hattori smiled broadly and nodded his chin at the bright-smiling girl in the center of the crowd: "There she is. She was lucky today and drew the Dugong Arrow."

Chu Ming shrugged at Hattori: "Have you figured out a plan yet? Kudo has already confessed, what about you? You're not going to wait until Kudo's kids are old enough to run errands before you tell Kazuha anything, are you?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Hattori's face was probably flushed red because he looked embarrassed, but because his skin was too dark, you couldn't tell at all.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Conan was a little embarrassed. How could he be a child... It couldn't be that fast... He had only confessed his feelings, he hadn't proposed yet.

Chapter 263 Falling in love?

Just as the group was laughing and joking, the Dugong Arrow had been fired at the last person, who turned out to be Kadokawa Saori's drunken father.

"How could it be him? Miss Kotobuki was so excited when she saw the sign, I thought she had won it..." Hattori muttered to Conan in confusion.

"I don't know, maybe I saw it wrong..."

After the Dugong Arrows were fired, fireworks began to light up the center of the arena. Amidst the bright and dim fireworks, a figure could be seen appearing and disappearing behind the waterfall.

Just then, a man pointed to the unusual sight behind the waterfall and shouted in horror, "Look... isn't there someone hanging over the waterfall?"

Following the direction the man pointed, everyone turned their gaze, and sure enough, in the rushing waterfall, there was the figure of a long-haired woman swaying in the middle of the waterfall, like a mermaid swimming upstream.

"This...this can't be a ghost...?" Kazuha was so scared that her face turned pale, and she and Ran huddled together, trembling.

"There are no ghosts. There are no ghosts in the world. Don't scare yourselves." Hattori straightened his hat.

Meanwhile, Kogoro Mouri had already instructed everyone to lower the woman down from the platform.

"It's Kotobuki... How could this be... Could she have committed suicide?"

"No, look at this!" Fukuyama Rokuro held up a wooden stick, and Conan and Hattori leaned forward to discuss the death of Miss Sumi.

Chu Ming didn't join them in their discussion. Instead, he observed Shimabukuro Kimie, who was looking at Miss Sumi's corpse with a mixture of struggle and pleasure in her eyes.

This young lady is quite interesting.

She can disguise herself, use a falsetto, is intelligent, and doesn't hesitate to kill. However, she is a bit stubborn and single-minded, determined to fulfill her mother's last wish. She plans to spend the best years of her life wearing the disguise of a long-lived old woman and never take it off.

Hmm, should we turn back? Or maybe we should ask Vermouth; I wonder if she wants an apprentice.

Without hesitation, Chu Ming immediately sent a message to Vermouth.

"A promising reserve has been discovered. Do you want him? Image.jpg — Granbury"

Vermouth was busy finishing up for Shinichi Kudo when she heard the email notification open. Just as she finished reading the text and subconsciously scrolled down, a large image popped up and caught her eye, leaving her momentarily stunned.

The short guy next to Shimabukuro Kimie who's looking up at him and talking to him—who else could it be but Conan?

What's going on?! Why are you always dragging your godmother down? Is it easy for your godmother to find a task to send that crazy little kid away? Why did you go with her again?

So what if you go with him? Why keep jumping around in front of that crazy guy? Are you afraid he won't see you?

Although Chu Ming was unaware of Vermouth's frustration and disappointment, seeing that Vermouth had read his message but not replied, he couldn't help but urge her: "Hurry up and decide. If you like him, I'll destroy the evidence and help you take him back. You can train him slowly. If you don't want him, I won't care anymore."

Vermouth was preoccupied with her godson and had no interest in the reserves.

"She's just a girl. She knows a little makeup but has no other skills. She won't get ahead in the organization. Besides, you can tell from her eyes that she won't last. Don't worry about her." — Vermouth

If Vermouth doesn't want him, she doesn't want him. Why is she complaining that he's meddling?

"Then, sister, help me find a new detective. I still think that kid Conan is quite suspicious. Sister, see if you can find a detective similar to Kogoro Mouri, someone with connections to the police. Once I've gotten to know the new detective, I'll make my move on the Mouri family, especially Conan. When I catch him in the interrogation room, I'll definitely ask Lafitte to interrogate him properly. — Granburg"

Let Lafitte conduct the interrogation?

Vermouth recalled the several skeletons that had been completely removed from the interrogation room a couple of days ago, and the scene of her godson being turned into a skinned Conan by Lafitte involuntarily flashed through her mind. She couldn't help but tighten her grip on the gun at her waist.

On one side was Granbury, whom she had watched grow up, and on the other was her beloved godson. With the two about to clash, Vermouth was filled with conflicting thoughts. Perhaps—

—Should we kill Lafitte first?

"Don't act rashly for now. Kogoro Mouri has close ties with the police. If anything happens to him or someone close to him, the police will definitely investigate thoroughly. This could expose the organization's existence. It's not worth it for a child. If you're bored lately, when we get back to Tokyo, I'll have someone take you to do something exciting. —Vermouth"

"Okay~ I knew my sister was the best~" Chu Ming happily said the last sentence without adding any suffix.

Want to do something exciting? How about we snipe Shuichi Akai together? He likes that!

Chu Ming tapped away on his phone as he followed behind Conan and the others.

"Brother Chu Ming, are you in love? Why are you chatting like that? And you're laughing so much." Hattori jumped up from behind and put his arm around Chu Ming's shoulder. "Come on, tell me the truth."

"No, I was texting my sister." Chu Ming turned off his phone, his expression unchanged.

"What sister? Is Chu Ming in a relationship with an older woman? Is that woman pretty? When did you two start dating? How much older is she than you? How far along is your relationship now?" Conan, who was focused on investigating the case, also perked up his ears when he heard Chu Ming and Hattori's conversation, and immediately started gossiping.

"What are you talking about..." Chu Ming pushed the two gossipy people aside, "It's a sister who's decades older than me!"

"Oh~ I know! She's a rich woman!" Hattori nudged Chu Ming with a lewd grin, implying, "I have to say, Chu Ming's face is so youthful, it's really attractive to rich women."

Conan then joined in the commotion.

Chu Ming kicked one of them in the backside twice, yelling, "Get lost! What did you guys just come up with?"

Hattori straightened his expression: "That confused old man thought that Miss Kotobuki was looking for the Mermaid Tomb, accidentally fell into the water, grabbed a rope while struggling, and ended up suffocating after the rope got around her neck. But Conan and I found a lifebuoy, so the possibility of murder has greatly increased."

"So, do we have to wait for the police to arrive? Xiaolan and Heye just went to report it to the police. What, haven't the police arrived yet?"

Chu Ming looked around but didn't see any police officers. Could they be stranded again due to some kind of earthquake, tsunami, or mudslide?

"The sea is too rough, and the police said they can't come over for the time being. They have to wait for the storm to calm down."

Hattori shrugged. He was used to the police being so unreliable, especially since American Island was geographically remote, so even if there was a police station nearby, it basically didn't do much here.

“But there’s an advantage to this too. The waves are too high, the police can’t get here, and the culprit will be stuck on the island. Let’s hurry up and look for clues so we can catch the culprit before the police arrive,” Conan suggested.

The three sat cross-legged on the table inside the room and began to sort out the existing clues. Conan and Hattori were deducing things with great enthusiasm, taking turns to talk. After a while, they didn't hear Chu Ming's voice. Conan turned around to ask Chu Ming for his opinion, only to find that it was just him and Hattori who were deducing. Chu Ming had long been sleeping soundly against the pillar behind him, drooling.

I suddenly really want to go on strike...

Chapter 264 Code Name: Mermaid

"Do we really have to sneak in? Isn't that unnecessary? I didn't bring any suitable clothes!" Chu Ming lay sprawled on the hotel bed, unwilling to move.

"How about I lend you one? We're about the same size, and I happened to bring two sets of black school uniforms with me. Look, aren't our Osaka Kaifang Academy uniforms cool?"

"No way! Teitan High School's uniforms are the coolest! Back then, I—ouch, Chu Ming-ge, why did you hit me?!" Conan retorted defiantly.

"Conan, have you seen Teitan's school uniform? What happened to you back then?" Ran looked at him with a questioning gaze.

Conan quickly tried to salvage the situation, trying to make himself look good: "I saw Shinichi wearing it back then, and he looked incredibly handsome!! A hundred times more handsome than Hattori is wearing it now!"

Hattori was clearly unconvinced: "Brother Chu Ming, tell me, whose school uniform is cooler, mine or Kudo's?"

Chu Ming silently pulled out a picture from his phone's photo album and held it up to the two of them. It was a photo of him standing at the school gate wearing the University of Tokyo uniform: "It's clear that our University of Tokyo uniform is the coolest."

???

Three immature boys started arguing endlessly about whose school uniform looked better, quoting classical texts and elaborating on everything from the collar to the cuffs, from the pockets to the hem.

Finally, the three childish girls, unable to argue with each other, all turned to Ran and Kazuha: "What do you think?"

Xiaolan's lips twitched: "Uh... well... I think they're all pretty good-looking, right?"

Chu Ming poked the face on his phone screen: "How come they look the same? Doesn't my school uniform look the best next to my face?"

Kazuha glanced at it and nodded silently: "It seems... to make some sense."

Having received unanimous approval from the two ladies, Chu Ming immediately became smug and, without needing to be urged, took the initiative to lead everyone to the Ebihara family home to attend Ebihara Toshimi's memorial service.

He had originally planned to change his identity and sneak in to find Shimabukuro Kimie after Conan and the others had gone, but since he was going with Conan and the others, it didn't matter, he could just sneak out when he had a spare moment.

At the memorial service, Chu Ming quietly followed Shimabukuro Kimie out of the room. Since he hadn't brought any disguise materials, he used his points to get back Matsutake Yusuke's face. He watched as Shimabukuro Kimie strangled Kuroe Naoko to death with a crazed expression, tied her to a fishing net, sprinkled fish scales on her, and sneered as she prepared to leave. Then, he silently stood behind her.

As Shimabukuro Kimie was walking, she suddenly bumped into someone, startled and turning pale. Upon recognizing the stranger, she gritted her teeth, a murderous glint appearing in her eyes: "Sir, you...you saw everything...I'm so sorry, so sorry..."

She kept her voice down so the people in the room wouldn't hear, tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill in the cold wind: "You've seen everything, so please call the police, it's all my fault..."

Chu Ming played along with her act: "Oh, Ms. Shimabukuro, how could you do such a thing? You... sigh!"

Just as Chu Ming was shaking his head and sighing, Shimabukuro Kimie moved lightly, like a nimble cat, and circled behind Chu Ming. A rope appeared in her hand at some point, which she put around Chu Ming's neck and then pulled hard: "I'm sorry, sir, but you saw something you shouldn't have seen first."

Chu Ming grabbed the rope as she tried to put it on, tilted his head back slightly, and removed himself from the noose. Then he took out his phone, played an audio clip, and put the earphones in her ears.

This was a brainwashing audio recording that Chu Ming had obtained from Rum. It was incredibly effective; almost as soon as the earphones were inserted, Shimabukuro Kimie stopped moving. Her face slowly showed signs of struggle and unease, which were then gradually smoothed out, and she became attached to the recording before finally settling into calm.

Chu Ming observed the changes in Shimabukuro Kimie's expression. According to Rum, this brainwashing audio was a simplified version of brainwashing techniques, used on people with weak willpower. After listening to it, nothing in the brainwashed person's daily life would change, but once they heard the hypnotist's command, they would subconsciously disobey.

"Shimabukuro Kimie, I can help you get out of trouble and I can help you refine your plan, but you must be loyal to me. From now on, your code name is: Mermaid," Chu Ming said in a deep voice.

Shimabukuro Kimie's eyes were momentarily confused, but then they slowly cleared, and she nodded: "Yes, sir."

Since Vermouth looked down on him, Chu Ming thought it would be much more convenient to have a completely loyal subordinate, especially since many things were actually unsuitable for Bourbon to do. He had just tested her; was Vermouth really right? Is this what you call kindness?

Killing is an addictive activity. Being able to control the life and death of others is a fascinating thing, so most people can't stop themselves from doing it.

Perhaps Shimabukuro Kimie was kind before, but after killing three people in a row, even the kindest person can never go back to the past.