Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Following Chu Ming's force, the hooded man fell to the ground with a thud, revealing his plastic skin; he was actually a mannequin fitted with a megaphone.

Kogoro Mori slammed his fist on the table: "Damn it, who dares to go this far!"

The other detectives looked at him with surprise, making him feel uneasy.

"What, what's wrong?"

Ikumi Gunda propped her head up with her hand: "The famous detective Mouri couldn't even solve this mystery?"

The detectives, one after another, broke down the coded message on the invitation and explained it to Kogoro Mouri, who had accidentally stumbled into a high-level game, much like a group of local academic geniuses explaining problems to a struggling student.

"...His dazzling techniques were like illusions."

"With voices and faces as numerous as the stars..."

"A genius criminal who manipulates the police with ease..."

"That left all of us detectives in awe..."

"The only thing that can confuse our minds..."

"Wearing a white cloak, he is capable of anything, from flying to diving..."

"—Phantom Thief Kid!"

As the others praised him to the skies, Kidd almost couldn't maintain his poker face and burst out laughing.

Kidd: Stop praising me, stop praising me. If you can talk so well, you should write a book.

After the meal, everyone praised the culinary detective Da Shan Zhu's cooking skills.

After the meal, the mannequin began to explain to everyone the story that had happened in the house, which was about Karasuma Renya's past.

Forty years ago, this villa was a gathering place for numerous political and business elites. Ostensibly, it was a memorial for Karasuma Renya, who passed away at the age of 99, but in reality, it was an auction of the artworks he left behind. That night, during a storm, two strangers wearing black hoods knocked on the door, but in the end, they drugged everyone into killing each other and took all the artworks with them...

As the dummy's deep voice began to narrate, Chu Ming seemed to be listening attentively, but his mind had already wandered far away.

It's known that Karasuma Renya didn't die; instead, he founded a brewery. Could the person who knocked on the door back then have been sent by the organization? Forty years ago, Gin probably wasn't even born yet, so he probably wouldn't know about this, but Rum definitely would. Should we go back and ask him? Or should we ask the Boss and exchange gossip?

Chu Ming rubbed his chin. Why not just ask Pisco? He's been following the BOSS for a long time, and Chu Ming helped him out during a mission. He's grateful and said he can contact him anytime if he needs anything.

"Ah—" Mogi Harufumi suddenly stood up and grabbed his own neck, looking like he had been poisoned.

Chu Ming was startled, his thoughts thrown into disarray. He interrupted him impatiently, "Uncle, you know how scary it is to scare someone? Stop pretending. Your hands look like they're full of veins, but if you were really using that much force, your neck would probably be red from being strangled..."

Harufumi Mogi lowered his hand: "Hahaha, looks like my acting isn't good enough. You saw through me right away. That's right, I did it on purpose. I have no interest in finding treasure. Let's go—"

Before he could finish speaking, Da Shanzhu also started choking and shouting.

"Hey, Da Shan, don't be so quick! I just admitted it and you're already putting on an act. What, are you a better actor than me?!"

Mogi Harufumi walked over irritably, trying to pull his hand away, but Daizen Kishou had already collapsed to the ground with a ferocious expression, lifeless.

Having already obtained the only magnetic field he could get today, and knowing that further delay wouldn't yield any more, Chu Ming declared that he was about to flip the table.

Chapter 280 My Golden House

While Chu Ming was pondering to himself, the others had already carefully examined the details around the corpse and began to investigate the cause of Da Shanzhu's death.

"I know how Mr. Dashan died."

Chu Ming walked over, pinched Da Shanzhu's right hand, and showed it to everyone: "Look at his thumb. The nail is uneven and has been bitten."

Then she casually tossed his hand away: "No cyanide reaction was found in the cup on Da Shan Zhu's plate. I suspect that the poison was actually on Mr. Da Shan's hand—to be precise, everyone should have toxins on their hands. And since Mr. Da Shan likes to bite his nails, the toxins were ingested by him."

Seeing the detectives listening attentively to his story, Chu Ming leaned back in his dining chair and crossed his legs: "Just now, before dinner, while you were playing games to kill time, I went into a room. On the piano in the room, there was a story written in blood about Karasuma Renya's cruel murder of all the scholars. The last signature was Senma Kyosuke."

"Detective Senma, you should know this man named Senma Kyosuke, right?"

Seeing everyone's gaze turn to her, Chizuru Kazuyo stood with her hands behind her back, maintaining her elegance: "What, are you doubting me?"

Chu Ming nodded: "Yes, I am suspicious of you. Your name is Senma Kazuyo, and I've also discovered a Senma Kyosuke. Isn't it normal for me to suspect you?"

Chima Kazuyo smiled and said, "Young man, I'm a detective too. Your attempts to trick me won't work. If you really suspect me, please produce the evidence."

"Evidence?" Chu Ming took out his laptop from his bag and read aloud the information from the email he had just received, word by word: "Kyosuke Senma, a famous archaeologist forty years ago, his daughter, Yoshiki Senma..."

As Chu Ming went into more and more detail, Senma Kazuyo's expression grew increasingly unpleasant.

"Besides this basic information, I also know some things that others don't know, such as how you and Da Shanzhu conspired in the second-floor room yesterday morning to invite the detective to solve the mystery, and how to kill everyone here after they were no longer of any use."

Chu Ming's fingertip swept across the corner above the villa: "I had a lot of surveillance cameras installed here before, including the things you discussed with Da Shanzhu today. I heard everything, but I didn't expect you to target your own partner."

Kidd couldn't help but chime in, "Why did you install so many surveillance cameras here? And... when did you install them?"

Chu Ming replied matter-of-factly, "Of course it's because I don't live here for long and there's no housekeeper to take care of the house. In order to prevent burglaries, I naturally have to install surveillance cameras in advance."

"You...your house???" Chizuru hadn't spoken since Chu Ming presented the solid evidence, but now she finally looked up in surprise.

“Of course.” Chu Ming closed his laptop. “I don’t know what Mr. Da Shan told you, but this villa was a gift from my elders, and all the ownership documents are complete. It’s just that I haven’t had time to take good care of it, so it’s just been sitting here. It was only after I heard that someone invited a detective in the name of the villa’s owner that I came here with Uncle Mori.”

Everyone had already suspected Senma Kazuyo, but at the time they had no evidence.

At that moment, Conan hurriedly came downstairs: "Brother Chu Ming, Brother Chu Ming, I know what the treasure represents!"

Despite the large number of people in the living room, he excitedly climbed onto the clock stand, explaining the method for deciphering the code while moving the long and short hands on the clock face.

With a soft click, the clock fell off completely, the paint peeling away to reveal a golden interior.

"My father lost his life for just a piece of gold. It's ridiculous..." Chima Kazuyo squatted down, touched the gold clock, and sighed deeply.

Chu Ming shook his head, gesturing for everyone to follow him outside. They stopped when they reached an open space in the courtyard.

"It's not just this one piece of gold, look—"

As the code was deciphered, the walls of the entire villa gradually collapsed, and amidst the swirling dust, large swaths of dazzling golden light suddenly appeared.

Chu Ming revealed a mesmerizing smile, opening his arms wide to the crowd: "Look, my golden palace!!!! Mine!!!"

Who didn't dream of having a golden house when they were a kid?

"The Twilight Villa truly lives up to its name; your net worth has suddenly increased to hundreds of billions," Ikumi Gunta teased him with a smile.

Once the dust settled, Chu Ming jumped up and down excitedly, feeling the joy of embracing the gold.

Chu Ming snapped a picture of the villa with his phone, intending to send it to Boss Gin and the others later so they could share in his joy.

"Although we can see so much gold, it's a pity that gold can't be eaten. If we're just trapped here, all that gold will just benefit others," Mogi Harufumi couldn't help but pour cold water on Chu Ming's enthusiasm.

“No way, I haven’t seen Mr. Hakuba’s pet in a long time.” Chu Ming looked at Hakuba Tan.

Hakuba Saguru dusted himself off and chuckled, "Your observation is indeed very keen. I already sent Watson out to deliver the message, and I reckon the Metropolitan Police Department will be sending a helicopter to pick us up soon."

Sure enough, the Metropolitan Police Department's helicopter arrived shortly afterward, and the group boarded the helicopter together with Chima Kazuyo.

The plane had just taken off when Chu Ming suddenly gripped Kogoro Mouri's hand tightly.

Kidd was terrified, but he forced himself to remain calm and compose himself: "What's wrong?"

Chu Ming smiled at him: "Kidd, what's up? I want to take you to the Metropolitan Police Department to exchange for the bonus."

! ! ? ?

Looking at the group of detectives surrounding him, intending to cut off his escape route, Kid felt like crying.

No, I just praised him tonight... why are we all trying to catch him now... am I not good enough for your compliments?

"Release me, and I'll tell you where Detective Mouri is right now!" Kidd's eyes darted around as he began to negotiate with Chu Ming.

Chu Ming curled his lip: "Tch, you think I don't know? He must have been tied up in the gas station by you."

Kidd gritted his teeth inwardly. Damn it, why do you know me so well!

Chapter 281 Just a Golden Villa

In the end, Chu Ming didn't do anything to Kid. Instead, after draining his emotional points, he created an opening and let him go. Watching Kid fly away with the hang glider, Chu Ming couldn't help but laugh out loud and helped Conan put his watch back on.

"Damn it, he got away again." Conan sat down next to Chu Ming and muttered a complaint.

Chu Ming glanced at the insincere detective and couldn't help but mock him: "Come on, why didn't you use your tranquilizer dart to shoot him when he was standing at the helicopter door acting all high and mighty? He's already run away, and you're still saying this."

"But what if he falls forward? I just want to arrest him, I don't want him dead," Conan said, sounding aggrieved.

Chu Ming's face clearly said, "You're just being stubborn."

Chu Ming was preoccupied with the gossip about the Twilight Villa, so he called Rum as soon as he got off the plane.

"Granbury? Am I seeing things? You, Granbury, are actually calling me one day?" Rum teased loudly on the other end of the phone, his tone exaggerated.

"...Uncle, don't sound so resentful, it's really unpleasant." Chu Ming was disgusted by his tone and couldn't help but shudder. "I just have something I'd like to ask you about."

“No problem, I’ll tell you everything I know.” Rum’s voice gradually became arrogant. “Hahahaha, Gin, don’t stare at me. I do know more than you. Is there anything wrong with Granbury coming to consult me?”

?

Gin is here too?

Sure enough, Gin's deep voice came through the phone receiver: "Heh."

Uh... isn't this awkward?

"You guys are busy, haha, then I won't bother you any longer, maybe next time—"

"It's alright, I won't bother you. You can go straight back to base."

It's rare for Chu Ming to take the initiative to seek him out, so how could he not show off in front of Gin?

Chu Ming carried a bag containing some gold items he had brought back from the Twilight Villa. Apart from the clock, many of the decorations were also made of gold. As the wall coverings fell away, many of the items inside also became shiny with gold.