Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"A gift of equal value to what I'd give?" Chu Ming raised an eyebrow. "Then my sister is probably going to have to spend a lot of money. I'm worth a lot. But let me make this clear: protecting her is fine normally, since I need to maintain a positive image in front of detectives and the police. But if she gets in the way of the organization, no matter who she is, I won't give her any face."

Vermouth breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could say anything, Chu Ming pressed on, "Now, can you tell me, sister, what's so special about that boy?"

Vermouth's mind raced. Actually, she hadn't thought of an excuse yet. She had brought Chu Ming out to distract him and make him lose focus on this matter, but Chu Ming still couldn't forget about it.

"Actually... here's the thing. Shinichi Kudo saved me back then, and when I returned to Japan this time, I originally wanted to repay him, but I didn't expect that he had already been killed by Gin, so I can only repay Ran alone. And Conan, you also think he looks a lot like Shinichi Kudo, right? I think so too, so since Shinichi Kudo is dead, it's okay for me to transfer my affections to him, right?"

? ? ? ? ?

As Chu Ming listened to the excuse Vermouth hastily made up, he felt like he had a curse on his lips but couldn't say it. He felt like Vermouth was treating him like a fool.

"You find it unbelievable, right? You think I'm lying to you, but that's the truth. If I really wanted to lie to you, wouldn't I have come up with a more suitable reason to coax you? No matter how outrageous the truth is, I don't want to lie to you." Vermouth's delicate and charming eyebrows drooped slightly, and a thousand worries gathered in her brows.

"..." But you're just lying to me!!! Do you think I read the script for nothing??

Chu Ming shouted in his heart, but his face remained completely expressionless.

That's outrageous! That's too much! They actually came up with such a bizarre excuse to brush him off!

Chapter 286 Unconventional Approach

The consequence of going out for coffee with Vermouth late at night and chatting until dawn was that Chu Ming slept until the afternoon before finally scratching his messy hair and crawling out of bed.

Yawning, Chu Ming dawdled and grabbed a piece of toast to tide him over before heading to the mall to see if there was anything good to eat.

It was just the time when school let out, and Chu Ming strolled around casually with the flow of people, looking to see if any new stores had opened in the mall he had visited countless times.

"Brother Chu Ming?"

"Oh~ Mr. Chu Ming~"

Chu Ming turned around and saw Jodie, Ran, and Conan walking towards him with smiles on their faces. He smiled and greeted them in return.

Conan, who had been leisurely following behind the three, deep in thought, suddenly came running over the moment he saw Chu Ming. He grabbed Chu Ming's hand, turned him around, and quietly asked him away from Ran and the others, "Brother Chu Ming, do you know what X means?"

Chu Ming was stunned for a moment. It was all so abrupt and unclear what it meant. But when this topic came up, memories from his school days suddenly resurfaced and attacked him.

"Does X represent an unknown?"

Conan frowned, looking at the three people chatting happily behind him, and muttered to himself, trying to analyze the situation with Chu Ming: "Indeed, in algebra, X represents an unknown, a question, something unknown, unclear, or uncertain. X could also refer to X-rays; people under 18 are not allowed to enter places marked with an X. It could also be a euphemism for something about to happen. If you see it as a cross, a cross represents an error or a missing word. A cross can also represent a divorce. Ran said it's good for girls to know this symbol? Damn it, what does it even mean..."

Looking at Conan deep in thought, Chu Ming smiled and ruffled his hair: "Why are you suddenly so hung up on this?"

Conan scratched his head in annoyance: "Ran asked me this on the way home from school. She said it was a question from Ms. Jodie, but I just can't figure it out. Girls' thoughts are indeed the most difficult mystery in the world."

"Speaking of girls, I'm reminded of another meaning of X..."

Conan quickly tugged at Chu Ming, asking, "What is it?"

"that is--"

The entire mall suddenly went dark; all the lights went out instantly, causing a commotion in the surrounding area.

While everyone was still stunned, the lights came on again.

A piercing scream echoed above the mall. Before Chu Ming could finish speaking, Conan had already darted out.

On the escalator in the mall, a blood-covered figure was holding an empty document bag, swaying back and forth with the escalator's ups and downs, like a child sitting on a rocking horse.

Chu Ming followed Conan over to take a look and saw that several symbols were written in blood on the file bag: ○ × △.

Huh? Isn't this Sony?

Conan squatted down next to the escalator, deep in thought, wondering what the symbols meant. Just then, Ran led Inspector Megure over from downstairs.

“Brother Chu Ming, oh, Ran and Conan are here too, so that means—” Inspector Megure began looking around, trying to find Kogoro Mouri.

"Oh~ Inspector Megure, what are you looking for?" Judy asked in a strange tone.

"Haha, I'm looking for Brother Mori. Where is he? I can't see him." Inspector Megure looked around but couldn't see him. His suspicious gaze slowly fell on Chu Ming. "Brother Mori isn't here?"

The implication was clear: if the plague god isn't around, how could there be a murder? Did you catch it from Kogoro Mouri?

"..." Feeling a subtle implication, Chu Ming pulled Conan, who was deep in thought, to the front to block Inspector Megure's view.

"Brother Chu Ming, you're encountering more and more cases these days..." Inspector Megure's view was blocked, but that didn't stop him from making sarcastic remarks.

Chu Ming patted Conan's head: "I haven't encountered many like this. Conan is the one who follows Uncle Mori around without ever missing a beat."

Inspector Megure glanced at the short, stocky Conan in front of him, not paying him any mind. He looked down at the file folder he had taken from the deceased's arms and sighed, "I wonder what this 'Dyin'—death message—means..."

Inspector Megure originally intended to use English as usual, but considering that Jodie, who was clearly not very good at Japanese but loved to correct other people's English, was there, he quietly changed his words.

Takagi ran over and handed the information he had gathered to Inspector Megure. It was now known that the deceased was a detective who had been asked by the president of a company to investigate the embezzlement of company funds. The documents in the file folder were now missing, indicating that the murderer was the person who embezzled the company funds.

A few days ago, this detective, Nakajo, gave the company president a list full of suspects, a total of fifty-eight people, and the suspect was one of them.

Isn't this the most luxurious lineup in history? - An unprecedented high-level game, with 58 players vying for one spot.

“It’s not an easy task to find out the itineraries of so many people… Takagi, could you take some men and check the alibis of everyone on the list?” Inspector Megure said, somewhat troubled.

Chu Ming stroked his chin: "Actually, we can take a two-pronged approach. On one hand, we can decipher the death message left by the deceased, and on the other hand, we can investigate who in this company embezzled public funds. Detectives might not be able to investigate these things easily, but the police should be able to find out easily. They can check whose accounts have recently seen unexplained funds, and then bring them in for questioning, right?"

Inspector Megure, looking enlightened, told Chiba to go to the bank and check. Chu Ming watched Conan running around outside searching for clues and smiled slightly. "Sorry, little detective, it seems your mystery-solving fun is about to be gone again."

Sure enough, not long after, Officer Chiba returned from the bank: "Inspector Megure, on the statement we received so far, only one person's bank account showed any fund transfers. Although there are traces of reconciliation, the actual flow of funds will not disappear."

"Who is it?" Inspector Megure immediately became excited.

“Kuniyoshi Bunta. His methods of settling accounts are not sophisticated and can be easily investigated.”

Inspector Megure stood up and waved triumphantly to the officers beside him: "Let's go, we're going upstairs to arrest someone!"

Conan finally came up with a clue and wanted to remind Inspector Megure, but he couldn't find Inspector Megure anywhere. He could only ask the forensic officers who were finishing up taking photos.

"You mean Inspector Megure? He was just having tea with Mr. Chu Ming at that tea shop over there. Later, Chiba went to the bank and found evidence of someone embezzling public funds, but they were still preparing to go upstairs to arrest the person."

Conan was filled with questions. What was going on? He had just solved the code, and now you were telling him it was useless because you had already found out?

Are you really going to break the rules like this? This is a detective mystery comic!!

hateful!

Chapter 287 Rush in!

By the time Conan rushed upstairs, Kuniyoshi Bunta had already confessed. Moreover, thanks to Chu Ming's reminder, the police also found the investigation documents he had thrown into the company's shredder, which were covered with his fingerprints.

"Brother Chu Ming, you guys found some clues but didn't tell me. You just watched me wander around outside trying to decipher the codes." Conan stared at Chu Ming with some resentment.

Chu Ming didn't think he had gone too far. He countered Conan's question, "Aren't you seeking the thrill of solving puzzles? Isn't it good that I haven't disturbed your puzzle-solving?"

"..." Conan was speechless. "It's alright too..."

At least he wasn't forced to know the answer before he even started reasoning, unlike before...

"Oh, by the way, the meaning of that X we just mentioned is actually—"

Conan quickly answered, "I know, it means no, no. Ran just told me that."

Something seems off.

Looking at Conan's confident expression, Chu Ming couldn't help but wonder if he had remembered it wrong.

"But I heard that X also means 'chirp chirp' (* ￣3)(ε￣ *)"

Conan froze for a moment, his face instantly turning bright red: "R-really?"

Chu Ming rolled his eyes: "That's enough. Xiao Lan isn't here, so don't act so innocent."

Xiao Lan suddenly walked over with a big smile: "Brother Chu Ming, Dad just called to say he received a letter from Miss Yangzi, inviting him to her best friend's engagement party tonight. Do you want to come with us?"

Yoko Okino must have a grudge against her friend, otherwise why would she invite both death and plague to her engagement party on such an auspicious occasion?

Chu Ming happily accepted Xiao Lan's invitation, planning to take more photos with Okino Yoko later and give Vodka a good kick when he got back.

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

"Mr. Mori, it's been a long time." Yoko Okino greeted Kogoro Mori as he got out of the car. "I hope you don't mind that I've invited you so abruptly."

Looking at his idol's face, Kogoro Mouri smiled broadly: "Oh, how could that be? I'm so excited! This is an invitation that Ms. Yoko sent me herself!"

Kogoro Mouri also introduced Chu Ming to Yoko Okino, allowing the two to get to know each other. Chu Ming then took out a Polaroid camera that he had prepared beforehand, looking at Yoko Okino with sparkling eyes, "Miss Yoko, I wonder if I have the honor of taking a few photos with you?"

Yoko Okino happily agreed, not only posing for several photos but also taking several couple photos with Chu Ming.

Just as the two were taking pictures, another sports car drove up in the distance. Kenzaki Osamu, who has recently become famous for playing the detective Sōmonji, got out of the sports car and waved to Okino Yoko from afar.

Yoko Okino said that Osamu Kenzaki was the male lead of tonight's engagement party, and the group chatted and laughed as they walked toward the room where the party was being held.

Upon reaching the room door, Chu Ming followed behind Kogoro Mouri. Seeing that there was no response to his knocking, Kogoro Mouri subconsciously squeezed the doorknob, and with a click, the door was pushed open.

Behind the pushed-open door, a pretty and cute girl raised her badminton racket high: "Damn it, take this!"

Chu Ming reacted quickly, pulling Kogoro Mori back a few steps. If he had been a step slower, he might have been forced to eat his words on the spot.

And thankfully, they didn't hit the ball vertically with the side of the racket...

Kusano Kaoru was startled and quickly apologized to Mouri Kogoro: "I'm so sorry, Detective Mouri. There have been peeping Toms around my house lately. I've been looking through the keyhole and they're all men I don't recognize."

Kogoro Mouri scratched his head and laughed heartily: "Being hit by a beauty like you is actually an honor."

I don't know what this big star was thinking. She was the one who asked Yoko Okino to invite Kogoro Mouri over, and when he arrived and stood at the door, she didn't even recognize him. She even said there was a stalker, yet she didn't lock her door at home...

Soon, all four members of the so-called Earth Ladies Team arrived. Chu Ming took out his phone, snapped a group photo of the four of them, and sent it directly to Vodka.

Vodka opened the email with a puzzled look on his face, and was shocked to see a photo of his favorite celebrity in the email Chu Ming had sent him.

His idol!!