Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Knowing Vermouth was joking, Chu Ming turned to Gin with a smile: "Big brother~"

Gin casually looked up: "Didn't I give it to you last time?"

???

Chu Ming said with great distress: "I don't think that P226 last time showed you how much you care about me. Can't you show me something more substantial?"

"A little more force?" Gin suddenly glanced at Chu Ming. "I said I'd train you after you came back from your mission. Let's go now."

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Is this even human language?

Chapter 298 Karuizawa

Chu Ming finally emerged from the training ground, his whole body aching.

Although Gin refrained from attacking Chu Ming's face out of consideration for his birthday, Chu Ming's abilities were growing stronger and stronger. Towards the end of the fight, Gin found it difficult to suppress him even when using his full strength, so he lost control of his power. However, even so, Chu Ming still managed to land quite a few blows on Gin, managing to hold his own.

So, if I reach level 100 in combat and then buy a Breakthrough Pill, I'll probably be able to go toe-to-toe with Gin.

Gin refused to take Chu Ming out to set off bombs and fireworks. Chu Ming felt that Gin must be feeling embarrassed because he had just punched him a few times, so he was being petty and refusing to take him.

Ah, men, they've seen through it all.

After seeing Gin receive a message from a traitor and hurriedly leave with Vodka, Chu Ming and Vermouth exchanged a knowing look, like veteran slackers. Vermouth smiled and said, "Sweetheart, how about you invite all your friends you've made outside to a party for your birthday? It'll be a good opportunity to strengthen your relationships."

Chu Ming was somewhat tempted. He was a bit short on points lately, so why not invite Conan to a hotel to celebrate his birthday? Maybe he could even earn some extra points that way…

"Where does my sister think would be a good place to hold a birthday party?"

Vermouth tapped her chin and thought for a moment: "A new building has recently been completed in Seymour City. I heard there's a luxury restaurant on the top floor, but it's not open yet. I'll take you to see it after it opens."

So, you're using public funds for food and drink? Typical of you. It's a pity he probably won't get to eat this meal. Judging from this, the traitor Gin and his crew went out to kill this time was most likely Hara Yoshiaki.

He's been wandering around for so long, and last time he even went to Nishitama City with Kogoro Mouri and the others, but he hasn't heard of any new buildings being built there... Are all the buildings in the Detective Conan world built overnight?

“By the way, how about we go to a hotel in Karuizawa? It’s hot lately, so we can take your friends to the beach.” Vermouth suggested with a smile.

"So, sister—are you just going to leave like this? Are you going to disguise yourself as Dr. Araide?"

Chu Ming looked at Vermouth sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, looking alluring and seductive.

“I’m not going, sister. If I go, that woman from the FBI will follow me by smell. I’ve booked a private room for you at the hotel. Have fun with your kids~” Vermouth stood up. “I’m going to catch up on my sleep. Girls will get wrinkles if they don’t get at least 8 hours of sleep~ Also, I recently found the house that Sherry used to rent. I’ll have to go and see if I can find any clues when I wake up, otherwise Gin keeps asking me for it.”

Watching Vermouth leave, Chu Ming carefully put away his gifts and then started thinking about how many people he should invite.

We'll definitely invite the Mori family, and Professor Agasa's kids too, they might come in handy if they spend too much time with Conan... And while we're at it, let's call Hattori over too. Sigh, I didn't realize how narrow his social circle is...

*

At the swimming pool of the Karuizawa Hotel.

Kogoro Mouri, with his legs crossed, watched the girls playing in the water, completely absorbed in the moment. Suddenly, he felt a sinister gaze fixed on him. He looked up in confusion and saw what appeared to be a raging fire behind his daughter.

"Seriously, Dad actually brought his beach shorts to the poolside to enjoy himself! We're here to celebrate Chu Ming's birthday! Get up, let's go pick out a gift!" Xiao Lan shouted at Kogoro Mouri, hands on her hips.

Kogoro Mouri reluctantly got up, dressed, and followed Ran to the store to help her choose a gift, muttering to himself as they walked.

"I can't help it. As a detective, especially a very famous one, I'm under so much pressure! Xiaolan, you don't understand your old father at all. I have to find some way to relieve the pressure!"

"So you're relieving stress by sitting there watching pretty girls? How can you do this to your mother???" Xiaolan said indignantly.

Kogoro Mouri choked for a moment, then stubbornly insisted, "How did I wrong her? Besides, she has no idea what I'm doing. Maybe she's with someone right now. Oh well, there's a tie shop up ahead. I'll pick out a tie clip for him."

"What? Dad didn't even intend to buy a gift in the first place... uh..."

Xiaolan glanced casually at the store, then froze in her tracks.

When Kogoro Mouri saw her stop, he looked in surprise and saw Eri Kisaki holding a tie and gesturing to a man's chest, which looked rather ambiguous from a distance.

! ! ! !

--------

Chu Ming booked a private room at a hotel in Karuizawa. Conan and several other children are now diligently decorating the room for him. He had also invited Hattori, but Hattori hasn't had much time to visit Tokyo lately and only said he would send a gift over.

A little while later, Kogoro Mouri and Ran returned with two other people.

"Auntie Eri is here! Uncle said you were too busy with work to come over. Have you finished your case yet?" Chu Ming looked up and saw Eri Kisaki coming with Kogoro Mouri, and greeted her warmly.

“Happy birthday, Chu Ming. This guy didn’t even mention your birthday to me, otherwise I would have come even if I was busy.” Eri Kisaki glared at Kogoro Mouri and handed the gift to Chu Ming. “I happened to be on vacation in Karuizawa with some lawyer friends and we ran into Ran and the others outside, otherwise I would have missed them.”

"Oh? Really? With a colleague?" Kogoro Mouri said sarcastically. "So, who did you buy that tie for?"

Eri Kisaki gritted her teeth: "A friend of mine asked me to buy it, which is why I asked Saku to help me choose the pattern, right, Saku?"

Saku Hoshi, standing to the side, made an exaggerated expression: "Eh? So it wasn't for me after all. I thought you wanted to buy it for me as a gift~ What a disappointment."

Tsk tsk, that's a rather tactless remark.

Chu Ming helped Fei Yingli out of the awkward situation and then extended a warm invitation, "Auntie Yingli, why don't you invite your colleagues to come and have fun too? It's more lively with more people!"

The more people there are, the easier it is for Conan's aura to activate!

Chapter 299: Another Gift?

Once Fei Yingli's friends arrived, Chu Ming began to notify the hotel to start serving the dishes.

The dishes were ordered by Vermouth for him. At first, it wasn't obvious, but as the dishes became more and more luxurious, the chef even carved a Densuke black watermelon into a blessing shape and placed the watermelon flesh inside. Chu Ming knew that Vermouth, the salary thief, must have embezzled a lot of the organization's funds.

“I heard that the first Densuke black-skinned watermelon in Hokkaido this year was just auctioned off yesterday. Watermelons that have been auctioned off will have markings on them. Could this watermelon be one of them?” Ritsuko Usui clasped her hands together, looking at Chu Ming with surprise and a hint of admiration in her eyes.

"What is a Densuke black-skinned watermelon?" Ayumi asked curiously.

Mitsuhiko held up his finger, his face full of pride: "I know, 'Densuke' is the name of a variety of black watermelon, produced in Hokkaido. It is famous for its large size, thick skin, and unique sweetness. Only about 100 are produced in Hokkaido each year, and it is said that the first watermelon of the year can fetch 600,000 to 700,000 yen at auction."

Genta glanced at the watermelon in his hand, his face filled with shock: "Then this one slice of watermelon could buy a whole truckload of eel rice!!"

Chu Ming ignored Ritsuko Usui and instead smiled at the children, saying, "It's just a watermelon. As long as you like it, who cares about the price? I'll take you to China sometime. It's cheaper and there's plenty of it there. You can even eat your fill."

"Wow—" the children exclaimed with anticipation, "Is China really that amazing?"

Ritsuko Usui was taken aback by the cold shoulder. She was, after all, a stunningly beautiful woman, and with the aura of a lawyer, she could easily make men surrender with just a little admiration. They wouldn't necessarily be completely obedient to her, but they would at least be much more polite to her.

Her dream was to surpass Fei Yingli and become the number one in the legal profession. Judging from today's banquet, Chu Ming's wealth was definitely not low. He was probably the son of a tycoon and should be able to give her a lot of help... However, her honey trap suddenly failed, and Chu Ming completely ignored her.

Somewhat unwilling to give up, she continued smiling and chatting, stepping forward to pour Chu Ming a glass of wine: "Mr. Chu Ming, thank you for your hospitality today. You gave us such a wonderful meal. I'd like to propose a toast!"

? ? ? ?

A treacherous subject is plotting against me!

Chu Ming frowned: "Miss Usui, I'm sorry, but I'm not an adult yet and I can't drink alcohol."

"Huh??" Ritsuko Usui was stunned. "Mr. Chu Ming isn't an adult yet??? But aren't you already in university?"

Chu Ming maintained a polite smile, but his words were cold: "Because I am exceptionally talented and skipped a grade, Miss Usui, as a lawyer, you should know that the law clearly stipulates that minors cannot drink alcohol, right?"

Ritsuko Usui knew, of course, that minors shouldn't drink alcohol, but couldn't this man have been a little more considerate and said it more tactfully? It made her so embarrassed!

Ritsuko Usui angrily returned to her seat. If that's the case, then there's only one way to surpass Eri Kisaki.

Her gaze slowly swept over Kogoro Mouri, and she sat back down with a charming smile, starting a conversation with him.

Kogoro Mouri, having drunk some alcohol and chatting with beautiful women around him, seemed exceptionally happy. He even took Ritsuko Usui's hand and lecherously placed it on his chest, saying, "Miss Usui, your hand is so smooth, so small..."

Ran clenched her fists in anger, staring intently at Kogoro Mouri. If it weren't for the fact that this was Chu Ming's birthday party, she would have even wanted to overturn the entire table on top of Kogoro Mouri.

Seeing that something was wrong, Dr. Agasa quickly pointed to the cake by the door: "Oh, the cake is here! Kids, come and sing a birthday song for your brother Chu Ming!"

After Chu Ming made his wish and cut the cake, and the children began to happily share the cake, Fei Yingli made an excuse to leave, and Xiao Lan quickly followed after her.

Chu Ming thought for a moment, stayed with them for a while, then took a bunch of gifts and went back to his room to unwrap them.

Chu Ming sat cross-legged on the bed and unwrapped the gift boxes one by one.

Conan gave her a complete set of Sherlock Holmes stories, Ran gave her a car ornament, and Sonoko couldn't come because her father was taking her to a business banquet, so she asked Ran to bring her a watch.

The children gave each other small handmade items; Ai Haibara gave a wallet, while Professor Agasa gave her a small invention he had developed himself…

Chu Ming deeply felt the joy of opening blind boxes.

Just as he began tidying up the gifts, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. It was Eri Kisaki with Ran and Conan looking for Kogoro Mouri.

"When I left, Uncle Mori was chatting with Ms. Usui. Later, Uncle Mori drank too much and said he was going back to his room. What happened? Uncle Mori is gone?"

Chu Ming casually picked up his coat from the chair and put it on: "I'll look for it with you. Let's ask Miss Usui. Their rooms are on the same floor, so they should have gone back together."

The group went to Ritsuko Usui's room, but Ritsuko said that she went straight back to her room after parting ways with Kogoro Mouri and didn't know where he was.

Chu Ming watched as Kogoro Mouri's attention was drawn to her room, and then looked at Ritsuko Usui, who was lying through her teeth and blocking the doorway with no intention of letting them in. He did not try to interfere.

Anyway, this case will better promote the relationship between Kogoro Mouri and Eri Kisaki. Considering the gifts they gave him today, Chu Ming didn't say anything to interfere and silently watched the plot unfold.

Unable to find anyone, Eri Kisaki eventually suspected that Kogoro Mouri was in Ritsuko Usui's room. After confirming by phone, she got a spare key from the waiter and entered the room, only to find Ritsuko Usui murdered by her bedside, while Kogoro Mouri was lying on the bed, fast asleep.

After everyone concluded that Kogoro Mouri was the murderer, Eri Kisaki calmly investigated the truth, rescued Kogoro Mouri, and caused him to make a heartfelt confession to her, urging her to go home.

While pretending not to hear, Eri Kisaki actually recorded all of Kogoro Mouri's sweet nothings and took Ran's floppy disk, probably going to play it on repeat when she got home.

On his birthday, Chu Ming, who had received a magnetic field, returned to the base in high spirits and found two neatly packed gift boxes.

There are also gifts?

The only people in the organization who probably know his identity are Rum and the Boss.

Wow, is the boss really that nice? He gave me the Twilight Villa and then added an extra gift.