Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

“Look at this picture. It seems like the person has turned their face around. I feel like the outline of this face doesn’t resemble Kumada’s. I wonder if the police could provide me with a computer so I can zoom in on this photo. Although it won’t be completely clear, at least I can get a general idea.”

Officer Inoki quickly had an officer bring over a laptop, and everyone gathered around to watch Chu Ming's fingers dance across the keyboard, as the photos on the screen were magnified and gradually became clearer from pixelated.

Finally, a blurry face was identified.

"It's Butler Kamei!!!" Kogoro Mori exclaimed in surprise, "How could it be her?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Officer Inoki's eyes, and he patted Chu Ming's shoulder hard: "Good lad, you've got some skills. You've really helped our police a lot this time. Officer Baba, take men and arrest Butler Kamei immediately!"

Conan had already returned from Kumada's neighbor's house and saw that the police were preparing to leave, so he quickened his pace.

He had just gotten a very important clue: around 7 p.m., the neighbor heard the washing machine start up.

Why would someone contemplating suicide think of doing laundry? This must be murder! The killer of Attorney Tachibana is someone else, and Kumada's death was definitely not suicide!

He needed to tell Chu Ming this as soon as possible so that he could help stop the police!

Chapter 314 The Third Day of Death's Trip

"Brother Chu Ming, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you for ages!" Conan hurriedly pulled Chu Ming over. "Why did the police all leave? I just found evidence proving that Mr. Kumada didn't commit suicide!"

Chu Ming glanced at Conan and said ambiguously, "Didn't you hear what Uncle Mori just shouted? He said the real culprit is Butler Kamei. The police aren't leaving; they're preparing to arrest Butler Kamei."

? ? ? ?

Conan fell into deep thought upon hearing this. Did Uncle say that? That can't be right. Butler Kamei couldn't be the culprit, even though he had no evidence. But Uncle Mori's judgment…

After verifying so many cases, Conan completely agreed with what Chu Ming had said before: when there are many suspects, you can prioritize eliminating the wrong answers chosen by Kogoro Mouri, which will make it easier to find the culprit!

Conan walked out with a frown, completely unaware of the sly smile on Chu Ming's face.

After he left, seeing the investigators taking photos and collecting evidence, he ran over, looked up, and asked the police for additional clues: "Investigator, did you see anything while you were collecting evidence—"

The investigator chuckled and patted Conan on the head: "Little brother, don't wander around here. This isn't a place for you to play."

Since these were unfamiliar police officers, unlike the familiar officers in Tokyo who were much easier to talk to, Conan blinked and began to falsely convey imperial orders: "Uncle Mori sent me. He said that although he has deduced who the culprit is, there are still some details he wants to see..."

However, this time, the usually successful method suffered a setback. After all, the police knew that Kogoro Mouri hadn't made any deductions this time, but rather that Chu Ming's irrefutable evidence directly led to the murderer. Therefore, the forensic police were even more convinced that Conan was just causing trouble. Helplessly, they picked him up and sent the bewildered Conan to Ran's side.

"This little boy has probably been following Mr. Mori around for too long and wants to be a little detective. He's been staying at the scene and won't leave, which is disrupting our evidence collection. Please keep an eye on him. It's best not to let children run around at crime scenes."

Ran quickly picked up Conan, apologized repeatedly to the police officers, then turned to Conan and sternly lectured him not to disturb the police's work. Afterwards, amidst Conan's joking remarks, she told him that the case was solved because Chu Ming photographed the crucial evidence…

******

The next morning, after resting at the villa for the night, the group said goodbye to Attorney Tachibana's wife. Even as they sat in the speeding car, Conan was still clearly not overwhelmed by the shock.

Chu Ming, suppressing a laugh, sat in the back seat, watching Conan's complex expression—a mixture of embarrassment and anger—while simultaneously receiving a constant stream of emotional energy. He felt he had discovered a new way to get rich.

Kogoro Mouri glanced at Conan's sullen expression in the rearview mirror, unsure whether to comfort or mock him: "Stop being so grumpy. I've been making you pretend to be a detective at crime scenes all day long. Now you know it's not so easy to be a detective, right? You still have a lot to learn. I haven't even minded you using my name to gather information all day long, yet you're still so angry."

Conan, seeing Chu Ming clearly smirking beside him, was so angry his fists clenched: "Brother Chu Ming, were you doing that on purpose?! You were deliberately teasing me!"

Chu Ming's face showed an innocent smile that Conan knew all too well: "How am I teasing you? Didn't you think I ruined your fun of solving cases before? Isn't it nice of me to leave you in suspense now?"

Seeing that Conan didn't say anything but actually contributed countless emotional points to him, Chu Ming knew that Conan must be muttering bad things about him in his heart. However, he didn't take Conan's little emotions to heart, after all, Conan would definitely get used to it in time.

Chu Ming glanced at the second target marked on the system, which shouldn't be far from here. He rolled down the car window, rested his elbow on the windowsill, and prepared to release the small robot at any time.

"Creak—whoosh—thump—"

Before Chu Ming could make a move, the car stopped again, belching black smoke.

?

Chu Ming silently withdrew his hand. Had his passive skill been updated? Had it become "wish fulfillment"?

"How did the repair shop fix this car! It's broken again! I'm going to file a complaint against them!" Kogoro Mouri angrily pushed open the car door and got out to see what was wrong with the car.

Chu Ming, feeling a rare pang of conscience, silently pushed open the door and got out of the car to help Kogoro Mouri tinker with things. "Don't worry, Uncle, you'll get used to this kind of thing. There will be many more times like this."

Just as the two were engrossed in their work, a car pulled up to the side of the road, and a man quietly poked his head out: "You... could you be the famous Mori detective? What's wrong? Do you need help?"

Kogoro Mouri was overjoyed: "Yes, I am that famous detective. We came out on a trip, but our rental car broke down on the roadside again..."

Chu Ming looked at the person who looked exactly like the person on the kill list and a surprised smile appeared on his face.

My God, could he be the legendary hidden lucky charm?

I thought we were still some distance from our destination and that I would need to find a way to lure Kogoro Mouri and the others to the villa on the mountain. But here we are.

Sure enough, the lack of obvious luck before must have been due to the influence of Gin, the famous "black devil" in the Conan world, since even his name sounds dark.

"My name is Kusaka Shohei, the president of a financial company. My villa is located on a mountain. I've long heard of Detective Mouri's reputation, and tonight I've invited a few friends to my villa for a wine tasting. If Mr. Mouri doesn't mind, why don't you join us tonight? Since this place is on the border of Tokyo, you can contact a car rental company to tow your car and get you a replacement. As for tonight, please stay at my villa." Kusaka Shohei was exceptionally hospitable.

"How could we mind? We're the ones who bothered you, hahaha..."

……

Watching Kogoro Mori chat skillfully with President Kusaka, Chu Ming stepped forward and dragged the luggage off the car.

At this rate, every time Kogoro Mori stays at a new place, one person dies...

Hmm, does that mean no one will dare to invite Kogoro Mouri to stay at their homes later on?

Even if he sees someone who looks like Kogoro Mouri in trouble on the road, his first reaction is to step on the gas, not look at anything, and say goodbye to death.

Chapter 315 The Grim Reaper's Trip - Day Four

Inside the brightly lit villa, Hikaru Shohei proudly showed Kogoro Mori the framed labels of famous wines hanging on the wall.

Kogoro Mouri wasn't particularly interested in the wines and such, but to thank President Kusaka for his timely help, he put on a superb performance and praised, "Your collection here is truly remarkable; each piece is worth savoring again and again."

This sentence seems to praise everything, but in reality it praises nothing at all.

However, upon hearing just a few words, President Kusaka became excited: "As expected of a famous detective! So you also know a lot about wine! To tell you the truth, this collection belongs to a European nobleman. He spent a long time collecting all these labels, and each label represents a famous wine. Look at this one, it's from a wine tasting event back then..."

Seeing Kogoro Mouri looking completely bewildered yet still trying to appear interested, Chu Ming nestled into the sofa, shifting his position and recalling the information Gin had given him.

Hikari Shōhei, president of a financial company, mainly earns his income by collecting payments after long-term high-interest loans. He once sought help from the Muddy Association to violently collect debts. After the Muddy Association's influence near Tokyo was wiped out by the organization, he turned to cooperate with the organization, but tried to gain leverage over the organization during the transaction. In short, he wanted to get something for nothing.

Chu Ming had assumed that someone who was trying to rebel against the organization must be a money-grubbing guy who would risk his life for money.

But then he realized, who told the organization to always try to keep a low profile and create a mysterious persona?

Gin has always required his members to keep a low profile. People who don't know much about the organization would probably think it's some kind of shady organization that's not afraid of anything, so all sorts of weirdos and monsters have come out.

Judging from how Kusaka Shohei treats Kogoro Mouri, the detective, with such courtesy and impeccable manner, he probably would want to beat himself to death if he really knew the organization's strength.

At this moment, the three guests of President Kusaka were each holding a glass of red wine and savoring it. When Tomomura Takekichi saw that Chu Ming was staring blankly at Kogoro Mouri, he thought that he was worried, so he smiled and greeted the group.

"Detective Mori probably won't be able to leave anytime soon. President Kusaka loves to show off these things, and Detective Mori just praised these collections, which must have made him even more excited. Would you like to try some of the wine the president prepared? It's almost alcohol-free, so even the elderly and children can have a little bit. It's good for your skin."

Chu Ming leaned back slightly, his face full of refusal, and replied to his kindness: "No, I don't like drinking this. I'll just have some water."

Tomomura Takekichi didn't force him. He smiled and swirled his glass, observing the droplets of red wine sliding down the glass, occasionally whispering a few words to Nonaka Takeo beside him.

After a while, Kusaka Shohei, having finally finished showing off, arrived at the table with Kogoro Mouri, who was covered in cold sweat. Kogoro Mouri had a relieved look on his face. He couldn't understand what President Kusaka was saying at all, since he knew nothing about red wine. If he had been talking about beer or spirits, he would have had a lot to say.

Hikaru Shohei stood at the dining table, holding up the red wines they were going to taste that day. The labels were all covered by paper bags. "Let's play something new today. Let Mr. Tomonura taste them and guess what kind of wine each bottle is. If you can guess them all correctly, I'll grant you your request. How about it?"

Chu Ming glanced at Tomomura Takekichi. He had just overheard his conversation with Nonaka Takeo. Tomomura owed the president of Kusaka a lot of money, so he probably wouldn't refuse this kind of game, especially since the way he looked at the drinks seemed to indicate that he had the game in the bag.

Sure enough, Tomomura Jokichi guessed the names and origins of the wines one after another, which made Kusaka Shohei's face grow increasingly pale. Finally, he forced a smile and said, "These are too easy. I have a rare bottle in my cellar that you definitely won't be able to guess. I'll go get it now. You guys wait a moment."

Seeing that Rixia Shengping had turned and gone to the wine cellar, Tomomura Jokichi and the others exchanged glances, stood up, and said that they had used up too much energy guessing the wine names and needed to go out and stretch their legs.

The other two also stood up and left, leaving only Kogoro Mouri and Chu Ming sitting in the living room.

After a while, Kogoro Mouri took a few sips from his glass, looking puzzled. "Why do I feel like all these drinks taste the same? They're not even as good as beer. Could they be fake?"

"It's clearly because you, Dad, are a vulgar person who can't appreciate fine wine, yet you blame the wine for being bad," Xiaolan complained while sipping her tea.

Conan was chuckling to himself when Kogoro Mouri saw him. His face darkened, and he gave Conan a long-awaited punch on the head: "You brat, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak!"

???

Conan covered his head, looking completely bewildered. What did he say? He clearly only laughed twice!

Kogoro Mouri angrily withdrew his hand. He couldn't beat Ran, so he could only vent his anger on this brat. He walked casually toward the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

Chu Ming suppressed a laugh and poked the big bump on Conan's head. He sensed the direction of the magnetic field, then looked in the direction Kogoro Mouri had gone. He suggested to Conan and Ran, "Let's not sit here. Mr. Kusaka is out getting the sake and we don't know when he'll be back. Why don't we go for a walk in the courtyard and get some fresh air?"

Ran was the first to respond to Chu Ming's suggestion: "Sure, when we came here I saw the flowers in the courtyard were so beautiful, Conan, shall we go for a walk together?"

Watching the group walk out one after another, Chu Ming secretly grinned. He knew he was lucky. Originally, they were going to wait for the police to arrive before solving the case, but now the murderer was caught red-handed by Kogoro Mouri. It was perfect.

"what are you doing?"

Sure enough, Chu Ming, who was lagging behind, heard Kogoro Mouri's stern shout. He quickened his pace and walked forward, just in time to see Takeo Nonaka using a clothesline pole to hold up President Kusaka's belt, preparing to stuff the president's body into the wine cellar through the glass window in the courtyard.

Wow, the evidence is conclusive, and they've been caught red-handed. This time, Conan doesn't even need to appear. The timing is perfect, and it won't delay their upcoming schedule at all.

Chu Ming checked the upcoming schedule on the system panel. Hmm, it seems he can finish a little ahead of schedule.

[Here's the thing, I was supposed to post two chapters today, but after finishing this one, I'm a bit out of inspiration and feeling a bit stuck. So—could I post a silly, irresponsible side story instead? _(:з」∠)_ ? Just to cheer you guys up QAQ]

Chapter 316 An Irresponsible Side Story – Unrelated to the Main Text

Lacking inspiration, I'll just randomly drop a side story.

This is a parody, unrelated to the main text, unrelated to the main text, unrelated to the main text!!!

Say the important thing three times!

[If Chu Ming accidentally travels back in time to the original story]

For a while after the Death Journey ended, Chu Ming didn't go to the base, and Gin didn't look for him either. It was said that he had been sent to America by the BOSS to complete some mission.