Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

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As Chu Ming changed his clothes, he checked his points for the day. When he saw Gin's car explode, Vodka gave him a huge amount of points.

That's a huge amount; even the points Conan received when he faced Gin last time weren't this many.

Chu Ming felt he had discovered a new path to wealth.

If it weren't for the fact that Gin's Porsche was so hard to get, Chu Ming really wanted to blow it up again.

The points Vodka had given him these past few days made Chu Ming reluctant to let him go. He felt that Vodka, who seemed fierce on the surface, was actually quite simple-minded when he got to know him. He was easily startled and his emotions fluctuated constantly. If Chu Ming hadn't turned off the notification sounds, the constant ringing would probably have driven him crazy.

Once Vodka discovers he's been disguised as Nezha, he'll probably contribute another sum of money to him, right?

Nezha like this

After removing his disguise, Chu Ming strolled home. He hadn't been home for a while and missed his sofa and the popular melodramatic TV series.

The safe house is great in every way, except for the excessive number of cameras. These so-called safe houses are supposed to be safe from the outside, but everything that happens inside is likely under the control of the BOSS. So it's best not to watch this kind of melodramatic show inside, lest the BOSS laugh at his taste.

Chu Ming paused when he reached the door. Something was wrong; someone had been at home!

Chu Ming immediately became alert. He shouldn't have made any enemies with his face, so how could someone have broken into his house?

Moreover, it was done very discreetly, so much so that it was almost invisible at first glance. If Chu Ming hadn't bought the anti-theft sticker recommended by the system and stuck it on the door, it would have been practically undetectable.

Chu Ming accidentally found these anti-theft stickers when refreshing the online store. They are placed at the junction of the door and the door frame, and are invisible to the naked eye. They can only be detected by the system. Chu Ming bought a bunch of them and put one on every time he goes out.

But this time, before he even entered the door, the sticker already showed that it was disconnected—who had been here?

Chu Ming knew he couldn't linger at the door for too long; if someone was watching, it would clearly indicate that he was in trouble.

He pretended to look for his keys while quickly going through everyone in his mind.

Within the organization, only the Boss, Gin, Vodka, Laffitte, and Vermouth know his identity. Of these, the Boss can be ruled out; Gin is abroad, so he can be ruled out; Vodka doesn't have the guts or the ability to infiltrate silently; Laffitte is busy with Gin's mission and doesn't have the time; Vermouth knows he's hiding his identity, and it's highly unlikely.

Then they're not part of the organization.

On the red team's side, Conan goes to school, and the others don't have that ability, so this group can be ruled out.

So—his identity has been leaked or he has been suspected?

Is it the FBI or the police?

It's unlikely to be the FBI, given the limited number of times they've clashed. Plus, Shuichi Akai was unaware of his own existence and believed the person impersonating him was Vermouth, making it practically impossible.

If I exclude everything else, it can only be you, right?

—Bourbon, a professional home invader.

Is Chapter 338 bait?

Amuro Tooru hid in the apartment building across the street, with the lights off and the curtains slightly ajar, observing Chu Ming's every move through binoculars.

When Granbury was tracking Shuichi Akai last time, he sent him a message saying that he and Shuichi Akai were involved in the case. At that time, he arranged for someone to delay the order of Shuichi Akai's statement to annoy him. However, he still managed to extract the key points from Granbury's long-winded explanation.

—Granbury and Shuichi Akai were both implicated in the case.

That means he was among those passengers!

Amuro Tooru obtained the order of the statements from the Metropolitan Police Department and did not find the name Matsutake Yusuke, which Granbury often used. This made him happy, as it seemed that he could find another clue about Granbury.

Following the order of the transcripts, those who did not meet the criteria were eliminated one by one, and then people were assigned to investigate and test them one by one.

Finally, Amuro Tooru turned his attention to Fujino Chumei, who had recently gained considerable attention and had been following closely behind Kogoro Mouri.

Based on the novels he read on the dark web and the messages Granbury sent him, Amuro Tooru felt that he might have figured out Granbury's true identity.

He had investigated this Fujino Chumei, who had solved many cases following the recently rising star Kogoro Mouri, especially the little boy whom Granburg had saved many times before, and they were quite familiar with each other.

The various suspicious points made Amuro Tooru increasingly suspicious, so he personally sneaked into his house to search it. Unfortunately, he found nothing. Before he could thoroughly check it, his informant reported that he saw Chu Ming on his way home. He could only make some preparations in a hurry and left a few listening devices behind before leaving for the time being.

Amuro Tooru carefully observed through the binoculars but found nothing amiss. Seeing Chu Ming enter the room, he put down the binoculars, lowered his eyes, and fell into deep thought.

Chu Ming pushed open the door and entered the room. He noticed that several listening devices had been installed. Suppressing his urge to remove them, he plopped down on the sofa, turned on the air conditioner and the TV, and prepared to watch some TV dramas to relax.

however--

Looking at the air conditioner that was just humming but not working, Chu Ming couldn't help but clench his fist.

You little brat, Bourbon, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you actually secretly messed with my air conditioner?

Everything was fine when I left, but it broke as soon as you came in?

Realizing what he was up to, Chu Ming gritted his teeth, opened the drawer, and dialed the repair number.

A moment later, the doorbell rang. Chu Ming went to open the door and, sure enough, it was a familiar dark-skinned man with a friendly, business-like smile: "Hello sir, I am the repairman, Amuro Tooru, who you booked to come and fix your air conditioner."

Okay, you want to act, huh? Anyone can do that!

Chu Ming hurriedly and enthusiastically pushed open the door to invite him in: "Master, you came very quickly! I just finished making the call and your company sent someone to repair it? With such efficiency, no wonder your revenue is so high!"

Amuro Tooru walked into the room with his repair kit and deftly began repairing the air conditioner: "Sir, you can go ahead and do your work. I'll call you to come and inspect it when I'm done."

Chu Ming shook his head. Who knows if Bourbon will secretly install a camera on him after he leaves? These kinds of things are hard to guard against, and it's not easy to remove them in order to maintain a good image.

“It’s alright. Mr. Amuro must be bored working alone. I can chat with you to relieve the monotony of work.” Chu Ming smiled broadly. “And I can also secretly learn Mr. Amuro’s repair techniques so I can fix them myself next time there’s a problem. I was going to take it apart myself, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to put it back together, so I didn’t try.”

By saying this, Chu Ming indirectly implied that he might take apart the air conditioner in the future to check it out, making Amuro Tooru more cautious and less likely to tamper with it. Otherwise, if a listening device or camera were ever discovered inside the air conditioner, Amuro Tooru, who had repaired the air conditioner, would be the prime suspect.

Amuro Tooru is not stupid; in fact, he is very intelligent.

He decisively abandoned his plan to install some small tools during the repairs. After all, his plan this time was to keep running into Chu Ming, get close to him, infiltrate their ranks, and once he was sure that Chu Ming was indeed Granbury, he would take down the enemy in one fell swoop.

In this way, even if Chu Ming is indeed Granburg, his actions will not alert the enemy; if not, it will not have any impact on Chu Ming.

Standing behind Amuro Tooru, Chu Ming, feeling rather bored, started making conversation: "Mr. Amuro, your movements are quite practiced. What do you do for a living?"

Amuro Tooru turned around and looked at Chu Ming with a complicated expression: "I'm an air conditioner repairman."

Chu Ming realized he had said something pointless, but since Amuro Tooru had come to his door, he must have investigated him beforehand. Knowing that he was a detective, he still brazenly offered himself up, so he had to intimidate him.

“It doesn’t seem like it.” Chu Ming’s gaze swept over Bourbon up and down like an X-ray. “Mr. Amuro, I am a detective. Especially after studying under the famous Kogoro Mouri for a while, I have a clearer grasp of some subtle clues.”

"As a detective, Uncle Mori always taught me to be wary of burglars seeking revenge, so I suspected you the moment you walked in. I didn't buy my air conditioner around here; I bought it at an electronics store in Ginza and had it installed. I called to report the problem at 3:12, but nine minutes later, at 3:21, you were knocking on my door."

"It's well over ten minutes' drive from here to Ginza. Plus, after receiving the repair call, I need to send someone over, which takes time. It's impossible for me to get here in nine minutes. I've been following you since you came in. I didn't even show you the way, but you went straight to the air conditioner that needs repair. How did you know my broken air conditioner was in the living room? What if it was in my study? And you tried to get rid of me as soon as you came in. What are you planning to do in my house, Mr. Amuro?"

Amuro Tooru looked at Chu Ming, who was speaking eloquently, his brows full of confidence, and his reasoning process was almost identical to the facts.

Fortunately, he was well-prepared.

He completely avoided the traps in Chu Ming's questions and went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Sir, here's the thing. I am indeed a Panasonic air conditioner repairman. I arrived quickly because I happened to be repairing something nearby, so the company directly assigned me to come. If you don't believe me, you can call the repair number you just dialed to confirm."

Chu Ming looked doubtful and dialed the number back.

A moment later, her face flushed red, she apologized to Amuro Tooru, at a loss for words: "I'm sorry, Mr. Amuro, I... I was too forward, I..."

Chu Ming blushed, imagining Conan's early appearance, perfectly portraying the embarrassment and helplessness of a detective who was completely confident in his reasoning but was suddenly proven wrong.

Looking at the embarrassed boy in front of him, Amuro Tooru couldn't see any trace of Granbury and couldn't help but wonder if this was a smokescreen deliberately put out by Granbury.

He suddenly realized that Granburg himself was proficient in computers and had a wildly imaginative mind. Maybe he was the one who wrote that novel, deliberately releasing true and false information in it, using this detective named Fujino Chumei as bait to see if any undercover agents would take the bait... And the last text message might have been used to test him.

Realizing this, Amuro Tooru broke out in a cold sweat. His actions today had completely stepped into Granbury's trap!

No, don't panic, stay calm.

His actions today were perfectly reasonable. Everyone in the organization knew that he liked to take on part-time jobs, and he had indeed been working part-time at Panasonic air conditioners these past few days. There was no flaw in anything.

Without evidence, Granburg could do nothing to him even if he had suspicions.

Whether it's a smokescreen from Granbury or not, he's determined to get close to this Fujino Chumei.

Going undercover is inherently a dangerous undertaking; in order to obtain clues, some things are unavoidable.

However, he still needs to think about how exactly to approach her.

Chapter 339 Is it possible that this is your car?

After seeing Amuro Tooru off, Chu Ming looked back at the several listening devices that were clearly marked by the system, and silently opened the detective drama he had been saving but hadn't watched yet, taking out potato chips to accompany the drama while watching it.

Amuro Tooru listened to the music unique to detective dramas and the crunching sound of Chu Ming eating like a little mouse, and was somewhat speechless. Is this the daily life of a detective at home?

Chu Ming forced himself to ignore the listening devices. He figured Bourbon would only leave them there for a few days, and once he was sure he posed no threat, he would sneak in and remove them.

Sure enough, after Chu Ming stayed home for several days, while he went out to buy snacks, Bourbon quietly removed the bugging device again.

Chu Ming scrolled through the online store list. Now that Bourbon had realized that he was Fujino Chu Ming, even though he had removed the bugging device, he would definitely still have his men monitoring the area. If Granburg and Chu Ming couldn't appear at the same time, it would arouse his suspicion.

So Chu Ming set his sights on the lifelike robots in the mall.

Looking at the robot on the sofa that looked exactly like him but was a bit dull, Chu Ming placed it on the sofa, continued watching TV, and even set what he should do at what time. Then he secretly climbed out the window.

Coincidentally, the day after Bourbon removed the bugging device, Chu Ming received a call from Vodka.

—Gin is back from America, and he asked Vodka to pick him up at the airport.

Although Vodka thought he could get away with it, he was still a little scared when the time came. Although he was afraid of Chu Ming, he had no choice but to accept that they had gotten into this mess together.

Chu Ming didn't want to suffer, but if Gin found out, neither of them would be able to escape.

But when he thought about how Vodka must have a lot of points beckoning him, he agreed and went with him to pick up Gin.

We arrived at a large base in the suburbs in a car carrying vodka; the organization's helipad was located there.

Core members like Gin typically travel abroad on the organization's private planes, which are equipped with various independent small airports throughout the country.