Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Just then, Hattori was holding a rope tied around Conan's waist, preparing to lead him to the roof to see if there were any clues.

"Hey Hattori, walking the dog—cough, walking Conan?"

Before Conan could go crazy, Hattori, suppressing a laugh, chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Chuming, I'll show Conan the rooftop."

This statement sounds fine at first glance, but when combined with what Chu Ming just said, it sounds really strange.

Conan wanted to jump up and punch Hattori, but Hattori quickly coaxed him upstairs, saying that solving the case was more important, and let Hattori pull him up to the roof to look for clues.

When Chu Ming arrived at Kogoro Mouri's side, he overheard Inspector Otaki whispering to Kogoro, "Why do people keep dying wherever you go? Are you possessed by some kind of ghost?"

Goodness, this news has spread from Tokyo to Osaka? Kogoro Mouri has only been to Osaka a few times. Inspector Megure is certainly good at gossiping.

Chapter 374 Just Make It Up

Kogoro Mouri never expected that he would hear the same kind of吐槽 (tu cao, meaning sarcastic or witty remarks) from Inspector Megure in Osaka. In order to clear his name, he couldn't help but turn his gaze towards Chu Ming, who had just arrived, as if trying to frame someone.

But when she thought about how this kid was just as dangerous as, or even more dangerous than, her daughter, she decided to find a different target to frame.

He leaned close to Officer Otaki's ear, speaking mysteriously, "It wasn't me. You should be talking about your chief's son."

Officer Otaki, still somewhat skeptical, looked at Chu Ming and asked, "Really? Heiji's here too?"

Thanks for the invitation, but it's no use looking at me. Every single one of them is involved in this incident.

Chu Ming downplayed the issue: "Hattori just tied Conan up with a rope and said he was going upstairs to take a look."

“Even when Heiji wasn’t around, you still uncovered quite a few cases in Tokyo. Inspector Megure mentioned it to us when he came to Osaka for an exchange program.” Inspector Otaki stared at Kogoro Mouri with a look that said, “Don’t try to deny it, I know.”

"But your chief's son must handle quite a few cases too!" Kogoro Mouri retorted. "Besides, I didn't encounter a single case for years. I was always being asked to find a cat or collect evidence of infidelity. It all started after that kid came to my house—huh?"

Kogoro Mouri suddenly realized, clenching his right fist and punching it into his left palm: "I know! It's Conan! Ever since the night Ran brought him home! Every time I go out, I run into a case! So he's the real jinx!!!"

Chu Ming looked at Kogoro Mouri, who seemed to have solved a century-old mystery, and silently applauded him in his heart. Congratulations on discovering the truth of the world. But don't be modest. If the three of you were to get together, it would at least be a serial murder case.

Inspector Otaki didn't believe it at all. He frowned and looked at Kogoro Mouri: "Mr. Mouri, that's not right. Why are you pushing the responsibility onto a child? How old is Conan? What can he do?"

Kogoro Mouri was speechless and could only change the subject: "I think Mr. Kato must have committed suicide. With such heavy rain, who would go up to the roof? Besides, he was wearing a flammable sweater, which is the best proof that he went up to the roof and set himself on fire."

"Why would Kato commit suicide? It was completely unexpected..."

"Yes, he was excited for a long time when he heard that he could come to Osaka for sightseeing."

"..."

The members of the tour group chatted amongst themselves, some questioning Kogoro Mouri's judgment.

However, Katagiri Maho and Kasuya Yuhiro refuted their claims, attempting to definitively establish Kato's death as suicide, so as to avoid the police investigation delaying their important task of finding the treasure.

However, Conan and Hattori, who were searching for evidence on the roof, soon came down. Hattori was carrying an evidence bag containing a lighter with its lid closed, which was used to refute Kogoro Mouri's suicide theory.

As expected of Hattori, in terms of equipment, you've already surpassed Conan. He's never carried an evidence bag with him; he always just uses a handkerchief to handle everything.

Hattori was talking to Inspector Otaki about the clues Conan found on the rooftop. He got more and more carried away, and his umbrella unconsciously tilted further and further to the side. Conan, who was already half-soaked by the raindrops due to the height difference, was now completely exposed to the rain. He looked up with a dark expression, his head soaked by the rain.

Meanwhile, Hattori, carrying an umbrella, was already going with Inspector Otaki to look at the deceased's belongings, completely forgetting that there was a short man at his feet.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, Chu Ming took a new umbrella out of his system inventory and tossed it into Conan's arms: "I just bought this at the convenience store. You can use it for now. It's windy and rainy, and you're the only one without an umbrella. What, you think you're so great just because everyone else has an umbrella?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Conan shivered from the cold wind that blew over him.

Chu Ming could only quickly borrow a piece of cloth from the police, unfold it, and wrap Conan up: "Is he still cold? Don't catch a cold."

Conan, holding an umbrella in one hand and a piece of cloth in the other, shook his head upon hearing this: "Thank you, Brother Chu Ming, I'm fine. This cloth looks familiar."

Chu Ming's eyes darted around when he heard this: "Really? Hahaha, a little, but the cloth is clean, I've checked it."

Conan looked at Chu Ming suspiciously, just in time to see two police officers bring a stretcher to Kato's body, cover it with a cloth that looked very familiar to him, and then carry the body away.

???

Conan looked down at the white cloth covering him in disbelief: "Brother Chu Ming, you didn't just grab the kind of cloth the police used earlier, did you?"

Tell me it's not true!!!

Chu Ming squatted down and said earnestly, "Conan, don't look at things superficially. It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. And it doesn't matter where this cloth comes from, as long as it keeps you warm, isn't that enough?"

Watching Conan's emotional value points keep refreshing, Chu Ming finally had a change of heart and remembered his principle of sustainability. He patted Conan's head and said, "It's new, just opened. No one, cough, no corpses have used it. Don't worry."

Although they were teasing Conan, the two of them were not wrong in their conversation.

After looking at Mr. Kato's personal belongings, Kazuha told Hattori about the conversation between Ginjiro Toyama and Heizo Hattori that she had overheard in the car the previous night.

Conan also put aside his discomfort and grabbed the cloth, preparing to go over and look at the scroll that Hattori had unfolded in his hand.

"There's only the character 'dragon' on it; the rest has all been torn apart." Hattori examined the scroll in his hand from all angles, but couldn't discern any hidden mechanism.

Hattori was standing there, and Conan, craning his neck, couldn't see him clearly. But with an umbrella in one hand and a cloth in the other, he couldn't free his hands to signal Hattori to squat down, so he could only stand on tiptoe to try to raise himself.

In the end, Hattori inadvertently noticed Conan's embarrassment, suppressed a laugh, squatted down, handed the scroll in his hand to Conan, and took the opportunity to mock his current appearance.

After being repeatedly mocked by his friends, Conan gave up trying to change the subject: "What exactly was Mr. Kato trying to imply when he grabbed our umbrellas?"

Chu Ming also squatted down like them: "They probably wanted to say, 'Move the umbrella a little closer to me, the rain is getting on my face.'"

The pleasant atmosphere of the deduction was instantly interrupted by Chu Ming. Conan and Hattori resisted the urge to push the disruptive Chu Ming away and turned their backs to him to continue their deduction.

Ultimately, the two went from thinking about umbrellas to thinking about rain, and from thinking about rain to thinking about the Ryūko-seki (Dragon and Tiger Stones) of Osaka Castle, finally discovering that the words on the scroll only became visible when it was wet.

……

No, he just squeezed your umbrella. How did you connect that to your story?

Or rather, Mr. Kato was clearly on his deathbed, so why did his brain still manage to come up with such a death message for you?

Are you sure you're not making this up?

Chapter 375 Jealousy is overturned

Feeling that the two had stumbled upon the scroll's secret entirely by accident, Chu Ming watched them with their backs to him, discussing it animatedly, and then got up to find He Ye and Xiao Lan.

You two can do your analysis. Anyway, everyone's a villain, so no matter how much you analyze, it won't change the fact that you'll win by default in the end.

Hmm, could we take this opportunity to increase our favorability with Hattori Heizo and Toyama Ginjiro?

Chu Ming, with his sharp eyes, had already spotted Toyama Ginjiro getting off the car with an umbrella in the distance. This was probably the outside help that Kazuha had called over earlier.

When he came over, Kazuha quickly took his arm and led him to Hattori and the others.

Inspector Otaki noticed his superior's arrival immediately and gaped in shock: "Chief of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Toyama, what are you doing here?"

Hattori, who was standing to the side, saw his father-in-law straighten up immediately. Not knowing how to start a conversation, he could only look at Toyama Kazuha with a puzzled expression.

Kazuha sensed Hattori's question and said with some pride, "I called my dad over. Anyway, the headquarters is nearby. And judging from this broken piece of porcelain, it's the same case that Dad was talking about before. Since Dad was already investigating this case, if he takes over, we can continue our trip. Otherwise, you definitely won't be able to get away."

Ginjiro Toyama had originally intended for Hattori to be his son-in-law, and upon hearing Kazuha's words, his face softened with kindness: "Kazuha is right, Heiji, you guys go have fun, I'll take care of things here."

Hearing her father's promise, He Ye smiled and leaned forward, "Hmm, I heard the other day that there's a nice restaurant near Shinbashi in Osaka Castle! Let's go there for dinner, their..."

Before Kazuha could finish speaking, Hattori, his face flushed with anger, shouted at her, "What kind of talk is that? A murder happened right in front of me, how could I be in the mood for that—uh!"

Ginjiro Toyama, standing to the side: I'll give you a chance to rephrase your words.

Feeling the unusually kind look in Ginjiro Toyama's eyes, Hattori suddenly remembered that he was in front of his father-in-law, and immediately blurted out a lot of honorifics: "...Ahem, I'm not in the mood for eating at any restaurant. In my opinion, Kazuha-chan, you don't need to worry about me. You should go with Ran-chan first, haha, right?"

He Ye glared at him, tossing her ponytail: "Hmph, fine, don't go then. Xiao Lan, let's go. Does Brother Chu Ming want to come?"

Kazuha discovered that although Chu Ming was also a detective, he was completely different from Hattori, that idiot. He was good at chatting, skilled, and very considerate of children. Most importantly, he wouldn't disregard everything else for the sake of a case like Hattori.

It's a pity that such a good guy doesn't have a girlfriend. If Hattori and Chu Ming could learn more from him, things would be much better.

So He Ye, who had just been carefully comforted by Chu Ming, extended an invitation to Chu Ming.

"I'll go!" Chu Ming, who had been standing there bored for a long time, responded immediately.

Conan and Hattori: ?

"Brother Chu Ming, aren't you going to stay and solve the case?" Conan tried to persuade him to stay.

Chu Ming squatted down: "Conan, food is essential for life. We ate at 11:30 am last time, and it's already 7 or 8 pm. I need to replenish my energy. Health is the foundation for solving cases. Do you want to come eat with me?"

Seeing Chu Ming and Ran's concerned gaze behind him, Conan took two steps back, grabbed Hattori's leg, and blurted out in his childish voice, "I don't want to! No, no! I want to play detective games with Hattori-nii!"

Conan, do you remember that your real name is Shinichi Kudo, and that you are actually a high school student?

“…If you don’t want to go, that’s fine.” Chu Ming straightened up and followed behind Xiao Lan and He Ye.

As she walked, Kazuha suddenly turned around and looked at Hattori, who was confidently and arrogantly telling his father about the case. She suddenly smiled warmly. Sure enough, no matter how angry she was with him, she would instantly become happy as soon as she saw him so engrossed in the case.

"Let's go, the food at that restaurant is really good." Kazuha didn't show favoritism; she took Xiaolan's hand, but would also occasionally turn her head to talk to Chuming, so that he wouldn't feel neglected.

In the restaurant, Chu Ming held his milk tea, his back pressed tightly against the chair, trying his best to minimize his presence.

Oh no, what a blunder! I've stumbled into my best friend's party.

Looking at the two girls whose eyes sparkled when they talked about their lovers, and then at himself, who looked out of place between them like a bodyguard, Chu Ming silently leaned back in his chair, pretending that he didn't exist.

The two girls chatted happily until they got carried away and turned their heads shyly, only to find Chu Ming sitting upright next to them.

(⊙﹏⊙)(?⊙ω⊙`)

The two were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and sat down on either side of Chu Ming.

"Brother Chu Ming, you won't tell anyone what you said today, will you?" This was Xiao Lan trying to threaten.

"Hey, Xiaolan, what are you saying? Brother Chuming isn't that kind of person, right?" This was He Ye trying to flatter him.

Watching the two of them chatting back and forth, Chu Ming smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, I won't tell them."