Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

“Boss, here’s the thing, I remember you mentioned last time that there’s a shortage of test subjects—” Chu Ming drawled, his eyes darting around, but avoiding eye contact with Karasuma Renya, “I’m just trying to help you out, and besides, this really is a specialty of Mihana…”

Karasuma Renya did not accept this explanation. His tone was gentle: "Gin, I think Granburg really needs to practice his melee weapons. For the next three months, how about you—"

"Boss—" Chu Ming understood Karasuma Renya's unspoken meaning and quickly interrupted him, pleading pitifully, "No, no, no, I'll be beaten to death by my older brother in three months! Don't you love me anymore QAQ Am I still your little darling?! Do you have another heir outside? Waaaaah..."

"Don't worry, boss, I will train him well."

God knows how long Gin had been waiting for this opportunity. Usually, when he wanted to teach Granbury a lesson, the boss would always tell him that Granbury was still a child. What child? He's almost an adult and still calling himself a child.

So he interrupted with unusually rapid speech, afraid that the boss would soften his heart again and let Granbury escape this time.

Chu Ming looked at his older brother's 'caring' gaze with a bitter face, and like Vodka, helplessly hugged his pitiful self.

Seeing Gin eagerly take on the task, and receiving Chu Ming's pitiful and aggrieved look, he sighed and still spoke up for Chu Ming: "I trust your judgment. Let's call it a day for now. Rum has something to report later, so you can all come and listen."

???

Chu Ming, who was struggling to get up while tugging at Gin's clothes, paused for a second before remembering Rum who had come to complain to him. He quickly shook his head.

"No, boss, I still have a few missions to complete. I'll go do them in a bit!" Chu Ming said resolutely, his face showing an unwavering sense of duty to dedicate himself to the organization's cause.

Karasuma Renya thought of Rum's previous search for dark web novel authors, and seeing Chu Ming's resistance, she chuckled: "It's alright, that old bastard Rum is a shrewd man, unlike Gin. He definitely won't mention that matter in front of you."

Chu Ming looked at him with a complicated expression. Generally speaking, things would indeed be as the boss said, but the problem was that when Rum came to Gin to complain, he complained to the wrong person! Rum clearly already knew that he had been complaining to Chu Ming himself.

In this kind of situation, only the thick-skinned person wouldn't feel embarrassed. Chu Ming was certain he wouldn't feel embarrassed, but Rum might not...

"Knock knock knock—" A knocking sound suddenly came from the boss's side of the door.

The boss glanced at the monitor and laughed: "Vermouth is here too. Alright, Gin, bring Granburch up here. He probably can't walk anymore, help him up."

Chu Ming, who was almost standing up, immediately threw himself at Gin upon hearing this, trying to wipe his blood onto Gin: "Yes, I can't walk anymore, big brother, help me up!"

Gin instinctively caught Chu Ming as he fell towards him, his palms smeared with blood from Chu Ming's arm. He gave Chu Ming a quick check-up; the previous examination report had already stated that Chu Ming had excellent physical condition and his wounds healed quickly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have pulled out his gun so readily.

Aside from the bullet wound that hadn't stopped bleeding and was still slightly oozing blood, the dagger cut had already clotted. Whenever he touched it, Chu Ming kept hissing and sucking in cold air. It thrashed wildly in his hand, like a restless snake, thrashing and writhing incessantly.

Gin, unable to bear it any longer, slapped Chu Ming's wound: "Shut up."

Chu Mingchao gasped loudly, "Aww—"

"..." Gin felt like the veins on his forehead were about to pop out.

Upon receiving Gin's emotional points again, Chu Ming felt that this older brother's emotions had been quite abundant lately. He usually appeared cold and ruthless, but his inner emotions were actually quite rich.

However, in order to avoid suffering as much as possible, Chu Ming quickly pointed ahead: "Hurry, hurry, big brother, let's go quickly, don't keep your idol—uh, I mean, don't keep the boss waiting!"

For a fleeting moment, Gin wanted to throw the person in his arms away, preferably a hundred thousand miles away, so that he would never see them again.

I wonder if Potter has any drugs that can cause intermittent muteness. If so, we could consider giving Granbury a year's supply.

Chu Ming was unaware of Gin's sinister plan. He remained slumped over Gin as if paralyzed, letting Gin drag him forward. At this moment, he missed the BOSS's wheelchair terribly. Didn't the BOSS say he would give him one? Where was his wheelchair? Chu Ming felt that he would definitely need it in the next few months.

Vermouth stood at the door, concealing the strange look in her eyes and hiding all her dissatisfaction with the organization.

She always hides her emotions.

—Unless you can't help it.

So when she saw Gin dragging a gender-swapped version of Kotoko to the door, she completely disregarded her dignity and image as a famous female celebrity and suddenly burst into a violent laugh, laughing so hard that she almost fell off the sofa. Even Gin's murderous aura couldn't suppress her laughter.

"—Hahahaha Gin, Gin, is this your sister... Hahaha, my god, you two look so alike—Pfft, hahahaha..." Vermouth gradually restrained herself amidst Gin's increasingly intense murderous aura, but she still occasionally let out a few gloating laughs.

Gin's face grew increasingly dark, and then he turned his murderous gaze toward Chu Ming.

Chu Ming:? ? ?

What's going on? He doesn't control Vermouth's mouth, so why is she glaring at him?!

After Vermouth finally finished laughing, she looked at the cross-dressing Gin with a beaming smile: "Sweetheart, your disguise skills are getting better and better~ Did you take my car? I didn't see it when I went to the base this time. I'm quite comfortable driving that car, where did you put it?"

"Uh—" Chu Ming was speechless. If he said he used it to store a corpse, would Vermouth turn against him on the spot?

It feels like he's offended everyone he could...

However, Vermouth probably won't hold such a small matter against him, right?

Chu Ming's words were vague: "I've driven to this underground base. Sister, you can just drive it away later..."

Vermouth smiled so brightly it was almost unbelievable: "Gin, I need your help with my mission here. You should be free these days, right?"

She had promised Granburg that she would help her get rid of Gin.

! ! ! !

Chu Ming was moved to tears, looking at Vermouth with a face that clearly said, 'Thank you, sister, for saving my life!' He said, 'You're so free lately, big brother has been so busy! I'll take care of his mission for him. Sister's mission is the most important, big brother, you should go now!!!'

If this works out, he'll be nicer to Conan for a while!

Chapter 447 Noah's Ark

Gin slapped Chu Ming's face away as he leaned in: "I'm busy."

Chu Ming didn't understand, and he was deeply shocked.

"Big brother, you've changed! You used to love doing quests the most!! How can you be so busy?! Is there anything more important than doing quests?!"

Gin sneered, looking at Chu Ming's puffed-up face as he leaned in, and pushed him away again: "Of course it's because I still need to train you."

???

tui!!

"My affairs are nothing compared to the organization's mission!" Chu Ming declared righteously. Knowing it was useless to talk to Gin, he turned to the boss and said, "Boss, the training isn't urgent at all. Why don't we let Big Brother do the mission first and then talk about it later? After all, Vermouth, who usually prefers to do missions alone, has asked for Big Brother's help. It must be a big mission, right?"

Having received Chu Ming's implied signal, Vermouth immediately nodded vigorously in agreement.

While answering Rum's call, Karasuma Renya chuckled to himself as he watched Chu Ming frantically trying to save himself: "That makes sense. Gin, why don't you take Granburch with you? The three of you can go together."

No way! What's the difference between that and not sending Gin out at all?

"What mission would warrant the involvement of all three of us core members? How about this, Vermouth and I can go, and Big Brother can stay behind and oversee things! Big Brother must have been exhausted recently!"

Gin was about to say something when he saw that Rum's communication with the boss was about to connect. As if remembering something, he quickly pulled Chu Ming behind him, shielding him with his body, and whispered, word by word, "Remove the disguise!"

Chu Ming stumbled from being pulled, then suddenly grinned mischievously, "Big brother doesn't want Rum to see? How about we discuss it?"

Hey, isn't this an opportunity?

Gin, his voice dripping with murderous intent, asked, "Shall we discuss whether I should use a gun or a knife tomorrow?"

"..."

Damn it, even Gin, who used to have no hobbies other than killing rats, has become like this! He can't stay in this organization anymore!

While muttering to himself, Chu Ming tore off his disguise and started planning whose face he should use to go out and have fun next time.

“Boss,” Rum’s voice came from the audio equipment, “The video chat software that Granbury proposed has been successfully developed. I suggest that this software be sent to all members’ mobile phones as an internal communication tool for the organization.”

Chu Ming thought of the video chat that had caused him to let something slip, and his frustration was almost overflowing.

"Boss, why don't we plant the seeds of this software and then promote it heavily in Japan and the United States? Once the software becomes popular, all kinds of information will be readily available."

Chu Ming had already planned this out. Now that the software was finished, he quickly told Karasuma Renya about his plan.

It just so happens that the organization's core cadres were present at that moment. In response to Chu Ming's suggestion, Rum was the first to respond: "That's what I think too, Boss. There is currently no chat room on the market that can compare to this software. Once it is launched, no company will be able to surpass us in the next few years. In other words, we can obtain data while also gaining market share."

Karasuma Renya nodded: "Okay, you'll be in charge of this part from now on. I remember you have a software company under your management?"

"No problem." Chu Ming had been eyeing this software for a long time. He had mentioned to Conan and the others that his company was going to develop this kind of software, and even used it as an excuse for his sudden departure. Now it was time to cover up the lie.

“Since Granburg is also with you, I have some news.” Rum seemed to remember something. “The Schindler Corporation, which I had someone keep an eye on, has recently made some new moves. The mole planted at that company told me that they’ve recently partnered with a Japanese game company to develop an unprecedented game called ‘Cocoon’ that uses the latest virtual reality technology. They’re going to hold their first public presentation in Tokyo, Japan, in a month. It’s said that they’ll select 50 minors to experience it at the event. The rumored artificial intelligence might very well appear then.”

Chu Ming raised an eyebrow: "Selecting minors? Doesn't that mean me? Uncle Rum, keep an eye out for me—never mind, I'll figure out a way to get one myself."

No one present objected, since with Chu Ming's abilities, securing a spot should be no problem for him.

“Okay.” Karasuma Renya had heard Rum mention Noah’s Ark before. For him, who was pursuing immortality, Noah’s Ark could be a viable alternative, so he was quite interested in it. “Granbury, when you go to play, keep an eye out for Noah’s Ark. If possible, bring it back.”

"Okay, I'll be careful. Well then, boss, I'll go deal with promoting the software first, and then I'll go hand over the reins to Rum. Once I'm done with the software, I'll try to get a spot. As for Vermouth's task, I'll leave it to my older brother. I'll probably be very busy lately." Chu Ming said as he rushed towards the door, trying to get the boss to relent with his urgent tone.

Unfortunately, before he could run away, Gin grabbed him by the back of the collar with lightning speed.

Chu Ming was like a turtle with its shell pinned down, flailing its arms and legs but unable to move an inch: "Big brother, let go! Rum, let me go work on the software. The sooner we launch it, the sooner the organization's funds will come back—millions in no time! And there's artificial intelligence, that's something the BOSS specifically asked for! Let me get to work! I love working! Work makes me happy!"

When it came to the organization's funds and the BOSS's needs, Gin hesitated, but he was still unwilling. He turned to look at the BOSS, and Chu Ming looked at him pitifully.

Meeting the gazes of both Gin and Chu Ming, Karasuma Renya glanced at one, then at the other. He was used to Granburg's intense eye contact, but it was truly rare to see such emotional fluctuation in Gin's eyes, so—

“The organization has ample funds, and artificial intelligence won’t be short of time. Granburg, I’ll assign Gin to you during this period so he can accompany you in training. As for other missions, Gin can also accompany you.”

???

Chu Ming's gaze shifted seamlessly to accusation and resentment, but then he became excited again and started arguing with the BOSS over the wording: "Assign Gin to me? So he'll take my orders?"

Karasuma Renya looked at them with a smile: "That's right, except for the daily training period, Gin will be in charge at other times."

Although he helped Gin, he still had to appease his own heir. Fortunately, he's easy to appease. Look, he's happy now.

Karasuma Renya smiled as she watched Chu Ming bounce up from the spot, her gaze distant. "Good, he hasn't lost his ability to balance things like he did when he was young. He's managed to appease both of his subordinates."

Gin can vent his anger during training every day, and Granburg can get his revenge after training, so no one loses out. And he, the mastermind behind it all, makes a fortune just by watching the show.

Chapter 448 Minors

"Gin, when you come back later, could you bring me a magazine and some food? I want to eat takoyaki from Osaka, could you drive over and buy it for me?"

Oh, and bring me some snacks too, like sunflower seeds, potato chips, and soda. I want to eat snacks while watching TV tonight.