Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"I understand, thank you."

Conan and Professor Agasa finally breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at Chu Ming. They thought that it was probably because Chu Ming had met Ai Haibara on the street and taken her back that she was more receptive to what Chu Ming had to say.

They had talked a lot at the door a few days ago, and Ai Haibara didn't understand it so quickly.

As Ai Haibara roused herself and stepped out of the room, she saw Ayumi and a few others peeking in from the doorway: "What are you doing here?"

Ayumi looked at Ai Haibara with some concern. She ran in and looked at Ai Haibara's slightly haggard face: "Ai, are you feeling better? We heard you had a cold recently, so we thought we'd come and see you."

After Ai Haibara came to her senses, her complexion improved considerably. She smiled at Ayumi and nodded, "I'm all better now, thank you."

Ayumi stood up excitedly and invited Ai Haibara, "Now that Ai is alright, I can invite you to my house to play!"

My neighbor's dog broke my Girls' Day doll, so my neighbor asked his friend for a lot of Girls' Day dolls to give to me. There are seven layers of them!

He said that as long as I could remember all the arrangement methods, that would be fine. I've already memorized the arrangement methods in the past few days, but there are too many dolls for me to arrange by myself, so I'd like to invite you all to help me arrange them."

Girls' Day is an important festival in Japan, meant to wish girls in the family a healthy growth. However, Ai Haibara went to study in the United States when she was very young, and after her parents passed away, she had no relatives left. No matter how good her older sister was, she could not completely replace the role of her parents, so she never celebrated Girls' Day.

So when she received Ayumi's invitation, she did not refuse, but accepted with a smile.

Chapter 487 Is it worth it?

The group followed Ayumi to the neighbor's uncle's friend's house. Chu Ming thought for a moment and then went along to see what was going on. After all, he didn't seem to have heard of this festival before, let alone participated in it.

The family had prepared a separate room specifically for Ayumi to visit the dolls. They explained that although they no longer used these Girls' Day dolls, they were all carefully collected by them, so they needed to see if Ayumi truly liked them. That's why they put her in the test of remembering where the dolls were placed.

Chu Ming sat cross-legged on the floor and helped them unpack the dolls from the cardboard box, arranging them in a row on the floor as if they were in a queue.

Genta followed suit and sat down to the side, arranging a row of items on the shelf.

Seeing that the two of them didn't know how, Conan came over and pointed to the dolls on the ground: "This is the Minister of the Left, it should be placed on the far right of the fourth floor, and this is the Minister of the Right, it should be placed on the left."

Genta silently walked to the shelf with the doll in his hand, only to be confused by the fact that the Minister of the Left was on the right and the Minister of the Right was on the left.

Ai Haibara, holding the doll in her hand, looked completely bewildered, unsure of where to put it. Hearing this, she came over, still holding the doll, and asked, "You're a boy, how come you're so familiar with this?"

Chu Ming put down the doll that was giving him a headache and leaned over: "Conan seems to be able to do everything except sing~"

"I think you sang pretty well?" Conan asked, puzzled. "I'm familiar with this because when we were little, Ran often asked me to help her set it up. You probably set up this when you were little too, right?"

"..." Ai Haibara was silent for a long time, then suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly, "I don't think I told you before, but before I could remember, the organization sent me to study in the United States. This is the first time I've ever touched a Girls' Day doll."

Ai Haibara held the doll in her hands: "Although my parents bought these things for my sister, they both passed away not long after I was born. Those dolls only left painful memories, so my sister never took them out."

Ai Haibara spoke calmly and expressionlessly, lost in her memories. Though seemingly expressionless, she was deeply saddened; the volatile points on her chart betrayed her inner turmoil.

Chu Ming raised his hand and patted her head as a gesture of comfort.

Conan got up and walked to her side: "So, how did your parents die?"

"..." Goodness, you're such a straight man. Not only do you not offer comfort, but you also have to ask questions?

However, Ai Haibara quickly composed herself: "I don't know. When the organization informed my sister, they only said that they died in an accident during an experiment. Not many people may know my mother's name, but at the time, not many scientists didn't know my father, Atsushi Miyano's name. Everyone said he was a mad scientist who was exiled from academia."

Conan seemed to sense that he had stumbled upon some truth, and he asked urgently, "You said back then that you were working on drug development, inheriting your parents' research? What kind of drug is it?"

"A secret medicine, a secret medicine that can bring the dead back to life." Ai Haibara suddenly smiled, turning to stare at Conan. "Are you satisfied with this answer?"

Chu Ming felt he shouldn't be here; he should be on the roof. Were these two talking so oblivious to everyone else?

"Then, then what was said on that disk back then was all true..." Conan murmured.

"I knew it. The time you mysteriously appeared in that locker a while ago, it was because you made contact with the organization again, wasn't it?" Ai Haibara's face darkened. "You even followed the clues to the places they frequent, but you accidentally fell asleep in the end. Am I right?"

Watching Conan wipe his sweat with an apologetic smile, Chu Ming chuckled to himself. It wasn't just that he accidentally fell asleep; he almost fell asleep forever.

Ai Haibara looked out the window at the scenery: "But don't worry, the medicine I really want to research isn't this kind of flashy but impractical thing. It's something that most people on Earth wouldn't even recognize as valuable. Speaking of which, it's similar to the Hina dolls that little girls in Japan need for their festival..."

After saying that, Ai Haibara walked straight towards Ayumi and started arranging the dolls with her.

Chu Ming kicked Conan: "What medicine is Ai talking about? Do you know?"

Conan shook his head blankly, "It's so abstract, who could possibly know..."

Chu Ming stroked his chin: "Girls' Day is to wish girls happiness and joy, so Ai wants to research a medicine that brings happiness to humans?"

"How could happiness be obtained through drugs!" Conan retorted immediately. "Impossible! Even Haibara wouldn't be that far-fetched. Chu Ming, you're overthinking it."

Chu Ming wasn't angry at being refuted; he just looked at Conan with a quiet gaze and asked, "Then tell me, what kind of medicine does she want to research?"

"...I don't know either." Conan hesitated for a long time, but ultimately couldn't come up with anything.

Chu Ming's eyes were practically overflowing with mockery. Conan jumped up and said, "I'm not saying anything more, I'm going to help Ayumi put the dolls away!"

Watching Conan's hurried departure, Chu Ming leaned against the wall, no longer trying to make things worse. He lightly tapped his leg with his fingertips, no longer thinking about what Ai Haibara wanted to research. Anyway, she hadn't figured it out yet. He'd deal with it when she actually made the medicine. What troubled him most right now was figuring out how to do the task Gin had given him.

If it were just a resemblance, Gin would no longer set his sights on Ai Haibara.

There are many things he can do to dispel Gin's suspicions. For example, he could use the system to temporarily change Ai Haibara's fingerprints or blood, or use a disguise to subtly change Ai Haibara's facial features. Anything that would make Gin believe that this is a little girl who looks a lot like Sherry, but is actually completely unrelated to her.

but--

There is only one reason why Chu Ming has hesitated until now.

Should he intervene now that Gin has already taken notice of Ai Haibara?

He can only intervene temporarily, not permanently. If he manages to keep it a secret for Ai Haibara this time, and Gin accidentally discovers her true identity from some other source in the future, all the trust he has gained within the organization will be destroyed. At that point, forget about being an heir; he'll probably become a traitor to the organization immediately.

Is it really worth it for Ai Haibara...?

However, if they leave it unattended and simply bring Ai Haibara there, given Gin's sharp eyesight and obsession with Sherry, he'll probably notice her the moment he sees her. Once Ai Haibara is exposed, all of Conan's odd behavior will be immediately discovered.

After all, Conan had done quite a few things before, taking advantage of the fact that no one knew he had shrunk.

Chu Ming scratched his head, feeling conflicted. Finally, he took a deep breath and decisively pulled out his phone.

How can we let him suffer alone in this kind of situation?

Give it to Vermouth!

Whatever. If we really can't think of a solution in the end, we'll just flip the table, confront the boss, and tell him that Conan is alive, and he'll be able to achieve immortality in a roundabout way!

When it comes to what the BOSS desires most, surely he can protect his tools, right?

Chapter 488 Villain

When Vermouth received Chu Ming's message, she was leisurely applying a face mask. In fact, she had already discovered the bloodstains in the trunk. She hadn't been discovered on the filming set. After all, she was a well-trained assassin, and the first thing she did after getting her car back was to check it thoroughly.

She was simply letting Granburg take over her mission, and she also needed Bourbon's help to investigate something. If her judgment of Bourbon's identity was correct, Bourbon was very likely an undercover police officer.

She helps Bourbon conceal his identity, so Bourbon must help her protect Conan. In return, she will persuade Granburg and Gin to let Bourbon out to contact Kogoro Mouri.

The moment she heard her phone ring, she picked it up, opened the message from Granbury, and sat bolt upright.

!!!

Why did Gin suddenly notice Sherry?

What will happen to her godson if Shirley gets arrested?

If her godson dies, wouldn't her angel be heartbroken?

With a furrowed brow, Vermouth immediately called Chu Ming, only to be hung up on instantly.

Even if you attack again, you'll still be instantly killed.

Vermouth ripped off her face mask, fearing it was Granburg's final warning to her, and that he was already taking action, which was why he wasn't answering her calls.

She hurriedly threw on some clothes, went downstairs, and drove straight to Professor Agasa's house, afraid that if she was late, her imagination would become reality.

*

Chu Ming casually hung up Vermouth's call. He decided not to answer Vermouth's calls in front of Conan. He would talk to Vermouth later when he got back. Let her worry about it for now.

Just then, Rum sent a message. Chu Ming looked at the message on the screen, turned to Conan who was busy working, and told him that his company had a new idea for the new software development department and needed him to go over for a short meeting. He would come back to pick them up in the afternoon.

Conan nodded, but Ai Haibara suddenly remembered something, got up, and followed Chu Ming out the door.

Chu Ming noticed the little tail behind him, paused while pressing the elevator button, and asked, "Xiao Ai, what's wrong?"

Ai Haibara stared intently at Chu Ming with clear, sharp eyes. She glanced back and, not seeing the curious detective following them, pulled Chu Ming into the stairwell and whispered, "Brother Chu Ming, is your software company yours or part of an organization?"

"Mine?" Chu Ming blinked, remembering what Conan had told him before about how Ai Haibara was startled a second time after seeing Vermouth's commercial after returning from the 'Cocoon' press conference. "Ai, are you trying to ask me why Vermouth helped me film the commercial?"

Ai Haibara nodded: "Is it because they saw the success your software achieved, and they wanted to—"

"Don't worry, Ai. Since I've chosen to stay in the organization, I have my own way of surviving. You don't need to worry too much about me. Since I can't leave, and there's Granbury—you should have seen Granbury during the full moon, right? I even asked him to look after you if he saw you. I've helped him before, and he readily agreed to this little thing. He's a really nice guy." Chu Ming chuckled and patted Ai Haibara's head.

?

Ai Haibara feels like there might be something wrong with her ears, but she seems perfectly fine?

With such a terrible personality, how can someone be so nice?

She hesitated, as if she wanted to reveal the true identity of the person she had met, but she didn't know whether she should or not, and in the end she held back.

Chu Ming knew about Ai Haibara's dilemma, but he pretended not to notice and continued, "Granbury has helped me with the recent missions, so I've had a relatively easy time. I estimate that it won't be long before I'll be able to get in touch with some of the organization's core members. Then I'll be able to learn more information and protect you."

Ai Haibara wasn't a girl who cried easily; she was always aloof and strong. But at this moment, she felt a pang of sadness in her heart, and her voice trembled with a barely perceptible sob: "But Chu Ming-ge, you could have left that place..."

“It’s better that you don’t leave. If I leave the organization, we will really have no idea about its movements, which is not a good thing for us.” Chu Ming comforted her half-jokingly. “As for what you’re worried about, don’t worry. Vermouth wasn’t sent by the organization to monitor me or plunder my achievements. I have a different deal with her, and I know what I’m doing.”

Chu Ming didn't elaborate, and Ai Haibara didn't press for details. She simply lowered her head slightly, her face firm and calm: "Brother Chu Ming, if one day I'm exposed, don't try to cover for me. I've been very happy these days, every day feels like a stolen life. From now on, I will do as you said, look forward, and live in the present."

But if I'm discovered, I'm willing to face it honestly, instead of hiding behind you and living a life of ignominy. So if there's a specific mission targeting me, please take me back, as long as it doesn't implicate anyone else. Promise me, okay?

“…Okay.” Chu Ming did not refuse. “If that day ever comes, I will be with you.”