Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"Thank you, I'm sorry." Ai Haibara forced a smile. She knew that if that day ever came, anyone could run away, but she and Chu Ming couldn't.

She dragged Chu Ming down with her.

Seeing the guilt in Ai Haibara's eyes, Chu Ming blinked: "If Ai wants to make it up to me, you can give me more medicine. The medicine you made last time was really useful, especially the one that prevents you from getting drunk. But that one isn't working anymore, so I'd appreciate it if Ai could develop a 2.0 version for me as soon as possible~"

Ai Haibara nodded vigorously. If she could help Chu Ming, she would do her best.

"Alright, I'm going to my meeting now. You go play with the kids. I'll come pick you up when I'm done." Chu Ming waved his hand, walked out of the stairwell, and took the elevator downstairs.

Following the address given by Rum, Chu Ming drove to an elegant restaurant and followed the waiter's directions to a private room.

Aside from the base, it seems that Rum always met with him at various different restaurants.

He's definitely not like this with anyone else, so what kind of image does he have with Rum...?

Upon entering the private room, I saw Rum wearing a hat, facing the door from the side, looking out the window from the second floor. Hearing the door open, he quickly glanced over.

Seeing that it was Chu Ming who came in, he smiled and told the waiter behind him that the food could be served. Then he eagerly got up and pulled out a chair for Chu Ming.

At this moment, Chu Ming truly felt that the online name he had given himself was very fitting.

"Uncle Rum, what exactly did you pry out of that FBI agent? Why are you being so secretive? You have to tell me in person?" Chu Ming sat down in the chair Rum had pulled out without any ceremony and turned to ask him.

"It's about that FBI agent. She's too stubborn. I even got Lafitte to help with the interrogation, but we still couldn't get anything out of her. The FBI has special truth serum training for these agents, so the serum is useless against her." Rum sat back down, his fingers interlaced on the table, looking somewhat troubled. "I'm planning to use a brainwashing device, but once activated, to get information quickly, I'd need drugs, electric shocks, and sound waves all at once, which would basically cripple the person. But if we take it slow, the information she gives might not be valid anymore."

"Uncle Rum wants my opinion?" The dishes hadn't been served yet, so Chu Ming reached out and poured himself a glass of water and took a sip. "My suggestion is that intelligence doesn't matter. The FBI only has this much to do in Japan, you can guess it. Even if you pry her open her mouth, you won't get any useful information. It's just a few outposts, and we can find those things by searching slowly."

“You mean…” Rum rubbed his fingertips, “...you want to use her—as bait?”

It's so much easier talking to smart people. Chu Ming nodded slightly: "I've received information that the FBI is currently planning to take her back. Uncle Rum is trying to manipulate her for the next few days. I remember Porter has some newly developed drugs. With the help of these drugs, see if you can brainwash that woman in the short term or leave an instruction in her brain directly."

"I really want to see the FBI's agent, whom they went to so much trouble to rescue, turn out to be a ticking time bomb. Tsk, I really want to see their expressions then~"

Chu Ming leaned back slightly in his chair, slowly curving his lips into a smile. His eyes were like dark pools, but the smile didn't reach them, making him look just like a super villain behind the scenes.

Chapter 489 Smile

"An FBI operation? Around when?" Rum sat up slightly. "How come the intelligence team didn't report this intelligence this time? Those useless people, and I went to all that trouble to get people into the FBI!"

Rum was really angry, especially compared to Chu Ming, which made the intelligence team look even worse.

“It’s normal that we can’t find out.” After all, the FBI that Yusaku Kudo can contact must be of a high rank, otherwise all those years he spent in the United States would have been for nothing. “This information is not circulating at the moment.”

Rum nodded: "Okay, I'll contact Gin and lure him in."

Just as Chu Ming was about to say something, he suddenly heard a flurry of footsteps approaching. They must be coming to serve the food. He shut his mouth and turned to look at the door.

Sure enough, a gentle knock sounded on the door: "Guests, your food is ready."

“Come in,” Rum said loudly, turning to look at Chu Ming and smiling at him. “The Chinese food at this restaurant is quite authentic. I heard you like it, so I arranged this place for you. Eat more.”

Chu Ming nodded, completely bewildered. After all the dishes were served, he took a small taste and found the flavors quite good. He had been running around following Conan all day and hadn't eaten much. Now, with sweet and sour pork ribs, Kung Pao chicken, and rice, he felt he could easily eat three bowls.

Rum, holding his teacup, watched Chu Ming eat with a smile, leaving Chu Ming, who inadvertently looked up, completely bewildered. He glanced at the food in his hand, then stopped talking in confusion: "Uncle, did you drug me?"

Rum was taken aback and quickly retorted, "How could that be!"

"Then why are you looking at me like that..." Chu Ming put down his bowl, "It's making me feel uneasy."

"I just feel like Gin has been too harsh on you lately. He never takes you out for a decent meal," Rum said pointedly. "The action team is so busy. Even though you're the heir now, what are you still doing there? Gin is such a stubborn blockhead. Why don't you come to the intelligence team for a change of pace?"

?

Why bring this up again?

Why would he, the heir, go to the intelligence group?

Wasn't Rum talking about this when he had dinner with him last time?

Noticing Chu Ming's confusion, Rum sighed with feigned sadness: "It's like this, I was thinking, you're the designated successor now, you'll need to get familiar with the organization's affairs eventually, how can you stay in the action group all the time, you should also take some time to come to my intelligence group to see and give me some pointers, what do you think?"

Chu Ming rested his chin on his hand and thought for a while before deciding: "I'll ask the BOSS later."

Although he seems unreliable, he still keeps to the BOSS's bottom line. However, the relationship between the emperor and the crown prince has always been delicate. Although the BOSS treats him well now, he cannot directly skip over him and act too high-profile in the organization as the heir.

After Chu Ming finished three large bowls of food under Rum's watchful gaze, seeing that Rum had nothing to say, he casually had someone pack up the untouched dishes he didn't like and left the restaurant.

They went to all this trouble to ask him for this little thing, so he just came here to freeload off Rum...

When Chu Ming returned to the apartment building where Conan and the others lived, he found several police cars parked downstairs.

Another case?

Chu Ming excitedly ran upstairs, but he didn't sense any magnetic field. When he entered the room, he found that there was indeed a case, but it wasn't a murder case, but a theft case.

There used to be a picture of the wind god hanging next to where Ayumi and the others were displaying their dolls, but it was stolen while they were out.

When Chu Ming arrived, he overheard Conan talking animatedly, saying that the picture was hidden on the shelf where the plush toys were kept, and then he even pointed out who had hidden it...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Chu Ming leaned against the elevator entrance, waited for the group to come out, and waved to them: "Over here~"

"Brother Chu Ming, you're here, why aren't you going in?" Conan came running over with a group of people.

Chu Ming handed over the packed food: "You haven't eaten yet, have you? We finished chatting at the restaurant and I packed some food for you to bring back. I just arrived too."

Several children gathered around, their mouths agape when they saw the bag Chu Ming was carrying: "Wow—"

"Is it that new Chinese restaurant that Mihua opened? The food there is especially delicious, but it's also very expensive. Mom said she'll only take me there once if I behave well!"

"That's awesome! Thank you, Brother Chu Ming!"

Wow, food!

The children happily finished the food that Chu Ming had packed up, praising it highly. After they finished eating, Chu Ming sent them back in batches.

In the end, only Ai Haibara was left on the bus. Since she was going the same way as Chu Ming, and Chu Ming was going home, he dropped her off at the intersection and gave her a ride last.

As a result, Ai Haibara, who was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, suddenly jumped up as if she had been electrocuted.

Chu Ming was startled by her sudden sobbing: "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Ai Haibara's face was pale. She shrank back warily, gripping the car door handle tightly. "I sensed the organization's presence..."

Chu Ming looked around blankly. Impossible. There wasn't a single member of the organization here except for him. How could there be any trace of the organization?

He even stuck his head out of the window to look carefully, but there was no one there.

I secretly opened the system map, but there was still no one there.

Chu Ming pulled his head back: "Did you have a nightmare because you've been thinking about it all day? There's no one here."

Ai Haibara's body began to tremble uncontrollably: "N-No, it's impossible, it really is..."

"Holy crap—" Chu Ming murmured in shock. What kind of high-tech radar was this, Ai Haibara? The range of the organization's presence she sensed was even wider than the system's map and focal point...

Only now did he see the focal point appearing at the edge of the system map, slowly approaching him—it was Vermouth.

What is she here for?

He just fooled Ai Haibara today, so don't let him expose his true identity.

He turned to Ai Haibara with a serious expression and said, "You're right, there are indeed people from an organization coming. Don't get out of the car. It's Vermouth. Don't worry, I'm a code name member now, she can't do anything to me."

Under Ai Haibara's worried gaze, Chu Ming got out of the car, closed the door, and walked towards the direction indicated by Vermouth's focus.

Facing away from Ai Haibara, Chu Ming gave Vermouth a polite smile as she slowly emerged from the darkness, her face showing some anxiety.

What was clearly just a normal smile meant to gain Ai Haibara's trust, however, seemed to Vermouth as Chu Ming telling her, "You're too late..."

In that instant, Vermouth's mind went blank, and her usual composure seemed to vanish completely.

At that moment, Chu Ming looked at the rapidly increasing points in his system, his smile mixed with a hint of blankness.

What's going on?

His smile... is it that powerful?

Chapter 490 You want to usurp the throne?

Vermouth composed herself: "Where are they?"

Chu Ming didn't know what she was trying to say out of the blue, whether she was asking about Conan or Ai Haibara, so he asked in return, "Which one are you talking about?"

Vermouth's eyes widened. Which one?

Which one else?

Did Granburg not only kill Conan, but also Ran?

She immediately became agitated, leaned close to Chu Ming, grabbed his shoulder, and looked at him with rare anger in her eyes: "Didn't you promise me that you would protect them!"

Seeing Vermouth's angry face and the considerable force on her shoulder, Chu Ming felt bewildered. He skillfully pushed Vermouth's hand away, his eyes also turning fierce.

"Are you going to go against the organization for these two people? Didn't I remind you before that you're part of the organization, don't invest too much emotion in them!"

The two were talking at cross purposes, completely on different wavelengths, yet somehow they still managed to connect.

Vermouth clenched her fists, staring intently at Chu Ming, her eyes flashing with a variety of emotions. She even touched the gun hidden at her waist, but looking at Chu Ming's face, which she had seen since childhood, she ultimately lowered her head helplessly.

In that instant, she seemed to have aged considerably, and even her usually charming and beautiful face appeared somewhat listless.

Although Chu Ming was secretly pleased to see his points skyrocketing, Vermouth's mood was too strange. He tilted his head, ignoring Ai Haibara watching from behind, and pursed his lips, trying to comfort her.

"Sister? Don't be too sad. If you want to invest your feelings, just do it... I didn't stop you. Why are you suddenly so upset..."

Vermouth opened her mouth, her voice hoarse: "Where's the body?"