Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

At this moment, they were unaware that everyone's lives depended on Conan; they only thought that once the crowd was evacuated and the bomb was defused, they would all be safe.

Kidd had no choice. Since the crowd on this floor had been mostly evacuated and only Xiaolan and a few others remained, he wasn't worried about causing widespread panic. So he simply explained the situation to them.

"What? It's going to explode in twenty minutes? Where's Conan?" Sonoko was also anxious. "Why isn't he here yet? How can he possibly remove all those bracelets in twenty minutes? Shouldn't he be escorting Ran and the others to Fantasyland? He can always defuse the bomb inside the park!"

"He—can't leave here for now. Once he leaves, the bomb in the Red Fort restaurant will explode..." Kid looked at the stunned crowd and gave a wry smile. He didn't want to tell the truth, but this time the bracelet seemed a bit difficult to remove. It had been three minutes, and Ayumi's bracelet was only just about to be removed...

If it takes about four minutes to remove one bracelet every twenty minutes, then you can only remove five, which means one person will have to be left over...

His ideal scenario—that everyone's bracelets would be removed within twenty minutes—ultimately failed to materialize.

Was his expectation of the puppet too high? Logically speaking, shouldn't something involving magic be touched and then told that it's finished?

"Ding--"

The elevator door light came on.

Everyone has evacuated, so why would anyone come to the fifteenth floor?

Several pairs of eyes were fixed on the slowly opening elevator doors.

"Ah—it's her! This is that weird auntie! She put the bracelets on us herself, she must have done it!" Genta exclaimed as he recognized Vermouth standing in the elevator, carrying Ito Suehiko.

Vermouth was immediately thrown into a bad mood as soon as she opened the door, which made her already unpleasant mood even worse.

"I've been upstairs with Conan the whole time, I didn't put any bracelet on you!" Vermouth was unaware that Chu Ming had stolen her face after her account was hacked, and was currently annoyed because Ran had been attacked. "How can you talk nonsense like that, you brat?"

"Huh?" Genta was also confused. "But you were the one who was with us the whole time, and you even ran back to say that Conan had been kidnapped. Otherwise, we wouldn't have come out..."

"Hiss—" Kidd gasped. He roughly knew who the person who had stolen Vermouth's identity was; it was very likely Granburg.

“Someone disguised themselves as me and sneaked up on you!” Vermouth pointed at Kid. “That guy can testify that I’ve been upstairs the whole time and haven’t come down yet.”

Mitsuhiko stroked his chin: "Disguise? Speaking of disguise—"

Genta exclaimed in shock, "Could it be Kaito Kid?!"

"Kid is not that kind of person!" Ayumi, whose bracelet had just been removed, walked over and heard the two of them slandering her idol. She and Sonoko spoke in unison to defend Kid.

Kidd choked on his own saliva and turned to look at the two children who had just made such a shocking statement.

So he busied himself with various tasks, even signing a treaty with the devil...

What I got in return was a false accusation?

It's better not to defuse this bomb...!

Chapter 522 Loyalty to Me

Vermouth glanced at Kid subconsciously, casually tossed Ito Suehiko to the ground, and then asked in a deep voice, "How's it going with removing the bracelet? Is there enough time?"

Kidd glanced at the robot engrossed in defusing the bomb and couldn't guarantee anything: "Uh—Ku, cough cough Mr. Aoi is still defusing it, but I estimate..."

He didn't know what to call the puppet, so he just picked a name and gave it to it.

Chu Ming shook his head as he controlled the robot, his voice hoarse as he spoke slowly and deliberately: "It's probably a bit risky."

Time passed second by second, and beads of sweat gradually appeared on Kid's forehead. Thirteen minutes had passed, but he had only just finished dismantling three children, and Ai Haibara had only dismantled half of the one in her hand.

Ai Haibara originally wanted to be last in line, but because she looked like a child, no one agreed and they all forced her to extend her hand so that Chu Ming could remove the bracelet.

Sonoko's face contorted in shock, her heart pounding in her chest. All eyes were fixed on the robot's hand as it carefully removed the bracelet, taking out the bomb and placing it into the bomb-proof box left at the scene by the police.

There were only two people left. Kazuha pushed Ran in front of her and said, "Ran, you go and take it apart first. I'll wait for Heiji to come over."

She knew in her heart that if she yielded, she might die in the explosion because she wouldn't have time to remove her bracelet, but—

—But she is the daughter of the Osaka Prefecture Criminal Investigation Department Chief. Like father, like daughter. Ran is also her good friend. How could she possibly compete with Ran for this chance to survive?

Ran paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. She took Kazuha's hand and led her to the robot, her movements gentle yet brooking no refusal: "What are you talking about? I still need to go up and find Conan. Besides, Shinichi will definitely come back to save me when he hears about this. And there's no need for us to waste time being polite back and forth. After we dismantle yours, Mr. Aoi and the others will need to leave."

He Ye wanted to get up, but Xiao Lan, who seemed gentle and weak, actually had a lot of strength in her hands. Chu Ming didn't hesitate and grabbed He Ye's hand to start tearing it apart, giving her no chance to refuse.

There's not enough time. It takes more than three minutes to remove one bracelet, almost four minutes. If we remove Kazuha's, what about Ran's...?

Sonoko's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Ran standing outside the crowd, her lips trembling: "Ran..."

Xiaolan smiled gently, as if she were radiating light. She looked at Yuanzi and said, "Yuanzi, if I'm not around anymore, my dad and the others will probably have to rely on you... He loves to drink, can you help me persuade him to drink less? He's not young anymore, he should drink less."

And then there's Conan. That kid's a bit clingy, but he's a good kid. If I'm not around, Dad might not have the patience to raise him...

As for Shinichi, please tell him for me that he shouldn't be told the answer he wanted to know last time. Tell him to forget about me. I'm sorry for troubling you; I want to be your sister again in the next life…”

Sonoko was trembling all over from crying, and she squatted on the ground, unable to stand up. She didn't care about her image at all, and cried her heart out: "No, Ran, no..."

With two minutes and thirty-two seconds remaining until the time agreed upon by Chu Ming, the bracelet on He Ye's hand was successfully removed.

Chu Ming, controlling the robot, looked at Xiao Lan, his tone devoid of emotion, yet like a sharp knife piercing everyone's hearts: "Less than three minutes, not enough to defuse a bomb. I suggest you evacuate."

Kidd looked at the robot abruptly. "Is this all the Demon King's puppet is?"

Did they steal his heart's blood just like that?

Can he return the goods?

The police officers who remained looked conflicted, staring at the crying children who refused to leave and the gardener who was slumped on the ground wailing. They were at a loss for what to do.

Although Kidd desperately wanted to settle scores with the puppets, time was running out. If they didn't retreat now, they would only be wasting their lives. So he made a decisive decision: "Just take them away. There's no time to save them!"

He can only hope that Conan will actually come up with a solution...

Xiaolan's eyes were filled with tears, but she still had a faint smile on her face.

Farewell—

Shinichi, where are you?

At times like this, I really—

I really want to see you!

Vermouth's fingers trembled slightly. After being pulled into the elevator by Gidela, she suddenly pulled out her phone and sent a message to Chu Ming.

"What do you want in order to let that girl go? Name your price."

She ultimately couldn't bear the days without light...

Chu Ming squinted, feeling the surging emotions rushing in like a tide, and his points were also increasing by thousands. He sighed contentedly.

Indeed, the emotions experienced in life-or-death situations are the most precious.

Of course, he also earned quite a bit during the Red vs. Black battle.

They all smell good.

While he was eating sunflower seeds, a message from Vermouth suddenly appeared on his phone. Chu Ming moved his fingers and opened an app to reply to Vermouth's message.

Vermouth held her phone, anxiously awaiting Chu Ming's reply.

"Buzz-"

She slightly moved her fingers, opened the message, her gaze sharpened, and her eyes widened.

On the narrow screen of the phone, a message was displayed clearly.

"What if I asked you to switch your loyalty from that gentleman to me?"

Three seconds later, before Vermouth could react, the message vanished without a trace, as if wiped away by a pair of hands.

So Granburg actually had this in mind?

Interesting, so interesting...

Vermouth blinked gently, without even a moment's thought; she wasn't actually that loyal to Karasuma Renya.

"can."

Seeing Vermouth's instant reply, Chu Ming chuckled lightly. The BOSS is a bit of a failure as a person. In the entire organization, he felt that apart from Gin, there were hardly any loyal people.

They're all fence-sitters.

People lean in whichever way the wind blows.

"Deal. Remember your promise."

Seeing Chu Ming's reply, Vermouth slowly exhaled the anger that had been weighing on her heart, and her expression relaxed slightly.

She knew that Granbury, though crazy, was generally a man of his word.

Since he agreed, there shouldn't be any problems.

She dared not gamble on whether Conan could ensure Ran's safety.

*

On the other side, Xiaolan watched as everyone evacuated from the elevator. Only when the elevator doors slowly closed did she collapse to the ground, curl up, and hug herself.

She gazed wistfully out the window, the smile that had been on her face vanishing.

How could she not be afraid?

This is death...

But Sonoko and the others are already heartbroken enough; if she panics further, things will only get worse.

Tears dripped slowly down her cheeks, leaving water stains on her dress.

Shinichi, where are you...?