Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Chu Ming leaned against the wall, turning his head to look at her with gentle and tolerant eyes: "No need to thank me. I wasn't there for your birthday a couple of days ago, so consider this my way of giving you a belated birthday gift this year."

"The fact that Brother Chuming is back safely is already the best gift." Ai Haibara said earnestly. Chuming being in the organization was dangerous enough, and yet he still went to Vodka to try and extract information about her...

From the day she escaped the organization, Chu Mingge had been protecting her. In order for her to escape safely, he was even threatened by Granburg to delve into the organization's quagmire.

Aside from her sister, no one else could do this for her. Brother Chu Ming was truly like an older brother, always standing in front of her, as solid as a mountain and as vast as the sea...

"Let's go, they must be getting impatient waiting outside." Chu Ming smiled. The reason he hadn't left was because Ai Haibara was accumulating points while listening to the recording, and he was reluctant to leave. He even hoped that Ai Haibara would listen a little longer.

Of course, there are quite a few now.

Just think about it, and you'll know this move moved Ai Haibara to tears. Exchanging a cassette tape for a high number of points is a huge win.

Conan waited outside for a long time, and as he was resting his chin on his hand, wondering what Chu Ming and Ai Haibara were whispering to each other, he saw the two of them come out one after the other.

Ai Haibara in the background has red eyes, clearly indicating that she has been crying.

Ok?

Uh-huh? ?

Uh huh huh? ? ?

Conan sat up straight instantly.

what happened?

Did Chu Ming make Haibara cry?

But how is he supposed to bring up this question?

Conan tried to find out why Ai Haibara was crying so sadly by using sign language to communicate with Chu Ming.

Chu Ming raised his chin, indicating that he should ask Ai Haibara himself. Conan scratched his head, his face full of eagerness at not being able to get any gossip, but he was really a little hesitant to ask Ai Haibara, since she might just give him a straight answer.

Having no other choice, he quietly nudged Professor Agasa, signaling him to speak first.

Dr. Agasa, sensing the hint, looked at Ai Haibara's slightly red and swollen eyes and the remaining tear stains on her face, and tentatively asked, "Ai, what's wrong? If you're in a bad mood, how about we go out for a big meal?"

Ai Haibara shook her head, glanced at Chu Ming, and wiped away her tears somewhat embarrassedly: "No, Brother Chu Ming found some things my parents left me through some channels, including my mother's birthday wishes for each of my years from age 1 to 20..."

Conan and Professor Agasa suddenly realized why Ai Haibara looked so heartbroken while crying.

Although Conan was eager to know if Ai Haibara's mother's message contained any information about the organization, his limited emotional intelligence kept him silent.

Seeing Conan's hesitant expression, Chu Ming went over and sat back down on the sofa. He pulled Conan aside and whispered a reminder: "Even if there is information about the organization in this videotape, you are not allowed to ask about it. If Ai comes to terms with it later, she will tell you. Don't be stupid and go to ask her and reopen her wounds."

Conan irritably shook off Chu Ming's hand: "I know, do I look that clueless?"

Chu Ming simply rolled his eyes at Conan: "What do you think you know?"

Conan was speechless and quickly changed the subject: "Brother Chu Ming, where did you get this information? Besides the videotape, are there any other clues?"

"Since I found out who Ai's parents were last time, I secretly inquired about it. By chance, I found out where her parents used to live. They had been rented out to a friend who runs a company there. So I went to visit them under the pretext that my relatives overseas had asked me to find Professor Miyano."

"The company's employees told me that Ai's older sister had also come here before and even used the restroom. So I sneaked in and searched the company when no one was around. I finally found the videotape in the toilet tank. The rest of the items were basically the personal belongings of the company's employees. I didn't find anything else." Chu Ming told Conan the excuse he had just made up, half-truthfully.

Conan was a little disappointed, but still pressed on, "Which company is it? Should we go take another look? Maybe we can find something else?"

Seeing that Conan wouldn't give up until he was completely convinced, Chu Ming couldn't resist grabbing his head and giving him a good ruffled scrape: "What are you doing? Don't you trust my investigative skills???"

Conan desperately tried to save his mind: "I didn't! That's not what I meant!"

"Hmph." Chu Ming released his grip. "You'd better let them go. What if fate brings another murder case to you, the famous detective, if you go?"

Conan instantly bared his teeth and brandished his claws: "I already said it's a case that summons a detective!"

Professor Agasa then walked over and said, "Speaking of which, I had forgotten. I have a friend who said that Professor Miyano is his childhood friend and even helped him publish a book. I was thinking of taking you to visit him sometime to see if we could find out anything."

Conan immediately perked up: "Then what are we waiting for! Dr. Agasa, let's go!"

"Um..." Chu Ming tried to speak, but was interrupted by Conan.

"Brother Chu Ming, hurry up and let's go! Stop talking about murder cases! You need to believe in science, don't be so superstitious!" Conan hurriedly pushed Chu Ming towards the door. "Doctor, hurry up and get the car, we're leaving right away!"

The doctor shook his head helplessly, glanced at Ai Haibara who seemed to have some hope, and went to get his car.

Ai Haibara listened to the recording her mother left her today, and now she wanted to know more about her parents, so she went out with a light step.

Chu Ming was being pushed forward by Conan, somewhat speechless. How was he supposed to tell them that they were actually talking about the same person...?

As the car sped along, Chu Ming looked out the window and murmured, "The buildings along this road seem a bit familiar, I think..."

Ai Haibara turned her head to look at Chu Ming sitting next to her, somewhat puzzled: "What do you think?"

"I think, Doctor, we might be talking about the same person."

"squeak--"

A sudden stop.

Professor Agasa turned to look at Chu Ming: "Huh? It can't be such a coincidence, can it?"

Chu Ming scratched his head: "Doctor, is the person you're talking about a designer? Someone who owns a design firm?"

Seeing Professor Agasa's bewildered face, Conan knew Chu Ming was right: "What a coincidence..."

"As you know, I own a software company. Recently, the company expanded into new businesses, and the original floor wasn't enough, so I bought a new floor to open a branch office. I needed to find someone to design the interior plans for the new office, and I accidentally got the information about a design firm while looking for one, so I went to visit them..." Chu Ming looked at Chu Ming and Ai Haibara, who seemed somewhat disappointed, and asked, "So, are you still going?"

Conan nodded vigorously: "Since we're already here, why don't we go take a look?"

walk slowly.

There's a high chance he'll earn some extra money today.

Chapter 580: Does the Case Attract the Detective?

The car stopped in a residential area. There was an iron fence at the gate, and the two-story buildings with yellow tiles and gray walls looked simple and elegant.

After getting out of the car, Ai Haibara stood by the courtyard wall, looking up and carefully examining the house: "Is this the house where Mom and Dad used to live?"

Chu Ming suddenly seemed to remember something and couldn't help but chuckle mischievously, "I heard last time that this house was rented to a friend by your parents, but they haven't paid the rent for the past twenty-odd years. Look, this is all your money!"

"..." Ai Haibara was speechless. Was she risking her life to reveal her identity for such a small amount of money...?

There was no doorbell at the door. The group walked in through the half-open door and were immediately spotted. An employee looked at Chu Ming curiously: "Hey, aren't you Mr. Fujino who came last time? Is there anything else you need this time?"

Chu Ming stepped aside to make way for the people behind him and explained, "I came here with a friend today. This is Professor Agasa. He is also inquiring about the whereabouts of Professor Miyano, so I brought him to visit President Izujima. Sorry to bother you."

The employee nodded and pointed to an elderly man who was facing away from everyone in the room: "The president is over there. You can go over there yourselves."

At this moment, President Izushima also heard the commotion. He turned around and looked at the group with some confusion: "Didn't I say last time? Miyamoto Atsushi and I are indeed childhood friends, but we haven't seen each other for almost thirty years. The last time we met, he said he was going to find a large organization that could agree with his theories to fund his experiments. After that, I really don't know where he went..."

"A large organization, huh—" Conan muttered to himself, realizing that this so-called large organization must be the Black Organization.

"Has Dr. Miyano never contacted you again since then?" The doctor was somewhat disappointed. He had finally found a clue, but not only did it overlap with Chu Ming's, he hadn't managed to uncover anything.

"No, he just sent a postcard back more than ten years ago saying that he was already married." President Izushima seemed lost in memories.

"No, he came once before when the president wasn't here." An employee standing up to get water overheard their conversation. "Whenever the president is lacking inspiration, he goes out for a walk. That's when they came. He brought a beautiful foreign wife and a little girl who looked about five or six years old. I think her name was Akemi."

Another employee seemed to remember something and chimed in, "I remember now, at that time, he seemed to be looking out the window the whole time. Oh, right, there was a black sedan parked outside, and the windows were covered with sunshade."

Chu Ming narrowed his eyes. This must be the person the organization sent to monitor them back then.

So are researchers in the organization really that restricted when they go out? They're not even as free as the action team.

Chu Ming frowned slightly. Logically speaking, the organization should value researchers like Atsushi Miyano who offered themselves up so readily. They would be trying to win them over. Why would they be monitoring them so closely?

Unlike Ai Haibara, who had an older sister who always wanted to help her escape the organization, the couple didn't have that kind of relationship at the time...

Ugh, my head is so itchy, it feels like my brain is growing out.

I'm not going to think about it anymore. Wouldn't it be better to just go ask the boss directly?

At this moment, an employee returned with a bunch of food and invited everyone to eat. Seeing Chu Ming and the others standing in the middle of the hall, he seemed a little confused: "Uh, hello? I bought some things, would you like to eat together?"

Dr. Agasa quickly refused, "No, no, we're not hungry..."

President Izushima stood up and began to usher the guests out: "Everyone, I really don't know where Miyano went after that. I'm sorry, we still have work to do, so we won't entertain you any longer."

Professor Agasa knew he wouldn't get any more information, so he could only tell Conan and the others to leave.

Conan had only taken two steps when he suddenly remembered something. He looked up at Chu Ming and teased in a very low voice, "Didn't Brother Chu Ming say that I always have a case when I go out? Look, I do—"

"what--"

“…Huh?” Conan stammered out the words he hadn’t finished saying, the smile on his face slowly disappearing. He turned around in a daze and saw President Izujima clutching his neck in pain before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

The slap in the face happened so fast that Conan couldn't react at all. It was Professor Agasa, who also encountered many cases, who skillfully took control of the scene, stopped the employee who wanted to rush over and shake the president, protected the scene, and called the police.

Conan, unusually, didn't rush to check the clues first. Instead, he stood there dumbfounded, staring at the president's body, his eyes filled with a sense of shattered faith and doubt about life.

Chu Ming hadn't expected it to be such a coincidence. Looking at Conan's current expression, he felt a little embarrassed to tease him.

Conan was behaving more obediently than ever before; he actually stood quietly behind Professor Agasa, waiting for the police to arrive.

Inspector Megure and his team arrived quickly. Upon seeing Conan, Inspector Megure looked around, probably searching for Conan's scapegoat, Kogoro Mouri. However, after searching for a while without finding him, Inspector Megure's gaze gradually fell on Chu Ming, and slowly became meaningful.

???

Chu Ming, realizing that he was now the one taking the blame for Conan, was filled with questions. Why would Inspector Megure prefer to suspect him, who rarely appeared, rather than Conan, who never missed a single time?

hateful.

"Another poisoning..." Inspector Megure sighed, feeling that he had lived a very colorful year, witnessing various murder methods that he had rarely seen in previous years.

After understanding the basic situation, Inspector Megure first looked at Natsuki Yuu, who had gone to buy lunch: "You bought the lunch, so you should be the most likely person to have poisoned it, right?"