Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"Anything will do, or anything related to their characteristics," Conan persisted.

"Let me think—the professor once casually complained that the people in that organization were really strange, wearing all black even in the middle of summer, weren't they afraid of the heat..."

Found it! It's that organization. It really is a case of an unexpected stroke of luck.

Conan's eyes lit up; he was incredibly excited, hoping he could get that information...

As Conan squatted down next to Kaori Nakahara and asked her a question, Chu Ming reached into his pocket and blindly typed a message to Gin.

"Dashan is dead. His house contains intelligence related to the organization; it is recommended that it be destroyed with a bomb. — Granburg"

"No need. It's not important intelligence. It can be used as bait. I've already arranged for people to monitor him near his house. —Gin"

"Hiss—" Chu Ming gasped. It seemed he couldn't let Conan go. He would have to create a few cases on the way back, temporarily get Conan out of the way, and then find an undercover agent in the organization to clear the mines.

Chapter 85 The Three Essential Elements of a Bento Box

Conan didn't want to wait even a moment longer, but he had no choice. There was a blizzard outside, and the police cars couldn't get up there for the time being, let alone drive there himself.

When Chu Ming came out of the shower, he heard Conan making a phone call.

"...Please, Doctor."

???

Conan isn't going to send Professor Agasa to get it, is he?

"Conan, what were you talking about with the professor?"

"I'll have the doctor wait until the snow gets a little lighter before driving over to check it out. It's best to get the information as soon as possible, lest things get complicated."

This detective is anything but easy to deal with!

Chu Ming nodded without saying anything. After Conan returned to his room to find Ran, he quickly called Ai Haibara.

"Is there a problem?"

"Once the snow subsides a bit, stop Professor Agasa by any means necessary, don't let him set off, that's a trap."

Ai Haibara's pupils contracted: "A trap?"

"You probably heard Conan's phone call just now. I received a mission from the peripheral members to take turns monitoring that professor's house and see if anyone is around. Do you understand? But I can only tell you this information. Just make up any excuse to stall Professor Agasa. I'll figure out a way to handle Conan."

"I understand." Ai Haibara hung up the phone, looked at Professor Agasa who was packing his things not far away, preparing to leave when the snow got a little lighter, and glanced at the anesthetic needle on the lab table. Making excuses was too troublesome, so why not be more hardcore?

Since Gin is used to lure people into the organization anyway, I might as well give him one.

Chu Ming scrolled through his contacts and sent a text message to a number.

This was an undercover agent he had deliberately left behind, originally intended to play the long game and catch a big fish; this was a perfect opportunity.

"Go to No. 39, 4th Street, Beihu Town. Important organizational information has been accidentally leaked. Find it and send it back to Base 8. — Gin"

He directly borrowed Gin's code name, which was the most effective among the peripheral members. Chu Ming, who had tested it many times, was very familiar with it. Anyway, the information disappeared after reading it, and these people would not have Gin's contact information, let alone go to Gin to ask.

Those who know about this method of sending messages must be members of the organization. They probably wouldn't expect that there would be such a bored leader in the organization who would steal someone else's code name.

Once he confirmed that the bait had been released, Chu Ming sent a message to the monitoring team, instructing them to keep an eye on the person who went to retrieve the documents and see who he would hand them over to.

After dealing with all of this, Chu Ming took a deep breath. Sigh, I'm so tired. If it weren't for the magnetic field, who would care about these people's lives? Now I'm exhausted. I might as well go on a mission with Gin, where I don't have to use my brain at all.

The next morning, Conan made an excuse to go play with Chu Ming and didn't go back with Ran and the others.

On the bus, Conan made another call to Professor Agasa. As soon as the call connected, Conan couldn't wait to ask questions.

"So, Doctor, did you get it?"

"No, Detective. The Doctor said last night that he would upgrade your tranquilizer watch before he left, but he got pricked by the tranquilizer needle and hasn't woken up yet."

"...Then I'll go by myself."

As Chu Ming drove, he pondered how to stop Conan's advance.

There happened to be a car parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights on, and a warning sign behind it. A man in a suit was standing on the side of the road waving.

Chu Ming slammed on the brakes: "What's wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Excuse me, my name is Horita Kosaku. My car has suddenly broken down. Could you please take me to the villa up ahead?"

He then handed Chu Ming his business card—the president of Horita Heavy Industries.

Chu Ming readily agreed to his request. What a coincidence! It would be perfect for stalling for time. Besides, spending so much time with Gin had sharpened his sense of smell; just like now, he could smell the scent of the case.

Look, the president, the villa, and the Grim Reaper—the three essential elements of a boxed lunch are all here.

Conan is essentially a warm-hearted detective. Although he was anxious, he did not object to taking people in need home.

The car drove directly into the villa, where a tall, thin man was tending to the plants. Upon seeing an unfamiliar car drive in, he quickly went over to him.

Seeing Horita get out of the car, he asked with some surprise, "Master is back? And who is this...?"

“My car broke down on the road, and this gentleman brought me back.”

"Oh, is that so? Hello, I'm Masahiro Yamauchi, the butler of this villa. Thank you for bringing my master back."

Chu Ming smiled gently, "It's alright, everyone encounters difficulties sometimes." Especially in front of Conan, it's a good opportunity to gain this favor.

"Thank you so much! Please come in and have a seat for a while. Let me take good care of you and this young boy." Horita's eyes were full of gratitude.

Conan was getting anxious. He tugged at Chu Ming's sleeve and started acting childish and throwing a tantrum: "Brother said he'd take me to the amusement park, waaaaah! Let's hurry, or we'll be late!"

Chu Ming looked embarrassed and politely declined, saying, "It's alright. It's only right to lend a hand when someone is in trouble. This child has always wanted to go to the amusement park, and I finally have time to take him there today. I'm really sorry."

Horita smiled and said, "Well then, my good-for-nothing sons are here today too. It's my birthday party, and since you helped me, at least let me entertain you as a thank you. Otherwise, people will say I'm not hospitable. We can go to the amusement park this afternoon, okay, kid?"

Chu Ming nodded, patted the somewhat anxious Conan, and answered for him, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

Chapter 86 I really miss Bourbon

However, the meal was not enjoyed properly. At the table, Mr. Horita's children openly and subtly mocked each other, which angered Mr. Horita so much that he overturned the table, and all the food on the table was gone before it was even touched.

Adding to the problem was his eldest daughter's uninvited arrival. Mr. Horita vented his anger and went straight back to his room, no longer caring about the two guests he had so warmly invited.

Chu Ming and Conan exchanged a glance, then looked at the mess on the table. The butler invited them to the kitchen and gave them a bowl of spaghetti.

Chu Ming slowly finished his noodles, thinking that the undercover agent should have already taken the documents. He pulled Conan aside, said goodbye to the butler, and prepared to leave after saying goodbye to President Horita.

Just then, a loud 'bang' was heard.

Seeing the thick smoke and flames rising not far away, Chu Ming and Conan quickly ran towards the sound.

In the midst of ruins, the once energetic and furious man now lay covered in blood, surrounded by shattered items from the bomb.

"Brother Chu Ming!" Conan quickly looked at Chu Ming.

Chu Ming understood, but shook his phone helplessly: "No, there's no signal."

Actually, his phone had a signal, but since the intention was to keep Conan there, he went along with the culprit's script and said that his phone also had no signal.

Conan turned to the butler who had just arrived and said, "Mr. Yamauchi, is there a phone? Call the police!"

The butler shook his head: "The telephone lines have all been cut; we can't make a call."

“Dad!” Mr. Horita’s two sons and daughter also rushed to the scene.

Just as they were about to rush inside, Conan called out, "Wait! Don't come in! You're all suspects now. Don't come in and disturb the crime scene!"

"Kid, who do you think you are? Why should I listen to a primary school student?"

Chu Ming stood up straight, his gaze piercing towards the doorway: "I am the legendary—Detective Kogoro Mouri!"

"!!!"

"—Assistant."

"What? You make it sound so mysterious, but you're just a handyman..." Horita Koichi rolled his eyes, but he didn't rush in. Instead, he looked at his younger brother with ill intent.

"However, Mr. Assistant, I hope you will thoroughly investigate my brother's suspicions. He's been indulging in gambling lately and has racked up a huge debt. Last time he came back, he tried to ask Dad for money but got a severe scolding. I think he's mostly after the inheritance..."

"Nonsense! I think you're the one who did it. You made a mess of things at the overseas company, and Dad dismissed you from all your positions. Hmph, I think you were the one who wanted to kill me."

Conan frowned as he watched them bickering, and was about to intervene when Chu Ming stopped him: "Let them talk, we'd like to hear their motives."

"But they're completely missing the point... And Miss Fumiko is strange too, she seems to hate Mr. Horita a lot..."

Chu Ming glanced at the bomb at the scene, but instead of correcting Conan's misunderstanding, he let him search for the culprit among Mr. Horita's two sons and one daughter.

Upon seeing the scene, Chu Ming knew the murderer must be the housekeeper who had tended the plants and fertilized the flowers when they arrived. This was because the bomb wasn't the yellow bomb Conan had imagined; it was a homemade bomb made with phosphate fertilizer and sulfur, among other chemicals. He'd made these kinds of bombs before—they required little skill and could be made from readily available materials, making them perfect for murder and arson.

Among all the people present, the butler was the one who had the most experience and was relatively knowledgeable about this.

Conan went out to look for clues, and the peripheral members responsible for tracking also brought back the results. Sure enough, Tetsuya Migishi—the fish that Chu Ming released—did not go to the base after obtaining the information, but instead sneakily took the information to the Oni Mountain Society.

The Ghost Mountain Society is a newly established organization that has absorbed most of the remnants of the Ghost Tiger Gang, which had been previously dispersed by other organizations.

The Ghost Mountain Society is ambitious and has been making a lot of small moves lately. This isn't the first time they've sent spies into the organization. It's because the organization has been busy catching big fish within its ranks and hasn't had time to deal with them. Instead, the Ghost Mountain Society's leader thinks the organization is on its last legs and lacks the strength to continue, so he's ambitiously trying to take over.

Chu Ming signaled to the members monitoring him not to make any rash moves. Gin hadn't included catching undercover agents in his mission, so he wasn't really in the mood to take them out.

With so many tasks, I really miss that hardworking Bourbon...

Hmm? Bourbon?

Yeah, this isn't a task given by Gin, so why can't it be given to Bourbon?

Gin only said that the tasks he issued needed to be completed independently by Chu Ming, but he didn't say that he couldn't pass the buck for these kinds of troublesome derivative tasks.

Chu Ming immediately straightened up, took out his phone and sent a message to Bourbon, reminding him that communicating with undercover agents required skill.