Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Chu Ming originally intended to go back and slack off, letting the robot accompany Gin in the ambush, but considering Gin's wary nature, he decided not to throw the robot over.

If Gin discovers a flaw, he'll have no way to explain himself. He can't very well admit that it's a robot, can he? Then it will be even more difficult to explain where he got the robot from.

But using his own subordinates as an excuse wouldn't work either. After all, how could he just tell outsiders about something as important as ambushing Shuichi Akai?

So to avoid trouble, Chu Ming secretly swapped places with the robot while he was at the Shiraku residence, then disguised himself as a servant and rushed to meet Gin before Akai Shuichi left.

He guessed that Shuichi Akai wouldn't go back with Conan, since he needed to hide his identity.

Well, luckily the Red team doesn't seem to keep quiet; they keep all the information to themselves, which makes it extremely convenient for him to stir up trouble.

Chu Ming stood next to Gin, looking at the points he had circled on the map, and casually pointed to the farthest one: "I'll take people to this point."

Gin had no objections. There were only three exits in total. Granburg would guard one of them, Vermouth could lead a group to guard another, and he himself would guard the third. As for Vodka, he would fly a helicopter to monitor Shuichi Akai's movements from the air at all times.

Of the several snipers, Chu Ming preferred Chianti, whom he was more familiar with and more talkative. Otherwise, it would be so boring to have no one to chat with during the ambush.

As for Cohen, he's not much of a talker, so he's perfect for being with Gin. The two of them can keep watch in silence, while Bourbon and Vermouth can form a paycheck-stealing team. The two mystics also have a lot in common.

However, Gin did not agree. The personnel allocation always depends on the division of labor. Granburg himself is a sniper, so he and Bourbon can guard one of them. Vermouth and Chianti are in one group, while he is with Cohen. This way, each group has a sniper to confirm the situation, so that Shuichi Akai cannot take advantage of the chaos and escape.

Upon seeing Bourbon's dark face, Chu Ming's face immediately fell as well. He turned his head away and said, "I'm not going to team up with Bourbon. Look at how sinister he's smiling. What if he turns around and uses me as a shield to avenge his brothers?"

Bourbon was amused by Chu Ming's words: "You think I'd use you as a shield? You'd be the one using me. Haven't you caused me enough trouble already? I don't even want to be in your group."

"Anyway, I'm not in his group. I'm not sniping this time. Why don't you send a sniper to follow me?"

Gin, annoyed by their bickering, completely ignored their demands: "It's settled then, let's go."

Seeing that Gin was not changing his mind, Chu Ming glanced at Bourbon with disdain, turned to leave, but then seemed to remember something, turned back to Vodka, and said with a strange smile: "When you go to mobilize the helicopter later, take that FBI woman you caught before with you. When you come here to patrol, hang her under the helicopter."

Vodka's lips twitched, and he nodded in agreement.

"Wait a minute—" Chu Ming suddenly remembered the useless nature of vodka and instructed, "Have Potter inject her with reagent number 6, so you don't get killed by her on the plane."

It would be awkward if Shuichi Akai failed to catch him and ended up returning Jodie to him, along with a vodka-sized head.

Vodka felt a little aggrieved, but he still nodded obediently. Actually, his fighting skills weren't that weak; it was just that Gin and Chu Ming's skills were truly abnormal, which made him seem weak and powerless in comparison...

However, the most important reason why he was able to stay safely behind Gin was that he listened to advice very well and did whatever his older brother told him to do.

So even when Chu Ming questioned his abilities, he had no objections and simply nodded obediently, like a big, burly cat.

After Vodka made the arrangements, Chu Ming led Bourbon to their ambush site. It was a winding path hidden among tangled bushes, filled with thick, towering trees. Chu Ming patted one particularly tall tree and turned to Bourbon, saying, "This tree is good. You go up first and take my sniper rifle with you. This tree has the best view; we can see anyone coming out from far away."

Upon hearing this, Bourbon didn't say anything, since the top priority right now was to capture Shuichi Akai, and everything else could take a backseat.

He nimbly climbed the tree with his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. The tree was very tall, hidden among the dense foliage, and could not be seen at all from below.

Chu Ming nodded in satisfaction and tapped his earpiece: "You wait here first. We came by car. Even if Akai Shuichi can fly, he can't get here now. I'll go in and set some traps. You keep watch from up here. Call me through the earpiece if anything happens."

"it is good."

Chu Ming walked along the path. If Akai Shuichi really wanted to hide, hiding in the mountains for a year or two wouldn't be a big deal. After all, there were plenty of small animals in the mountains, and if he wanted to, he could find a water source. With his skills, survival wouldn't be a problem.

But Gin is betting that he won't stay there for too long, because this isn't their home turf. If he stays in Japan for too long, the situation will change. Right now, he's the only FBI official in Japan. If he's gone for a long time, it will be a heavy blow to the FBI staff in Japan.

If the organization were to discover their presence, and Shuichi Akai were not there, the FBI's newly infiltrated teams in Japan would likely be wiped out.

In addition, Gin made another preparation. He sent many peripheral members into the mountains, in groups of five, to look after each other. They were not there to search, but to carry out a loudspeaker and broadcast a message on a loop, saying that Jodie was now in their hands and that if they did not see any trace of Shuichi Akai after three days, they would kill Jodie.

They're playing a game of open and aboveboard strategy.

I wonder whether Shuichi Akai will save this person or not.

At this moment, Shuichi Akai was slowly walking forward along the mountain wall. The helicopter had flown over his head for the third time. He could see Jodie hanging swaying below the helicopter, her face now pale. The mountain wind was blowing her up and down, and the low temperature at high altitude had also made her lips white. In addition, Jodie had been tortured a lot during her imprisonment, and there were still bloodstains on her clothes. Judging from her condition, she wouldn't last much longer.

He had to figure out a way to escape and take Judy with him.

Chapter 596 The fight started

After spending the whole day nestled in the tree with Bourbon, staring at each other blankly, Chu Ming got so bored that he started digging holes in the branches and putting insects in, trying to find something to do.

Bourbon was also bored, but he preferred to lean straight against the tree rather than participate in Chu Ming's invitation to play cards, while also mocking Chu Ming for only knowing how to play these boring games all day long.

Having been ridiculed for no reason, Chu Ming was not one to let it go easily.

He sneered, stabbing Bourbon in the heart: "Of course, my kind of game is boring. How about we play some role-playing games? Wouldn't it be more interesting if I disguised myself as a Scotsman and played cards with you?"

Bourbon instantly broke down. Whether before or after being brainwashed, Scotland was an unbearable pain in his life. Hearing Chu Ming joking about such things with him, he instantly exploded and punched Chu Ming in the face.

Chu Ming didn't tolerate him. He flipped over and straddled the tree trunk, then bent back sharply, grabbing Bourbon's fist and pulling it backward. At the same time, he swept his legs across, kicking Bourbon's legs off the tree.

Bourbon was blinded by rage. By the time he came to his senses, he was hanging precariously from the tree, held up only by Chu Ming's fist.

Chu Ming looked down at him, a defiant smile playing on his lips, and suddenly released his grip.

The tree was quite high off the ground. Bourbon flicked a dagger from his wrist and stabbed it into the tree trunk, slowing his descent. He coldly looked up at Chu Ming, who was sitting on the tree trunk watching the show, and turned on his team's voice chat headset: "Granbury, are you an undercover agent? Why are you suddenly attacking me at this time? Are you trying to help Shuichi Akai escape?"

???

Seeing Bourbon, who was outmatched in skill, turn around and accuse others, Chu Ming was full of questions. What was going on? Shouldn't this kind of manipulative talk be his specialty?

"Tsk tsk, you can't beat me so you're blaming me? Did you even think before you spoke? If it weren't for me, you guys would still be searching the streets for Shuichi Akai!" Chu Ming rolled his eyes, not worried at all that Gin would suspect him, and he knew that Bourbon was just trying to annoy him.

"If you two keep talking nonsense, you're out of here. I'll have Gil and Laffitte come and take your place." Gin's icy voice came through the headset. He really couldn't understand what these two were doing, fighting like elementary school kids, at such a tense moment with a formidable enemy at hand...

"Such a good thing?" Chu Ming looked at Bourbon lying on the ground, his eyes flashing with excitement. "Quick, let's have a fight! The TV series I've been watching is almost over, let me go back and catch up on it!"

Actually, that's not the case. Chu Ming was also looking forward to this encirclement and suppression. He said that specifically to annoy Bourbon.

He knew that Bourbon was determined to kill Shuichi Akai, and had even gone to great lengths to join the squad that was tasked with eliminating Akai, so Bourbon had no desire to enjoy this kind of good fortune.

Absolutely not.

Sure enough, Bourbon's expression changed instantly. His look at Chu Ming went from fierce to distorted, and then he forced a smile, his words seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth: "No, I understand. I will tolerate Granbury's little mischief."

???

Chu Ming was so disgusted by Bourbon's words that he got goosebumps. He stared at Bourbon in shock, as if he were looking at some prehistoric behemoth.

Did this brainwashing completely erase his brain?

What kind of greasy statement is this?

He wanted to annoy Bourbon, but not for Bourbon to annoy him!

Bourbon remained unfazed, a gentle smile appearing on his handsome face, his eyes seemingly filled with deep affection: "Granbury, stop fooling around, you—"

Just as Chu Ming was feeling utterly disgusted and was about to shoot Bourbon to bring him to his senses, he faintly heard several gunshots. Bourbon turned around with a start: "Which side is fighting with Shuichi Akai?"

Chu Ming tapped his earpiece, trying to ask Gin and Vermouth, but there was silence in the earpiece and no response.

Logically, the headset shouldn't stop responding for no reason. Gin could say that they were too noisy, so he muted the headset. But Vermouth, who loves to watch the excitement, definitely wouldn't do that.

So why did it suddenly stop responding?

Could it be——

Is Shuichi Akai nearby?

Why would he block out the surrounding signals? Wouldn't that be blatantly telling others that he's arrived?

Chu Ming nestled in the tree, when suddenly something seemed to come to mind.

In this situation, it would be extremely difficult for Shuichi Akai to leave without any outside help.

But what if someone helps him?

Shuichi Akai was unaware that Bourbon had been brainwashed. In his mind, Bourbon was still the undercover agent from the Public Security Bureau. Although they had a grudge over the death of Scotland, he had not actually killed Scotland. This gave him the illusion that he could use this to escape.

Things have suddenly gotten interesting~

Bourbon is currently under the tree, while Chu Ming is hiding in the tree and has not revealed his whereabouts. They were able to communicate through their earpieces just now, so Shuichi Akai must have just arrived here and blocked the signal, and should only have noticed Bourbon under the tree.

However, trying to block in front of Chu Ming was like showing off one's skills in front of Guan Yu. Chu Ming took out a small box from his side, turned on the switch, and the signal was restored instantly.

Chu Ming tapped lightly on his earpiece, communicating with everyone in Morse code. He reminded them that Shuichi Akai was lurking around here, and told Bourbon not to give himself away. He instructed them to pretend that he was the only one at this checkpoint, and if Shuichi Akai had any schemes, they should cooperate with him for now and see what he was up to.

A flash of hatred crossed Bourbon's eyes, but he concealed it well.

During the brainwashing process, his hatred for Shuichi Akai was magnified infinitely, which is why he hated him so much.

Following Chu Ming's instructions, Bourbon pretended to go and investigate after hearing the gunshots. When he heard rustling sounds coming from the bushes not far away, Bourbon immediately turned around and fired several shots in that direction. However, a gust of wind came from the side, trying to snatch the gun from his hand.

Bourbon suddenly turned around, clenched his fists, and dodged Akai Shuichi's attack. At the same time, he raised his left elbow to smash towards Akai Shuichi, but Akai Shuichi raised his arm to block it. Akai Shuichi's high hook kick was also pushed away by his arms. Both of them were fighting experts, and in the blink of an eye, they exchanged several moves, and for a time they were evenly matched.

However, Bourbon's aggressive behavior when facing Shuichi Akai created many openings in his moves. He was willing to take a few hits himself just to get a punch from Shuichi Akai, so he was thrown to the ground by Shuichi Akai several times in no time.

Chu Ming remained calm and watched from the sidelines. He simply wanted to proceed according to plan and had absolutely no intention of enjoying watching Bourbon get beaten up.

However, if he had known there would be such a spectacular fight, he would have brought some melon seeds and drinks with him.

I was out all day and just got home. I should have written more drafts QAQ

Happy National Day to all my cuties!

Chapter 597 Caught

Bourbon was pinned to the ground and beaten several times, but he still relentlessly charged forward. His body was covered with bits of grass, and his face was covered with abrasions and bruises, making him look extremely disheveled.

He took a few steps back, but Shuichi Akai did not press his advantage. Instead, he said in a deep voice, "That's enough, Bourbon. I didn't come here to fight you."

Bourbon wiped the dirt off his cheek and said sarcastically, "Of course you're not here to fight, you're here to give your life to me."

Shu Akai completely ignored Bourbon's words and continued, "Our goals are the same, aren't they? Back then, Scotland—"

"Shut up!" Upon hearing the name Scotland, Bourbon's blood boiled, and he continued his attack on Shuichi Akai. "How dare you mention his name?"