Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

"Everyone back off, don't come any closer, or I'll kill her!" Although he didn't know that everyone was running away, this girl was still sitting on the escalator, looking completely dazed. But Minoru Fukase didn't let go of the hostage who had delivered herself to his door. He held the tip of his knife to the girl's neck, threatening the police to back off, while taking his girlfriend down the escalator.

Conan was already suspicious of the girl who rushed straight up, but when he zoomed in with his glasses, he noticed a slight bulge on her right ankle, clearly indicating that she was carrying a weapon. He narrowed his eyes.

"Brother Chu Ming, I'm going down to take a look." Before Chu Ming could say anything, he quickly ran towards the escalator and appeared downstairs in the blink of an eye.

Chu Ming coldly watched him crouching at the corner on the second floor, and when Fukase Minoru slowly came down the escalator, he launched his ball-shaped cannon.

The ball traced a perfect arc, spinning as it hurtled towards Minoru Fukase's forehead.

The kidnapped girl—Vermouth—sharpened her brows the moment she saw the ball flying towards her, and suddenly crouched down. Minoru Fukase, who had no time to react, was hit so hard that his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground.

Vermouth glanced at the man lying on the ground, chuckled almost imperceptibly, and turned and left without looking back.

Seeing this, Conan quickly chased after them. Chu Ming glanced at Minoru Fukase, who was already surrounded by the police, and quietly followed Conan towards the underground parking garage.

Inside the underground parking garage, Vermouth had just taken out her car keys and was about to open the car door when Conan suddenly appeared behind her.

"You're just leaving like that? Weren't you planning to talk to that man about something?" Conan paused, then called out her name, "Vermouth."

Vermouth straightened her slightly hunched shoulders and turned to look at Conan: "Well, there's nothing I can do about it. You're the one who forced me to leave, aren't you? Besides, that man isn't the murderer."

“Yes, his right arm is injured, so he can’t wield a knife to kill someone,” Conan chimed in. “Why is your organization investigating this case?”

Vermouth chuckled: "That's a pretty direct question. How can you be so sure I'll tell you?"

"Tell me," Conan said in a low voice, his head slightly lowered.

"Because of NOC."

"Clap clap clap."

Before Conan could press further, a round of applause came from behind them: "One dared to ask, and the other dared to answer; you two really surprised me!"

Vermouth's expression changed drastically. She turned around abruptly and saw Chu Ming, dressed in black and wearing the face of Matsutake Yusuke, slowly emerging from behind a car.

[Finally back! Chapter 2 for today!]

There must be something wrong with Chapter 626.

Vermouth turned around and pulled Conan behind her. Looking at Chu Ming, who had emerged from the darkness and stopped at the boundary between light and shadow, his face barely concealing his mockery and malice, she clenched her fist slightly: "Granbury, what are you doing here?"

"Of course I came with your little friend." Chu Ming stopped and looked at Vermouth, who was standing in front of the car protecting Conan, and said in a cold tone: "Vermouth, you've crossed the line."

Vermouth knew what Chu Ming meant. Granbury knew that she would go easy on Conan to some extent. She felt that the reason Granbury didn't care whether she caught Conan or not was because he didn't consider Conan a threat, so he hadn't paid much attention to it before.

However, she was indeed in the wrong today. Revealing the details of the mission before it was completed was a serious taboo.

However, she wasn't planning to tell everything; she only intended to tell Conan a little bit, but Granburg caught her red-handed...

Seeing her in a daze, Chu Ming gave Conan, who had poked his head out, a wicked smile, and slowly pulled out a pistol from beside him, attached a silencer, and cocked it.

Conan couldn't help but take a step back, his back bumping into Vermouth's car. The icy touch made his heart sink, and he touched the anesthetic needle on his wrist.

Following the principle of striking first, he peeked out from behind Vermouth and fired a tranquilizer dart in Chu Ming's direction. Then, he opened the car door, intending to hide inside the car in case Granburg fired.

He tried to pull the door open, but couldn't budge it. The car that Vermouth had unlocked earlier had somehow been locked again.

Chu Ming dodged the tranquilizer dart aimed at his neck, his smile vanished, and a murderous aura surged forth. He took two steps forward to grab Conan, who was trying to escape, but was stopped by Vermouth, who had reacted quickly.

Chu Ming's face darkened completely. He stared at Vermouth, his eyes full of warning: "Vermouth, are you planning to stop me?"

Although Vermouth was somewhat flustered, she remained calm on the surface. She tore off her disguise and winked at Chu Ming: "Don't be so angry, Granburg. You know he's my savior, so I can't just watch you kill him, can I?"

Chu Ming watched as Vermouth played the victim for Conan and scoffed, "Then you can leave. I won't kill him in front of you."

"..."

Before Vermouth could say anything more, Chu Ming stepped forward and pushed her aside. Seeing that Conan had already turned and run a few steps, Chu Ming strode forward, bent down, grabbed Conan by the back of his collar with his left hand, and used his right hand to grab his neck, lifting him off the ground and pressing him into the car.

Watching Conan struggle as he tried to pry his hands off, a flash of malice crossed Chu Ming's eyes, and he slowly tightened his grip.

Conan felt a suffocating sensation. He gasped for breath, but the air seemed to grow thinner and thinner. Every nerve in his body screamed in pain. He tried to pry Chu Ming's hand off, but his strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree; he couldn't get out of this predicament at all.

He never imagined that he would lose his life so easily. His eyes gradually became unfocused, and his hands, which had been trying to save himself, began to fall limply downwards.

Seeing that Chu Ming seemed to really intend to kill, Vermouth panicked. She reached out and grabbed Chu Ming's arm, trying to save Conan: "Wait, Granburg, don't kill him."

Chu Ming let her pull his hand away. Conan, who had been pinned above the car window, lost his control and fell to the ground, his head hitting the car door with a thud.

The suffocating feeling of lack of oxygen hadn't dissipated yet. Conan gasped for breath, his vision blurred, and he felt dizzy.

Vermouth quickly crouched down to check on him and saw a bluish-purple handprint slowly appearing on his neck, showing how much force Granburg had used.

She felt a pang of sympathy, but it wasn't appropriate to show it now. So she stood up and tried to negotiate with Chu Ming: "You don't really want to kill him, do you? After all, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do it. Since we can talk, tell me your conditions."

Chu Ming looked down at Conan, who was lying on the ground looking disheveled. He nudged Conan with his toe, and when Conan didn't react, he couldn't help but chuckle: "Are you sure?"

He certainly wouldn't kill Conan himself; what good would killing him do with just a few points?

Moreover, Ireland will soon be able to find out Conan's identity. Once his identity is exposed and the organization wants to get rid of him, he can still follow Gin around and earn some points.

Why not take advantage of this opportunity to get something from Vermouth?

Sensing Chu Ming's interest, Vermouth breathed a sigh of relief: "Of course."

“Bourbon has quit, and Kiel is probably done with his work too. You’ll take over my tasks from now on, right?” Chu Ming seized the opportunity to make an exorbitant demand.

"All of them?" Vermouth gritted her teeth inwardly. This kid had been around Conan for quite a while, but she hadn't seen him take anyone to Gin. Now he was taking advantage of the situation. He was really something.

Chu Ming remained silent, assuming she had accepted the terms, and then turned his gaze back to Conan: "Gin is looking for him now. Are you telling him this information so he'll walk right into Gin's trap?"

Vermouth brushed her long hair that had fallen across her cheek back, glanced at Conan with a hint of helplessness, and was about to say something when she realized that the boy had caught his breath and was now quietly listening to their conversation.

She casually looked away: "He wouldn't be that stupid..."

"Don't you know whether he's that stupid or not?" Chu Ming couldn't help but mock Vermouth as she watched her deceive herself.

Conan leaned against the car door, his eyes half-closed, his head spinning. Hearing Granbury's familiar words, he was somewhat puzzled. Granbury seemed to know him very well...

Could it be someone close to him?

As far as he knew, Granburg, like Vermouth, was skilled at disguise, so changing his face and infiltrating his inner circle wouldn't be difficult for him...

Granbury clearly knew his identity, but he had never reported it. He originally thought that Vermouth's identity could keep Granbury in check, but today it seems that Granbury's status in the organization is obviously not low, which makes it even more unreasonable.

He could have reported it to Gin, but nothing happened. Yet, when he saw him, he could harden his heart and kill him...

That's very strange; there must be something wrong with this.

Chapter 627 Brother Chu Ming is already in a difficult situation.

Although Chu Ming didn't know what Conan was thinking, he knew from the increase in his score on his panel that Conan was not only awake, but was still having a brainstorming session.

Chu Ming glanced at him, a slight smile playing on his lips, then looked at Vermouth and said, "After this mission is over, I'll have Gin assign you more missions in other places. Stay away from Mika for now. As long as your savior doesn't come to me, I won't make a move. But if he keeps asking about the organization's information like that, or if I find out you've leaked information about the organization to him, I won't show any mercy."

Before Vermouth could say anything, Chu Ming reached out and pushed her into the car, considerately closing the door for her. Leaning over to the window, he warned in a cold tone, "This is a notification, and also an order."

After thinking for a moment, he softened his tone slightly: "Sister, you'd better take care of yourself."

Vermouth gave Chu Ming a deep look, then turned to look at Conan, who was lying on the ground. She knew that Granburg had promised not to harm Conan again today and would keep her word. On the contrary, if she lingered any longer, things might change. So she stepped on the gas and sped off towards the exit.

As Vermouth's car gradually disappeared from sight, Chu Ming glanced at Conan, then turned and left as well.

Just as he left, he released the robot to impersonate him. Fukase Minoru's girlfriend, in an attempt to save people, grabbed a knife that had fallen to the ground and started stabbing wildly. Inspector Megure, in an effort to protect others, was stabbed in the stomach. Upstairs, there's chaos right now.

He and Officer Takagi helped put the person on the ambulance, so there's no need for Conan to become suspicious if he can't find him.

Conan slowly opened his eyes as he listened to the footsteps fading into the distance.

The parking lot floor was cold and hard. He struggled to sit up, looked at the empty parking lot, and slowly exhaled. He touched his neck and felt a burning pain.

He carefully turned up his collar and zipped the zipper all the way up to cover the handprints that had been pinched. It was summer, so he couldn't cover them with a scarf; he could only use his collar to hide them for now.

When he got upstairs, he found that not only were the police gone, but even Chu Ming, who had been eating ice cream on the stairs, was nowhere to be seen.

He took out his phone and called Chu Ming.

Just then, Chu Ming received a message from Gin, saying that a painter had reported to the police that he knew who the murderer was and that the location was in Hachioji City. He was about to head there with Vodka and asked Chu Ming to find a way to intercept the police on the way.

The sudden mission disrupted Chu Ming's plans, so when Conan called, he answered casually and preemptively said before Conan could even speak: "Conan, where did you go? You disappeared in a flash. I was going to look for you, but Inspector Megure was just stabbed by Minoru Fukase's girlfriend and has been taken to the hospital by ambulance. I'm following him in my car now. You can go back and wait for me."

Upon hearing this, Conan, not wanting Chu Ming to worry, said, "It's alright, Brother Chu Ming, I can go back by myself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Conan was startled by his own hoarse voice. Chu Ming paused as well: "What's wrong with your voice? Did you suddenly go through puberty or did you accidentally turn on a voice changer..."

Conan quickly covered up, "No, I choked on my food just now, and it took me a long time to cough it up. My throat is a little sore, so my voice is a bit hoarse."

Chu Ming saw through Conan's words but didn't say anything. He simply went along with Conan's line of thought: "Be careful, what, are you afraid I'll steal your food? What did you find when you ran downstairs?"

“I just noticed something was off about the girl who was being held hostage. I followed her when she suddenly left quietly, and it turned out to be Vermouth.” Conan bought a bottle of water to moisten his throat, without mentioning his encounter with Granbury. “She revealed some information: the reason the organization is involved in this case is because there’s an undercover agent.”

"An undercover agent?" Chu Ming, unaware of what Conan had inferred from Vermouth's brief three-letter inference, pressed for an explanation, "What does that mean?"

"Vermouth only said this much, but I suspect it's because the murderer or victim in this case is an undercover agent sent by that organization. But it's probably more than that. Judging from Greta—cough, judging from Vermouth's attitude, maybe that undercover agent has some secrets of that organization, which is why they're in such a hurry to find clues before the police..."

Conan, his voice hoarse, voiced his speculation, which was not far off from the truth.

Having a sharp mind makes all the difference.

Chu Ming confirmed his speculation, chatted with Conan for a few more minutes, and then hung up the phone.

He drove to the location Gin had specified, an overpass above a street where the police had already sent people to look for the painter, and the road below was the only route the police cars could take.

He took out a sniper rifle from his system backpack, attached a silencer, and when he saw the police car approaching in the distance, he fired a shot directly at the tires without even checking the result. He drove off without hesitation. He couldn't possibly fail at such a small mission.

After Sato and Takagi brought the car with the flat tire to a stop on the side of the road, Sato glanced at the overpass with some suspicion, but there was nothing there. She lowered her eyes and composed herself, thinking that she was just overthinking things.

After Chu Ming drove off the overpass, he changed his clothes and disguised himself in the car. Originally, this mission should have been carried out by Chianti and Cohen, but their car was stuck in traffic. Gin had no choice but to urgently dispatch Chu Ming, who was nearby, to do it. However, even so, it was too late. By the time they arrived, the person had already been arrested.