Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

The middle-aged man reading the newspaper had calluses between his thumb and forefinger, a result of long-term gun handling. His waist was slightly bulging, and his eyes were alert; his attention was completely elsewhere. To the right, a couple leaning against each other had thin calluses on the sides of their clasped index fingers. They seemed to be whispering sweet nothings, but their eyes were sharp, glancing over at the slightest sound…

Chu Ming took a few steps back, scratched his head, and his hand quickly tapped the headset a few times: -..---.-.-..-.. (Transaction Abnormal)

Gin's voice came through the headset: "Temporarily retreat to the abandoned power station on the west side of the park."

Chu Ming retreated swiftly from the blind spot, weaving around several cameras before confirming with the system's mini-map that no one was around: "Big brother, I've arrived."

"There's some equipment and disguise materials in the third electrical box on the left. We'll use them to lure the enemy out." Gin thought for a moment, then added, still worried, "Don't use Vodka's face!"

"Okay, big brother, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't know what's important!"

After quickly changing his character's appearance and slightly altering his body shape with disguise materials, Chu Ming concealed his gun and several smoke and flashbang grenades before heading straight for the agreed-upon meeting place.

On a rooftop not far away, Gin, wielding a sniper rifle, was observing the surroundings for Chu Ming: "There's a sniper on the high-rise building 60 degrees to your left. I'll try to take him out for you. Stay hidden."

Chu Ming stood at the transaction site, using the trees behind him to block the sniper's firing path. His keen observation skills allowed him to clearly sense that many eyes were being watched by him.

A moment later, Gomachi Yamato timidly arrived with a box. Chu Ming noticed that he also had an earpiece in his ear, indicating that the Public Security Bureau was giving him instructions. Chu Ming mimicked Gin's tone, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at him: "Open the box."

Gomachi Yamato stiffly opened the box, which contained some prohibited medicinal herbs. He opened his mouth to say something, but then Gin's voice came through Chu Ming's earpiece: "Make your move."

Chu Ming pulled the trigger, and Gomachi Yamato stared wide-eyed as he slowly fell to the ground. Before the police could react, he quickly absorbed the magnetic field, using the momentary power to snatch the box and throw a smoke grenade. Hearing the gunshots in the distance, Chu Ming knew that Gin had also made his move.

Chu Ming moved with the agility of a monkey, dodging and firing throughout the small park. With Gin providing superior sniping support from above, the police couldn't find him at all, and even if they did, they couldn't catch up. Instead, they suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat.

By the time Chu Ming handed the box to the peripheral members in Saitama Prefecture, took a stroll around the streets, and returned to the hotel, it was already past 7:40. A number of people had gathered outside the hotel, preparing to go out to see the World's Greatest Night Festival.

Chu Ming, disguised, swaggered in through the door. Gin, the workaholic, was sitting in his usual spot, engrossed in reviewing intelligence. Chu Ming squeezed past him and asked, "Big brother, do you want to come check out the World's Number One Night Festival? It's a rare opportunity!"

“Boring, I’m not going.” Gin refused decisively.

"Okay, okay, I'll go play by myself then~" Chu Ming ran to the bathroom and slowly removed his disguise, changed his face back, and changed his clothes. By the time he finished all this, it was already eight o'clock.

"Big brother, I'm going out to play now. You have to work hard at home!" Chu Ming said cheekily, trying to provoke others. Just as he was about to open the door, a gunshot rang out from next door.

Gin stood up and pulled out his pistol. Chu Ming also put his hand on his waist. There were loud voices and exclamations outside the door. Chu Ming thought for a moment and said, "Big brother, I'll go out and see what's going on."

Gin pulled the trigger, stood sideways behind the door, and nodded to Chu Ming.

Chu Ming gently opened the door, and a group of people were crowding at the door of room 204, having a heated discussion.

Chu Ming peeked out and asked the people nearby, "Auntie, what's wrong? What happened? I heard some strange noises."

"Oh my god! Murder! A person completely covered up shot and killed one of the people in room 204! Then they rammed through us and ran out!"

"Yes, that's terrifying! I actually ran into a murderer!"

……

After gathering the information, Chu Ming withdrew and said to Gin, "There was a burglary next door, and the gunshot was from when he was killed."

Gin relaxed slightly: "Resolve this as soon as possible. We can't keep the police here for too long."

Chu Ming nodded, turned and went out, seemingly to find out what was going on.

—In reality, I ran out the door and took a taxi directly to the site of the World's Greatest Night Festival.

Once I bump into Conan, everything will be resolved~

Chapter 15 Chance Encounter

Half an hour later, Chu Ming strolled leisurely into the market at the foot of the First Night Sacrifice Mountain. From afar, he spotted a striking rabbit balloon. Looking down from the balloon, he saw Conan, the little guy. Although he looked annoyed by the childish balloon behind him, he was probably secretly pleased to see Ran holding his hand.

Chu Ming walked against the flow of people and greeted them warmly: "Uncle Mori, Ran, Conan~"

The three people who were chatting looked up and Conan's face fell: "Ah, it's Brother Chu Ming~" Damn it, don't you have a job?

Xiao Lan laughed and said, "So you really did run into Brother Chu Ming! Have you finished your part-time job?"

Chu Ming nodded: "Yes, I'm exhausted. There was an armed robbery and murder at the hotel where I was staying. I heard from passersby that they saw the robber coming in this direction, so I came to check it out."

"A murder case involving a gun?" the three asked in unison.

"Yes, my boss and I were looking at work documents in the hotel when we heard gunshots next door. When we ran out to check, the person had already run away. I asked around and chased after them."

Just as Conan was about to ask for more details, a man with a long chin who looked like a bad guy stopped the four of them: "Excuse me, could you please take a picture for me?"

Chu Ming gave him a meaningful look. "Brother, you've taken a wrong turn. You really know how to pick a bad company. Of all people to choose, you had to pick the Grim Reaper family. You really stepped on a landmine."

"Of course you can~" Little angel Ran is always so understanding.

“Then please use this camera.” Sei Kenichi handed over the camera that had been prepared beforehand, pointing to the words in the distance, “Could you please take a picture of me with the character ‘一’ as the background?”

During the filming, a gust of wind blew the balloon behind Conan, almost obscuring his face. Ran looked up and said, "Oh dear, the balloon accidentally got in the frame just now, how about—"

"It's nothing, thank you, young lady. I'm currently collecting information on the customs of festivals in various places, and this camera is used to take photos for these materials."

"Hey, are you a writer?" Chu Ming peeked out from next to Xiao Lan.

“Yes, you can read this book.” Sei Nobuhiro took a book out of his pocket and handed it to him.

Several people curiously crowded around to look: "Seijiro Kenichi?"

The man feigned modesty, but his face betrayed an undisguised smugness.

"I used to write novels under the pen name Imai Kōka."

Ran immediately became excited: "If it's Imai Kouichi, I know, I read a lot of his books when I was in junior high school, but shouldn't this pen name be the one that Imai Taketomo used when he first debuted?"

“I’m an old friend of Tomokazu Imaizumi; we wrote it together back then. I came here to celebrate his award, and we’re planning to drink together all night.”

Chu Ming casually interjected, "Then why didn't Mr. Jinzhu come to the festival with you?"

"Jin Zhu doesn't like these overly noisy places."

"When did Mr. Sei leave the hotel?"

"Huh? I left at 7:30, and I checked the time with the hotel reception several times because I really didn't want to miss this festival..."

Chu Ming pressed on, "Did you go back halfway through?"

Shi Jing's expression darkened. "No, what's wrong with you? Why do you keep asking these questions?"

Chu Ming raised his eyes and stared at Sei Kenichi: "Because your good friend, Imatake Satoshi, was murdered in the hotel."

"What?!" Conan and Mori exclaimed in surprise.

"Then, in the robbery and murder case you just mentioned, was the victim—?" Mori pressed.

Chu Ming nodded: "That's right. When I was chasing after them, I heard people discussing that the victim was the famous writer, Jin Zhu Zhi, who won the Naomoto Prize."

Sei Kenichi gently lifted his clothes, trying to cool himself down: "How could this be..."

“Indeed, I was just about to ask Mr. Sei about this case.” Officer Yokomizo, with a full head of curly hair, suddenly appeared from some corner. “Hello, my surname is Yokomizo, and I am a police officer from Saitama Prefecture.”

--------

I took a ride with a policeman back to the hotel, where several police cars were already parked.

"The murder weapon was a handgun, the time was 8:02 or 8:03, the perpetrator was a young man, and he escaped from this room after the crime, that should be correct," Officer Yokomizo confirmed with the witness.

Kogoro Mouri, Conan, and Chu Ming were all squatting in front of Satoshi Imatake's body. Kogoro Mouri examined it carefully: "The bullet went through his head; he must have died instantly. The foam around his mouth—"

The three of them simultaneously dipped their hands in the powder and rubbed it: "It's tooth powder."

Kogoro Mouri looked up at the two people in front of him, ignored Chu Ming, and reached out to punch Conan on the head.

Chu Ming nimbly grabbed Conan and pulled him back, but he didn't control his strength well. Although Conan wasn't hit by Kogoro Mouri's punch, he was pulled so hard on his butt by Chu Ming that he fell down. He looked at the two hateful adults with resentment and was about to get up when he noticed the toothbrush on the ground: Hmm? The victim was killed while brushing his teeth?

Meanwhile, Inspector Yokomizo was overjoyed by Kogoro Mouri's growing fame as a detective and hoped that Kogoro could help him solve the case.

After examining the scene, Uncle Mori cleared his throat. "This should be a robbery case. Only money was taken from the victim's wallet, and the perpetrator made a mess of the room. It was probably a crime committed for money." Mori lit a cigarette and let out a long sigh.

Chu Ming clasped his hands. Sure enough, using the Maori method of elimination, the robber was the culprit.

Inspector Yokomizo said solemnly, "But Mr. Mori, is it possible that you deliberately pretended to be a robber breaking in, but were actually in the same room as him—" He turned to stare at Sei Kenichi.

Sei Kenichi broke out in a cold sweat under her gaze: "Don't joke around! Officer, didn't you just say that the incident happened around eight o'clock, but I went out around seven o'clock and even ran into Mr. Mori and the others at the venue!"

Chu Ming retorted, "But when I met you, it was already late in the festival. If you were driving, you could have made it there."

“But I have evidence!” Sei Kenichi held up the camera. “Officer, you can take this to be developed. There’s absolutely no way to tamper with this kind of point-and-shoot camera. The photos inside can prove my innocence!”

Soon, the photos were developed, and everyone crowded around to look at them. Sei Kenichi pointed to one of them: "Look, this is the background of the burning 'Ten' character at Tenkaichi Middle School. This is enough to prove that I was already at the venue when the festival started! It takes more than 30 minutes to drive from this hotel to the venue, and the 'Ten' character was lit at 8 o'clock!"

Chu Ming glanced at the photo and retorted, "So what? This festival isn't the first time it's been held. What if you took this photo last year?"

Sei Kenichi's expression changed drastically: "Then where's the evidence! Are you saying that you can just make accusations without any evidence these days?!"

Chu Ming rolled his eyes: "Why are you so agitated? Did I hit the nail on the head?"

"You brat, I won't stoop to your level!" Sei Kenichi secretly calmed his heart, which was about to jump out of his chest, and turned his head away with feigned disdain, no longer looking at Chu Ming. He always felt that this brat was a bit strange, as if he could see right through him.

Chapter 16 Is Uncle Mori pretending to be stupid?

"Teacher Jinzhu!" A short man squeezed out from the crowd.

Officer Yokomizo looked at the man and explained, "His body has already been sent to Shuli. Who are you?"

"I'm Yamada, a reporter for the monthly magazine 'Bungei Jidai'. I rushed over immediately after receiving the call from the police. My teacher was serializing 'The Legend of the Sword Hero' in our magazine. I wonder if the police could give me his manuscript among the belongings they're sorting through..."

Sei Kenichi, who was standing nearby, seized the opportunity to say, "But I heard from Imake that his manuscript is due soon and he hasn't even started writing it yet."

"What! But the manuscript is due tomorrow!" Yamada paced anxiously in his room.

Sei Kenichi coughed suggestively, and when Yamada looked at him, he went inside and pulled out a stack of manuscripts, handing them over: "There's no other way. These are my old works. You can take a look and see if they're of any use."

Yamada was overjoyed: "Of course! Could you please write for Bungei Jidai instead of Imake-sensei? Please!"