Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

After feigning reluctance a few times, Sei Kenichi readily agreed. Chu Ming stroked his chin, watching Yamada leave happily with the manuscript, feeling rather pity.

He probably never imagined that the author he had just commissioned would soon be going to prison. But being arrested shouldn't affect his writing, since Japanese prisons don't seem to require sewing machines.

Chu Ming turned to Conan and muttered, "This plot seems so familiar, like I've seen it before. Have you read Keigo Higashino's 'Malice'?"

Conan's eyes lit up, and he leaned closer: "Brother Chuming, do you also like reading detective novels? Are you suspecting that Sei also acted out of jealousy towards his friend Jinzhu? But we have no evidence, and he has a complete alibi—cough cough cough cough cough cough"

Conan, completely absorbed in detective novels, looked horrified. Why would Chu Ming tell this to an elementary school student? Was he testing him? "Shinichi-nii told me this story before! I love listening to detective stories! Did I look good as a detective just now?"

Chu Ming was confused, wondering what Conan was secretly imagining and why he was suddenly speaking in a high-pitched voice.

He forced a smile and replied, "Yes, yes, yes, you are the most handsome detective in this room."

Seeing that Conan remained silent and deep in thought, Chu Ming glanced at his phone. It was already past nine o'clock, and if he dragged it out any longer, his older brother would get angry.

He deliberately stood next to Conan and muttered to himself while looking at the photo: "It's so hot, but he won't take off his clothes. Could this really be a photo taken last year? And these photos of him are too deliberate. Something feels off. He even chatted with the receptionist because he didn't have a watch. He probably wanted to make sure the receptionist remembered when he left—" Chu Ming deliberately dragged out the word "watch".

Conan suddenly looked up; he understood! The culprit was that person!

He glanced at Chu Ming, who was deep in thought, and quietly took out a tranquilizer dart while holding the balloon, knocking out Kogoro Mouri. Conan, holding the rabbit balloon, huddled behind Mouri's chair and began to recount Sei Kenichi's modus operandi.

Oh? Kogoro Mouri's first appearance in the iconic "Sleeping Kogoro" scene? It should be from this point that Kogoro Mouri embarked on his path to legendary status. Chu Ming raised an eyebrow.

Is it really true that no one can see Conan? Chu Ming felt that he could clearly see Conan sitting behind the Mori chair, fiddling with a red ribbon.

Just as Conan, using Kogoro's voice, accused the culprit and was about to pick him up and point to the evidence, the little bunny balloon he had been hiding suddenly rose up behind Kogoro. Ran, with a serious expression, rushed over, grabbed the balloon string, and lifted Conan up in the process.

"Conan! Don't disturb Dad's work!!" Conan was suddenly lifted up, panicked, and flailed his arms and legs. With a 'pia', he slapped Kogoro Mouri, who fell forward and his hand pointed right at the photo.

Chu Ming's eyes widened; just now—

Kogoro Mouri opened his eyes?!

Seemingly caught off guard by the sudden attack, he couldn't help but open his eyes, then immediately closed them again...

No one else noticed, except for Chu Ming, who kept his eyes on Conan behind him and thus didn't miss it.

This uncle, who always pretends to be confused, could he have known all along that this short guy was his son-in-law, which is why he keeps punching Conan for no reason...

While thinking, Chu Ming took the opportunity of looking at the photos to stare at Kogoro Mouri, trying to see if he was really faking fainting or if it was just a conditioned reflex after being hit.

But no matter how he looked, he couldn't see any clues. It was as if Chu Ming's opening of his eyes just now was a trick of his eyes. Could it be such a coincidence that his hand, when he fell down, happened to point to the crucial evidence? Or was this Ke Xue's doing?

Chu Ming blinked. It seemed this uncle was either genuinely stupid, or he had some secret to hide. He wondered what it was.

Finally, Inspector Yokomizo arrested Sei Kenichi, and Chu Ming took the opportunity to lean over and pat Mori on the shoulder: "Uncle, you're amazing! You're my idol!"

But this time, Kogoro Mouri didn't react at all and remained fast asleep on the table.

"Oh no!" Conan rushed over upon seeing this, just about to say something.

"Uncle, you truly are a renowned detective! You were so exhausted after handling such a complex case that you fell asleep—" Chu Ming praised, unable to suppress a smile full of interest.

There seem to have been many analyses of Uncle Mori's speculations on forums in my previous life.

His fighting skills are top-notch, capable of defeating his classmate, a national jujitsu champion, in one move; his marksmanship is accurate, a former police academy legend; he can lift a car with his bare hands, possessing astonishing arm strength; he is a disciple of Shiota Heihachiro—the legendary detective hailed as Japan's Sherlock Holmes. With such a mentor, how could Mori's reasoning ability be lacking?

So, is Kogoro Mouri genuinely stupid or just pretending?

Chu Ming was very interested in this.

Is there anything more interesting than studying this mystery than cases that you've already seen and are very familiar with?

Chapter 17 Encounter again

After saying goodbye to Conan and the others, Chu Ming went straight downstairs. Because of the murder at the hotel and the fact that the festival was over, many people had checked out. He booked a new room, hoping to get a good night's sleep.

After checking into the room, Chu Ming returned to 203. Gin, hearing the door open, looked over warily. Seeing that it was Chu Ming, he gave him an inquiring look.

Chu Ming explained succinctly: "The writer who died next door was killed by his friend, who was also a writer but not famous, out of jealousy. He even faked a home invasion robbery and got arrested. I didn't step in; Kogoro Mouri solved the case."

Gin tilted his head and lit a cigarette: "Malice?"

As expected, Gin also reads detective novels when he's bored. Chu Ming smiled and said, "Big brother, you also find this case familiar, right? It seems being a writer is a high-risk profession. I really shouldn't publish my novels; what if someone gets jealous of my talent?"

Gin scoffed, "With your Amuro Namiko? Getting killed means you weren't trained enough. You might as well—"

Seeing that Gin was about to say something he didn't like to hear, Chu Ming quickly interrupted, "Brother, I'm here to get my things. I've booked another room. You can rest easy tonight."

He picked up his notebook and was about to make his escape.

"Take this with you." Gin tossed over a stack of documents. "Take a look at them tonight. They're files on several drug dealers on Moonshadow Island. Don't leave any traces. The police are on high alert lately."

After returning to his room, Chu Ming leisurely lay on the bed and flipped through some documents.

Hideo Kawashima, Tatsuji Kuroiwa, Ken Nishimoto. They're all familiar faces. To leave no trace, they should just wait for the Grim Reaper to arrive and blend into the group, and maybe even get some magnetic field fragments.

The magnetic field points earned from killing people on his own initiative were pitifully low. He was too busy evacuating the scene yesterday to notice, but later Chu Ming discovered that the Gocho Yamato he killed only had a paltry 80 points, while the police officers sniped by Gin had 1600 points.

Points seem to be related to a person's status or physical condition. People with higher status have more points, while ordinary people have relatively fewer. Those who kill others themselves only get a few points.

The system's explanation at the time was: "If the host kills the person, the magnetic field will be scattered, and the system can only collect scattered fragments of the magnetic field because the host's own magnetic field is superior to that of the humans in the small world. However, since the magnetic fields of the native humans in the small world are compatible, this situation will not occur."

The only problem now is that it's best not to bring the eldest brother along.

Chu Ming stared at the 'Sudden Event Card' worth 2000 points in the shop: it randomly adds a sudden event to a designated target, making it the perfect choice for sneaking away and slacking off.

Gritting his teeth, he figured out that out with the old and in with the new, and that the four fragments of Moonshadow Island were definitely worth it.

After confirming that the designated target was Gin, Chu Ming's phone rang shortly afterward.

"Big brother."

"I'm going back to Tokyo. You can go to Tsukikage Island yourself. Miyano Akemi is making a scene, trying to take her sister away from the organization. Pshaw, does she think the organization is a charity?" Gin's words were full of murderous intent.

Is this a special event? Has it reached the point where Sherry will shrink? Actually, it's better that she left; Sherry really wasn't suited for the organization.

However, once Sherry joins the main characters, her own identity will probably be lost. No, she has to think of a way, otherwise how will she survive in the magnetic field fragments?

"Okay, don't worry, big brother."

"Hmph, if you fail this mission, I'll send you to the lab too." Gin was actually quite confident in Chu Ming, after all, killing three drug dealers would be a piece of cake for him. The main thing was that he'd been acting strangely lately, so he wanted to keep him on his toes.

Chu Ming was taken aback by Gin's threat. Just as he was about to demonstrate his abilities, the call was abruptly cut off by Gin.

Chu Ming poked the system: "San San, are you kidding me for points? This sudden event is obviously part of the plot. Even if I didn't use the event card, this would still happen. Refund!"

"Ding—No fraudulent transactions were detected in the system."

No matter how much Chu Ming pressed, the system would only ever reply with this one sentence.

Damn it, this garbage system ruined my youth and cheated me out of my money.

----pier----

Chu Ming carried his bag and climbed the steps to board the ship. After Gin left, he spent a few days in Saitama Prefecture because the ship to Tsukikage Island hadn't been running recently.

Finally receiving news of the ship's departure, Chu Ming planned to first explore Moonshadow Island and wait for Death to arrive. Suddenly, a voice called out from behind, "Brother Chu Ming?"

Chu Ming turned around in surprise: "What a coincidence, are Xiao Lan and Uncle also going to Moonshadow Island?"

Chu Ming secretly gave himself a thumbs up. His timing was perfect, like Bulbasaur eating Doritos and arriving at Mickey Mouse Clubhouse—it was absolutely brilliant.

"Yes, Dad received a commission, and the commission fee has already been transferred. There's no other way but to come and take a look. We can also go sightseeing while we're at it."

Conan stood behind, feeling utterly miserable. "What's going on? Why are you everywhere? Are you up to no good?"

"Is Brother Chu Ming going to Moonshadow Island for tourism?" Conan blinked and forcefully squeezed between the two.

"Yes, the company I work part-time for during the holiday was supposed to go to Moonshadow Island for business, but the manager who was going with me received a call saying there was something going on at the Tokyo office, so he had to cancel at the last minute and rushed back. I figured since I'd already bought the tickets, I might as well go and have some fun. Who knew I'd run into you guys like this? What a coincidence!"

Haha, Conan's half-moon eyes, who wants to be with you?

"Let me check, Aso Keiji, there's no such person on the resident register." The clerk at the office looked puzzled. "Did you remember the name wrong?"

"No, there are still letters he sent me here. Look carefully again."

"Really, no, I just started working here too—"

Kogoro Mouri stood in front of the counter arguing with the staff.

"What's wrong?"

"Director, you've come at the right time. This gentleman is looking for a man named Keiji Aso."

"What! Keiji Aso??" The director's voice grew louder, and the islanders around him looked on with confusion and fear, whispering among themselves.

"Their eyes were so strange, they looked at us like we were zombies crawling out of the ground..."

Chu Ming couldn't help but complain.

Ran couldn't help but touch the goosebumps on her arm, while her other hand gripped Conan's hand tightly, as if that would give her strength: "Brother Chuming, don't make it sound so scary—"

Conan is experiencing both pain and pleasure. Ran, that girl, used too much strength!

"That's impossible! Because—because Keiji Aso—he died more than ten years ago!" The director's pupils trembled, and his whole body shook involuntarily.

Hearing the director's words, Ran clenched her fists even tighter, and Conan's eyes widened: "Uncle, what happened? How did he die?!"

The director composed himself, invited the four people to the reception room, and continued speaking.

"He was a very famous pianist on this island. Twelve years ago, on a full moon night, after returning to his hometown after many years away, he held a piano recital at the village's community center. But after the concert, he suddenly locked himself in his house with his family and set himself on fire. It is said that he killed his wife and daughter with a knife and kept playing 'Moonlight Sonata' amidst the flames..."

The director had other things to do, so he apologized and left. Kogoro Mori looked at the letter in his hand and muttered in dissatisfaction, "What? It's a prank! A letter from the deceased—"

"Not necessarily. After all, the money was sent to Uncle, and it even has a Moonshadow Island postmark. Maybe someone wants Uncle to investigate Keiji Aso's matter," Conan said, looking at the letter.

"Yeah, after all, the director's description was so horrifying. Maybe Aso Keiji was murdered and the scene was staged as a suicide. One of his friends heard about Uncle Mori's exploits and sent a letter hoping the famous detective could help him solve the problem." Chu Ming flattered Kogoro Mori, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the young lady who had been secretly observing them. That must be the cross-dressing master, Narumi.