A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 1004 Pride and Prejudice

Not only could he not find Misaka Misuzu, but even the Misaka Sisters had vanished without a trace. Lin Wuming wandered aimlessly around the alley for a few hours, but apart from becoming even more disoriented, he gained nothing else.

Left with no other option, Lin Wuming even considered flying to a high place to get a better understanding of the terrain of the area from above.

However, Lin Wuming knew in his heart that this approach was actually meaningless. The problem he was facing now was not getting lost, but not being able to find Misaka Misuzu!
Although he took many detours, Lin Wuming had indeed searched every fork in the road in this area as quickly as possible, and left mental marks along the way, which can be regarded as lighting up the entire map in the most primitive way.

Therefore, as long as Misaka Misuzu is still here, she cannot escape his search.

So now there's only one possibility—Misaka Misuzu has left this area.

"Speaking of which, where are the Misaka Sisters?" Lin Wuming muttered to himself. There was a "Misaka House" here, which should normally be a place where the Misaka Sisters often appeared.

That's why the sisters reacted so strongly when they discovered that Misaka Misuzu had come here.

Based on Lin Wuming's understanding of his sisters, now that they have been discovered, these highly capable and organized girls are likely to turn the tables and take the initiative.

"...Could it be that they knocked your aunt unconscious and took her into custody?" Lin Wuming couldn't help but complain.

Ultimately, the sisters are also "Misaka," and it's not entirely impossible that they might do something completely irrational in a moment of panic.

This can only be described as Lin Wuming's complete prejudice against the Misaka Sisters.

Unlike Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki, Lin Wuming wasn't particularly concerned about the Misaka Sisters.

Or rather, after rescuing them, Lin Wuming stopped paying much attention to them.

Apart from Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki taking personal charge, the entire 10,000 Misaka Sisters are basically under the care of the Foundation, and then rely on their self-management.

This resulted in Lin Wuming not knowing much about the Misaka Sisters, and his understanding of them was still limited to the original storyline, with Misaka 10032 and one or two special cases.

It can be said that it is full of prejudice.

Of course, it could also be called "arrogance"—Lin Wuming is now unwilling to rely on even Misaka Mikoto, let alone the Misaka Sisters.

As a result, he inadvertently overlooked the powerful intelligence channel, "Misaka Network."

"If you can proactively contact any of the Misaka clones, you'll get the clue that Misaka Misuzu has moved to the next block," someone suddenly said.

To be precise, it wasn't a "person" that spoke, but a large golden retriever.

“Kihara’s brainstem,” Lin Wuming turned to look at him, “when did you…”

While searching, Lin Wuming had already scanned every inch of the surrounding space with his telekinetic power. It was impossible that he hadn't noticed such a large golden retriever sitting here.

Therefore, Kihara must have used some means to evade his investigation—that's what Lin Wuming wanted to ask.

But he immediately abandoned the idea—the question was meaningless nonsense, and the other party was unlikely to answer it; even if they did, he might not believe it.

"When did you arrive?" Lin Wuming asked, "It sounds like... you've met Aunt Misaka Misuzu?"

“Misaka Misuzu is the only Level 5 parent present during this Daihasei Festival,” Kihara Brainstem said. “From any perspective, Academy City cannot sit idly by.”

"That... actually makes some sense," Lin Wuming complained. "If there was such an arrangement, why didn't you say so earlier?" If they could have coordinated in advance, Lin Wuming wouldn't have been in such a rush.

"This touches on the most basic issue of trust," Kihara Brainstem said. "Lin Wuming, can you really trust Academy City?"

"..." Lin Wuming could only respond with silence.

Academy City was the one that created "mass-produced espers," making it arguably the root cause of all this. Given this premise, how could one expect to gain the trust of Lin Wuming and Misaka Mikoto?

This question was destined to be unsolvable, so Lin Wuming chose not to dwell on it: "Do you know where your aunt is now?"

"Why don't we contact the Misaka clone and ask?" Kihara suggested again. "Because of the 'Misaka Network,' you can get real-time information about the entire network by asking any clone."

“Thank you for your suggestion,” Lin Wuming said, “but right now I only want to choose the most efficient way—you still… know your aunt’s whereabouts, right?”

"Of course, after all, I am a dog." Kihara Brainstem tilted his head back and did not continue to persuade him.

"Come with me." The golden retriever trotted forward with light steps.

Lin Wuming followed closely behind, while also secretly releasing a clone to scout ahead.

After a while, Kihara Brainstem, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around: "Heh, you've found it, haven't you?"

Through some unknown means, Kihara's brainstem seemed to know Lin Wuming's little tricks, and even knew that his clone had already found Misaka Misuzu.

—As expected of Kihara's brainstem… No, after all, it is Kihara's brainstem, so it doesn't seem surprising at all that it can do something like this.

Lin Wuming did not respond, as if he had not heard its words.

At this moment, Lin Wuming had focused his main attention on his clone.

Although it was inconvenient to appear directly in front of Misaka Misuzu using a clone, Lin Wuming found the Misaka sisters hiding nearby and learned about what had happened from them indirectly.

It can only be said that Lin Wuming's previous prejudice was not entirely wrong.

—The Misaka Sisters did indeed demonstrate initiative; they took the initiative and launched their own operation.

According to the Misaka Sisters, after discovering that the "Misaka House" base might be exposed, the sisters who remained inside the base decided to evacuate ahead of schedule.

Because they had a vague feeling that "Mother" would definitely be able to find this place where "daughters gather," they decided to risk playing a game of hide-and-seek in order to hide themselves from being discovered.

Lin Wuming did not question the terms "feeling" or "intuition".

As it turns out, the mother, Misaka Misuzu, was indeed quite experienced in "finding her daughter."

During the sisters' scattering retreat, more than one of them was spotted by Misaka Misuzu.

The only saving grace is that no more than two sisters have ever been discovered at the same time—if that were to happen, we would probably have to ask Misaki Shokuhou to alter their memories.

"Because it would be too dangerous to let Mother do as she pleased, the Misakas decided to take the initiative!" Misaka explained cautiously.

(End of this chapter)