A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 1025 The duel begins

As the sun sets and time passes, the bustling Academy City finally enters a brief period of tranquility. Melodious bells ring out in every school district—the school bells signaling the end of the first day of the "Daihasei Festival" competitions.

But then, a different kind of noise erupted again in the city.

It wasn't a competition, but a complete carnival, with students, citizens, and visitors flooding the streets for a leisure and entertainment trip that felt like a vacation.

Even Lin Wuming, who dislikes crowds, felt genuine joy gazing at this bustling scene from afar.

"What a beautiful view, don't you think, Nameless Senior?" Misaka Mikoto's voice rang out beside her.

“Yes,” Lin Wuming nodded, “So… let’s not easily break this wonderful atmosphere…”

“These are two different things,” Misaka Mikoto said. “Senpai Mumei wouldn’t break her promise, would she?”

As agreed not long ago, their duel will begin after the Daihasei Festival competition ends today!
"Nameless senior, where are you now?" Misaka Mikoto asked again.

"You should know this better than anyone else, right?" Lin Wuming couldn't help but retort.

Because all the girls had run away, they had left Aunt Misaka Misuzu behind; so Lin Wuming had to personally take charge of entertaining her to prevent the presence of the Misaka Sisters from being exposed.

"This... thank you for your hard work," Misaka Mikoto said, feeling a pang of guilt.

“So,” Lin Wuming said, “could you go a little easier?”

“These are two different things,” Misaka Mikoto replied decisively.

Lin Wuming could only manage a wry smile: "Wait a little longer, let me settle your aunt in..."

Misaka Mikoto asked with some concern, "What does the nameless senior plan to do with my mother?"

"Don't worry, I've entrusted it to Teacher Huang Quanchuan," Lin Wuming said.

After a while, Lin Wuming said to himself, "Alright, the handover is complete. Next, we need to find a suitable place to use as the battlefield."

After all, it's a battle between three Level 5s and two Level 4s, and the densely populated Academy City is clearly not a suitable battlefield.

"The 10th or 23rd school district," Lin Wuming said. "It's less crowded and more open, perfect for fighting. I'll start once I get there..."

“No,” Misaka Mikoto’s tone became excited, and the electromagnetic field became even more violent, “the battle has begun!”

With a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning struck the sky.

Lin Wuming's clone stood frozen in place, offering no resistance, and was enveloped by the lightning.

On the other side, Lin Wuming had just left a high school and was on his way back when he suddenly stopped and looked up into the distance.

A bolt of lightning struck from a clear sky, connecting heaven and earth in the distance, and then he felt his clone completely lose contact.

Fortunately, Lin Wuming severed his connection with his clone beforehand, leaving only an aggregate of AIM diffusion force field in place; otherwise, this devastating blow alone would have been enough to affect Lin Wuming himself.

"That girl Mikoto, is she so impatient?" Lin Wuming complained.

Fortunately, Misaka Mikoto had not completely lost her mind. Before launching the attack, she had given sufficient hints and given Lin Wuming time to retreat.

Rather than attacking because a duel was about to begin, it was more like she was simply looking for an opportunity to vent her frustration. At the same time, this strike also conveyed the girl's will and determination—she was serious about this duel!
Lin Wuming had already deeply felt her determination, so he took out his phone and looked around.

Misaka Mikoto can track herself using electromagnetic signals, and there's no doubt that she's doing so now.

Lin Wuming's cell phone is Misaka Mikoto's natural GPS tracker; normally, Lin Wuming wouldn't care about this kind of tracking, but now it's a "duel"; no matter what, Lin Wuming doesn't want to lose.

So what you need to do now is to throw away your phone and get rid of Misaka Mikoto's pursuit.

Snapped!
A small pebble flew from the roadside and was stopped by a psychic barrier just before it hit Lin Wuming.

Turning my head, I saw a girl I didn't recognize, wearing sportswear, who seemed to have just returned from some competition.

However, in general, this situation...

"Shokuhou, is that you?" Lin Wuming revealed the girl's real name.

"The duel has already begun, Nameless Senior~" The girl did not deny it, but said directly, "The lightning that struck Misaka-san just now was the starting gun for the start of the duel."

"I think so too."

"So, it's too late to throw away your phone now," Misaki Shokuhou said. "Nameless senior, you can't escape our pursuit; face reality and accept the challenge!"

Looking at Misaki Shokuhou in the body of a strange girl, Lin Wuming felt a headache coming on: "You're not going to fight me like this, are you?"

He simply couldn't bring himself to make a move on the girl, even though she was a complete stranger.

Or rather, even when facing four girls he already knew well, Lin Wuming did not have the resolve to "kill them out."

"Hehe, that's your own problem, Nameless Senior." Misaki Shokuhou said with a light laugh, "If you want to defeat me, these innocent children are the biggest challenge~ But don't worry, I won't do anything to hurt these children."

Lin Wuming narrowed his eyes—if Misaki Shokuhou also lowered her standards, then it wouldn't really matter whether he lost his phone or not; just by keeping an eye on him, Misaki Shokuhou could keep track of him at all times.

Not to mention, Lin Wuming suspected that Misaki Shokuhou had already marked him in his mind through "mental control," and could find him at any time if she wanted to.

"Well, the nameless senior wasn't wrong about that." Misaki Shokuhou laughed.

“However,” Misaki Shokuhou continued, “they were just posing a challenge to the nameless senior, so they are not very dangerous compared to others. The ones you should really be careful of are the other three—they are true practitioners.”

After saying that, Misaki Shokuhou quietly left. In the blink of an eye, the girl in the tracksuit looked bewildered and confused, seemingly surprised that she was there.

Seeing her swaying precariously, as if she might fall at any moment, Lin Wuming instinctively reached out, simultaneously extending his Nen ability forward...

But the girl didn't fall, and quickly stopped caring about the strange feeling that was happening to her.

"Master Wuming! It's Master Wuming!" The girl's face lit up with surprise and delight as she leaned closer to Lin Wuming. "Hello, Master Wuming! I'm your fan!"

After saying that, the girl grabbed Lin Wuming's hand very enthusiastically and shook it vigorously.

—Shokuhou, just who are the people you've chosen as pawns?

(End of this chapter)