A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 1066 Exile

There's no need for deliberate concealment or deception; just appropriate intelligence gathering, coupled with patient and detailed explanations, emphasizing certain details to enhance persuasiveness; offer full apologies and compensation to affected citizens and visitors; and finally, add a touch of urban legend to embellish the event and add a layer of mystery...

As for the follow-up work, doing it to this extent is sufficient.

Ultimately, this is nothing more than a "fight between superpowered individuals." During the Daihasei Festival, similar incidents occur almost constantly. In fact, the Daihasei Festival itself is a large-scale event of "superpowered individuals fighting each other."

The only difference is that the "fight" that just happened involved two people with exceptionally high skill levels, and the scope of the incident was exceptionally wide.

In response, Academy City directly cited the "Level 5 Showdown" as the reason for its explanation.

Since no one died, things became much easier from there on.

First, the local students and citizens of Academy City are easily persuaded; having studied and lived in this city, they can fully accept the reason of "exhibition match".

Since the two sides in the battle are Lin Wuming and Misaka Mikoto, their relationship is no secret. People simply do not believe that Lin Wuming and Misaka Mikoto would become enemies. Of course, a normal person would never guess that such an operation would be a "harem-permitted duel". Therefore, the only reasonable explanation is that it is a "level 5 show match".

Once the students are appeased, their relatives, reporters, and other outsiders can also be persuaded.

"The solution is flawless; its only drawback is the enormous cost," Chairman Aleister concluded.

To minimize the negative impact, Academy City must also restore the entire city overnight, except for the two and a half blocks that were most severely damaged, and the rest must be restored to normal before dawn.

Academy City has the technology, but it's very expensive!

"Ultimately, the key issue is still money," Lin Wuming said.

"You don't need to make any compensation, Lin Wuming. Even the companies under your name that have been affected by the disaster can receive insurance compensation."

"Is there really such a good thing?" Lin Wuming knew the crucial part was coming. "Chairman, just tell me directly, what price do I need to pay?"

Seeing Lin Wuming's alert and wary expression, Chairman Aleister sighed and said, "Are you in such a hurry to distance yourself from me, Lin Wuming?"

"Of course, it's too dangerous to be associated with you, whether as an enemy or an ally," Lin Wuming said truthfully.

Previously, when cooperating with Chairman Aleister... that is, doing things for him and destroying illegal experimental institutions, a task-based commission model was adopted, and the employment relationship between the two parties was clear and unambiguous.

After that, as Lin Wuming's strength improved in all aspects, this employment relationship gradually became a thing of the past.

Now, the chairman of Aleister wants to regain control of "Lin Wuming," a powerful pawn.

Chairman Aleister could see, of course, that Lin Wuming's willingness to take the blame and even pay a huge sum in compensation was fundamentally aimed at a swift resolution and bringing this incident to a close as quickly as possible.

Lin Wuming didn't want to owe anyone a favor, nor did he want to give anyone leverage over him, especially not himself, the chairman of the board. He remained wary of himself from the very beginning.

The chairman of Aleister didn't take it seriously; people with principles are often easier to control. In his view, Lin Wuming's idea was somewhat wishful thinking and naive, but he didn't mind playing along with that naivety.

“In that case, I’ll seize this rare opportunity and make you pay a heavy price,” said Chairman Aleister.

Lin Wuming shrugged helplessly: "Please speak." "Don't act recklessly like this again, like today's incident," Chairman Aleister said, "especially now during the Great Star Festival. If another large-scale disturbance like this occurs... then even my contingency plan won't be able to handle it."

"Of course, I don't want it to happen a second time either," Lin Wuming nodded.

"Verbal guarantees are meaningless—you should understand that, Lin Wuming, right?"

"So, what do you plan to do?" Lin Wuming asked warily. Did he intend to take this opportunity to seal their power?
“Don’t be nervous, Lin Wuming,” Chairman Aleister explained. “You and Misaka Mikoto are the only two espers who have reached a higher level. To put it bluntly, you two are now the most valuable assets of Academy City. No one wants anything to happen to you, and no one will hinder you from going further.”

Lin Wuming remained expressionless. His words were cold and ruthless, but to those who understood the true nature of this city, such cold-blooded calculations were all the more believable.

“Therefore, I need you and Misaka Mikoto to separate temporarily. At least during the Daihasei Festival, you two cannot meet again,” said Chairman Aleister.

"We will not fight again."

“I know, I can understand, but others can’t,” the Aleister board chairman explained. “Or rather, this is the attitude you have to show—the truth doesn’t matter, what matters is getting people to believe.”

"So you want to separate us?" Lin Wuming asked.

I'm really not happy. I finally won the duel, but now I have to separate from Misaka Mikoto.

"Lin Wuming, I need you to leave Academy City for a while."

—Well, it seems that it's not just Misaka Mikoto, but all the girls who will have to be separated.

With a heavy sigh, Lin Wuming asked, "What happened outside that requires my attention?"

The chairman of Aleister finally revealed his true intentions, and Lin Wuming immediately understood.

“The situation is still developing, so it’s not certain whether we need your help,” Chairman Aleister said. “Just think of it as a trip abroad.”

"Where is the destination?" Lin Wuming asked.

“Europe,” Aresta replied.

"Okay, the Roman Catholic Church... since when did matters of the magic side become my responsibility?" Lin Wuming asked, somewhat surprised. Logically speaking, matters of the magic side should be the stage for Kamijou Touma to show off his skills.

"It's still because of what happened earlier," Chairman Aleister said. "How many Roman Catholic spies do you think infiltrated during the Great Star Festival?"

There are certainly many of them; just recently, tiger wasps stung and killed three of them while pecking at honey.

"So unfortunately, in my judgment, the Roman Catholic Church now certainly sees you as its biggest threat."

"So I'm still bait?"

A decoy to draw fire for Touma Kamijou.

(End of this chapter)