A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 1182 The Power to Manipulate Phases

“Lin Wuming…” It was rather rare for Aleister’s voice to sound so helpless. “Although I don’t want to emphasize it, from the perspective of status and position, as the chairman of the board, I should be your superior.”

The sound wasn't coming from the phone, but from a much closer distance...

Aside from himself, in the corridor that should have been empty, Lin Wuming put away his phone and turned around.

The chairman of the board, Aleister, wearing a white coat, stood behind him.

“Do you understand? I’m not your secretary or assistant,” Aleister continued. “So please don’t come to me with these trivial matters anymore.”

—For these trivial matters, just ask Yun Chuan Juya... She's your personal secretary!
The chairman of Aleister Group stated this.

Looking at the complaining man in front of him, Lin Wuming did not respond immediately. Instead, he turned to look at the ward he had just left—he remembered that when he made the call, the girls were all crowding at the ward door.

But now... I don't know when it started, but the ward door is tightly closed, there is no sound from inside, and none of the girls have come out.

This is not normal—Lin Wuming thought and observed as he raised his hand to touch the wall.

A subtle sensation came from his fingertips, causing him to frown slightly.

It wasn't that something was wrong; quite the opposite, he found no flaws—even with Lin Wuming's current molecular force-based mental scanning, he couldn't find anything unusual.

However, even beyond the judgment derived from tactile and mental scanning, Lin Wuming still felt that "something is not normal here".

“This is a phase overlay,” Aleister explained patiently instead of stopping him. “In terms of spatial position, we are still in the same place and haven’t moved, but the phase has shifted—so don’t worry about being disturbed.”

"Is this your magic?" Lin Wuming asked.

“If that’s what you think, that’s fine too,” Aleister said. “However, a more accurate way to put it is ‘the authority of the chairman of Academy City’—this city is my domain, so I can do things here that science can’t explain.”

Lin Wuming withdrew his finger: "You're the leader of the science side, is it really okay for you to use magic like this?"

“What does it have to do with anything?” Aleister shrugged. “No one else but you and me would know, right? Besides, even demons have appeared now, so my level is nothing at all.”

Upon hearing the words "demon god," Lin Wuming perked up—this was the key point.

“The Demon God is not a deity; she is also a human magician—or rather, she used to be a human magician,” Aleister explained. “From this perspective, the Demon God is not invincible.”

"Of course I know that, otherwise I wouldn't have gone to fight them," Lin Wuming retorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

“This is it.” Aleister spread his hands, as if showing Lin Wuming something.

Lin Wuming knew that Aleister was referring to their current environment—the superimposed phase.

“At the moment, the Demon God is still just a powerful mage…” Aleister said, pausing slightly, “Well, an incredibly powerful mage. But her power is still within the range that this world can accommodate and understand.”

According to Aleister's assessment, the current demon god Othinus's power and methods have not yet transcended the realm of "ordinary magicians," only that their power has been amplified countless times.

The only thing to be wary of is its ability to "manipulate phases"—a power that mortal magicians can never master. It's not the same concept as "space manipulation," but its manifestations are quite similar.

In the words of the Aleister Group's chairman, its essence should be the power to "create different possibilities".

The so-called "different phases" can be more figuratively described as "different possibilities for the future".

Actively and controllably choosing different futures... different timelines—this is something only a "god" can do.

As for Aleister, his "clone" is essentially an extension of this concept.

“I won’t deny your strength, Lin Wuming,” Aleister said. “With your abilities, plus that ‘quasi-demon god,’ it wouldn’t be surprising if you actually defeated the demon god Othinus.”

"Thank you for the compliment. You really have a lot of confidence in me."

Aleister shook his head: "Defeat does not mean 'defeating' her. For a demon god who can reset phases, it is not difficult to avoid such a timeline that is unfavorable to him."

In other words, even if Lin Wuming and Orelus manage to defeat Othinus by chance, the latter can use the power of the demon god to cancel the result and start over.

Lin Wuming fell silent; he did not doubt Aleister's words.

In the original storyline—although it was after completing the "Spear of the Gods" and reaching its peak state—the demon god Othinus demonstrated this omnipotent power, creating different timelines at will.

Before obtaining the "Spear of the Gods," this ability still exists, but the success rate is only fifty percent.

But if you try a few more times, you'll eventually succeed.

This means that Euthinus was already invincible before the battle even began.

Although he had made up his mind and was prepared to confront the demon god Othinus, Lin Wuming still couldn't help but feel frustrated when he realized this.

Suddenly, Lin Wuming looked up at the man in front of him.

"Chairman, why don't you come with us?" Lin Wuming suggested.

No matter how skilled Othinus is at controlling phases, it would be most appropriate to have Chairman Aleister, who is equally adept at this, deal with her.

“I already said, I’m not your subordinate,” Aleister said. “Besides, I have important matters to attend to and simply don’t have time to accompany you in fighting a demon.”

Lin Wuming was not surprised by this result—after all, from the beginning, he had not expected Aleister to take the initiative to resolve the enemy's threat.

Seemingly realizing that it wasn't quite right to refuse so easily, Aleister coughed and added, "But don't worry, Academy City will fully support and cooperate with you—including the Kihara clan."

After the exchange ended, before taking his leave, Chairman Aleister approved several documents.

This includes Lin Wuming's application to call up a supersonic passenger plane, and the permission for several female students to leave campus.

(End of this chapter)