A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 805 Kihara Gensei's Purpose

—Oh my, a signal from Misaka-kun? Looks like you guys were prepared for my plan all along. I'm really impressed with you guys, Shokuhou-kun and Hayashi Mumei-kun.

Kihara Gensei said leisurely.

Misaki Shokuhou's heart tightened, and she even forgot to continue observing Lin Wuming's situation, instead focusing her attention on checking the current situation.

—Are you surprised, Shokuhou-kun? Calm down. Don't forget, I left a backdoor program in the "external brain implant," so I also indirectly possess your superpowers.

In other circumstances, Kihara Gensei's "mental control" would certainly be no match for Shokuhou Misaki's genuine superpower; at most, it would only allow him to resist Shokuhou Misaki's mind-reading and mental control to a certain extent.

As for the idea of ​​reversing the Heavenly Gang and reading Misaki Shokuhou's thoughts, that's nothing short of a pipe dream!

However, at this moment, Misaki Shokuhou made a long-distance mental intervention, "descending" into Kihara Gensei's sea of ​​consciousness.

Thus, Kihara Gensei, who had the home advantage, also had certain "privileges"—while being read by Shokuhou Misaki's mind, he was also able to sense Shokuhou Misaki's inner thoughts.

Both are conscious entities, and theoretically they are equal, with neither gaining an advantage.

While it's not quite at the level of "mind reading," it's not difficult to make a binary judgment of whether something is true or false.

Misaki Shokuhou knew that if she lied, she would definitely not be able to fool Kihara Gensei in the present.

—Hehe, as expected of Shokuhou-kun, you reacted so quickly? But don't worry, because you are indeed stronger and you have an absolute advantage.

Misaki Shokuhou remained silent, but her heart was already brimming with murderous intent—having spent so much time with the tiger bee Tomi, she had been somewhat influenced by it.

At least when facing a formidable enemy, Misaki Shokuhou does not shy away from using "killing" as a means.

—Oh my, that's quite the murderous intent.

Kihara Gensei, however, remained calm and smiled, it was unclear whether he was bluffing or genuinely confident.

—Calm down first, Mr. Shokuhou. This is a perfect opportunity for me to have a good chat with you. Come to think of it, we've known each other for a long time, but we've never had the chance to talk face-to-face like this before.

—Oh, they have no interest in chatting with you.

Misaki Shokuhou responded with a cold laugh.

—Don't refuse so decisively. We have plenty of time now, and chatting for a bit won't interfere with your plans.

Listening to Kihara Gensei's leisurely tone, Shokuhou Misaki realized that time seemed to have slowed down considerably in the real world.

Having previously intervened in Lin Wuming's mental world, Misaki Shokuhou was no stranger to this scene.

It was precisely because they were so familiar with it that they failed to react immediately.

"Bullet time"?
—A very fitting name, "Bullet Time." Oh, don't be too nervous, I'm just making a slight remark; this name, and Lin Wuming's special ability, are no secret.

Kihara Gensei stated, "At least to me, it's not a secret."

Misaki Shokuhou made no further reaction, lest the old fox find another opening.

However, one thing is certain: Kihara Gensei was not lying—this old fox's understanding of the nameless senior far exceeded our imagination!
Thinking of this, Misaki Shokuhou suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

There is an obvious fact before her...

"—Nameless Senior…when exactly did your research target become Nameless Senior?" Kihara Gensei replied with a smile, "Strictly speaking, it started from the day Lin Wuming-kun became Level 5, right? After all, I've never been interested in ability users below Level 5."

However—Kihara Gensei continued—Lin Wuming-kun is an exception, because I had already been paying attention to him before he became a Level 5.

—Was it from the very beginning? It wasn't Misaka Mikoto, which is... really unexpected!
Overwhelmed with surprise, Misaki Shokuhou couldn't hide her thoughts.

—Oh my, Misaka-kun?

To everyone's surprise, Kihara Gensei was also astonished—"I'm very curious, why do you think my target is Misaka-kun? Your and Hayashi Mumei-kun's judgments don't make sense."

According to Kihara Gensei, his initial research subject was Shokuhou Misaki, but he later changed it to Hayashi Mumei.

As for Misaka Mikoto, she was never even considered.

Kihara Gensei knew that "Misaka" was a target that Chairman Aleister had chosen long ago, and it was pointless to waste time and resources on her.

Misaki Shokuhou remained silent and made no response.

Under these special circumstances, they must not reveal their true secret—Lin Wuming's identity as a "time traveler" and the information they possess about the "original plot."

Kihara Gensei was not at all surprised by Shokuhou Misaki's silence; often, "silence" and "acquiescence" are synonymous.

—There is indeed some basis for this. Considering your past achievements, it's not surprising.

Despite her reluctance, when she came to her senses, Misaki Shokuhou found herself having no choice but to "chat" with Gensei Kihara.

Pure communication through consciousness is very fast.

Kihara Gensei was right; now, they have "plenty of time."

Misaki Shokuhou is also concerned about Kihara Gensei's plan, and now it seems that Kihara Gensei is very expressive and wants to "have a good chat" with her, so it's a good opportunity to gather some information.

Despite the reluctance to admit it, the fact remains that in this "war" with Kihara Gensei, their side has fallen into a completely disadvantageous position.

After all, only they considered their experiences over the past few days as a "battle," while Kihara Gensei, that old fox, showed no interest in "battle" at all.

—This old fox is just conducting an experiment at his own pace.

The confrontation between the two sides is not actually valid, because they were not on the same wavelength from the very beginning.

In this situation, in order to make up for the intelligence gap between the two sides, Misaki Shokuhou didn't mind "wasting a little time" with Gensei Kihara here.

—Look, it's about to begin.

Kihara Gensei said suddenly.

Following his gaze, Misaki Shokuhou saw Lin Wuming floating in mid-air...

Nothing special has changed; it's exactly the same as when I first saw it.

This is normal, since Misaki Shokuhou and Gensei Kihara are in a special state at this time, and their subjective time flow is accelerated, while in the real world, less than two seconds have passed.

It's normal that nothing has changed in such a short time... under normal circumstances.

(End of this chapter)