A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 821 Kihara Kagura's Visit
Upon learning that Tsuchimikado Motoharu had already relayed the information back to the church headquarters, Kamijou Touma immediately realized the situation was dire.

However, the silver-haired nun beside him remained completely calm, which surprised Touma: "This...aren't we worried? What if the Puritans find out about the 'angel'..."

“This kind of news can’t be kept secret at all,” Index looked over. “If even Touma can get this information, it’s only a matter of time before the church finds out.”

"Huh? But... shouldn't we be worried? What we were saying just now..." Touma Kamijou became increasingly confused.

Isn't it said that "superpowers and magic lead to the same goal" is a taboo topic?
Index said meaningfully, "It's precisely because everyone knows this in their hearts that it's a taboo topic that can't be mentioned."

In fact, ever since she learned from Sherry Cromwell that Puritanism and Academy City had collaborated twenty years ago in an attempt to merge their technologies, Index had had this suspicion in her mind.

Superpowers and magic can coexist and even merge—the experiment twenty years ago failed because of the interference of the Knights faction. Looking back now, it seems like there was a conspiracy, that someone didn't want the experiment to succeed, so they stirred up the conflict.

Therefore, this is actually an "open secret." What we really need to pay attention to now is that this conclusion cannot be verified by the "banned book list."

That's why Index suddenly shut up and remained silent.

Touma Kamijou quickly understood these points and immediately felt relieved, no longer worrying about it.

"Well, let those big shots worry about this," Touma Kamijou said. "We just need to focus on doing our own thing."

Index and Touma Kamijou imagined many things, but Lin Wuming himself didn't actually think that much about it.

After all, magic and superpowers are essentially the same thing—Lin Wuming knew this from the beginning, so he didn't need to get confirmation from Index at all.

Lin Wuming had only mentioned it casually, following the topic.

Meanwhile, Lin Wuming was welcoming the next wave of visitors who came to visit him in his illness.

Yun Chuan Juya, the accounting maid hired by Lin Wuming at a high salary, made a brief appearance when the incident occurred, and then left with Kihara Kagura without even having time to properly say goodbye to her employer.

At this point, she finally remembered to come over and explain the situation.

Of course, along with apologizing and explaining the situation, Yun Chuan Juya also brought Kihara Kagura-sensei along.

Misaka Mikoto and Tohmi Tomi followed closely as the man in the white coat entered the ward.

Compared to their first meeting three days ago, Kihara Kagura, who appeared before Lin Wuming this time, had not only changed his clothes, but also had bandages wrapped around his forehead and neck, suggesting that he was also injured.

“I’ve been looking for Kihara Pathologist these past few days—the one who provided the hallucinogen to that girl,” Kihara Kagura explained. “I also destroyed two labs along the way.”

As he spoke, Kihara Kagura touched the bandage on his neck—this was the price he had paid for his actions over the past three days.

"And then what happened?" Lin Wuming asked casually, "Did they catch her?"

“No, she got away with it.” Kihara Kagura shook his head. “The destroyed laboratory was also a facility under Kihara Gensei’s name—that woman is as selfish and cunning as ever.”

Kihara Pathology's choice to cooperate with Kihara Gensei seems to be a way to use this relationship as cover in response to Kihara Kagura's surprise attack. "Kihara Pathology knows that as long as I find an opportunity, I will not let her go."

Several girls in the ward, including Yun Chuan Juya, were very curious about what had happened between Kihara Kagura and Kihara Pathologist.

They were clearly from the same clan, but they looked like mortal enemies.

Lin Wuming knew the reason, but he didn't want to reveal too much or meddle in other people's business anymore—at least until his Nen ability was restored, he really didn't want to have any more conflicts with any of the "Kihara".

Kihara Kagura made no attempt to explain, as if he had merely made a few unrelated remarks and naturally moved on from the topic.

“Lin Wuming, it seems you haven’t fully recovered yet.” Kihara Kagura observed carefully, frowning. “I can’t stay here too long.”

"My Nen ability will return to normal," Lin Wuming reiterated, then asked, "So what exactly did you want to see me about? Is it related to your Nen ability?"

When they first met three days ago, Kihara Kaguni had already shown signs that he wanted to say something.

"Your other ability..." Kihara Kagura said bluntly, "the one you named 'Bullet Time.' The information I've received proves that you use the 'lightbullet effect' of near-death experiences, combined with Nen abilities that have no time difference, to ultimately demonstrate strength far exceeding that of normal circumstances."

Kihara Kagura said, "If my calculations are correct, excluding the interference of 'bullet time,' and looking only at pure 'telekinesis' ability, Lin Wuming, you should still be level 3."

"It's not that weak; it's already level 4," Lin Wuming corrected.

This also serves as an admission of the other party's speculation.

"Huh? So... so that's how it is?" Misaka Mikoto exclaimed in surprise.

Although she had a vague idea, she couldn't get the answer directly like Misaki Shokuhou, so she still didn't quite understand the "bullet time" thing.

"No wonder the nameless senior was immune to all kinds of long-range sniping; it turns out it was because of 'bullet time'!"

Kihara Kagura continued, "According to Kihara Gensei's theory, he believes that your ability is not purely Nen, nor is it a special case of having two abilities at the same time—the so-called 'bullet time' and your Nen ability should be one and the same."

"Kihara Gensei..." Lin Wuming asked, "You saw him?"

“No.” Kihara Kagura shook his head. “Like Kihara Pathology, he disappeared without a trace, and no valuable clues can be found.”

“Since your Nen ability hasn’t recovered, there’s no point in me waiting any longer,” Kihara Kagura said with some disappointment. “I will be leaving Academy City tomorrow. If you have recovered your strength before then, please let me know immediately.”

"Tell me first, what do you want to do?" Lin Wuming asked.

“My research area…” Kihara Kagura explained, “is near-death experiences. So I think that my research combined with your abilities might produce some interesting results.”

As he spoke, Kihara Kagura shook his head, revealing a self-deprecating bitter smile: "Don't worry too much about it. In the end, it's just my personal curiosity—I'm still Kihara after all."

(End of this chapter)