A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 952 Who is the Target?

"This guy's been deliberately picking a fight, Nameless-senpai!" Misaka Mikoto turned around and complained.

Hamazura Shiage looked as if he had suddenly woken up, and quickly shut his mouth and backed away—seeing the crackling electricity flashing all over Misaka Mikoto's body, he seemed to realize that the girl in front of him was a Level 5 esper like Mugino Shizuri... no, perhaps even more powerful!
Moreover, Lin Wuming, who had been picking a fight with him, was also a Level 5!

His instincts as a seasoned thug made him immediately back down: "Sorry, I was too arrogant!"

Because she admitted her mistake so readily, even Misaka Mikoto was stunned, unsure whether she should continue to lash out.

“Forgive him,” Takitsubo Rigo stepped forward and said. “After all, our companions in Hamazura were also attacked. Shouldn’t we be worried about them now?”

Then, Takitsubo Riko looked at Hamazura Shiage and said, "I'm sorry, Hamazura, not only did I fail to help you, but I also dragged you into helping me..."

"It's alright, it's alright!" Hamazura Shiage quickly shook his head. "Komaba and Hattori also broke through and escaped. As for the others, they should have escaped as well, right? Even if they were forcibly detained, they were just helping out with errands and odd jobs. There shouldn't be any problems."

The leadership of SKILL OUT, namely the three heads of Komaba Toshinori, Hattori Hanzo, and Hamazura Shiage, became a disorganized mess after their escape and were no longer regarded as an organization.

That way, when investigating responsibility later, they won't bring up the fact that they skipped the test.

Such minor incidents, where "a few delinquent youths are coerced into helping," are likely to be swept under the rug and no one will be held accountable.

"You SKILL OUT were also attacked and coerced?" Kinuhata Saiai said. "I haven't heard of that."

“Yes,” Hamazura Shiage nodded, “it’s a middleman who frequently contacts us who has run into trouble.”

In order to survive, groups of low-level armed and powerless individuals like them usually become subordinate organizations of one or more secret organizations, assisting the secret organizations above them in completing tasks—such as doing odd jobs, running errands, and transporting supplies.

SKILL OUT isn't that thorough. Apart from Hamazura Shiage, their entire organization isn't affiliated with any specific shady organization. Instead, like the "Yorozuya," they take on tasks through intermediaries, and any shady organization can hire them to do their jobs.

Of course, this would ensure freedom, but the income would certainly not be as good as those organizations that fully sided with the shadowy forces.

SKILL OUT has been living quietly and peacefully ever since.

But for some reason, the middleman suddenly brought people to our door today, trying to forcibly "hire" SKILL OUT to work for them.

The mission includes, but is not limited to, creating disturbances within Academy City, assisting certain commercial and technical spies in escaping Academy City, and... cooperating in the assassination of the Director General!

Feeling bewildered, the three SKILL OUT leaders also realized the danger of the situation, so they broke through the enemy's encirclement and fled in different directions.

Now, upon learning that Kinuhata Saiai is also being blackmailed, and that the enemy's goal is to "assassinate Lin Wuming," Hamazura Shiage immediately connects this to his own situation.

Therefore, it is not difficult to conclude that the enemies who attacked and kidnapped SKILL OUT are the same group that threatened Kinuhata Saiai, and their target is, of course, Lin Wuming!
Thinking that her companions—including SKILL OUT and Kinuhata Saiai—were all implicated because of Lin Wuming, it's no wonder she couldn't help but complain about Lin Wuming.

"So, your next step is to rescue your companions?" Kinuhata Saiai asked.

Just then, Lin Wuming's phone suddenly rang.

"Has Accelerator made any new discoveries on his end?" Lin Wuming muttered to himself as he answered the phone.

“Nameless, I’ve investigated thoroughly. The enemy’s real target is to assassinate Aleister. As for the previous series of thefts, they were just bait to distract me,” Accelerator said. “Are you sure?” Lin Wuming glanced at Kinuhata Saiai and Hamazura Shiage in front of him. “The assassination target is Chairman Aleister, and not me?”

“Of course it’s Aleister,” Accelerator said matter-of-factly. “Are they out of their minds to try and assassinate a Level 5 like you?”

Seemingly having heard the conversation, Kofumi and Shirai Kuroko nodded repeatedly, appearing quite in agreement.

“That’s true,” Takitsubo Riko also said. “Actually, I also think it’s a bit unwise to target Mr. Nameless, after all, your strength is obvious to all.”

In other words, the enemy seized upon Lin Wuming's "weakness," used the hostage as leverage, and incited Kinuhata Saiai and Kuroya Uotori to carry out the assassination. As for the enemy themselves, they had no intention of personally taking action.

After a moment's reflection, Lin Wuming realized that he had fallen into a fixed mindset.

After all, in the eyes of most outsiders, the biggest difficulty in assassinating Chairman Aleister was that "building without windows." Once they could break through that building, they would have achieved more than half of their goal.

As for Aleister's own strength... frankly, it's negligible.

Not everyone understands the true strength of Chairman Aleister as deeply as Lin Wuming.

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, apart from the protection of the "building without windows," the assassination of Chairman Aleister was far less difficult than the assassination of Lin Wuming.

Even Accelerator thought so—he acknowledged Lin Wuming's strength, which is why he found assassinating Lin Wuming an unbelievable thing.

After all, the enemy is the "Anti-Academy City Alliance," and their assassination is more for political propaganda purposes. Therefore, there is no need for them to abandon the easier but more influential Chairman Aleister and instead target Lin Wuming, who is stronger but less influential than Aleister.

Kinuhata Saiai frowned: "But they really are..."

Lin Wuming raised his palm to stop her from speaking.

“Nameless, could it be…” Accelerator asked, “that you were assassinated?”

"It can only be described as an attempted assassination, right?" Lin Wuming replied. "I'm investigating. By the way, do you have any evidence to support your judgment?"

It wasn't that Lin Wuming didn't trust him, but rather that the intelligence about the enemy was currently inaccurate, so it was necessary to verify it as clearly as possible.

“Yes, there are witnesses,” Accelerator said. “I’m with the guide right now.”

"A guide?"

"It's me, Lord Lin Wuming." A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Kihara Tsuyoshi?" Lin Wuming recognized the voice. "What happened on your end?"

“To put it simply,” Kihara Tsuki seemed tired, her voice low, “someone is blackmailing me into taking them to that building.”

(End of this chapter)