A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 981: Plans for Deploying Clones

Despite finding a rare connection with her older sister, the extra chapter's individual felt more envious of her older sister, Misaka Mikoto—because she was immune to "mental manipulation."

Of course, she didn't know that Misaka Mikoto would actually have a headache over her "immunity".

Lin Wuming, who had just returned from his "trip," remained silent with his eyes closed, needing some time to adjust.

This was the first time he had actively tried the "astral projection" technique, and because he wasn't in "bullet time" mode, he could still receive messages from his body in the classroom while "wandering"—it was through this mechanism that Misaki Shokuhou made contact with him.

It should be noted that Lin Wuming's previous "soul astral projections" were all achieved by temporarily blocking the physical body for various reasons.

Therefore, for Lin Wuming, who was a "psychic", his state at that time was more like that of a different body - a body constructed from psychic abilities.

But today's situation is more like a dual-track operation. Lin Wuming's consciousness needs to take care of both sides at the same time. Even for someone as skilled in multi-threaded operations as Lin Wuming, becoming "two bodies" for the first time is a rather novel experience.

But then again, only by achieving this level can one truly be considered a "clone," right?

Feng Zhanbinghua's seemingly casual invitation unexpectedly gave Lin Wuming the right direction.

Since this was the first experiment, and Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki had also come to his side, Lin Wuming chose to end this journey in the shortest possible time.

“It’s a pity there are still so many places I haven’t been to.” Feng Zhan Binghua was naturally dissatisfied with this. “Besides, you can also shop and eat in the Imaginary Number District—everything that exists in reality can also be found there—since there are only two residents, me and the Nameless Senior, it doesn’t matter if we don’t pay. It’s like owning the whole city.”

"Hmm? Owns an entire city? And you can shop there... Does that mean that goods that exist in the real world also exist in the Imaginary Number District?" Misaka Mikoto suddenly realized something, "Like limited edition Gekotas..."

One of Misaka Mikoto's biggest regrets is that she still hasn't been able to collect the archery Gekota doll, which was the last one she missed in the Gekota series.

“Misaka…” Misaki Shokuhou looked over helplessly, “Don’t stray from the point of focus.”

Misaka Mikoto seemed about to press for more information, but after being reminded, she quickly adopted a serious expression: "Alright... Nameless Senpai, what did you see in the Imaginary Number District? Did you gain anything?"

"As for what I saw..." Lin Wuming recalled, "there wasn't anything special, just the city we're in now? It just felt more like a shadow city overlapping with the real world."

In the world of the Imaginary Number District, Academy City is not deserted; there are pedestrians on the streets and shop assistants and waiters in the shops.

However, compared to the real world, these people are more like NPCs, making the city look lifelike, but in reality, most of the time they just act according to a pre-programmed routine, or simply remain motionless, like statues.

Only when Feng Zhan Binghua intervenes does the NPC around her become lively and vivid, just like real people in the real world.

According to Feng Zhan Binghua, the world she inhabits is like a giant stage play, where everyone, including herself, is an actor. However, she is a crucial, central actor, so only when she participates in the drama are the other actors activated to help her fulfill her role. Therefore, despite owning the entire city, Feng Zhan Binghua doesn't actually like this world. Especially after she awakened her self-awareness, she found it increasingly difficult to accept this dull and lifeless world.

Therefore, Feng Zhan Binghua would rather stay in the real world; or, bring Lin Wuming in and live together in the Imaginary Number Zone—in that case, this boring and lonely life wouldn't be unbearable.

However, the ambition that followed didn't seem so easy to achieve. Kazakiri Hyouka was well aware of this, so this time she only complained a little.

“And another thing,” Lin Wuming continued, “Although the Imaginary Number District is a near-perfect replica of Academy City in the real world, there is one building without windows that we cannot enter.”

Lin Wuming discovered that the buildings in the Imaginary Number Zone were accessible, just like those in the real world. Moreover, because they were replicated one-to-one, many areas that were inaccessible in the real world were not restricted in the Imaginary Number Zone.

After all, in the real world, what truly acts as a barrier is the law, rules, and tacit understanding—if a Level 5 is determined to break in, there are probably few buildings that can stop him.

As for the NPCs in the Imaginary Number Zone, they were even less likely to stop Lin Wuming.

Upon discovering this, Lin Wuming immediately thought of the windowless building.

Unfortunately, when Lin Wuming arrived there, he discovered that although the building was a one-to-one replica, it was a "solid" creation. It was as if the internal structure had been forgotten during the construction of the building, so it was impossible to see its interior details...

"Our chairman is indeed impeccable," Lin Wuming remarked.

It was only after discovering that he couldn't enter the windowless building that Lin Wuming's interest in the Imaginary Numbers District diminished, and he quickened his pace for the rest of the trip.

“Actually, what I did was very simple,” Lin Wuming explained in detail as he looked at Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki. “The Imaginary Number District and Academy City have a one-to-one correspondence, so I found some suitable locations through the Imaginary Number District.”

The purpose is to deploy "clones"—Lin Wuming's plan to improve his strength is to develop the application of "psychic clones," which can be quickly deployed to the scene of an incident when necessary to deal with the enemy in time.

The key lies in "rapid deployment"; Lin Wuming is not a space manipulator, and even if he can fly, he is still too slow in an emergency.

Although Lin Wuming could also perform "high-speed movement" comparable to teleportation, that technique had many limitations, such as only being able to move in a straight line and making too much noise; moreover, "high-speed movement" itself was an advanced application of Lin Wuming's Nen ability, requiring a considerable amount of computing power to activate...

In short, it's not cost-effective. It's not that it's unusable, but of course, it would be better if there were other, less strenuous methods.

The existence of the "imaginary number zone" provided Lin Wuming with a near-perfect solution.

(End of this chapter)