Temperature Control in Academy City

"Yes, may I ask what it is?" Senior Misaka asked politely, bending over and getting close to the communication device.

"It says on it that it's computer accessories, but I don't know what exactly they are." The courier's response came through the communication device.

Hearing this, Shirai, who had been gradually showing signs of nervousness, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, as if she was impressed by the thoughtful and humane service of this shipping company.

"That's great. The manufacturer that sells the product is indeed an old brand. They are experienced, well-versed in human nature, and have a wealth of knowledge about privacy." Shirai thought with some satisfaction. The huge rock that was pressing on his chest was suddenly gone.

Very good, this is an encouraging shopping experience.

Natsume Sonoko sat on the bed in a daze, looking at Misaka-senpai who was talking to the communication device not far away.

Unlike Shirai who breathed a sigh of relief, Natsume Sonoko now feels that her conclusion just now was too hasty. Shirai's ability to struggle is truly amazing. At the same time, her luck doesn't seem to be particularly good.

A well-known computer accessory, Natsume Sonoko said that once you have seen it, you will never forget its appearance, and once you have tasted it, you can't stop. Shirai classmate also said it was delicious after drinking it.

Thinking back to the first time I watched A Certain Scientific Railgun, I was attracted by this scene. Natsume Sonoko silently sighed at the wonder of life.

"Who is the sender?" Senior Misaka continued to ask.

"Wei'an Chun Pharmaceutical Company of Love and Traditional Chinese Medicine." The courier boy answered honestly.

Chapter 38: The Battle in the Tokiwadai Dormitory

"If it's just a simple celebration, why do we need to use this medicine?"

"It seems that to cure your abnormal personality, I have to use strong medicine, just like your name, it will become charred black."

The electric sparks in Misaka-senpai's hair have begun to sparkle, blue and white visual effects cover her entire body, and small silver snakes made of electric current are flying around her.

Natsume Sonoko looked on with some fear. The hissing sound of the electric current was like a foreshadowing of a battle. Was another brutal war between people with special abilities about to break out in this poor student dormitory?

She was inexplicably worried about the household appliances in the entire building and the laptop she had just bought, but she couldn't care less. Natsume Sonoko protected Hatsuharu and Saten behind her, with a fearless spirit of sacrifice on her face.

Looking at the scene in front of her, a different thought flashed through Natsume Sonoko's mind.

Is the current controlled by Misaka-senpai direct current or alternating current?

I remember that Misaka-senpai seemed to have a move called real lightning, which was a pulse discharge generated by the movement of a large amount of electric charge in a short period of time. Lightning can also be considered direct current to some extent.

And it seems that Misaka-senpai's railgun also uses a direct current electromagnetic field.

But in fact, we can't think like that. Alternating current requires a stable change cycle and consumes much more computing power than direct current. Maybe Misaka-senpai just wants to save computing time and energy.

After thinking too much, Natsume Sonoko looked at the tense scene in front of her with some nervousness. Fortunately, air is a poor conductor of electricity, so there is no need to worry about accidentally hurting the few people here.

The electric shock lasted only a few seconds in the air before it became invisible. The door of Dormitory 208 lasted only a second under this tremendous force before it turned into pieces in a shower of dust and sparks.

The communication device at the door was also badly affected by the discharge. Before the courier could finish his words, black smoke came out of it, and it was obvious that it was in need of maintenance.

"It's so tragic. No wonder the dorm supervisor keeps emphasizing not to use abilities in the dormitory." Natsume Sonoko said with emotion.

If Natsume Sonoko was facing this kind of powerful electric discharge from Misaka-senpai, without the same convenient spatial movement ability as Shirai, a better way to deal with it would be to create an ice layer or a pseudo-AT force field.

Although the ice layer can also block electric shocks, it can also conduct electricity when it is contaminated or encounters very strong high voltage electricity. No matter how you think about it, it is definitely not able to block the 10 billion volt Misaka-senpai.

If it is a pseudo-AT force field, it can use its ability to quickly raise or lower the temperature to divert the air around it and take away the electric current in the air. If the computing power is fast enough, will it be immune to electric shock?

In fact, it is not just electric shocks, but all materialized attacks can be resisted, which makes it look not much different from an AT force field. (From a reader's post, not sure if it is feasible, soliciting opinions)

As long as I spin fast enough, the electric shock won't hit me, Natsume Sonoko thought.

The battle was still going on, and since the dorm supervisor was not present, the battle began to move from the dormitory to the corridor. If Misaka-senpai and the others could repair the gate and the communication device before the dorm supervisor came back, they might still have a chance to escape.

"Is Misaka-senpai and the others okay? They made such a big noise." Utsuharu said a little uneasily, looking at the smoke and dust on the ground that had not yet dispersed and the broken pieces of the gate with concern.

"It's okay, the dorm supervisor is not in the dormitory now." Natsume Sonoko comforted her, but it was not clear whether there would be anything after the dorm supervisor came back.

"Stop, don't run, and don't use your cheating ability." Misaka-senpai declared angrily, her whole body covered in lightning, like an angry Pikachu.

"Onee-sama is really going too far. She even used such a strong electric shock." Shirai appeared at the end of the corridor, sighed and said helplessly.

The battle of superpowers in the corridor is getting more and more intense. Shirai is like a cunning fox, always appearing suddenly in the blind spot of Misaka-senpai's vision. Misaka-senpai can sense the bioelectric signals of Shirai, so she can find Shirai in the first place.

"Natsume-san, aren't you going to stop it?" said Ryoko Saten hesitantly, sticking her head out to observe the battle between the ability users outside the dormitory.

"Yeah, I should have gone to stop the fight." Natsume Sonoko woke up as if from a dream, and hurriedly ran between the two of them, but ended up bumping into Shirai, who had teleported over.

"What are you trying to do with that bun?" Shirai stood up with a grin, but before she could say anything more, she saw Misaka-senpai approaching from behind.

.........

The weather was sunny and cloudless. On this day, Shirai was absent from the daily activities of the Discipline Committee.

In the Discipline Committee 177, Natsume Sonoko and Hatsuharu gathered in front of the computer, both of them staring at the surveillance video with bright eyes.

"Another bizarre bicycle disappearance case has occurred." Natsume Sonoko's eyes sparkled, as if she saw hope of solving the case.

"Not counting the case of Natsume's bicycle disappearance, there have been six similar cases recently. Most of the missing bicycles are expensive high-end bicycles, and the positioning systems contained in the vehicles have also been damaged by humans."

Classmate Hatsuharu played several surveillance videos of bicycles moving strangely on their own. It seemed that the two wheels of the bicycles rolled automatically, but the pedals did not move at all, which was extremely similar to the situation of Natsume Sonoko.

"Then the other party's goal is very clear, which is to steal expensive bicycles and make a profit." Natsume Sonoko nodded, stared at the surveillance video, and spoke affirmatively.

"Aren't there six cases? Why are there only five surveillance videos here?" Natsume Sonoko asked with some confusion after counting the video windows on the computer.

"When this case happened, all the surveillance equipment near the crime scene was under repair, so no surveillance video was captured and we couldn't get any useful information," explained Hatsuharu.

"And this case is also very different from the previous ones. The bicycle that was lost this time is very ordinary. Its price is probably only one eighth of Natsume's. It is also the only bicycle that is not that expensive."

Classmate Hatsuharu frowned in confusion. Obviously, she couldn't understand why these thieves would take a bicycle of little value.

Natsume Sonoko looked at the information of the person who reported the case, which also had two photos.

One was a picture of a boy with a black spiky hairdo, wearing an ordinary high school boy uniform, and the other was a picture of the lost bicycle.

"The person who reported this case is Kamijou Touma. He said he lost his car when he was attending a supermarket sale. He remembered locking it at the time, but both the car and the lock mysteriously disappeared." Hatsuharu said after thinking for a moment.

"I see."

Natsume Sonoko looked at the figure in the photo thoughtfully. She felt that the guy in the photo was a little familiar. He was the male protagonist of Toaru Majutsu no Index, the legendary Imagine Breaker.

I didn't expect that he also lost his bicycle.

"Based on the analysis of multiple crime scenes, we can roughly determine that the crime scene was in this area of ​​the Seventh School District. Apart from a small part of the commercial street, the area nearby is basically filled with student dormitories and faculty dormitories."

Hatsuharu pressed a few keys on the keyboard, and most of the large map of District 7 on the computer began to fade away, leaving only a small area.

"At the same time, I also monitor several second-hand trading websites on the Internet. If there is information about similar bicycles for sale, I will be the first to know." Chuchun added.

"That's amazing, Hatsuharu-san, your computer skills are so strong." This comes from someone who only knows how to browse forums and play games on the computer.

Natsume Sonoko wrote down the area on the computer and silently regarded this area as the club's field trip area for the next few days.

By the way, Natsume Sonoko did very well in the first club activity. She has applied for a special page on the urban legend website. Now she just needs to submit a research report to the president.

"There is one thing that I have always been concerned about. Shirai took a leave of absence from the branch today. Was he punished for what happened yesterday?" After turning off all the surveillance videos on the computer, Hatsuharu asked worriedly.

"Yes, the dorm supervisor was very angry when he came back. Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san were punished to clean the entire school's swimming pool."

Natsume Sonoko recalled the majestic look of the dorm supervisor and trembled a little at the moment. It is a big taboo not to demolish the house when using your ability.

Chapter 39 High School Trio

After accidentally losing his bicycle, it becomes much more difficult for someone to go anywhere.

I queued up at the tram station at Zhachuan Middle School and bought a single ticket, which was only one-third of the price of a regular public bus. Although trams have speed limits in the city, they are twice as fast as regular buses.

The field trip location wasn't particularly far from here, but Natsume Sonoko found that there was a train stop near Zhachuan Middle School, so she was too lazy to walk over.

The tram is not much different from the general Japanese Shinkansen. Most of the tracks are built on viaducts, separated from the living areas below. In the past, Natsume Sonoko was worried that these trams would suddenly derail and fall, but she has never seen similar news in all these years.

After getting on the tram, Natsume Sonoko realized that it was empty.

There aren't many students wandering around at this time, but it's more common to see faculty and staff who don't need to participate in club activities.

"The first club activity has been completed, and now we are still short of an investigation report." Natsume Sonoko was thinking about the club activities. If she handed the investigation report to the club president, Senior Amakusa Yu, she would be able to get this month's credits.

Natsume Sonoko was not in a hurry about the investigation report. There was still a lot of time in this month anyway, and the top priority was to investigate the case of the mysterious disappearance of the bicycle.

"It has actually been included. The action is amazingly fast." Sitting on the train, Natsume Sonoko opened the urban legend website and looked at the latest section on it with some reluctance.

[Eat whales, what kind of secrets are hidden behind the bicycle being lost for no reason]

Another clickbait title?

Natsume Sonoko clicked on the link to the topic page. In addition to the detailed introduction and investigation results, she could also find various related posts below, which fully and objectively recorded the blood and tears history.

[According to reliable sources, a careless Tokiwadai girl's bicycle mysteriously disappeared when she was withdrawing money from an ATM. The author of this post is reporting this to you on the spot]

[A girl on the 3rd Commercial Avenue in the 7th School District witnessed a ghost bicycle moving while buying a cake]

[A third-year student at Zhachuan Middle School lost all his savings in a year, and his newly purchased bicycle mysteriously disappeared]

[I lost my bicycle. What a bad luck]

......

Ignoring the last post which was purely a complaint, Natsume Sonoko felt that there must be a traitor around her, a certain careless Tokiwadai girl, and as expected, it was herself.

Natsume Sonoko silently sent a link to a post to senior Maeda. Not long after, she sent back a picture of herself busying herself, with no intention of giving a direct answer at all.

I originally thought that I could create an urban legend based on these bicycle disappearance cases, but my supernatural powers were ultimately no match for fate.

"Natsume-san, are you there?"

On the train, Natsume Sonoko had just closed the website when she received a message from her married senior schoolmate.

It has been almost a week since the married senior sister was attacked, and I don’t know if the ink on her face has faded.

"Yes, what's up, Senior, after the wedding?"

"Natsume-san, due to some reasons, I can't go out these few days, so I have no choice but to ask you for a small favor." The married senior continued to send messages.

"What help?" Natsume tilted his head.

"Just helping with some shopping."

"It turned out to be shopping. It's no problem. What do you want to help me buy after the marriage, senior?" Natsume Sonoko agreed enthusiastically. Although I don't know why the senior didn't let the family helicopter deliver it directly after the marriage, but She must have her own reasons.

"Go to the pet store and buy some food that little Catherine likes. She has eaten all the food in the dormitory. As you know, little Catherine is growing recently, and her appetite is getting bigger and bigger."

From the words written by the senior sister after marriage, it can be seen that she is not calm, and seems to be happy about the growth of little Catherine.

"Twenty packages of vacuum-packed frozen white mice, sixty in total."

"....Okay, no problem, I'll deliver it when I come to school tomorrow." Natsume Sonoko's finger paused on the send key, and it took a while before sending it out.

I'm going to buy rat strips at the pet store, Natsume Sonoko muttered to herself. Although I have a natural fear of snakes, insects, rats and ants, it shouldn't be that scary if it's packaged.

The tram arrives at the station. Since the vast majority of passengers are students and faculty, the stops along the way are basically named after various schools.

“Learned it at the top of the mountain.”

Natsume Sonoko recalled the map that Hatsuharu had just looked at. The area near this middle school was where the thefts were most frequent.

The door of the tram had not yet opened. Natsume Sonoko carefully checked her appearance. A figure with bright eyes was reflected in the glass of the tram.

Passing by an unknown mountaintop middle school, I could see from afar the junior high school students participating in club activities inside. The members of the track and field club were relatively close to the school fence, so they looked at this stranger whose school uniform didn't fit in with them through the fence with some curiosity.

"In addition to this junior high school, there are five high schools nearby." Natsume Sonoko thought silently. The student dormitories and faculty dormitories nearby are basically for the supply of these schools.

However, Natsume Sonoko's target was not these schools, but the nearby student dormitories and faculty dormitories.

"Although it looks small on the map, the actual area is larger than the school garden." Natsume Sonoko couldn't help complaining after walking a few steps.

There are dormitory buildings everywhere and all kinds of shops nearby, but what is most concerning is that there are many high school students here.

Japan's high school students are a kind of magical creatures. They are involved in saving the world, but of course there are also those who skip classes and club activities to hang out.

Natsume Sonoko didn't walk far before she saw three high school students who had at least skipped their club activities coming towards her from afar. They were arm in arm and looked like they had a very good relationship.

"Ah Shang, we skipped class to come with you to find a bicycle. We think that's very considerate of you."

This is a high school student with light blue sunglasses, wearing a school uniform. He is very tall and has a yellow hedgehog hair, but he looks like a bad boy.

"Yes, Ah Shang, we skipped class today because of you. You have to treat us to dinner this week."