The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

"Kihara Tsuki, where are you?"

"That useless woman injured her hand and is getting it bandaged now."

It wasn't Kihara Tsuyoshi who spoke, but Accelerator.

After leaving the administration building of the first school district, Accelerator took Kisaki Tamaki to a nearby hospital.

Her arm injury was quite severe; if Accelerator's hand left her skin and he stopped using his powers on her, a large amount of blood would flow out again.

If left unattended, these hands might even become useless.

Of course, Accelerator's argument is that if you can't use spatial abilities because of pain, then there's no need to bring you along.

So, naturally, they brought Kihara Aki to the hospital.

At this moment, the doctor had just applied the prepared medicine to Jie Biao Danxi's arm and was performing a simple bandage.

Upon hearing his phone ring, Accelerator took out his phone and looked at it, only to find that it wasn't a call from his side.

Kihara Ayaki also noticed that it was her phone ringing, but her hands were not in a good position to answer the call at the moment.

Frowning slightly and hesitating for a moment, considering the critical circumstances, Kihara Tsurugi still said to Accelerator expressionlessly:

"My phone is in my skirt pocket. Could you please answer this call for me?"

"Tsk!"

Accelerator's hand holding the phone trembled, then he clicked his tongue in annoyance, walked over to Kihara Ayaki, and with a look of disgust, reached out to touch Kihara Ayaki's skirt to confirm the location of the phone.

Accelerator is male.

He doesn't interact with many people on a daily basis, and even fewer women. Since he has never worn women's clothes, he naturally couldn't know where the pockets of that kind of skirt were. He could only feel around a few times to locate the phone before he could put his hand inside the girl's skirt.

After a quick groping, Accelerator found a hard object on the right side of Kihara Ayaki's thigh. Without thinking much, he reached into Kihara Ayaki's skirt and took out her phone.

The call was from Yun Chuanqin.

Accelerator was talking to Serahi Kumokawa, and while he was looking down on Ayaka Kihara for being useless, he also gave Ayaka Kihara, who was sitting on a stool receiving bandages from the doctor, a look of utter disdain.

Upon seeing this, Accelerator's face instantly fell, displaying a look of disgust as if he had swallowed a fly.

Huh? What's with that lustful look on that woman's face?

Why are you blushing?

That's disgusting!

I've already tried my best not to touch her body, so what's with this disgusting expression?

Tsk! What a boring woman!

Ignoring the blushing, fidgety Kihara Awaki, Accelerator walked to the window, looked at the night view outside, and said to Kumokawa Sera:

"If they're in a hurry for us to go back, we'll have to wait until that stupid woman finishes bandaging herself. She probably can't use her powers right now..."

"No, the plans have changed."

Yun Chuanqin interrupted Accelerator's incessant chatter and continued:

"Accelerator, you and Kihara Ayaki continue the mission. We've already located the two directors. Unfortunately, they've been separated and imprisoned. Director Okafune is being handled by Saten and Shirai. You and Kihara Ayaki go directly to Triva Theological Seminary in the 15th District. Mr. Beiji is being held in the chapel of that school."

"Tch! I get it..."

Snapped!

Before she could finish speaking, Yun Chuanqin had already hung up the phone.

Accelerator's lips twitched violently twice.

It seems like he's usually the one hanging up on others, and this is the first time he's been hung up on.

Chapter 439 Does ability really matter?

The 17th school district, the surface above the research institute.

Here are rows of neatly planned factories, each windowless building housing a small factory.

Feng Zhanbinghua stood atop one of the windowless buildings.

White light spots gradually emanated from her body, enveloping the entire building and extending outwards, forming a nearly transparent protective membrane within a radius of 500 meters.

Just then, the sound of the propeller spinning at high speed drew closer, already above the research institute.

Immediately afterwards, without hesitation, they launched an indiscriminate attack on the industrial area below!

Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!

A sound similar to a bullet hitting a steel plate rang out above Kazakiri Hyouka.

The bullet hit the protective film, then exploded in a burst of sparks and was deflected.

The expected result.

Now, Kazezaki Hyouka has entered the state of Shusui Kazezaki, whose strength is comparable to that of an archangel. The protective membrane formed by Shusui Kazezaki is so strong that even the killing weapon worth 25 billion yen, the 'Six Wings', cannot break through it.

Kazakiri Hyouka's appearance here was not arranged by Unkawa Seriya.

All Kumokawa Sera knew was that on September 30th, an angel-like creature appeared in Academy City, but she had no idea where it came from.

Angels, Aiwass—these top-secret pieces of information are not known to everyone, even within the Council.

Yun Chuanqin is merely a strategist for the council and has no access to these matters.

The reason why Kazakiri Ice Flower is standing here in the form of Kazakiri is because of Misaka Mikoto.

The younger sisters who remained in Academy City, including Last Order, the Commander, were already aware of the crisis Inoue Eika was currently facing.

All the sisters in the Misaka Network share memories, so naturally the other sisters scattered around the world also know about the situation here.

They genuinely wanted to protect Inoue Hideka and spontaneously reached a consensus.

The fuse that was thus unlocked in Kazakiri Hyouka's body meant that there was no need to inject the virus into Last Order's brain.

Moreover, in this state, Kazakiri Hyouka's consciousness will not be taken away.

She now stands on the rooftop of the industrial building in the 17th school district, protecting the people inside the research institute who need her protection, all by her own will.

The aerial barrage from unmanned helicopters relentlessly bombarded the protective shield, producing a constant series of banging sounds, but it was utterly unable to penetrate its defenses.

The guards and powered armor outside the underground entrance of the research institute, as well as the disciplinary committee members and ordinary ability users with angry expressions, were also blocked outside the protective membrane and could not move an inch. They could only stomp their feet in frustration, looking at the faintly visible protective membrane that emitted light with confusion and resentment.

------

After using her spatial abilities to send Kazakiri Hyouka to the rooftop of the building, Shirai Kuroko teleported out of the research institute with Saten Ruiko.

Avoiding the crowd that almost completely surrounded the research institute, Shirai Kuroko and Saten Ruiko quickly headed towards the place where the research institute was being held.

Ruiko Saten was no stranger to the 21st school district.

I've been here twice with Inoue Hideka, and once with Misaka Dori.

For Saten Ruiko, Misaka Dori was at a crossroads in her life, struggling with confusion and the meaning of her existence.

In order to comfort Misaka Dori and help her feel the beauty of life, Saten Ruiko brought Misaka Dori to this place that held special significance for her and brought her endless emotions and beautiful memories.

In addition, the 21st school district is also the location where the board of trustees, consisting of one of the twelve board members, usually rests on the boat.

Unlike other school districts, this school district has the only mountainous area in Academy City.

The altitude isn't very high; the highest point on the mountaintop is only about 200 meters.

School District 21 is renowned as a base for water resources and botany research, and it is also well-known in astronomy.

The observatory, located halfway up the mountain, was originally the exact spot where the boats would rest.

Not only Yun Chuanqin, but even Inoue Eika, a transmigrator, never imagined that Shiogishi would imprison Shinsenmochi in her home.

Perhaps this is what they mean by the most dangerous place being the safest place?

A parking lot was built not far from the observatory.

Shirai Kuroko and Saten Ruiko teleported to an empty car in the parking lot, where they hid and secretly observed the situation inside the observatory.

There don't seem to be many guards.

However, it's obvious that this is just a superficial phenomenon.

In order to avoid being searched by Inoue Eika and others, Shiogishi would never openly deploy guards.

Because doing so would be tantamount to telling Inoue Hideka that Osafune Monaka or Kaizumi Tsutomu are being held here.

"There might be a device that targets ability users. That bastard Chao'an is a despicable person. He tried to use a device that targets ability users against me and Yinghua when we were in the hospital."

Saten Ruiko sat in the passenger seat, staring at the seemingly calm observatory building, and said indignantly.

"It's not just a possibility, it's a certainty!"

Shirai Kuroko pondered, confirming Saten Ruiko's guess.

"Academy City has a total of seven Level 5 espers: the first, third, fifth, and seventh, plus the fourth who switched sides at the last minute, and... you, Saten, who actually possesses Level 5 abilities, are all on our side. As for the remaining ones, the second is dead, and the sixth is missing. It's fair to say that the Council is at a complete disadvantage in terms of abilities. I can't think of any reason why the Council wouldn't use equipment designed for Level 5 espers... unless all the council members are idiots!"

"That's true."

As expected, Saten Ruiko was not good at battle analysis and strategy formulation. After hearing Shirai Kuroko's analysis, she scratched her head in distress.

"So what do we do now? Hmm... As expected, even those with abilities have their troubles! If I were still a non-ability user, I wouldn't have to be afraid of that damn thing! Huh?"

As she spoke, Saten Ruiko seemed to suddenly realize something and let out a surprised "Eh."

"What's wrong, Saten? What did you find?" Shirai Kuroko asked nervously.

"Ah...it's nothing. I just suddenly remembered that with Shokuhou-senpai's help, I've already become a powerful esper, but Eika has never paid attention to her abilities. Is it because of this esper device that she deliberately doesn't improve her abilities?"

Saten Ruiko rested her chin on her hand, seriously considering the correctness of her guess.

"Impossible, right? How could that freak have such foresight? Although it's true that devices for ability users are troublesome, how many people can resist the temptation of power and instead choose to remain powerless?"

Upon hearing this, Shirai Kuroko's face flashed with disdain, and a series of unsavory images of Inoue Hideka flashed through her mind, causing her expression to turn ugly.

Shirai Kuroko quickly shook her head, trying to expel the filth from her mind, and pursed her lips, steer the conversation back to the main topic:

"If only I could pinpoint the location of everyone inside the observatory, I could subdue them even if they were here..."

Ruiko Saten is thinking about her abilities.

She clearly remembered that her improved abilities were due to Inoue Eika asking Shokuhou Misaki for help, which gave her the opportunity to fully develop her abilities.