Even if I transform, I will never be captured.

not to mention.

Although the workshop only needs to maintain a minimum level of operation, it does not require many staff.

But given the current situation, it's eerily quiet; we haven't seen a single person along the way.

"—!"

Suddenly remembering something, Misaki Shokuhou took out her phone and started dialing the blond man's number.

However, the call couldn't get through.

All that came through the phone was a continuous busy signal.

As if to confirm the terrifying suspicion in Shokuhou Misaki's mind, Misaka Mikoto spoke up: "The electromagnetic waves around here are very chaotic, and communications are being interfered with. What's going on? It seems the situation here is also very bad... Hey! Shokuhou, where's 9982? Where is that child now?"

Misaki Shokuhou didn't answer, her expression somewhat grim as she whispered, "...We used a diversionary tactic, but it turned out we were the ones who were taken advantage of."

If Misaki Shokuhou had been personally overseeing the operation, the artificial manor wouldn't have been so easily captured.

It can only be said that fate was on Kihara Gensei's side, allowing Satella to arrive at this time, which drew a lot of Shokuhou Misaki's attention.

Chapter 170 The End of the Battle

boom!

A violent explosion suddenly occurred not far from the battlefield between Satella and Kakine Teitoku.

The cause of the explosion is unknown, but fortunately, no ordinary citizens were injured. Only a man and a woman, both with special abilities, were seriously injured.

The man wore strange Saturn rings, and the woman was dressed in a Western-style dress.

Meanwhile, in an empty alley.

"Phew—finally got rid of them, can finally breathe a sigh of relief, meow." Tsuchimikado Motoharu leaned against the wall, slowly slumping down.

“You don’t look like you can relax right now,” Jingce sighed beside him.

Just now, the two of them completed a collaboration.

—The police officer observes the liquid metal doll that can change shape at will, and confirms the location of the two duo from the shadows.

Then, Tsuchimikado Motoharu used the long-range sniping magic [Red Technique] (the one that blew up Touma's old house in the Angel Fall arc) to successfully defeat the [School] duo.

As expected, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, who is an ability user but uses magic, suffered severe injuries and is now bleeding profusely from his abdomen.

"My ability is [physical regeneration], so this level of injury isn't fatal. Didn't I get shot and still be able to stand up before?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu whistled lewdly: "If you really care about me, beautiful lady, you could call an ambulance for me, meow."

"What's the use of calling an ambulance? We're all going to die soon anyway." Jing Ce looked at the black radio waves streaking across the sky and said calmly, "It's already started."

"Meow, that sounds like a terrible plan, meow, but since you and I are no longer of any use to me, why don't you tell me about it, meow?"

"You're not afraid of death at all."

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Keisei chuckled, then said nonchalantly, "Our plan is to upgrade the Railgun to a god."

The calculations of the "tree diagram designer" are correct. Among the seven superpowered individuals, only Accelerator is indeed capable of advancing to the level of an absolute power user.

But that refers to advancing in a stable environment through relatively normal means, without any negative impact.

"But a safe approach won't work. There's also a ruthless one. According to Kihara's calculations, as long as we use the Misaka Network to make Misaka Mikoto's abilities go berserk, we can bring her close to level 6."

"When this level of proximity reaches 100%, Misaka Mikoto will face the destruction of her entire body and personality. However, in the instant of self-destruction, at the cost of losing everything, she will be able to glimpse the realm of God."

"And at that time, the entire Academy City, and even the entire Tokyo, will be buried with Misaka-san, right?"

"But wouldn't you all die then?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu looked completely bewildered.

"I don't care," Keisuke shrugged. "As for Kihara, there's a Chinese saying, 'If I hear the truth in the morning, I can die content in the evening.' For a scientist as crazy as him, being able to personally create an absolute power user, even if he dies, it doesn't matter, right?"

"If that's the case, then why did you come with me to save Last Order?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu, however, posed a new question: "If you initially needed to capture Last Order to carry out your plan, then after Kihara called, you could have completely abandoned Last Order."

"..." Knowing he was doomed, Keisei Kanzaki didn't bother to hide it anymore: "It's all because of that child, she looks just too much like Dolly."

The girl named Dolly is Misaka Mikoto's first clone, numbered zero.

As the first clone, Dolly's existence was not for the "Level 5" project, but rather as an experimental subject to ensure the successful production of subsequent younger sisters.

Therefore, she possesses an independent personality, and as such, she must undergo various cruel experiments every day—she has to take various drugs daily, and her body is covered with instruments.

Even so, Dolly still possessed a positive and optimistic personality, which inspired Keisuke Kanjuro, who was working with her at the [Talent Workshop] at the time.

Kensuke and Dolly became best friends. One day, she overheard a conversation between researchers and learned that they were injecting Dolly with a drug that would accelerate her growth, but this drug would cause Dolly's lifespan to shorten rapidly.

In order to stand up for his friend, the usually fearful researcher decided to negotiate with the talent agency, but was met with ruthless suppression and learned that it was all the decision of the overarching council.

When the police officer was released, the entire research facility was inexplicably empty. None of the researchers were to be seen, and Dolly had already died in the research.

Having escaped from the talent workshop, Keisuke begins a frenzied revenge against the board of directors. After failing to assassinate Aleister, he is imprisoned in a juvenile detention center. A year later, he is bailed out by Kihara Gensei and is determined to show those bastards his fangs.

but……

(Even though I had already made up my mind, I couldn't help but soften when I saw that child's face. This is really...)

"It seems you're not such a bad person at heart."

Meeting the suspicious gaze of the police officer, Tsuchimikado Motoharu shrugged: "Although I don't know what happened to you, if that girl named Dolly is really close to you, she would definitely want you to survive, right?"

"Survive?" Keisuke sat down next to Tsuchimikado Motoharu, looking at the sky with boredom, as if waiting to die: "It's impossible now."

"That's not necessarily true, meow."

Just like two ordinary friends chatting in an alley, Tsuchimikado Motoharu casually said:

"You still know too little about this city. Who knows, right now there might be someone standing in Kihara's way?"

……

……

几分钟前。

The talent is in the room.

The research institute's doors closed automatically after Misaki Shokuhou and the others entered, turning the entire space into a huge, sealed room.

Looking around, there wasn't a single person in sight, only the hum of machinery emanating from the depths of darkness. Rows of instruments lay prostrate on the ground like giant beasts.

"To be honest."

Misaki Shokuhou forced herself to calm down and said to Misaka Mikoto, who was starting to get agitated beside her:

"The situation is quite clear now. Kihara Gensei took over the talent workshop while I was away. Given his cunning nature, he could set any kind of trap. So I suggest we retreat first, gather more people, and at least let me call over the main members of the faction so we can investigate further."

For Misaki Shokuhou, the talent workshop was essentially her dark side, so she never allowed any faction members to set foot there.

Once a bee colony loses its hardworking and battle-hardened worker bees, the lone queen bee actually doesn't have much fighting power.

However, Misaka Mikoto frowned and asked this question in response to Shokuhou Misaki's suggestion.

"Shokuhou-kun, if your investigation is correct, Kihara Gensei's target is the younger sisters, right?"

Seeing that Misaki Shokuhou nodded in agreement, Misaka Mikoto continued:

"Now that they've succeeded, why are they disrupting the electromagnetic waves here, making it seem like they want to fight us here? Could it be that besides my sister, there's something else they want here?"

"—!"

Misaka Mikoto's words were like an electric current, flashing through Shokuhou Misaki's mind and causing her thoughts to race.

(Could it be... that Kihara Gensei's goal is to create an "external brain"?... No, that can't be, no matter what...)

"You must be thinking right now that I can't possibly take away the login rights of the [External Brain] in just a few hours, right, Shokuhou-kun?"

Suddenly, an old and decaying voice resounded throughout the entire research institute via the indoor broadcast system.

At the same time, a hunched figure appeared on the electronic screen.

In short, he was an old man who could be described with every negative word imaginable.

On his face, there was no trace of the kind expression of an old man. His gray hair was combed back, and there were several unsightly scars on his exposed forehead. His eyes were slightly narrowed, giving him a gloomy and decaying appearance.

Appearing on screen alongside him were Misaka 9982, lying unconscious on the rooftop, and a blond man whose fate was unknown.

"Kihara Gensei...!"

"This guy is Kihara Gensei?"

Gritting their teeth and looking on with suspicion and uncertainty, two completely different reactions appeared on the faces of Misaki Shokuhou and Misaka Mikoto.

"Indeed, it takes more than three days to log in to the [External Brain] normally... But, there is an urban legend that I'm sure Misaka-kun is familiar with, right? — An urban legend about the Phantasm Hunter."

"Fantasy Controller?!"

In an instant, a memory surfaced in Misaka Mikoto's mind.

That was an incident that Misaka Mikoto resolved herself several months ago.

The incident was caused by a scientist named Kihara Harumi who invented a gadget called "Imagine Master" in order to save a group of children.

The so-called "Imagine Master" is a piece of music that can forcibly alter human brainwaves.

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This piece of music can forcibly modify a certain brainwave in a person's brain to match the brainwave of the owner of the fantasy master.

When hundreds of people use the Fantasy Hand simultaneously, it's like linking the brainwaves of hundreds of people together, which can effectively enhance the overall computing power.

In addition to enhancing computational abilities, the actual owner of the Phantasm Master can also utilize the abilities of each user.

Several months ago, Kihara Harumi became a 'multi-talented person' who could use a variety of superpowers thanks to the Imagine Breaker.

Could it be that……

"Kihara Harumi is my disciple, you know. I taught her the knowledge of brainwave modulation, so—"

A sinister smile spread across Kihara Gensei's lips: "As long as I use the Imagine Breaker to adjust the brainwave frequency of the [External Brain] to match mine, then the [External Brain] will be mine."

"—!"