One-way traffic

The car stopped the instant the sound ended.

The four immediately got up and opened the car door; they had arrived at the tenth school district.

Stepping out of the car, it didn't seem like a big deal.

The car stopped in an area along the river, surrounded by all sorts of huge shipping containers. Looking further ahead, one could also see a massive building that resembled an astronomical observatory.

This place really has a strong sense of scientific research.

"Be careful, the enemy doesn't know what kind of weapons they will use."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu touched the sunglasses on his forehead with his finger and said.

"If it's a machine that can interfere with the AIM field that can restrict the power of ability users, that would be terrible. Our main force here consists of the two of you ability users, so we also need to worry about the problem of electromagnetic interference."

"Ah, I know."

The first ability user touched the electrode collar around his neck.

Although he possesses the most ferocious and evil ultimate power in the entire Academy City, he cannot function properly if his power is interfered with by radio waves, which will be his most fatal problem.

The four of them walked forward together, and Tsuchimikado Motoharu also turned on his phone.

“I think we shouldn’t be too late to reach the location of that group called ‘Sign’. The guy who called earlier also sent me the corresponding detection app, so we can see the general direction of the enemy now.”

However, as soon as those words were spoken, Tsuchimikado Motoharu's expression froze completely.

Kihara Awaki and Kaihara Mitsuki were taken aback.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"The enemy is right in front of us?"

What are you doing?

The four of them immediately looked up and saw what was in front of them.

do not know when.

A group of masked people dressed in unusual costumes stood in front of them.

Boom! A highly compressed bomb suddenly shot towards them.

"Damn it, were they lying in ambush on us all along?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu quickly retreated, and Kihara Ayaki immediately activated her superpower.

She simply raised her hand, and several trash cans were teleported over, shielding them from most of the impact.

Mitsuki Kaihara shouted loudly to those behind him.

"Accelerator, it's your turn to shine!"

The first ability user didn't need to answer; he silently pressed the black switch on his neck.

—The green light turned into a blood-red hue.

At this very moment, the strongest monster in Academy City has been freed from its cage.

Boom! Relying on some unique power, the number one monster flew into the sky.

The countless enemies in front of him all pointed their weapons at One-Man Army.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—!! Countless impacts burst forth, and a single shell, powerful enough to pierce through a container, slammed directly into Accelerator's body.

But, it's no use.

Just like the anti-tank armor in an online game, the enemy's attack was returned to the target along the same path.

reflection.

That was one of Accelerator's abilities. His superpower was the special ability to control the direction of energy, meaning he could reflect any attack aimed at him in the opposite direction.

Even a nuclear weapon explosion could bounce back without causing any damage.

This is the strongest, most evil, and ultimate superpower in Academy City.

Accompanied by special sound effects, the white-haired, red-eyed demon plummeted rapidly from a height of about twenty meters in a frontal view.

Where are you planning to run off to?

Boom! Countless containers were blown into the air by his impact.

The dozen or so enemies in front of him were simply no match for this level of attack.

"Haha! Are you playing hide-and-seek? You pigs, don't make me laugh!"

With a ferocious smile on his face, the first ability user gently placed his foot on the ground.

He changed the direction of energy, causing the earthquake's magnitude to tear the earth apart in an instant.

All the enemies were blasted into the sky by his simple strike, and were thus brought to him by the hurricane in one fell swoop.

The three men behind them had already run up closely. They looked ahead and saw that more than a dozen enemies were all pointing their weapons at their heads.

Bang! Countless gunshots shocked the four men, who realized that these soldiers seemed to have committed suicide without hesitation.

If that's the case, it would be bad news for them.

Accelerator seized the opportunity and kicked a pebble on the ground at three times the speed of sound.

Crack! The attack tore apart another soldier's arm in an instant, the bloody mess causing him to scream in agony. Immediately afterward, Kihara Tsurugi moved the weapon in his hand to the ground to the side.

The soldier stared wide-eyed at the four men walking towards him, desperately trying to get up and run away.

"Don't rush, middle-aged man."

Crack!! The strongest monster pressed its right hand onto his legs, and before the naked eye could see, the two legs twisted like maltose, and horrifying white bones and nerve fragments instantly spilled all over the ground.

"Let's do something more interesting. You must be curious about what kind of agonizing experience those unlucky guys who get caught on the battlefield go through, right? Huh?!"

Accelerator grabbed the soldier's head and laughed like a demon, but Tsuchimikado Motoharu just waved his hand.

"Don't scare him to death, we still need to ask him questions."

"Tsk."

The four of them simply tossed this most pitiful and unlucky guy onto the ground.

Chapter Three: The Army Divided into Two Groups

It was like hell.

The four thugs perfectly surrounded him in front of the soldiers, his legs were completely useless, and he could do nothing.

Escaping was a complete pipe dream. He hadn't died from blood loss yet, all because of the monster in front of him.

The strongest monster with white hair standing before me.

"I'll give you only one minute. What is your purpose in building that so-called time machine?"

"One, one minute?! No, no! We're just low-level thugs who were dragged in to make up the numbers. We don't know anything at all!"

Before he could finish speaking, a nail appeared on the container next to his forehead.

It was that woman with the red twin tails who did it; she must have very powerful spatial abilities.

"You'd better say something useful, otherwise even a simple steel nail can easily pierce through the gaps along the edge of your ribs."

"I...I understand! As long as you give me the useful information, right?!"

The soldier, or rather the petty thug who had been brought in to fill a quota, immediately widened his eyes and tried his best to recall everything he could remember.

"We were indeed forcibly brought in by those guys to make up the numbers, but we've already had a month of training, which is why we can choose to commit suicide without hesitation... and we weren't that good to begin with."

As he spoke, the thug who had been brought in to fill in quickly pulled open his shirt, revealing something that looked like a bandage on his abdomen.

After seeing all this, the four people all showed thoughtful expressions.

"A wind-up bandage?"

"It seems you guys know what this is. We were all able to become as powerful as before after putting on this thing. The guns we used earlier were also given to us by those guys, so we really don't know anything about it!"

The wind-up bandage is a highly taboo item even within Academy City.

Academy City has combat weapons similar to high-tech exoskeletons, such as Drive Armor. However, the early Drive Armor was too bulky and inconvenient to move around in, so researchers modified the ribbons inside the Drive Armor that supported high-intensity movements.

What you ultimately obtain is an item called the Wind-Up Bandage.

This device can enhance all of a person's physical abilities for a short period of time, even enabling them to perform superhuman movements. However, due to its extremely severe side effects, it is generally not used in Academy City's direct military operations.

Only dark organizations like the Dark Side would choose such a dangerous thing.

"One last question: Where is 'Sign' based?"

"The base... is over there."

He quickly pointed to the lake in the distance, or more accurately, to the bottom of the lake.

"Right beneath the lake lies a completely sealed research institute; we were all released from there!"

"Very good, at least we've obtained some useful information."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu casually tapped his sunglasses, chuckled, and turned away.

"Let's kill him."

"What, what are you doing? Why are you trying to kill me?! I've already given you so much useful information!!"

The man collapsed to the ground as if paralyzed, his face showing an unimaginable desolation.

"I was just a small-time hoodlum who got dragged into this. I... I didn't mean to do anything! I just—"

"Who cares?"

What came into view was a monster, a monster with white hair and red eyes.

That's what the monster said.

"There are far too many tragedies caused by the reckless actions of others in this shit-like city, whether it's me or others here, and we are all complete bastards."

"As such a villain, how dare you say you didn't want to do anything and are innocent? Seriously, that's so lame."

He slammed his right foot into the opponent's chest, sending him flying like a soccer ball, along with the container behind him.

Whether they are alive or dead no longer needs to be confirmed.

"No matter what tragedy caused you to become like this, there is no turning back now."

He didn't immediately shut off his electrodes; Accelerator needed to do other things first.

The four of them gathered at the edge of the lake.

"How about it?"

"According to that idiot, this is the lair of the 'Sign' gang."

"But how should we get down?"

Looking at the boundless lake, Kaihara Mitsuki couldn't help but ponder.

"Even using magic or abilities, it would be difficult for us to dive directly to the bottom of such a deep lake...?"

"No, there's absolutely no need to go into the water."

The next moment.

BOOM! The monster's impact tore the ground apart.

Under the watchful eyes of the other three, the first ability user easily carved out a path that led straight down from the spot.

"Just go down from here. Those guys would at least set up a ventilation route. Just break an entrance here, and you won't need to go into the water at all."

"Haha! No wonder you're number one, you're really powerful, meow."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu chuckled and cocked his pistol.

"Let's go, everyone, get ready to raid the 'Sign' gang's hideout."

————————————————————————————————————————

Just as Accelerator calculated, this is the road leading directly to a certain research institute.

The four of them landed safely underground using Accelerator's abilities. The moment they arrived, the first Accelerator switched the electrodes on his neck back to normal mode.

The battery only lasts for a mere thirty minutes, so we must conserve it as much as possible.

"Looks like this is the place."