Rescue Plan

Luo Yifang flicked Busu Dixin lightly on the forehead. The gun in her hand immediately fell to the floor. She covered her forehead, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. "That hurt."

"Good. You're supposed to know it hurts." Luo Yifang shook his hand irritably. "Luckily, it was me. Otherwise, if you'd fired that shot just now, someone would've died, you know?"

"But..."

"You thought I was sent by those people in the experiment group to clean house?" Luo Yifang shrugged. "I was just messing with you, and you believed it? If they knew you had second thoughts, do you think you'd have made it out of the lab alive so many times?"

"I..." Busu Dixin had wanted to argue, but she realized Luo Yifang made far too much sense. She could not refute him at all.

"Fine. Just tell me where the experiment's main research facility is, and where that bastard with Uncreated Substance is." Luo Yifang picked up the gun and handed it back to Busu Dixin. "And don't fire randomly next time. This time, it was me. If it had been another Level 5, you wouldn't even have gotten the chance to pull the trigger."

Ability Users' bodies were indeed not that different from ordinary people's, at least not to the point where they could take bullets to the face. But their brains were developed to such a high degree that trying to beat them in reaction speed was definitely not a good idea. Just think about how Misaka Mikoto could perform precise calculations and fire Railgun in less than a second. The instant someone reached for a gun, they would probably be charred by a bolt of lightning.

"Um... I don't know where the main research facility is either... I only work in a department specifically responsible for regulating them." Busu Dixin looked helpless. "As for Number 2's whereabouts, I know even less. He only ever seems to appear during experiments, and leaves immediately afterward."

"Maybe I should just deal with you after all." Luo Yifang had spent all that time only to get this little information. His gaze at Busu Dixin was filled with danger.

"W-Wait..." Busu Dixin quietly backed away two steps. "But I already have a plan. It'd be hard to carry out alone, but with you, it'll be much easier."

"Talk."

"This is an experiment intended to raise a Level 5 to a Level 6 Absolute Ability User. But if the test subject is defeated, that proves its 'ability assessment' was inaccurate." Busu Dixin spoke with certainty. "So as long as someone defeats the test subject, the plan will be forced to stop."

"But you seem to have overlooked one problem. I'm Number 1. I'm already stronger than him, so me defeating him won't be used as a reference standard." Luo Yifang frowned. "And those mad scientists would probably be even more eager to see whether Number 2 could crush me if the experiment succeeded."

Busu Dixin's expression stiffened. Luo Yifang was right. In Academy City, anyone could defeat Number 2—except Luo Yifang. Luo Yifang himself was stronger than Kakine Teitoku, so if he defeated Kakine Teitoku, the resulting data might not be accepted, and there was a high chance the experiment would continue. But... bloody scenes of the Misaka Sisters being slaughtered suddenly flashed through Busu Dixin's mind, and a profound sense of helplessness surged up within her. Aside from Luo Yifang, was there anyone else who could defeat that monster?

"Are they really unable to escape this tragic fate..." Busu Dixin sat weakly on the bed and murmured, "Will twenty thousand lives really be swallowed up by so-called scientific research just like that?"

Huh? There were still only twenty thousand Sisters? Luo Yifang froze when he heard Busu Dixin's words. He suddenly felt that Tree Diagram Designer might really be a complete scam. Or perhaps Kakine Teitoku here was about as strong as the original Accelerator?

"The outdoor combat experiment is about to begin... If we don't stop it now, there really won't be any way left." For the first time, Busu Dixin hated her own weakness. She had once been a brilliant genius, but if she could not handle this matter properly, it would absolutely become a shadow that haunted her for the rest of her life.

"Actually, there's another backup plan." Luo Yifang spoke casually. "Remove Number 2 from the equation completely. Then this plan will have no choice but to end."

"What?!" Busu Dixin felt her heart suddenly tighten. "That's impossible. Even if you can defeat Number 2, the Academy City Board of Directors would never allow you to kill a Level 5 esper. He's Academy City's trump card!"

"Tch, can any rotten nobody call himself a trump card?" Luo Yifang found it rather amusing. Although Kakine Teitoku's eventual fate of becoming an Uncreated Substance production machine was indeed quite tragic, that did not erase his sins. And judging by things now, he seemed even worse. "Besides, when did I say I was going to kill him?"

"Then how could you possibly remove Number 2 from the equation?"

Luo Yifang pointed at Busu Dixin's head. "This is the foundation Ability Users rely on to use their powers. Tell me, what would happen if something went wrong here?"

Luo Yifang was clearly smiling, yet that smile sent a chill through Busu Dixin's heart. This guy was no saint either. He wanted to turn Number 2 into a complete cripple. Being left half-dead was far more painful than dying outright. From that moment on, Luo Yifang became someone Busu Dixin knew she absolutely could not provoke. Yet when she thought of the innocent Sisters dying one after another in this experiment, she somehow felt that Luo Yifang's approach was the right one.

"I was supposed to be a cold-blooded experimenter..." Busu Dixin gave a self-mocking smile. "Yet I've come to pity the lab rats... I..."

"The Mass-produced Ability User Plan itself is a mistake." Luo Yifang shook his head. "What does that have to do with you? You were only forced to take part in it. Besides, are the Misaka Sisters really lab rats?"

"Do you know what they say every time I try to help them?" Busu Dixin said quietly. "They say that they're merely artificial things, consumables made for combat and experiments. Each one costs only 180,000 yen, products that can be manufactured on an assembly line with the press of a button."

"Why? Why?!" Busu Dixin sobbed. She had suppressed herself for far too long in the experiment group. "They're just children, not much younger than me! Why does this have to happen?"

Seeing that Busu Dixin was about to cry, Luo Yifang gave an awkward laugh. I really shouldn't have brought this up. "Um, for now, let's finalize the plan and discuss how to deal with this project."