Busu Dixin, as usual, took out her key and opened the door to her dorm apartment. After setting down her handbag, she was about to change shoes when, the instant she bent down, she heard a sudden beeping sound.
Alarm bells immediately rang in her mind. She lowered herself and rolled straight out of the room.
The moment she escaped, something inside the room exploded, and a large amount of red smoke spilled out.
Damn it? Not just a bomb? A poison gas bomb?!
Busu Dixin only had time to barely cover her mouth and nose, but she still inhaled a small amount of the red smoke. She hurriedly ran away from her room, but as she panted by the emergency stairs, she realized that her limbs were gradually slipping out of her control.
This is bad... an anesthetic bomb! They want to capture me alive? Has my whereabouts been exposed?!
Busu Dixin's pupils began to lose focus, and her vision gradually blurred. Before she completely lost consciousness, as she collapsed onto the ground, she vaguely heard two girls talking nearby.
"Ah, that was super easy! Frenda, you really did an amazing job this time!"
"Not yet, not yet, it was a piece of cake! I thought it was going to be some difficult mission, but it still ended up this easy!"
So I really was exposed... But the Sisters...
That Accelerator... can he really be trusted...? But he's all I can rely on now...
"Achoo!"
Luo Yifang rubbed his nose and asked in confusion, "What's been going on lately? Could it be that some beauty has been thinking about me?"
Paqi looked utterly disappointed. "You? Forget it. You spend over ten times as much time staying home and surfing the internet as you do going outside. Do you seriously think your teammates are girls? For all you know, they're some burly dude picking his feet with a voice changer on!"
A disgustingly vivid image suddenly came to mind. Luo Yifang's face darkened like coal. "Hey, don't talk about that right after I've eaten. It's making me sick..."
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Say it without spelling it out, and we can still be friends." Luo Yifang's face was covered in black lines, but there was really nothing he could do about an assistant as loose-tongued as Paqi. "Forget it. Might as well do some post-meal exercise. Has Misaka 9982 arrived at the experiment site?"
"Well, she's in the alley right in front of us. There are still a few minutes before the scheduled experiment time..."
"Got it."
Time rewound several hours. More than ten minutes before Saten Ruiko arrived, Luo Yifang had allowed Misaka 9982 to go out for a walk on her own—or so Misaka 9982 had said. What she truly wanted was to continue the experiment.
"Farewell, Mr. Accelerator."
That was the last thing Misaka 9982 said to Luo Yifang before leaving.
However, the timeline had long since become absurd beyond recognition due to a certain gentleman's influence. This time, the one Misaka 9982 truly needed to bid farewell to was this godawful experiment...
"The place where I sensed that electromagnetic wave just now... was here, right?" Misaka Mikoto braced her hands on her knees and panted heavily. Running all the way back here from the station in one go had not been easy.
The instant she looked up, she froze completely.
"You've... got to be kidding me?!"
"Huh? Onee-sama?" The girl who seemed to have stepped out of a mirror tilted her head as she looked at the dumbfounded Misaka Mikoto.
Misaka Mikoto tremblingly raised an arm, pointed at the Misaka Sister, and said with difficulty, "Y-you... are you my clone?!"
"Yes."
She admitted it awfully readily! Misaka Mikoto froze for a moment, then immediately realized that this was not what she should be concerned about.
"Wait, you got me sidetracked!" Shaking her head to cast the strange thought from her mind, Misaka Mikoto asked, "Wasn't that project frozen? Why are there still clones like you?!"
"Onee-sama is not a person connected to the experiment and cannot be informed."
Suppressing the fury inside her that wanted to take out the experiment personnel, Misaka Mikoto placed a hand on the Misaka Sister's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Hey, you. Do you have to force me to do this?"
"Mr. Accelerator said that if I encountered Onee-sama, I should run away. It seems that really was the right thing to do, Misaka said troubledly."
Nani?! Mr. Accelerator... Could that be... Luo Yifang?! Why would he say something like that to my clone... Wait, the one he took away last time...
Could he be involved in this project?!
Misaka Mikoto hurriedly took out her phone and tried to find Luo Yifang's number, only to discover that his name was not in her contact list at all.
She suddenly remembered the time Shirai Kuroko had taken her phone and kept it for a long while, and immediately understood what had happened.
But now was not the time to dwell on such things!
Misaka Mikoto gritted her teeth and immediately dialed another number. "Hello, is this..."
The sound of "tick-tock, tick-tock" rang leisurely outside the phone booth. The merciless time marked by the hands had now reached nine in the evening.
Misaka Mikoto unplugged the PDA data cable, shoved open the phone booth door, and stared in horror at the clock hand that had already passed nine.
This is bad... I have to get there right away!
She rushed nonstop to the experiment address she had cracked, and as Misaka Mikoto looked at the empty alley, she let out a slight sigh of relief—
Of course, a ridiculous plan like that had to be a lie...
A crisp crack sounded beneath Misaka Mikoto's feet. She looked down in confusion, and the shattered goggles instantly made her heart tighten.
Could it be...? A terrible premonition filled Misaka Mikoto's heart. At that moment, a string of explosions sounded from somewhere nearby. Her heart lurched, and she immediately turned and ran toward the source.
Luo Yifang, if it really is you, then even if it costs me my life, I'll make you pay!
"Well, done running?"
"Heh, running? I just needed somewhere with enough room to cut loose... Isn't that right, Kakine Teitoku?"
"Oh? Since you used my full name instead of calling me 'Uncreated Substance,' I'll leave you an intact corpse."
"You really do talk big. Hey, Misaka, hide for now. I accidentally broke those goggles earlier, so I'll get you a replacement in a few days."
"Okay, Misaka said calmly, though she was actually very worried about Mr. Accelerator."
"Wait? Mr. Accelerator? You're... the No. 1, Accelerator?!"
"Well, someone did used to call me that, but now..."
Luo Yifang gave a wicked smile. The aura belonging to the No. 1, Accelerator, erupted uncontrollably. "Now then, count your sins..."
Before you continue