Chance Encounter

After taking out the trash, Luo Yifang suddenly discovered that his ability seemed to have a major side effect. He had no choice but to abandon the idea of going home to lounge around and headed for a fast-food restaurant instead.

"So the 'side effect' you mentioned is... that you get hungry too quickly?" Paqi felt the corner of her mouth twitch.

"Ahem, pay attention. It's that after the enhancement, I consume too much energy and get hungry again. It doesn't happen during combat..." Luo Yifang buried his head in his food, trying to ignore the look the waitress was giving him as though he were some kind of monster.

He had already finished five servings of a set meal. Considering that Luo Yifang did not look particularly muscular, it was an astonishing amount. Some of the nearby customers had even stopped eating to stare at him. Fortunately, after hurriedly wolfing down the fifth meal, Luo Yifang finally felt his hunger subside.

And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, Academy City's No. 1 slunk away in embarrassment. What Luo Yifang did not expect was that his ravenous spending spree would actually make the restaurant considerably more popular in the future.

Now more or less full, Luo Yifang walked down the street while listening to Paqi's laughter in his mind. "You should've seen it just now. That waitress looked at you like you were a pig!"

"If I ate slowly, I could've stayed there all afternoon..." Luo Yifang was speechless. He had instinctively overlooked the massive amount of energy consumed by enhancement. Before he fully understood his ability, he could only replenish his body's expenditure through basic eating. However, Luo Yifang had noticed something: based on what he had eaten, it was nowhere near enough to make up for the energy used by enhancement. So where had the rest of the energy come from?

As he pondered the various abnormalities of his new ability, he did not forget to spread out his Vector Shield. It was precisely because this ability was deployed that he possessed nearly invincible reflective power. But with Luo Yifang's current ability, it was no longer merely reflection. His further increase in power had made vectors into his "eyes" and even his "ears." Even if he closed his eyes now, it would not affect his movements in the slightest.

But Luo Yifang had not deployed the Vector Shield for any other reason. It simply had an air-conditioner-like function, except far more versatile. Temperature, humidity, and even lighting were all kept at levels most comfortable for the human body. After all, it was apparently May or June, and the weather was somewhat hot.

After withdrawing some cash from the bank to keep on hand, Luo Yifang turned into a deep alley without even raising his head. The blazing sunlight outside was blocked by the tall buildings on both sides, making the alley pleasantly cool. However, the surroundings seemed a little too quiet. Luo Yifang remained distracted until Paqi's warning sounded in his ear.

"Hey, Luo Yifang, it looks like two people are coming from in front of you... Mm, and there are two behind you now."

"Oh." Luo Yifang still looked utterly nonchalant. In truth, he had long noticed that he was being tailed. He had only turned into this alley to make it easier to deal with them. He did not want to lead several delinquents back to his dorm. He might have Vector Manipulation, but his house did not. A single physics Holy Sword would probably be enough to pry it open.

"Looks like they spotted me when I withdrew money at the bank. Tch, what a pain!" Luo Yifang ruffled his hair with an impatient expression. His build had nothing to do with being burly; he even looked somewhat thin. After all, his muscles were nothing like those of bodybuilders. He looked exactly like a frail student, and since he had gone alone to withdraw cash, it would have been strange if he had not been targeted.

Unfortunately, he definitely would not be the unlucky one today.

The two delinquents approaching Luo Yifang from the front wore smug, roguish expressions. One had a cigarette dangling from his mouth and looked as though he thought he was king of the world, the kind of face that made people want to slap him on sight. "Yo, kid, you look pretty loaded. Lend your big brothers a little cash, yeah?"

Luo Yifang glanced at the two people behind him, who were trying to block off his escape route, then swept his gaze over the two in front as though they were idiots. "Pretty practiced at this, aren't you?"

"Heh, you cocky little brat, your bones seem a little stiff. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll loosen them up for you. I'll only charge you a hundred thousand." The other man gave a strange laugh, clenched his fist, and moved in to punch Luo Yifang.

Just as his fist was about to enter the reflection range, a flash of blue light suddenly flickered at the alley entrance. Luo Yifang did not move, but the idiot rushing at him to throw a punch began convulsing as though electrocuted and collapsed limply to the ground.

"The Disciplinary Committee!" The smoker was startled, and his cigarette fell to the ground. Naturally, with no concern for the environment, he did not pick it up. Instead, he snapped, "The Disciplinary Committee thinks it's so great, huh?!" With that, he stepped past Luo Yifang and charged toward the figure at the alley entrance with the remaining two delinquents. A ball of flames flared up in his hand at the same time.

Raising an eyebrow, Luo Yifang had already clearly seen the person standing at the alley entrance, as well as her distinctive short chestnut-brown hair. A memory instantly surfaced in his mind, and he could not help feeling sorry for the three idiots charging forward. "The one with Fire Control seems to be a Level 3... Still, they're really unlucky."

Luo Yifang nodded thoughtfully. Something else had piqued his interest, so he stopped caring about the three delinquents' miserable fate. After kicking aside the one lying on the ground pretending to be dead, he casually strode off and disappeared at the other end of the alley. "That guy was pretty lucky. If that punch had landed, getting shocked would've been the least of his worries."

Less than half a minute after Luo Yifang left, the remaining three delinquents had also all collapsed, smelling of scorched flesh. Even the Level 3 strong esper was no exception.

"Hmph, a Level 3 strong esper doing this kind of thing?!" Misaka Mikoto looked at the delinquent on the ground with disgust. "Seriously, has Academy City's control over espers become this lax now?"

Misaka Mikoto dusted off her hands, while blue arcs of electricity silently danced between the ends of her hair. Even though she had just faced three delinquents who looked far stronger than her physically, she had dealt with all of them in less than thirty seconds. Her clothes were not even particularly disheveled.

"Good thing I got here in time, or that guy just now... Huh? Where's the boy who was surrounded?" Misaka Mikoto froze, seeming quite surprised by Luo Yifang's departure. "That guy... couldn't have quietly run away on his own, could he..."

Thinking that she had worked hard to save someone and fight crime, only to not even hear a word of thanks, Misaka Mikoto felt inexplicably irritated. It was not as though she did Disciplinary Committee work for a thank-you, but still, this kind of thing had happened a few times before. At least those people had hesitated or warned her to be careful. But this time, that guy had left without a second thought.

"Honestly, why am I this annoyed?" Looking at the delinquents lying all around, Misaka Mikoto felt no sense of accomplishment at all. Instead, she began complaining about Luo Yifang sneaking off.

What Misaka Mikoto did not know was that she had not actually saved the person she thought had "slipped away." She had saved the four delinquents lying on the ground. Otherwise, getting beaten up would have been the least of their worries. If they had not needed to be carried to the hospital for disability certificates afterward, they would have gotten off lightly!

—Still, these four guys were unbelievably unlucky. They had just tried to rob the Level 5 No. 1, only to get thoroughly beaten up by the arriving Level 5 No. 3 right afterward. Well, it had to be said that this was truly something no one else could ever hope to learn in a lifetime!