Main Group Chat.
Misaka Mikoto: "@Rei Ao, are you there?"
After hesitating for a long time, Misaka Mikoto finally sent a message to Rei Ao.
Rei Ao: "Yes, what's up?"
Misaka Mikoto: "I've looked into those 'Railgun Mass Production Plan' and 'Absolute Power Evolution (Level 6 Shift)' you mentioned."
Stella: "??? Those insane scientific experiments actually exist?"
Misaka Mikoto: "Yes, the information I found is exactly the same as what Rei Ao said."
Busujima Saeko: "So you're not just informing Rei Ao about this, are you?"
Misaka Mikoto: "Mm… I wanted to ask if it's really impossible to destroy their labs?"
Clenching her delicate fist, Misaka Mikoto's eyes burned with an anger that was hard to contain.
Whenever she remembered that a Sister would die in each experiment, fury and guilt threatened to consume her.
Rei Ao: "It's not that it can't be done."
Misaka Mikoto: "Really?"
Misaka Mikoto's eyes lit up.
Kasuga Hijiri: "Wait, didn't you say the enemy is terrifying? Wouldn't it be dangerous for Misaka Mikoto to act so rashly?"
Rei Ao: "There'll be danger, but not too much."
Hiiragi Shinoa: "Why? Didn't you say the other side was very powerful?"
Rei Ao: "Because Misaka Mikoto herself is extremely important to that world. She won't just die so easily."
Frieren: "One person is that important to a world? That's a strange way of putting it."
Sakurajima Mai: "Are we talking about some kind of main-character plot armor?"
Rei Ao: "Something like that, yes."
Rei Ao: "But the key is that the world in question has a unique rule: each individual has their own 'place'—none too many, none too few."
Rei Ao: "Beyond that, in the eyes of certain people, Misaka Mikoto has other significance."
Yukinoshita Yukino: "Simply put, she still has value they can use."
Sui: "Uh… Yukino sounds so calm, but she's giving me chills."
Yomogawa Ayame: "It's like the feeling of being watched by someone the whole time."
Rei Ao: "What Yukino and Ayame said is correct. Mikoto's actions are indeed under the watchful eye of that board chairman, Aleister."
Misaka Mikoto: "??? Are you saying that my investigation has already been discovered?"
Rei Ao: "That's right."
Misaka Mikoto: "Then why haven't I seen any special measures taken against me?"
Rei Ao: "Probably because he doesn't need to act against you yet. He's just observing."
Misaka Mikoto: "…"
Yotsuya Miko: "Wow, being under the constant shadow of conspiracy like this is terrifying."
Izawa Shizue: "It's suffocating."
Bibi Dong: "I've heard a bit about the situation before. Since you know what's happening, Rei Ao, just go ahead and do what needs to be done."
Rei Ao: "Yes, go for it. If something unexpected pops up, come find me."
Rei Ao: "Even if I can't do anything about a 'Magic God' or such, I can at least take you to another world to hide."
Misaka Mikoto: "Got it."
Receiving that answer caused the fire in Misaka Mikoto's eyes to blaze even more intensely. Tonight, she would destroy the first lab whose location she had uncovered.
Shiba Miyuki: "It feels really reassuring to have Rei Ao around."
Rei Ao: "Oh? Miyuki, have you recovered yet?"
"!!!"
At the mention of her condition, Shiba Miyuki—who was on leave from the student council—instantly blushed.
If not for Rei Ao, her body would never have felt so strange.
Quietly griping to herself, she still replied.
Shiba Miyuki: "Yes, I'm already fine."
Rei Ao: "How are things with the Yotsuba family?"
Shiba Miyuki: "Aunt and Mom are in control now. There've been some changes, but everything's stable."
Aside from Mom and Aunt occasionally… trying to marry her off.
Feeling embarrassed, she fled back to the academy.
In the student council room at that moment, Saegusa Mayumi eyed Shiba Miyuki keenly.
She had heard from her own family about the upheaval in the Yotsuba clan.
The higher-ups of the Yotsuba had gone through a massive shake-up.
Shiba Miyuki's mother—once feared and said to be nearing death, the so-called "Ruler of the River of Oblivion"—had made a dominant return.
Together with her younger sister, the current head of the Yotsuba family, Yotsuba Maya, she had carried out sweeping reforms within the family.
Now, the Yotsuba were firmly under their control.
Shiba Miyuki had become the genuine daughter of the clan.
Even Shiba Tatsuya's expulsion from school had perfectly confirmed that fact.
It was clear that Miyuki's mother and aunt were shielding her.
Mayumi felt envious: envious of relatives like that, envious that Miyuki was no longer being exploited by her clan and could choose her own future.
Having finished her leave of absence, Mayumi smiled meaningfully. "Well then, welcome back, Shiba Miyuki. And… congratulations."
"… …"
Shiba Miyuki understood why she was being congratulated, and she fell briefly silent when she saw the envy in Mayumi's eyes.
Because she knew that everything had been brought about by Rei Ao—
be it her mother's return from the brink of death or the way her newly strengthened mother had dealt with those old-timers in the Yotsuba who'd sought to use her.
"Thank you."
Shiba Miyuki smiled brilliantly.
She wasn't just thanking Mayumi; she was thanking Rei Ao as well.
"… …"
On the rubble of a certain building—
Inori watched the group's peaceful chat, a faint smile on her face.
She loved the open exchanges without plotting or scheming.
Even if she didn't speak and just watched, she felt at ease.
Before long, she closed the chat.
Her smile faded.
Peeking out, she gazed through an empty window toward a building not far away.
That was her target: a GHQ base.
She needed to slip in there and acquire something called the "Void Genome."
It wouldn't be easy.
Even from a distance, she could see rows of heavily armed soldiers.
Rushing in blindly would only mean certain death.
She was waiting for news from Tsugumi and the others. Only through careful coordination would she stand a chance of infiltrating successfully.
~~~
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