Or more accurately, Lin Wuming and his group knew that the Misaka Network was powerful, but they had never formed a direct, intuitive understanding of it.
After all, it was difficult for others to personally experience the Misaka Network.
But a moment's thought reveals that the Misaka Network is a key element that Chairman Aleister uses to construct the "Artificial Heaven."
Moreover, in the original work, the Misaka Network that played a role was one with fewer than ten thousand units remaining.
Now, what is providing support to Lin Wuming is a complete "perfect version of the Network" with twenty thousand units!
"Hmm..." Lin Wuming extinguished the flame on his fingertip and did not continue to experiment, instead falling into thought.
—This is a serious situation. If Chairman Aleister knew... would he already know?
Recalling Chairman Aleister's immense power, Lin Wuming felt uncertain.
But one thing was certain: before figuring out the countermeasures, it was better not to expose more information for now.
—What if this was also within Chairman Aleister's calculations? What should he do in the future?
—What if he hadn't noticed this point? What then?
Ultimately, what Lin Wuming needed to decide was only one thing—should he continue to develop the Multi-Talent Ability more deeply?
As an esper, as an esper, Lin Wuming was naturally very interested in "manipulating multiple esper abilitys."
His next stage of improvement was a form of "omniscience"—using Nen to imitate the effects of other abilities.
Now it's good, there's no need to "imitate" anymore. Lin Wuming can directly activate different types of abilities, by using this Necklace Electrode, by using the Misaka Network, and the ability catalog recorded in his brain...
Does this mean he can change his job from a Telekinetic User to a Multi-Talent Ability User?
Without a doubt, this is impossible!
Lin Wuming took off the Necklace Electrode—he could clearly distinguish between what was his foundation and what was merely a "game" that added icing to the cake.
If he were to get carried away and focus his energy on training the Multi-Talent Ability, that would truly be putting the cart before the horse.
Just think about Kiyama Harumi and Sha Danshan from back then; the Multi-Talent Ability couldn't defeat Incomplete Telekinesis—that one point is enough.
"It's just... it really is a very tempting Item." Lin Wuming was a little reluctant, but also very firmly put the Necklace Electrode aside and stopped touching it.
...
"What a shame, he didn't continue to try," a voice said. "It's regrettable that we couldn't collect more valuable data."
In the No Window Building, in the room with the giant test tube, Chairman Aleister remained silent.
"You see, back at Misawa Cram School, due to the obstruction of the special force field, we also failed to collect useful data, only roughly estimating a certain possibility," the voice continued. "Now it seems the Telekinetic User is not very interested in this new toy—your expectations were dashed."
"..." Chairman Aleister still did not respond, as if he hadn't heard the voice that filled the entire room.
"Alright, then what do you plan to do next?"
"Kamijou Touma." Chairman Aleister finally spoke.
"The boy you were hoping for, he's been in a pretty bad state these past few days," the voice said bluntly. "You miscalculated."
"Separate him from Lin Wuming," Chairman Aleister said. "When the two of them appear together, they make what was originally a simple matter much more complicated."
"Is this... your excuse for your miscalculation?"
"Is it an excuse or not? Let's conduct an experiment then," Chairman Aleister said calmly. "Let Kamijou Touma temporarily leave Academy City, and during this period, trigger a certain incident."
After a slight pause, countless screens were instantly projected into the space in front of the giant test tube.
Just like drawing cards, Chairman Aleister randomly selected one "card" and then erased all other screens.
"If my judgment is correct," Chairman Aleister continued, "after the two separate, Lin Wuming will resolve this incident with his usual high efficiency."
"Ha, actually, you just want him to do your work, don't you?"
...
Kamijou Touma's recent situation wasn't too good.
Since Kamijou Touma had forcefully engaged in strenuous activity before his injuries had fully healed, the situation was more akin to a "relapse of an old injury."
After an examination confirmed that his injuries had not worsened, he could return home to recuperate on his own as originally planned.
Therefore, Kamijou Touma had already been discharged again two days ago.
He had also come to bid farewell to Lin Wuming at that time, but Lin Wuming was sound asleep, so he had to give up.
But today—just as Lin Wuming was packing his luggage, preparing to be discharged, Kamijou Touma suddenly arrived in his hospital room...
After a night of observation, Lin Wuming finally confirmed that his "condition" was fine, so he prepared to be discharged and go home.
Then he saw Kamijou Touma sneak in, looking shifty.
Although he was still in a wheelchair, Kamijou Touma's movements were unusually skilled—he opened the door just wide enough for the wheelchair to pass through, then made a 180-degree turn, and was already inside the hospital room, gently closing the door.
Only after hearing the "click" of the door closing did Kamijou Touma seem to relax, letting out a long sigh of relief.
"That's great, I'm saved..." Noticing that only Lin Wuming was in the room and none of those girls were present, Kamijou Touma sighed again, "That's great, how lucky..."
In Kamijou Touma's impression, the girls around Lin Wuming were all quite troublesome types; if they were also present...
Coupled with the inexplicable rumors outside... Kamijou Touma couldn't help but shiver.
"Kamijou..." Lin Wuming looked at this uninvited guest in confusion. "What happened? Are you... being chased?"
Seeing Kamijou Touma's disheveled appearance, Lin Wuming couldn't help but ask.
—So what's this all about now? Was there a corresponding plot in the original work?
"Uh..." Kamijou Touma wanted to explain the situation, but after opening his mouth, he didn't know what to say.
In fact, Kamijou Touma himself hadn't sorted out the situation yet. Fleeing here was, to some extent, a desperate act.
After all, Lin Wuming was also a "party involved"...
"Right!" Thinking of this, Kamijou Touma suddenly had a clue. He rubbed his cheeks, trying hard to perk up.
Then he looked at Lin Wuming seriously: "Wuming, I want to confirm something with you—please don't misunderstand, it's just a simple confirmation of whether this happened or not—so please just tell me 'yes' or 'no' directly."
"What's wrong?" Lin Wuming frowned. "Did you lose your memory?"
"It might be even more serious than that," Kamijou Touma said with a bitter smile. "I want to ask you, Wuming—did I, Kamijou Touma, ever defeat you?"
