"Please be careful, Your Majesty." Kazakiri Hyouka quickly stopped Shokuhou Misaki, who was trying to approach the armored vehicle. "This building could collapse at any moment..."
"I just wanted to check inside the cockpit." Shokuhou Misaki frowned, pointing at the armored vehicle lying in the ruins.
"Let me do it." Kazakiri Hyouka volunteered.
"Hmm... alright, Runzi-jie, please be careful too." Shokuhou Misaki nodded. "If you find anything special, remember to bring it down for me to examine."
Shokuhou Misaki's Memory Retrieval could uncover many things. If she was lucky, it wouldn't be impossible to directly pinpoint the mastermind.
Especially... when looking for clues with the answer already in hand.
—Lin Wuming-senpai, what do you think...
Lin Wuming looked up at the armored vehicle in front of him and nodded slightly—Yes, the "Revolutionary Unknown" incident, the Dark Side Organization Study, Youfu Chunshu, that's probably what this is about.
Unmanned operation, armored vehicle. The moment he heard these two keywords, Lin Wuming immediately thought of the corresponding plot in the original work.
—I didn't expect it to actually happen...
As early as two years ago, when Lin Wuming learned of the existence of the Study Group, he had intentionally controlled and suppressed them.
Or, to be precise, he influenced the Anti-Skill's decisions to reduce their reliance on the Study Group, thereby diminishing the Study Group's influence over the Anti-Skill.
Currently, the Anti-Skill's equipment suppliers include three to four different companies. The Study Group is only one of them, and not the one with the largest share.
Especially for armored vehicles, although the Study Group had an undeniable technical advantage, they only secured half of the market share.
In this situation, if the Study Group still wanted to cause trouble, the damage they could inflict would be greatly reduced.
After that, Lin Wuming also occasionally paid attention to the development of the Study Group, but he never found anything abnormal. As a normally operating company, Lin Wuming had no reason to actually do anything to them.
He had initially thought that the "Revolutionary Unknown" incident would disappear due to his prior influence—after all, this arc in the original work was also an original plot, and its importance... was not high.
But he didn't expect that they were still intent on mischief!
In fact, because they sensed the Anti-Skill's apprehension, Study's actions became even more covert.
"Wuming-gege, long time no see!" Kinuhata Saiai jumped in front of Lin Wuming, greeting him with a smile.
"Long time no see. How have you been lately?" Lin Wuming also observed the girl in front of him.
"Don't worry, we've taken very good care of Kinuhata Saiai!" Frenda also chimed in. It seemed she knew Lin Wuming wouldn't suddenly strike, so she was much bolder. "Lin Wuming-senpai, Our leader wants to know how you want to handle this incident?"
She was there to deliver a message. Even without considering the disparity in strength, Lin Wuming's identity as a Toku Ko Ri Shi was something Mugino Shizuri was unwilling to easily offend.
However, with Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki, two Level 5s, eyeing him, Mugino Shizuri, as Our side's main general, found it inconvenient to approach directly.
Frenda, the "mascot," was perfectly suited to act as a messenger.
"Oh, by the way, Kihara, Mugino wants you to go up and check too." Frenda added, pointing to the armored vehicle nearby.
—Even if they had implicitly agreed to Lin Wuming's leadership, they couldn't completely fall into a passive position.
"Understood, leave it to me!" Kinuhata Saiai nodded, then lightly jumped onto the armored vehicle.
A moment later, Kazakiri Hyouka and Kinuhata Saiai jumped down, carrying a strange crystal.
"We found this in the cockpit." Kazakiri Hyouka displayed the orange-yellow crystal to everyone present.
"This..." Frenda asked, "Is it related to this incident? In the end, could it just be accidentally left in the cockpit?"
"I can't be sure," Kazakiri Hyouka shook her head. "But when I went up, I found that the control panel of this machine wasn't even powered on. It doesn't look like it was remotely operated."
Misaka Mikoto immediately said, "That's simple, I'll go check it out."
"Wait!" Shokuhou Misaki called out to her. "Perhaps you won't need to make a move."
"That's right," Kinuhata Saiai nodded. "If we rule out remote operation, then there's only one possibility left, isn't there?"
"esper ability." Someone in the crowd whispered.
Yes, this is Academy City. When encountering "unreasonable" things, explaining them with esper ability is the first reaction for most people.
"Understood, I'll take a look." Takitsubo Rikou stepped forward, took the crystal, and then looked at Shokuhou Misaki. "Shokuhou, do you mind?"
"Please do." Shokuhou Misaki shrugged.
She had already noticed a thin, "hair-like" object within the orange-yellow "crystal."
No, that *was* a strand of hair—if the plot was still unfolding according to the original work.
"Lin Wuming-senpai~" Shokuhou Misaki suddenly leaned in and whispered into Lin Wuming's ear, "Leave this incident to us. You just got out of the hospital, so it's better for you to go home and rest."
"Are you sure?" Lin Wuming looked at the girl.
—Are you sure this is the "Revolutionary Unknown" incident?
"Probably, no problem." Shokuhou Misaki nodded. "After all~ with ample evidence now and so many people here, there are plenty of ways to find out the truth."
"That's true." Lin Wuming glanced at the group of girls present.
Except for Frenda and Saten Ruiko, none were below Level 4.
With such a force, there would be no problem in directly flattening the Study Group.
"Mm-hmm, leave it to me, you can rest assured!" Shokuhou Misaki guaranteed. "If the investigation goes smoothly, I'm confident I can resolve all issues within two days."
Indeed, since the mastermind was already known, all that needed to be done was to gather sufficient evidence.
Recalling the relevant plot of "Revolutionary Unknown" and the final solution, Lin Wuming confirmed that he had little interest in this incident.
Aside from being somewhat concerned about the whereabouts and safety of the two artificial human sisters, Febri and Janie, Lin Wuming had no other thoughts about Youfu Chunshu's plan.
Even as enemies, Study was no longer a threat.
Their only trump card was probably dozens, even hundreds, of Atomic Destroyer FIVE_Over units.
A year ago, they might have posed some threat to Lin Wuming; but now...
They could only be considered opponents that failed to excite Lin Wuming.
Shokuhou Misaki sent Lin Wuming home in her private car, then turned to face the Item quartet.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, then smiled brightly: "Alright, Mugino Shizuri-senpai~ Let's have a pleasant cooperation~"
..." On the other side, even though there was one less Level 5, Mugino Shizuri felt the situation had become even more troublesome.
