After resolving the enemy's attack, Lin Wuming turned, picked up Hu Feng Toumi, and quickly retreated.
Even without her Nen, Absolute Penetration, Hu Feng Toumi was still an excellent and powerful warrior.
However, her attacks had limited effect against the "robots."
Hu Feng Toumi was well aware of this; despite her unwillingness, she didn't force the issue. Instead, she cooperated by pressing close to Lin Wuming, allowing him to carry her away.
Perhaps due to using the Electromaster ability, Lin Wuming's body was enveloped in an electric field, making Hu Feng Toumi feel a little tingly.
Therefore, when Lin Wuming threw the girl from his arms, Hu Feng Toumi lost her footing, stumbled, and fell to the ground.
Fortunately, she regained control of her body under the impact, rolled once, and quickly got back up.
The stairwell was right in front of them.
"Upstairs, catch them!" Lin Wuming said rapidly, "I haven't sensed a second FIVE_Over, but still be careful!"
"Leave it to me," Hu Feng Toumi said without hesitation, diving into the stairwell.
"Very good, then..."
Watching the girl's disappearing figure, Lin Wuming stopped running and turned to face the closely pursuing FIVE_Over.
There were two ways to resolve the current crisis.
One was to destroy the Ability Decline device.
Coincidentally, this was precisely what Lin Wuming's current Electromaster ability excelled at.
As long as Ability Decline stopped functioning, Lin Wuming would regain his original strength, transforming from a "third-rate Electromaster" back into a Level 5 Telekinetic User.
At that point, a mere FIVE_Over would be no problem at all.
The other plan was to strike directly at the core, bypass the FIVE_Over's obstruction, go upstairs, find, and defeat the mastermind.
As long as the masterminds behind this incident were eliminated, the current problem would naturally resolve itself.
To be safe, Lin Wuming decided to pursue both approaches simultaneously.
Of course, it was also to accommodate Hu Feng Toumi's feelings.
Hu Feng Toumi's ability was truly unsuitable for dealing with enemies like robots and FIVE_Overs; this encounter had been too passive and embarrassing for her.
Based on Lin Wuming's understanding of her, that girl would probably explode with anger—if he didn't give her an outlet to vent.
So, he let her handle the enemies hiding on the upper floors—professionals do professional things, and Hu Feng Toumi was best at dealing with "human" enemies.
"Leaving only one FIVE_Over to defend the entire building is your most fatal mistake!" Lin Wuming rubbed his fingers, and a ball of electric light, as if substantial, formed a small sphere between his fingers.
Lin Wuming found his use of the Electromaster ability becoming increasingly proficient, almost... like when he used his Nen.
"This..." The moment he realized this, a strong sense of unease, even fear, suddenly surged in Lin Wuming's heart.
—What exactly is a esper ability? Can each person truly only possess one esper ability?
In that instant, he seemed to glimpse something ineffable—the essence of this world.
Truth, Dao, profound mystery... such words filled his mind.
It wasn't until the FIVE_Over once again fired a Railgun, creating a "fatal crisis," that Lin Wuming was jolted awake from that inexplicable state.
Coming back to his senses, Lin Wuming quickly raised his hand, seemingly wanting to block the projectile heading towards him with his palm...
And he did block it—the electric light surging from his palm acted like a thick cushion, catching the Railgun's projectile and rapidly draining its energy.
By the time it reached Lin Wuming's palm, the projectile's kinetic energy was completely exhausted, and he snatched it.
Pinching the bottle-cap-sized metal projectile, Lin Wuming looked at the FIVE_Over not far opposite him.
Although the multi-legged robot continued to fire more projectiles, Lin Wuming no longer cared.
—Those projectiles posed no threat.
Lin Wuming made his judgment inwardly, while flicking the projectile in his hand in his most familiar way.
Railgun... no, Mind Power Acceleration Cannon—Electromagnetic Cannon Version—Fire!
Boom!
A violent explosion swept through the entire floor, even causing the entire building to tremble.
The projectile Lin Wuming fired crushed the subsequent projectiles launched by the FIVE_Over, and then obliterated the FIVE_Over itself.
Finally, its momentum undiminished, it penetrated all the walls behind it, until it flew out of the building...
"Done," Lin Wuming looked down at his right hand, the tingling sensation from the strong current feeling like a mere illusion.
He twirled his fingers again, but this time no electric light appeared.
"Heh, so esper ability is also such a subjective power?" Lin Wuming lowered his hand and shook his head.
Taking a step, Lin Wuming walked to the FIVE_Over's wreckage, confirming that it had been completely destroyed and had no possibility of revival.
Click, Lin Wuming removed the Necklace Electrode from his neck.
Then he reached out and pointed at a part scattered on the ground, beckoning with his finger.
Under the pull of an invisible force, that small gear flew into Lin Wuming's hand.
"Tsk, this is... unbelievable," Lin Wuming muttered softly to himself, toying with the small gear.
One must know that because he had first destroyed the FIVE_Over unit and resolved the crisis, Lin Wuming hadn't yet had time to act on Ability Decline.
In other words, at this very moment, Lin Wuming was still within the influence of Ability Decline.
—So what exactly is going on? Is Ability Decline ineffective against me?
However, Lin Wuming also knew that now was not the time to ponder these questions.
Headache-inducing matters could be slowly thought about after the battle ended.
Lin Wuming followed his previous plan, found and destroyed all Ability Decline devices. Only then did he go upstairs to rendezvous with Hu Feng Toumi.
When he found Hu Feng Toumi, the girl was in the process of beating Youfu Chunshu and other high-ranking members of the STUDY organization.
...
When Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki came knocking, Youfu Chunshu and his group immediately hid in a Safe House within the headquarters building to protect themselves.
Although STUDY was also a Dark Side Organization, they were self-aware enough to know that they were not the type skilled in combat.
So, when faced with such a situation, it was naturally impossible for them to confront the enemy head-on.
Fortunately, for their original plan, STUDY had amassed a huge army of FIVE_Overs, and with Kihara Similar's secret assistance, they unexpectedly managed to weather Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki's assault.
But unfortunately, next came the "hero," Lin Wuming, in person.
It should be noted that a large part of the reason STUDY chose to launch their plan at this time was to avoid Lin Wuming.
According to intelligence, Lin Wuming was injured and hospitalized for treatment during the recent Misawa Cram School Incident; moreover, his injuries seemed severe, as he had been in a coma for several days.
STUDY wanted to seize this opportunity to quickly launch their plan while Lin Wuming was incapacitated.
Otherwise, if they had to face a "hero" with an extremely strong sense of justice, and even stronger action and power... their plan probably wouldn't have succeeded from the start.
