“I wonder if they'll fight...”
As the limousine drove away from the street they were just on, Lin Wuming breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a bit worried.
“I know, this is the legendary Shura Field!” It seemed that without the deterrence of the two 'Bee Girls', Kamijou Touma, who was sitting opposite, became lively again and said with excitement, “I never thought I'd see a scene like this in reality—I thought it only happened in manga.”
“Kamijou...” Lin Wuming couldn't help but roll his eyes, “I don't think I've offended you, have I?”
“No, on the contrary, Wuming, you've helped me a lot,” Kamijou Touma explained earnestly, “I'm not mocking you, Wuming-sama! The so-called Shura Field... Do you know what a precious treasure this is that many boys dream of but can't get! Damn it, I'm just envious and jealous!”
“Ah, is that so,” Lin Wuming looked over expressionlessly, “As expected... you can make jokes freely when it doesn't concern you.”
However, Lin Wuming noticed that the silver-haired nun next to him had started to grind her teeth, so he would forgive this somewhat carried away guy for now.
Thus, amidst Kamijou Touma's screams and wails, Lin Wuming arrived at his destination.
After getting out of the car, the 'guide' Kihara Tamski was waiting there as usual.
Perhaps because it was summer vacation, Kihara Tamski wasn't wearing her school uniform, but a cool summer outfit. It seemed like she was suddenly called in to work overtime from her vacation. Although she still had that expressionless look, she gave off a feeling of being surrounded by low pressure.
“You've worked hard,” Lin Wuming said.
She opened her mouth, but Kihara Tamski ultimately remained silent and quietly used 'Coordinate Movement' to take Lin Wuming.
This is what it's like when you're forced to work overtime—Lin Wuming expressed his full understanding and agreement.
Therefore, upon meeting Chairman Aleister in person, Lin Wuming immediately suggested,
“Shouldn't Kihara Tamski be paid more for overtime?”
“If that is your will, then of course there is no problem,” Chairman Aleister replied without hesitation.
“What do you mean 'my will'... she's working for you, right?” Lin Wuming retorted, “Forget it, let's get straight to the point, why did you call me here this time?”
“To help you out,” Chairman Aleister answered decisively.
“...What?”
“To help you out, Lin Wuming,” Chairman Aleister repeated, “Just now, you were already in a dangerous situation with your backyard on fire, weren't you? If I hadn't called you over in time.”
“Hey, hey, hey, don't make it sound like I'm running a harem...” Lin Wuming looked at the giant test tube with an expression that said, “You must be joking.”
“Isn't that so?” Chairman Aleister's tone seemed to carry a hint of a smile, “Don't look at me like this now, before I entered the life support system, I was also a man and can understand your thoughts and feelings. There's no one else here, so there's no need to be embarrassed to admit it.”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Lin Wuming quickly interrupted the topic, “Chairman Aleister, you didn't call me here just to chat about gossip, did you?”
“It could be, as an educator, I'm actually very happy to see the youthful romantic comedies of my students,” Chairman Aleister said, “Of course, if you don't want to talk about it, we can change the topic—for example, Kazakiri Hyouka, who appeared before you just now.”
“As expected...” Lin Wuming murmured, “Now that's more like it.”
“Lin Wuming, you've heard of the 'Imaginary Number District', right?” Chairman Aleister said, “'Five Elements Institution. Imaginary Number District'?”
“I've heard of it, but only to the extent of urban legends,” Lin Wuming said.
“I'll believe you for now,” Although he said that, Chairman Aleister obviously didn't think Lin Wuming only knew this much, “Kazakiri Hyouka is the only citizen of the Imaginary Number District... I'm sure you already know this, so let's skip it and get straight to the point.”
“Don't just skip the explanation,” Lin Wuming said, “Perhaps I have information I don't know?”
The figure suspended in the giant test tube opened its eyes and cast a meaningful look at Lin Wuming.
But he continued to explain, “According to popular urban legends, or the generally accepted view, this building is often considered the main body of the 'Five Elements Institution', but in reality, the true 'Imaginary Number District' is much larger. If strictly calculated by area, it should be the same as the entire Academy City, right?”
“In short, you can regard it as a kind of projection of Academy City—a projection formed by the AIM Diffusion Field,” Chairman Aleister said, “And Kazakiri Hyouka is the product of this projection finally materializing. You can understand her as the only citizen of the projected city, or you can think of her as the 'key' to starting that city.”
In short, Kazakiri Hyouka is a very important existence, and from Chairman Aleister's tone, it seems he was also surprised that Kazakiri Hyouka suddenly appeared and went directly to Lin Wuming.
“In fact, this was beyond my expectation,” Chairman Aleister said earnestly, “According to the plan, she shouldn't have appeared at this time.”
Because Kazakiri Hyouka is a 'ghost', although she is registered at Kirioka Girls' Academy and there are often sighting reports, in essence, she still doesn't have the basis for stable existence in the real world.
According to Aleister's original plan, at the appropriate time, he should use Kamijou Touma's 'Imagine Breaker' to introduce the concept of 'death' to Kazakiri Hyouka, using this as a catalyst to ultimately help her gain 'humanity'.
Only after completing that step would the individual 'Kazakiri Hyouka' be considered finally complete.
But now it seems that Kazakiri Hyouka has gained a way to shape her 'humanity' in advance through another mode.
Through 'imitation'—'imitating' Lin Wuming's form of existence.
To be precise, it was imitating the special state of Lin Wuming during the 'Angel Fall' incident not long ago, where his 'soul left his body' and he used the 'ability catalog' to create a double to carry out activities.
Just as Shokuhou Misaki and Lin Wuming analyzed earlier, Lin Wuming, who inherited the power of the 'Imaginary Beast', has a high degree of overlap with Kazakiri Hyouka in terms of the fundamental logic of his existence.
Kazakiri Hyouka, who had been wandering in the 'Imaginary Number District' like a lonely ghost for a long time, observed Lin Wuming in that state.
By imitating Lin Wuming at that time, she successfully shaped a complete 'personality' for herself.
Therefore, this Kazakiri Hyouka stubbornly believed that Lin Wuming was 'the same kind' as her.
