Chapter 782: Let's Share Information
“That’s great…” Saten Ruiko was very relieved to learn that Haruue Erii had also decided to stay with her, but then she became dejected. “Thinking about it carefully, it seems I’m the most useless one. I don’t have powerful abilities, I’m not a Judgment, and I’m not good at fighting… Shokuhou didn’t reject me; she really is a kind person.”
“Since you know all that, why do you still get involved in these dangerous things?” Haruue Erii retorted.
“It’s about participation,” Saten Ruiko said. “Look, we’re friends with Shirai and Misaka Student, right? But the reality is, Our two are always excluded—although Our know they don’t mean to, they just don’t want to involve Our in danger, but…”
Precisely because they were friends, they found it even harder to accept being excluded like this.
Not to mention, it also concerned the “urban legends” that Saten Ruiko was most fascinated by, which made her even more eager to participate.
“Since you’ve made up your mind, there’s nothing more for me to say,” Haruue Erii said, looking towards the other side of the balcony sliding door. “That really scared me just now; I thought Saten Ruiko had decided to participate in the competition over there.”
—A contest for Lin Wuming as the ultimate prize.
“How could that be?” Saten Ruiko chuckled dryly, waving her hands repeatedly. “If that were the case, I’d definitely be killed by Hu Feng.”
…
“Hu Feng, will you get rid of them?” In the living room, Shokuhou Misaki suddenly asked.
“Huh?” Hu Feng Toumi looked over with a “are you crazy” expression.
Misaka Mikoto also chimed in, “What are you suddenly talking about? Even Hu Feng wouldn’t attack Haruue and Saten Ruiko, would she?”
“What do you mean ‘even Hu Feng’…” Shokuhou Misaki also looked over helplessly—compared to Hu Feng Toumi, Misaka, who seriously responded to this question, was even stranger, right?
Just as the two Level 5 girls were about to start a debate, Lin Wuming interrupted their conversation.
“Is it really appropriate to involve them?” Lin Wuming had just learned the reason from Shokuhou Misaki, knowing that Saten Ruiko intended to personally participate in this “major event.”
Lin Wuming’s reaction to this was indifferent, even opposing it.
The main point was the concern of bringing danger to them.
In Lin Wuming’s current circle of friends, Saten Ruiko and Haruue Erii were probably the weakest in terms of combat power.
Although Lin Wuming had asked them for help before—collecting information, acting as urban legend consultants, and so on… but it was always superficial. After realizing that the events around him were indeed too dangerous, he stopped involving them.
If Lin Wuming were criticized for “judging people by their talent” and mercilessly abandoning those without it… Lin Wuming would accept it.
Being a “narrow-minded” petty person is better than regretting after an irreparable tragedy truly occurs!
Reality, after all, is not an anime work like the original. Saten Ruiko is not a woman who truly holds the “script.” If he rashly brought her into the world he was in, it would most likely genuinely harm her!
In fact, not only Saten Ruiko and Haruue Erii, but even most members of the Shokuhou Faction—almost all high-level espers of Level 3 and Level 4—rarely participated in Lin Wuming’s events.
—Shokuhou Misaki also didn’t want her subordinates to be in danger because of her “private matters.”
“Unnamed Senior, what are you still saying at this point?!” Shokuhou Misaki said somewhat helplessly. “Because of Misaka Student, Saten Ruiko and Haruue Erii have long been categorized into the ‘Lin Wuming Faction’… Although they are in a relatively marginal position, they are still within the circle after all.”
If Lin Wuming’s enemies wanted to make a move, Saten Ruiko and Haruue Erii would be absolutely unavoidable!
After all, they were the softest targets. Even if they weren’t originally in Lin Wuming’s circle, enemies would forcibly include them, right?
“Moreover, Saten Ruiko aside,” Shokuhou Misaki said, “Unnamed Senior also knows Haruue Erii’s abilities. You wouldn’t still think she’s truly ignorant, would you?”
Lin Wuming couldn’t help but be speechless. Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed true. This inconspicuous little girl, Haruue Erii, was a bug. Aside from being weak in specific actions, she was a super-standard existence in other aspects!
Even because she had received various specialized training from Judgment, Haruue Erii was slightly stronger than ordinary people when acting.
Especially in a highly developed information technology city like Academy City, there was almost nothing she couldn’t find out.
“So~” Shokuhou Misaki finally concluded, “Instead of letting them act on their own and cause unpredictable consequences, it’s better to simply let them join in and share information, at least that way they won’t do overly dangerous things.”
Lin Wuming nodded. Indeed, uncontrollable factors can only be reassuring when they are in one’s own hands.
“Speaking of information sharing!” Misaka Mikoto seemed to suddenly remember something. “Shokuhou, your ‘encrypted communication’ with Unnamed Senior also needs to stop!”
Electric sparks crackled from Misaka Mikoto’s hair tips: “If you’re worried about Stagnant Air Circuit, I can drive them away now and create an absolutely dust-free environment!”
Misaka Mikoto had long resented Shokuhou’s habit of constantly engaging in “whisper mode” with Unnamed Senior.
“I’m not just guarding against Stagnant Air Circuit as a threat,” Shokuhou Misaki said.
“Then what other threats are there?” Misaka Mikoto immediately pressed. “Tell me, I’ll find a way to solve them!”
“Who knows?” Shokuhou Misaki shrugged.
“You’re saying you don’t know?” Misaka Mikoto exclaimed. “Then you’re still using this excuse…”
“It’s not an excuse,” Shokuhou Misaki said. “Eavesdropping, peeping, and such things usually aren’t discovered, right? If I really knew where the problem was, why would I need to wait for you to find a way to solve it?”
“…” Misaka Mikoto was speechless.
Because Shokuhou Misaki’s words made sense.
Not knowing where the threat came from, so only direct Mental Out telepathy was the safest.
Misaka Mikoto could understand, but this also formed an insoluble dead end—she was naturally immune to Mental Out, so she couldn’t know the true secrets Unnamed Senior hid in his heart…
In this aspect, she had completely lost to Shokuhou, and she had lost from the very beginning; and in the foreseeable future, she would continue to lose…
This point was undoubtedly unacceptable to Misaka Mikoto.
—Today’s me is different!
Especially at this moment, Misaka Mikoto had a momentum of “striking while the iron is hot” and “pursuing the advantage.”
