Chapter 810: Two Paths of Evolution
"Shiokishi?" Kihara Gensei suddenly called out, looking at Lin Wuming suspended in the air not far away. "...Has she already left?"
He felt neither surprise nor joy, and even a hint of disappointment.
Watching Lin Wuming, who was still in the state of a Nen storm, Kihara Gensei knew that a slight mishap had occurred in his plan, and this mishap was undoubtedly caused by Shokuhou Misaki, who had already left.
According to Kihara Gensei's estimation, Lin Wuming should have already crossed that boundary and officially touched the realm of "Level 6."
Based on his calculations, destruction should have already descended—either upon Academy City or upon Lin Wuming himself. One of them would inevitably become the sacrifice for this experiment.
"—Experiments rushed into production always have this drawback; the experimental process cannot be completely controlled. At the most critical moment, one can only leave it to fate..."
Thinking of this, Kihara Gensei was filled with regret.
This was because the plan he had originally tailored for Lin Wuming was actually a different one, primarily based on "Nen." As for the so-called "Bullet Time," no matter how miraculous its effect, it was still only auxiliary—this was actually the path Lin Wuming took to advance from Level 3 to Level 5.
This path could fully utilize the characteristics of "Nen," ultimately shaping Lin Wuming into an "omniscient and omnipotent" existence—this was the most stable and feasible plan.
Unfortunately, plans could not keep up with changes. The sudden incident forced Kihara Gensei to temporarily adjust his plan and adopt a more aggressive alternative.
This alternative focused on "Bullet Time" as the core ability, deeply exploring the limits of "time" system esper ability.
The advantage of this path was its quick results and relatively simpler preparation; however, the problem was—it was too fast!
Lin Wuming's breakthrough to Level 6 happened in an instant; unless one could truly achieve "time suspension," facing this "instant," neither Kihara Gensei nor Lin Wuming himself could do anything but accept the outcome.
What was worse, as a researcher, Kihara Gensei also had no idea what had happened to Lin Wuming during that time.
Aside from fruitlessly "witnessing" it as he was doing now, he could do nothing else, let alone take action to interfere with the experiment's progress.
Therefore, Kihara Gensei sighed with such emotion.
The calculated time had passed, but Lin Wuming had not begun to evolve as expected...
Kihara Gensei knew that Shokuhou Misaki and Lin Wuming had taken certain actions.
But what they had done, and what had happened to Lin Wuming, was beyond Kihara Gensei's control.
"—But it doesn't matter. The general trend is set. Your struggles can at most delay it by a second or two."
Even so, Kihara Gensei remained calm.
His plan was already in effect. Until the trend of events was reversed, the actions of Shokuhou Misaki and Lin Wuming could only slightly delay it.
Sure enough, after another long second, the situation around Lin Wuming became even more perilous.
The already chaotic Nen expanded exponentially, clearing out an even larger spherical space around Lin Wuming—everything within that spherical space was either repelled or shattered and then repelled...
Hu Feng Toumi, who had been enduring the fierce winds until just now, finally could not hold on and was blown away at this moment.
Hu Feng Toumi tried to stabilize herself by sticking ribbons into the ground, but the repulsive force applied to her was too strong. The ribbons snapped without even lasting a millisecond.
Hu Feng Toumi's body flew further away from Lin Wuming again...
Poof!
It felt like she had crashed into a soft sandpit. Hu Feng Toumi slightly turned her head and saw that she was surrounded by dense, black "sand."
—It was Misaka Mikoto's iron sand.
"What happened?" Misaka Mikoto caught Hu Feng Toumi, who had flown backward, and looked at Lin Wuming suspended in mid-air not far away, her face full of shock. "I only left for a moment, how did it..."
"No time to explain," Hu Feng Toumi said with great unwillingness. "Do something, stop Wuming!"
—She was just a Level 4 who only knew how to kill, and in this situation, she could do nothing.
Hu Feng Toumi had never felt such despair over her powerlessness. Because of the enemy's bizarre esper ability, Hu Feng Toumi couldn't even manage the simplest basic task of "killing the enemy"!
She had to admit that only Misaka Mikoto, also a Level 5, could influence Lin Wuming now.
Hu Feng Toumi didn't know what exactly was happening to Lin Wuming; she only knew—this state could not be allowed to continue!
Similarly, the tacit understanding developed through their long association allowed Misaka Mikoto to immediately grasp the situation. A vast curtain of iron sand converged, sweeping overwhelmingly towards Lin Wuming...
The dense black sand curtain collided with the invisible Nen currents. Both were Level 5 powers, and for a moment, they actually appeared to be evenly matched.
The long-raging Nen storm was finally contained.
Seeing this, Hu Feng Toumi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But then she tensed up again—because Misaka Mikoto's expression did not look relieved...
This strongest Electromaster had appeared with a dazzling display of electricity, but as the curtain of iron sand enveloped Lin Wuming, the electric light around Misaka Mikoto became even more brilliant.
Hu Feng Toumi even had to squint her eyes to avoid being burned by the electric light.
—It seems the confrontation with Wuming is not easy!
Hu Feng Toumi turned her head to look at the "iron sand storm" in the distant sky.
"Oh no..." Misaka Mikoto murmured. As the direct party in the confrontation, she was most aware of how bad the current situation was.
—So, what exactly happened? Why did Senior Wuming's ability suddenly go out of control?
Her gaze shifted downward, seeing Hu Feng Toumi's anxious face on the ground, and Misaka Mikoto's heart grew heavier.
She knew Hu Feng Toumi well. Senior Wuming's situation must be very bad, otherwise she wouldn't show such an expression!
Besides Senior Wuming and Dr. Sakurai, there was probably no third person in this world who could make Hu Feng Toumi care so much, right?
Unfortunately, the situation was urgent, with no time for detailed explanations, so Misaka Mikoto could only act according to her understanding and instinct.
—Stopping Senior Wuming's ability from going berserk, doing this can't be wrong.
Misaka Mikoto continued to increase her electric power.
At this moment, she felt somewhat fortunate—she had already warmed up and entered a "full power" state during her fight with that robot girl earlier, which allowed her to seamlessly transition and immediately unleash her strongest output. Otherwise, she might not have been able to suppress Senior Wuming in front of her!
