A Scientific Urban Detective

Finally, and most importantly, the "test subject," Yuuri Chiya, lay on the hospital bed, her face obscured by the bulky machine on her head.

Lin Wuming knew that this device was the earliest version of the "learning device." Once fully developed, it would be lighter and more streamlined, allowing the wearer to learn new knowledge and skills with maximum efficiency.

It was like treating the human brain as a computer, writing information by reading the way a hard drive stores data.

Simple, crude, direct, and efficient.

After carefully examining this initial version of the device, Lin Wuming shook his head, not tempted to touch it.

Given Lin Wuming's circumstances, he didn't actually need a "learning device." His level 3 brainpower was already comparable to most computers, and learning new knowledge and skills wasn't difficult for him.

With the experiment a complete failure, Yomine Eri quickly and smoothly woke up Yuuri Chiya, then transferred her out on a gurney.

Everyone who needed to be rescued had been found; all that remained was to escape the research institute safely.

The black smoke monster was completely gone. The research institute's original staff were either unconscious or had been eliminated by Kakine Teitoku in their black smoke monster state, so they proceeded unimpeded.

They continued to destroy all the broadcasting systems they encountered, finally silencing the noise emitted by Kutsudou Junzo.

If they didn't want to be saddled with the reputation of "biting the hand that feeds them," the "School" trio would have loved to just kill Kutsudou Junzo and stop his incessant verbal harassment.

Meanwhile, hiding in the monitoring room, Kutsudou Junzo also realized that he could no longer transmit his voice.

"...I knew I couldn't rely on those damn brats! And it was Kihara Gensei who introduced them. That old geezer is even less trustworthy!" After venting his resentment, Kutsudou Junzo calmed down slightly. "Heh, luckily, I left some backup plans..."

But then he became dejected. His so-called "backup plans" were just an insurance measure, intended for emergencies. But now that he had completely lost, this insurance measure couldn't help him turn the tables.

At most, it would just allow him to vent his anger...

"Oh, the police cars are here." Passing by a window, everyone heard the sound of sirens coming from outside. Komuro Toramitsu peeked out.

Lin Wuming didn't find it strange. "It's about time."

Although they had initially misled the guards, the battle inside "Artificial Manufactory" was more intense than the previous ones, delaying them considerably. It was normal for the security forces to arrive eventually.

As he spoke, Lin Wuming also came to the window and looked down.

The police cars had indeed arrived, and it was a sizable convoy.

But what caught Lin Wuming's attention wasn't the police cars, but another building in the distance across the street.

Although it was just a gut feeling, Lin Wuming felt a strange sense of foreboding. He looked up at the high-rise opposite; in a window on the fifth floor, a flash of light suddenly appeared.

Lin Wuming could now be considered a veteran with considerable combat experience, so he immediately realized—it was the muzzle flash from a gunshot!

Even worse, within his entire field of vision, there was more than just that one flash!

Sure enough, in other windows of that building, and even on another building further away, a total of five locations flashed with light.

And not just once; each firing position unleashed a five-round burst, emptying the magazine!

The reason he could count so clearly was because Lin Wuming had once again entered "bullet time."

The distance was short, and the bullets' velocity was high. From the moment he saw the muzzle flash, it would take less than a tenth of a second for the bullets to hit their target!

But in that brief moment of less than a tenth of a second, Komuro Toramitsu and Kakine Teitoku both reacted.

The battlefield-honed intuition allowed Komuro Toramitsu to draw her sword decisively, accurately striking one bullet with a direct thrust!

But in such haste, that was the limit of what she could do.

In comparison, Kakine Teitoku was much more unrestrained. His signature pure white wings suddenly appeared behind him, then directly blocked the window, keeping all the bullets outside.

It wasn't that he intentionally wanted to save Lin Wuming, but he wasn't sure who the snipers' target was, or whether they might miss and accidentally hit his people.

So, Kakine Teitoku simply couldn't be bothered to overthink it and directly blocked all the bullets.

Lin Wuming had the same idea as him—to block all twenty-five bullets.

Oh, excluding the one shot down by Komuro Toramitsu, there were twenty-four bullets remaining.

And that's exactly what he did.

Despite the suddenness of the situation, in "bullet time," Lin Wuming still had ample time to deal with these flying bullets one by one...

Until a huge wing blocked his vision.

Lin Wuming had already deflected the trajectories of five bullets, ensuring that they wouldn't harm anyone.

But just as he was preparing to use the same method to deal with the other nineteen bullets, Kakine Teitoku intervened.

With the deadly crisis averted, the flow of time returned to normal.

All that could be heard was a series of crackling sounds outside—the bullets deflected by Lin Wuming collided with other bullets, causing a chaotic ricochet effect outside.

Unfortunately, one bullet, after an unknown series of bounces and reflections, actually slipped through a gap between the wing and the windowsill, hitting Lin Wuming's left leg squarely, shattering the cast encasing his calf!

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.

Komuro Toramitsu's ribbon tightened in her hand. If she could see where the enemy attacking Lin Wuming was, she would have definitely stabbed out with her sword in an instant.

The girls from "Artificial Manufactory" didn't even have time to react, only Shokuhou Misaki exclaimed in Lin Wuming's mind at the first moment.

"Wuming-senpai, are you okay? Are you hurt? Is the injury serious...?"

As for the three members of the dark side "School," they also looked over with an expression of surprise.

Especially Yomogi Utsubumi, who had fought Lin Wuming for three hundred rounds before, and hadn't seen this wheelchair-bound guy suffer any decent injuries.

But he never expected that he would actually be hit by a stray bullet now!

Kakine Teitoku immediately shot out feathers to counterattack—it wasn't that he wanted to avenge Lin Wuming, but it was true that the man had been hit while under his protection, making the face of the magnificent "Unexplored Matter" somewhat untenable.

He had to make some sort of reaction.

"I see, long-range sniping, huh?" Then, looking at Lin Wuming, who was injured for the first time since the start of the battle, Kakine Teitoku mused.

Lin Wuming shook off the fragments of plaster on his leg and said with an unchanged expression: "It's nothing, the bullet was blocked by the plaster layer. I'm not injured."

As he spoke, Lin Wuming used his telekinesis to pick up the bullet that had hit him—the bullet had been twisted and deformed from the violent collision.

His left leg didn't have any obvious external injuries, at least no blood, but it felt as if the original wound had been heavily hammered, and there was still a dull pain.

Of course, there was no need to say such things to shake morale. At least until they returned to a safe area, he couldn't show a single flaw.

Lin Wuming hadn't forgotten Kakine Teitoku and the others beside him. They were only temporarily cooperating, which didn't mean that they had buried the hatchet and wouldn't clash again.

In this situation, he absolutely couldn't show weakness.

Therefore, Lin Wuming acted as if nothing had happened. Anyway, he relied on a wheelchair to move, so no one would be able to see anything.

"We continue forward, just try to stay away from the windows." Lin Wuming took the lead and continued forward.