A Scientific Urban Detective

"I think Ms. Kiyama is right," Tora-Hachi Mitsu agreed this time, nodding. "You can't underestimate human malice."

"And one more thing," Kiyama Harumi added, "In order to help you with various procedures these past few days, I've been registered as your guardian."

It's more convenient that way—Kiyama Harumi explained.

Although this decision had some coincidental elements, now that she had become a 'guardian,' Kiyama Harumi decided to do the job well.

"After all, it's a case I'm personally responsible for," Kiyama Harumi said seriously. "It would be one thing if I couldn't catch the mastermind, but I can't at least fail to protect Mumei-kun's safety."

"In that case…" Lin Mumei no longer hesitated. He extended his hand. "Thank you very much for all your help, Ms. Kiyama. I look forward to your continued guidance!"

"Uh…" Looking at the plaster cylinder extending in front of her, Kiyama Harumi carefully reached out and shook it. "You're welcome. Same here, please take care of me…"

For some reason, she always had the feeling that when communicating with Lin Mumei, she wasn't facing a teenager, but rather interacting with someone her own age.

Having resolved the issue of his lodging for the foreseeable future, and also solved the problem of his personal safety, Lin Mumei relaxed a lot and was able to recuperate in peace.

Just as Lin Mumei was actively cooperating with treatment in the hospital, striving to recover as soon as possible, a secret meeting concerning him was unfolding in the underground space of a certain building…

"Regarding the disposal plan for experimental subject number '007,' let's have the final vote now," the middle-aged man presiding over the meeting said first.

"Now that he has the name Lin Mumei, has obtained a valid identity, and is under the protection of the security force," someone immediately said, "Moreover, it has been confirmed that he has amnesia. Why bother making a fuss over him?"

"You mean, just let the laboratory's runaway go? What will the other experimental subjects think?" someone immediately retorted. "The security force has been investigating closely recently. If any more experimental subjects escape, we're finished!"

"It was that idiot assassin you found who screwed everything up!" The person who spoke earlier immediately slammed the table. "If you hadn't rashly hired an amateur for the assassination… If you had chosen to entrust it to a more professional dark ops, we wouldn't be in such a passive position!"

The middle-aged man presiding over the meeting stopped the argument. "Alright, now is not the time to argue. The most important thing is to make a decision."

"Then we can only give up, right?" The meeting participants finally reached a consensus. "After all, he's just an insignificant experimental subject. Having lost his memory, he won't pose any threat to us anymore. There's no need to waste time and resources on him."

After the incident, they had already transferred all personnel and organizations related to the project overnight at an accelerated pace, even if Lin Mumei recovered his memory later, it would be of no avail.

The middle-aged man frowned. "You… haven't been paying attention to that boy's situation at all, have you?"

He was already certain that the dozens of researchers sitting below the stage really hadn't taken that once inconspicuous experimental subject number "007" to heart.

In fact, if that boy hadn't attracted the security force's investigation, probably no one present would have cared about the life or death of an experimental subject, right?

—Including myself.

The middle-aged man sighed deeply. The leader of the team under him would casually hire an assassin on an anonymous website to silence him, ultimately because they didn't take Lin Mumei seriously, so they were perfunctory.

He opened the document. "Everyone, take a look at this."

"What's this again?" Someone immediately asked, probably feeling impatient with the meeting.

"The recently updated archive data in the library," the middle-aged man said. "The one about '007'—Lin Mumei's file."

"Tch, what's so interesting about this… Huh!" The researchers, who had been nonchalant, suddenly widened their eyes.

The 'Ability' column on the file clearly stated—Level 3 'Telekinesis'.

"Level 3, a Strong Ability…" a female researcher murmured. "How could it be? Wasn't he a Level 0, a Null Ability user?"

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what exactly happened, but one thing is certain—the library's data doesn't lie."

The data in the 'Library' may have omissions, or parts that are blacked out due to security levels, but it is absolutely impossible for false information to appear.

As long as it appears in the library, it is an undeniable fact!

"Could it be…" Finally someone said it, "Our experiment… was successful?"

To be honest, almost everyone present had thought of this possibility, but no one said it so decisively.

After all, this experimental project was the goal that all of them had worked hard for together; when it comes to their own interests, people always become cautious.

The 'Dark May' project aimed to analyze and replicate the ability of Accelerator, the number one Level 5 Esper with the power of 'Vector Transformation.'

—Analyze Accelerator's thought patterns, forcibly implanting a portion of them into the subjects, strengthening their 'Personal Reality' and causing their abilities to grow by leaps and bounds.

But the plan also had risks commensurate with the benefits. Since it was human experimentation, sacrifice and casualties were inevitable.

Therefore, those participating in the project were all members from the 'Discarded' group—in layman's terms, abandoned orphans. Losing some people from this group wouldn't attract attention.

Experimental subject number '007,' Lin Mumei, was one of them, and because he was the oldest, he was considered the least promising and was always ignored.

As a result, he suddenly became a Level 3 Strong Ability user!

How could this not surprise and excite the researchers?

You should know that, according to 'Aptitude Assessment,' the upper limit of each person's ability level is predetermined from the beginning; it is almost impossible to improve one's ability level through hard work and ability development…

This is especially true for the children of the 'Discarded' group—if they really had talent, they would have been picked by schools or professional research institutions long ago, so how could they have been reduced to becoming 'guinea pigs'?

But from another perspective, it is precisely because these children of the 'Discarded' group are all at the Level 0 or Level 1 level that they can better reflect the effect of the 'Dark May' project.

So far, out of the hundreds of experimental subjects in the entire project team, only one girl has successfully broken through the 'Aptitude Assessment' and been promoted from Level 0 to Level 2; there are also a few who have been promoted from Level 0 to Level 1.

There were results, but they were very small and did not meet the researchers' expectations.

If Lin Mumei's ability level promotion is really due to their experiment, then it will undoubtedly be the biggest achievement since the establishment of the 'Dark May' project!