A Scientific Urban Detective

Just as Kihara Gensei had revealed to Terui Ayao not long ago, the plan targeting Accelerator had been in motion for quite some time.

Due to that very reason, because of Terui Ayao's recent all-in gamble, the "Mass Production-Type Ability User" project collapsed earlier than expected, forcing Kihara Gensei to step in and take over the project team ahead of schedule to maintain the situation, which meant that quite a few preliminary preparations were not completed.

Among the tasks Kihara Gensei assigned to Terui Ayao, the most important was to track and observe Accelerator's condition, assessing when the next step of the plan could be officially implemented.

Not long ago, Terui Ayao delegated this task to his trusted assistant.

And now, the trusted assistant replied, saying that the plan had deviated.

"From my observation, Accelerator doesn't seem to be mentally worn down or in an unstable state at all," the trusted assistant said. "Although there are challengers coming forward, he ignores them all. In the face of his vector manipulation, those challengers can't even get close to him, let alone challenge him."

The premise of challenging Accelerator and wearing down his spirit is that Accelerator must respond to these challenges.

Even if the challengers are just ants, dealing with ants still requires effort, especially without causing fatalities.

However, once Accelerator figures it out and decides to ignore these challengers, then they don't even qualify as "ants."

In the face of a Level 5's "vector manipulation," they simply "do not exist."

With Accelerator adopting this stance, there's naturally no question of mental wear and tear.

"This isn't what Kihara said!" Terui Ayao exclaimed immediately. "Something must have gone wrong!"

He quickly pressed for details, regretting that he hadn't gone to investigate himself.

"I took videos," the trusted assistant was quite meticulous; or rather, he was worried that he would be punished for failing to complete the task, so he made extra preparations in advance.

The video itself wasn't much to look at, just a bunch of delinquents yelling at Accelerator before swarming him, only to be sent flying and lying on the ground groaning in pain.

The whole process took less than a minute.

"The same thing happened four times," the trusted assistant added. "I only had time to film the last one, so I think the plan has deviated."

Terui Ayao stared intently at the video content, his expression serious.

The first task assigned by the new boss had been messed up like this…

That was a pervert from the Kihara family!

"Accelerator…" Terui Ayao suddenly noticed something. "Is that an armband he's wearing on his arm?"

After pausing and zooming in, the words "Number One Under Heaven" in black ink on a white background came into view.

"What is this?"

"It's said to be a symbol issued by Academy City to the Level 5s to showcase their strength," the trusted assistant had also done some homework. "Accelerator is the first, so his armband says 'Number One Under Heaven.'"

"Academy City… when did they have such a system? What's the point of this?" Terui Ayao was puzzled. This armband seemed to only concretely represent the Level 5s' rankings, and nothing else…

"Indeed, there's not much more meaning to it. But…" The trusted assistant recalled the scene he had observed today, "Accelerator seems to be very fond of this armband and the title 'Number One Under Heaven,' and…"

"And what?"

"Accelerator seems to be using this as an excuse to reject those challenges and ignore all the challengers."

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Yes," the trusted assistant nodded. "Accelerator's exact words—I couldn't record it, but he did say this—you lot of small fries want to challenge yours truly? At least get the second-place armband first!"

The trusted assistant imitated with as arrogant a tone as possible.

"What a load of nonsense, telling this bunch of trash to challenge the second-ranked… that 'Dark Matter'? How did he even think of that!" Terui Ayao complained.

Unlike Accelerator, who was still unwilling to kill people, Kakine Teitoku, the leader of the dark side organization, wasn't a benevolent person. If someone blindly came knocking, they would probably end up with their corpses not even intact.

But after complaining, Terui Ayao's brows furrowed even tighter—if Accelerator really maintained this attitude… wouldn't the experiment plan directly fall into a dead end?

—What a coincidence, I just took over the new project and encountered this ghostly situation. Someone must be interfering!

Terui Ayao gritted his teeth: "Which guy came up with this idea? This is clearly targeting our plan!"

"There are rumors," the trusted assistant said softly, "but just rumors, saying that the 'Hero' suggested to the higher-ups to establish this ranking armband."

"Hero? Lin Wuming?!" Terui Ayao was shocked.

Completely immersed in research projects, he wasn't interested in outside news. But he knew the information about Lin Wuming in detail.

After all… Terui Ayao himself knew best whether the "Mass Production-Type Ability User" project they were working on was an illegal experiment.

During the time when the Artificial Intelligence Workshop had an accident, Terui Ayao was under a lot of pressure.

"How did it get involved with that guy? I just took over this project, it's impossible for him to react so quickly, right?" Terui Ayao said nervously.

But then he thought, even if Lin Wuming took action against Accelerator, and even if he was dealing with Kihara Gensei instead of himself, he immediately felt a lot more at ease.

But now that he was with Kihara Gensei, he couldn't let his guard down!

"I think…" Seeing his president start to overthink, the trusted assistant couldn't help but say, "Lin Wuming shouldn't be targeting us."

"Oh? What evidence do you have?"

"Uh… also a rumor," the trusted assistant said awkwardly, "It is said that these armbands are a backdoor left for himself by Lin Wuming. Inspired by the underground arena, he set these armbands to a mode that only looks at strength, regardless of ability level."

"So what's the point of that?"

"He wants to be Number One Under Heaven," the trusted assistant said, "This is no longer a rumor, but a fact—a week ago, Accelerator and Lin Wuming had a duel to compete for this 'Number One Under Heaven' armband."

"And since then, Accelerator has used the 'Number One Under Heaven' armband as a reason to reject all challenges."

"Lin Wuming, this guy is really a persistent ghost!" Terui Ayao clicked his tongue.

Knowing that Lin Wuming wasn't targeting him, Terui Ayao felt relieved, but the problem objectively existed and still had to be resolved.

"Even if he's powerful, he's just a Level 3," Terui Ayao said disdainfully. "Competing with the Level 5 Accelerator for the first place? It's just nonsense!"

"Yes, President, you're right!"

Terui Ayao nodded and said to his trusted subordinate, "You, find a way to deal with it, make that guy give up this unrealistic idea, and cancel this damn armband system!"

"Ah?"

The trusted assistant left the laboratory with a head full of question marks—what do you mean by "find a way to deal with it"! Is this something I can deal with casually?

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