A Scientific Urban Detective

“Still no news…” Misaka Mikoto sighed deeply. “Could she really be hidden by someone from the Kihara family? Like Kihara Gensei, who Wu Ming-senpai mentioned?”

“It shouldn’t be him,” Shokuhou Misaki shook her head. “According to my investigation, Kihara Gensei has temporarily left the research field recently and is active as the leader of an dark side organization.”

Whether it was to avoid suspicion or not, Kihara Gensei seemed to abandon the 'Level 6 Shift Project' and suddenly disappeared at the same time Lin Wu Ming and his group launched their general offensive.

Then, he began to be active in the dark world as the leader of 'Hound Dog'.

In addition, due to Accelerator's lack of cooperation, the 'Level 6 Shift Project' was not officially launched.

Therefore, except for Lin Wu Ming and Shokuhou Misaki, who knew the original plot, others didn't have much of an aversion to Kihara Gensei…

Except for Komugi Toru, because 'Hound Dog' had sent people to attack her.

But at least, now that Misaka Mikoto knew that Kihara Gensei was unlikely to be the one who kidnapped Last Order, she no longer cared about him so much.

“Damn it, how can a living person be impossible to find?” Misaka Mikoto complained, frustrated.

“Actually, there are quite a few missing person cases in Academy City,” Shokuhou Misaki suddenly said.

“Okay, you don’t need to educate me about the dark side of the real world—I already knew that,” Misaka Mikoto rolled her eyes and said, “…I’ve known for several years.”

What Misaka Mikoto meant was that it was surprising that they couldn't find Last Order even with their combined efforts.

Misaka Mikoto's hacking skills, Shokuhou Misaki's connections, Lin Wu Ming and Teacher Yomikawa could also use the information channels of Judgment and Anti-Skill…

Under these conditions, they still couldn't find any information about Last Order, as if she never existed.

“Speaking of which, those assistants we recruited…” Misaka Mikoto suddenly thought of something, “Like Teacher Yoshikawa and Bu束砥信-senpai…”

“I already asked them, in various ways~” Shokuhou Misaki said as a matter of course. “But to no avail. And except for Teacher Yoshikawa and 束砥信-senpai, the others don’t even know that Last Order exists.”

“Damn it, do we have to continue searching?” Misaka Mikoto clenched her fist and slammed it on the table. “I guess I still have to ask Jetzai-san to help me deal with the dorm supervisor…”

Misaka Mikoto was preparing to go out and investigate at night.

Now that Shokuhou Misaki had decided to compete for the title of 'Eternal Lady', the focus of Shokuhou Faction's future development had completely shifted to the inside of the School Garden, and they would not be distracted by matters outside for the time being.

Therefore, Misaka Mikoto, who did not belong to the Shokuhou Faction and whose dormitory was outside the School Garden, felt that this task was her responsibility.

“Don’t make it sound like we’re not doing anything at all,” Shokuhou Misaki said. “Don’t worry, because I’m very capable, I can do both things at the same time.”

Shokuhou Misaki said that although she herself would not easily leave the School Garden, other members of the faction could provide assistance to Misaka Mikoto at any time.

Misaka Mikoto did not refuse this support. She knew that now was not the time to be willful, and finding Last Order was the top priority.

Because Last Order was the “higher-level individual” of all the Misaka Sisters, the highest command tower of the “Misaka Network”. As long as she controlled Last Order, it would be almost equivalent to controlling all 20,000 Misaka Sisters!

“Thinking about it this way,” Misaka Mikoto suddenly realized, “Isn’t that Chairman the most suspicious? After all, he hired 10,000 people in one go.”

“We thought of that too,” Shokuhou Misaki said, “But the Chairman doesn’t need to do that, and we lack evidence… In short, let Wu Ming-senpai handle the Chairman. He will find a way to gather information.”

…

Lin Wu Ming came to the “Building Without Windows” again to report the task to Chairman Aleister.

–I feel like this guy soaking in the jar is becoming more and more like an NPC.

While complaining in his heart, Lin Wu Ming adjusted his sitting posture and faced Chairman Aleister, who was hanging upside down in the huge test tube, at a more comfortable angle.

“I have completely destroyed the pharmaceutical company in the Second District,” Lin Wu Ming symbolically stated the results of the task.

I believe a more detailed report has already been placed on Chairman Aleister’s “desk”.

In fact, this guy probably watched the entire live broadcast through “aerial lines”.

Therefore, Lin Wu Ming really didn’t understand why he had to report the task “face-to-face”, making it seem like he had really become his subordinate.

“Well done, Lin Wu Ming-kun,” Chairman Aleister was as generous with his praise as ever. “I believe you have seen the evidence with your own eyes?”

“Of course…” Seeming to recall the hellish scene he saw in the pharmaceutical company, Lin Wu Ming’s expression became very ugly.

“Since you already knew what they were doing, why did you wait until now to eradicate them?” Lin Wu Ming questioned.

“Because that is the industry of a certain Director,” Chairman Aleister said, indicating that he also had his difficulties.

“Heh,” Lin Wu Ming certainly didn’t believe his words. “Directors… do you care about them?”

“Lin Wu Ming-kun, you seem to have some misunderstandings about me,” Chairman Aleister said. “Managing a modern city is a troublesome matter. The Board of Directors has its purpose. Don’t think of me as so omnipotent—omniscient and omnipotent, that is a realm that only ‘God’ can reach.”

Many plots flashed through Lin Wu Ming’s mind in an instant.

For Chairman Aleister, the existence of “Directors” was a necessary component for managing the city, but they were also easily damaged and replaceable parts.

What he needed was the Board of Directors composed of twelve “Directors”, and it didn’t matter who was serving as a “Director”.

After all, even the little girls from Tokiwadai Middle School could become Directors as long as they became “Eternal Ladies”.

Thinking of this, Lin Wu Ming suddenly asked, “Is that ‘Eternal Lady’ thing at Tokiwadai real?”

After all, that was just a tradition passed down by word of mouth from past students of Tokiwadai Middle School. Since no student had ever actually become an “Eternal Lady”, it was more like a school legend.

Therefore, in order to prevent Shokuhou Misaki from working in vain, Lin Wu Ming decided to take this opportunity to ask Chairman Aleister directly.

“It’s real,” Chairman Aleister answered simply. “That is a privilege granted to the Tokiwadai Group.”

“It’s actually real…” Lin Wu Ming muttered, “So, among the twelve Directors, is there anyone who was once an Eternal Lady?”

“Someone almost succeeded four years ago,” Chairman Aleister said.

“Almost succeeded, which means they didn’t succeed, right?” Lin Wu Ming rolled his eyes. “Well, whatever, as long as Chairman Aleister-sama admits it.”