Xyrin Empire
Chapter 355 - Chapter 355 Chapter 355 A Strange Group of People

Chapter 355: Chapter 355: A Strange Group of People Chapter 355: Chapter 355: A Strange Group of People Lin Xue always brought trouble, trouble, and even more trouble.

However, I knew this could not be blamed on her. As a Prophet, only she could detect those things earlier and more keenly than any of us, which is also why many times Prophets aren’t exactly welcome: they always deliver bad news in advance–often about things that are inevitable.

The ability development experiment on Zuotian Tsuruya was still ongoing, but just like the first few attempts, we could not, no matter what, make her increasingly immense spiritual power produce any fluctuation. Furthermore, after testing with human detection equipment once, we discovered even stranger things: her spiritual power could not be perceived by the equipment specially designed for testing power users in Academy City!

In other words, according to the observation methods of Academy City, Zuotian Tsuruya, who had obtained the spiritual power of a Magic Master level, was still just an ordinary person.

The detection equipment made by the Xyrin Apostles could not possibly make such an error, but, after switching through several sets of Academy City’s detection equipment, we could still not detect Zuotian Tsuruya’s spiritual power. Her soul seemed to have undergone some sort of mutation that we did not yet understand; that spiritual power had completely turned into something that could only be detected by Xyrin Equipment. Faced with such a bizarre phenomenon, even the most excellent Xyrin scientists were at their wits’ end.

However, the only consolation was that this mutation did not seem to be harmful.

From the first experiment to the days that followed, Chichun Shili and Bai Jing Heizi had visited a few times. At first, they seemed to be checking whether Zuotian Tsuruya had been harmed by some “unscrupulous scientists conducting inhumane human body experiments.” However, after seeing that the daily routine only involved routine physical exams (actually radiation tests) and brain development courses (actually spiritual power checks), they began to rest assured. Furthermore, after finding out that this peculiar research institute had an astonishingly lenient management system, both girls almost decided to come play every single day…

There was only one thing that was regrettable: the famous Changpan Plate Platform Electric Shock Princess, the popular “heroine” Misaka Mikoto, I had yet to meet, as it was said she had been busy with something recently and didn’t have the time for these few days.

But, I hadn’t made an effort to specifically inquire about her, after all, as a stranger, if I showed too much interest in the “Super Electromagnetic Cannon,” I didn’t know what kind of execution plan that now seemingly good-natured Bai Jing Heizi would come up with…

Hmm, speaking of the “Super Electromagnetic Cannon”…

I slightly lowered my head to look at Little Pandora quietly following by my side and let my imagination run wild.

This little loli beside me, with her ultimate electromagnetic cannon array + nuclear bomb launch well group + quick reaction Mecha take-off platform + floating gun array + Ghost Energy Giant Cannon Tower Group +…, what kind of cannon could she be considered?

“Big Brother?”

Noticing my troubled gaze, Little Pandora slightly raised her little face and leaned in closer.

“It’s nothing.”

I had just indulged in some rather disrespectful thoughts about my own sister.

Why in the world did I agree to play poker with Lin Xue anyway?

And more importantly, knowing that she was a Prophet, why did I still agree to a bet with her to decide who would take on the task of going out to shop? Was I really that in need of rest these days?

“Such misfortune!”

While I was routinely daydreaming and causing the Little Pandora beside me to enter standby mode out of helplessness, a sudden cry that was almost like a life motto of suffering came from not far behind me.

Looking back in the direction of the sound, I saw the common-faced youth with an expression of anguish and a hint of tear-jerking resignation, and less than half a meter in front of him on the ground lay a box of eggs that had been smashed to bits. Soaking in the mix of eggs was a phone snapped in two, with half a pitifully destroyed bank card sitting on top of it. Just how unlucky does a person have to be to drop such decidedly non-associated items together on the same spot and have them all completely shattered and mingled?

“Big Brother, did this human upset Sister?”

Little Pandora tugged at the hem of my clothes and asked flatly.

This question really did have a familiar ring to it.

“Ah, it’s you.”

While I was pondering how to leave without drawing the attention of the unlucky young man in front of me, he had already noticed me, and judging by his tone, it seemed he had recognized me at once–despite our brief encounter. That was some impressive memory.

“Who are you?”

To avoid any trouble, I pretended not to recognize him and spoke with a look of confusion, while Pandora beside me, out of boredom, was scanning the unlucky young man with full radar, trying to detect traces of curse energy surrounding him.

I mean, young Kamijou, where is your bank card? Where is your phone? What about your once-a-week opportunity to replenish protein? Even if you’re used to this kind of thing, couldn’t you mope about it a bit more? How could you so quickly forget about them and focus on some stranger you’ve met only once!

“Ah, that’s true,” said Kamijou Touma, the young man beset by misfortune, scratching his hedgehog-like hair awkwardly, “I just happened to bump into you once on the street. It’s normal to not remember; I’m sorry, I just wanted to say hello.”

“Oh,” I feigned still a bit puzzled, then nodded in understanding, “I see, well…”

“Ah, found you!”

Before I could finish, another voice interrupted me – this one sounded very imposing. Accompanying the voice, Kamijou Touma visibly shuddered and cried out in shock, “Eh–”

“I’m sorry, I just remembered I have something very important to do, so I have to leave first. I am truly sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused!” Having uttered those words in a rush, Kamijou Touma the next second deftly wove into the crowd and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Hey! You–”

Alongside the indignation in the girl’s shout, a fierce energy fluctuation suddenly caused ripples behind me. But before I could react, the energy dissipated just as abruptly as it had appeared, presumably because its wielder realized there were too many bystanders around and had to forcibly suppress the attack.

Even among the only seven LEVEL 5s in Academy City, no matter how strong their combat abilities might be, it would seem unlikely to catch Kamijou Touma by physical strength alone–a young man who frequently engaged in live-action brawls with thugs.

I turned around and undoubtedly saw a girl with flushed cheeks.

She had tea-colored short hair that was easy to maintain, the Changpan Plate Platform summer uniform consisting of a lightweight sweater and a grey pleated skirt, and a faint smell of electrolytic ozone in the air, along with… a frog accessory that swayed in a way hard to ignore.

Miss Cannon… cough, cough, one of the two LEVEL 5s from Changpan Plate Platform, the Electric Shock Princess at the pinnacle of Academy City’s 2.3 million people–Miss Cannon.

Wrong again! It should be Misaka Mikoto. Really, the brainwashing effects of otaku culture is scary. After checking out the material Bubbles sent me, I had begun to think of Miss Cannon as the official name for the girl in front of me, hadn’t I?

“Really, he got away again.”

It seemed it wasn’t the first time he had slipped from her grasp. Misaka Mikoto muttered her frustration, clenching her fist while a spark of electricity unconsciously crackled through her hair with a faint “snap.”

But it appeared I had been engulfed once again in Kamijou’s unlucky aura. I thought I could just safely watch the drama unfold, but then I found myself the focus of attention from a certain Electromagnetic Cannon. Misaka Mikoto looked up at me, then immediately revealed a smile with unclear implications.

She walked up to me cheerfully and asked, “Hey, are you that guy’s friend?”

Without even drafting a response, I answered, “No, actually, I’m just an innocent onlooker who got involved in this incident while taking my little sister out to buy soy sauce, and now I’m about to finish shopping and go home for dinner!”

Pandora immediately nodded, then raised a small bottle of soy sauce in front of her to prove her big brother wasn’t lying–since when did this girl’s personal space carry such an oddly specific prop as soy sauce!?

“Oh, I see. My apologies,” Misaka Mikoto showed understanding and then bowed politely in apology before turning away.

“Seriously, who would believe such a far-fetched excuse!!”

Looks like Miss Cannon didn’t fall for it…

“Okay, okay, we met once by chance on the side of the road, but we haven’t even exchanged names. She probably thought I needed help because I was standing there spacing out, which is why she approached to talk. If you’re trying to find that kid through me, I’m afraid it’s impossible.”

“Is that so?” Misaka Mikoto’s face showed a skeptical look, but she quickly nodded, “If it’s that overly nice guy we’re talking about, I can imagine him doing something like that. Well, let it go for now, I’m bound to catch him someday, and then we’ll see who’s more powerful!”

Kamijou Youth, I pray for you here.

“So, can we leave now?”

Seeing that Misaka Mikoto had given up on finding a clue to Touma Kamijou through me, I carefully prepared to make my escape. Although meeting Miss Cannon is the ultimate wish for many otaku creatures, my biggest concern right now is how I could face the merciless sarcasm of a certain Demi Immortal if I couldn’t complete the huge shopping list in the shortest time. Wait, speaking of which, didn’t that prophetic girl Lin Xue foresee this step too? That’s why she said, “You idiot, there’s no way you’ll bring everything back within thirty minutes, so let’s make the dishwashing duty for the next three days the bet,” damnit, I’ve been tricked by that girl again!

“Um… please wait a moment!” Just as Misaka Mikoto was about to nod, she suddenly remembered something and called out to me and Pandora. As expected, getting back smoothly is impossible, isn’t it?

Facing my puzzled look, classmate Misaka took out her phone, pulled up a message, and showed it to me: “This place, do you know where it is? It’s marked on the electronic map around here, but I’m not sure how to get there specifically.”

I took the phone, glanced at the marked location, and looked puzzled: “Uh, why are you looking for this place?”

“It’s for a friend of mine. She’s been participating in an experiment at this research institute recently. She’s been busy these past few days and hasn’t had the time to visit, so I’m quite curious about what’s going on over there. So… do you know this place?”

Phew, alright, now I can be 10,000 percent sure that Lin Xue is snickering in some dark corner. As a Prophet, her hobbies are really strange.

Helplessly thinking this, I agreed: “Of course, we’re actually on our way there too. If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes, we can go together.”

“That would be great, thank you so much!”

Misaka Mikoto showed a pleasantly surprised expression and then thanked me loudly. As one of the only seven LEVEL 5s in Academy City, and a Miss with a good background, having such manners and affinity truly lives up to her popularity.

For some reason, I suddenly thought of Sandora.

If we’re talking about a mismatch between status and behavior, that girl must be the champion, right…

After buying everything needed for today’s shopping at nearby stores and handing it all over to the incredibly strong Pandora to carry, we started on our way back to the research institute. It wasn’t far; even on foot, it was only a matter of minutes.

“Hey, isn’t it inappropriate for a brother to let his delicate little sister carry all this stuff?”

Misaka Mikoto, seeing me arrange the pile of goods into an extra-large backpack and put it on Pandora’s back, immediately expressed her dissatisfaction with a surge of righteousness, which I countered with: “Don’t worry, my sister’s standard carrying weight is measured in tons. In terms of strength, she could take on me and eight others single-handedly.”

“A Body Enhancement Ability?” Misaka Mikoto showed surprise, “Are you Power Users?”

“You could say that,” I replied without turning back, though in my mind, I started imagining a muscle-bound Tyson? Schwarzenegger? Lambo? Pandora, and instantly spiraled into a breakdown.

The thought of cute little Pandora being associated with Body Enhancement is just too terrifying.

There was silence the rest of the way, and soon we reached the front door of the research institute.

“What a strange place…”

Misaka Mikoto looked at the huge white sign set up at the entrance of the research institute, a headache forming as she spoke.

The sign was written with various thicknesses of handwriting: Xyrin Philosophy and Culture Form, Botany, and Mandarin Promotion Research Center, and also researching medicine.

Then, in red writing, an ellipsis was added, appending: Started researching history yesterday.

I really feel like ramming my head into it and ending it all.

Because we were delayed for about fifteen minutes, by the time we returned, we happened to catch Zuotian Tsuruya coming out of the institute after completing today’s experiment. Usually, a Xyrin Technician would drive her home, but the down-to-earth girl didn’t seem accustomed to such treatment. After only a couple of times, she had actively refused special treatment, so the Tsuruya that walked out bumped right into us.

“Ah! Director… uh, Senior Chen Jun!”

Seeing me, Tsuruya called out surprisingly, and to my satisfaction, she finally swallowed back the disappointing “Director” before acknowledging the figure following me with an unexpected greeting, “Mikoto?! Why are you here, too?”

“Hey, wait a second,” Misaka Mikoto was still somewhat confused. Now catching on, she immediately pointed a surprised finger in my direction, saying to Tsuruya, “Did you just call him the Director?”

“Yeah,” Tsuruya naturally said, “He is the Director here. He’s a really good person, Senior Chen Jun, ah, and that’s his sister, Little Pandora~~ and she’s also one of the Deputy Directors here~~~”

As soon as the words “Little Pandora” came out, I felt the loli General carrying a big bag by my side burst with energy.

Misaka Mikoto looked at us in disbelief, skeptical about the reliability of a man who claimed to be taking his sister out for soy sauce but was in fact the Director, a meter-tall expressionless loli deputy director with incredible strength, a suspicious entrance sign with unclear origin, research projects aimed at Power Users that included the Powerless, and an institute’s lax security that allowed any junior high student to waltz in to find someone…

“What a weird place,” the brown-haired girl could only sigh, eventually making such an assessment.

“By the way, Tsuruya, how was today’s experiment?”

“It was alright,” Tsuruya laughed while scratching her hair, “It was the same as usual, but the Director said the data improved a lot from last time, although I didn’t feel any different.”

“Are you leaving now?” I glanced at the sun above and then suddenly proposed, “Since it’s already this time, why don’t you stay for dinner?”

“Eh? Can I?” Tsuruya and Misaka Mikoto exclaimed in surprise at the same time, to which I responded with a confident smile: “You’ll get to see the culinary skills of Big Sister!”

Since dinner now involved two additional people, preparing the meal became a much larger task, and even Qianqian pitched in to help. Although her cooking skills weren’t great, her ability to control time was still effective in reducing the pressure on Big Sister. As for Miss Lin and myself, who initially wanted to help, Big Sister curiously prohibited us from getting close to any ingredients.

“Wow! Chinese food!”

Tsuruya was the first to cry out in surprise at the sight of the sumptuous dishes on the table, and even Misaka, the Miss herself, couldn’t help but be dazzled by Big Sister’s confident creations – a talent unmatched by anyone apart from Little Ghost with her bug-like housekeeping ability!

“I really didn’t expect this,” looking around the dining room where everyone sat together like a family, Misaka Mikoto mused, “I originally thought that the relationship between researchers and Power Users was just that of researcher and subject, but I didn’t expect to see such exceptions…”

Visca was chomping away at his desk.

Pandora was chomping away at her desk.

We were all chomping away at our desks.

This was the unique habit our family had developed from living with Sandora for so long; if we all sighed in amazement like Misaka every time, some hungry Queen would have even gobbled up the table itself!

“Well… although it still feels strange…” Misaka Mikoto said, with a flash of light at her temple and a distorted face. (To be continued, for further details, please visit www.NovelFire.net, with more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)