Xyrin Empire
Chapter 361 - Chapter 361 Chapter 361 Aresta

Chapter 361: Chapter 361 Aresta Chapter 361: Chapter 361 Aresta In the Institute’s waiting room, several familiar girls were waiting for Zuotian Tsuruya’s arrival in their own ways. Chichun Shili was sitting quietly on a sofa a little farther away, sipping green tea. Even though she looked leisurely, her face was filled with a strong sense of helplessness and frustration. Not far from her on another sofa, sat a short-haired, tea-colored girl, the Super Electromagnetic Cannon of Changpan Platform, looking utterly gloomy. She was doing something quite beneficial for the body and mind, repeatedly knocking away Bai Jing Heizi, who was constantly approaching under various pretenses.

Their daily life was so colorful.

This was the scene that Qianqian and I witnessed as we led Zuotian Tsuruya into the waiting room.

“Ah, Zuotian student!”

Chichun Shili, in tea-drinking mode, was the first to notice her friend’s entrance, but the one who came to us first was Bai Jing Heizi–appearing at our feet by Space Transmission, and in a prone position.

“Ah, under Big Sister’s loving whip, Heizi feels like her body is beyond her control…”

Bai Jing Heizi wobbled up from the ground, her body still trembling from the aftereffects, with visible sparks of electricity shooting out.

…This is truly a tenacious creature, here as an Imperial Leader, I salute your fighting spirit, and as a hikikomori, I extend my heartfelt thanks to classmate Bai Jing Heizi, fighting on the front lines of yuri…

“Why do I feel like your gaze is filled with all sorts of things?”

Bai Jing Heizi’s eyelids drooped as she spoke languidly to me, then she took Zuotian Tsuruya’s hand and said happily, “Zuotian student, you finally showed up. We agreed to go shopping together after today’s experiments, but you didn’t come, and I couldn’t get through to your phone, so I came to check. It’s really good that you’re fine…”

Are you subtly denigrating my research institute? Can someone smart help me analyze the hidden meanings in Bai Jing Heizi’s words, damn it!

“Ah, sorry sorry, because today we had an important experiment, and it ended up running longer than expected…” Zuotian Tsuruya said, patting her head apologetically and taking out her phone, “Hmm, maybe the signal was blocked in the experiment room.”

“An important experiment?” Bai Jing Heizi looked at me suspiciously, “It wasn’t something really strange, was it?”

“Can your way of thinking be even more bizarre!?”

I glared with a vein popping on my forehead, then without any reservation, I gave that yuri girl a knuckle-rap on her head. These few days, due to several girls frequently visiting (should I really consider the institute’s management system?), we had grown very familiar with each other. We had thrown around countless similar jokes, but my favorite was still picking on this yuri girl who embodies a collection of bizarre attributes!

Qianqian approached the rubbing-her-head Bai Jing Heizi with a smile, then slowly, with a stern face, said, “Or does this student have any doubts about the projects we are undertaking in our institute?”

“I am very sorry for causing such great trouble for you, please do not take it to heart!!!”

After saying this, Bai Jing Heizi vanished with Space Transmission, accurately appearing behind Misaka Mikoto, she took a deep breath: “Huff–Indeed, Big Sister’s back still offers the most reliable support.”

A spark flew, and the world was serene again.

“By the way, Tsuruya mentioned this morning that today’s were just routine standard tests,” Misaka Mikoto, having dealt with her quirky “sister,” looked exhausted and then suddenly seemed to remember something, “Could it be a last-minute addition to the experiment?”

“Almost there,” Qianqian tapped her index finger against her lips, “since we have to determine the power and range of application for Zuotian Tsuruya’s new ability, we temporarily added a few items. After all, if we don’t fully understand a superpower and find out its requirements beforehand, it can be dangerous for oneself as well as for others.”

“Oh, is that so,” Chichun Shili nodded, relieved.

Three seconds later.

“Eh?!?!?!”

Three shocked exclamations rang out simultaneously in the waiting room–speaking of which, Bai Jing Heizi, are you really a believer in Brother Xin Chun?

“Classmate Zuotian, you…”

Flower Pot Girl incredulously reached out her hand, pointing at her friend and speaking incoherently, while Misaka Mikoto on the side rushed over and grabbed Zuotian Tsuruya’s hand, asking eagerly, “Tsuruya, is this true? Has your ability awakened?”

“Um… I guess so…”

Startled by her friends’ excited reactions, Zuotian Tsuruya replied somewhat flusteredly, though she sounded a bit unsure. It seemed she was not confident that what she had suddenly mastered was indeed a superpower. Well, this was understandable, considering that many of the Storm Commander’s skills were “Fake Laws” that lay between science and magic. By normal standards of superpower manifestations, there were too many anomalies. Another important point was that the superpowers developed by Academy City required “calculation” to trigger, while Zuotian Tsuruya’s Commander skill tree was fully automatic. It worked differently from what she had been taught, no wonder Tsuruya was puzzled as to whether this was a superpower.

“Classmate Zuotian! Classmate Zuotian! What is your ability? Please show us–”

As if she was even more excited than when she first mastered her own superpower, Chichun Shili clutched Tsuruya’s hand tightly, her face full of eagerness, the garland on her head even starting to bloom. Oh right, I should get Dingdang to come over. There might be a reserve devotee of the Life God Sect here.

Zuotian Tsuruya glanced at me, and I nodded at her. All three girls could be trusted, and Tsuruya probably didn’t want to conceal too much from them either. After receiving my affirmative response, she smiled happily and casually picked up a glass from the side–didn’t you realize that this item belongs to the research institute’s property?

Under the intense gaze of the three girls, Zuotian Tsuruya held the glass in her hand, and then…

Accumulating Hatred Value.

“Crack, crack.”

Under Tsuruya’s gaze, the glass, as a single material with a single-layer structure, quickly filled with cracks. Without any armor, its entity was targeted for destruction. The enforcement rules of the Target Order decreed it so, irrespective of the fragile structure of glass or steel weighing several tons. All would be obliterated before these skill attributes determined through “Fake Laws.”

Seconds later, the sturdy glass cup turned into scattering powder with a gentle squeeze from Tsuruya, drifting down slowly from the girl’s fingertips.

“I don’t really know what kind of ability this is,” Tsuruya shook her hands and said, “It seems that anything I gaze at becomes very fragile. It doesn’t belong to the existing system of superpowers at all. I bet this will give the record-keepers at the ‘Library’ quite a headache.”

Despite her words, Tsuruya’s face was filled with poorly concealed pride. A thirteen-year-old’s heart could not be as crafty and calculating as an adult’s, and in front of her friends, she revealed her feelings entirely.

“So… so amazing!”

Chichun Shili swallowed hard, looking incredibly shocked. Compared to the ever-constant Flower Pot Girl, Tsuruya’s superpower was indeed something quite remarkable.

“Such an ability is indeed very concerning,” Bai Jing Heizi also rarely showed a serious expression, “I’ve never heard of anything like this before… Um, Mister Director, I wonder if–Ah!”

“Call me Director Brother!” I hammered another knock on the respondent’s head.

Bai Jing Heizi held her head low and agreed obediently, “Yes, Director Brother, may I ask if Zuotian Tsuruya’s Ability Level is determined yet? It should be LEVEL 1, right? Considering she can make a water cup fragile…”

“It should be above LEVEL 2 and close to LEVEL 3,” I pondered slightly and then gave this not quite accurate reply, “When focused, she could make larger objects easier to break, and the activation key of this ability seems to lie in ‘attention’ rather than ‘gaze’. If she breaks through this point, Zuotian Tsuruya would only need to pay attention to something to make it disintegrate; for now, she still has to use her gaze to concentrate her attention. After breaking through, this ability could be called LEVEL 3.”

Of course, that’s not true. In fact, calling Zuotian Tsuruya’s current power close to LEVEL 5 wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Those born from Visca’s ‘God Creation’ Technology could never be weak. Moreover, many of Storm Commander’s skills probably have an ‘Enforcement’ effect; even a metal block made of thousands of tons of Titanium Alloy, as long as it’s a single structure, can be destroyed by Zuotian Tsuruya’s ‘Target Order’, with the consumption of spiritual power being the same as destroying a glass cup. But this is still judging on the basis of ‘Personal Strength’. If it were in team combat, Zuotian Tsuruya’s ability would probably be even more lethal than LEVEL 5. It’s just that, according to the concept of superpowers in Academy City, such abilities can’t be detected–not that I plan to let Zuotian Tsuruya’s situation blow up so soon.

Even though my words were quite conservative, they still made several girls exclaim loudly, “Close to LEVEL 3!? That’s amazing!”

It’s no wonder they were so surprised, going from a ‘Powerless’ to awakening a LEVEL 3 superpower all of a sudden.

“What exactly is the method you used…” Misaka Mikoto swept over me with a look reserved for rare animals, “This development is totally unexpected…”

“Research secret!”

I said with a serious expression, and unexpectedly as soon as this statement came out, the three girls who were chattering about Tsuruya’s situation immediately quieted down, then all nodded to me seriously, bowing.

Should I lament how easy it is to fool children?

Knowing that Zuotian Tsuruya had gained powers, the girls would definitely have a good celebration. In this situation, it’s better not to meddle as ‘outsiders,’ so I didn’t insist too much when Chichun and the others said goodbye to leave. We sent four jubilant girls out of the research institute.

“An unexpected development,” Qianqian took a breath, and then leaned into my arms, “It seems like as long as one is with Ah Jun, one will never be short of all kinds of dramatic turns.”

“To this, I express my greatest apologies and all sorts of frustration.”

“Haha!” Qianqian laughed happily and then pulled my arm to walk in another direction, “Dinner time, dinner time, our Savior Big Sister needs her carbs~~ Today there is a proud creation by me and Lin Xue that came out after great effort~~”

I stumbled, “Wait a minute, Qianqian, I suddenly remembered that today on the street I encountered my long-lost twin brother, so I’m afraid I’ll have to excuse myself, hey don’t bite me!!”

Afterward, there were two peaceful days, at least they seemed very peaceful to us. Zuotian Tsuruya, who had just been promoted to ‘Power User,’ happily ran over every day for various ability range tests and during breaks, she would tell me the interesting things that happened at school. After her biggest worry was relieved, the girl became much more cheerful, no longer the forced smile from a few days ago. And a student who was always LEVEL 0 suddenly getting superpowers close to LEVEL 3, and even a brand-new powerful Superpower, also caused a bit of a stir among teachers and classmates at Tsuruya’s school. But what made the girl happiest wasn’t these, but rather she was no longer the burden of her friends–after my explanation, knowing that her ability was more suitable for supporting her friends rather than fighting alone, Zuotian Tsuruya was not disappointed, but rather extremely happy. Although I didn’t quite understand, it was really different from my state of mind; after all, I chose the priest role under Er Pang’s various coercion and inducements back then…

But while our place was experiencing a calm daily life, that Old Fox would probably be unable to sit still, right?

I didn’t know why Aresta hadn’t reacted to us ‘Invaders’ who appeared unexpectedly, but as the movements on our side got bigger and repeatedly caused things that couldn’t be explained by common sense, even if Aresta were a calm Leader, he should be showing astonishment by now, right?

As a result, on the afternoon of the third day, a man who claimed to be a member of “Academy City’s Secret Operations Division” found our research institute and informed me that the Academy Director wished to see me.

From now on, please refer to me as Prophet Emperor, thank you, and make sure to keep me and that Demi Immortal Lin Xue separate…

The heart of Academy City, an all-black building constructed entirely from special composite materials that could withstand a nuclear blast without any doors or windows, ingress and egress could only depend on special ‘Space Magic’ Power Users acting as ‘Guides’–that’s where Aresta resided.

I think the person who chose such a place as home must have encountered some extreme spiritual trauma in their childhood. How else could anyone design such an infuriatingly awkward nest without having a severely autistic heart?

However, just from a design concept perspective, this thing is quite similar to the Space-Time Management Center in Shadow City, especially with its security measures that have no doors or windows and rely solely on Space Transmission for entry. If its shape were changed to that of a huge coffin, it would perfectly match Taville’s concept.

“Have you seen enough? If you’re ready, let’s go inside.”

The little girl playing the role of “Guide” said so with an indifferent voice, and I expressed my surprise, “Ah, so you do have lines?!”

The little girl: “…”

“Alright, alright, lead me to meet that Old Fox– don’t look at me with those eyes. You should know there are many things that don’t require your involvement.”

Noticing the momentary look of surprise on the little girl’s face when she heard me call the Old Fox, I said something cryptically. Then she nodded understandingly and grabbed my arm–deceiving children really is easy.

Remarking to myself in that moment, the next second, I felt a massive change in the scenery before me.

It wasn’t Xyrin Technology’s method of space displacement for transmission, but a direct rewrite of our three-dimensional coordinates to achieve the change of location. Though this restricted the volume and quantity of the transmission unit, it was a quite novel form of Space Transmission. Perhaps Taville might find it interesting.

Experiencing the unique aspect of a Power User’s Space Transmission, I mused inwardly and then raised my head, gazing at the upside-down man inside the pale green test tube before me.

The “Guide” beside me had already left, just as I had said, the matters here were not for her to involve herself with.

The place was eerie and sinister, this vast space was filled with oddly shaped machines and pipelines everywhere, numerous flickering lights hidden within the cracks of these objects, like the bright eyes of beasts in the dark night. The complex circuits intertwined and snaked forward, eventually converging in the middle of the room in the large pale green glass container. That test tube-like container was filled with LCL solution of the same color, with main components being Formalin and hydrogen peroxide… Nonsense! Cut this part, in any case, at the center of everything, a “biological entity” wearing a pale green surgical suit, nearly indistinguishable in gender, floated silently upside down in the large test tube, his gaze exuding an eternally unflappable calm.

Aresta, once the most talented Magician, glimpsed the truth in an instant, the real creator and ruler of Academy City. And clearly, he was trying to cosplay Bubbles, a failing miserably… Yeah, better to cut this part out too…

Your getup is a major disappointment! There’s absolutely zero cuteness about you, buddy! Any creature daring to float in a tube other than Bubbles snoozing in the Crystal Prism deserves divine retribution, damn it!

“I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

While I was internally ranting at high speed and desperately refreshing the cute image of Bubbles in my mind, a bizarre androgynous synthetic voice suddenly came from all around the room. Aresta, the “biological entity” who had relinquished all his biological functions to machines to become a pure thinker, even his manner of speaking was so postmodern.

“I’ve also been watching you for a pretty long time,” I waved my hand to show I understood and then looked around with a frown, “There’s not even a stool in this place?”

The air fell silent for three seconds before the electronic synthesized sound rang out again, “You really are a person I can’t understand, including your companions. I can’t even figure out how you guys got into Academy City…”

“Hold on!”

I waved my hand to interrupt him, taking out a folding stool with a curious look from Aresta–why on earth do I actually have such a thing in my portable space? I originally wanted to rummage around for an empty shell case to use as a stool.

Having solved the problem of the missing stool, I nodded at him, “Okay, go ahead, what’s the matter?” (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit www.NovelFire.net. There are more chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)