Chapter 195: I Have a Plan (Second Update)

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Yesterday, when George first awakened from his split-consciousness state, his psychic abilities immediately sensed that he was being monitored.

It wasn't until he activated his invisibility that the feeling of being watched finally disappeared. Thus, he kept himself invisible until he finished establishing his base and entered it. Only then did he cancel the invisibility.

Today, while tailing Misaka Mikoto, he also remained invisible the entire time and didn't sense any surveillance.

However, the moment he reappeared and canceled his invisibility, that unsettling feeling of being watched returned instantly.

Yet George was certain that before revealing himself, he had already destroyed all the nearby surveillance devices that could capture him.

Closing his eyes, he maximized his psychic abilities and expanded his senses outward.

Soon, he noticed something unusual. The surveillance wasn't coming from static points but rather from countless, minuscule, constantly moving dots nearby. They were so subtle that they were nearly impossible to detect without careful observation.

"I'll show you surveillance!"

Activating his magnetic abilities, George forcibly crushed every detectable surveillance dot within his magnetic range. Instantly, the sense of being watched vanished.

No matter how advanced the monitoring equipment those labs used—whether visible to the naked eye or not—it would inevitably incorporate some form of metal in its construction.

And anything made of metal was entirely within the scope of his abilities.

As previously noted, George's superpower was fundamentally the same as Misaka Mikoto's, though their applications differed.

Misaka Mikoto focused on generating electricity through magnetism. Even when controlling metal, she relied on electric currents, like how her signature Railgun used electromagnetic induction to propel coins at three times the speed of sound.

George, on the other hand, used magnetic forces directly and crudely to manipulate metal, much like Magneto. Any tech item containing metal posed no threat to him.

Previously, his low ability level limited the extent of his power. However, after being enhanced by the Misaka clone, his range and the weight of objects he could control had significantly increased.

Though he couldn't yet pull a 4,000- or 5,000-ton submarine from the ocean like Magneto, moving objects weighing 10 or 20 tons was now effortless.

If his superpower continued to develop and reached Level 5 in this world, his abilities would only grow further.

Those nearly invisible metal surveillance devices, once discovered, could no longer monitor him.

"So, I've been discovered!"

Aleister suddenly opened his eyes, his brows furrowing slightly.

He had been using the AIM Diffusion Field to monitor every corner of Academy City. This was the first time his surveillance had been detected—not by the Level 5 Misaka Mikoto herself, but by a Level 4 clone.

This made him increasingly suspicious of Clone 9981.

"It seems we need to capture Misaka Clone 9981 as soon as possible," Aleister muttered.

Through his communicator, he instructed the Pathology Analysis Research Institute of Mizuhotai to commission the "Item" team, a dark organization with Level 5 ability users, to immediately apprehend Clone 9981.

Since Clone 9981 could disrupt his surveillance, he could no longer oversee the situation as a whole. Resolving this issue quickly was crucial to prevent any unexpected problems in his plans.

"He's here!"

At this moment, both George and Misaka Mikoto spotted a white-haired boy entering the alley. It was none other than the Level 5 esper, Accelerator.

"The 9,982nd experiment will commence in two minutes. The time is now 8:58," stated Clone 9982 in a completely emotionless voice.

With his hands in his pockets, Accelerator looked at Clone 9982. Unlike usual, he didn't mock her. Instead, he asked with a trace of madness:

"What was with that copy yesterday? Why did it run away?

"Aren't you copies supposed to be completely devoid of human emotions, incapable of fear or hesitation?"

In the past, he had always regarded the clones as emotionless machines—unable to feel fear, incapable of begging for mercy. They were like NPCs in a game, something to kill in order to gain experience points.

Because of this, he never gave it much thought.

But yesterday, one of the clones had shown fear and ran away. Did that mean these clones weren't just simple copies after all?

This began to shake him internally, filling him with panic and a sense of helplessness.

Deep down, what he hated most was harming innocent people.

From birth until the age of nine, he had lived in research labs, treated as nothing more than a subject of study. At ten, when his abilities awakened, he was assigned to a special class composed solely of himself, constantly being shuffled between different research facilities.

Eventually, he became Academy City's top-ranked Level 5 esper.

But his immense power also made him a target for many organizations. Countless people tried to approach and control him, leaving him utterly fed up. Even after he broke their arms and legs, they wouldn't stop.

The reason he was persuaded to join the Level 6 Shift experiment was, in truth, to become the absolute strongest. He hoped that by doing so, he could end the constant harassment and avoid harming others.

"Misaka 9981 was an anomaly. Don't dwell on it. As long as you complete the remaining experiments, you will evolve into a Level 6 Absolute Esper after killing 10,020 Misaka clones."

Wearing a frog-faced badge, Misaka 9982 lowered the military-grade night vision goggles on her head, raised her submachine gun, and launched an attack on Accelerator.

"Time: 9:00. Experiment No. 9982 begins," she announced.

"Annoying. If you want to die so badly, then just die already!"

Accelerator frowned, and before the bullets could even reach him, they were deflected by his vector manipulation ability.

With experience from 9981 previous battles against Accelerator, Misaka 9982 deftly avoided the reflected bullets. She then used her electrical abilities to turn off the alley lights, concealing herself in the darkness to launch a sneak attack.

However, the gap in power was too vast. Before long, her night vision goggles and submachine gun were destroyed, forcing her to follow the battle script and shift the fight to a new location.

Accelerator, unhurried, chased after her. He planned to defeat the clone according to the experiment's requirements and observe whether she would beg for mercy before her death.

If she did, he would terminate the experiment. If not, then it would confirm that he had overthought things.

George and Misaka Mikoto, watching Misaka 9982 and Accelerator relocate the battle, followed closely behind.

The final battleground was set at an abandoned riverside dock. According to the experiment script, Misaka 9982 was meant to be eliminated by Accelerator here, marking the end of the day's experiment.

"You can take action now," George said.

As Misaka 9982 was about to be caught, George turned invisible and vanished, while Misaka Mikoto rushed forward to block Accelerator's path.

"Stop!" she yelled.

"Another one? There was no mention of running two experiments today, but it doesn't matter," Accelerator said indifferently.

With a wave of his hand, he used his vector manipulation to summon a whirlwind, flinging several shipping containers at the two Misakas.

"Iron Sand Sword!"

Using electromagnetic power, Misaka Mikoto gathered the iron sand from within a 200-meter radius, forming an electric chainsaw dozens of meters long. With a gentle swing, she effortlessly sliced the containers in half.

(End of Chapter)