Chapter 23

Since the Void Burst incident gained attention, quite some time has passed, yet the culprit has still not been caught, and several disciplinary committee members have been injured. Bai Jingyue was very disdainful of this; if stronger measures had been taken, the culprit would have been caught long ago. It's no wonder that there are still security officers and the Dark Side in this city.

The weather was nice today. Saotome Riko, who was in class, invited Hoshina Shiriri to go shopping at [Seventh Mist] after school. Hoshina Shiriri hesitated due to her disciplinary committee work and ultimately declined, citing the Void Burst incident as the reason.

Inside the 177th branch, Hoshina Shiriri and Aizawa Miko discussed the possibilities of the culprit.

In the end, Aizawa Miko suggested whether there might be someone whose abilities suddenly increased. Without thinking, Hoshina Shiriri rejected it. "How could that be possible? It's impossible for someone's abilities to increase so quickly." After saying this, she paused, suddenly remembering that her good friend Saotome Riko had only taken six months to go from Level 0 to Level 4. But she quickly shook her head and dismissed the thought.

However, Aizawa Miko didn't notice and just sighed at the naivety of her idea.

"You're right, that's impossible." (Unfortunately, the truth passed by just like that.)

At this moment, Misaka Mikoto, who had just finished school, and Saotome Riko, who was bored and about to go home, met. To relieve the pressure on Aizawa Miko and Hoshina Shiriri, they agreed to go shopping together the next day.

When Misaka Mikoto mentioned this, she was refused. "Thank you for your kindness, but I won't go. I want to investigate more." At this moment, Aizawa Miko's face was radiant.

On the other side, Bai Jingyue agreed to the shopping request after being persuaded by Saotome Riko.

The next day, the four of them went shopping at [Seventh Mist]. Although Misaka Mikoto was surprised that Bai Jingyue would come, she thought that Bai Jingyue must be very busy and thus felt relieved. (It's just your illusion, girl.)

The four of them didn't notice that a person wearing headphones was looking at Hoshina Shiriri's armband with a sinister gaze.

Entering [Seventh Mist], Bai Jingyue was at a loss. He had never been to such a female-oriented store before. Everywhere were young and beautiful girls, and the number of males could be counted on one hand. The awkwardness made Bai Jingyue very uncomfortable.

"Hey, Moon, you're blushing~" Saotome Riko, who had been living with Bai Jingyue for some time, knew him very well.

"Trying to tease me? I'll punish you well when we get home tonight." Bai Jingyue didn't back down. Sometimes, if you're not strong enough, you'll be suppressed. The relationship between men and women can sometimes be like that.

Saotome Riko's face turned red, and she remembered that they were currently living together. If they really "fought," she would be the one to lose. She quickly changed the topic. "Over there, let's go see!" In her panic, she pointed to an underwear store in [Seventh Mist].

As a result, Saotome Riko's face turned even redder, and Bai Jingyue was also surprised. They had only gone to public malls like the underground street before, and this was their first time in an underwear store. Looking at Saotome Riko's flushed face, Bai Jingyue felt a bit excited. He didn't know that it was a mistake but thought it was a hint. His mood was like a roller coaster at that moment.

"Is it too early? No, no, in ancient China, it was normal to get married at thirteen! Yes! It was normal!"

Saotome Riko saw Bai Jingyue's rare excited expression and knew what he was thinking. She was about to explain but stopped. After thinking for a while, she said, "What kind of... do you like?"

"Let's just go with it; it's not bad this way."

While the two of them were sweet and affectionate, Misaka Mikoto and Hoshina Shiriri were browsing in the pajama section. Seeing Saotome Riko bringing Bai Jingyue along, they knew what Saotome Riko meant and thus separated early to avoid being a third wheel.

When Bai Jingyue and Saotome Riko came out of the underwear store, one was smiling like a flower, and the other was so red that it seemed to be dripping with water. As they were heading to the swimsuit store, a spiky-haired boy appeared in front of them.

"Bai Jingyue?"

"Touma, what's up?"

...

"Who's Touma?!! By the way, what are you doing here? She is...?" Touma, looking at the two people in front of him, was full of surprise.

"Let me introduce you," (Although I thought this day would come, I didn't expect it to be today.) "This is Touma, my classmate, and the man whose right hand can nullify all abilities. His characteristics are extremely bad luck and late-stage lolicon."

"Hello, I'm Touma... What's wrong with bad luck! And who's a lolicon! Can you stop adding all these attributes to me!" Touma was speechless at his friend's random blackening.

Saotome Riko also looked at Touma in surprise, the man with the [Imagine Breaker].

"Then this is Saotome Riko, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you."

At this moment, Touma's background turned deep red, as if stained with blood. "I see, Bai Jingyue, you betrayed the FFF Team... Prepare for punishment... Hehe... Hehe... Hehehe..."

"Big brother! I want to go see the dresses over there!" At this moment, a little girl came over and called out to Touma. Bai Jingyue recognized her as the girl who had lost her bag.

"Hey, hey, security officer, there's a gentleman kidnapping a little girl here..."

"Stop it, Moon, I know you didn't get through on the phone, don't blacken me, okay!" Touma was helpless with such a friend.

"I won't blacken you anymore, go play with the little girl first." Saying this, Bai Jingyue gave Touma a thumbs up. (High-level blackening! Moon, what did I do to you?)

(Why did you run away last time?)

(You really hold a grudge!)

Not mentioning how the two completed this mysterious mental exchange, after Touma left, Bai Jingyue took Saotome Riko and continued toward the swimsuit store.

(I'm really looking forward to tonight.)

The atmosphere here was good, but at the 177th branch, there was a cloud of worry. No matter how they looked, they couldn't find the connection between all the incidents.

"It might be random attacks." Kuroha Mii proposed the most terrifying possibility.

Aizawa Miko was stunned when she heard this but thought it was impossible. "There must be a connection. If we don't find it soon, there will be more victims."

"That's right, at least we need to find some clues. Nine colleagues have been injured."

"Nine?" Aizawa Miko seemed to have grasped something. "That's too many, isn't it?"

"Could the target be...!!"

Just as the two of them were deducing the clues, the computer reported that a graviton acceleration incident had occurred again, at [Seventh Mist]!

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