Since these were only supplementary lessons during summer vacation, not only were there very few students attending, even the teachers had to sacrifice their holidays to accompany them. Because of this, the supplementary courses did not last until the usual school dismissal time, but instead ended quite early.
"So, what should I do next?"
Walking along the scorching hot shopping street filled with burning air, Fang Li endured the blazing sun while habitually observing his surroundings.
That was a habit left over from his Butei days.
Because one never knew when they would get caught up in an incident, excellent Butei would always cultivate the habit of observing their environment just in case.
Even though Fang Li had already been living in this city for a year now, and was very familiar with this road he had to take to school, he still made it a habit to observe the area around him.
However, in this sweltering heat, there were naturally very few pedestrians around Fang Li. Only those barrel-shaped robots were working diligently, either patrolling like guards or cleaning up the trash on the streets.
In the sky, airships continued to drift slowly.
On the giant screen, the live broadcast of the concert had already ended, replaced by a press conference.
And the main character of the press conference was, of course, Sylvia.
Bathed in countless flashing lights, Sylvia still wore her dazzling smile. While waving gracefully toward the cameras, she calmly and methodically answered the reporters' questions.
Looking at Sylvia on the screen, Fang Li couldn't help but smile faintly.
"The concert's over. She should be coming back soon, right?"
Although he spoke with Sylvia every night on the phone, and even had video calls, when he thought about it carefully, it had already been a while since Fang Li had seen her in person.
"The quest over there seems to be just about completed."
According to Sylvia's previous reports, she had successfully carried out her mission this time, collecting the ninth ley line's power.
Next, she only needed to collect one more ley line's power, and the task would be complete.
"In that case, she'll end up completing the Main Quest before me."
Originally, Fang Li had thought he would be the one to finish his quest before Sylvia.
Unfortunately, due to several failed operations where the targets had been transferred elsewhere, Fang Li had only managed to obtain eight original Magic Path books over the past year.
"Still need two more to complete the quest, huh?"
It seemed he needed to seriously consider where he could get his hands on the remaining Magic Path originals.
Thinking this, Fang Li took out his cell phone.
In Academy City, a student's evaluation standard was Ability.
The higher one's Ability, the more attention they received, and the better treatment they enjoyed.
On the other hand, if one's Ability was too low, then no matter how famous they might be otherwise, they still could not compare to those with strong Abilities.
This unwritten rule did not just apply to students, it extended to teachers, scholars, and researchers as well.
It was precisely because of this that Sylvia's rise to fame had shocked so many people.
Clearly, she was an Ability-less person, yet she had still managed to become a world-class idol purely through singing. In Academy City, her reputation was already unparalleled; even the seven Level 5 superpower espers couldn't match her fame, earning her the admiration of countless people.
But not everyone could be like Sylvia.
Because of failed Ability development, or being unable to raise their Ability Rank for a long time, many students were gradually forgotten or even discriminated against. And the number of such students in this city was overwhelming.
As a result, it was inevitable that many would, out of frustration and imbalance, go down the wrong path, even to the point of willingly falling into depravity.
Such people either skipped school altogether, only came out at night, or went so far as to attack Ability users. Calling them delinquents was putting it mildly; some of them had already crossed the line into full-blown criminals.
Thus, some of these people gathered in the alleys and ruins of Academy City, banding together in groups, mingling like criminal gangs.
People called them the Armed Group of Skill-less.
And Fang Li, in order to obtain certain intelligence he desired, had sought out these Skill-less armed groups in the backstreets a year ago. After giving them all a thorough beating, he eventually gathered quite a few underlings, becoming the leader of the largest Skill-less armed group.
The busybodies even gave this group a name, "Scorpius."
Now, Fang Li was the leader of this Skill-less armed group.
So, Fang Li often sent Scorpius to collect information for him.
"Today is boring as always. If something happens, report it to me. If not, then go gather intel."
That was the excuse Fang Li always used.
After all, he couldn't just openly order people to collect intelligence about the original grimoires of the Magic Path, right?
Otherwise, that guy who kept everything underlined in his grasp would definitely "invite him out for tea."
Of course, even if that weren't the case, there were still others who wanted to "invite Fang Li for tea."
As a Skill-less armed group who might well be criminals, and who might even attack espers and harm innocents, the city's law enforcement naturally regarded them as a thorn in the eye and a nail in the flesh.
In Academy City, however, it was not the police who handled incidents, but Anti-Skill and Judgment.
Anti-Skill was an organization that acted as the city's police, made up of volunteer faculty members, tasked with maintaining overall security in Academy City.
Judgment, on the other hand, was an organization dedicated to handling cases caused by espers within the city, made up of outstanding esper students selected from various schools.
Both of these organizations regarded the Skill-less armed groups as nothing less than criminal gangs, keeping constant watch over them.
Among them, there was one particular Judgment member who had had Fang Li in her sights for a long time.
"Finally, I've caught you…"
With that voice, Fang Li felt it, a hand suddenly pressed down on his back.
A very small hand.
"Shua!"
The next instant, with a sound like the whistle of the wind, Fang Li's world turned upside down.
No.
It wasn't the world that flipped, but Fang Li himself.
Somehow, he had been tossed into the air. Like stepping on a banana peel, his body floated up uncontrollably, and before he could react, he was sent crashing toward the ground.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Fang Li slammed heavily against the ground.
"Pa! Pa! Pa!"
Almost at the same moment, several sharp sounds rang out in his ears.
They were arrows.
Palm-sized metal arrows appeared out of thin air, instantly surrounding Fang Li. They nailed his clothes to the ground, pinning him where he fell.
Only then did a girl appear before Fang Li.
"Got you, Scorpius delinquent."
Twirling a metal arrow in her hand as if it were a pencil, the girl looked down at Fang Li from above. On her face was a smile, one that was half-mocking, half-effortless.
"This time, you won't escape."
(End Of This Chapter)
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