In truth, if Aleister really wanted to manipulate the course of the "Level 6 Shift Project," there was absolutely no need for Fang Li to take such a dramatic action.
In Academy City, there was no shortage of capable individuals who could have resolved this incident quietly. And as the city's Superintendent, the mastermind pulling all the strings behind the scenes, Aleister could easily make use of those people, manipulating them without their even realizing it, and get the entire job done through them.
That way, Aleister wouldn't have had to pay any kind of "reward."
Yet even under those circumstances, Aleister still chose to make Fang Li act.
"So in the end, it's just about collecting information on me, isn't it?"
To make use of someone, one must first understand them. That understanding is information. With enough information, controlling a person becomes very simple.
If the target is kind-hearted, you control them through a hostage. If the target is ruthless, you subdue them through power. But to know what kind of hostage would work on a kind person, or how much power is enough to crush a reckless one, that requires prior knowledge.
And right now, Aleister was gathering all kinds of information about Fang Li through every means available.
"This must be one of the inevitable results of entrusting one's thoughts to machines, huh?"
If you input data into a machine and have it calculate an outcome, the more data you feed it, the more accurate the result. Once you've hooked a fish, whether you release it or cook it is entirely up to the fisherman. And to catch the fish, bait is absolutely necessary.
Right now, the "reward" Aleister had promised Fang Li was nothing more than bait tossed into the water.
You really had to hand it to him; even while executing one plan, Aleister could still find ways to extract additional value from other angles. That level of precision and efficiency truly made him a master manipulator.
Like a spider weaving its web, he laid his threads across every corner, running multiple schemes simultaneously. He could choose at any time which plan to pull first, leaving the others on standby. But in the end, when the web tightened, no matter how many prey were caught within, all of them would end up devoured by the giant spider known as Aleister.
To oppose someone like that… there were probably only a handful of people in the entire world who could.
Unfortunately for Aleister, Fang Li happened to be one of them.
"Because no matter how much information you collect, in the end, it'll all be meaningless."
After all, Fang Li was a Divine Envoy.
Even if Aleister managed to uncover every secret about him now, once Fang Li left this world, all of Aleister's efforts would be rendered futile. And when Fang Li eventually returned, all that gathered intelligence would have already become outdated.
His power might have grown stronger. He might have obtained miraculous items from other worlds. He might have developed entirely new abilities. In that case, Aleister would never be able to fully grasp Fang Li.
And when Aleister finally realized this, when he began to see Fang Li as an uncontrollable variable that needed to be eliminated…
"By then," Fang Li said with a faint smile, slipping his cellphone back into his pocket, "I might already have the power to crush you beneath my feet."
With that, he walked away.
…
Night quietly descended.
And with it, chaos began to spread across every corner of Academy City.
Centered around School District 7, convoys of Anti-Skill vehicles sped through the streets, their flashing lights and blaring sirens echoing from every direction.
Watching the constant stream of patrol cars racing by, countless pedestrians on the sidewalks couldn't help but look on in astonishment.
"What happened?" "Did something big occur?" "This is like the fifth time I've seen Anti-Skill cars go by!" "There's definitely some huge incident going on."
The streets buzzed with speculation and nervous chatter.
But that atmosphere didn't last long.
Soon, down each and every street, figures began to appear: students wearing various school uniforms, armbands bearing the Judgment insignia proudly displayed on their sleeves.
"Everyone, please return to your homes immediately!" "Do not linger on the streets!" "There's a large-scale conflict happening right now! Everyone, please head home immediately and avoid getting caught up in it!"
The members of Judgment called out as they worked to disperse the crowds, urging people off the streets. The onlookers, torn between curiosity and fear, reluctantly began to head back to their homes.
Scenes like this were playing out all across the city.
"Get them!"
"Go! Don't hold back!"
In a deserted open area, groups of delinquents had gathered in large numbers. Some were armed with crude weapons, others fought barehanded, all locked in a massive, chaotic brawl.
Bang! The sound of fists slamming into noses echoed continuously.
"Ahhh!" Screams of pain rang out from every direction.
"Damn it!" "Don't get cocky, you bastards!"
Anger took control of the hearts of one armed non-esper gang after another, driving the scale of the fighting higher and higher.
And before long, the chaos began to evolve beyond the level of a simple street fight.
That was when the espers joined the fray.
The armed gangs weren't entirely made up of people without powers. There were also Level 1 and Level 2 espers among them, people whose abilities were too weak, crushed under the pressure of not being able to catch up, and who had eventually turned to these underground organizations.
And now, those espers finally began to make their move.
In an instant, flames burst forth, explosions erupted, wind gusts scattered debris and sand, transforming what had been a brawl into a full-blown battlefield.
Amid the chaos, Anti-Skill vehicles finally arrived.
"Stop right there!"
"Everyone, drop your weapons!"
Armed with advanced rifles and shields, the Anti-Skill officers moved in to intervene. But instead of calming things down, their arrival only made the riot spiral further out of control.
Scenes like this were unfolding throughout School District 7, and were beginning to spread into other districts as well, exactly as Fang Li had planned.
…
Inside the Tokiwadai Middle School Student Dormitory, Misaka Mikoto returned to her room to find Shirai Kuroko already dressed in her school uniform, the Judgment armband secured proudly around her arm.
"Onee-sama! You're back!" Shirai Kuroko's eyes sparkled as she spotted her, her face lighting up with genuine joy.
Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto felt a pang of guilt. It seemed, just as Fang Li had said, Kuroko had been worrying about her this whole time. The fact that Kuroko looked this happy just because she came back a little early said everything.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
"What's going on, Kuroko?" Misaka asked. "Are you heading out?"
"Yes, Onee-sama." Kuroko replied, a hint of regret in her tone. "I really wanted to sit down and talk with you, but Headquarters just sent an emergency support request to all Judgment branches. I have to go right away."
"It's fine," Misaka said with a casual, forced smile. "Just make sure you're careful."
"Yes, ma'am!" Kuroko nodded vigorously, beaming as she dashed out the door.
Once Kuroko was gone, Misaka Mikoto collapsed back onto her bed, the image of Fang Li's subtle, knowing smile flashing in her mind.
"Will everything really be okay…?"
She could only hope that, somehow, Fang Li's reckless chaos would turn out to be the "smarter" solution he'd promised.
(End Of This Chapter)
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