Meanwhile, inside the school.
The commotion at the gate quickly caught the attention of some students. Given the small student body, the news spread to every student's ears in no time.
"Trouble, trouble!"
Shirai Kuroko, exclaiming in disbelief, found Misaka Mikoto.
"Onee-san, there's a ton of onee-san at the gate! What's going on?"
Having heard the same news, Misaka Mikoto didn't hesitate and dashed toward the school gate, arriving swiftly.
She immediately spotted over a hundred Misaka Sisters.
In that moment, Misaka Mikoto was stunned. She was certain her parents only had one daughter—her.
So where did these hundred-plus lookalikes come from?
A school official, seeing Misaka Mikoto arrive, couldn't help but ask, "Misaka-san, are these your sisters?"
"No way!" Misaka Mikoto retorted. Her mother wasn't a sow; how could she have so many kids?
Not to mention, these girls looked identical to her. It was beyond absurd.
Last Order, spotting Misaka Mikoto's arrival, cheered, "Ah, it's onee-san! Misaka Misaka says with surprise!"
She waved her slender arms enthusiastically. "Onee-san, onee-san, Misaka Misaka is here!"
"..."
"..."
Shirai Kuroko, who had just rushed back: "Ah, it's onee-san! Such a young onee-san! I, Kuroko, am so overjoyed!"
With that, she fainted in bliss.
Honestly, if not for the crowd, Misaka Mikoto would've loved to give this pervert a shock-therapy treatment.
Sometimes, she really wanted to call the cops.
Really.
"Who are you all?"
Taking a deep breath, Misaka Mikoto forced herself to calm down and approached the gate, looking at Morpheus. She sensed he was the leader of this group.
Morpheus said, "Can we talk privately?"
Misaka Mikoto replied, "Of course."
The school officials cleared the auditorium for Morpheus, Misaka Mikoto, and the hundred-plus Misaka Sisters.
By now, a large crowd of students had gathered at the auditorium's entrance.
The appearance of over a hundred Misaka Sisters was too spectacular, already causing a school-wide sensation.
Even Shokuhou Misaki showed up, holding her remote, instinctively trying to invade Morpheus's mind to uncover secrets.
This time, however, Shokuhou Misaki hit a wall. Her consciousness slammed into an immovable gate.
Her mind recoiled, a wave of dizziness nearly knocking her to the ground.
Morpheus stepped forward, catching Shokuhou Misaki before she fell. "Prying into others' memories isn't nice, Shokuhou Misaki-san."
A faint white light glowed from his hand, soothing her dizziness and restoring her.
"You're lucky it was me. If it were someone else, you might've ended up brain-dead."
Shokuhou Misaki's heart raced. She didn't think Morpheus was lying; when her consciousness hit his mental defenses, she genuinely thought she was done for.
Misaka Mikoto, walking beside Morpheus, overheard and shot Shokuhou Misaki an angry glare.
"You never learn, do you?"
Though both were students at the school, Shokuhou Misaki and Misaka Mikoto couldn't stand each other.
Shokuhou Misaki had repeatedly tried to invade Misaka Mikoto's mind.
Thanks to Misaka Mikoto's ability, every attempt failed.
Yet Shokuhou Misaki never stopped trying.
Seeing Shokuhou Misaki get her comeuppance thrilled Misaka Mikoto. "Hit a wall this time, huh? Let's see you keep acting smug."
Already upset from the setback, Shokuhou Misaki grew angrier at Misaka Mikoto's taunts. But, wary of Morpheus's power, she held back, mentally noting the slight.
She'd make Misaka Mikoto pay someday, she swore.
Though unaware of Shokuhou Misaki's thoughts, Misaka Mikoto knew the woman was up to no good. She said bluntly, "Alright, if you've got nothing to do, leave. I've requisitioned the auditorium, and you're not welcome."
"..."
This grudge, I'll remember.
Struggling out of Morpheus's arms, Shokuhou Misaki glared at Misaka Mikoto with her starry eyes.
"Misaka-san, we'll see about that."
After her parting shot, Shokuhou Misaki slunk away.
Misaka Mikoto pulled Morpheus into the auditorium, shut the doors, and turned to face him and the Misaka Sisters behind him.
"Now, tell me—who are you all?"
Morpheus smiled. "Instead of me explaining, why don't you see for yourself? Misaka Misaka, connect your onee-san to the Misaka Network."
Last Order nodded, stepped up to Misaka Mikoto, and extended her hand. "Onee-san, please don't resist. Misaka Misaka will bring you into our network."
The Misaka Network was a system where the Misaka Sisters linked their brains via identical brainwaves, forming a shared information network.
Once connected, they could share data and boost collective processing power.
So when Misaka Mikoto joined the Misaka Network, she instantly understood the Sisters' origins.
She even fully experienced memories of Accelerator killing other Sisters.
The various gruesome deaths overwhelmed her, delivering a massive shock.
But Morpheus wasn't worried about Misaka Mikoto breaking down.
In the original plot, she endured the deaths of over 9,000 Sisters.
Now, with only a few hundred dead, she could handle it.
As one of A Certain Magical Index's heroines, Misaka Mikoto was no ordinary tough.
After grasping the full story, Misaka Mikoto stood frozen, tears streaming down her cheeks, dripping onto the floor and wetting it.
Last Order panicked. "Don't cry, onee-san! Misaka Misaka says with great concern!"
Misaka Mikoto snapped back, cursing herself for making such a young girl worry.
She shouldn't have.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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