Putting the robot issue aside for now, the new radar system quickly took shape. It was essentially just an overlay of two abilities, so there weren't many technical difficulties.
However, they still needed to develop some formulas for using this new radar.
Soon, Natsume Sonoko created a new task in Reiko, dumping in her commands along with the general concepts and algorithms for the formulas.
After that, she just had to wait for Reiko's feedback, which significantly reduced the time she'd have spent on calculations, reasoning, and trial-and-error.
Actually, many people who could create various formulas on the fly basically started by sketching out a concept, then used massive computational power and knowledge reserves to fill in and modify the details.
The only difference was that they could genuinely build a decent-looking formula in a very short time.
Natsume Sonoko really wanted to reach that level herself. Even with sufficient computational power and knowledge, she felt she was lagging a bit in the inspiration—or rather, the conceptual—department.
Her mind raced through these thoughts, but only a few seconds passed in reality.
Her gaze shifted between Yumiya Rakko and the collapsed Dolphin person, her confusion only deepening.
One seemed intent on protecting her, while the other seemed to mean her harm. It looked like their relationship was antagonistic.
Thinking about it, it seemed the relationships between the various [Dark Side] groups weren't very harmonious either. Probably competitive, like the rivalries between some of the big corporations out in society.
The air grew colder. Several arms made of frost reached out from the nearby ground, grabbing onto the torn parts of the Dolphin person's clothing.
Before long, a weakened figure was dragged out. The moment they emerged, they began sweating profusely all over, their face noticeably swollen. It looked like a young girl, and not very old at that.
Yumiya Rakko slightly raised her sleeve, taking aim. But before the bullet in her hand could be fired, she felt a heavy pressure on her arm, as if the air had turned into bricks and was weighing her limb down.
"Thank you for your help earlier, Yumiya-senpai, but it's probably best to hand her over to the Anti-Skill officers."
Natsume Sonoko put on a serious face. Though her tone was consultative, her stance was clearly firm.
This kind of 'silence the witness' approach, typical of the dark side, was something Natsume Sonoko just couldn't quite bring herself to adopt.
Instead, probably from hanging around Shirai-san too much, no matter what happened, she preferred relying on the Judgment and the Anti-Skill teachers. She was quite willing to abide by the various surface-level rules of Academy City.
Yumiya Rakko didn't answer, just looked at Natsume Sonoko with a strange gaze, but she nodded anyway.
Just as Natsume was about to call Judgment, the figure originally lying on the ground struggled to its feet and lunged straight at her.
The distance between them was less than three meters. Natsume Sonoko could even see the swelling on her face.
Natsume Sonoko remained remarkably calm, though she secretly sighed inside.
A sudden blast of wind pressure appeared. The girl was thrown backwards as if hit by a truck, flying several meters before crashing to the ground, completely unconscious.
"Yomikawa-sensei? This is Tokiwadai's Natsume Sonoko. I've been involved in an assault incident here. The victim is fine, but the attacker has been subdued."
"No, no, I'm not a Judgment member yet. I was just helping out temporarily last time."
Quietly ending the call, Natsume Sonoko was reminded by Yomikawa-sensei's words, finally recalling a certain matter about her own status.
It seemed like it had been almost a week since she'd filled out some Judgment paperwork over at Konori Mii-senpai's place.
But becoming a full-fledged Judgment member required some physical training camps and multiple tests.
Just hearing about it sounded like a hassle.
Combined with her lack of the particularly strong sense of justice that Shirai-san possessed, Natsume Sonoko had basically already decided to give up on it.
Judgment duty... it just didn't seem to suit her.
"Yumiya-senpai, can you tell me what's going on? Like, why were you following me?"
Walking over to Yumiya Rakko's side, Natsume Sonoko hesitated for a moment before asking. Her curiosity was practically bubbling over; she'd wanted to ask this properly even before the Dolphin person showed up.
"Tell her, Rakko."
A voice sounded from the tiny communication device in Yumiya Rakko's ear.
But before Rakko could speak, another girl, dressed in ornate Western-style clothing, appeared not far away.
She had long, flowing golden hair and wore a feather pendant of Native American style around her neck.
"And who are you?"
Natsume Sonoko looked warily at this new, also suddenly-appearing person. The recent events were coming too fast to keep up with, making a certain bun-headed girl feel mentally exhausted.
So annoying. She didn't even have time to find a place to put down all the shopping bags she'd just bought.
"I'm not an enemy. I'm with Rakko."
Gokusai Kaibi offered a sweet smile, radiating a powerful affinity that seemed too mature for someone her age.
After all, Railgun, who was almost the same age, was still deeply engrossed in her Gekota phase.
For some reason, an inexplicable sense of fondness welled up in Natsume Sonoko's heart, as if she'd already accepted this Gokusai Kaibi before her as a friend.
And this fondness felt a bit strange. Her mind was growing somewhat sluggish because of it. But Natsume Sonoko immediately sensed something was wrong—she didn't even know this person.
Her brain began calculating the cause, but quickly identified it as a purely psychological issue.
Realizing this, Natsume Sonoko immediately understood where the problem lay.
This girl, like Misaki Shokuhou-senpai, seemed to be an ability user from the mental system, and by the looks of it, not a low-level one either.
Mental-system ability users were practically unsolvable puzzles for many people.
Natsume Sonoko unfortunately fell into that category; she didn't have an electromagnetic barrier like Misaka-senpai to defend against mental control.
But then things seemed to shift again.
Natsume Sonoko suddenly realized that a part of her consciousness, the part connected to Reiko, wasn't affected by this imposed fondness.
Acting on instinct, Natsume Sonoko tried adjusting the allocation of her conscious thought.
The bun-headed girl was surprised to discover that as long as she diverted a portion of her consciousness to Reiko, the other party's ability, while still present, couldn't affect the part of her mind thinking normally within Reiko.
"My apologies. Your ability is too dangerous. To prevent being attacked immediately, I had to use my ability just a little," Gokusai Kaibi suddenly spoke up, just as Natsume was pondering what this discovery might mean for her.
As soon as she finished speaking, the fondness clinging to Natsume Sonoko's heart instantly vanished. Natsume Sonoko raised her head and looked directly at this suddenly-appearing, glamorous girl.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Gokusai Kaibi. I'm a member of [School]. You've experienced my ability—I can freely adjust the distance between people's hearts," Gokusai Kaibi said with a slight smile.
Natsume Sonoko was taken aback for a moment, giving the other girl a strange look. Were all members of the dark side this open now?
As for this ability to alter the distance between hearts... it was truly troublesome. At the very least, until the influence was removed, Natsume Sonoko found she couldn't bring herself to directly attack the other party.
After all, a certain bun-headed girl wouldn't hurt her friends.
She repeated the question she had meant to ask Rakko-senpai earlier, and Natsume Sonoko soon got her answer.
Simply put, someone was trying to salvage the Level 6 Shift Project, to erase the record of Accelerator's defeat, in an attempt to change the opinion of the highest echelons of Academy City.
The decisions of Academy City's top brass were undoubtedly extremely difficult to change. But then again, the researchers in Academy City were each crazier than the last; there was no telling what they might do.
"So, in other words, Natsume-san, your current situation is somewhat dangerous. The way to get rid of this targeting is actually quite simple: become a Level 5."
"However," Gokusai Kaibi's face broke into a charming smile, her gaze fixed directly on Natsume, "now you have another option. We might be able to make a deal."
The situation seemed passive, but Natsume Sonoko was seriously considering the other party's proposal.
Regardless, Rakko-senpai had indeed helped her out of a tight spot earlier. Natsume Sonoko agreed to talk with these members of the dark side.
"What kind of deal?" Natsume Sonoko asked directly.
"Tell us all the methods and details of your battle with Accelerator. In return, we will resolve the trouble you're facing. How about it? A pretty good deal for you, isn't it?"
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.