One-way traffic

"Not only that, it seems that the woman was covered in bruises, and in the end she wanted to thank someone profusely? Wow, it's just like a movie, so exciting!"

"Anyway, the child's older sister has been found, so everything should be alright now, right? That's great!"

Hatsune Miku hung up the phone with great joy, and then looked at Accelerator to the side.

"Listen to me, Yifang! The little boy we met today, his sister has been found!"

"That's great! Should I celebrate for that kid?"

"Don't say that... But she seemed to have escaped from somewhere, and apparently she was rescued... Who rescued her? I'm really curious..."

Accelerator sat on the sofa, calmly opened a can of coffee, and started drinking.

"Who knows."

Chapter 217 A Kind-hearted Villain

Today, the Seventh School District is surrounded by countless people.

At night, the scene resembled a shrine festival banquet, with countless people looking around – these were the residents of Academy City.

The age distribution is naturally around teenagers, with most being young couples, some being groups of girls or boys who simply came to shop, and even some young ladies from famous aristocratic schools came to visit.

The Seventh School District amusement park, built overnight, is arguably the most captivating project currently under construction.

"Waaaaah...!"

Wearing simple winter clothes, Last Order ran through the streets, and like any other child, she was very interested in the scene.

"There are so many people! Even more than during the day!" Misaka Misaka couldn't help but get excited as she looked at the scene!

"Don't run around like that."

Following him down was Accelerator, who was wearing a white winter coat.

Behind him followed Aiho Yomikawa and Kikyo Yoshikawa, while Hatsune Miku walked in front to look after Last Order.

He hadn't originally planned to participate in this activity, but the last work kept begging him, saying that if he didn't come down, she would keep begging him until he went to sleep. Unable to bear it, he had no choice but to go down with her.

He turned his head and looked around. There were many stalls set up on the streets on both sides, and only this straight road was for people to walk on. It looked just like a night market in China.

A group of young men and women dressed in kimonos walked together, and in the distance, one could even see activities like scooping goldfish. It looked just like the New Year was approaching.

"I really don't understand, which planning company had nothing better to do than make such a thing?"

"What's wrong with it?"

Aiho Yomi followed behind him, smiling casually.

"Everyone had fun, and the final product was enjoyable. Isn't that enough?"

"I think he's just annoyed that he has to come down and go shopping with us no matter what."

"Oh dear... you really need to exercise more. You're always cooped up at home and you're practically useless. It's a rare opportunity, so what's a little walk!"

Accelerator ignored the whispers of the two people behind him.

He walked straight ahead and went to a shop to buy a drink. While everyone else was buying smoothies or carbonated drinks, he was the only one who ordered bitter black coffee.

Holding the canned coffee-like drink, Accelerator once again walked to the front and found the two people standing still in place.

"Did you finish your shopping so soon?"

He looked at Hatsune Miku and Last Order, and it seemed that these two, along with a large number of other people, had all stopped there.

"No, look at the sky!"

Hatsune Miku seemed a little excited, and this strange posture made Accelerator frown, then—

Like everyone else, he looked up at the sky and saw streaks of light exploding in the air.

boom! ! !

Those were colorful fireworks.

"Wow!! There really are fireworks!" Misaka Misaka exclaimed, both excited and moved!

"so beautiful…"

The two girls reacted differently, but both were basically surprised and delighted by the beauty of the fireworks.

However, Accelerator did not show the same surprised expression upon seeing this scene; instead, he appeared even more bored.

"I don't understand what they were thinking."

"…Um?"

"I mean, we have absolutely no idea what the guys in Academy City are trying to achieve by creating these things at a time like this. This kind of activity shouldn't be maximizing profits for any commercial organization, right? Or is it just a cover-up, a way to conduct some new experiments behind the scenes?"

This is a one-sided way of thinking.

No matter what happens around him, he will ruthlessly speculate with the greatest malice. It is because he has always been arrogant and domineering in the past, and he always thought he was the strongest in the world, that he was defeated by that hedgehog-headed guy.

Now, even the smallest, most accidental things in life are interpreted with the utmost malice, multiplied by thirty, to make the most extreme assumptions. This is the level of meticulousness with which the first person in Academy City approaches life.

It's probably the most reassuring lifestyle.

but.

"It's not that complicated."

"…ah?"

Hatsune Miku's sudden words startled Accelerator.

The girl grabbed his shoulders and said with a grin.

"I think this is just a firework display to make everyone feel happy. Look... everyone who sees this firework now has an incredibly happy expression on their face."

"I think it's enough to be able to see this point, right? There's no need to dwell on the specific meaning... As long as everyone is happy, that's all that matters."

In other words...

"You're too wary. That won't do. As a human being, you should experience the joys of being human!"

"I'm saying you..."

Just as Accelerator was about to say something in silence, he realized that something had been stuffed into his mouth—it was a taiyaki, which Hatsune Miku must have bought earlier.

The girl in the cherry blossom-colored sailor uniform smiled mischievously and stuffed a taiyaki directly into Accelerator's mouth, preventing him from saying anything more.

"Wow, that's amazing! Hatsune Miku managed to subdue that person so easily. It's usually very difficult for Misaka to keep him so docile!" Misaka Misaka said with a hint of envy.

This is really... incredibly boring.

The first student in Academy City took a taiyaki out of his mouth with utter boredom. He didn't particularly like sweets, but he still ate it bite by bite.

The fireworks continued to burst forth.

More and more people gathered to watch, and their reactions to the fireworks varied, but they were all generally filled with positive and joyful emotions.

Everyone sees this scene every year during the Lunar New Year, and even people far away can watch it via live stream. I don't understand why these people are so excited.

Accelerator casually watched the fireworks in the sky, and then—

He saw a spark that was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"Huh? That firework... has it turned into some kind of symbol?"

"It looks like a big English letter G... Has Academy City really developed such amazing fireworks?"

"Oh dear, I think there have been Guinness World Records like this before, so there's nothing to worry about."

Even ordinary onlookers could see that a huge, white-glowing G appeared in the sky.

People's opinions on this are quite surprising.

However, only one person truly understood what that meant.

Those weren't fireworks; they were a code.

"..."

He turned around and saw two lights that seemed to be flashing in the dark corner; they were the lights from a car.

Having read this far, he now fully understood what had happened.

"They really don't let anyone have a moment's rest."

Two girls stood in front, still admiring the fireworks.

"It was so beautiful! Misaka Misaka is still amazed by that series of beautiful fireworks!"

"It's a rare opportunity, it would be even better if we could record it, don't you think... huh?"

Hatsune Miku turned around with great interest, but couldn't help but freeze in place.

There was no one behind him.

Only the two of them remained here.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The captivating fireworks festival continues to be held in the skies above Academy City.

then.

"Yes, everyone's here."

The four of them gathered inside the RV and looked at each other.

The blond, sunglasses-wearing man who was in charge—Tsuchimikado Motoharu—smiled casually and contemptuously.

"It's been a long time. Welcome back to the deepest part of darkness."

"The people in the 'Group'."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The secret organization known as "The Group".

As one of the dark branches under Academy City, they have received orders from above to once again venture into the deepest part of darkness.

The four of them sat together inside the huge RV. Through the double-sided mirrors, they could see fireworks dotting the dark night sky, creating a romantic atmosphere.

But all of this has nothing to do with these people in the shadows.

"So, what is this job?"

Kaihara Mitsuki sat to one side, fiddling with his obsidian dagger, and looked at Tsuchimikado Motoharu with a smile.

“It must be quite a big deal to deliberately gather all members of our ‘Group’ together, right?”

"No, it's just a few minor things."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu sat casually on the sofa and spoke cheerfully in a joking tone.

"It's just about everyone having a good time and going to kill a group of terrorists who are holding hostages until there are no bones left."

Even Accelerator couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

If it were something like this, it wouldn't really be their responsibility to get involved; the security guards could easily handle it.

"Of course, the location of the battle is quite special; it is located in a very remote underground area."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu read out the prepared intelligence in one breath.

"The location is not a specific school district, but rather a circle that encircles the outer wall of Academy City. It should be called a hula hoop."

"That thing, I think it was the world's largest particle accelerator?"

Accelerator instantly thought of the corresponding location.

"It can accelerate at 70% of the speed of light and is known as the world's largest particle accelerator. That's where our battlefield is?"

"To be precise, the maximum speed can even accelerate protons to 99.22% of the speed of light... That being said, if such a huge machine were tampered with or overloaded, the consequences would be unimaginable for ordinary people."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu used the simplest expression to describe an extremely terrifying phenomenon.

"If the accelerator itself is overloaded, the rampaging protons will transform into gamma rays, illuminating a third of Academy City in one go. Of course, this is just the beginning..."

"..."

"If that thing is allowed to riot further, not only Academy City, but the entire country of Japan will be covered by gamma rays. I think everyone knows what the final result will be, right?"

It's impossible to let this kind of thing riot.

Whether it's Accelerator or Kihara Ayaki, everyone is fighting to protect the people they want to protect, and they absolutely cannot let this dangerous thing explode.