One-way traffic

The four looked around and began searching for the correct path.

The research institute was just like any other they had ever seen, with its white iron walls, various high-tech fences, and a large gate facing forward.

However, the light above the door turned dark red in an instant.

Bang! The door was opened, and a large number of soldiers rushed in.

"Alert devices? These guys are really well-prepared."

The four split into two groups: the two with special abilities gathered together, while the two focused on their own magical domains converged on the other side.

Gunshots rang out continuously from the walls around them, but no enemies charged directly at them.

"They don't look like they're equipped with wind-up bandages... so it seems those guys' strength is limited."

Unlike the special forces soldiers equipped with wind-up bandages, the enemies were all just ordinary guys with guns.

If he were to use his own abilities, Accelerator could easily take care of these useless guys.

However, Academy City's strongest ability has a time limit, and he still wants to conserve the power as much as possible.

"Let me do it."

Standing behind him, Kihara Tamaki patted his shoulder and said casually.

"You just focus on attacking, leave everything else to me."

Bang! The sound of gunfire rang out instantly, but it wasn't the sound of anyone from the "Group" being hit.

The soldiers at the very front fell down for no apparent reason.

No, if you look closely, you can actually see that they have very obvious bloody wounds on their necks.

It was pistol ammunition that pierced them, but that shouldn't make sense.

All four of them were hiding behind the wall; if they didn't show themselves, they couldn't hit him at all.

Just as the soldiers were continuing to think this, another burst of gunfire erupted.

BOOM ...

Countless shots pierced through their bodies, most of the soldiers fell, while a few remained frozen in disbelief.

Accelerator seized the opportunity to run out, activated his electrodes in a second, and began to stomp on the ground beneath his feet.

The violent impact knocked over all the remaining enemies in one go, and he ended the battle in a second, quickly switching on his electrodes.

"Phew... that must have been tough."

Kihara Tsuki walked out from behind him, sweating slightly.

Her ability is Level 4, which allows her to easily control the power of space within the eleventh dimension.

In other words, while Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Accelerator were firing their guns at will, she used her abilities to teleport the location of the ammunition directly to the soldiers, achieving an act akin to assassination.

"We cannot let our guard down yet."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu glanced around warily, then walked toward the main gate.

Bang! He kicked the door open, but what he saw was a brand new entrance.

Two large doors, one on the left and one on the right, were placed in front of them.

"This means... we need to split into two groups?"

That must be the case.

The four members of "Group" gathered together again, looking at the two large doors in front of them with a headache.

"Jiebiao, with your abilities, can you pinpoint the exact location of that machine?"

"Even for me, it's hard to judge a place I've never seen before. You can't guess the exact location of such a place without seeing it for yourself."

"Tsk, then this is the only way."

Tsuchimikado Motoharu scratched his head and said with a hint of helplessness.

"I'll go to the left with Haiyuan, and you and Accelerator will go to the right. We'll split up and one of us will be able to find the enemy's lair."

"This is extremely dangerous."

"Ha, what can we do? Isn't that just how our profession is?"

That's just how they are in the dark side of Academy City; they work on the shadowy side of the city every day, so it wouldn't be surprising if they died sometime.

This is their fate.

"Let's just do it this way. If we accidentally fall into a trap and die, there's nothing we can do but accept our bad luck."

"So you mean there might be fewer people when we meet again next time... It doesn't matter anyway."

Leaning on his cane, Accelerator gripped the pistol in his left hand tightly.

"Whether we end up as corpses or come out alive, we have to go no matter what."

Chapter Four: Villains Who Rise Above Fear

Accelerator and Tsumi got together.

The two entered through the door on the right and walked for about a minute, but the surrounding environment remained the same.

A cylindrical corridor like that of an aquarium, with both sides completely enclosed, can feel incredibly gloomy at just one glance.

Accelerator grimaced unhappily.

"Does the guy at 'Sign' spend all his time in this stuffy, nauseating place?"

"That's true. I felt dizzy after less than fifteen minutes. It's amazing that they can stay here for so many days."

After gesturing with her hands to show the flashlight she used to unleash her abilities, Kihara Tatsuki looked at the first person in front of her again.

"Speaking of which, if you were to use your abilities, wouldn't it be better to just destroy this place?"

"Huh? It's not that easy."

"No way! If you could cause an earthquake with a single stomp, then a blow like this would be enough to destroy the entire research institute. All the stuff inside and those spacetime-related machines would be completely destroyed, right?"

"Are you an idiot? That might have taken out the enemy, but what about us? If we blow up all the equipment under this lake, the water will completely block electromagnetic waves. What do you think will happen then?"

Accelerator is able to use his powers by relying on his own electrodes. If the entire research institute is destroyed like this, all the electromagnetic wave transmitters inside the institute will be destroyed, and the lake water will completely block electromagnetic signals from the outside.

At that time, Accelerator couldn't even think, let alone use his abilities. Without the protection of the strongest psychic, the four of them would all perish at the bottom of this lake.

Kihara Ayaki gave an awkward laugh, while Accelerator clicked his tongue in utter speechlessness.

And then, at that very moment.

The massive iron gate separated the two people in one go.

"What are you doing?"

The first ability user raised an eyebrow and turned around, looking at the iron gate behind him.

"Kihachi! You could have gotten through here with your abilities, right?"

"What are you talking about! You should know about my side effects—"

Before Kihara Ayaki could finish speaking, her voice suddenly disappeared.

It wasn't that he stopped speaking halfway through, nor was he interrupted; rather, it was like an audio file that had been paused—it simply vanished completely.

Accelerator immediately frowned.

"Don't worry about your partner."

A very light and melodious voice came from the other side.

The first person looked up and saw two men dressed in red and black clothing appearing in the distance.

It was a man and a woman; the man looked to be around eighteen years old, and the woman was in her early sixteens.

The man and woman stood before Accelerator.

He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and meet his gaze.

"Are you guys from 'Sign' too?"

"No, no, my brother and I were just hired by them at great expense."

The girl smiled playfully, her brown pigtails tied behind her back giving her an adorable look.

The man standing next to her had brown hair and a strong build.

"Accelerator, is that right..."

"Looks like he knows me."

"Of course, everyone knows your reputation as the strongest in Academy City... even if you are now a lion with a broken leg."

"what?"

The white-haired monster revealed a ferocious expression in displeasure, and at the same time slammed his cane heavily onto the ground.

"Who do you think you are? Any trash that shows up in front of me gets torn to shreds."

"Hehe~ That was really scary, but too bad we came here specifically to deal with you~!"

The girl continued to smile playfully, showing no fear of Accelerator's threatening words.

"My brother and I are known as the Twins. My name is Northern River Shield, and my brother's name is Northern River Dog."

"So? Have you thought of anything yet?"

Indeed, even their names were created based on the twin stars of some civilizations.

But Accelerator was oblivious to this.

"Where did you take that guy, Kihara?"

"Oh dear, then that's outside our area. But judging from what the doctor said, it must have been taken away by the space control drive machine he personally developed, right?"

Doctor? Accelerator had only grasped the basics.

"So, that guy with the doctor name is the mastermind behind this whole farce?"

Accelerator has fully grasped the situation.

He tossed his cane aside and gently turned on the button on the electrode with his right hand.

"Then it's easy to understand."

The two people opposite him simply smiled slightly.

In an instant, the first monster manipulated the vector beneath its feet.

Boom! He shot out at supersonic speed in an instant.

but.

"Fortunately, we've all undergone body modifications using the highest-grade wind-up bandages, so there's no need to worry about our speed not keeping up with a powerhouse like you!"

Beihe Shield chuckled softly and retreated at an extremely fast speed in mid-air.

He threw something around Accelerator.

The first person looked up and saw it clearly: four bombs, each no bigger than an egg.

However, there is no need for one-way traffic to dodge.

His reflexes can easily deflect even nuclear weapons, so he doesn't need to worry about simple damage at all.

Boom! The explosion erupted around him in an instant, and naturally, Accelerator was completely unharmed.

But he always felt that something was wrong.

"What are you doing?"

Accelerator looked around in surprise, but in his opinion, nothing should have changed.

"Should we look around during battle?"

At that moment, the man in front of him rushed towards him at high speed.

The man wore a pair of steel-like gloves, probably to enhance his punching power.

Northern River Dog slammed its fist directly into the ground.

Like an earthquake, a huge rock flew out with his movement, a rock missile several meters thick hurtling straight at Yifangtong.