Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 1786 - 1784: Missed the Mark (One Hour Cooking, Ten Minutes Eating)

"Sister Dear hasn’t returned to the dormitory yet, Mr. Fang Zheng. Is she with you?"

"No."

Fang Zheng glanced out the window and then replied.

"I see....."

"I’ll go look for her. Maybe she went somewhere to play and forgot the time."

"Sister Dear wouldn’t do such a thing... but I’m counting on you, Mr. Fang Zheng."

"You’re welcome."

After hanging up on Kuroko, Fang Zheng was already in the car, and he stepped on the gas pedal, speeding away directly.

Actually, from the moment Ruiko pulled out the cash card, Fang Zheng almost guessed what had happened, but he didn’t expect problems to arise back-to-back in such a short time... From a certain angle, this was indeed quite a headache.

Therefore, after receiving the call from Kuroko, Fang Zheng drove out to look for someone directly.

For Fang Zheng, finding Misaka Mikoto wasn’t difficult. As a Prophet Mage with Ratziel in hand, finding someone was extremely easy. Fang Zheng had just crossed two intersections when he saw Misaka Mikoto sprinting down the street—thus, Fang Zheng immediately swerved the steering wheel and pulled up by the roadside.

"Hey, Misaka, Kuroko is looking for you. Why don’t you return her calls?"

"Mr. Fang Zheng!"

Seeing Fang Zheng appear, Misaka Mikoto was also shocked, and then she seemed to think of something, directly opened the car door and got in, quickly giving an address.

"Please take me there immediately! I’m begging you."

Misaka Mikoto knew about Fang Zheng’s driving skills—technically impressive and incredibly fast, but the type you wouldn’t dare to ride with. On a usual day, even if Fang Zheng offered her a ride, Misaka Mikoto would hesitate, but now, in an urgent situation, she couldn’t care less.

"No problem, three minutes."

Fang Zheng nodded upon hearing the address from Misaka Mikoto, and then he stepped on the gas again. Soon, with the sound of tires screeching against the ground, Fang Zheng’s car shot off like an arrow.

Misaka Mikoto squinted her eyes, seeing first the car lights, and in her view, the surrounding lights turned into streaks of light, giving her the illusion of traveling at hyperspeed. Next, she felt like the car she was in dashed into every gap it could, one moment weaving here, the next moment weaving there.

At the corner, instead of slowing down, they accelerated, swinging around with the tail, the gas pedal pushed to the limit, giving the impression that the car might just take off. Then Misaka Mikoto saw the road’s end approaching, getting closer, and closer, and closer...

"Screech———!!"

With a piercing friction sound, the car stopped steadily by the roadside. Misaka Mikoto pushed open the car door and jumped out, feeling urgency but also it was an instinctive reaction.

Soon, Misaka Mikoto saw the figure not far under the bridge, moving slowly.

It was a girl wearing the same Tokiwadai school uniform as her. Misaka Mikoto certainly wouldn’t forget her because not long ago, they were together, saving a kitten, eating ice cream, shopping... Although there were some unpleasant memories, looking back now, they were so vivid.

But now, the girl who looked identical to her was covered in blood, slowly clutching a badge on the ground and holding it tightly to her chest.

A huge shadow descended from the sky, striking towards the girl.

"Stop———!!"

Seeing this scene, Misaka Mikoto felt like her blood was freezing, and at that moment...

"Shhh———"

A radiance flashed, and the next instant, the huge shadow was sliced into pieces, turning into fragments that disappeared in the storm. Misaka Mikoto disregarded whatever had happened and sprinted from the bridge down as fast as she could to the girl’s side.

"Hey, stay with me!"

"...Sister Dear?"

The face identical to Misaka Mikoto’s looked up at her, with evident surprise.

"Why is Sister Dear here? Misaka asked with utter astonishment."

"This isn’t the time to talk about this, you..."

However, Misaka Mikoto didn’t finish her sentence because she already saw the emptiness under the girl’s skirt and, not far away, a leg discarded like trash...

At that moment, Misaka Mikoto completely erupted.

"Ahhhhh!!"

She stood up angrily, rushing towards the white-haired young man not far away. Accompanied by Misaka Mikoto’s roar, a violent burst of thunder roared toward him.

However, Misaka Mikoto’s electric shock didn’t hit the target. On the contrary, before reaching the young man, her shock appeared to hit an invisible barrier, being blocked directly.

But this didn’t stop Misaka Mikoto. For the first time since her birth, she felt such intense anger; at this moment, she genuinely wished to tear this bastard apart!

Missing one hit didn’t stop Misaka Mikoto; raging lightning spread madly, wrenching apart the surrounding tracks in minutes, and then hurling them towards the opponent. But this time—the result was no different. The descending tracks were deflected even before reaching the person, as if they hit an extremely hard invisible wall.

But Misaka Mikoto didn’t care, because just as the rail fell, a coin had already spun from her fingers and transformed into a torrent of light shooting forward—only to rebound almost brushing past her ear, striking hard against the container behind her.

It was only at this moment that the overwhelmingly angry Misaka Mikoto finally regained some clarity. She stared blankly at the white-haired young man in front of her, unable to utter a single word for a moment. She was ranked third among the LV5s in Academy City, and during the previous attack, Misaka Mikoto almost used all her skills, but why? Why was it completely useless against this person?

He wasn’t like Fang Zheng or that spiky-haired guy, neutralizing her ability, but reflecting it. In fact, Misaka Mikoto hadn’t truly intended to kill him with that strike. When she made her move, she instinctively deviated from the vital parts, which was why she narrowly avoided a disaster.

Otherwise, she might have blasted her own head with that shot.

"I see."

At this moment, the white-haired young man also reacted, grinning at Misaka Mikoto.

"I was wondering why it felt so odd, this power... You’re a ’prototype’!"

"Why! Why are you doing this?!"

Staring fiercely at the white-haired young man in front of her, Misaka Mikoto shouted angrily, and in response to her questioning, he chuckled and reached out his hand.

"Reason? You ask me for a reason? Of course, it’s to obtain absolute power!"

While speaking, he clenched his hand.

"Not LV5, not the strongest in Academy City, but absolute power that no one else can challenge! What I want is invincible power!"

"Just for this... just for this alone?!"

Upon hearing this, Misaka Mikoto’s body started to tremble involuntarily. In fact, until this moment, she had almost realized the true identity of the person in front of her. When he uttered "the strongest in Academy City," his identity had become blatantly obvious.

But even so, even so...!!

However, at this moment, a hand pressed down on her shoulder.

"Alright, Misaka, I’ll take over."

"Eh? Mr. Fang Zheng?"

Seeing Fang Zheng appear by her side, Misaka Mikoto couldn’t help but be stunned.

"But, but..."

"No worries, leave it to me."

Patting Misaka Mikoto’s head, Fang Zheng turned around to face the young man in front of him.

"Invincible? Absolute power? Tch, it really sounds like the kind of thing a kid with delusions would say."

While speaking, Fang Zheng extended his hand to pick up a small stone from the ground, tossed it up, and caught it.

"I wouldn’t even dare to call myself invincible, yet you have such grand ambitions."

Damn it, even in the face of chaos, I have to tread cautiously, and here you, a mere LV5 brat, dare talk about invincibility? Truly, ignorance is fearless, making Fang Zheng feel like he can’t even laugh.

"Who are you?"

Upon hearing Fang Zheng speak, the expression of the white-haired young man instantly turned icy, glaring at him fiercely.

"Who I am doesn’t matter, anyway..."

With that said, Fang Zheng clutched the small stone and then threw it forward.

"Anyway, you’re pretty much going to die here."

"———————!!"

No one knew what had happened because just at the moment Fang Zheng threw the small stone, the white-haired young man’s body suddenly shuddered, and then a raging gust surged forth, prompting Misaka Mikoto to instinctively raise her hands to shield her face.

When she lowered her hands again, the sight before her left Misaka Mikoto completely dumbfounded.

Not far from them, the white-haired young man still stood in place, and within tens of meters centered around him, the ground had completely caved in. Looking up at the sky, one could even see clearly the clouds in the night sky forming a layered hollow, seemingly pierced through by something.

And then, the next moment...

"Pff!!"

Blood splattered.

Bright red blood spurted from the white-haired young man’s mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, while the capillaries throughout his body completely burst at that moment. Without a sound, the white-haired young man then collapsed to the ground with a "bang."

"Seems like I missed a bit."

Fang Zheng scratched his head and then glanced at the sky.

"But it doesn’t matter, it’s all pretty much the same..."