Chapter Twenty-One: Sudden Situation

  Yes, resuming double updates on the 21st...

  ……

  "Not bad, not bad, the students' abilities this time are much better than last year's." The second brown bear's smooth imitation became the first one, and the middle-aged man who was staring here said to his companion Jiū Mìng.

  There's still a subtle difference in tone, and at such a young age, you're already doing this kind of thing?

  Nor does he know whether the talented students of various colleges will be affected after knowing the existence of Jiuming.

  "But it's also their luck. If the mutated bear-like creatures develop special abilities, they'll basically be immune to earth-based attacks. Trying to trap them to death with this method is simply playing with fire."

  "Luck is also a part of strength." Jiǔ Mìng smiled, he became the shopkeeper of the mysterious store, wasn't it also due to a large part of luck?

  "How can you do such a thing at your young age?" The middle-aged man rummaged through his pocket for a while, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, thought about taking one out, but hesitated and put the pack back again.

  "There are many reasons." He shrugged his shoulders, he couldn't say that he was actually a ghost, how could he possibly go to school?

  "Never mind, let's just part ways here. Chit-chatting around might bring bad luck to some students elsewhere." The middle-aged man shook his head and waved goodbye to Jiǔ Mìng before swiftly leaving the scene, looking even more optimistic than Jiǔ Mìng himself.

  The man with a story.

  The watch that was taken out, the nine lives also left their original position and chased after a deep red dot in the depths of the Death Forest.

  "Huh!?" At that moment, Jiǔ Mìng was slightly stunned and his body immediately walked into several circles of ripples, there were new guests.

  New Customer

  Jiǔ Mìng looked at the girl standing by the door and felt a bit strange, in various ways. Firstly, Jiǔ Mìng sensed a very rare emotion from her body, almost as if it were the same as the three-nothing girl he had met before... no, even less than that. Her eyes also revealed an inorganic color.

  Wearing a uniform of some school... Should be, but on her head she's wearing a military night vision goggles, where did this chick come from?

  "What would you like to buy, sir?"

  "This is a store...? Misaka #1 says she can't see any connection between this place and a store." The somewhat cute girl who calls herself Misaka #1 looked around, tilting her head to the side. "Is this an excuse? You've kidnapped Misaka #1 and brought her here."

  "Misaka Mikoto felt she had figured out the truth, would you get flustered?"

  He scratched his head, a knot of indescribable emotions swirling in Jiǔ Mìng's heart, and it was clear that this guest also belonged to the 'abnormal' category.

  Generally speaking, it's simply affirmative! Anything categorized as 'abnormal' will not bring him any benefits, because there is no good or bad to speak of!

  It's like now, Jiǔ Mìng wants to recite the mysterious shop's declaration again, but it feels difficult, and judging from the other person's expression, saying it seems useless?

  "This isn't a kidnapping or anything, you're just here because of your luck. So, is there something you can't handle yourself that you need to entrust me with? Of course, it'll require a small price..."

  "May I also meet Onee-sama? Mikoto is slightly looking forward to it."

  "Big Sister?"

  At first thought of sister control, then... Is it that this girl was separated from her own sister for some reason?

  "Alright." Since it's like this, then we must give a helping hand!

  "So, does it cost money?" Misaka Mikoto said with a hint of boredom. "Since it's a request, it'll definitely need that kind of thing, and Misaka started to worry about not having any money."

  "Ahem!" Jiǔ Mìng was choked for a moment, can't you just not mention money!?

  Money hurts feelings! Has the existence of money already broken down all dimensional barriers?!!!!

  "Cough cough, something else will do, what do you have?"

  "The Misakas were cloned at a cost of only 1.8 million yen... Mikoto has nothing."

  Somehow, there was an unexpectedly desolate feeling. Jiǔ Mìng rubbed his cheek and very reluctantly recalled the dark history in the labyrinth - damn it!

  Human clone?

  "Well, in that case, I'll take my leave," said Misaka with a disappointed tone, hoping the mysterious person before her would change their mind.

  "Wait! You don't have to pay anything, I'll take care of it!" said Kusuo as he watched Musashi turn around and leave.

  "Thank you very much." Misaka Mikoto glanced at the watch on her wrist, still wearing a calm expression. "Misaka Mikoto has been here for 5 minutes already, and the experiment is about to begin. It's unfortunate that I won't be able to see my sister."

  "Experiment?" He slightly raised an eyebrow, and the Nine Lives Cat walked over, "No matter what experiment, since I've accepted the commission, I'll definitely help you achieve it."

  Clone + Experiment = Formula?

  Huh? Are there any fewer examples of being utterly crazy? If there's a No. 1, where are No. 2 and No. 3?

  The girl in front of him, even if she lacked the necessary emotions, Jiu Ming could still sense the faint existence of her soul in her body. Having a soul meant having life, and in fact, the conditions for the emergence of the soul were both harsh and simple.

  Even if it's a clone, when you open your eyes and see the world in front of you, and come into contact with this world, a soul will be born. Even if that soul is extremely weak, nine lives are just ghosts, but for the perception of the soul, it's quite high.

  "A strange person who forcibly accepts other people's commissions? Mikoto is a bit worried that he will come to her for compensation afterwards."

  "…Hmph, I'll just consider this thing as payment then."

  With a slight smile, Jiū Mìng swiftly took off the military night vision goggles from the girl's head. "Give me this, and I'll help you find your 'Sister'.

  "Misaka Mikoto is concerned about your safety, outsiders shouldn't be near the experiment."

  "You are now the master, I am naturally no outsider, and besides, I have already died once, how can I die a second time?"

  He smiled carelessly, compared to the students' internship outside, this was less than the first day, and there were still so many hidden external aids, without him temporarily nothing would happen, distinguishing between primary and secondary, he actually wanted to see who came up with this unknown 'experiment'.

  At the same time, this is also his first experience of crossing over. The mysterious shop took a liking to his energy-saving method, which was to accept commissions from otherworldly clients. Many times, he had to go in person, and crossing over required consumption. Physical crossing consumed even more, but he only had his soul, so the consumption decreased by nearly half...

  Moreover, there are also energy-saving aspects in other areas. For a normal person to exercise and improve, the most stable way is to simultaneously enhance both body and mind. In the case of Nine Lives, only soul enhancement is required, as soul enhancement drives the improvement of various aspects.

  "Come on, let me see who the experimenters are..."

  "Misaka Mikoto refuses. The experiment cannot be conducted with an outsider present."

  "I'm no outsider! And besides, I've already accepted the item, so of course I'll complete the commission. This is my first 'official' business after all."

  "Misaka Mikoto felt a deep sense of helplessness towards the good-natured person in front of her who was being taken advantage of."

  Misaka 1 looked at the time again, "There are still 48 seconds until the experiment begins..."

  "It takes just one second to get to your place, let's go!"

  When this military night vision device becomes the property of the ninth life, the rules of the mysterious shop have begun to take effect. The transaction is complete and the commission has officially started!

  "Test subject number one has gone missing, suspected to have been interfered with by a Level 5... Wait! The test subject has reappeared and is heading towards the experiment site." A researcher at a certain institute, who was in the middle of reporting the disappearance of Misaka Mikoto, stared blankly at the girl who had suddenly reappeared on the monitor.

  Then, a very strange semi-transparent shadow appeared on the monitor. The shadow slowly became clear, still with a strange transparency, but its appearance had become clear. At the moment when the shadow appeared, the surveillance video turned into a pile of snowflakes.

  "Intruder!!"

  Intruder?

  Forget it, even if they reflect on it now, it's too late. Uiharu Kazari has already entered the experimental area within the Institute.

  "Well then, let me see what kind of guy would use you as a test subject..."

  Unexpectedly, indeed very unexpected, in the experimental field stood a young person wearing ordinary clothes, with white hair and skin, red pupils, slender limbs, lacking muscle on hands and feet, with an androgynous appearance, who had been waiting impatiently for a long time...

  Alright, let's just say it's young people then.

  "This... are you kidding me?" Glancing at Musume wanting to speak up, Kusunoki cut her off with a wave of his hand, "Never mind, it's probably right."

  He slightly moved his hands and feet, and his soul body was normal. Perhaps due to the reason of crossing over, he felt that his consumption was subtly greater than usual. Being careful would be fine, now let's pay more attention to the white fur in front of him. The opponent gave him a feeling of extreme danger!

  "Hum! I've been kept waiting for so long, it seems like you're not even on the list. Who are you? Which idiot are you here? You want to die?"

  A cold and thick killing intent instantly spread over, Jiǔ Mìng took a step forward, that killing intent was completely blocked by him. As for the killing intent?

  He didn't even know how many times he had fought against the mysterious store's opponents, and his killing intent was not weak at all. Those opponents were indeed 'virtual', but for Jiǔ Mìng, they were completely real.

  And behind him, Misaka 1 didn't show any abnormality at all, lacking emotions, the killing intent had little effect on her, most of it affected the spirit, but what's the use of releasing it to a piece of wood?

  "......Although you scolded me, how could I stoop to your level? Right? Come on! Maiden! Draw your sword, I'll duel with you one-on-one!"

  "This is what Misaka has to do...... One-way traffic is for girls? Misaka said in surprise."

  "Now it's my turn, what are you going to do? Send yourself to death?" He slightly raised an eyebrow, and Kusuo had already figured out that the two were not on the same level at all. If they fought, Misaka Mikoto would be done in with just one move, and Kusuo wouldn't even be surprised.