A Scientific Urban Detective

Formless and intangible telekinesis couldn't stop "Atomic Collapse," but atoms, as tangible matter, could serve as perfect barriers.

In fact, subconsciously, Lin Wuming had already noticed that the attack he faced wasn't a "laser," but he had no time to dwell on such trivial matters.

In any case, finding a way to save himself was already fortunate.

Thus, Lin Wuming deployed another thousand layers of atom-rich barriers in the path of the attack—namely, compressed air—to maximize the "atomic density" within the unit space.

Finally, as it passed through this special "compressed air" zone, the emerald green beam showed obvious attenuation and weakening…

All of the above operations occurred within 0.2 microseconds; to the outside world, it seemed to happen instantaneously.

Not only was Misaka Mikoto surprised, but at the same time, the AIM diffusion field detection devices in schools and research institutes throughout the academy city suddenly sounded the alarm again!

The last alarm was only a minute ago—AIM diffusion field fluctuations only appear during a Level 5 esper's power surge!

Two alarms in such quick succession, both indicating Level 5 power levels… was there a Level 5 battle erupting in this academy city?

In fact, the AIM diffusion field fluctuation in the second alarm instantly reached its peak, and some overly sensitive equipment simply went off the charts!

Misaka Mikoto, being in the midst of the battle, was unaware of the equipment malfunctions, but she could most keenly sense the drastic change that occurred in Lin Wuming at that moment—as if the boy she faced had become a completely different person.

But because it was just a fleeting moment during the fierce battle, Misaka Mikoto didn't have time to think about it. She also had to deal with the sudden "Atomic Collapse" attack.

Although she and Lin Wuming were fighting, Misaka Mikoto absolutely didn't want a third party to interfere, let alone allow Lin Wuming to be killed by the hidden attacker.

Moreover, Misaka Mikoto was extremely close to Lin Wuming at this moment, and she couldn't be sure that the green beam wouldn't hit her.

Instinctively, Misaka Mikoto manipulated her electromagnetic force to meet the emerald green beam.

"Railgun" is, after all, a superpower that manipulates electrons; if classified, "Atomic Collapse" could probably be categorized as the same type of superpower.

Therefore, these two abilities could subtly interfere with each other—under the distortion of Misaka Mikoto's powerful electromagnetic field, the "Atomic Collapse," already weakened by Lin Wuming, suddenly drew an arc, deflected upwards less than a meter in front of Lin Wuming, and shot directly into the sky.

The deadly crisis was finally resolved, but before Misaka Mikoto could breathe a sigh of relief, she saw Lin Wuming launch a counterattack against the mysterious enemy.

Without any visible signs, Lin Wuming's signature finishing move, the "Telekinetic Acceleration Cannon," had already collapsed a roadside building.

It was even difficult to tell whether the crisis was resolved first, or whether Lin Wuming launched the counterattack first.

At the location where the building collapsed, Misaka Mikoto noticed a metallic glint, and then her electromagnetic wave scan "saw" a multi-legged insect-shaped powered exoskeleton buried in the rubble.

—Was it an ambush using machines?

Angered, but also relieved that the "enemy" wasn't a real human, Misaka Mikoto unhesitatingly took out a coin, preparing to add a "Railgun" to the powered exoskeleton.

But before she could act, her body was pulled forward by a sudden, strong suction force, as if a vacuum zone had appeared in front of her, frantically absorbing the surrounding air—

The thousands of telekinetic barriers that Lin Wuming had unleashed in an instant, as well as the "compressed air" barrier he used at the last moment, were not just for show; they were genuinely interfering with the real world!

In order to collect as many "atoms" as possible to construct barriers to block and weaken "Atomic Collapse," Lin Wuming did indeed evacuate the air from the nearby area.

The result was a special environment with a local vacuum created in a short period of time.

Misaka Mikoto was fine, she just staggered and regained her balance.

But Lin Wuming himself, wheelchair and all, was overturned by the gust of wind and rolled towards the low-pressure center.

"Ah! What…" Seeing this, Misaka Mikoto was shocked—could it be that the previous attack still hit Senior Wuming?

She hurriedly fired the Railgun in her hand, while manipulating electromagnetic force to grab Lin Wuming's wheelchair and set it upright.

"!" After seeing Lin Wuming's condition at this time, Misaka Mikoto was so surprised that she couldn't even make a sound.

Bleeding from all seven orifices, Lin Wuming's entire face was stained with blood, even more terrifying than the dead in those B-grade splatter films.

Lin Wuming sat slumped in the wheelchair, head tilted, life or death unknown.

Misaka Mikoto couldn't understand why Lin Wuming would become like this when the enemy's sneak attack clearly didn't hit him, as if he was still hit by some kind of attack…

"Could there be other attackers?"

Misaka Mikoto became vigilant, turning her radar to full power, scanning everything around her.

At the same time, Misaka Mikoto rushed to Lin Wuming's side and found that he still had a faint heartbeat, which relieved her slightly, and she immediately called for emergency help.

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Lin Wuming's condition was worse than expected. Although he still had a faint heartbeat, his breathing had completely stopped.

Discovering this, Misaka Mikoto, in desperation, gave him an electric shock, which activated his "breathing" function.

Because Lin Wuming had indeed "forgotten" how to breathe.

Earlier, when facing an attack at two-thirds the speed of light, under the effect of "bullet time," Lin Wuming's subjective time flow was slowed down by more than a hundred million times.

The short 0.2 microseconds of real time, in Lin Wuming's perception, was long enough for him to deploy thousands of telekinetic barriers, gradually analyze the characteristics of the enemy's attack, and finally take targeted countermeasures.

During this period, physiological breathing and heartbeat did not exist—because the time was too short, so short that even a single information transfer between neurons could not be completed.

Therefore, the consequence was that Lin Wuming, in his thinking consciousness, had forgotten the concept of "breathing" and "heartbeat."

Heartbeat was fine, because the beating of the heart was not affected by human subjective will, so it was still diligently maintaining its operating state.

But breathing was different; humans can consciously stop breathing.

Therefore, Lin Wuming, whose consciousness was still in a super-accelerated state, forgot that his body still needed to "breathe."

What's worse, after experiencing the previous hundred million times super-acceleration, Lin Wuming's consciousness could no longer adapt to the "slow" world in reality.

After all, "bullet time" would not leave him with enough adaptation time.

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