"Huh?"
A question mark practically materialized above Uiharu's head.
She seemed to have heard some incomprehensible request, blinking as a strange light glimmered in her eyes.
Beside her, Natsume-san stood with her hands clasped together, face full of seriousness.
Yes, that vexing girl with the bun hairstyle was asking for a favor again, even though her personality supposedly contained an element of disliking to trouble others.
"If it's possible, I truly, sincerely want to learn this technique."
Natsume's expression unconsciously grew more solemn, her tone earnest and not lacking in feeling.
"Actually, I just utilized some exploits present in the control system. If Natsume-san wants to know, it's fine," Uiharu-san said somewhat hesitantly.
She wasn't exactly worried that Natsume-san would do anything bad to the cleaning robots, she just found it a bit odd.
After several confirmations, Shirai-san successfully escorted the last staff member out of the mist.
Apart from these berserk Powered Suits, there were basically no other people to be seen in the venue anymore.
Also, thanks to the mist's containment, the occasional stray Powered Suit that burst out didn't cause much impact, effectively keeping the large number of suits inside under control.
"Uiharu, haven't Anti-Skill arrived yet?" Shirai-san abruptly appeared next to Uiharu-san, her own clothes now soaked through.
Perhaps from using her Teleport too many times, her whole spirit seemed somewhat drained.
"I've already contacted them. Anti-Skill said they would dispatch personnel to investigate," Uiharu hurriedly replied.
Although Anti-Skill was no longer responsible for security matters for this Research Exhibition—even Yomikawa-sensei and the others were confined for reflection because of it—that was all based on the premise of these 'unmanned' Powered Suits' reliability.
This time, however, the reason was different: the sponsored Powered Suits had attempted to launch indiscriminate attacks on the crowd.
Fortunately, they were stopped by Judgment members who happened to be passing by, and there were venue staff members as witnesses.
Also, because staff had previously requested cloud-seeding rounds from Anti-Skill, some Anti-Skill members were already approaching the venue.
"What we need to do now is secure the scene before the main force of Anti-Skill arrives," Shirai-san said, rallying her spirits and speaking with some severity.
But Shirai-san's gaze slowly turned in another direction, where Natsume-san could be seen standing on top of a cleaning robot, making excited exclamations as she used her phone to control the robot's movements.
"What's going on with Natsume-san?" Shirai-san asked, puzzled.
"It's nothing. Natsume-san just seems very interested in these robots," Uiharu replied after a moment's thought.
The spread of the mist had slowed after losing someone's control, but it was still gradually creeping towards the main entrance.
Just a few minutes later, as the mist approached the entrance, an Anti-Skill vehicle pulled up in front of the Research Exhibition venue.
Leading this team was an unfamiliar Anti-Skill member, since Yomikawa-sensei and the others were still confined for reflection—at least until this incident was resolved could they return to their original duties.
As soon as this Anti-Skill squad entered the mist to investigate, the sound of gunfire rang out immediately, followed by the relentless clang of metal friction and impacts.
Under the numerical advantage of the Powered Suits, this fully armed squad was quickly overwhelmed.
But not long after, seemingly having received confirmed signals, four unmanned armed helicopters called 'Six Wings' were urgently deployed above the Research Exhibition.
These helicopters were controlled and dispatched by the Air Superiority Preservation Control Center of District 23, and the Anti-Skill department could request their deployment.
Natsume-san had seen these unmanned helicopters before, even had... intimate contact with them.
The 'Six Wings' helicopters were specifically tasked with suppressing internal crises within Academy City. Their frames were larger than average helicopters, allowing them to carry more ammunition.
On each side were weapon mounts with three movable joints, enabling them to simultaneously lock onto and attack targets from six different directions. Their top speed could reach 2.5 times the speed of sound, and it was said each unit cost over 25 billion yen.
Compared to these helicopters, even a Level 5 seemed rather cheap—of course, only from the perspective of scholarship stipends.
But it also showed, from another angle, that Academy City's strongest aspect was actually its technology, not its espers.
The mist could obstruct the vision of the Powered Suits, but it had little effect on these 'Six Wings.' Not only did they possess more advanced identification capabilities, their high vantage point also played a role.
The four 'Six Wings' set off from different positions, their wing-like appendages extending like arms with movable joints, beginning to aim at targets on the ground from six different directions.
Simultaneously, fire spat from the weapon mounts on both sides, instantly tearing the Powered Suits within the mist to pieces.
After just a few circuits around the venue, taking about five minutes, the 'Six Wings' began their return, and no further movement could be heard from within the mist.
"I didn't expect it to be resolved so easily," Natsume-san murmured in slight surprise, seemingly marveling at the power of technology. Even the robot under her feet seemed to lose some of its appeal.
These things she had struggled so hard to deal with had proven utterly fragile in the face of higher-level technology.
The only thing that gave Natsume-san some relief was that these 'Six Wings' hadn't detected her while she was in her invisible state before.
However, after multiple encounters with that girl from the dark side named 'Takitsubo Rikou,' Natsume-san had a growing premonition that Academy City definitely possessed technology capable of detecting AIM diffusion fields.
Her invisibility ability wasn't as perfect as she had believed.
The Judgment members now began to enter the mist. Wherever they looked, they saw Powered Suits shattered into fragments.
The ground was pitted with marks left by bullet impacts, almost every shot having accurately struck the body of a Powered Suit.
The intervention had been clean and efficient, like the work of the most seasoned hunters.
Even if all twenty thousand Powered Suits had been intact, under such absolute force, it would have been considered a trivial matter in the eyes of certain people.
"Even if we had done nothing, this incident would have been quickly resolved," Shirai-san sighed, seeming somewhat awed and shaken.
"Shirai-san, you're wrong," Uiharu said, firmly shaking her head.
"If we had done nothing, people on the streets would definitely have gotten hurt. Everyone's efforts were worthwhile."
They regrouped with the other Judgment members. Among the crowd, Natsume-san spotted Juufuku-san.
This Juufuku-san had a band-aid on her forehead, her clothes and skirt stained with mud and water, a red mark on her knee from a fall.
She was drenched from head to toe, the smell of sweat and rain mingling on her.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.