The microscopic world was a vast field of study, spanning from the common scales of molecules and atoms all the way down to the Planck length—the difference in scale was downright absurd.
And the Planck length was, in physical terms, the smallest possible unit of distance.
According to certain theories, everything we can observe in this universe originally came from a sphere with a diameter no larger than the Planck length.
Natsume-san didn't know just how deep the microscopic perspective she'd once gained could go, but even the atomic scale was more than enough for Natsume Sonoko to explore at this stage.
If one could reach the Planck length and possessed sufficient computational power, it might even be possible to simulate—or even master—the trajectories of every microscopic particle, expanding one's abilities to an unimaginable degree.
And fully grasping the workings of the microscopic world would be equivalent to understanding the very essence of an esper's power.
There was a theory floating around Academy City that espers' abilities were essentially influencing quantum behavior in the microscopic realm, thereby altering the probabilities of various events occurring in the real world.
After all, "quantum" wasn't a specific particle or physical entity—it was a concept representing a certain quantity of a given substance.
Take photons, for instance; they were light quanta, and considered elementary particles.
The ability to observe the microscopic world was, without a doubt, a godlike skill for an esper.
What they called innate potential, might simply be the limit of an esper's influence over quantum behavior—with computational power being the weapon used to exert that influence.
In reality, some espers couldn't advance further or strengthen that weapon, perhaps because computational power itself was derived from that very limit of influence.
If that were the case, breaking through the Parameter List would fundamentally mean surpassing that interference limit.
Unless there was some ability or technology that could directly alter that limit, the only conceivable method at this stage was to continuously deepen one's understanding of the microscopic world—perhaps that could enhance one's interference capability.
Of course, all this was just speculation.
As for Personal Reality… that was probably the most incomprehensible part of it all. It didn't feel scientific in the slightest—if anything, it leaned too much toward idealism.
After musing over all sorts of irrelevant thoughts, Natsume-san's mind kept circling back to the microscopic world. It was like having a mountain of gold and silver right in front of her, yet all she could do was look.
Fortunately, Natsume-san had always had a pretty easygoing mindset—the classic "full stomach, no worries" type.
But the current situation didn't leave much room for relaxation.
Shokuhou-senpai's reasoning made a lot of sense—those jamming devices really might be up in the sky.
The weather had been clear all throughout the Daihaseisai, with hardly a cloud in sight. Electromagnetic waves could reach the ground without obstruction.
That certain bun-haired girl had blind faith in her senpais—after all, whether it was gathering intel or sheer breadth of knowledge, she couldn't compare to these esteemed Level 5 seniors.
What made Natsume Sonoko stand out among espers was probably her exceptional stealth capability.
But even for Natsume-san, dealing with those possible weather balloons would be incredibly difficult—the sky was just too vast, and who knew where those things were hiding?
So, the best approach for now was to head somewhere densely populated with plenty of buildings, then find a way to deal with whatever was tracking Shokuhou-senpai. The balloons carrying the AIM jammers could wait.
As for what was tracking Shokuhou-senpai, satellites could pretty much be ruled out.
Academy City only had a handful of satellites, and unauthorized use over such a long period would definitely be noticed—each satellite had its own assigned tasks.
If it wasn't unauthorized use, then the mastermind could only be the Board of Directors. But if it were them, they wouldn't need to go to all this trouble—they had who-knows-how many dark-side organizations under their command.
Besides, satellites had their own limitations—they couldn't penetrate buildings, and they couldn't track someone every moment of the day.
So, the most likely culprits were those things implanted in Shokuhou-senpai—nanomachines, or something similar, mused a certain bun-haired girl, who'd also had nanomachines injected into her once.
Twisting and turning, they advanced along a winding path.
The buildings ahead were still sparse—that was characteristic of District 10.
Natsume-san had memorized the maps of most districts in Academy City, District 10 included.
But embarrassingly enough, District 10 differed significantly from the maps in many small details. After running into walls multiple times, a certain pilot had even managed to take a wrong turn.
Pulling out her phone to confirm their location again, Natsume-san suddenly thought of calling the Anti-Skill teachers.
But she quickly dismissed the idea—the two of them couldn't just wait around here for Anti-Skill. That would be far too dangerous.
No matter how fast the Anti-Skill teachers were, it would take at least ten minutes or more. And who knew if the attackers had more people on the way?
But this incident had already spiraled out of control—everything was hurtling toward an unknown outcome.
"I've got it! We can go find Misaka-senpai. She's probably still at the Balloon Hunter venue."
Suddenly exclaiming loudly, that certain bun-headed girl was getting worked up again—not very ladylike for a Tokiwadai student.
But then again, this particular Tokiwadai girl was covered in dust from head to toe, in a state that would likely earn her a solid hour of lecturing from the dorm supervisor if she set foot in the Tokiwadai dorm. A little shouting was the least of her worries right now.
"Even though our abilities are being heavily jammed, if the interference is transmitted via electromagnetic waves, Misaka-senpai should definitely have a way to handle it."
Natsume-san thought for a moment, then continued.
If they wanted to keep searching for that so-called mastermind, finding a way to defend against the AIM jammers was crucial. They couldn't hide in densely built-up areas forever.
And this would be a good chance to improve the relationship between Shokuhou-senpai and Misaka-senpai—their dynamic was such a headache.
Natsume Sonoko really didn't want to be stuck between them forever. It was exhausting, honestly.
Of course, they could also formally bring Misaka-senpai into their little incident-resolution team and strengthen their forces.
After all, this involved the Sisters. Considering how much Misaka-senpai cared about them, Natsume-san had wanted to tell her from the very beginning—she just never found the right moment.
"Misaka Mikoto?"
"While it's true the AIM jammers use electromagnetic waves, there's an important point—they directly affect the AIM diffusion fields that have already leaked out. Misaka-san's electromagnetic barrier might not offer complete protection."
Take Accelerator, for example—even he was affected by these AIM jammers, because the electromagnetic waves didn't need to touch his skin; they interacted with the fields already radiating from his body.
Equally disheveled and covered in dust, the golden-haired girl who held such strong biases against the Railgun spoke with an air of authority.
Still, her attitude had softened somewhat—probably because the situation was looking grim.
As expected, prejudice was pretty common among the Level 5s.
"Then all we need to do is expand the range of the electromagnetic barrier. Misaka-senpai can definitely do that."
Natsume-san said with complete seriousness.
A nature-element mage, an artillery specialist doubling as a Lightning Archmage, plus a mind-controlling dubuffer—all they were missing was a main tank, and they'd be ready to take on a dungeon.
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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.
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