Vast, open spaces have a way of stirring strange and wondrous thoughts about the boundless expanse of the world—a sensation rarely felt by those living in a big city.
Natsu's strongest impression of School District 10 was its abundance of desolate, vacant lots, looking like so many scars upon the city's surface.
Often enough, these scars contained abandoned research facilities or clusters of buildings—places where delinquents might very well be holed up.
This was one of the nasty side effects of District 10's cheap land prices. A great number of highly polluting, high-risk research institutes had simply relocated here, further driving down property values and turning the area into a dumping ground—the price Academy City paid for advancing science.
Following the female guard piloting a battered Powered Suit, Natsu Sonoko felt she was closing in on the trail Shokuhou-senpai had left behind.
Sure enough, it was just as she'd suspected—Shokuhou-senpai must have preset so kind of program in this guard.
Natsu Sonoko didn't know the purpose of it all, but finding a clue was what mattered. Discovering one person under control was no different from finding ten, as far as she was concerned.
Those under ntal control still retained their physical instincts.
Not only could this one pilot a Powered Suit, she smoothly passed through the juvenile correctional facility's security asures. Behaviorally, she was no different from a normal person.
Still, Natsu couldn't help but take an extra glance at this Powered Suit.
Though an older model, it was a version specially designed to combat and suppress ability-users, equipped with mid-to-long range weaponry including stun guns and restraint guns.
Its combat capability was a far cry from those neutered versions with their 'hockey sticks' from the days of Aritomi Haruki and his crew.
The juvenile correctional facility certainly housed more than just this one suit, but it was the only one Natsu could see right now.
They crossed a weedy vacant lot piled with construction debris—seems the owner wasn't big on environntal consciousness.
Only after taking a careful look at her surroundings did Natsu realize there was an abandoned freight transfer station here.
Judging by the sign outside, it belonged to the Shirai conglorate. No doubt another failed investnt by that twin-tailed girl's family.
She had no interest in that classmate's unfortunate investnt history. The bun-girl could be quite serious at tis, and her focus never wavered.
A strange feeling suddenly rose in her heart—Natsu had already caught the scent of sothing.
As the damaged Powered Suit charged into the crowd, joining the fray between two warring groups, Natsu easily detected a large number of heat signatures around the periter of the transfer station.
Even from her distant position, Natsu finally let out a sigh of relief. She pretty much understood what had happened to Shokuhou-senpai.
It was probably an ambush of so sort—one tailored specifically to counter Shokuhou's capabilities. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been forced into her current predicant.
But then worry crept in again. If that were the case, then Shokuhou-senpai's plan to extract information on the mastermind from the juvenile correctional facility had actually been compromised.
But counting carefully, only she and Shokuhou-senpai herself had known about the noon operation.
So… does that an the traitor is ?
Absolutely impossible. Shokuhou-senpai might have told that foreign blonde.
Sure enough, remnants of that Level 6 Shift project just couldn't be trusted. The certain bun-girl's prejudice remained deeply ingrained.
Turning these thoughts over in her mind, Natsu didn't slow her movents. After pausing briefly, she headed toward the heat signatures several dozen ters away.
But just as Natsu Sonoko prepared to advance, a wave of dizziness assaulted her, as if sothing was interfering with her brain.
This feeling… 'Capacity Down'?
Natsu imdiately recalled a certain device she once treated like a personal stereo.
Back then, she'd listened to it obsessively—not just the chaotic noise, but also its effect on disrupting an esper's AIM diffusion field. Causing neurasthenia in espers was just the beginning.
The effect of a 'Capacity Down' device was closely related to the power of the equipnt used.
It was only when the headphone version beca less and less effective on a certain soone, and she couldn't exactly carry around huge speakers to disturb the public, that Natsu finally stopped doing it.
Even when espers weren't using their abilities, 'Capacity Down' could affect brainwaves through the unconsciously released AIM diffusion field, causing interference.
But the effect of what she was encountering now seed even stronger, enough to put heavy pressure on soone already accustod to low-power 'Capacity Down'.
Most importantly, this device didn't work through sound, but via a more subtle thod, preventing Natsu from isolating it using her pseudo-vacuum technique.
After a mont's thought, Natsu concluded it was probably sothing like electromagnetic waves.
Misaka-senpai would probably have a way to deal with it, but she herself didn't have any good solutions, unless she could generate a similar electromagnetic barrier by using triboelectricity.
But Natsu's proficiency in electromagnetism was still under developnt—whether she could create an effective barrier was questionable.
Electromagnetic waves could travel indefinitely far, but were easily affected by environnt and structures—staying inside a building worsened the signal, just like that. So, Shokuhou-senpai was most likely inside one of the buildings here.
The reason Shokuhou could still control so guards was probably due to commands implanted in advance.
Even if the enemy interfered with her ntal control ability, they couldn't undo abilities already in effect.
Having reached these conclusions, Natsu didn't charge in imdiately, but instead retreated beyond the interference device's range.
The mont she left its range, Natsu precisely pinpointed the attackers' side.
The attackers held a nurical advantage and were equipped with powerful Powered Suits. But since Shokuhou controlled a fair number of suits as well, the battle seed to have reached a stalemate for now.
However, this fragile balance was soon shattered. As Natsu entered the fray, one Powered Suit was torn in half at the waist, a high-school-aged boy spilling out from inside.
Then a second, a third, and more followed.
Natsu swiftly disabled the suits by targeting their joints, her powerful tearing force instantly exceeding the fatigue limit of so tals.
It all happened in a very short ti. By the ti the attackers realized what was happening, Natsu had already pretty much destroyed all their Powered Suits.
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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.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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