Chapter 179: systematic progress…
On that day, almost all the Hounds got wiped out, only a few managed to escape with their lives. Kihara Amata who got hit by missiles managed to escape as well but the Hounds might as well be a hollow organization with such devastation to its numbers.
Of course, if Kihara Amata were to given time, he would surely be able to rebuild Hounds but during that window of time, Wu Yan would have managed to save all the sisters.
ITEM managed to escape with only 1 casualty and 3 others unharmed. It isn't a big dent, in fact, this damage is too light to be considered casualty, but they still scurried their way out to safety.
All in all, the kill squad composed of two black ops: Hounds and ITEM can only be declared as a failure.
To add salt to the wound, the clones that were gathered and guarded heavily were spirited away by the sudden appearance of invaders. With this, almost all of the Misaka clones are now missing, even the clones that participated in experiments and were cut down by Accelerator (Tl: raws used Ippou Tsuukou) got stolen as well.
The Misaka clones that got away were taken out amidst the chaos while the others that failed to be salvaged got stolen.
The researchers associated with lv6 shift started going berserk in their homes throwing appliances and sh*t. The main person behind the management of this project, Amai Ao fainted when he heard about the happenings.
With only a few hundred Misaka clones at their disposal, Lv6 shift program was put on indefinite hold in the hopes that one day they might recover the lost sisters or they manage to get new DNA samples.
Heavily invested in lv6 shift, Amai Ao was saddled with a lot of debt and he disappeared into God knows where.
The higher-ups in this matter know that the status quo is merely temporary as the shift of this project had changed to finding those missing persons.
The normal people living in peace within the city has no idea that underneath that perceived peace of theirs, the dark side of the city is in an uproar, anyone who even infringes slightly on that side would get engulfed in its force…
Academy City school district 7, within the windowless building…
"What are you going to do now?"
The divine voice came with a lot of static, stirring the erstwhile silent place giving the odd space an eerie sense of stillness.
Floating in his jar of liquid in that usual position of his, Aleister isn't surprised by this sudden voice, he stayed silent.
After trying a few times and learning from his mistakes, he had concluded that it is futile to rely on his greatest information gathering device the Under_lines. He didn't even bother checking the footage on the scene. After he read the report, he stayed in this manner.
"Giving up?"
The distorted voice came to him once more and this time Aleister finally responded, not with words, but actions. A projection appeared in front of him and though he didn't say anything, it is his understanding that the owner of this discrepant voice knows what he is thinking about.
On that projection is an image of Mikoto.
"It isn't your style to stoop to such a stage…"
The voice that didn't seemed to conform to aural laws sounded strange but it is pretty clear that it didn't care either way. Probably to the owner of this voice, nothing does matter.
Aleister closed the projection and rested his eyes before replying.
"Stopping now would be uncharacteristic of me…"
? ?
Meanwhile, at Wu Yan's home…
This isn't the house that got riddled with holes by Mugino Shizuri. It's the new house he just bought.
Wu Yan sat on the ground with a handheld device in his hand. His hands didn't move but the contents displayed on the screen kept changing. If one were to look closer, small electrical signals were being sent from his hand to the device…
Finished with what he was doing, he stopped the flow of electric signals and stored his handheld device away. Stretching himself, the feeling of contentment welled up within him. How can he not be? he pulled one over the Hounds, decimated their forces and rescued almost all the sisters. Now he had over 19000 clones stored away in his biocontainment unit including sisters who were cured with genetic life infusion.
All he has to do now is to save the remaining sisters and he would have granted one of Mikoto's wishes. His first mission in this world would then be completed as well. Also, with almost all the sisters in his hand, the lv6 shift program must have been stopped and this meant that no further deaths will occur on the sisters' side…
He might be able to revive the dead sisters but if at all possible he didn't want them to go through such an experience. The best case scenario is that he rescues them without them dying.
With so little sisters to guard, the research firms are able to expend relatively more resources to guard these sisters.
Everything step he takes next would have to be a deliberate one…
He grinned while looking at the handheld device in his hand.
"Mikoto's ability is so handy. If not for it, I would not have been able to expunge the data regarding that cheap house and would have to rely on Ikaros to do the job…"
He had done made sure to cover his tracks thinking about the resourcefulness of the scientists. He admits that he's not the brightest tool in the shed but against foes who had lost their rationality, he can still manage somehow…
With Mikoto's abilities, things like expunging data are easy as pie, it saved him quite a lot of hassle.
Caressing the bio-containment unit bracelet on his hand, he can't help smiling at the thought of releasing the sisters inside and having a swell bonding time with them.
Alas, if he released them his house would probably be bursting with sisters. Plus, the sisters are still undergoing recover. In contrast to genetic life infusion, gene recovery infusion had a much different timeframe of effect.
"Well, let's just take things one step at a time…"
He grinned while looking at the bio-containment unit. His words seemed to be directed at the sisters inside it.
"Mikoto seems very happy as well!"
The sound came from his back and gave him a jump as a result. Looking back he sighed while shaking his head helplessly.
"Don't you know that people can die from being surprised? Hinagiku!"
Hinagiku tossed her beautiful pink hair and sat in front of him.
"I talked with Mikoto through the phone just now, Mikoto already knows about what went down and is very pleased with the fact that so many clones got rescued…"
Wu Yan rolled his eyes at her.
"You called her? Aren't you afraid of them listening in on your conversations?"
Hinagiku dismissed him.
"You are clearly aware of this possibility so I am guessing you already accounted for this didn't you…"
Wu Yan shrugged and he acted all smugged much to the displeasure of Hinagiku. She held back her urge to give him a mighty chomp and instead, she sighed without an obvious reason.
"I didn't know there were so many of these sisters that were like Mikoto…"
Wu Yan smiled.
"The sisters would be happy if they heard you referring to them in the same context as humans!"
Hinagiku smiled back.
"Well yeah, it's cute of them to be happy for such plainly obvious reason. I want a sister as well…"
Wu Yan stared at Hinagiku with such intensity that it made her slightly awkward. He then snickered.
"Well, if you want a sister there's not much I can do about that…"
Sliding himself up besides Hinagiku, he hugged her while ignoring her surprised yelp.
"Although… If you want a daughter, I think that can be arranged!"
Hinagiku's face flared red.
"Wh-what are you talking about… I don't want mghmuh…"