On the morning of October 7th, Class 3, Grade 1, Senior High School, Changdian Shangji Academy.
At the morning meeting, Sachiko-sensei looked at the empty seat in the classroom in perplexity.
"Student Ling Xingye is also asking for leave today..."
The atmosphere in the class was a bit depressing. Although Ling Xingye was not active in the class, because of him, the class leader, Shiranuo Tong, fell into a depression, and the atmosphere in the whole class became like this.
Teacher Xingzi sighed secretly, the situation in her class is still good, after all, only one Ling Xingye is missing. Students in other classes have already started to ask for leave, and even applied to transfer schools to leave Academy City.
A week ago, the aftermath of the "puppet invasion" war in District 13 finally started to show.
Although Academy City once achieved good results in managing public opinion and citizens' emotions, as time went by, more and more information and rumors spread from outside the city, and finally detonated this hidden mine.
Just like Misaka Misuzu wanted to take her daughter away after the Daihasei Festival, parents all over the world now want to take their children back from this war-shrouded city.
Once again, the "puppet invasion" is a war that is exposed to the eyes of the world. As long as they have access to the media, no one is unaware of it.
Its impact is far beyond the comparison of the last Orthodox Church invasion.
The tide of dropping out of school and the wave of panic are surging in Academy City.
To make matters worse, the thirteenth school district that was destroyed was mainly kindergartens and elementary schools, and it could be said to be the "foundation" of Academy City.
Now that the "foundation" has been shaken, people's distrust of Academy City has been exacerbated.
Even after school hours, the laughter on the streets of Academy City has decreased a lot, and the turnover of entertainment facilities such as shopping malls, playgrounds, and cinemas has dropped at a speed that can be discerned by the naked eye. The citizens walking on the street were in a hurry, and went straight to their residences after leaving the school, unwilling to stay outside too much. Only a few barrel robots patrol the streets as usual.
This is the calm before the storm.
Especially the daughters of the "School House", many of them received the news from home and were about to leave immediately. This caused an uproar among the student community.
Those young ladies' families were either rich or expensive, so they must know many things that ordinary people don't know. Their evacuation undoubtedly aroused a lot of speculation from others.
However, Academy City has always insisted that "Academy City is the safest city in the world", and tried its best to prevent this wave of dropouts.
Among them, there is no shortage of violent methods used against Misaka Misuzu.
As the guardian of order in the underground world, the "Law Enforcement Squad" is caught in civil strife and has no time to take care of others. As a result, Academy City at night became even more chaotic.
…
Of course, it's not all bad.
Although the whole city is full of panic, if the nerves are strong enough, or dull enough? Ignoring the environment? It may not be impossible to find good things.
For example, Class 7, the first grade of a certain high school where Kamijou Touma works, went out to have dinner together after school today.
Because of the economic depression? Class leader Fukiyose Seri got a 50% discount coupon for a barbecue restaurant? So the whole class decided to have a good meal together.
Kamijou Touma called home and wanted to bring Index with him? It happened that Kanzaki Kaori answered the phone and expressed his willingness to take care of Index's dinner? Let him not worry.
"Finally I can have a big meal with peace of mind!" Hanging up the phone? Kamijou Touma cheered.
It's not that he doesn't want to take Index with him, but if she's around, it will definitely develop into a situation of grabbing food with him in the end...
"Hey, because I lost my wallet? The bank left work early because of the recent turmoil? Mr. Kamijou's pocket has been empty for a long time." Kamijou Touma cried, "I feel unlucky again!"
"Heh, haven't you always been so unlucky?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu said.
"Of course not!" Kamijou Touma denied, "I wouldn't be so unlucky when Xingye was around. Speaking of which, I haven't seen him recently, it must be for this reason!"
Tsuchimikado Motoharu rolled his eyes? Then Yunyun said: "Then you should really pray for his return as soon as possible—that guy seems to be missing."
"Don't worry, Xingye is so powerful? He's definitely fine." Kamijou Touma said nonchalantly.
While Kamijou Touma and his classmates were having dinner together happily, Hitomi Shiranui came to Ling Xingye's apartment door alone.
Standing in front of the door? She knocked on the door tentatively, hoping that someone inside would open the door.
"Miss Shiranui? Are you here to look for Ling Xingye?" The door of the next door opened? Kanzaki Kaori leaned over to look over, "He's not at home, and I haven't seen him back in the past few days."
"Well, I know." Hitomi Shiranui said softly.
"I heard he disappeared?" Kanzaki Kaori showed a regretful expression, "I'm sorry, I should have protected him..."
"No, it's not your fault." Hitomi Shiranui shook her head quickly, "And Xingye just disappeared, I think he should be fine."
"Yes, he is very strong, so you don't have to worry too much." Kanzaki Kaori agreed, and then asked, "I made dinner, do you want to eat something together?"
"No, I'm not hungry. Thanks."
Declining the other party's invitation, Hitomi Shiranui took out the key and opened the door.
The inside of the house is still the same as it was before Ling Xingye left. The small space of the single-person apartment is full of various tools, materials and parts, all of which are used by Ling Xingye to maintain and debug sprites, or to make new puppets. .
This room is not so much an apartment as Ling Xingye's puppet workshop, which makes it almost impossible for people to settle down.
Hitomi Shiranui shook her head helplessly—if Ling Xingye was allowed to live alone, the room would become like this.
She walked through various parts and tool materials with ease, and walked to the bedside.
There are two semi-finished puppets leaning against the edge of the bed, which seem to be Ling Xingye's half-finished new work.
Hitomi Shiranui carefully removed the puppet, and threw herself on the bed.
"Xingye...everyone says you are amazing, don't worry. But where are you..."
Without crying, Hitomi Shiranui closed her eyes, her brain was still running at high speed, recalling all the information obtained in the past few days, trying to analyze useful clues.
Unknowingly, she was immersed in the memories of being with Ling Xingye in the past...
When she came to her senses, Hitomi Shiranui realized that she had fallen asleep, and it was already three o'clock in the morning the next day.
It was as if he had a dream, dreaming of the days when he was with Ling Xingye before, and dreaming of the day when he returned safely in the future.
"No, I have to think of a way to collect more information, and I must find Xingye!"
She clenched her fists and made up her mind.
However, even the "Fantasy Royal Hand 2.0" system has been used, and the members of the flower group have been asked, and finally even found Lu Cun... Shiranui Hitomi has tried all the methods and channels that can be used, but so far there is still no progress .
"Since it is confirmed that Xingye is still in Academy City, then we must be able to find him!" Hitomi Shiranui pondered, "There are nearly 80,000 active users of the 'Fantasy Royal Hand 2.0' system, so there is no useful information; More people will do."
In the entire Academy City, there is only one organization with such a large-scale mobilization force.
—A group of armed incompetents under the leadership of Ling Xingye.
But unfortunately, this largest organization in history was only a flash in the pan. The main reason for this result was Ling Xingye's disappearance, which made the group of armed incompetents leaderless, and there was no second person who could convince the crowd.
"To activate all the intelligence capabilities of the group of armed incompetents, Xingye must come forward to lead everyone; but to find Xingye, you must rely on the group's intelligence...Damn it, it has become an endless loop!" Hitomi Shiranui stared at the air in front of her unwillingly. .
Suddenly ~www..com~ out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a semi-finished puppet beside her, as well as a room full of tools and materials.
A bold idea forms in the mind.
She also knows the techniques of making and manipulating puppets—Hitomi Shiranui can master "skills" directly through "memory".
Then, she looked at the photo frame on the table.
Next to the group photo of all members of the Ling family class is a new photo that was just printed out recently.
The above is a group photo of all the members of the "Maid Cafe", that is, all the members of the third class of the first grade after the Daihasei festival.
Used to commemorate that special "theatre" performance.
Hitomi Shiranui thought carefully for a moment, and then, ignoring that it was late at night and early in the morning, she took out her mobile phone and made calls one by one.
Yakushiji Miyu, Isshiki Chie, and Saten Ruiko...
"I have a plan and need your help..."