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The only certainty is that after Lin Yi was "forced" to join the Absolute Ability User Project, his own faction was implicitly recognized as "Ability Users of Academy City" rather than "Transmigrators of the Transmigrators Alliance".
As a result, some things that would normally be easy for a transmigrator to understand become complicated, forcing them to rely on Academy City's channels to collect information.
Lin Yi was not surprised by the research institute's lack of strength. After all, it was a cross-world organization similar to the Time and Space Administration. It would be unacceptable if a local organization that couldn't even colonize interstellar space could so easily dig out its core intelligence.
"External intelligence is also acceptable."
A few minutes later, a data transfer completion indicator appeared on the tablet in Lin Yi's hand.
—An otherworldly mercenary.
P.S.: I suddenly sat up in shock from my deathbed, and another year has passed in a lively and cheerful manner.
Information Integration Thought Entity: Chapter 576 Singularity Reversal (16)
"As we all know, in the 'plot,' as time travelers, we have very limited influence, unless we are willing to pay a sufficiently high price."
"These costs include, but are not limited to, reduced abilities, misfortune, being antagonized by characters in the story... In the worst case, unless you escape this world directly, it is not impossible for the world to be destroyed in order to kill you."
"But what kind of transmigrator are we if we don't change the plot? In order to change the terrible situation we are facing, the 'interdimensional mercenary' mechanism has emerged."
“Unlike us genuine transmigrators, although they also ‘transmigrate to other worlds,’ the ‘natives’ from other story worlds have the ability to interfere with the plot without being punished, which gives us the possibility to intervene. And after the ‘plot’ officially ends, no matter how dangerous the ‘plot world’ is, there will be no rejection of transmigrators, so every native of a ‘plot world’ can be regarded as a reserve of ‘interdimensional mercenaries’.”
"By combining these clues, the task that the 'Transmigrator Alliance' needs to do becomes quite simple."
"First, find the 'story world'."
Second, wait for the 'plot to begin'.
"Third, find mercenaries from other worlds and let them get involved in the plot to transition the story in the shortest time or in the safest way."
"Finally, bring these 'end-of-plot' worlds under the management of the 'Alliance'!"
Using this as a springboard, the Transmigrator Alliance not only possesses "transmigrators," but also a large number of "mercenaries."
Because rashly engaging with the "plot" would weaken their own abilities and luck, transmigrators choose to pay a small price to have "otherworldly mercenaries" take action instead of doing it themselves. However, they do not have this concern when facing Lin Yi, since Lin Yi is just a "transmigrator" who has joined a local force, not a "plot character".
The most obvious evidence is that even if Lin Yi does nothing right now, his ability strength is decreasing little by little...
"An otherworldly mercenary, huh... I guess so."
The tablet, whose signal was being interfered with, quickly dimmed, and the communication from Kiyama Haruo was replaced by noise. As the footsteps drew closer, Lin Yi roughly understood what method the "time travelers" who were currently opposing him had chosen.
"Compared to 'otherworldly mercenaries,' it's more cost-effective to have 'story characters' take action directly."
Even if they can't defeat themselves, they can still use the special characteristics of "plot characters" in the "plot" to weaken themselves and their abilities—a typical case of trying to annoy you even if they can't beat you.
As the mage, wielding a longsword, stood before them, pointing his weapon at them while speaking in an icy tone: "I don't want to know your thoughts, and you don't need to know who I am. Tell me where 'Index of Forbidden Books' is, and I'll leave."
"The Catalogue of Banned Books?"
What should have been a perfectly reasonable question was instead seen as a provocation.
"...As the No.1 in Academy City, and the 'Singularity Reversal' of the Level 5 Project, you don't even know what happened two days ago?"
"This is true."
Exhaling, the mage abandoned negotiations as he drew his longsword: "Salvare000, I will make you talk even if it means using force."
Lin Yi smiled in response.
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"Anyone who would directly interfere with the 'plot' before it's over is either a clueless newcomer or a blindly foolish idiot."
Watching the two engaged in battle on the screen, Cade was prepared to step in and clean up the battlefield at any moment... or rather, to collect the body of that "transmigrator." However, his partner, who was also a transmigrator, asked with some unease, "Is this really okay? If Kanzaki Kaori has any problems, as the direct information providers, we will also be drawn into the plot, and the price we pay will be more than just a reduction in our abilities."
"Don't worry, even if Kanzaki Kaori really loses, it doesn't matter. We can just drag the Archbishop of the Anglican Church down with us. I don't believe that this 'Singularity Reversal' ability is strong enough to withstand the siege and weakening of the characters in the entire 'story world'."
The unease on the transmigrator's face lessened slightly, but he still felt as if he had overlooked something. Just then, a voice rang out from Ling Meng, "Get ready, we can move out soon!"
Subconsciously looking up, the time traveler saw the scene on the screen.
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"Stop, you are no match for me."
Kanzaki Kaori was somewhat puzzled by the fragility of the "Singularity Reversal" ability. After all, someone who could become the core of the Absolute Ability User Project shouldn't fail so easily. In fact, she had prepared for defeat before standing here. But in any case, she had won now.
"Tell me where the 'Index of Banned Books' is now."
The long-lost feeling of stiffness in her body made Lin Yi feel refreshed; at least for the main body, this feeling was already a thing of the past.
A faint gravitational pull compressed and condensed the dust rising in front of it, and as expected, it was shot towards the mage not far away. It was then cut off by the thread that intercepted it in mid-air, revealing the increasingly impatient gaze of the mage behind it.
"Tell me where she is one last time."
"you guess?"
The blade, carrying a murderous aura, swept in and slashed down overhead.
As if stunned by this terrifying killing intent, Lin Yi stood rooted to the spot without resistance, his eyes narrowed slightly as he stared ahead—
"—!"
A slight deviation that should not have occurred.
The small patch of ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, momentarily halting his momentum that should have been unstoppable. This was not a big deal; retreating to regroup or forcibly breaking through using saint-level power would have been easy, and the mage did just that.
After a slight pause, she stomped down with even more force with her left foot, creating a dent in the ground before lowering her center of gravity. That's when Kanzaki Kaori noticed.
—The second deviation.
This time it's a point of gravity; it appears on the right side of the person holding the weapon.
This gravitational point shouldn't have been blocking the way here. Even if it were, it should have been detected and eliminated by the saint's superhuman senses beforehand. However, as the magician's center of gravity lowered, it blocked the way in a way that was completely unexpected.
The strength of this gravitational point wasn't fatal, but it was awkward enough that the mage had to change his original attack trajectory again, shifting his center of gravity to the left.
"Snapped".
A sudden, sharp pain shot through my heart.
Information Integration Thought Entity: Chapter 577 Singularity Reversal (End)
Compared to ordinary people, magicians known as "saints" have significant advantages, including but not limited to physical strength, nerve reflexes, and cell activity that are dozens of times greater than those of ordinary people. On the one hand, these advantages give her near-superhuman strength and speed, and on the other hand, they also grant her extraordinary resistance.
At least Lin Yi was unable to use his Singularity Reversal ability, which had been weakened to the lowest level of LV4, to forcibly tear her skin and muscles in a short period of time in order to destroy her combat ability.
So, how do you get the opponent to actively move closer to your attack?
The first point is to adjust the "track".
The second point is to shift the "center of gravity".
The third point—the heart.
Unlike other superpowers, after obtaining information about Academy City's abilities, the use of the Singularity Reversal ability no longer relies solely on linear guidance through vision or a crude global collapse. Instead, it is more like a spatial ability that establishes coordinates on a three-dimensional structure to trigger a singularity. This gives Lin Yi the possibility of breaking through the target's "surface" and directly constructing a singularity on the "inner side".
The magician, after her third attempt, found herself at a newly constructed singularity coordinate: located at her heart.
The pain of her heart being squeezed and the premonition of death instantly robbed the magician of all her intuition. Due to her saintly constitution, her heart was not crushed into mincemeat like an ordinary person would when the gravitational singularity exploded. Instead, it beat wildly at more than three times the original speed. Under the powerful kinetic energy, it almost broke free from the contraction range of the singularity by tearing only a few blood vessels.
Watching the mage rapidly retreating in an attempt to escape the shrinking singularity, Lin Yi gently overlapped his middle finger and thumb on his raised left hand.
"Snapped"
—Singularity Reversal.
Within 0.0001 seconds, the contracting gravitational point collapsed rapidly, as if it had reached its limit and could no longer absorb any matter, and came to a standstill.
In the next instant, the singularity, which had collapsed to its limit, began to erupt: from inward gravity to outward repulsion.
The mage, who had taken a half-step back, turned deathly pale in an instant, looked down at his empty chest, and slowly collapsed.
"An important positive character?"
With the fall of the magician, the power level, which had already fallen to the bottom of LV4, suddenly decreased by more than 20%, directly dropping to the level of LV3. Lin Yi was slightly surprised by this situation: a saint standing on the magic side appeared in the science-side Academy City and attacked science-side ability users indiscriminately. Such a stance could be considered a positive role for the "protagonist" who relied on the science side for survival.
"I don't really understand your plot and characters." ⑤I妻覇捌O⑦琉医峮
Shaking his head, Lin Yi left in a direction away from the signal interference; he still had some questions for the research institute.
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"Dead...?"
Staring blankly at the corpse on the screen, Cade's thoughts momentarily froze.
Before providing the "plot character" with information about the "Singularity Reversal" and the "Absolute Ability User Project," he considered all possibilities, including the defeat of the "Singularity Reversal," Kanzaki Kaori's failure, the intervention of Academy City, the magician noticing the information loopholes, and so on. However, he never expected it to end with the death of the plot character.
"How dare he... how dare he—"
He abruptly stood up and stared at the motionless corpse on the screen again and again. Cade felt like he was going crazy.
In the past, when facing ability users, whether they were on the protagonist's side or the dark side, "Singularity Reversal" only defeated them and then stopped without killing any "plot characters." But now?
He was fighting a genuinely righteous supporting character, yet he still killed without any scruples?
Aren't you afraid the plot will go awry and the English Puritans will declare war on you?!
“Cade, my ability user—”
The terrified screams beside him brought Cade back to his senses. When he turned around, he saw his accomplice, whose body had become half-transparent.
The transmigrator he pulled into this operation had only recently entered Academy City and his initial ability was merely LV2-level Mirror Manipulation. If he had just stayed idle like other transmigrators until the end of the story, nothing would have happened. However, he interfered with the plot—leading to the death of an important plot character: the information he leaked to Stiyl reached Kanzaki Kaori's ears, and Kanzaki Kaori died in battle with "Singularity Reversal".
Just like Lin Yi, who had already been reduced to LV3, this transmigrator also suffered the same "punishment," except that his strength was not enough to make him pay the full price.
"Damn it, I thought those guys were lying to me, but I didn't expect the rumor that existence power can be used as an ability is true."
While his comrades, gripped by panic, avoided him, Cade watched helplessly as the time traveler "disappeared." His expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. Finally, after glancing at the image of the dead saint, he gritted his teeth and muttered, "Damn madman."
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You killed her.
After the signal was restored, the first person to contact Lin Yi was not Kiyama Haruo, nor anyone else from the research institute, but his partner, Aleister.
As the one who controls the entire Academy City, it would be strange if he didn't know what had just happened.
"As a collaborator of the city, shouldn't it be our duty to eliminate the invading forces from the magical side?"
I will handle the follow-up matters and collect the data as soon as possible.
After ending the call, Lin Yi continued towards his next target.
It's not surprising that this situation would occur.
Lin Yi's knowledge of this so-called "plot world" was quite limited, far less than that of the transmigrators. After all, he had already "joined" the science faction of Academy City before he even began to understand it, thus cutting off his access to information from the Transmigrators' Alliance.
However, no matter how limited his knowledge was, he could still understand some "basic" rules.
First, he is the core of the "Absolute Ability User Project," and his two S-rank abilities give him immense value.
Secondly, as an esper from "Academy City," my attitude towards magic naturally needs to be based on the scientific side—at least until I become an "absolute esper."
In this way, it is clear what attitude should be taken towards a magical saint who comes to "provoke" him. At the very least, it is unacceptable to cripple him like one would a fellow ability user used as "experimental material." If he is rejected by the Transcendent Alliance and then regarded as a "spy" by Academy City, then Lin Yi's actions in this "plot world" can be considered to have come to an end.
Lin Yi wasn't entirely clear on the specific relationship between the science side and the magic side, but he knew when to do what.
Information Integration Thought Entity: Chapter 578 Upper and Lower Limits
United Kingdom.
The glory of the Lord has enveloped this land for over a thousand years. Even though there have been times of darkness and chaos, it has never truly dissipated. Everyone has reason to believe that this phenomenon will continue. Therefore, what the servants of the Lord need to do is to dispel the darkness that tries to prevent the glory of the Lord from spreading to more lambs.
The Church of Necessary Evil is a staunch follower of this ideology.
The Church of Necessary Evil, also known as the "Zero Church," was the London-based church organization of the Anglican Church. Unlike other organizations that admonished the world with a gentle approach, the Church of Necessary Evil specialized in witch hunts, inquisitions of heretics, and dealing with magicians—all considered "evil deeds." No one knows why such a violent institution became the core of the Puritan Church in the long evolution of church history. Perhaps even "the Lord" could not change a reality that has existed since ancient times.
Power comes from strength.
As the Grand Bishop of the Church of Necessary Evil, Laura Stewart was essentially the de facto leader of the Puritan Church. The Saint's infiltration of Academy City was largely with the tacit approval of this Grand Bishop; otherwise, given the preciousness and rarity of Saints, even deploying hundreds of magicians would not have allowed even half a Saint to enter such a scientifically-oriented stronghold.
However, when the sage was dispatched to capture Liu Ba (Nine) Ou VIII Long Si Ling Wu “Forbidden Book Catalogue”, an unexpected event occurred: the sage perished.
Without any warning, the spies stationed inside Academy City received no information, and the cover agents outside Academy City did not even sense the unique power unleashed by the Saint during his all-out battle.
It wasn't until three days later, when the British received Kanzaki Kaori's body, that they were forced to confirm the news.
According to limited information, the archbishop at the time did not show any anger or sadness, nor did he mention holding anyone accountable; he merely issued orders to the judicial authorities below.