Seeing the petite girl in the cultivation tank, Fubuki looked quite startled, as the image before her differed vastly from what she had imagined. Although she had obtained some data on the higher-order existence, it was merely data, lacking any concrete description. Surely, as the ultimate form, there should be some air of superiority about her, right? Yet, the Last Order before her... was just a little girl who needed to be cradled in one's palm!

"You should know this, as a participant in this experiment..." Sensing Fubuki's surprise, Yoshikawa Kikyou explained, "Although the Sisters are all Level 2 espers, there are twenty thousand of them, and we only have two dozen staff members. If they were to revolt, we wouldn't be able to handle it, so we needed a failsafe..."

"The Last Order is that failsafe?"

"The Sisters form a massive collective will through their brainwave connections—the Misaka Network, which can control every Misaka. The Last Order is the opposite existence to the Sisters. By inputting a special electrical signal into her brain, we can, in turn, control the Misaka Network. In any emergency, we can immediately send a stop signal to the Sisters, ensuring they can never betray us."

At this point, Yoshikawa Kikyou looked up to gauge their reactions, finding none unusual. She sighed and continued, "Therefore, as the command center for the Sisters, the Final Signal cannot possess freedom. Moreover, for ease of control, we even have to deliberately keep her body in an incomplete state. Ideally, she would be in a vegetative state without consciousness, but then she wouldn't be able to connect to the Misaka Network."

"That certainly sounds like your style," Fubuki stated coldly. Although she was also a participant in the Level 6 project, she didn't view the Sisters as emotionless puppets, instinctively feeling a sense of revulsion towards Yoshikawa Kikyou's words. However, she chose not to display this feeling in front of the other woman. "But according to the data I acquired, Last Order possesses a very strong sense of self-awareness. Aside from being unable to perfectly express her own emotions, she is practically no different from an ordinary human."

"That's only natural. After all, to control twenty thousand Sisters, being just like the ordinary Sisters would be impossible. So, we put a considerable amount of emotion into her when we made adjustments..."

"Put emotion into her? Don't joke!" Yoshikawa Kikyou's half-finished sentence was abruptly cut off. She turned to see Lin Luo giving a chilling, sarcastic smirk. "Aren't the Sisters just disposable consumables to you people? To use a term like 'investing emotion' in mere dolls—don't you find that utterly ridiculous!"

Yoshikawa Kikyou paused, but instead of retorting, she offered a self-deprecating smile. "Indeed. For people like us doing this kind of work, we really have no standing to say such things."

Lin Luo gazed at her impassively... Yoshikawa Kikyou, a woman who was naive but not kind. Frankly, Lin Luo held no great affection for her, but neither did he feel outright loathing. At least among the many researchers, she wasn't someone whose humanity had become completely twisted; she was just following orders from above. To put it nicely, she was an employee; to put it crudely, she was a tool.

Lin Luo sighed, deciding against saying more. The Last Order had been found, so there was no need to keep up the pretense any longer... Bang! He slammed the iron door shut behind him with the back of his hand.

Yoshikawa Kikyou stared at him in shock.

"Sorry, I lied just now. I'm not an assistant, and we aren't here for research..." Lin Luo paused, then declared firmly, "Actually, I'm here to stop this experiment!"

"What did you say? Stop the experiment?" Yoshikawa Kikyou looked at Lin Luo as if seeing a ghost, disbelief etched across her face.

Not just her, Fubuki was also stunned. While she had expected Lin Luo to behave unexpectedly, this was far too direct.

Lin Luo stated resolutely, "That's right, to stop this twisted experiment."

Understanding dawned on Yoshikawa Kikyou, and she cried out excitedly, "Do you know what you're saying? This experiment cannot be stopped! Do you grasp the importance of this experiment?"

"Why shouldn't it be stopped!" It wasn't a question, but a definitive tone. Lin Luo sneered, "The importance of this experiment? Ha! How important is it? Does it bear the future of this world, or does it concern the fate of humanity?"

"Well... while it might not be that grand, this is the Level 6 Attainment Project. If successful, it will produce an unprecedented Level 6 esper!" Yoshikawa argued loudly, though there was a strange quality to her tone, almost as if she were trying to convince herself.

"Level 6 esper?" Lin Luo was openly disdainful. "What does that have to do with me? Compared to the lives of the Sisters and Misaka’s wishes, it doesn't even amount to a single strand of hair!"

"You..." Yoshikawa Kikyou's mouth gaped. She found the young man before her completely irrational, and turned her gaze to Fubuki. "Do you think so too, Fubuki?"

"My starting point might differ from his, but our objective is the same. And I do not believe using the Sisters for this experiment was the right choice. We became twisted from the very beginning," Fubuki replied.

"You... are you two sure you aren't joking?" Yoshikawa Kikyou found it hard to believe.

"Do I look like I'm joking!"

"Impossible, this is impossible!" Yoshikawa Kikyou shook her head frantically. "Don't you know who is backing this experiment? You two alone can never stop it!"

"The word 'impossible' only exists for you," Lin Luo struck without mercy. "How can you declare something impossible before it has even been attempted? When Newton hadn't discovered universal gravitation, no one said he might discover it. When Edison invented the light bulb, no one said he could invent it. If you don't try, who dares to assert that I cannot stop this experiment?!"

"It's different. You completely misunderstand. You have no idea how powerful the upper echelon is, which is why you utter such overconfident nonsense."

"The power of the upper echelon? Hmph, who is the upper echelon?" Lin Luo merely continued to sneer. "The Board of Directors? I don't give a damn about those scraps hiding behind the scenes issuing orders. Or perhaps the Man in the Inverted position hanging in that windowless building? Hmph..."

Lin Luo did not finish speaking because he knew that the Man in the Inverted position would definitely hear his words now, and this sentence was partly intended for him. The subtext was: Man in the Inverted position, I know you are there. I believe you have noticed me too. But you don't need to be wary of me; I am only here to stop the experiment. As long as you don't make a move against me, I won't threaten you.

Lin Luo was confident that with the Man in the Inverted position's almost demonic intellect, he would certainly grasp the unspoken meaning.

Yoshikawa Kikyou was completely stunned. She truly couldn't fathom the wiring of this young man's mind to regard the Board of Directors as mere trash! Among everyone she knew, perhaps only Accelerator possessed such audacity.

But Accelerator truly had the ability to back it up. Did Lin Luo? Although she didn't know what kind of power the young man before her possessed, she was certain he absolutely did not have Accelerator's level of strength—no, he definitely couldn't compare to Accelerator. So, what kind of mindset allowed him to utter those words? Arrogance? Confidence? Or bravery?

Lin Luo was not overbearingly arrogant; the Board of Directors were indeed trash in his eyes—at least the Board itself. He wasn't overly confident either, at least not confident enough to think he could fight Accelerator one-on-one. As for bravery... that he possessed.

At this moment, looking at the young man before her, Yoshikawa Kikyou suddenly felt a need to look up to him. Whether it was arrogance or bravery and confidence, at least being able to say such things required immense courage—a courage she herself lacked.

"Your inability to do something doesn't mean others can't; it only means you lack the courage to try." This statement stirred something in Yoshikawa Kikyou's heart, but quickly, her shock turned into absolute awe as Lin Luo continued, "Isn't that right? You wanted to be a teacher, yet you backed down from that path precisely because you lacked the courage to move forward!"

Yoshikawa Kikyou's eyes snapped wide open, and her entire body trembled!

P: It feels like the last two chapters have lacked any comedic atmosphere, and I think I’ve hit a wall myself. But then again, these chapters really aren't suited for humor (it feels stilted when I don't slip into irreverence). Well, once this plot point passes, we'll resume our campaign of chaos and let the brain-dead conquer the world. Also, wishing everyone courage on their journey forward... And please, spare me a vote.