At that moment, everyone except Lin Luo was stunned. It wasn't surprising to see a Level 3 esper appear, but the problem was that Saten had originally been Level 0. To jump three whole levels just with such a casual adjustment felt utterly absurd.

Mikoto blinked her beautiful eyes, utterly bewildered. However, since she "knew the bottom line" with Lin Luo, she wasn't overly shocked, despite finding it incredible. But it was different for Kuroko and Uiharu. They knew intimately just how difficult it was for an esper to advance even a single level. Yet, Lin Luo had casually transformed a Level 0 into a Level 3—this completely overturned the common sense they held dear. The two looked at Lin Luo as if they were staring at a monster.

Of course, the one most unable to believe it was the person at the center of it all, Saten Ruiko.

"Psychic ability? Is this psychic ability? I’ve become an esper…"

Saten Ruiko looked at her own hands, tears welling up. Esper—for her, those three words had always represented a distant, unattainable dream. Even when using the Imagine Breaker drug, she had only reached Level 1, and that came with severe side effects. But now, she was a powerful Level 3 esper. Although this wasn't exactly a top-tier level, if this were a dream, Saten hoped she would never wake up.

"It's not a dream; it's reality! I really have become an esper!"

Saten was crying and laughing, perhaps a little carried away by her excitement. In her fervor, she suddenly threw herself onto Lin Luo, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, thank you…"

"Ugh!" This sudden good fortune momentarily froze Lin Luo. But before he could even properly savor the warmth of the jade-like body in his arms, an unusually heavy killing intent instantly obliterated any stirring of pleasure he felt.

Lin Luo knew exactly who was radiating that murderous aura even if he used only his toes to think about it. Terrified, he immediately raised both hands and said with a stern expression, "Um... Saten-san, please calm down. Men and women should not touch."

"Ah! I... I’m sorry!" Saten instantly snapped back to reality, her face instantly flushing crimson as she reflexively pulled away from Lin Luo's 'embrace.'

Feeling the palpable killing intent recede, Lin Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Wow, Railgun is quite the jealous type. Looks like my path toward my harem will be long and arduous. Hmm, I need to start planning this out.

"What exactly happened? Why did Saten suddenly become a Level 3 esper? What did you do to her?" Shirai Kuroko could no longer suppress the burning question and rushed forward to demand answers.

"Uh, well, this is..." This was actually quite awkward for Lin Luo to explain. He glanced around and saw the same puzzled looks on everyone's faces. With a sigh, Lin Luo decided to continue his deception. "Didn't I mention it before? I am the Eighth Level 5 of Academy City, forging illusions. So, forging a mere Level 3 is naturally not a problem."

Kuroko frowned. "I recall your title last time was something like Emperor of Prophecy, wasn't it?"

"Ah..." Lin Luo froze. Thinking back, that was indeed true. His "Forging Illusions" was something he’d said to Kinuhata Saiai. Perhaps having too many titles wasn't a good thing after all?

Despite the awkwardness of his lie nearly being exposed, Lin Luo maintained a composed demeanor. "Emperor of Prophecy is me, and Forging Illusions is also me. The depths of this man are not something a little girl like you can easily fathom."

Kuroko was speechless. There was no way she would believe such an obvious falsehood. However, since he wasn't willing to explain further, she couldn't do anything about it.

"Um, could you possibly enhance my ability too?" Uiharu, unconcerned with the title drama, looked at Lin Luo with a flicker of longing in her eyes.

"Well, that’s certainly no problem." Although developing one's brain domain cost him one hundred points of Life Force, since he had already boosted Saten Ruiko's ability, he couldn't show favoritism.

Uiharu instantly burst with joy. Without waiting for Lin Luo's instruction, she obediently closed her eyes. Lin Luo found it amusing and reached out to place his hand on her forehead, but...

“Current subject level is too high. Contract Holder cannot develop the brain domain.”

Huh? Too high a level? Uiharu was only a low-level esper at Level 1?!

Lin Luo found this hard to understand. He tried using the healing spell several times, but the result was the same: he couldn't develop Uiharu's brain domain.

Lin Luo was greatly disappointed. He had originally planned to use this skill to further develop his own brain domain, and perhaps even Mikoto's and the Sisters', but if he couldn't even develop Uiharu's, then there was no hope for the others.

"It... it can't be done!?" Upon hearing Lin Luo's explanation, Uiharu became visibly more disappointed and depressed. If she were Level 0 instead of Level 1, she could have become a Level 3 esper right now.

Lin Luo found Uiharu’s line of thinking somewhat funny. He could only comfort her by promising to help her once the skill leveled up, which somewhat alleviated her gloom.

As they left the karaoke parlor, everyone’s mood was slightly different: Saten Ruiko was ecstatic, Uiharu Shiori was dejected, and Shirai Kuroko was conflicted... Mikoto deliberately walked a little behind Lin Luo and seized the opportunity to ask, "What exactly happened back there? How did you boost Saten's power?"

Lin Luo knew he could trick Shirai Kuroko and hoodwink Uiharu and Saten, but deceiving Mikoto was absolutely impossible. Of course, he didn't need to hide this kind of thing from her, so he told her everything that had just occurred.

"There's something like that?" Mikoto was greatly astonished upon hearing this. "Then... what exactly is that power? Could it really be Level 6?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure myself. I only managed to grasp a faint trace of it; I can't understand it at all..." Lin Luo shook his head. Although he had fused his innate skill with the Holy Healing Spell using the insight he gained just now, he was still baffled about the actual source of that power. The only thing he knew for certain was that it was definitely connected to the Book of Contracts.

Similarly, Mikoto was also quite vague about the changes happening within her own World Heart. From Lin Luo's words, she learned that the World Heart's triple seal had been completely unlocked, and she now possessed a skill called 'Light of the Mind'... But the issue was that aside from feeling a slight anomaly in her heart earlier, she had no real understanding of these developments. Light of the Mind? She had no idea what that was.

Vaguely, Mikoto could only sense that she seemed to be progressing toward Level 6...

However, this sensation brought her no joy. While an increase in strength was a good thing, it wasn't her power. From Level 1 to Level 5, all the strength she possessed now was earned through her own step-by-step, drop-by-drop effort. But now... this feeling of unearned gain, like cheating, sat heavily on her conscience.

Fortunately, she only thought these things to herself, or Lin Luo would have been incredibly depressed if he knew, because, in reality, almost ninety-nine percent of the power Lin Luo currently possessed was unearned.

The two walked on, lost in their own thoughts. Kuroko and the other two ahead saw their absorption and didn't interrupt. After an unknown amount of time, a voice suddenly broke their contemplation.

"Lin Luo, big sister."

Turning around instinctively, they saw before them... a girl with knee-length hair, standing with a gentle smile.

She appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen. Her tightly fitted attire made her not particularly voluminous chest stand out strikingly. She was quite tall, over 1.65 meters. Her delicate, beautiful face held a gentle smile, and her tea-colored hair, reaching her knees, swayed softly in the slight breeze as if ready to drift away.

Just standing there, she exuded the aura of a young lady from a noble, distinguished family—an elegant and serene temperament radiated from her entire being...

The moment Lin Luo saw her, he froze completely and blurted out involuntarily.

"Zero... Number Zero?!"

P: Thanks to First LAH for becoming the third Steward of this book... Status restored, two updates today, please vote for recommendation tickets. Also recommending a friend's book: Super Freak. An ordinary youth travels to another world, gaining perverse cultivation techniques, dominating the continent, with sparks of passion and a touch of humor. Link below, check it out if you're interested. Super Freak]