Lin Luo had always believed this to be true.

Take, for instance, tools produced by the same manufacturer, of the same model, and from the same material. Even if their exterior, size, and even weight were exactly the same, there would surely be subtle differences internally. If one were to examine them under a microscope, their surfaces would prove to be dissimilar.

This theory could just as easily be applied to clones. Whether in height, weight, appearance, or even personality and thought patterns—even if identical to the original—the act of being brought into existence differently meant their significance as entities would diverge. Stepping back, even if they began identically, the degree of their exposure to society would quickly forge subtle distinctions between the original and the copy, leading, over time, to entirely separate life paths.

Therefore, in this world, everything is unique, down to a single mote of dust.

Consider Fujiwara no Mokou. Because Mokou possesses the ability of eternal life and immortality, she can resurrect even if beaten down to a single strand of hair. When her body regenerates from that strand, she is still Mokou, no different from her previous self. However, if that ability were temporarily unusable, unable to self-resurrect, and instead, someone else found that strand and revived her through external means—even if her appearance, abilities, memories, and personality were identical to the original Fujiwara no Mokou—in essence, she would no longer be that original Fujiwara no Mokou.

Because the first method is restoration, while the second is recreation.

Thus, if Lin Luo intended to resurrect the over ten thousand dead Misaka Sisters, he could not extract their genes from other Sisters to fabricate new bodies. He could only repair and regenerate their bodies using the deceased Sisters’ own physical components. Otherwise, they would merely be copies of copies, not the original Misaka 1—10029.

Resurrecting Misaka 1—10029 was the second thing Lin Luo intended to accomplish upon returning to the Real World.

He had wanted to do this for a very long time, both for the sake of the Sisters and for Mikoto. But he had never managed to find the time, nor had he possessed a reliably feasible method. Only now… if he didn't complete it soon, he might never have the chance again.

There was a way to resurrect the Misaka Sisters: obtaining their body parts. The issue was that they had died years ago, and their corpses were long gone. How could he acquire their components?

For others, this task might be exceedingly difficult, but for Lin Luo, it was far from impossible. He simply needed to travel through time back to the moments of their deaths. Before their remains were completely disposed of, he could casually take a finger or a piece of flesh… Of course, simple as it was, this task was rather gruesome and macabre.

So, Lin Luo mentioned this endeavor to no one.

Lin Luo’s first stop was the time of Misaka No. 1’s death, precisely at the moment Accelerator had just killed her. Lin Luo froze time, silently collecting a small portion of Misaka No. 1’s physical matter. Time then resumed its flow. After watching the researchers destroy the evidence and confirming nothing was amiss, Lin Luo proceeded to the time segment where the next Misaka Sister was slain…

This work was not only macabre and grotesque but also mentally taxing. Had it been anyone else, they likely couldn't have endured it; even the most cold-blooded individual’s psyche might shatter after repeating the process over ten thousand times. Especially if certain hot-blooded, chuunibyou youths were tasked with it, they would likely throw themselves into a reckless battle against Accelerator or launch verbal assaults on the researchers.

But Lin Luo did none of that. From Misaka No. 1 to Misaka No. 10029, a total of 10,029 instances. He remained hidden in the shadows, observing calmly. Only after the subject was killed would he retrieve the required components, without anyone knowing or noticing, and without taking any action against the researchers.

Because he was acutely aware that, during those moments in the past, he did not exist; he could not interfere. If he dared to take any other action, the entire future would shift, resulting, at minimum, in a backlash from the laws of causality.

But taking a tiny, unnoticeable piece of biological material posed no issue, as those corpses were destined for erasure anyway. It would not affect the future in the slightest.

His presence or absence yielded the same result then.

However, once Lin Luo returned to the current timeline holding the 10,029 sets of Misaka Sister body parts, the future starting from this moment would change.

“Hey, what are you sneaking around for?” Inside the Sky City, just as Lin Luo was looking for an unobserved spot to begin repairing the 10,029 Misaka Sisters’ bodies, a garbled voice of a girl suddenly called out from behind him.

“I believe this is my own home,” Lin Luo turned, looking with weary resignation at Shirai Kuroko, who seemed to treat the Sky City as her personal backyard. Honestly, he could never comprehend the mindset of an eccentric pervert.

Then again, if perverts could be understood by normal people, they wouldn't be called perverts… Lin Luo mused to himself.

The figures approaching were not just Shirai Kuroko. Saten Ruiko, the skirt-lifting menace, and Uiharu Kazari, the constant bearer of the thermal flask, were with her. Speaking of those two girls, they had likely been corrupted by Kuroko; they came to visit the Sky City whenever they were free. The former idly lifted the maids’ skirts, while the latter was obsessed with analyzing the Sky City’s network firewalls.

Lin Luo hadn't seen the trio in a while, and their presence felt rather familiar.

“Precisely because this is your home, your sneaking around makes it even more suspicious… Are you plotting some new mischief again?” Shirai Kuroko glared at Lin Luo with an expression that conveyed, ‘You won't fool me.’

Uiharu and Saten wore faces equally laden with curiosity.

Lin Luo chuckled. “Nothing major, just going to create a person.”

“Cre-create a person?” Uiharu and Saten’s cheeks instantly flushed red.

“Pervert!” Shirai Kuroko shouted at Lin Luo even louder, as if she herself were beyond reproach.

“Is it really necessary to react like that? It’s just creating one person,” Lin Luo said with an awkward smile, unconcerned. “Besides, the person I’m creating, you all know her.”

“Who is it?”

“Misaka.”

Lin Luo might have been better off keeping quiet. Upon hearing this, Shirai Kuroko’s eyes widened instantly. Gritting her teeth, she roared, “Bastard! Scum! Animal! Worse than beasts! You despicable wretch, you won’t even spare Big Sister’s younger sisters! You, you truly are… Can you take me along?”

After a stream of curses, Shirai Kuroko made a sharp pivot, her face filled with eagerness.

Hey, your principles just took a tumble… Not only had Saten and Uiharu collapsed onto the floor with a thud, but Lin Luo was also speechless with exasperation. Then again, perverts were supposed to lack principles entirely, weren't they?

Looking at the eccentric girl before him, Lin Luo suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of positive energy within himself.

“Truly filthy. What is your mindset?” Lin Luo deliberately adopted a stern expression and spoke gravely. “When I say create a person, I do not mean the lewd acts you imagine: ‘tackling a girl onto the bed, stripping off her clothes, entering her body to bring her to ecstatic release, and finally ejaculating white fluid inside her to make her pregnant’…”

Just as Ginko existed to be wasted, principles were naturally meant to be discarded. Lin Luo felt he had accumulated too much integrity recently, and facing a pervert like Shirai Kuroko… People are defined by comparison. If he didn't shed some of his principles now, wouldn't he become as dull as Liu Xiahui?

And so, he calmly provoked the three inexperienced girls into utter disarray.

Uiharu Kazari was one thing, and Saten Ruiko only lifted skirts. But even Shirai Kuroko, a pervert with high expectations for female-female intimacy, blushed furiously after hearing Lin Luo’s words.

“Um… we’ll take our leave now. You two carry on your talk,” Saten, her face flushed red from the shock, pulled Uiharu away the moment she managed to stand up, eager to escape this hotbed of trouble.

“Don't you two leave!” Shirai Kuroko instantly dragged them back. While creating life with a Misaka Sister was something she felt she could handle solo, she worried Lin Luo might harbor ill intentions toward her too. An extra person meant extra security—she wouldn't give up those two human shields… Of course, when the time came to ‘create a person’ with the Misaka Sister, she wouldn't need them; she could just kick them aside then.

Kuroko’s calculation was clever, but she seemed unaware that if Lin Luo truly meant harm, Uiharu and Saten would be entirely incapable of protecting her. At best, they would just be two more virgins lost.

“Do you three really want to come with me to create a person?” Lin Luo looked at the three of them pulling and tugging, feeling quite helpless.

“No way!” Uiharu and Saten shook their heads repeatedly.

“We’re going!” Shirai Kuroko nodded emphatically.

“Are you going or not? Can you please agree on something?”

“N-no… let’s go,” Though they wished a thousand times not to, Uiharu and Saten eventually succumbed to the coercive force of Shirai Kuroko. After all, they wouldn’t be the ones creating life anyway.

“Fine then, don't regret it later,” Lin Luo nodded and walked out first. The resurrection of the Misaka Sisters was not meant to be a total secret; he had already handled the most grotesque part alone, so witnessing the rest was inconsequential.

Shirai Kuroko followed excitedly, while Uiharu and Saten trailed behind with expressions of deep unease.

Half an hour later, Shirai Kuroko, Saten Ruiko, and Uiharu Kazari emerged from a certain room in the Sky City, all sporting ashen faces and trembling slightly. Anyone unaware of the preceding events might have assumed they had been brutally assaulted hundreds of times.

But the reality was… putting aside Uiharu and Saten for a moment, even for Shirai Kuroko, the crazy Misaka enthusiast, watching over ten thousand bloody body parts slowly coalesce into over ten thousand Misaka Sisters right before her eyes did nothing to spark any lust.