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Chapter Begins:
Creating a door through the wall between the Control Room and the Storage Vault, Dr. Blessed and Pop*Step entered the hall where Melissa and David were arguing.
With a wave of his hand, even before they fully walked out, Luke created an illusion around him and Kazuho, making them indistinguishable from the blue wall behind.
Then, he put a finger on his mouth, advising Pop*Step to keep it quiet.
Kazuho nodded with all seriousness, knowing the stakes involved.
On the other side, holding the suitcase, and after exchanging heated words with his daughter, David had finally realized that the Villains involved in this attack weren't fake.
"… What are you saying…" David looked at Sam, aghast. "It was all supposed to be an act…"
"Of course, it was an act…"
The sudden appearance of this voice made their heads snap toward the entrance.
"He's the Villain!" Midoriya's face fell.
He instantly activated Full Cowling and was about to attack when Wolfram put his hand on the door of the open vault next to him.
"His Quirk is Metal Manipulation," Dr. Blessed explained to Pop*Step. "It's quite a versatile Quirk with strong offensive and defensive capabilities. In a direct fight, even I will lose against him. Unless I make ample preparations first…"
Kazuho's eyes shook.
No wonder Leader didn't go after the Villain directly, she thought. Master Iwao was right. Dr. Blessed may be a lunatic… or was it a fanatic? Anyway, but he does have a cowardly personality.
In the hall, pipes of metal gained life, controlled by Wolfram, and rushed at Midoriya with a speed that surpassed many percentages of Full Cowling.
With a bam, the pipes pinned Midoriya against a wall before tightening around him.
No matter how much Midoriya struggled, despite activating all 12% of One For All, he couldn't escape the bind.
"Deku!" Melissa shouted, letting out a gasp.
Wolfram grinned behind his metal mask and approached David and Sam.
"Sam," he called out. "Where's the device?"
Under the shocked gazes of David, Melissa, and Midoriya, David's assistant snatched the suitcase and handed it over to Wolfram.
"When are we going after the device?" Pop*Step asked. "We can't let that thing fall into Villains' hands, right?"
"How do you know we are after the device?" Dr. Blessed asked.
Kazuho opened her mouth and closed it. "Well… Everyone's after it… so…"
"And…" Dr. Blessed leaned toward her a bit. "… how do you know WE are not the Villains…"
Kazuho stared blankly at the black mask, her hands shaking.
[… Can you not do that?] Miss Justice reprimanded Luke. [She's your team member now. You need to be nice.]
I was just… Luke tried to explain.
[… Lukeeeeeeeee…]
Luke let out a sigh. "Don't sweat over it," he told Kazuho, a bit gentler than before. "We are not here for the device."
The Quirk Amplification Device was one of the most researched devices when the Final War was at its peak in his previous life.
However, the device itself had been destroyed at the end of this incident.
Then, because of its potential threat and influenced by All Might, David had erased all research on it as well.
Without David and his research's help, no other team of scientists could replicate the same effects without harming the user.
With the Final War coming to an end, all the research related to the device had also ended.
So, in a sense, Luke wasn't after the device itself. For him, it was better if the device was destroyed, discouraging anyone in the world from coming up with something like this again.
Instead, he was here to get his hands on the research data before David erased it after the incident.
"We will wait until everyone leaves…" Luke said, explaining to Pop*Step. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish his words.
A bang rang out, making him and Kazuho look forward with stunned expressions.
In the hall, Wolfram had just shot Sam on the shoulder, taking the suitcase for himself.
"Why… Why…" Sam crawled away from Wolfram, holding his bleeding shoulder. "This isn't what you promised…"
"I don't remember any promise," Wolfram said, stepping forward, aiming the gun at Sam's head. "I do remember thinking of giving you the best reward… Haha…"
Bang!
Surprisingly, David threw himself between Sam and the gun, taking the bullet to his shoulder.
"Dad!" Melissa rushed toward David, but, with a backhand to her head, Wolfram sent her flying.
Under the illusion, Luke held Kazuho's shoulder as well.
"We need to help them!" Pop*Step hissed under her breath, her single eye staring dead at Dr. Blessed. "You said no one will get hurt…"
"Please calm down, Ms. Pop*Step," Dr. Blessed replied. "Remember that our little preparations are on the roof, not here. If we go out now, it will make matters worse. Also, these are just wounds… and wounds heal… over time."
Kazuho gaped at Dr. Blessed, disbelieving what she was hearing.
Unlike his nonchalant composure, Luke wasn't faring any better, either.
He couldn't recall someone telling him that anyone had died in this incident in his previous life.
Knowing that he could have just missed this crucial information when Momo had retold him about it, Luke had divined today that there wasn't much threat to someone's life. Given his knowledge of the I-Island incident from his previous life, he had enough data to get an accurate divination.
Then, why… he was having a bad feeling…
Suddenly, someone else entered the Storage Vault, making Luke's eyes pop out.
It was a man dressed in a uniform that was similar to the ones Wolfram's underlings were wearing. However, because of Clown's intuition, Luke instantly learned that this man… didn't act like an underling at all.
"You are still here…" The man in black military get-up said from behind a mask.
Wolfram tsked. "So you crawled out from your hole, huh? Well… I was just finishing here… Need to remove our dear Professor's attachments, first… Haha…"
Then, Wolfram pointed the gun at Melissa.
"Stop it!" Midoriya said, breaking out from his metallic binds with a great electric surge. Strangely, he wasn't the first to rush at Wolfram, though.
It was Pop*Step — madly dashing toward Wolfram — carrying a baseball bat.
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