In Academy City, the Paradise Project begins.

Page 38

After all, whose mental abilities are so exaggerated? She felt that even if her abilities evolved to the theoretically existing Level 6, it would be impossible for her to do something like what Higashino did.

Suddenly, Higashino grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. Shokuhou stumbled and fell into his arms, her nose bumping against his chest, smelling Higashino's scent.

"pay close attention."

He whispered in her ear, his warm breath brushing against it.

"Time to go surfing."

The next second, the floor transformed into a transparent surfboard. Suddenly, the surroundings became the ocean, and giant waves rose from the calm surface, carrying them into the sky.

Startled, Shokuhou screamed and instinctively wrapped her arms around Higashino's waist, her fingers gripping the fabric of his clothes tightly.

She never tries sports that require physical exertion.

"Cognitive reconstruction isn't limited to the mental realm; it can also be done in physics, for example..."

Higashino's voice remained clear amidst the wind and waves. He put one arm around Shokuhou's shoulder and held her protectively in his arms.

"The seawater here can solidify!"

The giant wave solidified into a crystal-like sculpture at its highest point. They stood atop the crest of the wave, which had somehow become incredibly high, offering a panoramic view of the entire Academy City.

Shokuhou's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to burst out of her chest, and Higashino could clearly feel her nervousness through the thin fabric of her clothes.

"You...you're crazy..."

She was extremely nervous, holding onto Higashino's arm tightly with both hands, not daring to let go at all.

Higashino also experienced the Queen's gentleness for the first time, and it felt quite nice.

"This is not treatment at all!"

It was intimidation, specifically designed to scare a weak woman like her who couldn't participate in extreme sports due to physical limitations. This was her first time at such a high place.

"Heart rate 130, pupils dilated, adrenaline surge."

Higashino gently wiped the beads of sweat from the tip of her nose.

"The perfect stress relief indicator."

He subtly adjusted his power output, making the surrounding wind gentler so it no longer stung Honeybee's cheeks.

Just as Misaki was about to retort, the sky suddenly darkened. Countless stars suddenly lit up, forming a huge star-shaped pattern, exactly like her eyes.

"The last item."

Higashino snapped his fingers, his movements slightly slow due to fatigue.

"Exclusively customized..."

"Meteor shower."

Misaki replied softly, her voice carrying a gentleness she herself was unaware of.

As the first shooting star streaked across the sky, she instinctively made a wish. As the second shooting star fell, she noticed that Higashino was also making a wish with his eyes closed. When the third shooting star exploded into a star-shaped firework, Shokuhou suddenly realized that she was still holding onto his waist, and quickly let go, but lost her balance and fell backward.

Higashino swiftly wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her halfway around. In the instant their positions reversed, the frozen wave crests melted back into flowing water. Their descent into the sea seemed to stretch endlessly, and Shokuhou's eyes reflected Higashino's face so close to hers. She could clearly see the bloodshot veins in his eyes.

“The use of stimulation can also help release stress.”

Higashino's breath brushed against her ear, his voice slightly hoarse from exhaustion.

thump.

The sound of the water hitting the surface was as soft as raindrops. The seawater gently enveloped them, yet their clothes remained dry.

Misaki suddenly found herself standing in an underwater tunnel, with thousands of fluorescent jellyfish swimming overhead, casting a dreamy blue-purple glow on their faces. She noticed that Higashino's face was somewhat pale and instinctively reached out to support his arm.

"This underwater tunnel is no longer actually in Academy City."

This time, Higashino didn't use teleportation because he had never been here before and couldn't pinpoint his location precisely. The scene here was merely a hallucination he had seen on television.

"But I think the scenery here suits you better."

His voice grew softer, but a gentle smile remained on his lips.

Misaki's body trembled slightly. A warm liquid trickled down her cheek, and she hurriedly wiped it away, but instead touched the seashell that Higashino offered her. A pink pearl was embedded in the white inner wall of the shell.

"Pearls are the crystallization of tears."

He spoke softly, his fingers trembling slightly from exhaustion.

"But your eyes are more beautiful than pearls, it would be a pity to shed tears."

Shokuhou suddenly snatched the shell and hurled it at Higashino. The pink pearl arced through the air, and upon impact, *smack!*

The world shattered like a mirror. They stood once again at the entrance of Tokiwadai School.

Misaki's hat was neatly placed on her head, and the ice cream stains on her skirt had vanished without a trace. Only a bloodstain under Higashino's nose proved that everything that had just happened was not an illusion.

"The latest application of cognitive reconstruction is spatial reconstruction."

Higashino rubbed his forehead, his voice tired but satisfied.

"We didn't actually go anywhere."

But actually, apart from the final underwater scene, they really went to many other places, and this psychological treatment and ability test was very successful.

Long-distance spatial teleportation doesn't consume much energy; rather, suppressing Misaki Shokuhou's ability is more difficult. In fact, Misaki Shokuhou's ability hasn't disappeared, but it has interfered with her Aim stance and her understanding of how to use her ability, making her temporarily believe that her ability is unusable.

If it were someone like Accelerator who can activate reflection at any time, the ability to eliminate it probably wouldn't be so easy.

It's inevitable that we'll run into that guy in the future; it looks like I'll need to find a way to deal with him.

As for the final illusion, it actually consumes more energy, but describing it as an illusion isn't quite accurate.

After all, if one were stronger and within the range of cognitive network coverage, it wouldn't be impossible to call it a mini version or a youthful version of phase.

"How are you feeling? Are you feeling a bit more relaxed now?"

Misaki's lips trembled slightly. She bent down to pick up the remote control that had fallen to the ground, then turned and walked away. After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, without looking back:

"A terrible date."

Her voice remained proud, yet carried a hint of barely perceptible excitement.

"I'm going to the real Ocean Park at 1 p.m.

He paused, then added, "You are not allowed to use your abilities."

As Higashino watched her figure gradually disappear, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Chapter 53 A Date at Ocean Park

In the afternoon, Higashino leaned against a vending machine outside Tokiwadai, waiting for the patient to arrive.

"You arrived quite punctually?"

A familiar voice came from behind him. Higashino turned around and saw Misaki Shokuhou standing not far away. She had changed out of her school uniform from the morning and was wearing a light blue dress, the hem of which swayed gently with her steps, revealing her slender legs.

"I'm afraid you'll regret it."

Higashino smiled and straightened up.

"Where do you want to go?"

Misaki waved the Ocean Park ticket in her hand, the paper making a crisp sound: "Of course, it's the place we agreed on this morning."

She pointed to the penguin design on the ticket, her voice filled with anticipation. She had just asked someone from the faction to buy it urgently; she was very interested in the tickets that Higashino had shown her earlier.

"I want to see real marine life, not creatures created by magic."

She emphasized the word "truly," and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Higashino made an exaggerated bowing motion, his forehead almost touching his knees.

"But before that..."

As he stood up, Higashino snapped his fingers. Shokuhou felt her feet lighten, and she floated up uncontrollably. She instinctively grabbed Higashino's arm and realized that the two of them were slowly rising into the air.

"Since it's our first date, let's try a different way of traveling."

Higashino's voice was tinged with amusement; using spatial teleportation directly would be far too boring.

"Flying freely is one of humanity's most cherished dreams."

He subtly adjusted his posture to allow the wasp to float more comfortably.

Shokuhou's gasp caught in her throat. She watched the ground recede into the distance, the Tokiwadai school gate shrinking to the size of a toy. A breeze brushed her cheek, lifting her skirt. Higashino reached out just in time to gently hold down her fluttering skirt.

"Are you crazy?"

She gripped Higashino's shirt tightly, her nervous face turning pale.

"What if he falls down..."

"rest assured."

Higashino gently took her hand, and the warmth from his palm made Shokuhou feel a little warm.

"I have reconstructed the gravity field within a 500-meter radius of us, so even if you let go, you will just float slowly."

His thumb gently stroked the back of her hand soothingly.

As if to prove it, Higashino really let go. Shokuhou cried out in surprise, realizing that she was indeed floating in the air, her skirt and hair fluttering gently in the wind like seaweed in water.

"How does it feel?"

Higashino circled around her, moving his arms like he was swimming.

Misaki initially tensed up, but quickly found the floating sensation surprisingly comfortable. She tried stretching out her arms, sunlight filtering through her fingers and falling warmly and brightly on her face. From above, the entire Academy City looked like an exquisite miniature model.

"A terrible experience."

She said this, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"However... barely qualified."

She glanced at Higashino furtively and found him staring intently at her, so she quickly looked away.

Higashino smiled and pointed into the distance: "Look over there."

His voice was muffled by the strong winds at high altitude.

Following his finger, Misaki saw the white buildings of Ocean Park shimmering in the distance, like a castle from a fairy tale.

"Shall we go straight there?"

Misaki's voice carried an expectation she herself was unaware of.

"of course."

Higashino stretched out his hand, palm facing up.

"Hold on."

He noticed that Misaki's nose was reddened by the wind, and quietly used his ability to build an invisible windproof barrier around her.

Shokuhou hesitated for a second, then placed her hand in his palm. The next second, the surrounding scenery suddenly stretched and distorted, and the wind whistled in her ears. She instinctively closed her eyes, feeling as if she were passing through a long tunnel. Higashino's hand held her tightly, becoming her only support.

When her feet touched solid ground again, she could hear the sound of waves and seagulls. Shokuhou opened her eyes and found herself standing in front of the penguin enclosure at the Eighth School District Marine Park. Several emperor penguins were playing in the pool behind the glass, completely unaware of the two people who had suddenly appeared.

"This is much faster than taking a car, isn't it?"

Higashino patted off imaginary dust from his body.

"And there's no need to queue."

Anyway, I've already bought the tickets, it's just a matter of reducing the ticket checking process, so I don't think the staff will mind.

Misaki tidied her wind-blown hair, her eyes sparkling with excitement: "I want to see the feeding show."

Her voice was an octave higher than usual, like a little girl looking forward to Christmas presents.

The penguin enclosure was cool and comfortable, a stark contrast to the heat outside. Misaki lay on the glass, her nose almost touching the cold surface. Watching the zookeeper toss small fish into the air, the penguins nimbly leaped out of the water and caught the food with precision. One particularly plump penguin clumsily tripped and fell, making Misaki laugh out loud; her clear laughter echoed throughout the enclosure.

"It looks like you."

She pointed at the penguin and said to Higashino, her eyes curving into crescent shapes.

"I'm not that fat."