Less than half an hour later, Su Mo arrived at the Higuchi Pharmaceuticals Research Institute.
This was once the very research facility that had led the Radio Noise Project and later participated in the Level 6 Shift Project. After Su Mo had completely purged its former operations, he took over the institute himself. Now, its primary purpose was to care for the already-existing Misaka Sisters and to conduct further research on the Misaka Network.
Su Mo, of course, knew very well that the Radio Noise Project and the Level 6 Shift Project were ultimately nothing but smoke screens. They were diversions set up deliberately by Aleister, all in service of the Artificial Heaven Project. Aleister's true objective was to spread the Misaka Sisters across the entire globe, using them as network nodes to extend the Artificial Heaven across the Earth and thereby terminate all magical activity in one sweep.
Because of this, Su Mo's destruction of the Level 6 Shift Project hadn't actually touched Aleister's bottom line. On the contrary, although Aleister was surprised by Su Mo's intervention, his actions inadvertently ensured the survival of the Misaka Sisters—a result that wasn't entirely disadvantageous for Aleister. At the very least, having so many Misaka Sisters being cared for was not a bad outcome from Aleister's perspective. Thus, both sides had remained in a delicate state of peaceful coexistence ever since, with neither interfering in the other's affairs.
Of course, Su Mo had his own plans in mind.
Entering the facility, Su Mo made his way unhindered to one of the inner offices. Pushing open the door, he found a familiar sight—a blue-haired girl dressed like a researcher, focused intently on the technical data displayed on her computer.
"Here you go," Su Mo said, pressing the cold cup of bubble tea against her cheek.
The sudden chill startled Nunotaba Shinobu, pulling her out of her work. "Su Mo-sensei, at least knock before you come in!" she protested, but she nonetheless paused her work and took the offered drink. Inserting the straw, she took a sip before raising her usually indifferent gaze to look at Su Mo.
"It's been quite a while since you last came to see me," she commented. "And you even brought bubble tea. That can only mean one thing—you've got more work for me, don't you?"
Su Mo couldn't help but tease her in response. "What? Am I really the kind of boss who only comes to you when I need something, treating you like a disposable tool?"
"...Do you really want me to answer that?" Shinobu countered with a small blink, her tone flat. "Because isn't that exactly what you're doing?"
"Ah—how you've changed!" Su Mo clutched his chest, feigning heartbreak. "You used to be such a respectful and obedient student. What happened to you? When did you start doubting your teacher's character?"
He made a show of disappointment, as if saying 'Child, I'm so disappointed in you!'
Shinobu rubbed her temples in exasperation. "If you hadn't pulled this same routine every time you dumped work on me before, I might have believed you. But I've learned my lesson." Letting out a small sigh, she met his gaze. "So? What is it this time? Just get to the point. After all, it's not like I can refuse you anyway. You don't have to butter me up—I'll take the task regardless."
In truth, Nunotaba Shinobu didn't particularly mind Su Mo assigning her work. After all, he never handed her meaningless busywork. Everything he brought her was something genuinely important and necessary. Though she often grumbled, it had become their usual banter—a kind of unspoken routine between them. Deep down, she was always willing to take on the assignments. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if Su Mo brought bubble tea a bit more often.
Seeing her response, Su Mo smiled with satisfaction and patted her on the shoulder. "All my years of careful teaching haven't been in vain."
Before she could fire back another retort, Su Mo handed her a portable music player.
"What's this?" she asked, raising a brow. "You want me to listen to some new song or something?"
"No. This contains data on Level Upper," Su Mo shook his head and gave a brief explanation of the device's core concept.
As he spoke, Shinobu inserted the player into her computer and immediately began analyzing the data. While the system processed the information, she glanced back at Su Mo, frowning thoughtfully. "So by synchronizing brainwaves through sensory resonance, it allows multiple people to share computational power by aligning their brainwave frequencies... Doesn't that sound a lot like the learning devices we developed?"
As expected of a seasoned researcher, she grasped the essence of Level Upper almost immediately, recognizing its conceptual similarity to the system they had designed for the Misaka Sisters.
The learning devices had been created specifically for the Misaka Sisters, who, being clones of Mikoto Misaka, had undergone accelerated growth. Their personalities hadn't fully formed, and they couldn't even handle basic daily activities on their own. Teaching them like ordinary infants would've taken years—far too inefficient. So the learning devices had been developed to directly upload knowledge into their minds, which would then be shared across the Misaka Network, allowing the entire sisterhood to rapidly acquire necessary skills and information.
The underlying principle of Level Upper was virtually identical. It was clear to any expert that its creator had borrowed heavily from their research. The so-called Level Upper Network was essentially a watered-down version of the Misaka Network. By using music to tune esper brainwaves, even ordinary espers could form a network similar to the Misaka Network, enabling them to share computational capacity. Though far less efficient and stable compared to the original, sheer numbers could still generate considerable power when scaled up.
"When you completed the learning device, you published your research paper, didn't you?" Su Mo guessed casually. "Most likely, the developer of Level Upper was inspired by your work."
"Quite possible…" Shinobu nodded in agreement, turning her eyes toward Su Mo.
"So, what exactly do you want me to do?" Nunotaba Shinobu asked.
"By analyzing this audio file, it shouldn't be difficult to extract the brainwave pattern of Level Upper's developer," Su Mo explained. "Once we have that, identifying the culprit behind the scenes will be simple. Besides that, creating an audio sequence capable of disconnecting espers from the Level Upper network isn't particularly difficult either."
As long as the underlying principle was understood, neither locating the mastermind behind Level Upper nor developing a disconnection protocol presented much of a challenge. And naturally, Su Mo's choice was simple — "I want both."
But that wasn't all. He added, "Can the brainwaves of the network's administrator within Level Upper be encrypted?"
Su Mo was quite invested in this detail. The potential of the Level Upper Network was something he wasn't about to overlook. However, if the network's control signals were so easily intercepted and analyzed, it couldn't be considered reliable. At the very least, encrypting the administrator's brainwaves with high-level encryption would provide a sense of security.
On this point, Nunotaba nodded confidently. "We actually developed brainwave encryption technology while working on security measures for the Exterior Brain project. If we apply that same randomized encryption method, we can fully encrypt the administrator's brainwave signals in Level Upper, preventing others from analyzing or reverse-engineering them through audio recordings."
The Exterior Brain was a biological device designed to replicate the Mental Out ability. When logged into this device, anyone could temporarily access the same mind-controlling powers as Shokuhou Misaki. However, the device carried a unique risk — it could be hijacked via synchronized brainwave infiltration. In the original timeline, Shokuhou Misaki herself had suffered such an attack from Gensei Kihara, losing control of the Exterior Brain as a result.
Su Mo, well aware of this vulnerability, had taken steps to avoid repeating the same mistake. After successfully securing both the Talented Person Workshop and Higuchi Pharmaceuticals research labs, he had quickly implemented encryption protocols that randomized the Exterior Brain's brainwave frequencies, leaving no openings for unauthorized access. This very encryption technology could now be applied to Level Upper.
However, there was a catch. "The problem is that this kind of encryption puts significant strain on the brain. Normal people wouldn't be able to endure it," Nunotaba explained.
This was the same reason Harumi Kiyama hadn't encrypted her own brainwaves. The encryption process consumed a considerable amount of computational capacity and imposed a heavy burden on the brain—something that ordinary individuals simply couldn't tolerate. She had taken a gamble, hoping to complete her calculations before being discovered, as it was her only viable option.
For Su Mo, the dilemma was similar. If he wanted to create his own Level Upper Network and encrypt the administrator's brainwaves, the burden on the administrator's brain would be substantial. Even for a Level 5, such strain would not be trivial. Yet without encryption, the administrator's brainwave signature could be easily extracted from the network's audio, making it possible for someone to steal control of the entire network.