Chapter 212

Rough words, but true, that was indeed the case. With the main team being entirely support-types, except for Huangfu Mingzhe, even if the reserve team was specifically chosen to counter them, how many people could they truly target?

This [Silence] Ability probably wasn’t as simple as just preventing people from speaking; simply based on its name, it might truly possess the effects of a silence ability.

But under these circumstances, how would Lan Subing break the situation? Would the two of them engage in close-quarters physical combat?

In terms of physical combat, Lan Subing was certainly not weak. In fact, with a teacher like Meng Huai, none of the students in their class were weak in physical combat. However, just by looking at her opponent’s ability, it was clear that he had no offensive means of his own. Thus, it was easy to guess that this opponent’s physical combat skills must be extremely strong, perhaps even specialized in it.

After less than a minute of close combat, Lan Subing already realized she couldn’t win. Fortunately, because she often practiced with the training dummy and Su Bei, even if she couldn’t win, she wouldn’t be easily defeated anytime soon.

But if things continued like this, Lan Subing knew she would eventually lose.

She needed to find a way to turn the tide.

Lan Subing dodged her opponent’s attacks while assessing her current situation. Her throat was sealed, preventing her from making any sound. What about her ability? Had her opponent only sealed her voice, or her ability as well?

Although she couldn’t speak, she could still feel whether her ability was sealed. Lan Subing quickly breathed a slight sigh of relief; her ability hadn’t been sealed, which meant she still had a chance to maneuver.

She now had two choices. The first was to find a way to use her mental power to break through her opponent’s ability, allowing her to speak again. Otherwise, simply preventing someone from speaking shouldn’t consume much mental power, and her opponent could probably hold out until she was knocked off the stage.

The second method was to find a way to use [Word Command] without speaking. Even if her opponent’s [Silence] skill could still seal abilities, it would surely consume more mental power. Then, if she could hold on for a bit longer, she might win.

Using mental power to break through the opponent’s ability blockade was definitely the simplest method. As long as Lan Subing could make herself say a single word, just one word could directly reverse the situation.

However, her opponent couldn’t possibly be unaware of this. After several attempts, Lan Subing was surprised to find that her mental power was completely ineffective. She had also experienced Jiang Tianming’s control, feeling as if her whole body was being pulled by puppet strings or stuck by cling film, able to move only according to the opponent’s control.

But that kind of control could be broken with mental power; by sensing it slightly, it was easy to know where to apply the mental power.

However, this opponent’s control was completely different. Although she couldn’t speak, she wasn’t being controlled; rather, it was as if she had inherently lost the function of speech itself. Her mental power had nowhere to exert its effect.

It seemed she could only look for a breakthrough with the second method.

Although she had a plan in mind, Lan Subing actually still didn’t know what to do. [Word Command], [Word Command], as the name suggested, was the power of words.

The most crucial step for her to use this ability was to speak. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been completely unable to use her ability earlier due to severe social anxiety. At that time, she had tried to find a way to use her ability without speaking, but she hadn’t found one.

In the lounge, watching Lan Subing gradually fall into a disadvantage because her ability was sealed, Qi Huang became anxious: “What should we do? Skydome Ability Academy is too cunning, sending out an ability user like this. Can Subing think of a way to break free?”

Everyone was focused on the battle, and as ability users, they naturally put themselves in her shoes, thinking about how they would break the situation if they were Lan Subing.

“If she knew ventriloquism, she could easily turn the tide,” Su Bei shook his head. “Still not planning ahead, huh?”

With an ability like [Word Command], one would know instantly where it could be countered. After all, the biggest, and arguably only, weakness of this ability lay in that aspect.

Knowing that her ability could be sealed by being unable to speak, and given that Lan Subing herself couldn’t use her ability for a long time due to social anxiety, it was only natural for her to be targeted now if she hadn’t learned ventriloquism or something similar to give herself a fallback.

Hearing his words, everyone fell silent. Not to mention that they hadn’t thought of ventriloquism before, even Lan Subing herself probably hadn’t considered it when she couldn’t use her ability due to social anxiety.

After all, she suffered from social anxiety, she wasn’t simply unable to speak. Would ventriloquism really be better than speaking directly in front of everyone? Ventriloquism might even attract more attention and make her feel more socially humiliated.

At this moment, Wu Jin, usually taciturn, suddenly spoke softly: “It’s not just these that are sounds.”

“What do you mean?” Mo Xiaotian asked curiously. “Are there other sounds?”

Su Bei also looked over. He knew Wu Jin wouldn’t be speaking without purpose. Since he had previously dared to disguise his ability as “Silence is Silence” and possessed related capabilities, he probably had his own insights into the matter of “silence.”

After a moment of silence, feeling the surrounding gazes, Wu Jin finally replied, “As far as I know, words spoken from the mouth are not the only way to cast [Word Command]. I believe the voice of the heart also carries power; it’s just that ordinary people find it hard to hear the voice of the heart.”

The amount of information in his words stunned Su Bei for a moment. How could an ordinary person think that the voice of the heart could also cast [Word Command]? As Wu Jin said, ordinary people find it hard to hear the voice of the heart.

So, if he could say that, did it mean he could hear other people’s inner thoughts?

Speaking of which, [Succubus] was originally an ability that could control people’s minds, so it made perfect sense if one of its abilities was mind-reading.

Thinking this, Su Bei’s brows furrowed slightly. He stared at Wu Jin with a meaningful gaze, not speaking. At this moment, Wu Jin’s eyes met his, and he then lowered his head, looking somewhat uneasy.

With just that one action, Su Bei’s heart turned cold. There was nothing wrong with listening to other people’s inner thoughts, he didn’t know, but his own inner thoughts contained a ton of things that couldn’t be heard.

The matter of this world being a comic book, for one, was something absolutely no one else could hear. And his calculations to obtain abilities shouldn’t be heard by anyone who didn’t know the truth of the world.

However, after a brief moment of panic, Su Bei quickly composed himself. Although he didn’t know exactly what Wu Jin had heard, judging from his consistent demeanor, it was highly likely he hadn’t heard anything worldview-shattering; otherwise, how could he act so calmly?

But he must have used his ability on him and heard something, otherwise he wouldn’t be so uneasy. Su Bei curled his lips and walked towards him: “I’m going to the restroom. Want to come with me?”

“Can I not?” Wu Jin asked in a muffled voice, head still down.

Su Bei countered, “What do you think?”

Eventually, the two of them went out into the corridor together. Reaching a quiet, deserted spot, Su Bei got straight to the point: “Tell me, when did you use this ability on me, and what did you hear?”

“…Before, when you discovered my ability, I was afraid you might have some thoughts about it.” Wu Jin pursed his lips and nervously raised three fingers. “But I promise, it was only that one time!”

Discovering his ability was a long time ago. At that time, when they were out on a mission, Wu Jin unconsciously tried to use his ability to control him, but because of Su Bei’s exceptionally advanced mental power, he easily broke free.

What was he thinking back then? Su Bei had no recollection. So he asked directly, “Then what did you hear?”

“I heard you say, ‘This ability is too strange, it’s out of place with everyone else,’” Wu Jin said with an embarrassed expression. “Sorry, I presumptuously judged you then. I originally thought you would also think in that way, like everyone else.”

Was he really thinking that at the time? Before Su Bei could recall, the “Manga Consciousness” suddenly spoke up: “What you actually said at the time was ‘it’s out of place with shōnen manga.’ However, I will handle any issues related to the truth of the world for you, so don’t worry.”

So that was it. His worries were indeed not unfounded; Wu Jin casually eavesdropping on his inner thoughts was prone to hearing the truth of the world. Fortunately, the “Manga Consciousness” was quite reliable in this regard and didn’t let him expose anything.

Su Bei continued to ask inwardly, “Does that include the reader forum and such? He can’t hear any of it?”

“Yes, even if you were to say it out loud, they wouldn’t hear it.” In other words, even if Su Bei wanted to tell others the truth of this world, the “Manga Consciousness” wouldn’t allow it.

Feeling relieved, Su Bei looked at Wu Jin and asked with a bit of curiosity, “Is the [Succubus] ability really that strong? Mind-reading could exist as an ability on its own, couldn’t it?”

Wu Jin nodded and then shook his head, explaining, “But to use mind-reading, I not only need to consume a lot of mental power, but also can only do so when the other person and I make eye contact. So it’s far less potent than a true [Mind Reading] ability.”

After understanding, Su Bei didn’t press further: “Let’s go back.”

The two returned together. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with the puzzled gazes of Li Shu and others. Li Shu immediately asked, “What were you two doing out just now?”

He wasn’t foolish; he naturally couldn’t fail to notice Su Bei and Wu Jin’s abnormality just now. However, Li Shu wasn’t as perceptive as Su Bei and hadn’t figured out the crux of the matter.

Facing the question, Wu Jin didn’t answer but stood behind Su Bei, silently waiting for him to handle it.

Su Bei didn’t disappoint his expectations, asking just as bluntly, “Do you think I’d answer you truthfully?”

Li Shu: “…”

He pouted and immediately gave up on asking further questions.

Su Bei chuckled softly, then sat back on the sofa and looked out: “How are things now?”

“The match isn’t over yet, but I feel like Subing… might lose,” Qi Huang averted her gaze with a trace of reluctance, no longer wanting to look at Lan Subing’s battered state on the stage.

She thought Lan Subing was going to lose, but Su Bei’s thoughts were exactly the opposite. Seeing Lan Subing being repeatedly beaten back, he instead gave a positive answer: “She’s going to win.”

Upon activating his ability, he saw that the small pointer above Lan Subing’s head was indeed in a very far left position. With such an indicator, she couldn’t possibly lose.

“Really?” Qi Huang’s face lit up with surprise, not doubting Su Bei’s words in the slightest. “Then let’s go down quickly and welcome Subing’s triumphant return!”

Everyone went downstairs together and walked over to Jiang Tianming and the others.

“Why did you all come down?” Jiang Tianming asked in surprise.

Qi Huang replied in good spirits, “Su Bei said Subing is going to win.”

At these words, Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai both looked at Su Bei with surprise: “She can win?”

Although they all wanted to participate, such an appearance definitely couldn’t come at the cost of a teammate’s defeat. Even if Lan Subing seemed to have no chance of winning right now, if Su Bei said so, they would believe it.

Not far away, several students from Skydome Ability Academy noticed that after Su Bei and the others arrived, their expressions suddenly changed from anxious to happy, and they became puzzled.

“That blond boy is Su Bei of the Destiny-type, right?” a girl who had been briefed on Endless Ability Academy’s main lineup asked suspiciously. They had briefly seen photos of the five main members and understood their abilities.

The person next to her nodded: “It’s him.”

After all, there was only one blond participant from their academy, so it would be hard to mistake him.

Upon receiving the affirmative answer, the girl’s expression stiffened: “After that Destiny-type arrived, they suddenly became happy. What do you think that means?”

At these words, everyone else’s relaxed expressions suddenly changed. Yes, Su Bei was a Destiny-type! Someone who could know destiny. It could only be that he told the others in their academy that they were definitely going to win, which was why they were so happy.

“No way…” the boy who had answered her earlier said stiffly. “Without being able to use her ability, that girl named Lan Subing couldn’t possibly beat Chu Miao, could she?”

“What if she can use her ability?”

“Don’t jinx it.”

“…”

At this point, Lan Subing had been pushed to the edge of the stage. Her opponent was getting annoyed: “How can you, a [Word Command] ability user, be so strong in physical combat? Just get down already, stop struggling. You’re no match for me if you can’t speak to use your ability.”

As he spoke, Lan Subing failed to dodge a punch and was knocked directly to the ground. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and blue strands of hair clung to her face, making her look extremely anxious and battered. She was indeed on the verge of defeat, but her eyes were exceptionally resolute.

Just as her opponent was about to take another step forward, suddenly, his footsteps froze, and he stood still, only his eyes widened in surprise.

Immediately after, Lan Subing, opposite him, struggled to her feet, a satisfied smile on her face. Although she still couldn’t speak, everyone could see that the situation had been reversed. With Lan Subing’s ability unsealed, she would certainly not be suppressed any longer.

But the problem was, she clearly hadn’t spoken. How had she used [Word Command]?

Sharing the audience’s confusion was Lan Subing’s opponent. He was merely frozen in place, but not forbidden from speaking, so he immediately questioned, “How did you use your ability?”

Lan Subing pointed to her mouth, indicating that she couldn’t explain right now.

Thinking that it was useless to keep her silent now that she could use her ability, her opponent deactivated his ability: “Now you can speak, right?”

Lan Subing nodded, and for once, smiled under the gaze of a crowd of strangers: “Who says you can only use [Word Command] by speaking? The voice of my heart is also a voice!”

These words finally answered everyone’s confusion, and the audience immediately burst into animated discussion.

“So it was the voice of the heart!”

“Amazing! She actually activated her ability with the voice of her heart!”

“Rarely in history have [Word Command] ability users been able to do that, right?”

“To be able to turn the tables like this, truly worthy of an elite trained by Endless Ability Academy.”

For some reason, listening to these discussions around him, Su Bei felt a strange sense of embarrassment. Help! The voice of the heart and all that—he hadn’t felt it when Wu Jin mentioned it before, but hearing others say it now somehow made it sound so cringeworthy.

There was no help for it; he could only comfort himself that it was a comic book world after all.

Lan Subing didn’t immediately end the match. Her opponent now had no chance of turning the tables, so she took the opportunity to recover some mental power and ask some questions she was curious about: “So your ability is just to prevent people from speaking?”

“Of course not!” Her opponent instinctively retorted, but as his gaze met his teacher’s warning eyes, he immediately fell silent. “Cough, no leading questions, now.”

The people from the other academies, after hearing this exchange, showed thoughtful expressions. Like Qi Huang earlier, they had also been suspecting if this boy was specifically brought by Skydome Ability Academy just to deal with Lan Subing.

After all, the [Word Command] ability was a rare and absolutely powerful ability in the history of the ability world. Furthermore, all those who awakened the [Word Command] ability would have high mental power. One could say that even as a baseline, they could unleash a [Word Command] against an enemy, and that was already extremely powerful.

It wasn’t impossible to specifically prepare a counter-ability user for this ability.

However, it now seemed that this [Silence] ability user probably had other capabilities. And judging by his current attempt to conceal his ability, he would likely appear in matches again later.

This made others ponder deeply: What exactly was the [Silence] Ability? Judging by its name, could it truly seal other people’s abilities?

In any case, Lan Subing successfully won, and she now had ten minutes of rest time. Seeing her companions, who had specifically come to wait for her below the stage, Lan Subing felt the pain in her body ease considerably.

She happily walked off the stage: “I won!”

“That’s great, Subing!” Qi Huang pushed aside Jiang Tianming and the other person who were trying to come over, giving Lan Subing the first big hug.

Just then, Meng Huai also arrived promptly with the new school doctor: “Let Doctor Wang treat you first. Are you still going to play the next match?”

The question was asked because they were worried Lan Subing might want to rest. Winning didn’t necessarily mean she had to keep fighting. Sweeping through opponents alone didn’t add more points; it only made the player more popular.

“Yes!” Lan Subing nodded vigorously.

Under the spotlight, after having been on stage once, she no longer felt her previous timidity. Moreover, Lan Subing had now mastered the method of using her ability with her inner voice, allowing her to use [Word Command] without speaking.

This was like wandless magic in some magical world; it was less likely to be anticipated and harder to counter than her original method of casting abilities through speech.

Although her ability seemed almost unchanged, merely shifting the method of casting from verbal to mental, Lan Subing herself knew that her ability had achieved a qualitative leap.

Others were also very curious about how she had used her inner voice just now. While Lan Subing received Doctor Wang’s pink light treatment, Mo Xiaotian curiously asked, “Subing, how did you use your ability by speaking in your mind on stage?”

“I can’t really describe it. In short, I kept shouting the [Word Command] I wanted to use, which was ‘Freeze,’ in my mind. With a strong enough inner voice, firm enough will, and a breakthrough in mental power, the ability just naturally came out.”

Saying this, she smiled happily again: “Oh, and my mental power has also grown a lot!”

In the next three rounds, Skydome Ability Academy completely lost its means to counter Lan Subing. Unless they could instantly kill her, with their mental power, they simply couldn’t completely break free from Lan Subing’s [Word Command] control. And as long as they didn’t completely break free, even if they struggled quickly, they would still be sent off the stage by her rich experience.

It’s worth mentioning that the fifth opponent was also a specially arranged ability user with exceptionally high mental power. Because Lan Subing had already consumed a lot of mental power earlier, when facing this last ability user, she indeed ran low on mental power, and the opponent successfully broke free from the [Word Command]’s restraint.

Lan Subing could only barely maintain the sealing of her ability, but couldn’t restrict her other actions.

But unfortunately, this ability user’s physical combat skills were really not good. As mentioned before, Skydome Ability Academy didn’t really prioritize physical combat. Students like Huangfu Mingzhe and the second opponent were after all a minority; most were like this one, simply no match for Lan Subing in terms of fighting techniques.

When Lan Subing successfully defeated four opponents in a row and walked off the stage, the entire venue erupted in thunderous applause. Many in the audience were also shouting Lan Subing’s name, making the socially anxious young lady wish she could disappear into the ground.

Achieving such results in this competition, Lan Subing deservedly became the most popular person in the entire venue, surpassing even Si Zhaohua and Huangfu Mingzhe, who had shown extremely powerful strength in the first match.

Su Bei could even see someone in the audience using an ability to create a support banner for Lan Subing. Blue water elements converged into a rectangular river, with the words “Lan Subing, Strongest Ability User!” formed by glowing yellow microorganisms inside.

He was greatly shocked; the production speed was too fast!

Next was the match between Skydome Ability Academy and Houde Ability Academy. During the break, Lei Ze’en incidentally announced the preliminary lineup for the next individual match: “Su Bei, do you want to give it a try?”