Chapter 226

As expected, before they could uncover any clues, a commotion broke out outside again. The Mud Tribe leader walked in with another group of people, his expression solemn and indignant: “Two people each from the Flora Tribe, Stone Tribe, and Gecko Tribe have also died. They passed away not long ago; their bodies are still warm. The method of death is the same as Little Wang’s.”

Just now, he had originally intended to go out and summon the leaders of the other tribes for a discussion, as the matter involved outsiders. Unexpectedly, upon going out, he stumbled upon two more prominent cases of death.

With six more deaths, the previously quiet crowd instantly grew noisy. Everyone felt a faint sense of unease. These victims had all died in the exact same manner, and neither the killer nor the cause of their deaths could be found. Who knew if they would be next?

“So, can these few clear their names now?” a young underground human pointed at Jiang Tianming and the others, speaking. “These people have been under their constant watch this entire time; it’s impossible for them to have committed the crimes.”

The ponytail man glared at him. He had originally intended to find an excuse to kill Su Bei and his group, so naturally, he wouldn’t easily let them escape blame: “Clear their names? Clear what? Who knows if they’re all working together? Even if they’re not, their companions committed murder here. Can they really just wash their hands of it?”

There was some truth to his words, and those who had intended to defend Su Bei and the others suddenly fell silent.

Seeing that he had successfully swayed the crowd, the ponytail man turned and questioned Jiang Tianming and the others: “Tell us! Where did the other four go? This is aiding and abetting. If we can’t find them, we’ll have no choice but to make an example of you.”

“Are you trying to extort a confession through torture?” Si Zhaohua scanned the crowd, his gaze falling on the ponytail man who was most hostile towards them. “Six of your own tribesmen have already died, yet every word you speak is directed solely at us, who are completely innocent. It seems you don’t care about your tribesmen’s deaths at all; you just want to pin the blame on us!”

Wu Mingbai seized the opportunity and subtly stirred up trouble: “Zhaohua, don’t say that. We have no grievances with this uncle. Although we had a disagreement with him earlier, surely he wouldn’t disregard the safety of his own people just to get revenge on us, would he?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the underground humans immediately looked at the ponytail man with strange eyes. Not all of them knew the truth about the prophecy, so many found the ponytail man’s aggressive behavior very strange. Now, hearing Si Zhaohua and Wu Mingbai act in concert like this, they also felt that the ponytail man didn’t care about their lives at all, but merely wanted to use public authority for personal revenge.

“I’m not going to lie, Old Ma, this is where you’re wrong,” a tribesman who was quite familiar with the ponytail man looked at him disapprovingly. “I support your dislike of them, but now is not the time for personal vendettas. Finding the murderer is paramount!”

“I…” The ponytail man truly had unspeakable grievances. He was targeting the outsiders not because of some argument, but because of that prophecy! Unfortunately, the prophecy couldn’t be made public, otherwise, it would cause chaos. He could only swallow this resentment.

Taking advantage of their internal squabble, Jiang Tianming and the others exchanged glances. Such bizarre deaths were very likely the work of abilities, meaning Cyril and his group were behind it. After all, Huangfu Mingzhe and Zu Zong couldn’t possibly be the killers, especially not in such a traceless manner. This was clearly the method of the Black Flash Organization.

“I know where those missing people are.” After exchanging glances, Su Bei directly dropped a bombshell.

“Where?” Clan Leader He hastily asked. He also suspected that outsiders were the killers. Since these few were not suspects, the murderers must be among the four missing individuals. If they could be found, things would be much easier.

Su Bei answered truthfully: “I saw them talking with the Spirit-Communicator Tribe leader earlier.”

“Spirit-Communicator Tribe…” The clan leader’s expression subtly changed. “Did you hear what they were discussing?”

Su Bei didn’t answer that question, merely offering an awkward smile. His smile could be interpreted in two ways: either he did hear but couldn’t tell him, or he heard nothing at all.

After a moment of silence, Su Bei said with a smile: “However, Clan Leader, you don’t need to worry too much. They definitely didn’t clash, otherwise, why would the Spirit-Communicator Tribe be unharmed?”

While his words outwardly seemed to be in defense of the Spirit-Communicator Tribe leader, he was actually subtly implicating him. There are six tribes in total, and three have already suffered incidents. Yet the Spirit-Communicator Tribe, who were the first to talk with Cyril and Li Xiang, remained unharmed. Wouldn’t anyone find that strange?

If Su Bei’s predictions were correct, Cyril and Li Xiang would continue to kill, but they would specifically spare the Spirit-Communicator Tribe members. Because they wanted to force the Spirit-Communicator Tribe leader to make a decision.

This wasn’t hard to figure out. Now that murders had occurred in the underground world, known to be the work of Cyril and Li Xiang, and with no specific pattern to their victims, it was time to consider their motives.

Wanton killing would cause chaos in the underground world and make their own situation difficult, neither of which would truly benefit them. So, what was the benefit of their actions?

When he heard that a total of eight people had died, specifically two from each of four tribes, Su Bei knew what was going on. Unless something unexpected happened, they planned to kill ten people in total, with only the Spirit-Communicator Tribe being spared.

This was an overt scheme. Once others discovered this point, it was inevitable that they would grow suspicious of the Spirit-Communicator Tribe. Even if some believed it was intentional slander, it would still cause an unavoidable feeling of discomfort. After all, they were the only tribe unharmed.

Even though he understood their conspiracy, Su Bei brazenly added fuel to the fire. If things didn’t get chaotic, how would the plot progress? He also hoped the Spirit-Communicator Tribe leader would make a decision quickly.

Clan Leader He pondered for a moment, then looked at the others: “Let’s go to the Spirit-Communicator Tribe and investigate.”

The crowd had no objections and walked together towards the Spirit-Communicator Tribe. Su Bei decisively clutched his stomach, his face contorted in pain: “My stomach hurts, I need to use the restroom.”

Wu Jin, who hadn’t spoken until now, looked at the crowd, then at Su Bei, finally uttering his first words since noon: “I’ll go with him. We shouldn’t let anything happen to him here.”

Given that these few were indeed not suspects, and Su Bei had also identified his companions, it wasn’t good to burn bridges. Clan Leader He nodded: “Alright. If you’re fine after, come find us at the Spirit-Communicator Tribe. If you’re still not feeling well, go back to your room and rest properly.”

After they left, Su Bei looked at Wu Jin, shaking his head and feigning a sigh: “Wu Jin, you’ve gone bad.”

Wu Jin’s face flushed slightly, and he gave a light cough: “What are you planning to do by leaving the group?”

“To check out the tribal leaders’ rooms. Now that they’ve all been led to the Spirit-Communicator Tribe, isn’t this a good opportunity?” Su Bei walked back with a clear objective. He had mentioned before that his deductions were missing a crucial link. If he could find this link, he would understand the Black Flash Organization’s true objective.

As for the method of leaving, Su Bei hadn’t bothered to look for it. With the protagonist group around, why should he bother with such things?

They had seen Clan Leader He’s room before. Although the door was locked, opening it wouldn’t be difficult for them; brute force would suffice. If the other party returned later and questioned it, they could simply pin the blame on Cyril and Li Xiang. After all, they were missing. Those who weren’t present were perfect for taking the fall.

Glancing at the Destiny Compasses above their heads, his own luck had returned to normal, while Wu Jin’s luck was quite good at the moment. Su Bei sat gleefully in a chair, directing him: “Go look for it. If you find anything useful, give it to me. I want to see information related to the underground humans.”

Since it was thanks to Su Bei that he could leave the group smoothly, Wu Jin didn’t mind being treated as labor and diligently searched.

His luck was indeed good. After searching the desk for a long time, he found a button. Pressing the button, the opposite wall rotated to reveal a door—it was like finding a hidden feature.

Wu Jin stood frozen, only letting out a mechanical gasp after a long while: “Wow.”

Su Bei walked towards the door, getting up, while grumbling: “If your reaction is slow, you don’t need to add that exclamation of surprise; it’ll just make you look sillier.”

Entering the door and descending the stairs, they soon reached a secret room. Inside the secret room were many documents: the history of the underground humans and the research of their ancestors over the years.

With ample time, Su Bei slowly picked up the history book and began to read. The historical record began with the emergence of the ability that changed all their fates that year. The person who wrote the book claimed to have crawled out of the battlefield.

At that time, he was on the verge of death, but inexplicably revived, regaining his vitality. It wasn’t just him; many comrades around him experienced the same thing. They initially thought this was a great blessing, but not long after, their bodies began to undergo mutations.

Extra organs, mutated limbs, sharp teeth… all of it struck fear into the hearts of the normal people around them. Especially in that era, those who revived from death and mutated like them were reported and directly besieged by government troops.

The later parts of the story were similar to what they already knew: after a period of hiding, they finally found a village far from others to settle down. Not long after, an earthquake struck, and this group, by a strange twist of fate, arrived in the underground world.

In this story, what undoubtedly interested Su Bei was the earlier part: resurrection, or more precisely, near-death revival. On its own, this didn’t sound like much, just some miraculous ability that seemed to descend from the heavens.

But what if it’s connected to the birth of the Nightmare Beasts?

Nightmare Beasts are formed from human grievances after death, also closely linked to mortality. Su Bei had previously analyzed that the Black Flash Organization had two main goals: one was eternal life, and the other was the Nightmare Beasts.

So, their reason for being interested in the underground humans became clear: they believed they were connected to the Nightmare Beasts.

Su Bei also thought this: if these people had died back then, they would have become Nightmare Beasts. But because they were in a near-death state, they transformed into a hybrid of Nightmare Beasts and Ability users.

No wonder Cyril became so enthusiastic once he realized who they were. The Black Flash Organization’s primary goal was originally to research how Nightmare Beasts could turn into humans, and the appearance of these hybrids would undoubtedly accelerate their research significantly.

However, Su Bei, with his ‘Manga Consciousness’ perspective, harbored another layer of worry. He knew that the Manga Consciousness had personally confirmed that Nightmare Beasts could not transform back into humans.

If the Black Flash Organization truly took the underground humans back, would they be able to discover this truth through them? And after discovering it, what would the Black Flash Organization do?

“Su Bei, look here quickly!” Just as he was deep in thought, Wu Jin suddenly made a new discovery.

Hearing Wu Jin call him, Su Bei leaned over to look, only to see written there, unmistakably, the method for them to leave. The method for returning from the underground world to the surface was very similar to how they came down: both required causing a major earth tremor and then swiftly leaving amidst the fluctuations of the energy turbulence.

However, the difference was that on the return journey, one could not carry any items from the underground world. Here, ‘any items’ naturally included food in one’s stomach, so one had to digest all food before being able to leave.

Su Bei still had this common sense: food is generally metabolized within the human body in 24 hours. They had just eaten lunch. If they didn’t eat anything else from now on, they could leave by causing an earth tremor around noon tomorrow.

One had to admit, this method of departure was quite sinister. Without this information, if they relied solely on an acquaintance to lead them, that person might intentionally withhold the information about food, feeding them local food in advance and causing their departure to fail.

“Let’s go.” After finishing all the useful information, Su Bei stood up, tidied the secret room, restoring it to how it was before they arrived, then looked at Wu Jin. “It’s time for us to head back.”

However, after walking just a few steps out, footsteps sounded from above. At this moment, no matter whose footsteps they were, it wasn’t good news for either of them. The two exchanged cautious glances and quickly found cover to hide.

Su Bei hid behind the sofa, where the gap between it and the wall was very narrow, a place most people wouldn’t check. Wu Jin, thanks to his smaller stature, squeezed into the desk cabinet. Fortunately, they had specifically reclosed the door when they entered, so they wouldn’t be immediately discovered.

The secret room’s door was soon opened, and two sets of footsteps resounded. The moment he saw the two pairs of shoes, Su Bei confirmed the identities of the newcomers.

It was Cyril and Li Xiang.

These two appearing here was both unexpected and reasonable. Su Bei slowed his breathing, quietly relieved that he hadn’t used his mental energy to scout earlier, or they would have been discovered by now.

“This is the place. Just take the data back,” Li Xiang said, his voice flat.

Cyril nodded, just about to speak when his expression suddenly shifted, and a playful look appeared in his eyes: “Oh, it seems little mice have snuck in.”

His ability was [Cell Control], making his perception of living beings exceptionally clear. There were clearly other people present in the room, which greatly intrigued Cyril. Who had arrived before them?

Hearing his words, Su Bei and Wu Jin’s hearts tightened, while Li Xiang spoke calmly: “Since you’ve already been heard, come out quickly. Don’t waste our time making us search.”

These words were directed at whoever was hiding there, while Cyril had an indifferent expression: “It’s alright, hide-and-seek is also a kind of fun.”

Fun just for them, I suppose. Su Bei rolled his eyes inwardly, then deliberately stepped out from behind the sofa, a look of surprised delight on his face, as if genuinely encountering an old friend: “What a coincidence! I didn’t expect to meet you here. Is there anything you’re looking for? Do you need my help?”

There was no other way. With them already sensing someone was there, one of them had to step out first to see if they could protect the other. If both remained hidden, both would inevitably be discovered.

Su Bei chose to step out first, not purely out of loyalty, but primarily from a practical standpoint: his ‘cost-effectiveness’ in coming out was far superior to Wu Jin’s.

What was Wu Jin’s identity? The son of Wu Di, the principal of Endless Ability Academy! Ordinary people might not know this, but how could the Black Flash Organization not know?

If Su Bei went out, the Black Flash Organization would be more inclined towards recruiting and research. But if Wu Jin went out, they would definitely think of using him to threaten Wu Di. Therefore, in terms of both safety and practicality, it was more suitable for Su Bei to come out than Wu Jin.

Fortunately, Wu Jin understood his intention and didn’t rush out.

Su Bei’s attitude amused Cyril, who gestured for Su Bei to proceed: “Then go ahead and search. I want to know the origins of these people and the method of leaving.”

What a coincidence! Su Bei had just read all this information, and he was the one who put it back. Finding it would be incredibly easy. Nevertheless, he wasn’t in a hurry and slowly began to search.

If he could stall until the clan leaders returned, that would be best. Then he could just shift the blame, claiming these two had forced him into the basement to help search for things. Even if he couldn’t stall, it didn’t matter. He had nothing else to do anyway, and wasting these two’s time counted as saving a life, which was a greater deed than building a magnificent temple.

The other two were also in no hurry, sitting on the sofa, waiting for him to search. Cyril asked with great interest: “How did you find this place?”

“It’s the clan leader’s room; it would be strange not to look here, wouldn’t it?” Su Bei shrugged, then asked curiously, “Shouldn’t you already know everything? Why bother coming here?”

This question was harmless, and Cyril didn’t mind answering him: “What we know is merely what we know, but the truth may not be identical to the information we possess. Besides, if we are to conduct research, the data on these underground humans themselves is naturally indispensable.”

“I see,” Su Bei nodded, then probed further: “May I ask what exactly it is you’re researching?”

In reality, he naturally knew what the Black Flash Organization intended to research through the underground humans, but he absolutely couldn’t let on that he knew. After all, this was a secret for the Black Flash Organization; what would happen if an outsider learned their secrets?

As expected, Cyril gave him a half-smile and didn’t answer.

After a brief silence, Li Xiang suddenly spoke: “Do you want to join us?”

Destiny-type Ability users were rare to begin with, let alone someone like Su Bei, who could truly alter destiny. Their leader had also paid close attention to him multiple times before. Coupled with his identity as an S-class student from Endless Ability Academy, bringing him into the organization would certainly be a great achievement.

Su Bei feigned surprise: “Is this an attempt to recruit me?”

In reality, he was quite calm inside. Su Bei had already guessed that they would use this opportunity to try and recruit him. Back during the arena match…

“No, this is a threat,” Cyril interjected with a smile, “Refuse, and we’ll kill you.”

However, Su Bei remained completely unfazed by the death threat, instead tossing the historical records he had just found to them: “You won’t kill me.”

Hearing this, both Cyril and Li Xiang showed surprised expressions. Cyril asked curiously: “How can you be so sure we won’t kill you?”

“For you, the most crucial thing must be these underground humans, right?” Su Bei replied unhurriedly, “So, at this moment, you won’t create any unnecessary complications.”

If they killed him, Jiang Tianming and the others, who originally only wanted to leave, would inevitably unite with the underground people, forming a common front against Cyril and Li Xiang. Once they had a common goal, it would be difficult for the Black Flash Organization to recruit anyone from the underground world.

After all, compared to Cyril, who had killed several of their tribesmen, the righteous faction, also victims, would certainly be more relatable.

And Su Bei was right; Cyril indeed had no intention of killing him at this point. While it would eliminate a great nuisance for the Black Flash Organization, it was more crucial now to establish cooperation with the underground people.

For them, the organization’s ultimate goal was paramount. To achieve that goal, they would stop at nothing, even if it meant the destruction of the organization. Moreover, although Su Bei’s ability was annoying, from Cyril’s perspective, he wasn’t entirely beyond recruitment. It was better to keep him alive for now; perhaps he could yield pleasant surprises in the future.

Having obtained all the information, the two had no intention of lingering there. Both of them were now on the underground people’s wanted list, and with most of their abilities sealed, a hasty appearance would surely lead to capture.

Of course, this didn’t mean they were without offensive capabilities; otherwise, those few underground humans wouldn’t have died mysteriously. It was just that their abilities were only suitable for sneak attacks or one-on-one combat; if they were ganged up on, they would only be able to surrender.

During this time, Su Bei remained very cooperative, with no intention of exposing them. Cyril and Li Xiang not killing him was merely to avoid unnecessary complications, not because they couldn’t. Why should he risk his life to capture them when there was no fundamental conflict?

Thus, the exchange was completed in such a peculiar yet harmonious atmosphere.

After the two left, Wu Jin crawled out of the cabinet, his expression complex: “Su Bei, weren’t you worried when you just came out?”

“Didn’t I explain?” Su Bei shrugged, “They won’t kill me. But if it had been you who came out, it might have been a different story.”

Bringing underground humans into the organization for research, versus holding hostage the son of the principal of Endless Ability Academy and the foremost Ability user of their time—it’s hard to say which would yield more benefit. It was safer for him to come out.

“Thank you.” Wu Jin pursed his lips and said in a deep voice. Although he knew Su Bei was right, under these circumstances, his willingness to step out, regardless of the reason, warranted his thanks.

Regarding some questions I’ve occasionally seen, let me explain:

1. Adding Jiang Tianming to the protagonist list in the character section was because it requires two protagonists, otherwise having a question mark on the other side looked bad, in my opinion. I even complained about this to a friend; JJ is not user-friendly at all, why would a no-pairing story need two protagonist slots?

2. This novel has been a group narrative from the start, but I don’t believe Su Bei’s presence is lacking. His character setting in the comic naturally doesn’t involve him participating in too much of the main plot, but privately, he does a lot on his own.