Chapter 232

After completing the day’s tasks and returning to his dorm, Su Bei found himself wide awake. He was contemplating matters related to the Life Stone.

Through Wu Mingbai’s assessment, Su Bei had previously learned that the dust floating in the air of the Nightmare Beast World was fragments of fallen meteorites. However, this didn’t entirely rule out the possibility that the Life Stones were also fallen meteorites.

He couldn’t give the Life Stone fragment he possessed to Wu Mingbai for assessment before, as it was one of his trump cards and shouldn’t be easily exposed. Nor could he see the Life Stones in the Nightmare Beast World, let alone bring them out, so this idea had to be put aside for the time being.

But now that a Life Stone had fallen into the real world, and was very likely to be acquired by the protagonist group or the government, could he use this opportunity to verify his suspicions?

He didn’t consider this making trouble for no reason; such verification was crucial. Su Bei wouldn’t want to go through all the trouble of eliminating the meteorites in the Nightmare Beast World only to find out that it wasn’t over, and he had missed something. That would truly be laughable.

It seemed he needed to stick close to Jiang Tianming during this period; he was the most likely person to come into contact with a Life Stone. Thinking this, Su Bei glanced at the latest mission schedule.

Although they were currently undertaking missions to eliminate Nightmare Beasts as per government requirements, the academy hadn’t entirely abandoned their training during this time. Their groupings were intentional, aiming for random team assignments so that everyone could develop better rapport.

Except for the very first day when he teamed up with Jiang Tianming, they hadn’t been paired since. Thinking this way, perhaps he wouldn’t need to orchestrate anything and would naturally encounter a Life Stone with Jiang Tianming.

However, Su Bei wouldn’t place too much hope on such coincidences; he needed to be fully prepared himself. Su Bei’s mind raced, and he quickly came up with an idea. Judging by their experiences over this period, the Life Stone incident wouldn’t conclude in a single chapter; at least their preceding experiences of hunting Nightmare Beasts would be depicted as part of the prelude.

Given the author’s previous habits of getting stuck on chapters, it was likely that when they encountered the Life Stone, the next comic chapter would update. So, no matter where he was at the time, as long as the update notification for the next comic chapter appeared, Su Bei had an 80% chance of being able to call Jiang Tianming and rush over to participate in the plot.

A month after the incident, Su Bei finally teamed up with Jiang Tianming again. This time, there were four members on the mission because, according to the clues in the intelligence data, the mission location contained at least one intermediate Nightmare Beast, and possibly even an advanced one. Therefore, the academy dispatched four people to complete the mission together, ensuring foolproof safety.

These four people were Su Bei, Jiang Tianming, Ling You, and Li Shu. This lineup made Su Bei uncertain if something significant would happen, as aside from Jiang Tianming, the others weren’t particularly special.

“Do you have some misunderstanding about your popularity?” Just as he was looking at his phone and thinking this, the Manga Consciousness, as if it could no longer bear it, suddenly spoke with a faint, drawn-out voice.

Su Bei was startled by its sudden appearance, but quickly reacted, letting out a cold scoff: “So what? I don’t have a way to judge popularity.”

The only three-dimensional thing he could see was the forum. Although the number of forum posts was one way to judge popularity, this forum discussed the plot more, while other things seemed to be on different software, so it would only be lively for two or three days when the comic updated, then fall silent.

For Su Bei, the comic only updated every few months, so the appearance of new forum posts was even slower. He could only guess who was more popular based on some comic common sense, such as the protagonist group, himself, or a few of the girls… but he knew almost nothing about the actual situation.

“…” The Manga Consciousness fell silent for a moment, feeling guilty, before finally replying, “In your team, you and Li Shu are both very popular. Although Ling You has fewer appearances, she’s very popular with male readers.”

Su Bei knew he was popular—come on, he deliberately crafted this persona for discussion. If his popularity was low, wouldn’t it mean all his efforts were in vain? Besides, every time the comic updated, there were always discussion topics related to him; even an idiot wouldn’t fail to realize his popularity.

However, because he wasn’t an original character in the comic, Su Bei would subconsciously assume the comic author would overlook him and not actively integrate him into the plot. This wasn’t an over-anxious thought; after all, he didn’t even have a protagonist halo, so it was normal not to consider himself the main character.

Now he realized he had overlooked something: a protagonist halo didn’t equate to the author’s impression. The author could also see his high popularity and naturally wouldn’t leave him unused. After all, a popular character equals a money-making tool; who wouldn’t want to earn money?

As for Li Shu, he understood after a moment’s thought. Li Shu’s yandere personality already had a huge market in the ACG world, and what’s more, the object of his yandere affection was Jiang Tianming, the comic’s protagonist—that truly stacked all the buffs.

“So that means we really might run into trouble?” Su Bei said, quickly standing up and walking towards his desk.

“What are you going to do?” the Manga Consciousness asked, puzzled.

Su Bei sat down at his desk, picked up a pen: “To make preparations, of course.”

First, judging by the list of participants this time, Wu Mingbai likely wouldn’t be involved in this incident. Therefore, if he wanted the Life Stone to be assessed by him, he’d have to figure out a good method.

Secondly, frankly, Su Bei was a little worried about the Black Flash Organization. He had a premonition that no matter what their research results on the underground humans were, their next scheme would definitely not be minor.

By then, he might not have the leisure to start planning how to save the world, so while they weren’t involved in the plot now, Su Bei felt it best to quickly lay all the necessary groundwork.

Ideally, he should use the next few incidents to let readers know that if all the meteorite dust in the Nightmare Beast World was eliminated, the Nightmare Beasts could also be eliminated.

If not this time, then the next; the sooner, the better. As long as he solidified this impression, the author should then come up with their own design, and he wouldn’t need to plan everything fully anymore.

But it wasn’t certain; who knew if the author would adopt his ideas? Thinking this, Su Bei asked the Manga Consciousness: “If I design a method for the Nightmare Beasts to be completely eliminated and make readers believe it’s true, will I then still need to design for the protagonist group to complete the plan?”

“No need. As long as the discussion of this plan on the forum is substantial enough, the author will design the plot themselves,” the Manga Consciousness replied.

This was undoubtedly good news; Su Bei could save himself a lot of trouble.

The Manga Consciousness continued: “The reason he doesn’t think of solutions is primarily because he doesn’t know this is a real world, and he doesn’t believe readers would care about these things, so he doesn’t bother solving them. But since a method has already emerged, and readers have also noticed this problem, the author naturally wouldn’t mind using it.”

Hearing this explanation, Su Bei suddenly thought of a question: “According to you, wouldn’t it mean that if I had made a big fuss about this issue on the forum from the start, the author would have had no choice but to find a way to solve it?”

If that were true, he would truly be a huge sucker.

“Of course not,” the Manga Consciousness immediately retorted. “You know, even if the author has some unfinished plot points, if he’s too lazy to write them, he can just leave them incomplete. It also conveniently leaves some creative space for fanfiction authors.”

Su Bei: “…”

Such a logical statement that he couldn’t refute it.

After discussing this, he continued to plan his next moves. Once he finished designing, Su Bei suddenly remembered something and sent a message to Feng Lan: “How’s the underground humans’ prophecy being handled?”

A month had passed since they fell down. The Black Flash Organization showed no signs of interest, and the underground humans hadn’t been exterminated. But this didn’t mean the issue was resolved; otherwise, the teachers would have likely told them already.

Feng Lan didn’t hide anything and quickly replied: “Our family used a secret method to delay the prophecy’s fulfillment, but to truly resolve it, we still need to find the cause of the underground humans’ demise.”

“Are there any clues about the cause of their demise?” Su Bei asked curiously.

“No.” The other party first replied with a message, then added an explanation: “However, from what I sense, there was originally still some time before their demise. After our delay, that time will only be extended, which should be enough for the government to uncover the truth.”

On the phone, his words were clearly more extensive than usual, but this might be due to the professional nature of the topic.

Understanding the current situation of the underground humans, Su Bei frowned slightly. The situation was clear now: there was definitely more plot to come. The author had left a foreshadowing in the comic but had no intention of continuing it in the short term. This meant their follow-up could form a new event.

It didn’t sound very interesting. He’d see if he could avoid it when the time came.

Shaking his head, Su Bei lay on his bed. The plot might begin tomorrow; he needed to fall asleep early and conserve his energy.

Waking up and arriving at the school gate, Jiang Tianming and the other two were already waiting for him. Outside the academy gate were many special taxis belonging to the Ability Government, used to pick up and drop off their school’s students.

Generally, a team would be assigned one dedicated driver for the entire day to ferry them through all missions. As soon as he got into the car and saw the driver, Su Bei’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise.

This person was none other than the dedicated driver from the day he and Lan Subing went on a mission, an Ability user with the [Smooth Driving] ability. After exchanging greetings with the driver, they drove off to their first mission location for the day.

It was a small town nestled by mountains and rivers. Nightmare Beasts had been appearing frequently recently, and several people had already died in the town. However, it was worth noting that the first deaths occurred a month ago, before the Nightmare Beasts sensed the presence of Life Stones.

So, even though Nightmare Beast activity was indeed detected in the town, the Ability Government somewhat suspected that Nightmare Beasts weren’t the killers. That’s why they didn’t send professionals but rather students to gain experience.

“It certainly doesn’t look like these are killings by Nightmare Beasts searching for Life Stones.” After reviewing the data, Jiang Tianming analyzed with a frown, “Nightmare Beasts looking for Life Stones generally wouldn’t waste time killing people; they’d retreat if they didn’t find anything. How could they linger here for a month? Moreover, the first deaths occurred a month ago, before the Life Stone incident even emerged, right?”

Indeed, this definitely had nothing to do with Nightmare Beasts searching for Life Stones, but it might not be unrelated to other Nightmare Beasts. According to the informant, most of the victims died cruelly, each without exception bled to death.

Bleeding someone to death would take a long time, and the smell would be very strong. If a human were responsible, the surrounding villagers would have great difficulty not noticing the anomaly, especially since it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

Probably only an intermediate Nightmare Beast or an Ability user could achieve such a thing.

“The police chief reported the case. We can meet with him later.” Li Shu was also looking at the data, suddenly raising his head to ask suspiciously, “Didn’t the victims’ families report it?”

This was indeed a problem. So many people had died; even if killed by Nightmare Beasts, logically, the surrounding people couldn’t possibly not report it.

Jiang Tianming was about to say something when he suddenly noticed a smile playing on Su Bei’s lips, as if he had thought of something interesting. He asked curiously, “Su Bei, what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking, ‘Longevity Town’—that name is truly interesting,” Su Bei said, a meaningful smile on his face.

Indeed it was interesting; whether in comics or novels, a name like that was never simple. Su Bei was curious if the residents of this town would be as long-lived as its name suggested. If so, that would be even more intriguing.

Jiang Tianming and the other two didn’t know the truth about the world, so they naturally couldn’t understand what he meant. Ling You asked hesitantly, “What’s interesting about it?”

“In my heart.” Explaining was impossible, so Su Bei chose to talk nonsense.

The three present were all silenced by him; Ling You was filled with regret. She wasn’t usually talkative, and for her occasional curiosity to be met with such a reply, she felt like she was going to shut down.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Tianming decisively changed the subject, his gaze falling out the window: “This place looks a bit remote.”

By now, they had gradually driven into the mountains, and their destination seemed to be a village deep within the peaks.

“You bet. I spent all last night memorizing the route map for this place,” Driver Wang said, pointing at his dark circles. “Villages deep in the mountains are truly hard to find.”

“The villagers in the mountains…” Jiang Tianming suddenly thought of something, “They wouldn’t possibly be unaware of Nightmare Beasts’ existence, which is why they didn’t report it, would they?”

That was also possible. In stereotypical perceptions, mountain villages indeed tended to be quite isolated. Although Nightmare Beasts had existed for many years, even people in big cities didn’t fully understand the existence of Ability users, let alone such small villages. In a situation where they didn’t know whom to contact, not reporting to the police was quite normal.

“Such a village shouldn’t have a police officer, should it?” Ling You asked, lowering her gaze from the back seat.

Because there were four of them on this trip, and they were going to a place with difficult roads, the Ability Government had arranged a larger SUV for them, with two rows of passenger seats. Jiang Tianming and Li Shu sat in the front row, Ling You in the back, and Su Bei in the passenger seat beside the driver.

While this was also a stereotype, it was indeed the case. In small mountain villages like this, clan ties were usually strong. Justice was administered by the village chief or respected elders, and police often had little use here.

Li Shu provided the standard answer: “We’ll know when we ask that police officer.”

They departed at eight in the morning and arrived at their destination at noon. Visiting a village in the middle of the day was certainly not ideal; anyone unaware might think they were deliberately timing it to freeload a meal.

So, everyone first ate lunch in the car before driving to the front of the village and sending a message to the police officer who reported the case.

The police officer arrived quickly. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, with a crew cut, looking very capable. As soon as he saw the five people, he enthusiastically shook Driver Wang’s hand and greeted him: “You must be the Ability user sent by the government! I’ve heard much about you, and I’m glad you’re finally here.”

Driver Wang awkwardly retracted his hand: “To be precise, these students are doing the mission; I’m just the driver.”

“…”

Silence descended like a palpable Cambridge night.

“Hahaha, look at me, not recognizing such distinguished individuals! You all are truly young and accomplished.” The police officer let out two awkward laughs and immediately changed the subject. “My name is Zhou Zijian; you can just call me Xiao Zhou.”

Jiang Tianming proactively responded: “Officer Zhou, could you take us somewhere quiet to discuss in detail what’s been happening in the village?”

“Of course, no problem!” Seeing that he was willing to talk, Officer Zhou let out a big sigh of relief. “I’ll take you to my house; I’m the only one living there now.”

Both parties walked into the village. Since it was one in the afternoon, most people were taking a nap, so they didn’t encounter any other villagers on the way. The data hadn’t lied about the village being nestled by mountains and rivers; there was a small river flowing noisily beside the village, and combined with the rustic architecture and tranquil environment, it was exceptionally soothing.

Since they didn’t encounter anyone else, Su Bei could only glance at Officer Zhou’s Destiny Compass. With just that one look, he froze; Officer Zhou’s Major Destiny Pointer was clearly in the lower half of the compass, indicating that he would pay the price of losing his life in this incident.

The specific point indicated murder, meaning Officer Zhou would be deliberately killed by a person or a Nightmare Beast. Accidental death had its own specific position.

It seemed Officer Zhou was likely a good person, the kind often seen in TV dramas—an old police officer who dies the night before retirement.

Noticing Su Bei’s gaze, Officer Zhou looked over curiously: “What’s wrong, student?”

Su Bei retracted his gaze and gently shook his head: “Nothing.”

Unless it was necessary for combat, he wouldn’t casually alter another person’s destiny, not even the destiny of death. As the saying goes, ‘every person has their fate.’ Back then, the Manga Consciousness saved his destiny, but the price was another innocent person dying because of it.

If he changed Officer Zhou’s destiny of death, then another person might die because of it. Besides, Officer Zhou might not necessarily be a good person; it was better to wait and see how things unfolded.

Watching Jiang Tianming and the others observe the village environment, Li Shu seized the opportunity to inquire about Officer Zhou’s background: “You have a house in the village, Officer. Are you from this village?”

“Yes, this is the village I grew up in. However, after I attended police academy and my parents passed away one after another, I rarely returned. A few years ago, after graduating from university, I took a position at a police station in the neighboring city.” Officer Zhou could sense Li Shu was probing, but he didn’t mind, openly sharing his situation.

Upon hearing this, everyone’s previous doubts were immediately resolved. The villagers indeed hadn’t reported to the police; it must have been Officer Zhou who returned to the village, discovered the anomalies, clarified the situation, and then reported it to the Ability Government.

Jiang Tianming took over: “Why did you suddenly return to the village?”

“Because it was my mother’s death anniversary,” Officer Zhou replied, his expression relatively calm, yet inexplicably conveying sadness. “After returning, I originally wanted to visit some village elders and old friends, but I found that some had already passed away. When I asked them for specifics, the aunts and uncles stammered. Only after I pressed further did I learn that Nightmare Beasts were wreaking havoc in the village.”

After speaking, he let out a bitter laugh: “The villagers didn’t even know what those monsters were called; they thought they were some kind of Nian Beast-like creature and only tried to exorcise them with traditional superstitious methods, never thinking to find someone to deal with them.”

“My condolences. Information isn’t well-developed in the village; it’s up to us young people to come back and check in often,” Driver Wang said, empathizing with Officer Zhou and patting his shoulder to comfort him.

When they reached a house, Officer Zhou stopped and introduced: “This is Xiao Chen’s house. He was one of the victims. Since there’s no one else in his family, the house has been temporarily vacant like this. The village chief hasn’t arranged for new residents for this house yet.”

“Can we go in and take a look?” Jiang Tianming originally wanted to get a general understanding of all the victims’ circumstances, but since they had already come across one victim’s house, there was no reason not to go in and see.

“Of course.” Officer Zhou naturally had no objections. Since the person was already dead, the house wasn’t locked, and they could just push the door open. As the door opened, a wave of dust-laden air assaulted them. From the dilapidated state of the house, it was evident that this victim had passed away quite some time ago.

Just as expected, Officer Zhou awkwardly fanned the dust away from his face with his hand and said apologetically, “Xiao Chen was the first to die, and because he had no relatives, no one helped clean his house. It’s only been a month, and it’s already covered in dust.”

“It’s alright. Where did he die, and what was the state of his body?” Jiang Tianming asked patiently.

Officer Zhou was clearly familiar with this procedure: “The death occurred in the woods outside the village. The body… had several small holes all over it, and he was bled to death. If you go to that forest now, you can still see dried bloodstains. Xiao Chen’s body has already been buried. If you want to dig it up, the villagers probably won’t agree. However, I can take you to secretly dig up the grave at night.”

Conservative villagers believed in ‘rest in peace’, and would certainly stop them if they heard about digging up a grave. Officer Zhou didn’t have such intentions, but he also didn’t want to conflict with the villagers, so he came up with this compromise. The main reason he hadn’t dug up the grave himself was that he wanted to wait for professionals to go together.

Listening to his narration, Su Bei noticed a question: “What’s in that small patch of woods? Why would he go there alone?”

The small patch of woods sounded like a private meeting spot, so Su Bei suspected that Xiao Chen hadn’t gone alone, and something else was being hidden. This concealment could mean most people were being kept in the dark, or that most people were hiding something from them.