Chapter 241

However, Su Bei’s reminder to Officer Zhou immediately left the readers baffled. Some wondered why he was telling Officer Zhou to leave when the crisis had clearly been resolved. Others praised him as a truly good kid. And another group thought he seemed a bit out of character (OOC), unexpectedly reminding others.

Seeing these bullet comments, Su Bei didn’t feel angry at all. Instead, he was very satisfied. This was the persona he had deliberately designed, and the readers’ firm belief in it only proved how successful he had been.

As the saying goes, ‘put down the butcher’s knife, and you become a Buddha instantly.’ A purely good person persona would only add shackles to oneself. Doing good deeds is expected, and failing to do so invites criticism. But with a half-villain persona like his, occasionally doing something good could earn him praise.

Admittedly, this was a rather distorted mindset, but Su Bei didn’t mind exploiting it fully. Since he couldn’t change the readers, he’d just go along with them.

As for the readers’ concerns about his persona going OOC, he had already provided an explanation later on. Unless something unexpected happened, the author would probably include it, so Su Bei wasn’t worried.

The comic plot continued. Although the Old Ancestor had been completely eliminated, the entire village still lost its vitality. Just as everyone was scratching their heads, thinking there might be an intelligence error and that the Old Ancestor had smoothly revived, Zhou Min’s appearance resolved everyone’s doubts.

The readers were in an uproar. No one had expected Zhou Min to pick up such a huge bargain. With her body ravaged by terminal illness, she inherited the effects of the Life Extension Array, absorbing the mental energy of the entire village and becoming the biggest winner in this conspiracy.

Faced with this little girl who had a pretty tragic backstory in the plot, the readers didn’t spin any conspiracy theories. They just thought she had turned her luck around completely, with her fortunes exploding. Although her family had died, from their previous behavior, it was clear their relationship with Zhou Min wasn’t good. So for Zhou Min, this ordeal was almost entirely beneficial.

That night, while Su Bei was sleeping and resting, Jiang Tianming and the others were laboriously cleaning up the aftermath. Although the villagers of Longevity Town had all died, they still needed to check carefully to ensure no one like Zhou Min was overlooked.

Second, the bodies needed to be collected. Leaving them lying in their homes wasn’t right; at the very least, they had to gather the corpses together so that when the Ability Government staff arrived, it would be convenient for cremation.

Seeing this scene in the comic, Su Bei suddenly realized why they all had such heavy dark circles under their eyes the next morning. He had thought it was because they felt guilty about the villagers’ deaths and couldn’t sleep, but it turned out they had been doing manual labor all night.

Looking at the busy scene in the comic and thinking about how he was snoozing away in the next room at the time, Su Bei couldn’t help but curl his lips upward. He then lightly coughed to cover up his schadenfreude.

The reason Su Bei had reminded Officer Zhou was indeed depicted by the author in the comic. No one was more worried about a popular character’s OOC than a normal author. After all, if fans rushed the character, it would definitely be the author who got the blame, not the character.

The comic’s ending, as usual, cliffhanged at a perfect spot, using his prophecy to hint to the readers that something would happen in the next chapter. Amid the bullet comments’ wails, Su Bei closed this chapter and refreshed a few times, unexpectedly not seeing any fresh content.

Although he indeed hadn’t heard the ‘Manga Consciousness’ notification sound, the question was, why was this happening? Hadn’t they already gone through the danger and returned? Why hadn’t the comic updated yet?

Su Bei was a bit puzzled, but he quickly figured it out and relaxed. They had already brought back the Life Stone, so this incident was more or less fully resolved. However, there would definitely be some follow-up to explain later, like whether Zhou Min had gained an ability or how the Nightmare Beasts would react to the government taking the Life Stone, so it hadn’t ended immediately.

After thinking it over, although he couldn’t read two chapters at once, he decided to open the forum first and take a look at the latest reader dynamics.

Since this didn’t involve the main storyline, there wasn’t much deep discussion. Most were just talking about the plot. Su Bei casually clicked on one related to himself that piqued his interest a bit.

《Really Curious What Su Bei Knows in Advance》

【Lewin Hook is also No.0: It’s obvious Su Bei saw a lot of things in advance, which is why he can stay one step ahead every time. I’ve summarized all the hints and direct reveals he’s made ahead of time. If anyone has missed any, feel free to add. Mainly, I want to reverse-engineer what Su Bei saw with his 【Destiny Gear】 through these plot points.】

【No.1: The host said what I’ve always been curious about. Feng Lan’s prophecies can usually be stated directly, but with Su Bei, we can only judge through his actions.】

【No.2: Squatting.】

【No.3: Squatting.】

【No.4: Curious +1】

【No.5: The host is so idle, I love it.】

【No.6 replying to No.5:

Hahahahahaha】

【……】

【Lewin Hook is also No.15: I’m back!

Su Bei said the name of Longevity Town is very meaningful.
Su Bei said there are many long-lived people in Longevity Town.
Su Bei’s inexplicable attention to Zhou Min.
Su Bei turned back early while buying cinnabar.
Su Bei knew the Old Ancestor’s true body was hidden in the Life Stone.
Telling Officer Zhou to leave early.
Su Bei’s final reminder to everyone to leave quickly (from his reaction, this seems like something he just saw, so I’ll skip analyzing it.)

My speculation is that he knew the Life Stone was in Longevity Town from the start, and very likely… well, actually, to me, he knew the whole story from beginning to end. Otherwise, how could everything involve him from start to finish?】

【No.16: Seeing the host’s summary like this, I just realized how comprehensive Su Bei is.】

【No.17: Thinking about it this way, he really dropped so many hints from beginning to end!】

【No.18: If Jiang Tianming had just asked him directly from the start, could they have taken the Life Stone back to the academy early?】

【No.19 replying to No.18:

But even if asked, Su Bei definitely wouldn’t say. I suspect he just enjoys being the cryptic riddler.】

【No.20 replying to No.19:

Your Bei does have a bit of a mischievous side.】

【No.21: Su Bei, you’re a sly little black-hearted fox.】

【……】

【No.77: Su Bei definitely didn’t know everything from the beginning; he did some investigating too.】

【No.78: I suspect Su Bei can only see the next plot node in advance at each checkpoint, but not the entire plot at once.】

【No.79 replying to No.78:

That’s definitely wrong. Su Bei clearly knew about the Life Stone from the start, and that should be a later node, right?】

【No.80: Isn’t it possible he can only see key things, like the Life Stone being in the village, or Zhou Min’s fate being different from others?】

【No.81: What the upstairs said is the most plausible I’ve seen so far.】

【……】

【No.151: To be honest, I’ve always suspected Su Bei’s ability isn’t really 【Destiny Gear】, but true 【Destiny】. Otherwise, how could he know so much every time? Only the purest destiny-type ability could have such great power.】

【No.152 replying to No.151:

I think so too; he’s really too strong.】

【No.153: If that’s true, then Su Bei has been deceiving everyone. He first said his ability was 【Gear】, then 【Destiny Gear】, and finally 【Destiny】. Playing match-3 with it?】

【No.154 replying to No.153:

Hahahahahaha match-3 hahahaha】

【No.155: Maybe Su Bei’s ability changed like Xiaoyu’s and the class president’s, without us knowing.】

【No.156: When will the old thief reveal Su Bei’s ability profile?】

【No.157 replying to No.156:

The most reasonable post in the whole building.】

The early content was just for fun, but when he got to the later posts and saw someone guessing his true ability was 【Destiny】, Su Bei finally perked up a bit.

At the beginning, he had set his ability to 【Destiny Gear】 to align with his initial ability 【Gear】, allowing this change to happen reasonably and quickly.

After all, at that time, he was just a nameless background character in the comic, and an F-class one at that. Even if he boasted about having a powerful ability, the readers might not believe it, and the author might not even draw it in the comic.

So, for the ability to change, it had to be related to his original one, making his design more ingenious.

He didn’t continue changing it later for two reasons. First, his current ability was useful; 【Destiny Gear】 was already very powerful and didn’t need changes. Second, the persona was already deeply ingrained; everyone knew his ability was 【Destiny Gear】, and changing that impression would be extremely difficult. There was no need to bother.

But now, it seemed the readers’ acceptance of his ability changing was pretty high.

If 【Destiny Gear】 evolved into 【Destiny】, it would only bring benefits to Su Bei, no downsides. Abilities were more powerful the purer they were. For example, Feng Lan’s awakened 【Prophecy】 immediately made her the head of the Feng Family.

Wu Mingbai’s 【Earth Element】 was also very powerful. Although the strength of this ability mainly depended on the ability user’s elemental concentration, such a pure ability could transform into various forms of the same type, like earth walls, earth escape, or even earthquakes… Just that alone was impressive.

In the entire history of the Ability World, no one had awakened a 【Destiny】 ability, so Su Bei didn’t know what new powers he would gain if it really changed. But what was certain was that his original abilities wouldn’t disappear; they’d just evolve. So, it would definitely be more beneficial than harmful.

However, he had more important tasks at hand, and changing the ability wasn’t a big deal. As he had said before, 【Destiny Gear】 was sufficient for now; there was no need to change it temporarily.

Moreover, making all the readers believe his ability was 【Destiny】 would be quite difficult. He couldn’t think of a good way to hint at it right now. Wasting time on that for the sake of proper business would be like picking sesame seeds and losing the watermelon.

Better to focus on getting out the method to eradicate the Nightmare Beasts first. Su Bei had a premonition that the timing for achieving this goal was coming soon.

This wasn’t baseless; after all, now that a Life Stone so important to the Nightmare Beasts was in the government’s hands, plus their long-standing grudge, Su Bei didn’t believe they would swallow their anger.

As long as the Nightmare Beasts caused trouble next and stirred up human indignation, he could take the opportunity to give them hope for completely eradicating the Nightmare Beasts.

Refreshing the forum interface, another interesting post caught Su Bei’s eye—《What Su Bei Pursues is [Human Longevity]》

As expected, someone was discussing it; it wasn’t in vain that he had deliberately leaked the information.

【Debate Master No.0: This plot segment left me stunned. How could such a grand goal as ‘human longevity’ come out of Su Bei’s mouth?

Okay, just kidding. Although Su Bei doesn’t seem like the type to save all sentient beings as a great philanthropist, it’s still possible he has a lofty ideal. But ‘human longevity’ always sounds a bit strange and vague in its specifics.

Does he hope humans can live longer like the villagers of Longevity Town, or does he want true immortality?】

【No.1: Indeed, it stunned me too.】

【No.2: Maybe figuring this out would unravel Su Bei’s mystery.】

【No.3: Didn’t quite get it; is Su Bei trying to achieve human longevity through the Life Stone?】

【No.4 replying to No.3:

That would require an enormous Life Stone.】

【No.5: I’m more curious about something else: Has he touched a Life Stone before? Otherwise, how does he know its function?】

【No.6: Life Stones only exist in the Nightmare Beast World and are guarded by advanced Nightmare Beasts; ordinary people can’t possibly access them. Su Bei’s intel sources are indeed strange.】

【No.7: After all, it’s Su Bei; him knowing anything makes sense.】

【……】

【No.31: I think the host is all wrong; what Su Bei pursues might be the longevity of the human race, not in the lifespan sense.】

【Debate Master No.32 replying to No.31:

That’s indeed a possibility I hadn’t thought of, but why are you so sure it’s this one?】

【No.33 replying to No.32:

If he just wanted human lifespan extension, Su Bei would definitely keep the Life Stone for himself to research. But he clearly has no such intention…

To be honest, I can’t figure out what he really wants to do. If it weren’t for him saying himself that he pursues human longevity, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of this layer.】

【No.34 replying to No.33:

I can’t figure it out either. If he wants human longevity, shouldn’t he do something with the Life Stone? Why do nothing?】

【……】

【No.78: Has no one analyzed why Su Bei has such a goal? How does a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kid come up with such a grand ideal?】

【No.79 replying to No.78:

He has too many secrets; this one’s not a big deal.】

【No.80 replying to No.78:

If researching this is like solving a quadratic equation, we’re still at the stage of not knowing multiplication…】

【No.81: No matter what, at least this time we can confirm Su Bei is definitely a good person, right? Having such a goal, how could he be bad?】

【No.82: Hey, upstairs, not necessarily. The boss of the ‘Black Flash’ Organization’s goal is to turn Nightmare Beasts back into humans, and he’s a thorough bad guy.】

【No.83 replying to No.82:

Exactly, and in comics, involving immortality and such often leads down a wrong path.】

【No.84: Su Bei should be that kind of ambiguous justice-and-evil character. Can’t say he did anything bad, but no one fully acknowledges him as good either. A magical persona.】

【No.85: My Bei saved Officer Zhou this chapter! Solid good guy!】

【No.86 replying to No.85:

Your Bei saved him to find the Life Stone.】

【No.87 replying to No.86:

Repaying a favor, even better!】

【No.88: You Bei stans…】

【No.89: Fine, fine, I believe it. Su Bei, No.1 good guy in King of Abilities!】

【No.90: Su Bei saves people, Su Bei good. Jiang Tianming kills bad guys, Jiang good. Ling You assists, Ling You good. Li Shu helps, Li Shu good. Old thief draws the comic, old thief bad.】

【No.91 replying to No.90:

Clear soup big boss!】

【……】

【No.152: Am I the only one who thinks ‘human longevity’ sounds ripe for conspiracy theories? Like that machinery factory boss we encountered before; he pursued something similar to human longevity too, just by turning humans into robots to achieve eternal life.

At least in my understanding, humans can’t truly achieve immortality. To reach that, they’d definitely lose something, like true life. Aren’t there TV dramas where they turn people into puppets for eternal life?

Su Bei isn’t thinking the same, is he?】

【No.153: Upstairs, you’re giving me chills thinking deeply about it.】

【No.154: I knew Su Bei’s persona screamed big villain! This goal is too tempting!】

【No.155 replying to No.154:

No way, don’t!】

【No.156 replying to No.154:

Dame yo, can’t lose more from the protagonist team. Su Bei’s persona isn’t pure villain, and the old thief has already designed so many characters who turn antagonist because of dreams. Making Su Bei like that would be clichéd.】

【No.157: The word longevity does give people bad premonitions easily.】

【No.158: Hope Su Bei doesn’t do anything bad for longevity; in the comic world, that usually ends in death!】

【……】

【No.206 replying to No.78: Suddenly remembering, in King of Abilities, characters’ goals are always related to their abilities. Su Bei’s is 【Destiny Gear】. What if he saw something in the future? To put it bluntly, he saw humanity’s extinction in the future, which is why he pursues human longevity.】

【No.207 replying to No.206:

!】

【No.208 replying to No.206:

That could really be possible!】

【No.209 replying to No.206:

Known that Su Bei didn’t awaken his ability just when he entered Endless Ability Academy, but much earlier, so it’s possible he had this goal from long ago.】

【No.210: Do you all remember someone previously saying the world-building in King of Abilities is a bit unreasonable? The number of Nightmare Beasts only increases and far exceeds ability users. With that setup, the world will eventually be overrun by Nightmare Beasts. Could Su Bei have seen this and be working to change it?】

【No.211: Upstairs convinced me.】

【No.212: Wow, it’s sounding more and more reasonable.】

【No.213: If it’s really like what you all said, then I’ll call Su Bei the No.1 good guy in King of Abilities!】

【No.214: Hahahahaha, your imaginations are too wild.】

【No.215 replying to No.214:

Su Bei: Where did this come from? Is this even about me?】

Seeing that someone in the later posts had roughly guessed his intention, even Su Bei couldn’t help but feel a jolt in his heart, marveling at the keen insight of comic readers.

So, the actual situation wasn’t exactly as he guessed, but it could indeed be interpreted that way. He had seen the text screens delivered by ‘Manga Consciousness,’ which forced him to pursue human longevity.

Big imaginations are great. Since some had already guessed the truth, things would be easier. Next, he just needed to release the method to eradicate Nightmare Beasts, and the forum’s scholars would debate and defend it for him.

After finishing with the forum, Su Bei finally felt a bit sleepy. He went out for lunch first, then took a nap. Then he was woken by Jiang Tianming and brought to Meng Huai’s office to get scolded.

Su Bei: What bad luck!

No matter what big things they did outside, back at school, it was just time for scolding. Meng Huai sneered at them: “You’ve all grown bold, haven’t you? Discovering something so dangerous in the village and not reporting it to the academy immediately? You wanted to play heroes so badly you didn’t care about your lives. If I had arrived just a bit later, you’d be four corpses by now!”

If he hadn’t been worried about the students and gone against the government’s arrangement to go with them, but instead arrived at the scene ahead of the government, then Jiang Tianming and the others might really have been in grave danger.

After all, they had just eliminated an advanced Nightmare Beast, so the new wave naturally wouldn’t underestimate them carelessly again. Plus, Su Bei and the others’ mental energy was almost depleted at the time. If the Nightmare Beasts got serious, they could have been instantly killed.

“Sorry, teacher; we were overconfident,” Jiang Tianming, knowing he was in the wrong, didn’t argue and obediently lowered his head in apology.

If he had known the original seal wouldn’t hold until they set up a new one, he should have notified the government right when they discovered the Life Stone. Instead of worrying that government intervention would alert the Nightmare Beasts and bring them early, so he chose to take the risk himself.

Although Jiang Tianming was used to handling many things on his own, he wasn’t the reckless type who insisted on being a lone wolf. This time, it was mainly due to an intelligence misjudgment that led to the problem.

His straightforward apology eased Meng Huai’s anger somewhat. Seeing this, the other three also astutely self-criticized a sentence or two. Whether they meant it or not was another matter; none of them were the type to argue with the teacher at a time like this.

Seeing them all apologize, Meng Huai turned his gaze to Su Bei: “There’s one thing I’m very curious about. Su Bei, why did you join them in this nonsense?”