Chapter 243

In Su Bei’s opinion, the rankings in this post were relatively objective, but there were some points he didn’t agree with. For example, Lan Subing. In Su Bei’s view, Lan Subing’s combat power definitely deserved to be T1.

Admittedly, the number of 【Word Spirit】 commands she could use was limited, but because of that, Lan Subing had deliberately chosen a few key commands during her development. This made her ability concise and potent, not as limited as the original poster thought.

However, the poster was right about one thing: Lan Subing’s Mental Energy was indeed her critical weakness.

Her Mental Energy wasn’t actually low, but her ability’s consumption was massive. It was just like Su Bei’s ability, trading Mental Energy for power. This was also why the first thing Su Bei chose to change after modifying his ability was his Mental Energy. Without the support of powerful Mental Energy, one couldn’t use their ability, and even the strongest ability would be useless.

After a short day of rest, everyone returned to school. Life seemed to be back on track, but they all knew it was just the calm before the storm.

On Friday, Feng Lan finally received the latest prophecy. Su Bei didn’t know what the result was; he only knew that Feng Lan didn’t come to school that day. And from that day on, everyone became busy again.

This time, there weren’t many missions that required going out on fieldwork. The main thing was that the academy’s training had become more than a notch stricter. It was obvious that the teachers were training them with a specific purpose in mind. They weren’t training their abilities, but rather their endurance.

Every day, they had to fight each other in gauntlet matches, with one person fighting the other thirteen. Sometimes they could use their abilities, and sometimes they couldn’t.

Although the training process was arduous, not a single person complained. Everyone knew very well that they weren’t undergoing meaningless training but preparing for the major event that was about to happen.

The training process was always tedious and dull. The only thing worth mentioning was that the manga updated once during this time. It featured Lan Subing, Wu Mingbai, as well as Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua.

The four of them happened to be recruited by the government to help with patrols and ran into a surprise attack by Nightmare Beasts on a treasury. After a major battle, they successfully secured the Life Stone, preventing it from being taken away by the Nightmare Beasts.

This matter had nothing to do with him, so Su Bei just skimmed through it, but he saw Feng Lan’s prophecy within its pages. His prophecy was simple: the next battle was about to begin, and its location was in Suqi City, right next to the Ability Government.

Due to the small number of Ability users, although the cities where the Ability Government and the several ability academies were located had a relatively high concentration of them, other cities didn’t have this advantage. Even Suqi City, which was right next door, was no exception, with very few Ability users stationed there permanently.

Fortunately, with Feng Lan’s prophecy, the Ability Government had time to make arrangements in advance. In the past few days, many of the permanent teachers at Endless Ability Academy had left, with most of them going to Suqi City to stand guard.

It wasn’t just them; many second and third-year students with considerable combat strength also went. This was not only a battle but also an excellent training opportunity for them. In the future, the Ability World would sooner or later rely on these young people to carry the banner.

But their departure gave Su Bei a bad feeling. If most of the Ability users went to Suqi City, wouldn’t other places be left with weak defenses?

Although the battle location Feng Lan prophesied was Suqi City, that didn’t mean there would be no problems elsewhere. In fact, Feng Lan’s 【Prophecy】 always had a way of tripping everyone up in some way, playing a little joke of fate. Therefore, Su Bei now strongly suspected that a Nightmare Beast tide would also appear in other places.

After some thought, he called out to Feng Lan after class, “Feng Lan, come over here for a moment. I have something to ask you.”

When the two of them found a place with no one around, Su Bei got straight to the point, “Are you sure your prophecy said that the battle would only break out in one city?”

Hearing this question, Feng Lan was stunned. To avoid causing a panic, he hadn’t mentioned this to anyone else at the government’s request. How did Su Bei know about it so clearly?

He was about to ask, but then he remembered it was Su Bei he was talking to, and he lost the desire to question it. With Su Bei’s abilities, it wouldn’t be strange for him to know anything. So, Feng Lan simply replied, “Not necessarily, but Suqi City will definitely be where the battle breaks out on the largest scale.”

Hearing this, Su Bei had no further objections. It was reasonable to deploy the most people to the most dangerous place, and besides, it wasn’t as if other places were left completely unguarded.

After bidding farewell to Feng Lan, Su Bei began to think about how he could use this battle. His fundamental goal was to eliminate the Nightmare Beasts, so he couldn’t miss anything related to them.

Every time a large-scale battle like this began, it would inevitably stir up people’s desire to completely eradicate the Nightmare Beasts. If a method to do so appeared at this time, it would seem perfectly reasonable to the readers.

He needed a way to release the information while ensuring the author would definitely draw it in the manga.

Excluding luck, there were two ways to achieve this. The first was to make it known to everyone in the manga world, forcing the author to include it. The second was to let the key protagonists, namely Jiang Tianming’s trio, see this method. In a sense, them seeing it was equivalent to the readers seeing it.

Comparing the two methods, the second was certainly simpler. But Su Bei couldn’t just use a forged book to let Jiang Tianming see it like last time. It was best not to use the same method of revealing information twice, or it could easily arouse the dissatisfaction of the author and readers.

He pondered what would be the most plausible way to let Jiang Tianming and the others learn this information—and a way that would surely make them believe it.

Soon, he came up with a good idea—overhearing. Without a doubt, overhearing was the most believable way to obtain information. If Jiang Tianming and the others could overhear a conversation between Nightmare Beasts and learn that the only way to completely eliminate them was to clear out all the Meteorite Dust from the Nightmare Beast World, Su Bei was confident the author would draw this scene in the manga.

Moreover, this method was extremely difficult to accomplish. Even if the Nightmare Beasts said it out loud carelessly, it wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

Now the only problem was, where could he find two Advanced Nightmare Beasts to act out this scene with him?

Real Advanced Nightmare Beasts were out of the question. They all shared a linked vision with each other; if one Nightmare Beast said it, the others would surely know too. That could easily lead to complications.

As for faking it…

Su Bei took out an item he hadn’t used in a long time from his Storage Ring—the “Dream Foam.”

Besides allowing him to experiment with his ability in dreams, this item had another very important function: it could create completely real things in reality. However, these things had no attack power and were entirely under his control.

During the last winter break, Su Bei had used this function of the “Dream Foam” to deceive those two wanted criminals, successfully helping Jiang Tianming and the others escape.

With this in mind, Su Bei immediately created two Advanced Nightmare Beasts based on his memories of those he had seen before. One was the black bubble-like Nightmare Beast he had only encountered once, and the other was the Knowledge Nightmare Beast he had seen before.

On the surface, they looked identical to the real things, but Nightmare Beasts were usually surrounded by an unpleasant aura, a detail the “Dream Foam” couldn’t replicate.

But Su Bei wasn’t concerned. As long as they were viewed from a distance, this minor issue would be unnoticeable. A 70-80% resemblance was good enough; the finer details didn’t need to be perfect. With two Advanced Nightmare Beasts together, Jiang Tianming and his group wouldn’t just charge straight in, would they?

Wait… that wasn’t a certainty.

If several of them were together, they really might not be afraid of these two Advanced Nightmare Beasts. No, he had to prepare a few more and find a time when they were in a smaller group. Otherwise, Su Bei was genuinely afraid this group would just rush in, expose his deception, and then he’d be in real trouble.

With the basic plan confirmed, it was time to perfect the details. To ensure that Jiang Tianming and the others could really overhear the conversation and that their subsequent discussion wouldn’t go off track, he had to be on-site to control the situation.

Since he needed to be on-site, the setup had to be done in advance. And the location he chose had to be a place they would definitely go, either in Suqi City or within Endless Ability Academy.

Although he didn’t know when the battle would start, it was best to act as quickly as possible. Since one of the setup locations was even in another city, he had to start moving now.

“What? You want to request leave from school?” In the office, Meng Huai asked in surprise upon hearing Su Bei’s words. “At a time like this?”

In the current situation, the school was definitely the safest place. Who knew how many Nightmare Beasts had already secretly slipped into the human world because of the Life Stone? Ability users were vulnerable to sneak attacks outside.

Su Bei nodded affirmatively. “I’ve been too tired lately, I want to rest a bit.”

“Can’t you rest in the dorm?” Meng Huai asked suspiciously. He suspected Su Bei was up to something by going out at this time. The reason he gave was just too perfunctory; anyone could tell it was fake, which made it hard for him not to be suspicious.

Hearing this, Su Bei’s eyes widened slightly, as if he were surprised by the question, and he retorted with righteous indignation, “How can you call it resting if you’re still at school?”

Meng Huai: “…”

Although those words were quite provoking, as a former slacker, Meng Huai found it hard to disagree. Even lying in the dorm at school, you couldn’t really relax. School just had that oppressive feeling.

“No.” But agreeing didn’t mean he had to approve. Meng Huai said calmly, “No one else is tired, so why are you the only one who is?”

He didn’t believe Su Bei’s reason one bit. Although this guy usually looked lazy, when it came to actual training, he was always beating up Jiang Tianming and kicking Si Zhaohua. If anyone was tired, it should be the others. What was he tired for?

If Su Bei was just being lazy and looking for an excuse to take a break, then he certainly couldn’t agree. What kind of teacher would approve of something like that?

However, even though Meng Huai had made up his mind not to grant permission unless Su Bei gave him the real reason, Su Bei had come fully prepared. He said calmly, “If I don’t go out, the whole world will have a problem.”

“Ha! You think I’m easily scared?” Meng Huai scoffed dismissively. “Why don’t you just say you’re going to save the world?”

“Maybe I really am going to save the world,” Su Bei said half-jokingly. “Doesn’t the academy have a Lie Detector? We can test if I’m telling the truth.”

“Are you serious?” Hearing this, Meng Huai’s expression finally turned serious. He sat up straight, his sharp eyes fixed on him.

“Of course. Am I the type of person to lie?” Su Bei’s reply seemed nonchalant, as if he were just spouting nonsense.

But Meng Huai was not deceived by his appearance and asked even more seriously, “What exactly are you going out to do?”

“Teacher, you should know that some things are like making a wish. They won’t come true if you say them out loud,” Su Bei replied earnestly, clearly having no intention of telling him.

But he really wasn’t lying. Creating a method for the Nightmare Beasts’ demise—how was that not saving the world?

Fighting the urge to punch him, Meng Huai rolled his eyes. “You really can’t say?”

“I really can’t,” Su Bei answered sincerely.

After a moment of silence, Meng Huai asked a few specific, non-content-related questions: “How many days will you be gone? Will there be any danger? Is there anything we can help with?”

Hearing this question, Su Bei knew that Meng Huai already believed him. Meng Huai considered himself to have some understanding of this troublesome student of his. He wasn’t the type to go around talking about saving the world.

In fact, Meng Huai was already quite satisfied that he didn’t go around talking about destroying the world.

Since he was making this matter sound so important, it probably was that important. It was normal that he couldn’t talk about it, just like Feng Lan’s 【Prophecy】. There were always some things that couldn’t be said casually. Who knew what destiny had entrusted to him?

So Meng Huai just asked if there was anything he could help with. If Su Bei was really doing something that concerned the fate of the world, it would be best if they could provide assistance.

“Three days, and there won’t be any danger. As for help… just come up with a reason for my leave,” Su Bei said casually. He only needed to do two things on this trip: scout the location, and then find the most suitable spot to set up in advance.

If nothing unexpected happened, the author wouldn’t include this part of his actions in the manga. In that case, he needed to find a reasonable excuse for his disappearance during this period to avoid suspicion. Although it wouldn’t matter much even if he was suspected, Su Bei liked to leave no loose ends.

Getting his answer, Meng Huai couldn’t be bothered to ask more. He leaned back impatiently and waved his hand. “Get lost.”

“You got it!” Su Bei immediately turned and left.

As he walked out of the academy gate, he silently asked the “Manga Consciousness” in his mind, “Can my actions for the next three days be hidden?”

He was a little worried that Meng Huai might have someone tail him out of concern. There were many ways for an Ability user to monitor someone without being discovered, and simple tracking was one of the cruder methods.

“If I say I can’t, what will you do?” the “Manga Consciousness” asked curiously.

“Then I’ll just have to be a bit more covert,” Su Bei said casually. “I have three days, after all. I’ll make a stop at my home first, find the most suitable location in advance using available data, then leave invisibly to go to the chosen spot and ‘set the stage.’”

He was going ahead of time precisely to do this ‘stage-setting’ work. When the time came, all he would need to do was touch the “Dream Foam,” and the Nightmare Beasts it created would instantly appear in the perfect positions.

After explaining his original plan, Su Bei calmly asked, “But from what you just said, it sounds like you do have a way, right?”

The “Manga Consciousness” borrowed his own words: “After all, you’re saving the world.”

That evening, Su Bei took a bus to Suqi City. The city, built right next to the Ability Government, was quite prosperous. The heavy traffic indicated a large population.

However, many vehicles were heading out of the city. Almost all the cars he saw on his way were leaving. Su Bei even specifically asked the driver who brought him about this.

He learned that the Suqi City government had been evacuating people for the past two days. The specific reason wasn’t given, but rumors were spreading that something bad was about to happen here, and if you didn’t want to die, you should leave quickly. You didn’t have to stay away forever; you could come back after the incident was over.

A battle occurred every few years, so even those who hadn’t experienced one had a rough idea of what was happening. Most residents didn’t delay and obediently followed the government’s request to relocate temporarily. The main reason was that they would receive a subsidy if they moved in time. If they moved late, not only would their lives be in danger, but they also wouldn’t get paid.

He hadn’t walked more than a few steps down the road when he felt a sweep of Mental Energy pass over him. It wasn’t targeting him, though; it was likely just a routine patrol. After all, a battle was about to break out in Suqi City, so it was normal for high-level Ability users to be on patrol at all times.

As he strolled down the street, moving against the flow of the bustling crowd of evacuees, Su Bei looked at the map of Suqi City on his phone, considering which location would be the most suitable.

This location had two strict requirements. First, if Jiang Tianming came to Suqi City, he would definitely go there. The second was that there couldn’t be too many other people around. Ideally, when he used the “Dream Foam,” no one else besides the protagonist group would be present.

Firstly, with more people around, his deception would be easily exposed. Su Bei didn’t believe the fake Nightmare Beasts created by the “Dream Foam” could fool everyone.

Secondly, the created Nightmare Beasts would appear out of thin air, so he needed to find a blind spot for them to emerge. If there were people everywhere, where would he find a blind spot that everyone would miss?

Thirdly, Su Bei preferred for the protagonist group to be the first to learn the news that “Nightmare Beasts can be completely eliminated.” Then, it would be made real by the manga, and only afterward would the other characters in the manga world find out. It was best not to change this sequence, or it could lead to complications.

He knew that the changes he made through the manga took time to take effect—not until the next manga update. If many people found out about this information in advance and started investigating, things would get troublesome.

They would soon find out that no such thing existed. Once they published their findings to debunk the rumor, Su Bei’s plan would surely fail.

From the perspective of drawing a manga, a location where the protagonist group has a plot point must be relatively distinctive, like a city landmark.

Suqi City had three landmarks. One was the library in the city center, another was the TV station in the north of the city, which was also the tallest building in all of Suqi City. The last one was the plaza in the north, but it had been decisively closed as soon as the news of the impending battle broke out.

After careful consideration, Su Bei decisively headed to the closed plaza in the north.

First, he definitely couldn’t go to the city center. There was no way that place would be empty. The presence of many people violated his principle for choosing a location, so it could be ruled out directly.

The TV station was a good place to hide Nightmare Beasts and a likely spot for plot development. But the “tallest building” tag was not good—or rather, it was too good. Everyone knew that when conquering a city, you had to occupy the highest point first. Such a location had been a strategic point for military strategists since ancient times. He couldn’t go making trouble in front of a crowd of powerful figures.

Using the process of elimination to rule out the other two, the only option left was the plaza.

Although it was called a plaza, it was actually more like a large shopping mall surrounded by a commercial street. At this time, the normally bustling commercial street was almost deserted, with only a few scattered vendors packing up their stalls.

Su Bei walked straight into the shopping mall. As soon as he pressed the elevator button, a reckless low-tier Nightmare Beast jumped out from inside. Many Nightmare Beasts had come out on a large scale to search for the Life Stone earlier. Although most had returned, many were still left behind, and this was clearly one of them.

However, just after dealing with this vine-like Nightmare Beast, Su Bei suddenly froze. He remembered something. If he wasn’t mistaken, this was a Dodder Nightmare Beast! True to its name, like the dodder plant, it had a characteristic of having to attach itself to an Advanced Nightmare Beast to survive.

They could absorb a small portion of the Advanced Nightmare Beast’s power for their own attacks. The stronger the host beast, the stronger they became. But if there were no Advanced Nightmare Beasts nearby, they would just lie dormant in a corner, completely powerless.

This Dodder Nightmare Beast just now clearly had attack power, which meant there was an Advanced Nightmare Beast nearby!

To think he’d stumble into a plot point just by wandering around—Su Bei felt a headache coming on for a moment. Unfortunately, running away wasn’t an option. Even knowing there was an Advanced Nightmare Beast here, he had to bite the bullet and finish scouting the location.

He took the elevator directly to the highest floor, the fifth floor, and walked towards the cinema on the top floor of the shopping mall. A place like this, being very dark, was suitable for something to suddenly appear and also for eavesdropping, making it an excellent target location.

He walked forward with his Mental Energy active and soon sensed something in the cinema. The massive creature was, without a doubt, the Advanced Nightmare Beast the Dodder Nightmare Beast was attached to.

Sighing inwardly, Su Bei walked right in. His prime target location was inside the cinema, so there was no avoiding it. He could only face it head-on. However, he was still confident in his own strength. It was just one Advanced Nightmare Beast; at worst, it would just consume most of his Mental Energy.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the cinema, a huge spider web descended from above, trying to trap him. But how could Su Bei, who was already prepared, be so easily caught? He easily dodged the first web, then shot out a gear that sliced another trap web in half. “Come out, stop hiding.”

“Clack, clack, clack, clack…”

Amidst a creepy sound, a black Nightmare Spider as large as a bedroom crawled out from the darkness on its eight long, hairy legs. “As expected of a Destiny-type. You already knew I was here, didn’t you?”

It could speak human language clearly; this was indeed an Advanced Nightmare Beast, Su Bei quickly analyzed in his mind. And it looked like a control-type. He just didn’t know if it was poisonous. If it was, that would be troublesome. He might not be able to get rid of the poison even if he killed it.

Before Su Bei could answer the previous question, the Nightmare Spider immediately followed up with another, “Why did you come here looking for me?”

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School is about to start, so I’d like to wish everyone in advance… okay, I can’t wish you anything. There’s nothing happy about school starting.