Chapter 249

【No.1: Su Bei colluding with Nightmare Beasts? No way.】

【No.2: I feel like the OP is a bit of a conspiracy theorist.】

【No.3: Although I also think Su Bei has been acting weird in these last two chapters, saying he’s colluding with Nightmare Beasts feels like slander.】

【No.4: The OP is suspected of being a Su Bei anti-fan.】

【No.5: I think it’s more likely that Su Bei is colluding with the Black Flash Organization.】

【YouAreMeThenWhoAmINo.6(OP) replying to No.4: I’m not, this is purely a rational analysis.】

【…】

【No.41: I actually think the OP has a point. When the scene went dark, Su Bei might have really been talking to that Nightmare Spider and Cockroach Nightmare Beast, trying to lure the S-Class students over.

But regarding his motive, have you all forgotten what important intelligence they obtained at the shopping mall?】

【No.42 replying to No.41:

You mean, Su Bei deliberately led them there so they could hear the method to exterminate the Nightmare Beasts?】

【No.43: The previous post makes sense! But if that’s the case, why couldn’t Su Bei just say it directly?】

【No.44 replying to No.43:

It’s probably a limitation of his ability. Saying it directly might bring about some karmic consequences or something. Haven’t Su Bei and Feng Lan often said similar things?】

【No.45: Would Su Bei really be that considerate? For some reason, I feel like he’s the type who knows how to completely eliminate the Nightmare Beasts but just won’t say it, letting everyone figure it out on their own.】

【No.46: Hahahahahaha, the comment above is ruthless.】

【…】

【No.99: I just remembered something. Do you all recall Su Bei’s conversation with Ling You before? His goal is the longevity of humanity! Could the ‘longevity of humanity’ he mentioned refer to this method for humans to completely eradicate the Nightmare Beasts?】

【No.100 replying to No.99:

That’s a real eye-opener, sis!】

【No.101 replying to No.99:

Su Bei is such a good person!】

【No.102: In that case, Su Bei’s goal and the Black Flash Organization’s goal are actually quite aligned. Both want to completely eliminate the Nightmare Beasts.】

【No.103 replying to No.102:

By that logic, the good guys’ goal is also to completely eliminate the Nightmare Beasts.】

【No.104: Actually, everyone’s goal is the same, since Nightmare Beasts are the common enemy of humanity. It’s just that different people have different solutions for the same enemy, and the Ability Government and the Black Flash Organization have clearly chosen two completely different paths.】

【No.105 replying to No.104:

What about Su Bei? Which side is he on?】

【No.106 replying to No.105:

He could be on the side of the protagonists, or he could be a third party. But I believe he’s not with the Black Flash Organization.】

【…】

After reading through the general content of the post, Su Bei let out a long sigh of relief. Although the original poster’s attitude towards him wasn’t great, suggesting he was colluding with Nightmare Beasts—which in the world of ‘King of Abilities’ was no different from treason—it seemed that, likely due to his popularity, other readers didn’t think so.

Even those who entertained the idea managed to guess the truth from the context, not hastily branding him a villain.

This made Su Bei reflect on how fortunate it was that he had told Ling You the truth back then, revealing his true purpose. Otherwise, the readers might have genuinely grown suspicious this time. At the time, he just wanted to leave himself an escape route, but he never expected to actually have to use it.

Overall, no one seemed to have developed a dislike for him because of this. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Many people connected this incident with his pursuit of humanity’s longevity, which made them see him as an even better person.

Su Bei rubbed his brow, silently pondering whether this was actually a good thing.

Law-breaking villains could certainly die, but good people could die just as easily. Weren’t there plenty of pure-hearted characters in comics who died early? A purely good character like that, if not part of the main protagonist group, was unlikely to live long.

So even if the author didn’t assign him a villainous role, he should seriously consider contacting the Black Flash Organization.

Only when readers felt he could navigate both the light and the dark, and possessed immense personal strength, would they not easily assume he could be killed off. Even if something were to happen, he might be able to use the forum and his ‘Oracle Account’ to bring himself back to life.

What an exhausting day, Su Bei thought sincerely as he lay in bed. Although he knew from the start that today would be anything but ordinary, he hadn’t expected it to be this extraordinary.

What he thought was the end of a mission turned out to be the beginning of a crisis. After successfully resolving a world-threatening crisis, he now had to face a crisis from the author himself.

It was just as he had initially thought about this comic: only when ‘King of Abilities’ was completely finished would he truly be free.

Until then, as a character penned by the author, it was difficult to have absolute freedom, regardless of how much importance he was given.

Thinking of this, Su Bei suddenly asked in his mind, “Has the author thought about the content of the comic’s finale?”

“Originally, it was supposed to be the complete elimination of the Black Flash Organization,” the Manga Consciousness appeared immediately. “But now, it should be the complete elimination of the Nightmare Beasts.”

Upon hearing this, Su Bei’s eyes showed understanding. Compared to wiping out the Black Flash Organization, eradicating the Nightmare Beasts was a much grander goal, so it would naturally serve as the more important objective to be completed in the finale.

Su Bei had originally thought that as long as he could implement the method to completely eliminate the Nightmare Beasts, the rest would have nothing to do with him. Now, it seemed that for his own safety and to gain true freedom, he had to keep working hard and help the author finish the comic sooner.

Once the comic ended, the author would probably stop trying to cause trouble for a mere character like him.

The next day was an ordinary one. Although calling any day on the main battlefield ‘ordinary’ was a luxury, compared to yesterday, today was indeed uneventful. Fearing they were already being targeted by the Nightmare Beasts, everyone stayed near the hotel to eliminate the creatures, completing the task of clearing the Safe Zone.

But the strange thing was, despite so many Ability users clearing them out day and night, the Nightmare Beasts were still as numerous as ever. Logically, since the Nightmare Beasts had prepared such a large force for this battle, they could have easily gone head-to-head with the Ability users. Why bother with that ridiculous plan to kill ordinary people?

As the saying goes, brute force can overcome any tactic. With enough offensive power, there was normally no need to resort to schemes and tricks.

Even with so many Nightmare Beasts, they might not be able to defeat the Ability Government, but it was still a better plan than their current one.

To be frank, the number of ordinary people was vast; it was impossible to kill them all, especially when only one out of several thousand Low-tier Nightmare Beasts managed to escape.

Ordinary people couldn’t eliminate Nightmare Beasts, but they could trap them! Low-tier Nightmare Beasts were usually beast-like creatures with no special abilities and could be caught with simple nets. Before being trapped, a single Nightmare Beast killing three or four people would already be considered impressive.

Therefore, Su Bei had a premonition that the apparent plan was not the Nightmare Beasts’ true plan. They must have another purpose for doing this; he just didn’t know what it was. However, if nothing unexpected happened, he should get the answer soon enough.

Sure enough, just a day later, something happened outside. Originally, only three Interdimensional Gates had opened for this battle, with the one in Suqi City being the largest. But today, Interdimensional Gates had appeared all over the country, a total of ten of them.

Ten Interdimensional Gates appearing at once was considered a lot even for the entire world, let alone within a single country.

The world was shaken. Many countries urgently dispatched support. If this nation fell, the others would be next; their fates were intertwined. So, regardless of any past grievances, everyone was united at this moment.

In Suqi City, the Nightmare Beasts also changed their strategy overnight, switching from an all-out breakout back to their original plan of attacking Ability users.

According to investigations, the Nightmare Beasts that had escaped earlier were not meant to kill ordinary people at all, but to open more Interdimensional Gates through sacrifice. This must be a newly developed method by the Nightmare Beasts, and its first use had caught humanity completely off guard.

But if Su Bei could sense something was off, it was natural that some within the Ability Government would as well. They had anticipated the current situation. Although they failed to stop the Nightmare Beasts’ plot, they had made ample preparations.

On the day the multiple Interdimensional Gates appeared, the government began to methodically arrange for people to be sent as reinforcements to various locations. Su Bei and the others were split up to serve in support roles.

It wasn’t just them. Because of the sheer number of Nightmare Beasts, the other first-year students from the academy couldn’t be spared this time and were all pulled into the battle. Although they could do very little, every Low-tier Nightmare Beast they could eliminate counted as a contribution to the war effort.

For the safety of Su Bei and his peers, the Ability Government chose to dispatch them in small squads rather than individually. For students, working with familiar classmates would significantly increase their safety.

Because they were students, the government was considerate enough to let them form their own teams. They formed groups of three or four, reported their teams, and then waited for their assignments.

Even within the same class, there were closer and more distant relationships, so people naturally teamed up with those they knew well. The protagonist trio formed one group, Si Zhaohua and Ai Baozhu formed another, and Mo Xiaotian and Mu Tieren formed a third. The remaining students—Qi Huang, Su Bei, Wu Jin, and Li Shu—were free to join any group.

Wu Jin and Qi Huang joined Mu Tieren’s group. Wu Jin felt it was safer with the class president in the group, while Qi Huang felt the team needed a strong offensive type like her.

Li Shu initially wanted to join Jiang Tianming’s group but was flatly rejected, so he had to join Si Zhaohua’s group.

Finally, there was Su Bei. Without much hesitation, he teamed up with Jiang Tianming’s trio.

Under normal circumstances, Su Bei would have stayed far away from the protagonist group. It was obvious that following them would trigger plot events, and unless he was bored, who would go looking for trouble?

But things were different now. He needed more plot to support his image as an irreconcilable enemy of the Nightmare Beasts. Su Bei could be a member of the Black Flash Organization, but he could never be seen as being on the side of the Nightmare Beasts.

This was a perfect opportunity. As long as Su Bei killed enough Nightmare Beasts, even if someone suspected him, the readers could use his performance this time to defend him.

These things could have been easily clarified with his ‘Oracle Account’, but Su Bei had no plans to use it again anytime soon. Or rather, he didn’t plan to use it to talk about matters related to himself.

The author of the comic had already noticed his existence and wanted to gauge the readers’ reactions to potentially writing him out. Therefore, the ‘Oracle’ account absolutely could not be too conspicuous. Once the author noticed it and checked his past posts, Su Bei felt he could easily get his account banned.

After all, back then, he didn’t know something like this would happen in the future and didn’t bother to hide the fact that he knew a lot of inside information. Sometimes, he even deliberately revealed a little to increase his credibility.

The downside of trying to save time back then was now apparent. Su Bei couldn’t use this account for the time being.

Once the ‘Oracle Account’ was banned, he would not only lose a major tool for influencing the forums but also a trump card. This would leave him in a very passive position, so he could only let it lie dormant for now.

No one was too surprised by Su Bei’s choice to team up with Jiang Tianming’s trio. Each of the three groups had someone Su Bei was on good terms with, and since they didn’t know who the protagonists were, it seemed reasonable for Su Bei to join any of them.

The students’ missions were not assigned immediately. For the time being, they remained in Suqi City, eliminating Nightmare Beasts. This period was reserved for the powerful Ability users to scout the ten new Interdimensional Gates. Only after the danger levels were assessed would the students be allowed to participate in the battles.

A full day passed before the three groups were finally assigned to different cities. Along with the assignments came a file containing information about the Nightmare Beasts and the mission in their designated cities.

“Moyun City. The Interdimensional Gate appeared outside the city. We’re pretty lucky,” Lan Subing remarked as she read the file. With city walls for defense and a small entrance, it was much safer than the other cities.

Wu Mingbai nodded in agreement. “We just need to defend the city gate. The mission doesn’t look too difficult.”

However, Jiang Tianming frowned slightly. “But it seems like there aren’t many powerful Ability users assigned here. When I looked at the files for the class president’s team, they mentioned the major Ability users assigned to their city. Our file seems to have the fewest.”

“That’s because they think it’s safe here,” Su Bei said, not surprised at all. If there were many powerful Ability users and the city was truly impregnable, the protagonist group wouldn’t have been sent here.

Hearing this, the others’ moods were no longer so relaxed. No powerful Ability users meant no safety net. Although the Ability Government would surely send powerful reinforcements immediately if something went wrong, there would definitely be a time lag. In the end, they would have to be the ones to hold the line.

Jiang Tianming just hoped the Nightmare Beasts wouldn’t notice Moyun City. While they never shied away from danger, they didn’t wish to be constantly thrown into it either.

When they arrived not far outside Moyun City and saw the situation below, everyone, including Su Bei, couldn’t help but gasp.

A dense, dark mass of Nightmare Beasts surrounded the city walls, so thick that the shape of the city gate was barely visible. Flying Nightmare Beasts harassed from above, while the flightless ones climbed on top of each other to scale the walls. The whole scene resembled a zombie siege, instinctively striking fear into anyone who saw it.

The name Moyun City and the scene outside perfectly matched a line from a poem—“Black clouds press down on the city, threatening to crush it.”

At that moment, the group was riding on a giant Ability Paper Aircraft, looking down at Moyun City from high above. It was an Ability construct created by a Paper Folding Ability user, capable of fixed-point flight without a pilot, essentially an unmanned helicopter.

For cities like this, where the Interdimensional Gate was located outside, flying vehicles were the only way to safely get inside. With the exterior completely surrounded by Nightmare Beasts, trying to push through them would be nearly impossible.

“So many…” Lan Subing’s pupils constricted.

Su Bei’s heart also grew a little heavy. The thought of having to deal with so many Nightmare Beasts made him wish he could travel to the third dimension and strangle the author. By all rights, he should have been able to relax by now!

From this angle, besides the dense swarm of Nightmare Beasts, they could also see many Ability users fighting them on the city walls. They were mostly crowd control types, with one person capable of clearing a large area. But compared to the endless horde of Nightmare Beasts, the humans still looked so small.

The people on the city wall grew tense upon seeing a new flying object in the sky. But when they saw it was a paper aircraft, they breathed a sigh of relief. Many of them had also arrived here via paper aircraft, so they knew it was a transport vehicle from the Ability Government, meaning new reinforcements had arrived.

Reinforcements were good. Because there weren’t many powerful Ability users, this place was in desperate need of them. But it wasn’t just them; all ten cities were likely in dire need of more Ability users.

An Ability user who had been waiting to receive reinforcements immediately cast a defensive shield over the paper aircraft to prevent it from being shot down by Nightmare Beasts. However, this shield could only protect the aircraft, not the people on it.

Fortunately, the four of them were no pushovers. They weren’t concerned about attacks from a few Low-tier Nightmare Beasts, or even flying Intermediate ones. Lan Subing alone could handle all of them.

Seeing how quickly they dealt with the harassing Nightmare Beasts, the Ability users on the wall were relieved, and their eyes lit up. If powerful Ability users had arrived, it would undoubtedly ease their pressure. And judging from the four’s performance just now, their abilities should be quite strong.

The paper aircraft wobbled its way to the city center, where there was a designated landing spot for reinforcements.

The few people waiting there were full of anticipation, but the moment they saw the four newcomers, they were all stunned. Because the paper aircraft was large and flew high, no one had gotten a clear look at the new Ability users before.

Now they saw them, but it wasn’t what they had expected. Su Bei and the others were clearly not yet adults, looking to be around fifteen or sixteen. Coming to the battlefield at this age, it was obvious they had been rushed into service.

No wonder they were disappointed. What help could a group of students be?

However, there were some knowledgeable Ability users among them. A short-haired woman, after a brief moment of shock, suddenly looked surprised. “I’ve seen you before! You’re the winners of this year’s Tri-School Competition!”

Because this year’s contestants were quite strong and the competition was interesting, the short-haired woman who had watched the live broadcast had a deep impression of them and recognized them immediately.

At her words, the other Ability users around her breathed a sigh of relief. To be able to participate in the Tri-School Competition, they must be the best of the best in their academy. Even if they were only first-years, their strength should not be underestimated.

After all, in the Ability World, talent was always more important than hard work. Some people’s starting point as an Ability user was already higher than others’ endpoints.

“I remember now! These contestants were amazing!” Another person who had watched the competition also recalled, saying excitedly, “I remember your ability is [Word Spirit], you’re a Destiny-type Ability user, you have an Earth Element ability that can create earthquakes, and you have several abilities!”

He pointed them out one by one, then said proudly, “My memory is pretty good, right?”

Jiang Tianming and the others nodded, confirming he was correct.

Now, everyone was completely relieved. The Ability Government hadn’t sent some clueless students to placate them but had sent genuine elites. Even though these elites were still students, as long as their abilities were strong, that was enough.

The leader of the group stepped forward, pointing at the custard pies on the table. “Replenish your energy with some food here first. I’ll brief you on the situation, and then you’ll have to head to the city wall. By the way, my name is Chen Ze.”

Time was tight, so they couldn’t afford to give these newcomers a break. They had to join the battle as soon as possible.

The four of them nodded and began picking up food they were interested in from the table. Although they weren’t hungry, snacks were always good for satisfying a craving.

“The Interdimensional Gate outside the city leads to a grassland map. The powerful Ability users assigned here have mostly gone into the interdimensional space to deal with the Advanced Nightmare Beasts, so our defenses outside are relatively weak,” Chen Ze began his practiced introduction after organizing his thoughts. “The Nightmare Beasts coming out of this gate are mainly grassland creatures. The weaker ones are horses, cattle, and sheep, while the more powerful ones are Lion Nightmare Beasts, Nightmare Dogs, and the like.”

He took a sip of water to wet his throat. “There are actually some larger ones too, like Elephant Nightmare Beasts. But thankfully, the entrance to this gate isn’t large, so those with bigger bodies will have to wait until the end to come out, or they’ll block the other Nightmare Beasts. We’re trying to take advantage of this by going in early to eliminate these Advanced Nightmare Beasts.”

If those large ones were allowed to emerge from the gate, dealing with them would be a huge problem, especially since there were still ordinary people in the city. The moment those massive Nightmare Beasts appeared, they could cause a large number of casualties.

“If any of you have crowd control abilities, let the commander on the wall know beforehand. He’ll assign you to a suitable position. If not, you’ll probably serve in a support role.”

After all, they were facing a large number of low and intermediate-tier Nightmare Beasts. Single-target attacks, no matter how powerful, were of little use unless an Advanced Nightmare Beast suddenly broke through. Therefore, area-of-effect attacks were more valuable here.