Chapter 255

Although an intelligence organization was very useful, Su Bei couldn’t help but fantasize about what would have happened if he had created a different type of organization back then.

For instance, if he had formed an assassin organization, could he have killed anyone he wanted? No, no, no, that would definitely not work. Murder was absolutely illegal. Once that identity was exposed, no matter how popular he was, it would be as easy as flipping a hand for the author to kill him. After all, he who kills will be killed. As the leader of an assassin organization, it would be more than reasonable for him to meet a deadly end.

What about establishing a government organization? That itself would be rather difficult, but since the “Manga Consciousness” was helping him at the time, it could likely have successfully created any kind of organization.

If he had created an independent political entity like Wesi Sanctuary, he would have surely gathered a lot of intelligence, and he would also have a real base of operations where many things could be accomplished. It would have been a good choice.

But that clearly had its drawbacks as well. A political organization couldn’t go without a leader for long, so he would have to choose a proxy leader. No matter who this person was, they would inevitably know his identity.

Of course, he could have used his deceased father as the original leader, while he played the role of the new leader taking over after his father’s death. But that would present a new problem: the proxy leader might not submit to his authority and could conspire with those below to usurp his position.

Thinking about it this way, the intelligence organization he founded was indeed the most suitable for him. Su Bei marveled at his own foresight, even though he hadn’t really thought that much about it at the time. But that didn’t stop him from praising himself for it.

The Nightmare Egg must have been truly important to the Nightmare Beasts and the Black Flash Organization, because that very afternoon, the entire Moyun City began to feel off.

First, the number of Nightmare Beasts outside the city increased by an unknown amount. And this time, they weren’t just charging straight for the city gates; instead, they were spreading out, seemingly preparing to surround the entire city of Moyun.

Second, the Ability users in the interdimensional space were starting to get overwhelmed. They quickly sent a message calling back the three Ability users who had come out to help them resist the Advanced Nightmare Beasts and figure out how to shut the Closing Point.

According to the message, the Ability users in the interdimensional space had discovered that these new faces were all Nightmare Beasts from the Nightmare Beast World. They initially suspected that because Ling You had closed the interdimensional space in the city with the most Nightmare Beasts, the surplus combat-ready Nightmare Beasts were being evenly distributed to the other interdimensional spaces.

This theory was quite reasonable, but Su Bei knew that wasn’t the truth. Perhaps that was a contributing factor, but the main reason was that the Nightmare Egg was here.

The last anomaly was that traces of Nightmare Beasts were discovered inside the city.

Thanks to the Ability Government, which took the plight of each disaster-stricken city very seriously, they had distributed special ability items that could detect the approach of Nightmare Beasts in real-time. Just a moment ago, this device had suddenly gone off, which meant a Nightmare Beast was near the item.

The situation instantly grew tense, and an atmosphere of impending crisis filled the city. The increase in Nightmare Beasts and their sudden appearance within the city walls all indicated that something was about to happen.

Faced with an unknown danger, the commander made a decisive choice to contact the Ability Government for support. It had to be said, upon hearing the commander say this, Su Bei let out a long sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, he had finally met a normal person. Although Su Bei was well aware that with the protagonist group present, any reinforcements sent by the Ability Government would likely be useless. But the fact that they even thought to call for help already surpassed the vast majority of manga characters he had ever seen.

Just as Su Bei expected, help was not coming. Before long, a message came from the Ability Government: they couldn’t find the way to Moyun City. This was likely the ability of some kind of Nightmare Beast that caused disorientation. Based on the ability, Su Bei deduced it was probably a Lost Nightmare Beast.

Its ability could be used on people, causing them to lose their sense of direction, or on objects, making them lost—in other words, preventing others from finding them.

Moyun City had now become an isolated island. It would probably take the Ability Government three to four days to break through. And without a doubt, the Nightmare Beasts would make their move within these three or four days.

Everyone immediately went on high alert. All rest periods were halved, and the extra time was used to form patrol teams, striving to find the hidden Nightmare Beasts in the city before they could start causing trouble.

Ability users with trap-setting abilities, like Wu Mingbai, began setting traps in every corner of the city. These traps might not be very effective, but if the Nightmare Beasts really did breach the city, they could at least inflict some damage.

The most helpless people now were the ordinary citizens. They weren’t blind; they could naturally see the recent unusual behavior of the Ability users tasked with protecting them.

Although the Ability users tried to conceal it, with danger so close, it was difficult not to reveal anything to the ordinary residents. After learning that the city might no longer be safe, many fell into despair. Ordinary people had virtually no ability to fight back against Nightmare Beasts. If the city gates fell, even if the Nightmare Beasts weren’t interested in them, they would surely be the first to die.

Under these circumstances, the evil side of human nature was revealed. Many people, feeling they had no chance of surviving the coming crisis, began robbing and looting within the city, wanting to do all the bad things they had always wanted but never dared to do in the final moments of their lives.

Many openly smashed shops and even robbed banks, forcing the Ability users to divert a small portion of their personnel to control them.

Logically, the ordinary people could have managed themselves, forming their own small teams to handle the troublemakers. But the problem was, if these people dared to commit such crimes, they would surely dare to kill if pushed too far. Ability users had absolute martial superiority over ordinary people, but when ordinary people fought each other, injuries were common. Therefore, to minimize casualties, Ability users had to handle it.

Su Bei had previously said he wouldn’t be dealing with Nightmare Beasts anymore, but with the extreme shortage of manpower, the commander asked for his opinion. After getting his consent, he was assigned this task.

Initially, Su Bei didn’t want to agree. But on second thought, while this kind of firefighting work was busy, it wasn’t very dangerous. Most importantly, he could use it as an opportunity to check for any problems in the city beforehand. So, in the end, Su Bei chose to accept.

After catching two scumbags who were trying to pry open the door of a woman living alone, a sarcastic smile hung on Su Bei’s lips. “Wow, the Nightmare Beasts aren’t even in yet, and you’re already causing chaos.”

At that moment, he had kicked both of them against the wall, one foot each, leaving them sprawled on the ground, unable to get up. The hallway was filled with their pained cries and curses. “Hiss! We’re all going to die anyway, can’t you let us have some fun? You’re a man too, how can you not understand us?”

Su Bei completely ignored them. Entangling with people who had no bottom line would only lower his own. It was obvious their values were completely different, so what was there to talk about?

After knocking the two out, Su Bei turned to leave. Just then, the sound of a door opening came from behind him.

The girl who had reported them from inside the room opened the door once she knew it was safe. Her eyes were red from fear, and her voice choked with sobs as she thanked him, “Thank you for coming to help. Thank you so much.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take these two with me now.” Su Bei waved his hand casually, took out a rope to tie them up, and mercilessly dragged them outside.

As he was about to leave the corridor, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at the Destiny Compass above her head. It was very strange. The girl’s Minor Destiny Pointer was leaning to the left, but her Major Destiny Pointer was pointing down.

This meant her current luck was good, but unfortunately, she was about to die.

It was a strange combination. Usually, the Minor Destiny Pointer of someone on the verge of death would definitely lean to the right. Why would it lean to the left?

Su Bei vaguely sensed that there might be something wrong with this person, but he had no clue what it was. Frowning in thought for a moment, he suddenly looked at the Destiny Compass above his own head.

It wasn’t that he thought there was something wrong with him, but he was worried there was some danger in this place that was causing the girl’s impending death. If he found his own luck was too poor, Su Bei would leave immediately.

However, to his surprise, not only was his luck not bad, it was exceptionally good. The Minor Destiny Pointer was all the way to the far left.

Su Bei: “…”

A once-in-a-century spectacle. When had an unlucky person like him ever possessed such naturally occurring good fortune?

Such good luck had to mean something. After thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to the girl who was about to close her door and asked, “Excuse me, do you happen to have a black, egg-shaped stone in your house?”

This was the only thing he could think of related to recent events. If the girl had the stone, and he just so happened to resolve her trouble, then his luck was indeed quite good.

“How did you know!” As expected, the girl’s eyes widened in surprise, confirming Su Bei’s guess.

Su Bei immediately took out his phone. “Is it for sale? I’ve been collecting these stones recently. If you’re willing to sell, you can name your price.”

Although he had previously said this thing was a hot potato and that he wouldn’t be able to protect it if it was discovered in his possession, now that the Nightmare Egg was right in front of him, there was no reason to let it go.

Besides, he had already asked. If there really was someone with ulterior motives watching him, they would surely come to investigate. Therefore, rather than being a blind man, it was better to hold the Nightmare Egg in his own hands and at least seize the initiative.

Hearing his words, the girl smiled and shook her head, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. “No need. You helped me so much just now. It’s just a stone, consider it a gift.”

With that, she quickly ran back inside and returned a moment later holding an iron box. She opened the lid, and inside was indeed a black, egg-shaped stone. “Here, this is it. See if it’s what you’re looking for.”

“This is it!” Seeing that the thing he wanted was actually here, a look of joyful surprise flashed in Su Bei’s eyes. To find something so effortlessly after searching high and low… He really hadn’t expected to find the Nightmare Egg, which he thought would be like finding a needle in a haystack, so easily.

How should he put it? It felt very surreal. If it weren’t for his luck being displayed right there, Su Bei would have even suspected that what he had obtained was just a regular stone that looked very much like a Nightmare Egg, not the real thing.

But the luck above his head wasn’t just for show. Such good luck indicated that what he got was absolutely genuine.

In the end, Su Bei still gave the girl two hundred yuan for the stone. Then, looking at the stone in his hand, a suspicious look appeared in his eyes. He still couldn’t quite believe his luck would be this good. To obtain the Nightmare Egg so smoothly… rather than a sudden burst of luck, he was more inclined to believe there was some kind of problem.

It wasn’t that Su Bei was being self-deprecating; it was just that his luck had never been good. This sudden stroke of incredible fortune made him feel a bit apprehensive, like a neglected concubine suddenly favored by the god of destiny.

Just as he dragged the two unconscious scumbags out of the residential building, Su Bei saw Cyril and Li Xiang walking toward him. Li Xiang was as expressionless as ever, while Cyril wore a beaming smile.

He clearly had no intention of beating around the bush with Su Bei, getting straight to the point. “I knew you could help us find it. Alright, hand it over obediently.”

Su Bei: “…”

His silence was deafening.

A rare stroke of good luck, only to be doing all the work for someone else in the blink of an eye. Indeed, his self-assessment was not wrong. Good luck was temporary, but being unlucky was eternal.

There was no choice but to hand over the Nightmare Egg. Su Bei had no intention of stubbornly refusing to hand it over or destroying it in front of the two of them. Su Bei didn’t have a protagonist’s halo to begin with, and what’s more, the author was watching him like a hawk. He couldn’t give them any chance to kill him.

However, although handing over the Nightmare Egg was forced, Su Bei couldn’t appear too weak. He was worried the author would put this scene in the manga, which would cause him to break character and lower his popularity.

With this in mind, he acted as if he wasn’t surprised at all, unhesitatingly tossing the Nightmare Egg to them as if getting rid of a hot potato, and waved goodbye coolly. “It’s yours.”

His demeanor, in turn, piqued Cyril’s interest. He raised an eyebrow. “So decisive?”

“You deserve it,” Su Bei said with a meaningful smile.

He had, after all, accepted a mission from the “Destiny” organization to help the ‘Black Flash’ organization find the Nightmare Egg. Giving it to them now was equivalent to completing the mission.

When this matter was exposed, no one would think he was forced to compromise. Instead, they would assume that even Cyril and Li Xiang’s arrival was something he had specially arranged to complete his mission.

Before he could give himself a thumbs-up for his brilliant arrangement, a voice he really didn’t want to hear rang out: “Su Bei, what are you doing?”

Su Bei: “…”

He turned his head slowly, frame by frame like a robot, and sure enough, he saw Jiang Tianming’s group of three standing behind him, their faces filled with shock and suspicion.

For a moment, he had the urge to laugh. The manga author really was sparing no effort to turn him into a villain. So that’s why he was suddenly so lucky to get the Nightmare Egg—it turned out there was a series of traps waiting for him.

This whole incident, from the very beginning when he came here to help this girl, was a complete setup. If he had just helped her and left without asking anything, then later, when the Black Flash Organization or Jiang Tianming’s group got the Nightmare Egg, Su Bei guessed the girl would have definitely mentioned him.

When the author released that part, it would be enough for readers to cook up a whole host of conspiracy theories.

And after he got the Nightmare Egg, things became even simpler. First, have Cyril and Li Xiang come to him for the egg. If he didn’t handle it well, it would be easy to go OOC and lower his manga popularity. And it wasn’t just breaking character outside the manga; he would also break character inside the manga, in the minds of Jiang Tianming’s group. After all, the persona he had built up was, if not omnipotent, at least not someone who could be easily threatened.

But if Su Bei’s performance just now was flawless, then when Jiang Tianming’s group saw it, they would naturally assume he had already made an agreement with the Black Flash Organization to hand over the item to them. Just like right now.

It had to be said, the manga author’s ploy was indeed meticulous, one link after another, leaving him no room to react. A poor performance was a trap, and a good performance was also a trap. So what could he do? He could only play along. Anyway, Su Bei had long been prepared to spend some time on the villain’s side.

“I’m being threatened, can’t you see?” Su Bei retorted righteously.

“Actually, no, I can’t,” Wu Mingbai gave him no face at all. “You looked pretty willing to me.”

They had arrived just as Su Bei and the other two had their standoff. They were about to step out and help when they overheard the conversation. As Wu Mingbai said, from a bystander’s perspective, they really didn’t see any threat at all; it just looked like a pre-arranged transaction.

Seeing that they were about to have internal strife, Cyril gleefully added fuel to the fire. “Su Bei, it was a pleasure working with you. Looking forward to our next collaboration!”

“Hey, wait, don’t you two go yet.” Since these two wanted to flee the scene, Su Bei immediately stopped them.

Then, he spoke rapidly to Jiang Tianming’s group: “They and the Nightmare Beasts came to Moyun City for the Nightmare Egg. You don’t need to understand what the Nightmare Egg is right away, just know that it’s in Cyril’s hands now.”

After speaking, he smiled and took a step back, gesturing with his hand. “Now it’s your turn to perform.”

Then he used an Invisibility Talisman and disappeared on the spot.

“He can just run like that?” Wu Mingbai asked in disbelief. This was a mess Su Bei had caused, yet he ran off before even explaining the full story.

Faced with his question, Lan Subing shrugged helplessly and sighed. “What can we do?”

Jiang Tianming also felt like sighing, but he was always the most rational one among them. “They’re about to run. Prepare for battle.”

Just as Su Bei expected, although Jiang Tianming’s group didn’t know what the Nightmare Egg was or how important it was, Su Bei’s words were clear enough. Since both the Black Flash Organization and the Nightmare Beasts—two forces opposing them—wanted this thing, it meant they had to get it and not let it fall into the enemy’s hands.

So, as soon as Su Bei disappeared, the two sides started fighting.

Logically, Jiang Tianming’s group of three shouldn’t be a match for these two. But to deal with the impending crisis, Moyun City had specifically activated an item that limited the upper threshold of ability usage.

This meant that ordinary Ability users and low-to-intermediate tier Nightmare Beasts were unaffected, but overly powerful Ability users and Nightmare Beasts would be restricted. As a result, while Jiang Tianming and his team were fine, Cyril and Li Xiang’s abilities were greatly diminished, so a fight was naturally possible.

Not long after they started fighting, the Nightmare Beasts launched their all-out assault, and the entire Moyun City descended into chaos.

The invisible Su Bei confirmed they had started fighting before returning to the clock tower. From his high vantage point, he saw the Nightmare Beasts both inside and outside Moyun City spring into action and understood that after smearing his name, the author was now kicking off the main plot.

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes and began to quietly slack off. Anyway, the author probably only arranged for him to be framed. Even without his participation in other parts, the protagonist group would still be able to get through the crisis smoothly.

In that case, he just wouldn’t show up. It didn’t feel like there was any room for him to shine in the current situation. Besides, he had just had a highlight moment of single-handedly eliminating so many Nightmare Beasts in the previous chapter; it wouldn’t be good to repeat it.

If every chapter was his highlight, it would definitely draw dissatisfaction from fans of other characters, especially fans of the protagonist group. After all, Su Bei was just a supporting character. He often read manga himself and naturally understood that for manga readers, an “author’s pet” who was forced into the spotlight was a major turn-off. He couldn’t let himself fall into such a situation.

However, while slacking off, Su Bei wasn’t idle. He first took out the notebook from the “Destiny” organization and clicked to deliver the mission. Then he began to review the incident.

First, he needed to review the luck issue. If he hadn’t seen the problem with the girl’s compass and his own luck hadn’t been inexplicably good, he would never have discovered the Nightmare Egg here.

Although whether he found the Nightmare Egg in the girl’s house or not wouldn’t have prevented him from falling into the author’s trap, this incident did serve as a wake-up call for Su Bei. The luck displayed on the Destiny Compass couldn’t be completely trusted.

Or rather, when he saw his luck, he needed to be mindful of thinking about the problem from the macro perspective of the manga.

Looking at the compass pointer alone, there was no problem. Being able to stumble upon the hiding place of the Nightmare Egg was indeed a sign of his explosive luck. But this rare good fortune was actually the author’s conspiracy; he just didn’t realize it at the time.

There was no helping it. It’s hard for a poor man who suddenly strikes it rich to immediately realize the money he got is someone else’s trap. It was the same for Su Bei; at that moment, he couldn’t help but think that maybe his luck had finally turned around. But, once bitten, twice shy. If he encountered a similar situation in the future, he would definitely run as far away as possible.

After finishing his reflection, Su Bei began to think about what to do next. After this chapter of the manga was updated, there would definitely be many readers suspecting, or rather, convinced that he was colluding with the Black Flash Organization.

Fortunately, because he had indeed accepted a related mission in “Destiny” beforehand, even if the author wanted to use the readers’ impressions to make him genuinely collude with the Black Flash Organization, it wouldn’t change anything.

If he hadn’t accepted the mission in advance, then perhaps by the time the chapter after next was updated, he might inexplicably gain a memory of cooperating with the Black Flash Organization. But since he had accepted the mission, his collusion with “Black Flash” was already a fact, so there was nothing for the author to change.