Chapter 270

That was a good option. The Si family was a major family to begin with, but they couldn’t cooperate with Wesi Sanctuary before, mainly because their reputation wasn’t big enough. They were a renowned presence in the domestic Ability World but had little fame abroad.

If the Feng Family could act as an intermediary, the two sides might actually be able to reach a cooperation agreement, which would be in the Si family’s best interest. And it wouldn’t matter if they couldn’t reach an agreement; as long as the opportunity for negotiation was given, they could use it to fish for information.

Seeing them settle the matter of cooperating with Wesi Sanctuary in just a few words, Su Bei finished the last bite of his meal. “Good luck, you guys. I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going?” Si Zhaohua immediately became vigilant. There had been several times when trouble started as soon as Su Bei left them. With the key elements now in place, he was genuinely worried that the restaurant would be blown up the second after Su Bei walked out.

Seeing his wary expression, Su Bei found it a bit amusing. “I’m going to the library. I can’t get involved in what you’re talking about, and I’ve finished my meal. Why would I hang around?”

That was true, but Si Zhaohua always suspected he had discovered some danger and wasn’t telling them. “Why don’t you help us see if this cooperation will be successful?”

After spending so much time together, although Su Bei had never explicitly stated what his ability [Destiny Gear] could do, everyone had a rough idea.

Su Bei nodded noncommittally and activated his ability to take a look. The Minor Destiny Pointers above both their heads were pointing normally to the left. He gave his conclusion: “There shouldn’t be any problems today.”

Even though he saw their Minor Destiny Pointers, Su Bei couldn’t make a definitive judgment. After all, luck wasn’t like destiny; it could change in an instant. It might be normal one second and plummet to rock bottom the next.

Shaking his head, Su Bei left the restaurant and headed straight for Wesi Sanctuary’s library. There were many people here as well, but most of them seemed to be local residents. After all, the visiting Ability users were all racing against time to complete projects and had no time to settle down in a library.

Logically, Su Bei should have been doing the same—completing all the projects first and then using the remaining time for these extracurricular activities.

But what he learned today made him hesitant to do any more projects. He knew there were Conservative and Radical Factions within Wesi Sanctuary, and the Radical Faction might be secretly up to no good. This mischief was either aimed at the safety of tourists like them or involved cooperation with Nightmare Beasts.

In that case, the various projects that tourists were required to visit were very likely to have people or traps planted by the Radical Faction. Since Si Zhaohua and the others had no intention of going, Su Bei would absolutely not go alone.

Sitting on a chair in the library, Su Bei randomly picked up a book and began to ponder the situation. Si Zhaohua’s judgment seemed correct to him; these were generally the only two possibilities.

Regardless of which possibility it was, Jiang Tianming and the others would definitely be implicated and forced to participate. If he avoided everyone during this time, he might be able to protect himself. But there was another possibility that the incident would eventually affect the entire island of Wesi. Unless he left now, it would be difficult to stay out of it completely.

But leaving now would be a huge loss. After all, this was a one-time opportunity for him to come as an honored guest. If he left after the incident, it would be understandable, and there might even be a chance for compensation. But if he left before the incident, there would be no chance of compensation whatsoever.

Besides, the Su Bei of today was not the Su Bei of the past. He could no longer treat the plot as a terrifying beast to be avoided at all costs. To prevent the author from slandering him while he was away, Su Bei had to be at the scene. He didn’t necessarily have to help solve the problem, but making an occasional appearance was necessary.

Since he couldn’t leave early, he had to find a relatively safe place before the danger occurred, so he could advance or retreat as needed.

Having figured this out, Su Bei put the book he had randomly picked back on the shelf, asked the librarian, and then took another book introducing the culture and geography of Wesi Sanctuary.

A large part of this book was dedicated to the various terrains and landforms of Wesi Sanctuary. This would allow them to understand the island’s environment more quickly and find the most advantageous hiding spot.

Although Wesi Sanctuary had given them a map, it was mainly for marking project locations. Unless they conducted a field survey, it was of little use for understanding the terrain.

The entire island was a relatively flat plain with almost no elevation changes. Besides the various man-made buildings visible to the naked eye, the only natural landscape that could be used for hiding, Su Bei thought after a quick glance, was the “Holy Spirit Banyan That Reaches the Sky” they had visited today.

This great banyan tree had existed since before the meteorite crashed onto the island, giving it a history of several hundred years. In addition, it usually fed on Mental Energy, so its size was naturally enormous.

As long as he hid in the canopy, it was unlikely anyone could find him even if they climbed up the tree. Compared to other places, this was the safest.

After all, the Radical Faction was the one causing trouble. They just wanted to advance Wesi Sanctuary’s standing, not destroy it. Even if they destroyed the buildings on the island, they wouldn’t destroy these natural wonders. Buildings could be rebuilt, but wonders couldn’t be restored.

Therefore, this place would definitely not be implicated.

After finding a suitable location, Su Bei picked up the map again and began to plan. Since he knew danger was coming, the plan he had made earlier needed to be changed.

His original plan was to complete each project sequentially, following the order on the map. But it now seemed unlikely they could safely complete projects in the next two days, so the more valuable projects should be moved to the front.

There were a total of ten projects on the map, six of which could be completed by everyone. Guests had one more project than ordinary tourists, and regular guests had one more than guests. The status of an honored guest was the most valuable, granting two more projects than anyone else.

The “Holy Spirit Banyan That Reaches the Sky” Su Bei visited today was a project that only honored guests could complete, which was one of the reasons why there were so few people there.

Besides this, there was one other exclusive project for honored guests. This project was originally scheduled for the fourth day, but now Su Bei decided to complete it tomorrow.

With that project set, Su Bei quickly decided on the other project for tomorrow. It was a body-tempering hot spring that any guest could experience, capable of strengthening the body and building physique.

Logically, he should have proceeded according to the level of value, completing the honored guest projects first, then the regular guest projects. However, Su Bei wasn’t so rigid. His latest sequence was arranged according to need.

His current strength, which far surpassed his peers, relied on three things: Advanced Mental Energy, a powerful ability, and his physical skills and constitution.

The first had already been enhanced today. As for the second, the other high-level project exclusive to honored guests was for enhancing abilities. It was said that after completing the project, many people gained new inspiration for their abilities and developed new ones upon returning, so the project’s popularity remained high.

Regarding the enhancement of his physique, the place to go in Wesi Sanctuary was naturally the hot spring he planned to visit next. The “Gravity Beach” didn’t count; it was at most an experiential project. Unless he could stay at Wesi Sanctuary permanently, it wouldn’t be of much use to him.

After settling this matter, Su Bei began to search for books that interested him again. Although a lot of knowledge could be found within the ‘Destiny’ organization, ‘Destiny’ was an intelligence organization, not some search engine; it wouldn’t upload just anything. It contained more little-known intelligence. For common knowledge in the Ability World and more general topics, Su Bei still had to rely on books.

He wasn’t the only one who realized this. Jiang Tianming, Zhao Xiaoyu, and others who weren’t originally from the Ability World also frequently studied. The difference was that they could hire an Ability user as a private tutor, while Su Bei could only learn in private.

His persona had now evolved into being omniscient and omnipotent. To avoid breaking character, he had to put in more effort where others couldn’t see.

It was already dark when he returned to the hotel. Perhaps because he wasn’t the main character, Su Bei didn’t encounter any accidents after parting with Si Zhaohua and Feng Lan. Everything was as peaceful as any other ordinary day.

But Su Bei knew very well that this was just the calm before the storm. Tomorrow, the day after, or the day after that at the latest, the incident would likely begin. The trip was only five days long; the author wouldn’t drag it out for too long.

“Su Bei.” As he reached the staircase, Su Bei suddenly heard someone call his name from behind. He turned his head and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

It was Jiang Tianming’s group of three. They had obviously just returned as well, and they were all covered in dust and grime. It was hard to tell what they had been through. This was strange. Su Bei had just returned because he lost track of time reading in the library, so why were these three back so late?

He first gave a casual greeting before asking directly, “Why are you guys just getting back now?”

“We should be asking you that,” Wu Mingbai retorted sharply. “The three of us were moving together; we can vouch for each other. You, on the other hand, came back alone this late. Why do you look so suspicious to me?”

Now that they were all familiar with each other, he no longer used his previous sweet and naive tone for sarcasm. Now, he was more direct with his retorts, but the constant smile on his face made him look even more mocking.

Su Bei shrugged. “I was at the library. There’s surveillance footage to prove it.”

After all, this was a modern society. Even in a sanctuary for Ability users, modern products were indispensable. Surveillance cameras were one of them—useful, convenient, and cheap (for Ability users), putting countless surveillance-type Ability users out of a job.

Wu Mingbai was taken aback that he had said it so frankly, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Jiang Tianming took over the conversation. “We ran into some trouble today… never mind, let’s talk in the room.”

It wasn’t convenient to talk outside with the surveillance. Once the four of them were inside Jiang Tianming’s room, he continued, “This afternoon, we saw an Advanced Nightmare Beast on the island. It’s definitely a problem for a Nightmare Beast to appear in Wesi Sanctuary, let alone an advanced one. We quietly followed it, but a group of people in black discovered us. We were chased all the way and barely managed to find a chance to escape and come back.”

As soon as he finished, Lan Subing added, “But it’s strange. At first, we thought the Advanced Nightmare Beast wanted to destroy Wesi Sanctuary, but who sent the people helping it?”

Humans and Nightmare Beasts had always been mortal enemies. Even an inhumane villainous organization like the Black Flash Organization despised Nightmare Beasts. Even if someone coveted Wesi Sanctuary’s profits and wanted to make a move against it, they shouldn’t have contacted Nightmare Beasts. That would be crossing a major line.

Normally, if a faction wanted to deal with Wesi Sanctuary, no one would care much even if they used dishonorable means. Confrontations between factions were like that—the winner takes all. No matter what tactics the opponent used, losing could only be attributed to being less skilled. After all, no one would cry foul for you; bystanders would at most gossip a little.

But collaborating with Nightmare Beasts was of a completely different nature. It was equivalent to treason and would be condemned and boycotted by everyone. Even if someone disliked Wesi Sanctuary, they shouldn’t be that foolish, right?

As expected of the protagonist, finding danger on the very first day. Su Bei wasn’t surprised at all and just wanted to applaud himself for deliberately avoiding being in a group with these three.

However, the fact that they encountered a Nightmare Beast on the island was indeed a useful piece of information, especially when combined with what Su Bei and the others had experienced today.

“We also ran into something today.” Su Bei succinctly recounted what Lin Qi had said about Wesi Sanctuary’s internal conflict, and also shared Si Zhaohua and Feng Lan’s deductions.

“So the Nightmare Beast that appeared in Wesi Sanctuary was likely brought in by the Radical Faction? They’re cooperating with Nightmare Beasts?” Wu Mingbai was surprised for a moment, then his eyes filled with ridicule. “Wow, that’s really… bold of them.”

Indeed. Once this was exposed, those who were already eyeing Wesi Sanctuary would definitely not let this opportunity slip. The entire sanctuary might be overturned.

If Su Bei had to say, they would be better off just killing people. At least that would only cause Wesi Sanctuary’s reputation to plummet. But as long as these natural wonders remained, it could recover sooner or later. Where there’s life, there’s hope.

Unfortunately, in the current situation, he could only offer a moment of silence for Wesi Sanctuary.

“Should we tell the teachers about this?” Lan Subing asked uncertainly from the bed.

Jiang Tianming shook his head. “There’s no evidence. What we just said are only our speculations.”

Wesi Sanctuary was not some pushover that could be easily bullied. Even if Meng Huai and the Endless Ability Academy completely believed their deductions, there was no reason to act against Wesi Sanctuary before the incident occurred.

After dismissing Lan Subing’s suggestion, he looked at Su Bei. “So what are Zhaohua and the others planning to do?”

Based on his understanding of Si Zhaohua, he knew that upon learning the Radical Faction might be engaging in activities harmful to society, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

As expected, Su Bei replied, “He and Feng Lan plan to look for evidence. With Feng Lan acting as an intermediary, they’ll first talk to the leadership of Wesi Sanctuary.”

“Good idea. We can’t fall behind either.” Jiang Tianming’s eyes sparkled with the fiery passion unique to a shonen protagonist. However, due to his personality, he quickly calmed down. “Let’s go talk to them and see if we can do something.”

Although they couldn’t get involved in Si Zhaohua and Feng Lan’s plan, it didn’t mean they couldn’t help. For example, if the leadership denied any internal conflict in Wesi Sanctuary, they could create chaos outside, forcing the people inside to admit it.

The four of them left the room together. Just as they reached Si Zhaohua’s door, Su Bei walked straight past it without looking back and continued forward.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jiang Tianming grabbed him in time. “We’re here.”

“My room is here.” Su Bei pointed to the next room, then pulled his hand back and waved at the three of them. “Have a pleasant discussion.”

Returning to his room and closing the door, Su Bei’s smiling expression faded, and a thoughtful look flashed in his purple eyes.

Everything seemed logically consistent. Their side learned that the Radical Faction might be cooperating with Nightmare Beasts, and then Jiang Tianming’s group immediately encountered a Nightmare Beast on the island. The two coincidences were very “manga-novel-like,” as if the author was deliberately guiding the protagonist team to the truth.

But the plot design of manga and novels always depends on the author’s habits. From Su Bei’s understanding of the author of ‘King of Abilities,’ he wasn’t the type to lay all the clues out in the open for the protagonist team to easily find.

So, in Su Bei’s view, the truth might not be what they had discovered so far. After all, everything was going too smoothly—so smoothly that it felt fake, as if they had already fallen into someone’s trap.

When they woke up, the three of them met at the door on time. Although they now planned to investigate the Radical Faction’s conspiracy in Wesi Sanctuary, completing the required projects was still essential.

After all, their original goal was to come to Wesi Sanctuary to improve themselves through the projects. There was no reason to abandon their original task just because something new came up; the two didn’t conflict.

Besides, compared to the new task, the original one was what truly concerned them and benefited them.

“By the way, our families have prepared all the items. After we finish the two projects today, let’s go find the ‘Omniscient Conch’ together,” Si Zhaohua brought up as soon as they met.

Su Bei was stunned; he had forgotten about that. Zhou Renjie’s life was still hanging in the balance, waiting for them to bring back the antidote.

“No problem.” Since Si Zhaohua was fully in charge, he naturally had no objections. It was a good opportunity for Su Bei to see what the “Omniscient Conch” actually looked like. With a one-time use per person, he might be able to use it himself one day in the future.

“I have something to mention too.” Su Bei explained his newly arranged project plan. Although the places he needed to go didn’t perfectly align with the other two, they were mostly similar, so they went along with his plan.

The last to speak was Feng Lan. “I’ve made the arrangements. We have a one-hour meeting time at four o’clock this afternoon.”

“I’ll go tell Tianming and the others the news.” Upon getting the specific time, Si Zhaohua immediately took out his phone. With only one hour, the plan they discussed yesterday needed to be refined.

He was on his phone the whole way, discussing with Jiang Tianming’s group in their small chat. Although Su Bei wasn’t participating, he had been added to this group at some point and occasionally glanced at their plan.

The plan was simple. Once the meeting started, Jiang Tianming’s group would secretly stir up conflict between the two factions of local residents outside. If the Wesi Sanctuary leadership showed any intention of denying or perfunctorily handling their internal conflicts, Jiang Tianming’s group would immediately trigger a fight between them and then message Si Zhaohua and Feng Lan. That way, the leadership couldn’t deny it.

There was nothing wrong with the plan itself, but thinking about the protagonist team’s destructive power, Su Bei hesitated for a moment before saying, “You guys should take it easy.”

It would be hilarious if they ended up igniting a conflict across the entire island and had to go into hiding themselves.

Today’s first project, also an exclusive for honored guests, was called the “Marsh of Illusions.” It was said to create a unique illusory environment for each person based on their ability. After entering the environment, there was a chance to gain enlightenment and develop new skills. This place wasn’t a one-time deal; you could go as many times as you wanted. But truly developing something new depended on one’s aptitude. If your aptitude was poor, going multiple times wouldn’t help.

When they arrived, they discovered that the so-called “Marsh of Illusions” was a swamp of myriad colors. The entire marsh had countless colors, a vibrant mix, making it look very beautiful, whether due to light refraction or soil elements.

And even ignoring its unusual colors, this marsh was not ordinary. Every puddle was encased in a colorful, transparent bubble. Many people were trapped inside the bubbles, their eyes closed as if they were sealed away.

The entire “Marsh of Illusions” gave off a beautiful yet eerie feeling. At any other time, Su Bei would have turned and left. It felt like only extreme adventure enthusiasts and geographers would be keen on setting foot in this obviously dangerous land.

However, this was Wesi Sanctuary. Even if the “Marsh of Illusions” was dangerous in the past, now that it was open as an exclusive project for honored guests, it must be safe.

A staff member was there to explain how to use the project. It was simple: just jump into a puddle, and when you were completely enveloped by a bubble, you would successfully enter the illusion.

Although he knew Wesi Sanctuary had problems, Su Bei was still very confident about this suspicious-looking project. The true goal of both the Conservative and Radical Factions was certainly not to destroy Wesi Sanctuary. Therefore, they wouldn’t dare to tamper with a project exclusive to honored guests.

However, out of caution, Su Bei still glanced at everyone’s Destiny Compass first. After confirming there were no problems, he jumped into a pit in the marsh, letting himself sink into the mire.

As the bubble slowly rose from the pit and enveloped his entire body, Su Bei didn’t feel suffocated, but he gradually felt very drowsy. Knowing this was a necessary process, he didn’t resist the sleepiness and soon fell into a dream.

Two hours later, the bubble suddenly popped with a “pop,” and Su Bei opened his eyes at the same moment.

His mind was still a bit muddled from the sudden shift from illusion to reality. He blinked hard a couple of times before he was fully awake.