Chapter 275

Su Bei walked through the crowd to his companions and got straight to the point: “The Teleportation Array can’t be used.”

Jiang Tianming wasn’t surprised that he knew this and sighed. “It was destroyed by that Nightmare Beast. But we have to leave quickly. According to Feng Lan’s prophecy, this island will sink into the sea at five o’clock.”

Upon hearing this, Su Bei immediately glanced at his phone. The time was 4:30. They had half an hour to leave.

But rebuilding a Teleportation Array was not that simple; it was absolutely impossible to do in half an hour. With the array destroyed, there was no way for people on the outside to teleport in either, otherwise Wesi Sanctuary’s defenses would be a complete joke.

The once-proud defense had now become a cage trapping them. Despair was written all over everyone’s faces.

One person said with a tearful voice, “I’m still young, and I’m rich, I don’t want to die! Why is God doing this to me? Did he give me such a good life just so I could die young?”

These words opened the floodgates. Others began to pour out their feelings, and sounds of sobbing and complaining were everywhere.

However, Lan Subing was reminded of something by that sentence. She suddenly looked up at Su Bei. “Do you have a way to change our destiny?”

Before, Su Bei had been able to eliminate so many Nightmare Beasts by relying on his ability to change destiny. So, could he use this ability to save everyone now?

Others didn’t know what she meant, but Jiang Tianming and the rest had truly witnessed Su Bei’s power. Hearing Lan Subing’s words, their eyes lit up as they looked at him, hoping for a satisfactory answer.

Change destiny, huh…

With a thought, Su Bei activated his ability and examined the destiny plates of everyone present. Then, he immediately dismissed the idea.

He had been able to change the destinies of those Nightmare Beasts because the Destiny Compasses above their heads were mostly identical. As long as he adjusted one, he could adjust the others as well.

But the pointers above the heads of the people present were far too varied. Some showed they would live, others that they would die. Some pointers indicated they would leave, while others indicated sickness. To make all these people leave safely would require more power than two Su Beis combined could provide.

Just as he was about to refuse, he suddenly remembered something. He gazed into the distance, then retracted his gaze and asked another question first. “Why not ask the ‘Omniscient Conch’?”

“We did. It didn’t answer,” Si Zhaohua said helplessly.

Ai Baozhu cut to the truth with a single sentence. “That thing probably wishes we would all die here. Why would it give us the answer?”

The “Omniscient Conch” was a Nightmare Beast, after all. Even if its consciousness was weak, it still had one. Why would it miss an opportunity to eliminate so many Ability users at once?

It seemed they could only rely on themselves for now. A corner of Su Bei’s mouth lifted. “What’s in it for me if I help?”

“If you don’t help, you’ll die too,” Wu Mingbai said with a smiling expression.

Unfortunately for him, Su Bei had his own ways. “I always have a way to survive.”

He had quite a few resurrection items on him. And as the leader of the “Destiny” organization, it was easy for Su Bei to temporarily borrow items from the organization’s repository; he would just have to do more missions later to pay it back.

Moreover, the author had already revealed his identity as a member of the “Destiny” organization, and many people in the comic world had already guessed it. Therefore, he no longer needed to hide the fact that he had many items and could use them without restraint.

At this point, it was time for the people of Wesi Sanctuary to speak up. The leader of the Neutral Faction took a step forward. “As long as you can get us all out, after this is over, we can give you the permanent status of an honored guest of Wesi Sanctuary. If there’s anything else you want, you can ask for it.”

Although Wesi Sanctuary was about to be destroyed, with the vast treasures and wealth they possessed, it was not impossible for them to make a comeback. At that time, while the honored guest status wouldn’t be as valuable as it was now, it would still hold some worth.

Su Bei didn’t care about a permanent honored guest status. He had been here once, and that was enough; he had no desire or need to come a second time. But Wesi Sanctuary was indeed a place with many treasures, and there was something Su Bei truly wanted.

“I want the ‘Omniscient Conch’.” Seeing that everyone except the S-Class students was far away, Su Bei made an exorbitant demand. He spoke with firm resolve, giving the other party no room for negotiation.

At these words, the expression of the Neutral Faction leader changed instantly. Although the “Omniscient Conch” had significant drawbacks, its function was also immense. Therefore, even knowing it cost a hundred million plus a life each time, with no guarantee of an answer, people still flocked to seek its help.

It could be said that it was a very important item, with an earning potential not much less than other projects. Currently, there were only two known “Omniscient Conches” in the entire Ability World, making their value extraordinarily high.

Most importantly, with Wesi Sanctuary likely on the verge of nonexistence, they desperately needed such a sustainable resource to accumulate the initial capital to help them make a comeback.

Guessing the reason for their hesitation, Si Zhaohua’s sky-blue eyes turned as cold as ice. He reminded them subtly, “If something happens to us here, do you really think you’ll have a chance to make a comeback by keeping the ‘Omniscient Conch’?”

That’s right! The Neutral Faction leader suddenly realized. If so many Ability users met their end here, including many with powerful backgrounds, then even if they managed to escape safely, they wouldn’t survive the aftermath, let alone make a comeback.

With this thought, he immediately declared, “Alright. As long as you can get us out safely, the ‘Omniscient Conch’ is yours.”

Su Bei nodded in satisfaction and looked at Si Zhaohua. “Can you fly me up into the air?”

“Of course.” Si Zhaohua nodded, somewhat surprised. He wrapped his arms around Su Bei’s waist, his white wings materialized, and with a few effortless flaps, they flew into the sky together.

The sun had just begun to rise, and from their position, they had a perfect view of the dawn.

Looking down at the entire island, Su Bei finally located Wesi Sanctuary’s Destiny Compass.

He had never been limited to changing only the destiny of people; he could also change the destiny of “things.” It was just that this ability was often not needed, and on the rare occasions it could be used, it was less convenient than directly changing a person’s destiny, so he had never used it.

He hadn’t studied the Destiny Compass of “things” in great detail, but he understood the basics. It didn’t have as many points as a human’s; there were only 12, each representing a different meaning. And it had only one pointer, which was currently in the lower half of the compass, signifying the island’s fate of destruction.

The amount of Mental Energy consumed to change the destiny of a “thing” depended on its size, and the energy required for something as large as Wesi Sanctuary was bound to be immense. Fortunately, Su Bei had just taken a nap, and his Mental Energy was at its peak.

He channeled his Mental Energy, slowly adjusting Wesi Sanctuary’s pointer to the upper half. Mental Energy surged out of him like a tide, and Su Bei’s face turned pale in an instant.

He had to admit, changing the destiny of such a large place consumed a considerable amount of Mental Energy. He now had only a tenth of his peak Mental Energy left in his mind. This was only thanks to his recent successful training at the “Holy Spirit Banyan That Reaches the Sky.” If he had released such a large amount of Mental Energy before coming to Wesi Sanctuary, Su Bei would have fainted on the spot.

In for a penny, in for a pound. Since he was already putting on a show, he might as well make it a big one. Savoring the last bit of his Mental Energy, Su Bei activated an instant-cast skill.

As he cast it, he gave a cool snap of his fingers. “Now then, it’s time to witness a miracle!”

“Whoosh!”

The next second, a giant whale half the size of the island leaped out from the sea and landed heavily on one side of Wesi Island. The island had been tilting, but the whale added weight to the rising section, instantly rebalancing the teetering island.

The whale’s leap didn’t leave it beached. It just knocked off a large piece of land and then fell back into the sea. It all looked like an accident, but it was a perfectly timed, life-saving accident.

“…Wesi Island is safe?” The Neutral Faction leader’s jaw dropped in disbelief; he felt he had never been so astonished in his entire life. He never imagined that not only were their lives no longer in danger, but even Wesi Island, which they thought was doomed to sink, had been saved.

A person next to him stomped on the ground, looked around, and a joyful smile appeared on his face. “It seems like it’s really okay! The island has stabilized and shows no signs of tilting anymore!”

“That’s great, we really survived!” It’s unclear who shouted it first, but then everyone began to cheer wildly, venting the fear and joy in their hearts.

Joyful smiles also appeared on the faces of Jiang Tianming and the others. Even the typically cold Ling You had a slight curve to her lips, a faint smile in her eyes.

“Whoosh—”

Suddenly, the sound of waves echoed again, and the giant whale leaped from the water once more. A powerful jet of water shot from its blowhole, and under the sunlight, it refracted into a beautiful rainbow!

“Look, it’s a rainbow!”

The rising sun, the rare rainbow, the magnificent whale, the life-threatening experience—everything was so joyous. No one spoke anymore, quietly admiring the breathtaking scenery before them. They believed they would never forget this moment for the rest of their lives.

“Did you do this too?” In mid-air, after admiring the view for a while, Si Zhaohua asked curiously.

Su Bei was also looking at the rainbow. Hearing the question, he smiled and shook his head. “It was fate’s arrangement.”

It was obvious the author had deliberately placed this rainbow at the end of the event. He just didn’t know if his intervention was also within the author’s expectations.

But he had to admit, Su Bei truly liked this scene. He would forgive the author for one second.

The “Manga Consciousness” notification chimed as expected: “‘King of Abilities’ has been updated. Please check.”

With Wesi Sanctuary safe, the Teleportation Array was naturally repaired quickly. Two hours later, everyone successfully left the sanctuary and returned to where they had started, right outside the academy gate.

“We’re finally back!” Ai Baozhu let out a long sigh of relief, her entire body exuding the languor of having survived a great disaster. “I’m going to go back and get some good rest. I haven’t slept well these past two days, I feel like my skin has gotten dull.”

Saying this, she preciously touched her face, then looked at Lan Subing and Ling You. “Bingbing, Little You, let’s go back together?”

After pulling an all-nighter, Lan Subing and Ling You were also exhausted. They gave a nod to the others, joined Ai Baozhu, and the three of them walked towards the girls’ dormitory.

“I’m going to report to the supervising teacher about what we encountered at Wesi Sanctuary these past few days,” Mu Tieren said very reliably. “The things they did still need to be handled by the school and the Ability Government.”

Although they had indeed gone through hardship together in the end, that couldn’t cover up the crimes of some of Wesi Sanctuary’s original inhabitants. If it was just about absorbing a little of the tourists’ constitution, he could have turned a blind eye. But collaborating with Nightmare Beasts was intolerable and had to be reported to the teacher.

Fortunately, the others had no intention of stopping him. In fact, they were relieved that Mu Tieren was willing to proactively report to the teacher. None of them wanted to deal with such a troublesome matter.

Especially Jiang Tianming, who had been saddled with this kind of task several times before. Heaven knows how foul Meng Huai’s face was every time he heard they had gotten into trouble again. He didn’t want to face the teacher’s sour face.

After the four of them left, the remaining group headed towards the boys’ dormitory. On the way, Si Zhaohua remembered something and looked at Feng Lan curiously. “Didn’t you prophesy that the island would sink into the sea?”

“I can prophesy fate, but he can change it,” Feng Lan replied, pointing at Su Bei. The purpose of a prophecy was originally to change the future; it’s just that normally, a future like the destruction of an island is very difficult to change.

“So that’s how it is.” Si Zhaohua understood. “Su Bei’s ability is truly formidable.”

This sentiment resonated with the others. Changing fate, reversing the future—Su Bei’s ability was indeed a top-tier ability, second to none.

The one being praised in their minds, Su Bei, didn’t think much of it. He waved his hand casually and pulled open the door in front of him. “I’m at my dorm. See you tomorrow.”

Returning to his dorm and lying on his bed, he didn’t immediately read the comic but fell asleep right away. He had consumed too much Mental Energy at Wesi Sanctuary, and he had been forcing himself to stay awake on the way back.

A strange thing he discovered was that his Mental Energy never seemed to be enough. Every time he managed to increase it, his consumption would also increase accordingly.

He woke up in the afternoon, his stomach growling from having missed both breakfast and lunch. Not planning to go out for a meal, Su Bei simply took some dry rations from his Storage Ring to fill his stomach, then started reading the comic.

The previous chapter of the comic ended with the conflict between the Radical and Conservative factions spreading across the island. This chapter’s beginning picked up from there, with Jiang Tianming and the others returning to the hotel, and then being dragged by Su Bei to Ai Baozhu’s room.

Ai Baozhu’s discovery made a clear situation murky again. Both the Nightmare Beasts and the reduced constitution seemed problematic, but now they didn’t dare to pin it all on the Radical Faction.

Next was the plot of Su Bei capturing someone. When he was invisible, he was depicted as a translucent figure. He observed the teleportation process, timed the teleportation, knocked the person unconscious, and slapped an Invisibility Talisman on them before carrying them away. The author skillfully used a few simple panels to fully illustrate Su Bei’s plan.

The panel of him princess-carrying the unlucky cannon fodder was also drawn. The bullet comments were, as Su Bei had expected, exceptionally active in their discussion.

“When will I get to experience Su Bei’s princess carry?”

“First of all, the princess carry is so dreamy. Secondly, why is he princess-carrying a grown man?!”

“Elegance never goes out of style.”

“Our Bei has plenty of strength and means.”

“Soul-swapping with this unlucky guy, I also want Su Bei to princess-carry me.”

Seeing the scene of the man exploding to death again in the comic, Su Bei pursed his lips, an inexplicable feeling rising in his heart. At the time, he had been genuinely startled, so he hadn’t thought much about it. But looking back at this scene now, this deceased person was so similar to how he was at the very beginning—both were cannon fodder in the comic.

They died too easily, one could say it was just an accident. The author didn’t care if they had family waiting for them, or if they had unfinished business. It was just because the plot needed someone to die here, so they died just like that.

That’s how the comic world is. You can’t blame the author, nor can you change the author. Su Bei could only hope to end this comic as soon as possible, then no one would be able to casually manipulate their fates anymore.

The plot quickly progressed to Su Bei leaving on his own, while the others investigated the truth while evading the pursuit of Wesi Sanctuary’s forces.

A large group is a big target, so they had to split up. They divided into two groups: one went to the government building to find clues, while the other continued to wander around to see if they could capture another local for questioning.

The protagonist group naturally has a protagonist’s halo. Su Bei watched as the wandering group, by saving a little boy, successfully knocked on the door of one of the few Neutral Faction families in Wesi Sanctuary, where they also spent the night.

The other group that went to the government building successfully tailed a high-ranking official, overheard key information about the Conservative Faction, and realized that Lin Qi and the others were no good either; the Radical and Conservative factions were completely in cahoots.

Recalling that he had found the clues entirely through meticulousness and observation, Su Bei felt a pang of bitterness. But he quickly rallied himself. To be able to achieve the same results as the protagonists by relying on meticulousness and observation instead of a protagonist’s halo, wasn’t that a testament to his own ability?

Returning to the comic’s plot, through the comic Su Bei learned that the Radical and Conservative factions of Wesi Sanctuary were not quite what they had initially thought. The Radicals were indeed the radicals they knew, and the matter of absorbing Ability users’ constitutions was their doing. They were secretly collecting these constitutions, wanting to eventually put them all into one person to complete the “Creating a god” plan.

The Conservatives, however, were different. They perfectly embodied the phrase “the Conservatives think the Radicals are too conservative.” They were the ones who were truly collaborating with the Nightmare Beasts. They wanted the Nightmare Beasts to wreak havoc on the mainland, so that the god they created could appear as a savior, rescuing everyone from disaster and elevating Wesi Sanctuary to a supreme position.

Speaking of which, we have to bring up the “Creating a god” plan again. This plan was divided into two steps. The first step was to create the number one person in the Ability World. They felt that Wesi Sanctuary lacked dominance because it was missing a powerhouse who could suppress everything.

The second step was to give this created powerhouse a world-renowned reputation, so that they, in turn, could become noble together.

As for the Neutral Faction, they were innocent in a way, as they didn’t participate in either side’s actions and didn’t support them. But to say they weren’t innocent, well, they weren’t. It was obvious they were well aware of both sides’ plans but had no intention of exposing them. Sometimes, being a bystander is a form of evil—an evil called “reaping the benefits without sowing.”

As for why the Radical and Conservative factions were always fighting, it was actually a lifeline Wesi Sanctuary kept for itself. If the actions of either faction were exposed, then all the blame could be pushed onto them, while the other group could get away scot-free. After all, their discord was something many people could testify to, thus ensuring that at least half of Wesi Sanctuary’s “innocent” people would remain.

A cunning plan, which at first glance seemed foolproof. But unfortunately for them, they encountered the protagonist group, and this conspiracy was destined to fail.

The device that could absorb and store the constitutions of Ability users was in the government building, so Wu Mingbai and the others planned to bring the building down.

Initially, Su Bei thought there was nothing much to see in this part of the plot, but as he frantically flipped through the pages, he suddenly noticed a strange point—Jiang Tianming had disappeared from the plot for quite a while.

From when Lan Subing and the others began to kill the people of Wesi Sanctuary, to when Wu Mingbai caused the building to collapse, and then to the Nightmare Beast invasion. Jiang Tianming did not appear in this entire long segment of the plot, nor was he mentioned by anyone. The whole time, only the others were shown. The camera focused on Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing, on Si Zhaohua and Ai Baozhu, on Mu Tieren, Ling You, and Feng Lan, but never on Jiang Tianming.

It wasn’t until the group had been fighting the Nightmare Beasts for a while that Jiang Tianming suddenly appeared and naturally rejoined the protagonist group’s team, fighting alongside them as if he had never disappeared.

It was one thing for the others not to notice his brief absence, but even Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing didn’t express any confusion about his disappearance.

Honestly, if he hadn’t been flipping through the pages so quickly and suddenly noticed that Jiang Tianming’s face hadn’t appeared for a long time, Su Bei wouldn’t necessarily have noticed this detail if he were reading page by page.

If the person who had disappeared for a long time had been anyone else, Su Bei wouldn’t have thought anything of it. After all, there were several characters involved in the plot at the time, and it was normal for the author to occasionally forget one or two.

But this was Jiang Tianming! The number one protagonist of “King of Abilities.” The author might forget to draw anyone, but it was impossible for them to forget to draw him. For him to be absent for such a long time in a plot where he could have appeared, and with the author even seemingly using multiple other characters to cover for his disappearance, this could only make Su Bei suspect that there was another plotline happening during the time Jiang Tianming was gone.

As the saying goes, when a child is quiet, they must be up to no good. With Jiang Tianming disappearing for so long, Su Bei felt that the author was probably planting a seed for a future plot point.

But what could he have been doing at such a critical juncture?

Rereading the plot from when Jiang Tianming first disappeared, Su Bei didn’t find anything unusual. His plot simply vanished when the group split up to deal with the enemies. Could he have been captured during that time?

Besides, all of Jiang Tianming’s secrets had already been completely revealed. What else was there that the author needed to specially hide and plant as a future plot point?