Chapter 284:

Indeed, it was as expected. Everyone couldn’t help but nod, though their expressions were a bit surprised. That bald senior’s name was actually He Shang. It really was… a case of the name fitting the person.

Seeing their surprised faces, Zhang Sheng knew exactly what they were surprised about without even having to think. He opened his hands with a smile. “Why don’t you guys try to guess my ability? If you guess right, I’ll introduce the other two main team members’ abilities to you as well.”

Besides him and Mu Yunfan, the other two main team members were a brown-haired senior from the student council and a little loli who, at first glance, looked to be only twelve or thirteen. Although their group was only fifteen or sixteen, this was an age of rapid growth, so the size difference between them and the little loli was huge.

Everyone had long wanted to ask what was up with this little girl, but none of them were fools. Aside from Mo Xiaotian, who lacked social awareness when he went out, the rest didn’t have particularly low emotional intelligence. They knew there had to be a reason she was here, and asking rashly could very well cause displeasure, so they all temporarily suppressed their curiosity.

If Zhang Sheng was willing to introduce her, that would be for the best.

Zhang Sheng had never used his ability in front of them, so guessing it out of thin air was nearly impossible. But since he was letting them guess, there had to be some clues.

Thinking back to how this topic started, with He Shang’s ability, it was clear that He Shang’s ability had a strong connection to his name. Could Zhang Sheng’s name also be related to his ability?

The first to think of this was Jiang Tianming. As expected of a shonen manga protagonist known for his wisdom and composure, he asked tentatively after a moment of silence, “Senior, is your ability related to studying?”

Zhang Sheng, Zhang Sheng, it sounded like the name of a scholar.

Zhang Sheng’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he gave a thumbs-up, nodding cheerfully. “You’re on the right track, keep guessing. I can give you another hint: my ability is also a four-character idiom.”

A four-character idiom related to studying. Everyone immediately fell into thought. This time, it was the top student Si Zhaohua who spoke first. “Well-read?”

Zhang Sheng shook his head.

Seeing that he had guessed wrong, Jiang Tianming quickly followed up, “Diligent study and hard practice?”

Zhang Sheng continued to shake his head.

Guessing like this would take forever. Wu Mingbai’s eyes darted around, his gaze landing on the most good-natured Feng Manman. “Related to studying… specifically, is it related to scholars, to the act of studying itself, or to academic achievement?”

Seeing him look at her with an expression of earnest admiration, Feng Manman gave her junior some face. “It’s related to achievement.”

Amidst Zhang Sheng’s complaining in the background, Qi Huang gave the third answer. “Vast knowledge?”

“Bingo! Correct!” Zhang Sheng snapped his fingers, replying with a grin, “It’s [Erudition].”

Since they had guessed correctly, he naturally kept his promise. He first pointed to the brown-haired senior. “This is Wei Yuexi. We’ve all worked together before, so I probably don’t need to introduce her. Her ability is [Arms Dealer].”

Upon being introduced, Wei Yuexi raised the corners of her mouth and gave everyone a greeting. They were all student council members and had indeed interacted a few times.

Next, Zhang Sheng pointed to the other little loli. “Her name is Luo Li, ability: [Destruction].”

The loli, dressed in a princess dress, smiled sweetly and also greeted everyone, her childish voice matching her appearance perfectly.

If she hadn’t skipped grades, she might be a dwarf. Because of this possibility, Jiang Tianming and the others were hesitant to interact with her, afraid of stepping on a landmine. Whether she would get hurt was one thing, but they still had to spend time together, and it wouldn’t be good to offend her.

Seeing their cautious behavior, Mu Yunfan was the first to burst out laughing. “Hahahahahaha, I knew you guys wouldn’t dare talk to little Luo Li! Stop guessing blindly. She’s only twelve. She came to the Ability Academy early because she awakened her ability ahead of time and it’s uncontrollable.”

So that was it! Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately felt embarrassed and annoyed. To think they had been so timid just now; it seemed they were just treated as clowns.

After the laughter died down, Feng Manman, who was also a substitute team member, said, “I won’t introduce the other three to you. Just knowing each other’s names is enough. If nothing unexpected happens, none of us should get to play.”

Hearing this, Su Bei raised an eyebrow. It seemed Feng Manman was very confident in the main team’s endurance. Generally, the substitute team wasn’t just there for when the main team was seriously injured or in an accident; they could also temporarily take the field when the main team’s Mental Energy was depleted.

The match schedule was usually very tight. If too much Mental Energy was used in one match, it would be difficult to enter the next one in peak condition. Even with Mental Energy Crystals, a full recovery wasn’t always possible, which was when substitutes could be sent in.

Since Feng Manman was so confident in the main team’s endurance, there must be someone on the team who could replenish others’ Mental Energy. Was it Mu Yunfan’s ‘Hope’s Light,’ or Zhang Sheng’s [Erudition]? Su Bei was very curious. He needed an ability like that to help him replenish his Mental Energy at critical moments.

The chances of getting a senior as a partner were slim, but asking them to let him record their ability a few times should be fine. That’s right, record an ability. This was something he had redeemed from the ‘Destiny’ organization’s point bank.

Turning in the Omniscient Conch last time had earned him a large number of points. Su Bei was never one to hoard things, so he naturally had to use them. He picked and chose a few items to redeem, among which was an ‘Ability Record Book.’

The item’s function was just as its name suggested: it could record abilities. One book had thirty pages, allowing for a total of thirty abilities to be recorded. However, the recorded effect was only half of the original ability’s power, and it required the owner’s consent. Although the effect was average, the quantity made up for it, and it could have miraculous effects at critical moments, so it was quite expensive.

After a four-hour flight, the group finally arrived at their destination. The host country for this competition was Sessbia. A country capable of hosting the World Competition was naturally powerful, and its airport was even equipped with a Teleportation Array.

The group passed through the Teleportation Array and arrived at the hotel specially prepared for the contestants. After being assigned their rooms, and with only familiar faces around, Lan Subing whispered, “The process is so similar to the Tri-School Competition.”

It was indeed a bit similar. They checked into a hotel first, and the competition venue was right next to it. She even caught a fleeting glimpse of the venue from the window, and its scale was similar to the one back home. It was just more lavishly decorated with a different style.

“But this time, it’ll last for several days,” said Qi Huang, who was sharing a room with her, with great anticipation. “Even if I can’t play, it’ll be great just to witness it.”

Talented Ability users of similar age from all over the world were gathered here to compete. Just thinking about it was exciting.

“You can be even more expectant,” Su Bei said lazily, walking to the adjacent room, swiping his key card, and entering without giving her a chance to ask any follow-up questions.

However, while Qi Huang didn’t get to ask, Si Zhaohua, who was sharing a room with him, had plenty of time. “What did you mean by that just now? Why can Qi Huang be more expectant?”

Of course, it was because she would likely not just be a spectator, but would get to play herself. Su Bei thought this in his mind, but the answer he gave was different. “You can always ask the losers for pointers after the match, right? That counts as participating. Besides, if the opportunity is right, Teacher Li will probably let us get some hands-on experience too.”

Si Zhaohua had a feeling that wasn’t what Su Bei originally meant, but lacking any evidence, he could only retract his suspicious gaze. “The competition doesn’t start until the day after tomorrow. What are your plans for the next two days?”

“Stay in the hotel and sleep today, and go play in the city tomorrow,” Su Bei had already planned it out. It was already three in the afternoon. Although it was still early, he was mentally exhausted from a full day of travel. Instead of wandering around aimlessly, he’d rather rest and recover in the hotel, and while he was at it, look up some fun places to visit tomorrow. His idea of playing in the city was purely literal. It was a rare trip abroad, and it would be a waste of the academy’s opportunity not to have some fun.

Seeing that he was treating this competition purely as a vacation, Si Zhaohua once again felt that he was overthinking things. Judging by Su Bei’s attitude, the seniors’ matches probably wouldn’t be dangerous. Otherwise, he should at least show some sense of crisis.

However, this was where Si Zhaohua didn’t understand Su Bei well enough, or rather, he had misjudged the current situation.

With his comic perspective, Su Bei knew very well that even if Jiang Tianming and the others had to play, it wouldn’t be right from the start.

Of course, plots where the original contestants run into trouble the day before the match, forcing the protagonist’s group to step in, were not uncommon. But that was usually when the original contestants were mostly minor characters who had barely appeared in the comic.

This time was clearly different. Mu Yunfan, Feng Manman, and Zhang Sheng had all appeared more than once, and even more frequently in the author’s daily life mini-theaters. Mu Yunfan, as the student council president, had even garnered a lot of popularity, and there were quite a few people shipping him with Feng Manman.

For such a group of main team members to be completely reduced to a backdrop for the protagonist’s group in this competition—Su Bei didn’t believe it.

Since they wouldn’t run into trouble immediately, it meant that this incident would start from the mid-to-late stages of the competition. Naturally, he wasn’t worried at all right now. Su Bei had faced so many crises already; his principle was to plan ahead and deal with problems as they arose. As for being timid and overly cautious before the battle even began—that had absolutely nothing to do with him.

“Then I won’t go out either.” Si Zhaohua sat by the window. “I wonder how strong the other countries are this year. I checked before we came; our academy got a great result of second place last time. The first place went to the Afei Nation.”

“Afei Nation?” Su Bei was very surprised by this answer. “Wu Mingbai’s…?”

If he recalled correctly, that country wasn’t exactly a powerhouse of abilities. For them to take first place in the World Competition, was his information wrong, or did a dark horse emerge last year?

“Yes.” Si Zhaohua nodded. “I watched the final match recording. They cleverly created a five-person combination skill. Five earth-element summoning-type abilities, and they directly summoned that guardian deity. The butler said many people felt it was an unfair victory at the time.”

It was more than an unfair victory; it was pure cheating! But Su Bei had to admit, being able to cheat within the rules was a skill in itself. While it was a bit unfair, where in the world is there absolute fairness?

After a brief moment of surprise, he suddenly smiled. “Do you think they’ll use the same move again this year?”

Without needing to think, Si Zhaohua answered immediately, “Of course they will.”

“Then they’re finished.” Su Bei stated conclusively.

First of all, Si Zhaohua’s judgment was definitely correct. After mastering the method to execute this skill, finding five earth-element summoning-type ability users wasn’t difficult. Such a powerful skill had led them directly to the first-place throne last year; there was no reason for them to give it up this year.

But as the saying goes, their greatest strength could also be their greatest weakness. They were very likely to fall at an unexpected hurdle because of this skill.

Now that the skill was known, finding a weakness was quite easy. The guardian deity might truly be invincible, but what if you just prevent it from being summoned in the first place?

A summoning ritual that requires five people can be broken by simply taking out one person in advance. Alternatively, one could seize the opportunity to release some interruption-type abilities to break the casting, or engage them in individual combat to prevent the five from gathering.

There was more than one method. Once they used this skill, it would surely be countered. With their trump card countered, these opponents would be no cause for concern. In other words, as long as they used the summoning, they would fail, and Si Zhaohua had just said that they definitely wouldn’t give up this skill.

Hearing him say this, Si Zhaohua was a bit puzzled, but he quickly understood his meaning. That’s right, the Afei Nation was just a small country. It was already a feat to win first place once through surprise. If they tried to use the same method again, failure was inevitable.

When relaxed, Si Zhaohua’s thoughts tended to wander. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said with a smile, “It’s a good thing Mingbai doesn’t have to play. Otherwise, he’d be in trouble when he… goes back home.”

This time, it was Su Bei’s turn to be confused. He thought about it for a long time but still couldn’t figure it out. “Why?”

It was rare for there to be something he didn’t know. Si Zhaohua smiled smugly. “So there are things you don’t know, huh?”

He was being sarcastic. Su Bei smiled back. “Of course. For example, I still don’t know when your next bout of bad luck will be.”

Sensing the threat, Si Zhaohua immediately straightened his expression and explained, “The Afei Nation’s team suffers a major defeat, yet Wu Mingbai, as a prince of the Afei Nation, represents another country’s team and wins. When he returns to his country, not only will it cause public dissatisfaction, but it will also arouse the vigilance of the other royal heirs.”

That was indeed the case. Su Bei immediately understood what he meant. If Wu Mingbai were just an ordinary, long-lost prince, he wouldn’t attract the vigilance of the other heirs. Even a fool would know that even if the king wanted to compensate him, he couldn’t possibly use the throne as compensation. After all, Wu Mingbai had neither a sense of belonging to the Afei Nation nor sufficient strength.

But when he possessed that strength, as a long-lost and outstanding prince, coupled with the guilt of the king and queen, he would then have a certain qualification to contend for the throne.

Because he thought Wu Mingbai wouldn’t get a chance to play, Si Zhaohua was just speaking casually. But Su Bei was truly starting to ponder this issue.

He knew Wu Mingbai would definitely have to play, and afterward, they would all go to the Afei Nation for an instance. In that case, what Si Zhaohua had just said was very likely the crisis they would face in the next instance.

If the royal heirs of the Afei Nation considered Wu Mingbai a threat, how would they treat them? It didn’t take a genius to know they would certainly try to nip the threat in the bud. Being hunted down by royal heirs in a foreign country—Su Bei couldn’t even imagine how thrilling that would be.

He couldn’t help but sigh. If it weren’t for the allure of the guardian deity, he might have just given up on this trip. Compared to stirring up trouble at home, stirring up trouble abroad was bound to be much more dangerous.

Just as Su Bei had expected, no accidents occurred over the next two days. There were, however, some verbal squabbles. Young people are proud and arrogant, and they were opponents who had yet to compete. Staying in the same hotel, it was easy for conflicts to arise when they met.

Of course, this conflict had nothing to do with Su Bei; he wasn’t even present when it happened. He only learned what had happened later from Jiang Tianming.

Simply put, they ran into their academy’s opponents from the previous year. The other side started with trash talk, and their side naturally couldn’t back down. Neither side would yield to the other, they exchanged a few barbs, and almost started a fight. In the end, the teachers from both sides arrived in time to stop the farce.

Besides this incident, there was another small surprise: they actually saw Elvis! Elvis was a student from Alpha Ability Academy, and they had some interactions with him when they were exchange students there. They never expected to see him here.

Not just him, but Tiffany, the girl with the [Vampire] ability, was also here.

Meeting old acquaintances in a foreign land is always a happy occasion. Although they were opponents, the few who knew each other still had a private meal together before the competition.

“It’s been a long time. I didn’t expect to run into you guys here. I still remember we said we might meet at the World Competition, and it actually came true.” While waiting for the food, Si Zhaohua started with some pleasantries, then asked about a topic he was interested in. “Is your academy’s main team or sub team here this time?”

“Sub team.” Elvis didn’t mind answering this question, though he was clearly dissatisfied that his own school was only the sub team. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have just arrived today.”

Yesterday was the elimination round for the sub teams, but it wasn’t at this venue; it was at another, smaller one. The competition lasted all day, and you could leave right after you were done.

Speaking of this, everyone became curious. Although Qi Huang didn’t know Elvis, her outgoing personality allowed her to ask directly, “What did you guys compete in during the qualifying rounds yesterday?”

Elvis glanced at her, then answered succinctly, “One team battle.”

The format of the qualifying rounds was that the host would randomly draw numbers, matching up opponents. Two teams with the same number would go on stage to compete. The winner advanced, the loser left. Very simple and brutal.

Obviously, Elvis’s group was the winning one.

“So are you a main or substitute member of the sub team?” Qi Huang asked curiously. From the fact that Su Bei’s group knew him, one could guess that Elvis was also a first-year student. First-years normally wouldn’t become main team members, but from his attitude just now, it seemed like he had personally competed. Otherwise, why would he be so righteously disdainful of his own school?

As expected, Elvis replied as if it were a matter of course, “Main team, of course.”

Lan Subing whispered an explanation to Qi Huang from the side, “His ability is [Hourglass of Time].”

At these words, Qi Huang instantly understood. A time-system ability. No wonder he was so arrogant.

Unlike Su Bei’s destiny-system, which was often one of two extremes—either extremely strong or extremely weak—the time-system had almost no weak users. Its lower limit was extremely high, and so was its upper limit.

After answering her question, Elvis looked at the others, mainly at Su Bei and Jiang Tianming, who had defeated him. “My ability has improved a lot this semester. You better not get eliminated before you face me, or I’ll be very disappointed.”

“We should be the ones saying that to you.” Jiang Tianming retorted without hesitation, but he wasn’t angry; instead, he was smiling. After spending that month together, they all knew Elvis was a classic tsundere. He was clearly just saying that because he didn’t want them to be eliminated too early.

Getting his reply, Elvis turned to the silent Su Bei. “You’re not talking. Do you think you can’t beat me now?”

“Why do I feel like you’re even more annoying than before?” Su Bei asked, amused. “And I’m telling you, it’s one thing for him not to know, but do the rest of you not know we’re on the substitute team? What damn field are we going to get on!”

“You’re substitutes?” Elvis raised an eyebrow in surprise. A flash of concern crossed his eyes, but his words remained sharp. “Wow, don’t tell me you’re being ostracized at your own school?”

Jiang Tianming had only just remembered this as well. He coughed and explained patiently, “In our academy, first-years can only be substitutes. Besides, the main team members are all very strong. We probably won’t get a chance to play.”

Although they didn’t know what the main team members’ abilities were capable of, from the teachers’ demeanor, it was clear that they were still stronger than them.

That was normal. They were about to graduate from their third year and were all S-Class members. If they were weaker than first-years, Su Bei could only say that the protagonist’s halo was too powerful, and that the protagonist’s entire generation were geniuses.

However, this kind of trope was more common in novels and relatively rare in straightforward comics. Especially in shonen action manga, where the seniors were usually very strong, and there were always successors, with challenges everywhere.

“Then just wait and watch us defeat your academy’s main team!” Elvis said with great confidence; he was always this confident in his own strength. “I won’t be comforting you then.”

But after he turned his head, some of the confidence on his face faded. He had experienced how strong Su Bei and his group were before. Although, as he himself had said, he had improved a lot during this time, Jiang Tianming and the others weren’t the type to rest on their laurels. Their strength had certainly improved over the past six months as well.

Even they felt they couldn’t compare to their own main team. Just how strong must the main team of Endless Ability Academy be?

On the day of the competition, Jiang Tianming and the others, as substitutes, sat in the contestants’ area very close to the arena. Since many countries were participating in this World Competition, it was impossible to prepare a private room for each country, so everyone sat together in the contestants’ seats.

The spectator stands were densely packed with people. Only at times like these could they feel that Ability users weren’t actually that rare.

Most of these spectators were from Sessbia. After all, the competition was being held in their home country, so the local Ability users naturally came to show their support. Besides, Sessbia was a large country with a considerable number of Ability users.