Chapter 285

I wonder how strong the two teams from the Sessbia Nation are. Su Bei was genuinely worried that if they weren’t strong enough and were eliminated quickly, no one would watch the subsequent matches.

However, quite a few of their countrymen could be seen in the audience. Following Wu Jin’s gaze, Su Bei even spotted Wu Di, the principal of Endless Ability Academy, and their homeroom teacher, Meng Huai. They had actually come to attend the opening ceremony as well!

As it was the World Competition, the opening ceremony was certainly not going to be as simple as the Tri-School Competition back home. In fact, although today was technically the first day of the competition, there were no official matches. It was purely a welcome performance.

An enormous illusion cast by an Illusion-type Ability user unfolded above the venue, depicting a battle between two powerful Ability users. After treating everyone to a visual feast, various acrobatic performances began.

“Why do we have to sit here and watch performances?” Zhang Sheng asked out of sheer boredom during the intermission. “Can we go back early?”

“Exactly, exactly. It’s not like we’re going on stage,” Mu Yunfan nodded affirmatively. “What’s the point of an opening ceremony without my unparalleled grace and style?”

The group: “…”

They were starting to regret it. They would rather stay here and watch the boring opening ceremony than give him a chance to boast like this. The ceremony was just dull, but Mu Yunfan was nauseating!

“Amitabha, this too is a form of cultivation,” He Shang said, closing his eyes with his palms pressed together and silently began reciting a mantra of serenity.

Wei Yuexi let out a dry heave, then immediately grabbed Feng Manman’s arm. “Manman, look at him!”

Feng Manman, upon whom high hopes were placed, did not disappoint. She cast a faint glance at their unreliable student council president and asked, half-threateningly and half-seriously, “Should I go ask the organizers if they can broadcast your ‘heroic posture’ then?”

“No need, no need,” Mu Yunfan, knowing Feng Manman was fully capable of doing such a shameless thing, was so scared he shook his head repeatedly. It wasn’t that he wanted to be so thoroughly controlled, but who could blame him when Feng Manman was sometimes even more of a social beast than he was?

Amidst Wei Yuexi’s stifled laughter, Teacher Li, who was sitting beside them, finally spoke up and refused, “You may not. You are representing Endless Ability Academy right now. Whoever embarrasses the academy on the outside, I will make them lose face inside the academy.”

Her threat was very effective, and the group immediately stopped complaining. Heaven knew how she would make them lose face, and no one wanted to experience it firsthand.

“Wu Mingbai… Brother Wang, is that you?” Just as the group was remarking on how bizarre the last act of a performer juggling his own detached head was, a group of people wound their way through the crowd and approached them.

The brown-haired boy in the lead asked Wu Mingbai in broken Mandarin.

Those who knew about Wu Mingbai’s background immediately knew who he was. He had to be one of the princes of the Afei Nation.

“You are…?” Wu Mingbai stood up. Although he had guessed the other party’s identity, he wasn’t sure of his specific name.

The tall, brown-haired boy smiled and extended a hand to introduce himself. “My name is Andrew. I am the first prince of the Afei Nation. Oh, I should be the second prince now. You are one year older than me.”

At first glance, this statement seemed fine, but it didn’t hold up to scrutiny. A little thought would reveal the hidden hostility.

It was impossible that Andrew had decided to speak with Wu Mingbai on a whim and came over immediately. He must have prepared in advance, bringing his entourage over after careful consideration. After all, as a prince, it was impossible that he hadn’t investigated Wu Mingbai beforehand, so he naturally would have known that Wu Mingbai was participating in this World Competition.

And since it was premeditated, how could he have misspoken?

The only possibility was that he intentionally presented himself as the first prince to try and intimidate Wu Mingbai.

Having been an orphan who had struggled in society for so many years, Wu Mingbai was no fool. How could he not understand the hidden malice? The initial surprised look on his face instantly faded, replaced by a brilliant smile. “So it’s you, little brother. Father is truly good to you, even arranging for you to be on the team.”

Hearing this, Andrew’s face darkened several shades. In one short sentence, Wu Mingbai had mocked two things: first, his status as the “little brother,” and second, his status as someone who got in through connections.

Although both points were true, as a prince, it had been a long time since anyone dared to state such facts to Andrew’s face. He secretly grit his teeth, his expression unchanging as he first defended himself, “Father King does indeed treat us all very well, but he would not interfere with the academy’s arrangements.”

The implication was that he had earned his position entirely on his own merit, not through back channels. However, only they themselves knew the truth of the matter.

Wu Mingbai deliberately put on a convinced expression. “Alright, alright, I believe you.”

The depth of Chinese culture is profound. Although he said he believed him, the passive-aggressive tone was practically bursting off the screen. Andrew frowned as he listened, feeling that something was off. Wu Mingbai had clearly said he believed him, so why did he feel so uneasy?

However, he couldn’t be bothered to dwell on it. His main purpose in coming over was to intimidate Wu Mingbai and make him give up any thought of competing with him after returning home.

Seeing the other party’s foolish demeanor and his apparent willingness to back down, Andrew felt that Wu Mingbai was no competition for him at all, and his attitude naturally softened. “We are all looking forward to your arrival. After we return to the country, Father and I will host a grand banquet for you to announce your identity. If there’s anything you don’t understand then, you can ask me. I will be sure to tell you everything I know.”

With Wu Mingbai posing no competitive threat, Andrew was quite willing to befriend him. An elder brother who had his parents’ guilt and no power to threaten him would be a great help to his own succession if he was willing to stand on his side.

Before he came, his own advisor had specifically reminded him that if he found Wu Mingbai to be no threat, he should do his best to build a good relationship with him.

What Andrew failed to notice, however, was that what he considered to be “amiable and approachable” was actually filled with a sense of condescension. It reeked of his own superiority, implying he had more power and knew more.

Of course, Wu Mingbai wasn’t going to be won over. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he maintained his silly facade and nodded vigorously. “I understand, you’re so nice, little brother! Since you know everything, why don’t you tell me about the etiquette of the Afei Nation right now!”

Upon hearing this, a troubled look appeared on Andrew’s face. “But the next performance is about to…”

“You’re not willing?” Wu Mingbai didn’t give him a chance to finish, immediately putting on a disappointed expression. “I thought you wanted to spend more time with me too.”

“Of course I do!” Andrew knew he couldn’t tell the truth. Countless eyes were on him right now. If he showed any sign of brushing Wu Mingbai off, the news would be on his Father King’s and his “good” younger brothers’ desks within the hour.

So even though he didn’t want to stay, he could only bite the bullet and begin explaining some of the simple social rules of the Afei Nation to Wu Mingbai.

It wasn’t until the performance started that Wu Mingbai feigned reluctance and let him go back. The ever-image-conscious Andrew could only maintain a smile and, in a very undignified manner, apologize in a low voice as he squeezed back through the crowd in front of everyone.

After they left, the smile on Wu Mingbai’s face didn’t fade. He looked like someone who had just had a normal reunion with a long-lost relative.

However, let alone Jiang Tianming and the others who knew the inside story, even Feng Manman who had only overheard their conversation wouldn’t believe that these two were on good terms. Although they didn’t fully understand the verbal sparring, everyone had clearly seen Wu Mingbai use his feigned innocence to put Andrew in a difficult position.

Jiang Tianming comforted him in a low voice, “Don’t be angry. Worst case, just don’t go to the Afei Nation. So what if he doesn’t welcome you? Your parents will definitely welcome you, otherwise he wouldn’t be so wary.”

Lan Subing also leaned over and said indignantly, “What an annoying guy. Mingbai, just give the word, and Ah Jiang and I will go secretly stuff him in a sack!”

“I support this!” Jiang Tianming nodded in agreement.

Seeing the two of them, Wu Mingbai couldn’t help but laugh, this time with genuine amusement in his eyes. He teased, “If you two stuff him in a sack, I’ll probably have to bail you out of a prison in the Afei Nation.”

The warm-hearted Qi Huang also joined the discussion, “If you’re going to stuff someone in a sack, don’t forget to include me. I can’t stand arrogant people!”

“Actually, you too…” Su Bei deliberately trailed off.

Being implicitly called out, Qi Huang’s composure shattered. “Su Bei, what do you mean by that? Are you looking for a fight? And Si Zhaohua, what are you smiling about over there!”

Following her words, Su Bei’s gaze fell on Si Zhaohua, and he said earnestly, “Actually, you too…”

This time it was Qi Huang’s turn to snicker, and Si Zhaohua’s composure to break.

After watching the rest of the opening ceremony amidst laughter and banter, it was time to announce the competition’s format.

The World Competition was divided into two stages. The first stage was individual battles between two academies. A team victory earned 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss 0 points.

Unlike the individual battles in the Tri-School Competition, one person was not allowed to sweep an entire team this time. Each Ability user could only take the stage once, and regardless of victory or defeat, they had to step down for the next contestant.

This was to prevent the extreme situation of an academy focusing solely on training one student who was perfectly suited for individual battles. The Ability World organized the World Competition to encourage the comprehensive development and progress of Ability users, not to push them to extremes.

An accumulation of three losses was considered a temporary elimination. If the final round ended in a draw, the current scores would determine which team won.

After the individual battles concluded, all teams with scores below the halfway mark would be eliminated. This meant the first round would cut the number of competing teams in half.

It was obvious this would be a massive undertaking, likely taking at least three or four days even if they rushed. Therefore, the organizers didn’t announce the format for the remaining competition, leaving it as a suspenseful reveal for after the first stage was over.

Next was the drawing for tomorrow’s first match. Endless Ability Academy had good luck, drawing a little-known academy from a small country. It looked like they could easily secure a win in the first match.

All the powerful teams and academies to watch out for were on a list Endless Ability Academy had prepared in advance. As long as the drawn team wasn’t on that list, they were generally nothing to fear.

In fact, this was a very cautious approach on their part. After all, Endless Ability Academy had achieved the impressive rank of second place in the previous competition. If they had been the slightest bit arrogant, they might have only researched the top three academies from last time. Why would they have made so many preparations?

Back at the hotel, Teacher Li gathered everyone in her room to go over some basic information about the competition. “A total of one hundred and twenty-six countries are participating in this World Competition, which means one hundred and eighty-nine teams. Among the one hundred and twenty-six main teams, only a few are worth noting. I’ve already sent the list to your emails. As for the sub-teams, since they also have an elimination system, the academy will start researching them now. We should have a file for you by tomorrow.”

The “you” she referred to was the main five-person team, as they were the ones who would actually be competing. After instructing them, Teacher Li didn’t show favoritism and turned to Su Bei and the others. “As for the rest of you, don’t be disheartened. In the early stages, if I judge the opponent to be of low risk, I may give you a chance to compete as well.”

That night, Su Bei heard the notification sound from the Manga Consciousness. The comic had updated.

He didn’t need to think to know that this chapter probably had little to do with him. Not just him, but likely not much to do with the main protagonist group either.

Although not all the characters appearing in this World Competition arc were new, they certainly hadn’t had much screen time before, so this chapter was dedicated to introducing them. Combined with his own judgment of the recent events, the screen time for Mu Yunfan and the others was bound to be greater than that of the protagonist group.

As expected, most of this chapter’s plot revolved around the interactions between the senior students. However, perhaps to maintain suspense, the specific functions of their abilities were not revealed. Instead, each of them was given something akin to a character card, which was quite interesting.

In the entire chapter, there were only two plot points useful to Su Bei. One was the conversation between the first prince, Andrew, and his advisor. That guy’s deliberate visit today was indeed to intimidate Wu Mingbai, only to be deftly outmaneuvered. It was uncertain if the intimidation was successful, but he had definitely embarrassed himself.

When discussing the matter with his advisor in his room that night, Andrew’s impression of Wu Mingbai was that of a brainless idiot. He believed Wu Mingbai couldn’t understand subtleties or read people, and was thus not a threat.

Little did he know that the term “brainless idiot” was a perfect description of himself. It was a wonder he could genuinely believe that everything Wu Mingbai did was unintentional, without a shred of suspicion.

Su Bei sincerely felt that if Wu Mingbai saw this scene, he wouldn’t be happy at all. Instead, he would feel incredibly frustrated. What was the point of provoking someone if they didn’t even realize they were being provoked?

[The advisor, naturally, was not as foolish as Andrew. He immediately raised his doubts: “Somehow I feel that Prince Wu Mingbai’s actions weren’t unintentional.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Andrew and asked cautiously, “Could it be that he saw through your attempt to test him?”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Andrew waved his hand dismissively with confidence. “My test was very subtle. Besides, so what if he found out? Would he dare to retaliate against me?”

Actually, he’s already retaliated in a small way… the advisor grumbled internally. However, he knew Andrew was not a patient person. If he heard this, he would surely go and confront Wu Mingbai, which would just give the other princes leverage against him.

So telling the truth was out of the question. The advisor could only try to persuade him as tactfully as possible, “Since Prince Wu Mingbai poses no threat, then Your Highness can befriend him. The King and Queen will surely be very happy.”

He saw the situation clearly. Wu Mingbai would most likely not inherit the throne, and he wasn’t the type to suffer a loss. It was best to be on good terms with him; otherwise, it might have a counterproductive effect on the first prince’s succession.

“I understand.” Fortunately, although the first prince wasn’t very bright, he was someone who listened to advice. He readily agreed to the suggestion.]

Regarding this plotline, Su Bei found it hard to judge. He initially thought the first prince would be the villain of the next arc, but now it seemed he might just be the buffoon. With a brain like that, he was completely propped up by his advisor.

As for the other noteworthy plot point, it was the gathering of the Nightmare Beasts. The author didn’t provide much plot here, only three suggestive panels. The first was a panoramic view of the competition venue. The next panel was a direct view from the venue through to the Nightmare Beast World where it was located. The third panel showed countless, densely packed Nightmare Beasts converging on this location.

Seeing this, Su Bei’s expression turned grim. It seemed the Nightmare Beasts were going to cause trouble during this World Competition. It was entirely expected that they would make a move. This venue had gathered the future of almost the entire Ability World. If they could really go on a killing spree here, it would be a fatal blow to humanity. No price would be too high for this goal. After all, compared to Ability users, Nightmare Beasts were born at a much faster rate.

With so many Nightmare Beasts, it was bound to be a tough fight. Even with many powerful Ability users guarding the place, he couldn’t feel at ease. It couldn’t be helped; no matter how many powerful Ability users there were, they couldn’t compare to a single protagonist. With the protagonists here, it was destined that the Nightmare Beasts’ plot would partially succeed.

Therefore, predicting exactly when they would make their move became a crucial matter. Only by predicting it successfully could he decide for himself whether or not to participate in the upcoming incident.

On the second day, the competition officially began. As a substitute who was definitely not needed on the first day, Su Bei couldn’t care less about the results. It was a foregone conclusion that they would win. If they could somehow fumble this, all the protagonists in their academy might as well become side characters.

If this were the third season of the comic, there might be a chance, but the second season was still ongoing. What author would be foolish enough to swap out the protagonists mid-story?

He hadn’t even wanted to leave his room, but Teacher Li had dragged him out, reasoning that all students had to be present today. Of course, Teacher Li’s reasoning was sound. For the first match, to display their school’s strength, every academy would surely field their full main roster to aim for a five-to-zero victory, even without revealing their trump cards.

Although they weren’t competing, this was a good opportunity for them to gain experience. After all, whether it was Teacher Li, the senior students, or even themselves, everyone knew that, barring any accidents, they would be the ones competing in the next World Competition.

Just as Teacher Li had said, most of the matches today were spectacular. They were either one-sided crushes by vastly superior opponents or thrilling, evenly matched battles. Not a single academy made a mistake.

Su Bei had to admit, compared to yesterday’s acrobatic opening ceremony, today’s matches were far more interesting. The trip out wasn’t a waste.

“Teacher, we can compete tomorrow, right?” Watching the battles below, Qi Huang’s hands were itching, and she asked expectantly.

It wasn’t just her; Si Zhaohua and the others were also very eager. Among them all, Su Bei was probably the only one who genuinely didn’t want to go on stage. Perhaps this was why he couldn’t be part of the protagonist group.

“We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. If the opponent isn’t strong,” Teacher Li replied. Although it wasn’t a direct agreement, it was as good as one.

The group was instantly overjoyed and began discussing in low voices who would go first tomorrow.

Su Bei, however, looked at Teacher Li and said with a straight face, “Teacher, I feel my ability shouldn’t be exposed too early. So, although I’m also eager to compete, for the sake of the bigger picture, it’s not necessary to send me unless it’s absolutely required.”

Taken at face value, it sounded like Su Bei was a good kid with a strong sense of the bigger picture, willing to make sacrifices. But since the person saying this was Su Bei, the situation was completely different. His intentions were as plain as the nose on his face.

Even Teacher Li, who wasn’t familiar with him, wasn’t fooled. “Your consideration is very thoughtful, but unnecessary. It will be two years before you become the main force. There’s no need for you to hide anything now.”

Wu Mingbai, committed to foiling his wish, immediately chimed in, “Teacher is right. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for the bigger picture. We all know how much you want to compete, and I’m sure Teacher will fulfill this wish of yours.”

Meeting his pleading brown eyes, Teacher Li pushed up her glasses and nodded with a smile. “Mm, rest assured.”

A world where only Su Bei gets hurt was born. He clutched his chest and said through gritted teeth, “I really can’t thank you guys enough.”

“Don’t mention it!” Wu Mingbai said cheerfully.

Su Bei felt he had learned the essence of Mo Xiaotian. But Mo Xiaotian only made people feel frustrated, whereas this guy just made you want to fight him.

The matches in the venue didn’t proceed one by one, as that would be too inefficient. They used barrier-type abilities to divide the field into several sections, allowing up to six matches to take place simultaneously. They could have had more, but the Sessbia Nation clearly wanted the Ability users’ battles to be more spectacular, so they made the arenas quite large.

Skydome Ability Academy had good luck and got to compete in the first few rounds. As teams from the same country, although they had competed against each other before, they were very united when abroad, all hoping for each other’s victory.

It was worth mentioning that to avoid the thrilling scenario of teams from the same country facing off too early, the Sessbia Nation had promised that no teams from the same country would be matched against each other in the first six rounds.

Si Zhaohua looked at Huangfu Mingzhe standing with his team and suddenly dropped a piece of news: “Huangfu Mingzhe is one of Skydome Ability Academy’s main team members.”

Skydome Ability Academy’s team selection was based entirely on the principle that the strong are revered; there was no rule preventing first-years from being on the main team. From the perspective of a second or third-year, Su Bei felt that Endless Ability Academy’s rules were more humane. But from the perspective of a first-year, he felt that Skydome Ability Academy’s rules were more reasonable.

But if he had to say, Endless Ability Academy’s rules were more mainstream-friendly. After all, it was the protagonist group’s team, a standard trope in a classic shonen manga.