Chapter 289

Time flew, and soon it was the third day of the competition. When Su Bei learned that the first match of the day was against the academy Elvis belonged to, his interest was immediately piqued.

As a supporting character with a significant amount of plot relevance, a match involving Elvis was unlikely to be a simple affair.

“What are you doing here today?” Zhang Sheng asked, surprised to see him.

Su Bei found a seat and gave a casual excuse, “There’s an acquaintance here today.”

“An acquaintance?” Feng Manman, who was being pestered by Mu Yunfan nearby, suddenly remembered something. “It’s Alpha Ability Academy, right? I remember you all went there for an exchange program.”

Hearing that she knew, Si Zhaohua asked in surprise, “You remember that, President?”

“I was in charge of assisting with the arrangements at the time. Besides, an exchange student program isn’t exactly a small matter at the academy,” Feng Manman replied calmly.

While those exchange students hadn’t caused as much trouble at Alpha Ability Academy as Su Bei and his group, they were still powerful individuals. It was hard for the students at the academy not to pay attention to them. And as the secretary-general of the student council, Feng Manman, with her meticulous nature, naturally had a deep impression of the matter.

Si Zhaohua nodded thoughtfully. He also had aspirations of becoming the student council president, so he naturally had to learn from his senior: “Senior, what do you think my chances of success are if I apply to be the secretary?”

The new student council elections would begin in the second week of the new semester. The presidency was usually inherited by the secretary-general, while all other positions would be reshuffled.

“It depends on who your competitors are.” Feng Manman was not stingy with her guidance. She first glanced at Qi Huang, who was clearly going to be a competitor for Si Zhaohua. “Grades, reputation, and actual achievements are all important criteria for this position. Unless you excel in one area to the point of overwhelming all other rivals, it will be a comprehensive evaluation of all three aspects to select the most suitable secretary-general.”

She had won the election through her overwhelming reputation and achievements. Even if her ability wasn’t as strong, the fact that she had played a crucial role in a battle as a first-year, a healing-type ability user who had saved countless lives, made her the undisputed best candidate for the next president.

“I understand…” It was Qi Huang who answered first, muttering to herself as if deep in thought. Qi Huang knew very well that she was still a little behind Si Zhaohua. So, if she wanted to become the student council secretary-general, she needed to find another path. Feng Manman’s words had just given her some inspiration.

“Actually, there’s another way,” Mu Yunfan suddenly interjected.

Although Qi Huang already expected he wouldn’t suggest anything serious, she couldn’t help but ask, “What way?”

Mu Yunfan flipped his hair, his confidence practically overflowing. “Of course, it’s to make all the students fall in love with—mmph mmmph…”

Before he could finish, Feng Manman quickly stood up and covered his mouth, simultaneously pressing the back of his head and slamming his face onto the table. Then she explained helplessly to the others, “My apologies, everyone. The former president sometimes loses his mind.”

“Understood, understood.” Everyone nodded with awkward smiles, ignoring the struggling Mu Yunfan.

Jiang Tianming and the others, who had little interest in such matters, were more focused on the competition itself. Jiang Tianming asked expectantly, “Teacher, for the match against Elvis, can I go up? We were classmates with him during the exchange program, so we have a decent understanding of his ability.”

At this, Si Zhaohua also became interested. “Let me fight him, Teacher. We fought before, and it was a draw. I think I can beat him now.”

Lan Subing also spoke up softly, “I can go too.”

Seeing them all eager to get on stage, Wu Mingbai, who had never met Elvis, joined in the excitement. “I haven’t fought him yet. Let me give it a try, Teacher!”

This Elvis was also a first-year, so it was perfectly fine for a first-year to compete. Teacher Li swept her gaze over the group, her eyes finally landing on Su Bei. Having learned her lesson from last time, Su Bei decisively refused before she could even speak, “We agreed I wouldn’t have to participate in the individual matches.”

It was indeed not right to go back on a promise. Teacher Li regretfully withdrew her gaze. “Then you can decide with rock-paper-scissors.”

The final winner was Wu Mingbai. His path, which had never crossed with Elvis’s, now intersected here. This made Su Bei very certain that Elvis would not be spared from the upcoming crisis. The closer you get to the protagonist group, the unluckier you become—that’s how manga tropes work.

Wu Mingbai’s battle with Elvis was brilliant. Normally, Elvis’s time-type ability, much like Su Bei’s Destiny-type, was a counter to everything. But Wu Mingbai was no pushover. After learning about Elvis’s ability from Jiang Tianming and the others, he simultaneously caused the ground to collapse, created collapsing walls, and dropped boulders from the sky, attempting to use multi-pronged attacks to overwhelm Elvis’s ability, hoping to find a flaw and defeat him in one fell swoop.

Jiang Tianming had used this method to defeat Elvis before, and now Wu Mingbai was following his advice.

However, the Elvis of today was not the Elvis of the past. Having been defeated by this method once, he would naturally not make the same mistake again.

“He really has improved a lot.” Seeing Elvis’s different tactics on the stage, the few who were familiar with him became interested and sat up to observe carefully.

He directly altered the flow of time on the stage, and in two different ways. The flow of time in the space where Wu Mingbai was located was extremely slow, to the point that even his skill activation was sluggish. Meanwhile, the flow of time on Elvis’s side was extremely fast, and both his mental energy recovery rate and his movements were much quicker.

But if it were just that, Su Bei and the others wouldn’t have been so astonished. What truly surprised them was that while Wu Mingbai’s speed slowed, all the various abilities he unleashed were rewound by time and retracted. Similarly, while Elvis’s speed increased, the wounds on his body were also healing rapidly.

In other words, Elvis was using four abilities simultaneously: accelerating his own time flow, slowing Wu Mingbai’s time flow, and applying a time-reversal effect to both of them. Using his mind for four purposes at once—he had truly mastered the [Hourglass of Time].

Without a doubt, compared to the Elvis they had met six months ago, the current one was immeasurably stronger. Even Su Bei wasn’t confident he could defeat the current Elvis.

Forget about the first-years; even the second and third-year seniors showed grave expressions after seeing Elvis’s performance. Wei Yuexi asked in disbelief, “You guys defeated him before? Or at least managed a draw?”

If they really had that kind of strength, Wei Yuexi felt she could abdicate her position; there were more suitable candidates for the main team.

“He wasn’t this strong before,” Si Zhaohua said with a frown. “He told us he had improved a lot, but we didn’t pay it much mind. Looking at it now…”

Now, it seemed Elvis hadn’t just improved a lot; he had undergone a complete transformation. If the others had grown by a few degrees, then he had experienced a qualitative leap.

Lan Subing nodded repeatedly in agreement. “He really has improved so much.”

After speaking, she looked worriedly at the stage. Jiang Tianming voiced her thoughts, “Mingbai is in danger.”

Against the old Elvis, knowing his strategy made it not too difficult to counter him. But the current Elvis was just a bit too strong. The stacking of so many time buffs was immensely powerful. Didn’t they see how serious the seniors had become?

Just as everyone feared, Wu Mingbai was indeed helpless against the current Elvis. Except for some very special abilities, the vast majority of abilities were countered by the time type. Overwhelmed by sheer power, Wu Mingbai was quickly defeated.

He had a sour look on his face when he came off the stage. While he could calmly accept the result of his failure, he was still unhappy, especially when his teammates had all succeeded against their opponents while he was the only one who had failed.

As soon as he returned, Wu Mingbai asked the same question as Wei Yuexi, “You all defeated him before?”

Jiang Tianming repeated Si Zhaohua’s earlier explanation, then sighed helplessly and said self-deprecatingly, “I guess we caught him at a good time.”

“If we fought him now, I don’t think we could win either,” Lan Subing said, strongly agreeing with… Lan Subing’s words. “I don’t know what kind of hormones he’s been taking to improve so fast.”

She then looked at Su Bei. “Su Bei, can you still beat him? I remember you and A-Jiang were the only ones who won last time, right?”

“Not necessarily,” Su Bei answered truthfully, not bothering to maintain his persona by claiming he would definitely win. If it were the old him facing the current Elvis, he would certainly lose. In the time it would take for his fate alteration to take effect, Elvis could have already adjusted the time several times over.

But if he fought Elvis now, it would come down to who was faster. If he was faster, he could alter fate and follow up with an instant-cast skill, and even if Elvis rewound time, it would be useless. But if Elvis was faster and applied a time-reversal debuff to himself first, then Su Bei would be out of options.

Jiang Tianming and the others weren’t surprised by his answer. Although they felt Elvis was a bit too overpowered now, they didn’t think Su Bei would lose.

“Even Su Bei isn’t certain he’ll win. If any of us went up, it would probably be the same outcome,” Jiang Tianming said with feigned emotion, actually trying to comfort Wu Mingbai.

Wu Mingbai managed a weak smile. “It’s fine. My skills were inferior. I should also start thinking about how to get stronger.”

Although he knew what Jiang Tianming and the others said wasn’t false—this Elvis had indeed improved greatly since they last met him—a loss was a loss. Moreover, this defeat did make him reflect on his own situation.

Compared to Jiang Tianming, who had gained more abilities, and Lan Subing, with her top-tier ability, he needed to find a way to increase his strength. Otherwise, Wu Mingbai feared he would eventually be left behind by his friends.

Setting aside his inner turmoil for now, after Wu Mingbai’s defeat, it was finally Mu Yunfan and the others’ turn to take the stage.

Alpha Ability Academy was not one of those ordinary schools they had faced before. For them to represent a country as a candidate team, their strength was definitely not to be underestimated.

Taking this opportunity, Su Bei and the others finally learned what the abilities of Mu Yunfan and his teammates were.

Mu Yunfan’s own [Hope’s Light] could materialize hope. This materialized ‘hope’ could serve as a magical attack, be formed into various weapons, or even become a protective shield to block damage. It was a completely versatile ability.

Most importantly, [Hope’s Light] was currently the only known ability that did not consume Mental Energy; it consumed ‘hope’. As long as Mu Yunfan held onto hope, he could use his ability indefinitely.

Furthermore, while he had his own hope, [Hope’s Light] could also absorb the hope of others, making it an ability that grew more powerful with more allies. In individual battles, its greatest strengths were its powerful endurance and versatility. But team battles were where it truly shined.

Wei Yuexi’s ability, [Arms Dealer], was self-explanatory. She could create various weapons, and the ammunition was replenished with Mental Energy, making it an ability that required a lot of it.

Because of this, Wei Yuexi was dedicated to improving her Mental Energy. As a possessor of Advanced Mental Energy, Su Bei was very sensitive to others who didn’t have it. He could feel that among all the main team members, Wei Yuexi’s Mental Energy was the most active. If he wasn’t mistaken, she should be able to reach the level of Advanced Mental Energy.

Next was He Shang’s ability, [Buddha Transformation], which was exactly as it sounded: he transformed himself into a Buddha, various kinds of Buddhas. Naturally, the Buddhas he could transform into had various abilities. Su Bei had already witnessed three or four different types.

Every time Luo Li took the stage, it would trigger a wave of gasps. After all, she was so young, only twelve years old, an age when one would normally just be starting middle school. It was only because the World Competition had no age limit, only a student status requirement, that she could even participate.

Her [Destruction] ability was also self-explanatory; it could destroy anything, including objects, abilities, and even Mental Energy.

Due to her young age, Luo Li’s development of this skill was very low. She could only rely on the ability’s basic function, equivalent to a basic attack. But even so, it was already very powerful, which was why Endless Ability Academy had boldly chosen her as one of the contestants.

Finally, there was Zhang Sheng’s [Erudition]. Based on Feng Manman’s performance, Su Bei had previously guessed that the main team did not lack endurance, and he was right. The reason they didn’t lack endurance was Zhang Sheng.

One of the functions of [Erudition] was to store Mental Energy, with a storage limit of twice his own maximum.

And the offensive power of this ability relied on defeating enemies with knowledge, such as making letters rain from the sky, causing principles of physics to manifest instantly, or materializing things from poems…

In short, it was a very flexible ability that also tested the user’s imagination and knowledge reserves. It was worth noting that despite Zhang Sheng’s usual carefree demeanor, he was actually the top student in every cultural exam for the third year. Su Bei only learned this after asking Feng Manman. The top student in the second year was Feng Manman herself.

Their strength was certainly worthy of the main team. Even though their opponents from Alpha Ability Academy were not weak, they were defeated one by one. Except for Wu Mingbai’s match, they won all the remaining rounds.

“Who’s the protagonist, really?” Su Bei chuckled and muttered to himself. If only he were a year older. As long as he wasn’t in the same year as the protagonist, he could be strong and safe like these seniors.

But they weren’t exactly safe either. Su Bei was very curious as to what would prevent such powerful seniors from participating in the second stage of the competition.

After the matches with Alpha Ability Academy ended, Elvis finally walked over. It was clear he was in a good mood, not looking like someone who had just lost a team match at all. Although Alpha Ability Academy had lost, he had won. His teammates were trash; what did their problems have to do with him?

“So, how about it? With my current strength, if you guys aren’t competing next, how about a match with me?” Elvis asked directly, his gaze sweeping from Jiang Tianming to Su Bei, then glancing eagerly at Mu Yunfan and the others.

Although he really wanted to fight them, they still had matches to play and probably wouldn’t spar with him. So, Elvis chose the next best thing: defeat Su Bei and the others first to redeem himself.

“Not interested,” Su Bei refused flatly. He knew he couldn’t afford to lose. If it were before, it wouldn’t have mattered, but losing now could easily shatter his persona. So, even though he had at least a 50% chance of winning, he still chose to decline.

However, if Su Bei were willing to cheat and alter his fate before the match began, he could secure a solid victory. But if that was discovered, he could be taken out of the story entirely. The risk was too great, and he wouldn’t take it unless absolutely necessary.

“Why not?” Elvis asked, dissatisfied. “You’re not scared, are you?”

Su Bei raised an eyebrow. “I don’t fall for taunts, nor do I look for trouble.”

He then pointed to the others nearby who were clearly interested in Elvis’s proposal. “You have plenty of opponents.”

Hearing this, Elvis pursed his lips. True, he had many other potential opponents, but his main reason for coming over was to fight Su Bei and Jiang Tianming, the two who had defeated him before.

However, with Su Bei’s refusal, there was nothing he could do. He could only look at Jiang Tianming. “Then how about we go first?”

While they were getting ready to fight, Su Bei had no intention of watching and went straight back to the hotel. He was still thinking about what the Nightmare Beasts were planning next. By his calculations, the individual matches could last at most another two days. They should be making their move soon.

There were only two places where ability users frequently gathered during this competition: the competition venue and the hotel. The venue was likely dangerous, but that didn’t mean the hotel was absolutely safe.

After entering the hotel, Su Bei thought for a moment and first adjusted his luck to the maximum, then followed his intuition to the rooftop. Rooftops were always common settings for incidents in various manga and novels. If the Nightmare Beasts had really planted a surprise in the hotel, Su Bei felt it would either be on the rooftop or in the underground parking garage.

He made his way to the rooftop. With his excellent luck backing him, Su Bei wasn’t worried about encountering any danger. Although maxing out his luck wouldn’t be much use when facing certain death—at best, it might grant a slightly less painful end—it could often help him avoid many dangers before things reached that point.

The rooftop was empty, with only the cold wind whistling. Su Bei stood at the doorway in silence for a long while before he managed to tear his gaze away from the dense cluster of Destiny Compasses floating in the air. He nodded to himself. “Wrong place. I’ll be leaving now.”

With that, he turned to leave.

However, before he could go, the rooftop door suddenly slammed shut. A sharp, thin voice, like one from a doll, sounded from behind him. “Hey, you’ve discovered us, haven’t you?”

Su Bei froze on the spot for two seconds before finally turning around. “More than the fact that I’ve discovered you, I’m more curious why the organizers haven’t. Is the Sessbia government this careless?”

As he spoke, he observed the situation on the rooftop. In the time it took him to turn around, the entire rooftop had changed dramatically. The previously empty space was now filled with many Nightmare Beasts.

These were almost all Intermediate Nightmare Beasts. Only the one speaking to him, a black gourd-shaped Nightmare Beast, was an Advanced Nightmare Beast. From the looks of it, the ability to keep all these Nightmare Beasts invisible was likely provided by this Gourd Nightmare Beast. This made Su Bei lament that its color was wrong; otherwise, he would have suspected certain children’s stories were coming true.

Although his question was meant to ease the awkwardness, it was a genuine doubt in his mind. What was the Sessbia government doing, letting so many Nightmare Beasts in? If this got out, Sessbia wouldn’t be hosting any competitions for the next hundred years.

“That’s because we avoided the patrols, of course,” the Gourd Nightmare Beast said matter-of-factly. “Besides, we Nightmare Beasts aren’t easily discovered in the first place.”

It didn’t seem inclined to explain further, instead getting to the key question. “Why did you know we were here?”

Because all Advanced Nightmare Beasts shared a perspective, even though Su Bei had never met this Gourd Nightmare Beast, it was very familiar with him. Of course, not all Nightmare Beasts paid attention to this. To them, the shared perspective was like a giant, multi-screen display with countless monitors.

Nightmare Beasts didn’t have as much trouble processing information as humans, but it was still impossible for them all to absorb so much information with ease. Among them, the ones with higher Mental Energy received more information.

The Gourd Nightmare Beast’s Mental Energy was already high, and since Su Bei and his group were, in a sense, among the most frequently seen fifteen-year-old humans on the big screens, it naturally had an impression of him.

It was precisely because it knew this human wasn’t the type to wholeheartedly help humanity, and even preferred to stay out of things most of the time, that it didn’t attack immediately.

If it could be resolved peacefully, the Gourd Nightmare Beast absolutely did not want to fight. For one thing, it had managed to infiltrate this place because it had no offensive power. Not just it, but all the Intermediate Nightmare Beasts here also lacked attack power. So even though there were many of them, if they really fought Su Bei, the winner was still uncertain.

Su Bei could naturally see that the other party had no intention of attacking. A few possibilities flashed through his mind as he replied nonchalantly, “Is there anything I don’t know? I don’t want to get involved in your plan, so of course, I had to come and check things out beforehand.”

The Gourd Nightmare Beast didn’t know how much he actually knew. After conferring with the other Nightmare Beasts in its mind, it decided to give him an assurance based on his words, in exchange for him not causing trouble. “As long as you don’t participate in the competition, you won’t be affected by the Nightmare Beasts inside.”