Chapter 292

Just as he expected, Mu Yunfan and the others showed no signs of waking up by eight o’clock in the evening the next day. Unsure of what the poison was, the doctors didn’t dare to treat them rashly.

Strangely enough, they had cross-referenced many types of poison abilities but couldn’t identify the toxin in their bodies. It wasn’t until an Ability user specializing in [Ability Identification] was brought in and was also helpless that they realized Mu Yunfan and the others might not have been poisoned by an ability, but by some kind of ordinary poison.

But by the time they realized this, it was already the evening of the second day. The remaining time was certainly not enough to find the toxin and cure them, so the outcome remained unchanged.

Another event that occurred that day was that the detective did indeed find the culprit. With the aid of an ability, the investigation was highly efficient. However, magically, the final culprit identified was not the “Saint Dante Ability Academy” as they had expected, but an obscure, unknown school that had been eliminated by “Endless Ability Academy.”

The motive was certainly there. They had already lost two matches, and the one against “Endless Ability Academy” was the last straw. After being defeated 5-0, they were completely out of the running for this year’s World Competition.

But on second thought, their school wasn’t famous to begin with and had no history of even making it to the top ten in previous years. What was there to be resentful about? Besides, why only retaliate against “Endless Ability Academy”? They weren’t the only ones who had defeated them.

Furthermore, how could an obscure school bypass layers of security to openly poison them in the restaurant specially set up for Ability users in Sessbia? There must have been someone pulling the strings from behind.

The detective was also aware that this answer was likely not the truth, but to find the real truth, they would need to find the participating members of that academy. And they had already flown back to their country at noon that day. Even if they pressured their country to forcibly bring them back, it would still take some time.

The poisoning incident was temporarily at a stalemate, but the competition had to go on. At this point, Teacher Li finally gathered everyone to discuss who would be competing.

After stating the topic and seeing no one speak, Teacher Li got straight to the point: “You can decide among yourselves who will compete; I have no objections to anyone. But if you can’t decide, you can ask me to. However, if you ask me, I will directly appoint five people, and the decision will be final.”

With the main team completely wiped out, Teacher Li truly didn’t care who competed. In her heart, no matter who went, “Endless Ability Academy” wouldn’t be able to take first place this time. And as a group of first-years, all of them substitutes, no one would say anything even if their final ranking was poor.

One could say this was a safe card. A good result would be a pleasant surprise, while a bad one would cause no loss to anyone, so she naturally wasn’t worried. The reason she was willing to take on the task of selecting the members was also to prevent them from arguing.

After offering the second option, Teacher Li stood up. “I’m going to get tomorrow’s competition rules from the organizers. You can discuss it here first. I hope you’ll have a result by the time I get back so I can report it.”

With that, she turned and left, giving everyone ample space to discuss.

“…Let’s first talk about who must compete,” Jiang Tianming, having no intention of handing the choice over to the teacher, quickly took control of the situation. “Su Bei, Ah Bing, Zhaohua, these three must go. The remaining two can be chosen from the three of us. Any objections?”

The three he pointed out all had powerful abilities that were very beneficial for team battles. In fact, he himself, with multiple abilities, should have been among them, but Jiang Tianming didn’t want to put Wu Mingbai and Qi Huang in a situation where they had to choose between the two of them, so he deliberately left himself out.

However, Wu Mingbai saw through his intention at a glance and directly added him. “You have to go too. Qi Huang and I will decide between ourselves.”

Then he looked at Qi Huang. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

Qi Huang didn’t laugh at this “wise” selection method. After a moment of thought, she suddenly looked at Su Bei. “Su Bei, can you come out with me for a moment? I want to ask you something.”

Su Bei raised his eyebrows in surprise and stood up, following her out of the room. “What is it?”

“I want to ask…” Qi Huang bit her lip. “Can you prophesy whether the Nightmare Beasts will cause trouble outside during the second round of the competition?”

“They will.” Hearing this question, Su Bei answered her directly.

The Nightmare Beast army had already assembled; how could they not cause trouble? And a portion of them would definitely be causing trouble outside, there was no doubt about that.

Although he had recently signed an agreement with the Gourd Nightmare Beast not to expose this matter, Su Bei had been clever at the time. The contract only stipulated that he couldn’t reveal the Gourd Nightmare Beasts were hiding in the hotel, but it didn’t restrict him from revealing other things. And he knew far more than the Gourd Nightmare Beast thought.

Getting her answer, Qi Huang took a deep breath and nodded at him. The two of them walked back into the room together. As soon as they entered, Qi Huang announced her decision bluntly, “I’m not going. Wu Mingbai, you go.”

“Why?” Everyone looked astonished, their gazes shifting back and forth between her and Su Bei, wondering what they had just talked about that made Qi Huang actively give up the chance to compete.

She had always been looking forward to playing a role on stage. And given Qi Huang’s personality, she was definitely not the type to voluntarily give up a competition to fulfill a teammate’s wish.

“I didn’t say anything,” Su Bei shrugged, defending himself as he felt everyone’s eyes on him.

With her hands on her hips, Qi Huang said righteously, “Anyway, I don’t want to go anymore. Shouldn’t this make everyone happy? There was one extra person, so isn’t it perfect that I’m not going?”

“You really don’t want to go?” Lan Subing was still a bit incredulous, looking at her with concern.

“Yeah, I have something more important I want to do.” Qi Huang nodded seriously, her eyes showing no sign of grievance or forbearance. Everything indicated that this was her true intention.

And that was indeed the case. After getting Su Bei’s answer, Qi Huang had something she wanted to do more. She had always been a top performer among her peers, and after becoming an Ability user, her ability was also excellent. However, in the S-Class, Qi Huang had to admit that she wasn’t the best. Her ability was suppressed, and even her academic scores were suppressed.

This was a huge blow to the ever-proud Qi Huang. She desperately wanted to become the student council president of Endless Ability Academy to prove herself.

But as mentioned earlier, how could she, not being the best in any single area, possibly defeat Si Zhaohua to become the student council president? So she hadn’t held much hope for it before, just a lingering thought.

It wasn’t until Feng Manman gave her the inspiration that gaining prestige seemed to be her only option.

Participating in the second match, even if they did create a miracle and win first place, it would be a team effort. At best, they would share the credit equally, making it impossible for Qi Huang to surpass Si Zhaohua in terms of prestige.

But staying outside was different. Knowing that the Nightmare Beasts would cause trouble as they had in previous years, if she could play a significant role at this time like Senior Feng Manman had, she would have a fighting chance in the election for secretary-general.

Participating in the competition would definitely not allow her to accumulate enough prestige. Although it would be difficult to surpass a host of powerful Ability users and play a major role by staying outside to fight the Nightmare Beasts, there was at least a small chance of success.

And Qi Huang was going to bet on that one-in-ten-thousand possibility.

Seeing that she wasn’t lying, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although it would have made everyone happy if Su Bei didn’t compete, since he probably didn’t want to go anyway, the pride of youth prevented Jiang Tianming and the others from giving up on this competition. Not only did they want to participate, but they also wanted to strive for a good result!

Therefore, it was best for the strongest, Su Bei, to be on the team.

Under these circumstances, having someone voluntarily withdraw and resolve the issue without conflict was naturally for the best.

Just then, the sound of the “Manga Consciousness” notification echoed in Su Bei’s ears: “‘King of Abilities’ has been updated. Please check.”

Back in the dorm, his roommate Si Zhaohua had gone to take a shower, so Su Bei took the opportunity to open his phone and check the manga.

The manga picked up from the last chapter, logically progressing to Mu Yunfan and the others’ incident. Combined with the plot at the end of the previous chapter, anyone who wasn’t a fool could see who was behind it. Unfortunately, while readers had a god’s-eye view, the characters in the manga did not. So even if some of them could guess who the culprit was, they still needed to find evidence.

It was worth mentioning that Su Bei noticed the readers were no longer surprised by his prophecies. But that made sense; he had been making prophecies for half the manga. Wouldn’t it be strange if they were still surprised?

The following plot covered the detective’s investigation and the doctors’ treatment, all content he was already aware of. Su Bei quickly flipped through the pages, looking for anything in the corners of the manga that he didn’t know.

He soon found two things. One was the reason Qi Huang chose to stay outside. Seeing this, Su Bei had a sudden realization. So that was it. No wonder the battle-loving girl chose to give up this opportunity. Qi Huang wasn’t participating in the match in order to face the dangers outside alone.

Although Su Bei himself had no interest in being a student council president, he couldn’t help but applaud Qi Huang’s choice. To choose to stay outside and face the danger at a time like this, to fight for that 1% chance of achieving her goal, was in itself an act of great courage.

Su Bei never disliked ambitious people. Ambition was always the greatest driving force for self-improvement. As long as one didn’t resort to underhanded methods, he greatly admired any ambitious person.

Apparently, the readers thought so too.

“Wow! I’m becoming a fan of Qi Huang!”

“Ambitious girls like her are so charming!”

“Us strong women have to face difficulties head-on! I dream that Qi Huang can defeat Si Zhaohua and become the secretary-general!”

“At least she tried for her dream. Regardless of success or failure, there will be no regrets.”

“So ambitious, I love it!”

Besides this plotline, the other piece of information he didn’t know was about the Nightmare Beasts.

[On the rooftop, the Gourd Nightmare Beast asked the Brain Nightmare Beast through a shared vision: “I feel like he’s already figured it out. Should we do something?”

As it spoke, it struck a menacing pose, clearly intending to silence him by killing him.

However, the Brain Nightmare Beast was very calm. “What can we do? If you act now, you’ll definitely be discovered, and our entire plan will be ruined. Don’t act rashly. He’s not the type to meddle in other people’s business.”

“That’s true. I get the feeling that guy would enjoy watching humanity’s drama.” The Mermaid Nightmare Beast next to them nodded. It also had a deep impression of Su Bei. “It’s a good thing he was the one who found out, and not someone else.”]

Su Bei knew this part of the plot was about him, likely happening after he signed the agreement with the Gourd Nightmare Beast. He hadn’t expected the author to put this scene in the manga. It was ambiguous, not directly revealing his identity. But it also didn’t tell the readers that he had actually signed a contract with the Nightmare Beasts and was forced to help conceal their conspiracy.

Although the author didn’t directly reveal the person’s identity in the manga, many readers had already guessed.

“Who are they talking about?”

“Sounds like a human.”

“Doesn’t like to meddle, enjoys watching humanity’s drama. I think I know who it is…”

“Brother Bei, are you also confused by this?”

“So Su Bei already knows the Nightmare Beasts’ plot? But he shows no intention of saying anything!”

“He really is a guy who loves to watch a good show.”

Watching the bullet comments, Su Bei shook his head with a faint smile. He hadn’t expected to be exposed so quickly, but it was no big deal.

After finishing the manga, it was time to check the forums. This time, there was only one discussion thread related to the plot: “Are the Nightmare Beasts in this chapter talking about Su Bei?”

Although Su Bei wasn’t very interested in it, he still clicked in to check the readers’ opinions, lest the author unknowingly influenced their view of him.

《Are the Nightmare Beasts in this chapter talking about Su Bei?》

[Half a Book No.0: The Nightmare Beasts said someone already knows their plan, and it seems they even talked to that gourd-shaped Nightmare Beast from the manga. Their evaluation of this person is “won’t meddle in other people’s business” and “enjoys watching humanity’s drama.” I don’t know what you all think of these two evaluations, but I immediately thought of Su Bei.]

[No.1: It’s definitely Su Bei, no doubt about it.]

[No.2: To be fair, Su Bei always silently appears behind all sorts of conspiracies.]

[No.3: OP, you don’t need to doubt yourself.]

[No.4: I really admire Su Bei’s intelligence-gathering ability. No wonder he’s a member of the ‘Destiny’ organization.]

[No.5: Since he knew this news so early, Su Bei must have made preparations in advance, right?]

[…]

[No.38: It would be better if he was willing to reveal this matter.]

[No.39 replying to No.38:

Who says he didn’t reveal it? Didn’t he tell Qi Huang? I feel like Su Bei is the type of person who, if you don’t ask, I won’t say, but if you do ask, I might reveal some information depending on my mood.]

[No.40: Sigh, sometimes I wish someone else had heard this news, but if it were someone else, the old trickster definitely wouldn’t have arranged such a plot.]

[No.41: At least with Su Bei as a safety net, I’m really much more relieved.]

[No.42 replying to No.41:

Indeed, with Su Bei knowing this in advance, he has the ability to provide a safety net.]

[No.43: Su Bei, you have to ruin the Nightmare Beasts’ plan!]

[…]

[No.91: I’m so curious about what Su Bei actually knows. And after the Nightmare Beasts knew he knew their plan, how could they have let him go?]

[No.92 replying to No.91:

Since Su Bei dares to gather intelligence so recklessly, he must have his own trump cards.]

[No.93 replying to No.91:

Didn’t that Gourd Nightmare Beast say it? They don’t dare to kill Su Bei, fearing they’d be discovered and ruin the whole plan.]

[No.94 replying to No.93:

Exactly. In this situation, who would dare to kill someone? Once a Nightmare Beast kills someone, it will inevitably attract the attention of the Sessbia government and let humans know that the Nightmare Beasts have arrived. Whether they can stay hidden then is another question.]

[No.95: There’s a certain thrill in being so fearlessly confident.]

The direction of the forum was fine. Su Bei breathed a sigh of relief, put down his phone, and closed his eyes. The competition was tomorrow. He had no idea what kind of conspiracy the Nightmare Beasts had prepared for them. Judging by their appearance, this conspiracy was likely not a small one.

Just as he was thinking, his phone suddenly buzzed with a new message. It was from Teacher Li, and the content was the rules for the second round of this World Competition.

The rules weren’t difficult. All contestants would be deployed into an illusion. The mission was to eliminate Nightmare Beasts and all other contestants. Eliminating a person added 5 points, a low-tier Nightmare Beast added 1 point, an intermediate Nightmare Beast added 3 points, and an advanced Nightmare Beast added 10 points. It seemed the point values were determined by the difficulty of the kill. Compared to individuals, the advanced Nightmare Beasts below would be more difficult.

In addition to the tasks mentioned above, they could also complete some missions within the illusion. Completing missions didn’t add points but would provide auxiliary items. Sessbia hadn’t told them what the mission rewards were, but Su Bei estimated they would likely be items that would help them score points, such as helping them find other Nightmare Beasts or opponents.

When the last person from an opposing team was eliminated, the match would officially end. Teams would be ranked according to the total score they obtained.

It was worth mentioning that after eliminating a person, you could obtain half of their points. This half was genuinely deducted from their total score, so the cost of being eliminated was high.

The introduction of this rule gave the contestants a lot of room for strategy.

First was the issue of how a team should distribute its own points. Should all points be given to the person best at hiding, who would be solely responsible for hiding and protecting the points? Or, adhering to the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket, should the points be evenly distributed?

Secondly, when facing elimination, a contestant could also choose to hand over points to save their life. If an opponent eliminated them, they would only get half the points, but if they spared them, they could give them all their points. Sacrificing a part to save the whole was also a form of wisdom.

After sending the competition rules, Teacher Li called them back to her room, ready to hear what tactics they planned to arrange.

As the temporarily appointed captain, Jiang Tianming had already thought about related issues on the way, so he quickly answered without hesitation: “I think we can give all the points to Su Bei. He seems like the type of person who can survive until the end. Then the rest of us will stick together, focusing on eliminating Nightmare Beasts in the early stage, and then figure out how to eliminate other contestants in the later stage.”

After a year of getting along, the strength of Su Bei’s escape skills was deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds.

Teacher Li didn’t negate his idea but offered some suggestions: “Our academy was originally a top contender to win and was bound to be targeted. Now, although you’re easily underestimated because you’re a group of first-years, people will see you as soft persimmons.”

“Teacher, do you mean… we should be careful of them targeting us as easy pickings at the beginning?” Jiang Tianming didn’t quite understand her meaning and asked uncertainly.

This answer was obviously not right. Teacher Li shook her head but didn’t give him the answer directly. Instead, she continued to teach by asking a question: “If you knew there was a team of soft persimmons on the field that you could handle at any time, given the rules of this competition, what would you do with them?”

This hint was clear enough. Jiang Tianming’s eyes lit up. “I’d keep them around and kill them after they’ve fattened up!”

Let them help eliminate Nightmare Beasts in the early stage. After all, even as first-year substitutes, if they could be sent to participate in the competition, low and intermediate-tier Nightmare Beasts would certainly be no problem for them. Then, in the later stage, they could make a move on them, seizing half, or even all, of their points through threats. This was the optimal solution for the other schools.

“Exactly.” Teacher Li smiled and affirmed. “So what you need to do is maintain your image as ‘soft persimmons’.”

Regarding the overall strength of Jiang Tianming’s group among the teams participating in the second round, Teacher Li couldn’t make an accurate judgment because they had been thrust into the role, originally just there as mascots.

But she was very clear that Jiang Tianming and the others were definitely not weak, and could often produce unexpected results.

So, although Teacher Li didn’t think they could take first place, she believed they could achieve a good result, provided they weren’t targeted and were sufficiently prepared. After all, in terms of raw power, even among prodigies, first-year students were still somewhat inferior to second and third-years.

Therefore, she specifically gave this advice. If they could hold out until the later stages, they would have a hope of achieving a good result. Especially since Teacher Li was well aware that an ability like Su Bei’s was more effective when there were fewer people. If he was allowed to perform, then “Endless Ability Academy” truly had a chance of maintaining a top-ten ranking.

It wasn’t just Su Bei; Lan Subing’s ability also required fewer people. For abilities like theirs that primarily relied on Mental Energy, the fewer opponents, the better.

However, speaking of which, Teacher Li had studied some of Su Bei’s past deeds and knew that he had eliminated numerous enemies in one go several times. This was a bit beyond her understanding of abilities, and Teacher Li didn’t know how Su Bei did it. But she still insisted that fewer people were more conducive to Su Bei’s performance.

After laying out the overall plan, Teacher Li turned her attention to the individuals. She first looked at Si Zhaohua: “Your [Angel] ability allows you to fly, and I believe this must have given you an advantage in many of your past battles. But sometimes, an advantage is also a disadvantage. There are many Ability users who can fly in the World Competition, and many academies have specially prepared methods to counter flight-type abilities. Among the weapons that Senior Wei Yuexi can provide, there is a ‘signal’ jamming device that can make someone flying in the air lose their sense of direction.”

Si Zhaohua was very receptive to advice and nodded seriously. “I understand, teacher. I will try to avoid flying as much as possible.”

Although this would slightly decrease his combat power, it was better than being trapped in the air.