Chapter 302

Upon returning to the academy, Su Bei was immediately called to Meng Huai’s office. Meng Huai didn’t waste any time and got straight to the point: “Su Bei, do you have any leads on the Black Flash Organization’s involvement in the World Competition?”

Su Bei raised his eyebrows in surprise and pointed to himself. “Me? What leads could I have? I can only wish Jiang Tianming and the others good luck.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Meng Huai shook his head, pondered for a moment, and asked, “Do you know what Ye Lin told us?”

Ye Lin?

Su Bei thought about what secrets he shared with Ye Lin and quickly came to a conclusion. The only secret of his she knew was that he was a member of the ‘Destiny’ organization.

He had been wondering if Ye Lin would tell Meng Huai and Lei Ze’en. After all, she didn’t seem fiercely loyal to the Black Flash Organization, the type who wouldn’t reveal a single piece of intelligence. Besides, this information wasn’t even about the Black Flash Organization.

But even if he had guessed, Su Bei wouldn’t admit it voluntarily. What if he was wrong? Admitting it would be like exposing himself. So, he simply asked with an innocent look, “What is it?”

Seeing that he planned to feign ignorance to the end, Meng Huai had no choice but to expose him directly. “A member of the ‘Destiny’ organization. I’ve finally met one in the flesh.”

So it really was about that. Su Bei breathed a sigh of relief internally, while also finding the teacher’s words amusing. Meng Huai had met more than just him; Principal Wu Di was also a member of ‘Destiny’. If Meng Huai knew that, he’d probably have an existential crisis.

But since the other party had already pointed out his identity, there was no longer any need to hide it. He put on a look of sudden realization. “Oh, so it’s about that. But what does this have to do with the Black Flash Organization?”

Meng Huai didn’t suspect that Su Bei was the one who leaked the news about the Black Flash Organization’s involvement. Although Su Bei was involved, he was a victim, not a planner. Moreover, the Black Flash Organization hadn’t appeared in the illusion. From his perspective, Su Bei had no opportunity to obtain this information.

The main reason he had called Su Bei over was that Meng Huai wanted to learn more relevant information through the ‘Destiny’ organization. As a member, Su Bei would surely have a way to directly purchase intelligence.

“There should be other ‘Destiny’ members in the academy, right? Why not find them?” Su Bei certainly didn’t believe that he and Wu Di were the only members in the academy. As the country’s most formidable ability academy, Endless Ability Academy must have had many people recruited by the ‘Manga Consciousness’.

After all, they traveled from the future to the past to recruit talent, so they knew exactly what status these individuals would hold in the future. Except for characters involved in the main plot, whose fate couldn’t be influenced by prior arrangements, the rest were easy pickings.

That was indeed the case, but Meng Huai didn’t know who the ‘Destiny’ members in the academy were. Someone surely knew, but it wasn’t him. The only one he knew was Su Bei.

“I only know you. Don’t you want to save them?” Meng Huai didn’t give him a chance to refuse. Now that he had asked this way, if Su Bei still refused, it would genuinely affect his relationships with his classmates.

Initially, Su Bei didn’t care about this because he didn’t need popularity. But now that he did, he had to manage the delicate balance of his relationship with the protagonist group.

As a long-time manga reader, he knew very well that both the cold and aloof persona and the one who gets warmed up by the protagonist group have their own fanbases. But these two personas were incompatible. Choosing one meant losing the audience of the other.

Su Bei didn’t want to lose either type of fan, so he chose to remain aloof yet approachable. That classic ‘player’ motto was very applicable to the current situation: don’t initiate, don’t refuse. When others came to him for help, he could lend a hand, but he should avoid actively offering help as much as possible. This way, both audiences would have something to say. Even if the two groups argued, he, the subject of their debate, would be the ultimate beneficiary. A little bit of drama generates more hype, after all.

“Alright, I’ll ask.” Su Bei shrugged and took a notebook out of his Storage Ring.

The notebooks used for communication within the ‘Destiny’ organization were all standardized. Even his, the leader’s notebook, looked no different from the others on the outside.

But the inside of the notebook was another story. His had an extra backend interface where he could see all the anonymous identities. However, this was invisible to anyone who wasn’t the true owner of the notebook; they would only see a blank book.

This was also Meng Huai’s first time seeing a ‘Destiny’ organization’s exclusive item. Seeing that Su Bei didn’t seem to mind him watching, he leaned in to take a look. He could only see a blank page, while Su Bei was pointing and tapping at the notebook. He then took out a magnifying glass-like item and studied it for a long time, but unfortunately, the notebook remained blank.

In the end, he could only give up in frustration and sit to the side, waiting for Su Bei to finish.

However, Su Bei had nothing to handle. He was the mastermind behind it all. After tapping around randomly for a bit, he turned his head and asked, “I’ve made contact. What do you want to know?”

Made contact? A flash of surprise crossed Meng Huai’s eyes. He had originally just wanted Su Bei to look up related information, but Su Bei had exceeded expectations and directly contacted the person who leaked the intelligence.

This immediately made Meng Huai realize that Su Bei’s status in the ‘Destiny’ organization was likely higher than he had imagined. But that made sense. A guy with the [Destiny Gear] ability who joined the organization at a young age—how could his status possibly be low?

Thinking of this, Meng Huai felt both amused and exasperated. What kind of blessed land was this year’s first-year S-Class? It had the Saint of the Black Flash Organization and now a big shot from the ‘Destiny’ organization. When did Endless Ability Academy become so attractive that it drew all of them here?

“I want to know where the Black Flash Organization took them.” Given the opportunity to ask a question, Meng Huai naturally asked the most crucial one.

Good question. Su Bei wanted to know the answer to that too. While pretending to type out the question, he gave Meng Huai a heads-up. “I suggest you ask something that can actually be answered.”

If this question could be answered, the people from Sessbia would have found out long ago. It wouldn’t be his turn to ask.

Meng Huai obviously knew this as well; that was just an appetizer. After getting a negative response from Su Bei, he immediately asked his next question: “The information I received before was that the Black Flash Organization was conducting research. Have they gotten any results?”

In truth, Endless Ability Academy had a deep understanding of the Black Flash Organization. They weren’t just a punching bag. They had at least thoroughly researched the Black Flash Organization’s goals and knew their ultimate aim was to completely eradicate the Nightmare Beasts.

Endless Ability Academy had also figured out the purpose of their last period of seclusion: it was research directed toward that ultimate goal. If not for this, the good guys would have started making trouble while the Black Flash Organization was lying low. How could they have been allowed to conduct their research so comfortably?

The reason Meng Huai asked this seemingly unrelated question about their research was that if their research hadn’t succeeded, he believed they wouldn’t pose a fatal threat to Jiang Tianming and the others.

After all, if they hadn’t found a way to completely eradicate the Nightmare Beasts, killing these future pillars of the world would be tantamount to letting the Nightmare Beasts take over.

Conversely, if they had already figured out how to eliminate the Nightmare Beasts, then capturing these students was either for testing their method or for some other nefarious purpose. Under these circumstances, the safety of Jiang Tianming and the others could not be guaranteed. After all, no one knew what the Black Flash Organization’s true motives were.

Su Bei actually knew the answer to this question. After pretending to ask for a while, he replied, “The research failed.”

While this was bad news for humanity, it was clearly good news for Jiang Tianming and the others. Meng Huai’s heart eased. “I’ll go tell the others this news. You continue asking for related information. Let me know immediately if you find anything new.”

Back in his dorm, Su Bei opened his phone and saw a message from Teacher Li. Mu Yunfan and the others had woken up. A healing-type Ability user had specially brought over his doctor friend, an ordinary person.

The man happened to be in the right field. While chatting with his friend at home, he heard about the case and immediately recognized the symptoms as being consistent with food poisoning.

Sure enough, after an examination, it was discovered that they had indeed suffered from food poisoning, caused by consuming both saccharin and eggs. Because both items are non-toxic on their own, the ability-based diagnostics hadn’t detected any problems.

The food poisoning caused by eating eggs and saccharin together isn’t usually too severe. It was the enhancement from their abilities that caused Mu Yunfan and the others to remain unconscious for several days. Of course, Saint Dante Ability Academy wouldn’t dare to actually kill them. If that got out, their entire academy would be delisted.

But if it was just a matter of making the contestants fall unconscious and miss the match, the blame could be shifted to the supervising teacher afterward. So what if others knew the truth and despised them? Saint Dante Ability Academy already had a bad reputation; a little worse wouldn’t matter. But first place in the World Competition was a tangible benefit that determined the allocation of resources for the coming year. A bit of reputation was nothing compared to that.

They just didn’t expect that while the contestants from Endless Ability Academy were indeed knocked unconscious by their scheme, Saint Dante Ability Academy’s own main team members ended up dead, eliminated by the very backup team from Endless that was forced to take the field.

If the main team had been playing, Saint Dante Ability Academy certainly wouldn’t have chased after Mu Yunfan’s group, and thus wouldn’t have been counter-killed. Although they would have been teleported away even if they survived to the end, at least with their strength, they would have certainly lived until then. Whether they would have lived or died was still uncertain.

Their fate was sealed by their own actions. They only had themselves to blame.

The next few days were peaceful—for Su Bei, at least. For everyone else, it was one shocking development after another.

First, the news of the accident at the World Competition spread, and everyone learned that almost all the participating contestants had been wiped out. This news alone was a bolt from the blue.

Those were the top Ability users from every academy, the main force for fighting Nightmare Beasts in the coming years. For them all to be in trouble at once made everyone extremely worried about their own safety.

Immediately after, Endless Ability Academy put pressure on Saint Dante Ability Academy, listing out all the evidence of their foul play against Endless this year, and even against other teams from the same and different countries in previous years. They demanded that the World Ability Allied Government punish Saint Dante Ability Academy.

They hadn’t been idle during this time. Ever since Mu Yunfan’s group had their incident, they had been secretly gathering evidence. They didn’t make a move until they were ready, and when they did, they went straight for the jugular, giving the other side no chance to react.

If they had only targeted Endless Ability Academy this one time, it would at most be a conflict between two academies, and a two or three-year ban from the competition for Saint Dante would have been sufficient.

But with so many academies involved and concrete evidence presented, those other academies were no pushovers. Previously, they couldn’t do anything without proof, but now that the evidence of their victimization was laid bare, they would seem spineless if they remained indifferent.

In an instant, public outrage flared. Many ability academies proposed to strip Saint Dante Ability Academy of its charter, revoking their title as an ability academy and forbidding them from enrolling new Ability users.

If it were an ordinary ability academy, being stripped of their charter would be the end of it. But Saint Dante Ability Academy was different. The fact that it had always been a top contender for the World Competition championship showed that its influence was no less than that of Endless Ability Academy.

Therefore, just like Endless Ability Academy, they had many influential figures working in various positions throughout the Ability World. Even within the World Ability Allied Government, quite a few were their people.

Moreover, the country where Saint Dante Ability Academy was located didn’t want them to lose their charter. After all, for every additional ability academy in the country, they received a larger share of allocated resources each year.

And applying to establish an ability academy was a troublesome process. It required considering the ‘output’ of Ability users in the country and the national situation. Even if both were fine, there were practical obstacles to consider. Given the current circumstances, if Saint Dante Ability Academy were truly shut down, their country wouldn’t be able to establish a new one for years to come. For the sake of their interests, they naturally had to fight to prevent it.

Without a doubt, Endless Ability Academy ultimately gained the upper hand. They withstood the threats and temptations from the opposing side, refusing to budge even when faced with massive compensation, and successfully made Saint Dante Ability Academy disappear from the Ability World for good.

“The teacher even asked us if we should let them off the hook for that compensation.” In the student council office, Zhang Sheng was boasting grandly. “But I refused immediately. I’d rather get no benefit at all than let this black sheep continue to harm the Ability World!”

Seeing his righteous and awe-inspiring appearance, a few junior students who had just joined the student council gathered around him like fans, their eyes filled with admiration.

Wei Yuexi sneered. “How come I remember someone looking quite tempted at the time? If the rest of us hadn’t unanimously refused, I’m afraid someone would have agreed, right?”

“Who are you talking about?” Zhang Sheng asked shamelessly. “He Shang?”

The unjustly accused He Shang put his palms together. “Amitabha. A monk does not tell lies.”

Falsely accusing a monk was a bit absurd. Facing the increasingly skeptical gazes of the junior students, Zhang Sheng changed his tune without batting an eye. “Then it was Yunfan. He must have been tempted by the benefits.”

“Waaah! Am I not your favorite president anymore? How could you slander me?” Mu Yunfan cried out instantly, his pink eyes wide with exaggerated disbelief. “Manman, look at him! You’re the new student council president. You have to do something about this behavior of falsely accusing a classmate right in front of you, right?”

Sitting in her chair and reading official documents, Feng Manman calmly pushed up her glasses without even looking up. “With all due respect, you’ve all graduated. You’re not under my jurisdiction anymore.”

The reason they were still at the academy was purely because the matter with Jiang Tianming and the others hadn’t been resolved yet. As the main team members who the Nightmare Beasts had originally intended to harm, staying at the academy was the safest option for now.

“President, we’re still within your jurisdiction. Could you approve this application for us?” Su Bei asked obediently, looking like a model student.

Beside him was Qi Huang, wearing the same expectant expression. The two of them had arrived a while ago and, after assessing the current state of the student council, had finally decided to submit their application.

Feng Manman glanced at the form they handed over. It was a request to leave the academy. Normally, they could leave for the summer vacation, but who could have known this incident would happen?

“Why don’t you ask your homeroom teacher? I remember it’s Teacher Meng, correct?” She had no intention of agreeing. Even she couldn’t leave the academy, so what right did she have to let others leave?

Su Bei replied with a well-reasoned argument. “Teacher Meng has been a bit busy lately. We haven’t seen him in two days. Please, President, have a heart. We really don’t want to be trapped in the academy.”

It was no wonder Meng Huai and the others were so busy. Several days had passed since Jiang Tianming’s group went missing, and they still hadn’t returned, not even a single message. Naturally, everyone was searching with all their might. But for now, no news was the best news. Who knew if any sudden message would be good news or bad news?

Unfortunately, Feng Manman was unmoved. She had long since forged a heart of steel, thanks to being tempered by Mu Yunfan and the others. “No. If you have nothing else to do, go back. If you’re bored, you can apply to use the gravity room for training. I do have the authority to approve that.”

Although he didn’t have a habit of looking for trouble, Su Bei was quite enthusiastic about physical training. He had always felt that physical skill was the most reliable thing, especially since it was his innate talent.

Speaking of which, despite having such a talent, why on earth didn’t he awaken a physical enhancement-type ability back then? Even a weak one would have been a hundred times stronger than an ability like [Gear].

Sighing, Su Bei nodded. “Then I’ll trouble you to help me apply for it, President.”

He couldn’t leave now anyway, so getting some training in was a good idea. He had finally reached his second year and could use the gravity room, so he had to experience it properly.

Qi Huang didn’t leave the meeting room with Su Bei. She had another matter to attend to. “Senior Manman, regarding the application for Secretary-General, could I consult with you about it?”

“Of course.” Feng Manman finally looked up, a hint of a smile in her eyes from behind her black-framed glasses. “Although I absolutely won’t play favorites, I would be very happy if you became my Secretary-General, junior.”

Meanwhile, with nothing else to do, Su Bei continued to browse the intelligence from the ‘Destiny’ organization. Since he couldn’t leave the academy for the summer vacation, this was the only thing he could do.

He first did a casual search for information related to the Black Flash Organization. There was no new intelligence, but there was a new bounty mission for rescuing the students. The reward was extremely generous; Sessbia had definitely spared no expense.

He noted that the poster had suddenly gained a large number of points in the past two days, which showed that Sessbia, the entity behind him, had uploaded a significant amount of important intelligence.

Su Bei was pleased to see this. Out of curiosity, he entered the backend to check what information this person had uploaded. Most of it was about ability-enhancing items, secrets of powerful abilities, and other miscellaneous things.

Two pieces of information were quite useful to him at present. The first was about the secret of multi-ability users: The abilities of a multi-ability user are often incompatible. Once they have too many abilities, problems will eventually arise. In the past, several Ability users with three or more abilities had died from their bodies exploding for this reason.

As for the solution, it was both simple and difficult. According to the research of the Sessbia Ability Government, if an Ability user could master a space-type ability, they could easily solve the problem of having too many abilities in their body. This is because a space-type ability can increase the user’s physical capacity from within, allowing them to contain more abilities without any visible change.

The second useful clue for Su Bei was about the guardian deity of the Afei Nation. The intelligence stated that the guardian deity, Godean Zhuo, was almost certainly a variant of a Nightmare Beast. According to tests, some of its characteristics were very similar to those of Nightmare Beasts. But since it clearly held no hostility towards humans and even actively protected them within the borders of the Afei Nation, it was definitely not a normal Nightmare Beast, but another type of Nightmare Beast-like creature.

The Sessbia government speculated that Godean Zhuo was also a product of grievances, but not from the grievances of deceased humans, but from something else, which is why it didn’t target humans. Of course, they also considered that their speculation might be wrong, and that it was indeed born from human grievances but for some unknown reason did not target humans.

But regardless of which possibility was true, one thing was certain: Godean Zhuo was indeed a variant of a Nightmare Beast.

Su Bei knew that their next ‘instance’ was very likely the Afei Nation instance. Plus, he already had business with Godean Zhuo, so he was very interested in this news.

If the being really was a Nightmare Beast variant, it was undoubtedly good news for him. Su Bei had originally intended to learn about the changes in Nightmare Beasts through Godean Zhuo, and now the possibility of it knowing relevant information was even greater.

But speaking of the changes in Nightmare Beasts, he realized he had forgotten to search for related information in the ‘Destiny’ organization’s intelligence database. This was his most convenient shortcut.

He successively searched a few keywords. When he searched for ‘Earth Element Nightmare Beast,’ Su Bei finally found a useful Q&A.

The person who posted the question had made the same discovery as him: Recently, among the elemental-type Nightmare Beasts, the number of Earth Element Nightmare Beasts seems to have increased. Does anyone know why?

Because it was just to satisfy curiosity, this post didn’t have a high point bounty, so there were very few answers. Su Bei only saw one.

—‘I don’t know the answer, but I can offer you a line of thought. The birth of Nightmare Beasts, especially elemental-type Nightmare Beasts, seems to be related to the Nightmare Beast World. I heard this from a Nightmare Beast once.’