Chapter 303: Gambler’s Protection

“The birth of elemental Nightmare Beasts is related to the Nightmare Beast World.” What did that mean?

Su Bei looked puzzled as he reread the answer. The information had been obtained from a Nightmare Beast, so regardless of the method, its accuracy should be guaranteed.

According to this message, the increase in Earth Element Nightmare Beasts meant that the Nightmare Beast World needed more of the earth element. But why? Wasn’t the Nightmare Beast World already predominantly composed of the earth element?

Whether it was the boundless earth or the meteorites floating in the sky, they were all forms of the earth element. With so much of it already present, it stood to reason that the Nightmare Beast World should need the earth element the least. So why were so many Earth Element Nightmare Beasts appearing?

Was there a problem with the land, or with the meteorites?

Su Bei vaguely felt he was touching upon the crux of the issue, yet he couldn’t see through the fog.

“Forget it. I’ll wait until after I go to the Afei Nation and meet Godean Zhuo,” he thought. He decided not to trouble himself further. After all, even if he came up with a few answers now, he had no solid evidence.

In the afternoon, the notification sound from the “Manga Consciousness” suddenly rang in Su Bei’s ear—the comic had been updated. His spirits lifted instantly. This meant that Jiang Tianming and the others should have resolved the danger and would probably be back soon.

Quickly finishing the last bit of food on his plate, Su Bei hurried back to his room and opened his phone. Although the “Manga Consciousness” provided a cover that allowed him to read the comic outside, it was still more reassuring to read it in his own room.

Perhaps because a week had passed, the author had no intention of keeping the readers in suspense. The comic opened directly in the Nightmare Beast World.

Looking at the world composed only of black, white, and gray, Su Bei couldn’t help but sigh silently. It had happened after all, the outcome he had feared the most—the Black Flash Organization had collaborated with the Nightmare Beasts.

If it weren’t a collaboration, given the Black Flash Organization’s interference in the teleportation, they would never have allowed Jiang Tianming and the others to be sent to the Nightmare Beast World. After all, once teleported there, even they would be powerless to help.

The Sessbia government wasn’t completely useless. They had added many restrictions to the illusion, one of which was that it couldn’t be teleported out of. So, although the Nightmare Beasts, with the help of the Black Flash Organization, succeeded in teleporting the contestants to the Nightmare Beast World, targeted teleportation was impossible. They could only be sent to random locations. Whether they were found or managed to escape would depend on the luck of both sides.

However, the Nightmare Beasts weren’t worried about this. The Nightmare Beast World was their home turf. In their eyes, they could surely find Jiang Tianming and the others before they found a way back. Moreover, Jiang Tianming’s group couldn’t even be teleported together. Fighting individually would make them easier to defeat one by one, wouldn’t it?

Meanwhile, Jiang Tianming’s side naturally began hiding, with each contestant using their extensive knowledge to find their companions, evade capture, and search for a way back from the Nightmare Beast World.

After briefly explaining their predicament, the camera shifted to the real world, picking up right from when Su Bei fell out of the illusion and met Qi Huang.

“I knew Su Bei wasn’t teleported away!”

“Hahahahahaha, how on earth did he leave the illusion ahead of time?”

“Our Bei is truly number one when it comes to escaping.”

“Good thing he left. Getting teleported to the Nightmare Beast World would have been a real nightmare.”

“Jiang Jiang and the others must be regretting it. If they had dragged Su Bei along or followed him, they might be safe now.”

“That’s impossible,” Su Bei thought, shaking his head as he read these bullet comments. If they had followed him, the only outcome would have been everyone getting teleported, not them returning to a safe place with him.

Su Bei quickly scrolled through the rest of the plot. Since everyone was scattered, the author used a multi-threaded narrative, mainly running parallel plots in the Nightmare Beast World and the real world.

Su Bei was already aware of the events in the real world, which mainly consisted of Endless Ability Academy’s investigation and the siege on Saint Dante Ability Academy. As for the Nightmare Beast World, Su Bei wasn’t interested in the event itself, only in its connection to the Black Flash Organization.

As the protagonist, Jiang Tianming resolved his doubts. While fighting an Advanced Nightmare Beast, he unexpectedly discovered an item belonging to the Black Flash Organization on it.

This item had been used against him by the Black Flash Organization before, and it was documented in the comic. Because he had suffered a great loss from it at the time, Jiang Tianming had a deep impression of it.

How could such an item be in the hands of a Nightmare Beast? Could the Nightmare Beast have snatched it from them? Jiang Tianming’s confusion appeared in text form in the comic, naturally sparking discussions among the readers.

Especially since the readers had a god’s-eye view over Jiang Tianming, knowing the real-world plot, their take on the matter was naturally more accurate.

“The Black Flash Organization must have been involved. The intel Sessbia got wasn’t false!”

“Something feels off…”

“I thought that even if the Black Flash Organization wasn’t there to save Jiang Jiang and the others, they were there to ruin the Nightmare Beasts’ plan, but now it seems…”

“Impossible, Black Flash and the Nightmare Beasts collaborated?”

“The Black Flash Organization must have helped, for example, by making sure everyone couldn’t be found by the Nightmare Beasts right away.”

No, Su Bei believed that the Black Flash Organization had simply collaborated with the Nightmare Beasts. Otherwise, with their power, they would never have allowed the contestants to fall into the Nightmare Beast World. There was no benefit in it for them.

It was just that neither the readers nor the good guys had realized that the Black Flash Organization would actually cooperate with the Nightmare Beasts. Even Jiang Tianming was just one layer more suspicious. And most importantly, just as the bullet comments said, it was very easy for the Black Flash Organization to explain this matter.

Even if others questioned them afterward about what part they played, they could claim they deliberately scattered everyone so they wouldn’t be caught in one fell swoop. Or they could say they modified the Nightmare Beasts’ teleportation destination. No matter what they said, it would sound reasonable and would be difficult to doubt.

If the Black Flash Organization exploited this information gap well, they could very likely catch the humans off guard during a battle with the Nightmare Beasts.

However, the author surely had his own ideas, and Su Bei didn’t intend to interfere. He just reminded himself to be even more careful of the Black Flash Organization from now on. If before, Su Bei was confident they wouldn’t target him, someone who belonged to the ‘Destiny’ organization and could be a potential partner, that might not be the case anymore.

A Black Flash Organization that had already collaborated with the Nightmare Beasts would no longer have any human partners.

Continuing to read the comic, the protagonist group quickly gathered thanks to the mutual attraction of their protagonist halos. At the same time, each person who found their way to the group brought a few companions with them. Although Jiang Tianming and his friends were only first-years, their maturity and ability to handle crises were even greater than many third-years, so they naturally became the leaders of various small teams.

After everyone had gathered, Lan Subing surprisingly took out one of Lei Ze’en’s teleportation talismans. Everyone was astonished. Jiang Tianming, who knew what it was, asked in shock, “How do you have this?”

What followed was a conversation that made Su Bei not know whether to laugh or cry. Lan Subing explained that the reason she had the teleportation talisman was that she had seen Su Bei use one during the final exams. Thinking it might be useful, she had privately asked a teacher for one, and specifically requested a group-effect version.

But that one time, because the Nightmare Beasts had directly blocked the use of teleportation-type items, they hadn’t been able to use it. Unexpectedly, this unintentional act had borne fruit, and now it could be used.

Everyone was overjoyed. With this item, as long as they could find the other students, they could all return together.

Even Su Bei hadn’t expected that item to end up being used by the protagonist group, and an upgraded version at that. With this item, they no longer had to worry about how to get back.

However, according to the law of plot conservation, since the trouble wasn’t in how to leave, it had to be in some other aspect.

Sure enough, they soon discovered two problems. One was how to find the other students in the vast Nightmare Beast World, and the other was that the group teleportation talisman was not as quick to use as the single-use one; it would take at least five minutes for the teleportation array to be automatically inscribed.

Five minutes wasn’t actually a long time, but while they were looking for the others, they would inevitably attract the Nightmare Beasts as well. Facing so many powerful Nightmare Beasts, every second of defense would feel like a year. Without advance preparation, five minutes would be enough for all of them to die thoroughly.

Crucially, they couldn’t use the teleportation talisman in advance; at most, they could start setting it up half a minute before the last group of people arrived.

Jiang Tianming quickly made arrangements for everyone. Grouped by ability type, half of the people would go out to search for the other lost contestants, while the other half would stay here to set up a defensive field, striving to hold out for five minutes so that everyone could leave together.

Finding the others relied on Wu Mingbai. His powerful [Earth Element] allowed him to communicate with the land even in the Nightmare Beast World, giving him a clear view of any humans nearby. This skill could not only find humans but also help them avoid Nightmare Beasts, making it an essential skill for any expedition.

However, it was clear that using this ability was quite difficult for him. Currently, he could only communicate with pure soil; areas with rocks were a no-go. Although rocks also belonged to the earth element, his ability just wasn’t that strong yet. He could only communicate with pure earth elements.

But despite the stumbles along the way, Wu Mingbai ultimately succeeded in leading his teammates to find everyone. Jiang Tianming was responsible for defense. That’s right, he revealed another new ability he had acquired at Wesi Sanctuary, which was also his first defensive ability.

The ability was called [Gambler’s Protection], and it was a very strange one. The user could expend a certain amount of Mental Energy to form a shield. When an attacker struck the shield, they first had to guess what percentage of the user’s Mental Energy was used. The closer the guess, the weaker the shield’s defense. If they guessed correctly, the shield would fail directly. Conversely, the greater the difference in the guess, the better the shield’s effect.

A smarter choice would be to simply pick the number 50. That way, no matter how much Mental Energy Jiang Tianming used, it wouldn’t be too far from 50, and the shield wouldn’t be very strong.

But the Nightmare Beasts were always bold. They chose 1%! The reason was that they believed Jiang Tianming wouldn’t use all his Mental Energy on a defense for everyone; he would surely reserve a lot of it for his own self-preservation.

This line of thinking might have been correct for anyone else, but they were facing Jiang Tianming. Jiang Tianming had anticipated their anticipation and boldly used 99% of his Mental Energy to construct the shield.

The huge difference between the two numbers resulted in the shield having incomparable defensive power. It allowed everyone to safely hold out for five minutes and leave the Nightmare Beast World together.

The comic ended with a scene of Wu Mingbai carrying the unconscious Jiang Tianming in a princess carry, appearing on the field of Endless Ability Academy along with everyone else.

Seeing the final scene, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, got up, and walked outside. The academy was naturally empty of students during the summer vacation, so even though a group of people had appeared on the field, it didn’t cause much of a stir at first.

Just as Su Bei walked onto the field, he saw a group of people sitting disheveled on the grass. At the front, Si Zhaohua was on the phone, likely calling Meng Huai or Teacher Li.

“Teacher Meng is probably unreachable these days. I suggest you find Teacher Li or another teacher,” Su Bei said loudly as he strolled over.

During this time, Meng Huai had likely been causing trouble for the Black Flash Organization as a way to search for Jiang Tianming and the others, so he hadn’t shown his face at the academy. Su Bei had tried calling him earlier when he wanted to return, but the call didn’t go through, which is why he said that.

Hearing his voice, Si Zhaohua and the others looked up in pleasant surprise. “Su Bei! What are you doing here?”

“With you all not back, it didn’t feel right for me to leave,” Su Bei shrugged, returning to the previous topic. “Actually, there’s no need to call. Teacher Lei should be here soon.”

When he had used the teleportation talisman to return to the academy, he had immediately received a call from Lei Ze’en. It stood to reason that the teacher would sense their return as well.

“I think Ah Jiang’s phone is ringing!” Suddenly, Wu Mingbai’s eyes widened, and he motioned for Lan Subing next to him to take the phone out of Jiang Tianming’s pocket. He was still holding him, so it was inconvenient.

Lan Subing took the phone from Jiang Tianming’s pocket, skillfully unlocked the screen, and answered the call. “Teacher Lei… Yes! We’re all back! Su Bei… Su Bei is already here. Uh-huh, okay, see you in a bit.”

After the brief conversation, she hung up and said to the others, “Su Bei was right, the teacher is coming right away. He said you should host us for a bit first.”

Su Bei looked at the crowd, who were exhausted, thirsty, hungry, and sleepy, scattered on the ground. After a moment’s thought, he very politely played the part of the host. “Let’s go to the cafeteria first. There’s no food at this hour, but the convenience store is still open.”

At these words, everyone nodded in agreement. They knew they had all been teleported to Endless Ability Academy. As one of the world’s most renowned ability academies, its security was trustworthy.

Back in the Nightmare Beast World, they hadn’t felt their physical needs under the state of high tension. But now that they were safe, they could feel their mouths were dry.

Four full days had passed since the start of the second round of the competition. For the first part of those four days, they had been hiding in the Nightmare Beast World, occasionally fighting the reckless Nightmare Beasts that came their way.

In the last two days, they had converged with the main group and engaged in a final battle with the Nightmare Beasts. After all, they couldn’t just passively defend with Jiang Tianming’s shield; active offense was also necessary.

All of these activities were extremely draining, and the Nightmare Beast World was by no means a place where one could rest peacefully or find sufficient supplies. Food was manageable, as the meat of most Nightmare Beasts was edible. Even if eaten raw, these third-year students had been trained by their respective schools to handle such situations and could barely stomach it.

But water was a different story. Where could one find normal water sources in the Nightmare Beast World? In fact, there were very few rivers there, and the water in the only one they had found along the way was contaminated by the Nightmare Beasts within it. If it weren’t for a few water-type ability users, they probably would have all died of thirst in the Nightmare Beast World before the fifth day.

After buying a bottle of mineral water, each person unscrewed the cap, tilted their head back, and chugged it down like a water buffalo. It took an average of two bottles per person to finally quench their thirst.

During this time, Su Bei briefly explained what had happened in the outside world during their disappearance. There wasn’t much major news, just that the entire Ability World was searching for them, and that the Black Flash Organization had been involved in the illusion’s teleportation.

As for Mu Yunfan and the others waking up and Saint Dante Ability Academy being disbanded, those were matters concerning only the students of Endless Ability Academy. With so many outsiders present, Su Bei didn’t waste time talking about things that didn’t concern them.

Just as he finished speaking, Teacher Lei arrived. He wasn’t alone; Principal Wu Di was with him. As soon as Wu Di entered and saw the students, he said very reliably, “I have already contacted your schools. They should be arriving shortly.”

As expected, everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his words. Compared to an unfamiliar school, their own schools naturally gave them a greater sense of security. Having just escaped a dangerous place, they were more eager to see their own familiar teachers.

After reassuring them, Wu Di called his own students aside and began asking what had happened to them over the past few days. When he heard that they had ended up in the Nightmare Beast World after all, both his and Lei Ze’en’s brows furrowed.

“Didn’t the Black Flash Organization interfere?” Lei Ze’en asked doubtfully. “I thought they would have taken the students away.”

Having clashed with them so many times, he considered himself quite familiar with the Black Flash Organization. But their actions this time were clearly unexpected. Did they fail?

“We’ll know if we ask,” Wu Di said to him, then turned his gaze back to Si Zhaohua. “You should all know that the Black Flash Organization was involved in this incident. Did you encounter anything related to them?”

Before Si Zhaohua could answer, Wu Mingbai spoke up first. “Ah Jiang said he saw an item in a Nightmare Beast’s possession that he had only ever seen in the hands of a Black Flash Organization member before.”

“Is the item exclusive to the Black Flash Organization?” Wu Di asked.

Wu Mingbai nodded uncertainly. “Well, we’ve never seen it in any books. It should be something researched by the Black Flash Organization.”

“I see…” A thoughtful expression appeared on Wu Di’s face.

Lei Ze’en couldn’t help but marvel beside him. “Then it seems the person sent by the Black Flash Organization failed, and the item even fell into the hands of a Nightmare Beast. It looks like their skills have gotten rusty after being in seclusion for so long.”

Without replying, Wu Di looked at Jiang Tianming, who had been placed on a cafeteria chair by Wu Mingbai. “Student Jiang Tianming has exhausted his Mental Energy, right? Let’s take him to the infirmary… forget it, I’ll do it.”

As he spoke, his appearance suddenly underwent a subtle change. His ears became pointed, his hair turned long and silver-white, and his skin took on a faint green hue. A green light emanated from his hands, scanning Jiang Tianming from head to toe.

As soon as the green light was withdrawn, Jiang Tianming actually woke up.

Everyone was rather astonished. What Wu Di had just demonstrated was clearly a healing ability, and a very powerful mental energy recovery technique for an ability user at that. But as the world’s strongest ability user, Wu Di couldn’t possibly be a healer-type.

“A multi-ability user,” Si Zhaohua said, looking intently at the principal before glancing at Jiang Tianming. As the young master of the Si family, although Wu Di’s ability was intentionally hidden from the public, it certainly couldn’t be hidden from him. At the very least, the fact that Wu Di was a multi-ability user was well-known to many.

But even if he were just a healer-type, this ability to fully restore depleted Mental Energy was shocking enough. For an ability user, Mental Energy was equivalent to a mana bar, and the mana bar was closely linked to the health bar. In other words, traveling with an ability user who could restore Mental Energy was like carrying a massive health pack, a presence coveted by all teams.

And this was just one of Wu Di’s abilities. No wonder he could be called the strongest ability user.

Su Bei, on the other hand, was well aware of Wu Di’s ability. [Bloodline] was inherently an ability that could manifest multiple abilities. Moreover, abilities that could be passed down as a “bloodline” were generally quite formidable, which meant that the abilities Wu Di could manifest were all guaranteed to be of high quality.

He had to admit, he was envious once again. Unfortunately, this kind of ability couldn’t be replicated. After all, there was already a multi-ability user in the protagonist group, and that person was the male lead of the comic, Jiang Tianming.

Su Bei was certain that if he had created a similar ability for himself back then, causing a clash with Jiang Tianming, he would have been immediately branded as a nepotism baby on the forums and flamed to smithereens.

At that point, let alone making progress through the forums, he’d be lucky if the readers didn’t pour fuel on the fire.

It would take some time for the teachers from the other schools to travel from their respective countries. Seeing that the teachers had already made arrangements, Su Bei didn’t plan to linger. He stood up, hands in his pockets. “Well, teachers, may I go back now? I mean, leave the school and go home.”

Wu Di was surprisingly easygoing. “Of course, you can. But before that, could you have a chat with me?”

One good turn deserves another. Since the other party had agreed to his request to go home, Su Bei naturally couldn’t refuse his request for a chat. Before they left, Jiang Tianming didn’t forget to call out to Su Bei, “Don’t leave right away! We’ll wait for you in the classroom.”

“Why wait for me?” Su Bei complained internally as he followed the principal to the principal’s office. Wu Di sized him up for a moment, then suddenly asked with a curious expression, “Do you know the leader of the ‘Destiny’ organization? The guy who always shows up in a black robe.”

Hearing this, Su Bei’s expression became a little strange. Was that what the principal called him in private? Although he did always wear a black robe to hide his face, he had thought the other party would be a bit more respectful.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Bei nodded. “You could say I know him.”

He knew himself. Nothing wrong with that.