Chapter 309

The next day was another tourist activity. Su Bei had little interest in it and left the group early to search for traces of Nightmare Beasts. He wasn’t sure if the Black Flash Organization’s mission this time involved cooperating with Nightmare Beasts, but since their target, the guardian deity Godean Zhuo, was a Nightmare Beast variant, he felt it was highly likely the Nightmare Beasts would get involved.

His search indeed led him to a clue. Under the wide-ranging coverage of his Advanced Mental Energy, he sensed what seemed to be the trace of a Nightmare Beast within the Afei Royal Ability Academy. However, the trace appeared for only an instant before vanishing, so quickly that it almost made him suspect it was just an illusion.

But how could that be? If he didn’t already know that Nightmare Beasts would appear in the capital, he might have dismissed it as an illusion. But Su Bei knew it was truly possible for them to appear, so he naturally wouldn’t treat his discovery as a hallucination.

Hiding in the academy? What a perfect place to hide in plain sight. Although there were many powerful Ability users in an Ability academy, for that very reason, no one would normally conduct a detailed search. As long as one could blend in, they could stay hidden.

Earlier, while scanning with his mental energy, Su Bei had encountered another mental energy signature, which likely belonged to a security officer from the Afei Nation. The person had followed him for quite a while, and Su Bei had patiently allowed them to investigate. Only after confirming he was not a threat did the mental energy withdraw and move on to check other areas.

Unfortunately, despite such strict checks, they still hadn’t discovered that Nightmare Beasts had already entered the capital of the Afei Nation. Su Bei shook his head, then suddenly remembered something. If he recalled correctly, Jiang Tianming and the others’ itinerary for today included a visit to the Afei Royal Ability Academy.

As expected of the protagonist group, trouble follows them wherever they go. However, with the protagonist group there, he wasn’t worried. Even if they couldn’t deal with the Nightmare Beast hidden there, they would surely find some clues.

Sure enough, when they returned that evening, Jiang Tianming recounted their discovery of the day. During their tour of the Afei Royal Ability Academy, they had found traces of a Nightmare Beast.

After tracking it down, they realized the Nightmare Beast had intentionally exposed itself to lure them over, intending to trap them so they couldn’t report back.

But the protagonist group was no pushover. Especially Qi Huang, who had recently had a huge breakthrough. She was unstoppable, cutting down anything in her path, and held off all the Nightmare Beasts by herself.

Hearing everyone’s generous praise, Qi Huang couldn’t help but break into a brilliant smile.

As they were chattering about their experiences, Wu Mingbai looked at Su Bei, who had been quiet. “Did you run into my third and fourth brothers today? They came looking for me just now to ask about you. They didn’t seem to have good intentions.”

“Their little prank was directed at me,” Su Bei said nonchalantly. “So I taught them a small lesson.”

This had happened in the afternoon. He had just returned from outside when he ran into the twin brothers. They had barely interacted with Wu Mingbai’s siblings over the past two days, so Su Bei simply gave them a polite nod and was about to head upstairs.

Suddenly, the younger of the two brothers said to him, “Hey, you’re… a friend our royal brother brought back, right? He has something to tell you all and asked us to find you. Since you’re here, come with us to find him.”

Upon hearing this, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, nodded, and followed them upstairs. On the surface, he looked completely unsuspecting, but he had already unleashed his mental energy, scanning the vicinity for any traps.

The prince’s words were full of holes, leaving him no choice but to be suspicious. First, Wu Mingbai couldn’t possibly be unaware that they were all out having fun at this time, so why would he be looking for them? Second, even if he really needed them, wouldn’t the best way be to call? Besides, when these two saw him, they showed no sign of surprise, unlike someone who had just completed a task.

However, even though he knew they were up to something, Su Bei was genuinely curious what they hoped to achieve with their lie. So, he decided to play along, pretending not to see through their ruse and following them.

After arriving at a room upstairs, the moment Su Bei stepped inside, the two of them tacitly backed out and locked the door from the outside. The younger brother’s giggling voice came from beyond the door, “I heard you’re a very powerful Ability user and even participated in the World Competition. I was afraid our royal brother was being deceived, so I’m here to test your strength.”

As soon as he finished speaking, an Intermediate Nightmare Beast with a tiger’s head and a snake’s body suddenly emerged from behind the bed, eyeing Su Bei menacingly.

An Intermediate Nightmare Beast was truly nothing to Su Bei, but being tricked by two little brats was a problem. He scoffed, turned around, and sent a kick that directly forced open the locked door.

Facing the two stunned twins outside, Su Bei said with a half-smile, “I heard the royal family members have special training methods. Let me test your strength.”

With that, he unhesitatingly grabbed one in each hand, threw them into the room, and shut the door.

“You can’t do this! We are princes!” the younger brother with the higher-pitched voice shrieked, his voice filled with anger. “If we die, Father will never let you go!”

Su Bei leaned against the door, using his own strength to block them from getting out. He said lazily, “You prepared the Nightmare Beast, and you found the room. If I’m not mistaken, you deliberately avoided the castle’s surveillance cameras on the way here, right? So if you die in here, what does it have to do with me?”

As he spoke, he didn’t forget to release his mental energy to suppress the Intermediate Nightmare Beast. With his level of mental power, although he couldn’t kill it directly, intimidating it was more than enough. As a result, the beast could only stay in place, not daring to move an inch.

The two kids did have some sense of proportion. Since they knew he had participated in the World Competition, they must have known he had the power to deal with an Intermediate Nightmare Beast. Releasing only one Intermediate Nightmare Beast showed they weren’t aiming to kill him. Since that was the case, he only intended to teach them a lesson.

But the two kids didn’t know that; they thought they really had to fight the Intermediate Nightmare Beast. Now they were completely panicked, realizing they had been caught in their own trap. The very means they intended to use against Su Bei had fallen upon them. Just as Su Bei said, to prevent him from tattling, they had deliberately avoided everyone, so no one knew they were with him.

Now, even if they really died here, no one would likely suspect Su Bei. Their father could even find out with a little investigation that they had brought the Nightmare Beast in themselves.

The whole death scene would look like a case of playing with fire and getting burned, as if they were killed by a pet they brought in themselves—a death more humiliating than they could have ever imagined.

The older brother’s deeper voice sounded from the door, audibly trying to maintain a deep tone while suppressing his panic. “What do you want? Let us out, and we can give you anything.”

“What if I say I want you to die?” Su Bei’s voice was still lazy, as if he didn’t realize the terrifying words he had just spoken.

He might not find it terrifying, but the two kids in the room were already trembling. At the end of the day, they were only eleven or twelve years old. No matter how unruly they were, they had never faced a life-or-death crisis before.

Facing the Nightmare Beast that was drooling over them, the two stared at it warily. Although they didn’t know why this Intermediate Nightmare Beast hadn’t moved, its mere presence was intimidating enough. After all, they hadn’t even awakened their abilities yet. There was no way they could defeat an Intermediate Nightmare Beast on their own.

Under normal circumstances, the guardian deity could protect them. But because preparations were being made for Wu Mingbai’s recognition ceremony, mainly to have Wu Mingbai gain the guardian deity’s approval, the guardian deity was temporarily unavailable and couldn’t protect them.

“What did you bring me here for?” Sensing they were scared enough, Su Bei asked unhurriedly.

The older brother’s voice was dry, but he tried his best to explain, “We just wanted to test your strength. You and our royal brother Mingbai are classmates, so your strength should be similar to his.”

In short, since they couldn’t test Wu Mingbai’s strength, they decided to test his classmate’s to gauge it.

“And then?” Su Bei asked. He believed what they said, but he didn’t believe that was their only purpose.

“And then… and then…” The older brother hesitated.

Su Bei warned him casually, “I advise you not to lie.”

With that, the older brother finally made up his mind. “And then, if your strength was weak, we would forget it. But if it was strong, we… I would find a way to make our royal brother Mingbai return to your country.”

An heir to the throne who was also a powerful Ability user naturally had a higher chance of ascending. While a powerful ability wasn’t crucial for a king, it was definitely a bonus.

“Heh, you sure think highly of this position,” Su Bei sneered, a faint trace of sarcasm in his voice.

Having understood their intentions, he didn’t say much more and directly stated his demand: “Tomorrow, no matter what happens, everything proceeds as usual. Don’t let your parents create any complications. Can you do that?”

Tomorrow, Wu Mingbai would meet the guardian deity, and he was determined to follow. If he were to be discovered, this agreement would ensure that Wu Mingbai could still meet the guardian deity on the same day, preventing any disruption to the plot’s progression. It would also, to some extent, limit the king’s ability to investigate his movements.

“What are you planning to do?” the younger brother asked warily. “We won’t harm…”

Before he could finish, the older brother interrupted him, promising concisely but hastily, “We can.”

Whatever Su Bei was planning, their priority was to get out of there alive. If they died right here, they couldn’t influence anything even if Su Bei did have evil intentions.

“Your brother’s the smart one,” Su Bei opened the door and threw in an ability contract and a pen. In addition to what he had just mentioned, there was another clause requiring the two to keep what happened today a secret.

After they signed and sealed it, he used a single Targeting Gear to end the Intermediate Nightmare Beast’s life and “respectfully” watched the two young boys leave with red-rimmed eyes.

However, there was no need to mention the part about signing the contract. He only told them the first part of the story.

After hearing his words, Qi Huang flew into a rage. “That’s too much! What if you couldn’t handle an Intermediate Nightmare Beast? Wouldn’t they have gotten you killed?”

“If he couldn’t handle an Intermediate Nightmare Beast, those two would have probably tested him with a low-tier one,” Jiang Tianming said calmly, but the anger in his eyes was clearly visible. “But this kind of baseless test truly shows a lack of manners.”

“Children’s lack of manners is the parents’ fault,” Si Zhaohua added with a cold face, looking pointedly at Wu Mingbai.

Wu Mingbai’s brow was tightly furrowed, and he was equally furious. “I didn’t think they would go and cause trouble for you… You were right to teach them a lesson. Tomorrow, I’ll have Father teach them another one.”

Su Bei nodded noncommittally. In any case, the contract only stipulated that the two of them had to keep it a secret; it didn’t restrain him. Ignoring the contract part, the lesson he gave was well-measured. The King of the Afei Nation probably wouldn’t make a fuss over it.

Of course, even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. Su Bei wasn’t the one in the wrong. In modern society, with the existence of Ability users, they couldn’t just secretly kill him. If the matter was exposed, the Afei Nation would suffer a great loss at the very least. If the king was that foolish, then he would just have to accept his fate.

After that matter was settled, Mu Tieren suddenly spoke up uncertainly. “By the way, I don’t know if I saw it wrong, but when we were leaving the school, I think I saw a familiar figure…”

Seeing his obvious hesitation, Jiang Tianming asked in confusion, “Whose figure? Why didn’t you say anything just now?”

There was no accusation in his tone, just pure confusion about his teammate’s hesitation.

“It was… Mo Xiaotian,” Mu Tieren answered hesitantly. “I only saw a back view at the time. It wasn’t a build I was familiar with, but it was a familiar feeling.”

Back at the academy, he and Mo Xiaotian had been the closest, so he trusted his gut feeling. Even though the figure didn’t resemble the Mo Xiaotian he knew—being much taller and stronger—the bouncy, skipping gait immediately made him suspect it was Mo Xiaotian.

“Mo Xiaotian?” Hearing this long-unheard name, everyone was a bit dazed.

Unlike Zhou Renjie’s defection, Mo Xiaotian was a confirmed undercover agent, and it was impossible for him to return to the academy like Zhou Renjie.

At the time, everyone had thought Mo Xiaotian would cause some major incident after his identity was exposed, but he didn’t. Instead, he simply vanished. This made it very difficult for everyone to truly grasp the reality of him being a mole. It was as if Mo Xiaotian had just been sent out on a business trip.

But now, it seemed their illusions were about to be shattered. Mo Xiaotian’s sudden appearance in the Afei Nation, combined with the impending crisis, made it hard for them to believe he was just here for tourism.

“Don’t overthink it,” Jiang Tianming quickly adjusted his mindset. “Let’s not even talk about whether that person was really Mo Xiaotian. Even if he was, it might not be related to the crisis Feng Lan predicted. Hasn’t the Black Flash Organization always targeted only Ability users and Nightmare Beasts?”

That was true. In their experience, every action taken by the Black Flash Organization was for the sake of research. Their research subjects were generally limited to Nightmare Beasts and Ability users; ordinary people were never part of their consideration.

Occasionally, they had harmed ordinary people for the sake of research, but they had never specifically targeted them. The upcoming crisis in the Afei Nation was clearly not aimed at Ability users, or rather, not just at Ability users. It was aimed at the entire population of the Afei Nation.

There was no reason for the Black Flash Organization to do something like this. It seemed more like the work of Nightmare Beasts, a view supported by the discovery of the Nightmare Beast at the Afei Royal Ability Academy today. As for Mo Xiaotian’s appearance, even if it was really him, it could just be for another mission.

Thinking optimistically, perhaps the Black Flash Organization had received advance notice that the Nightmare Beasts were planning something and had come specifically to help, just like they did during the previous battle and the World Competition.

“I’ll have my father investigate,” said Wu Mingbai, the prince, finally able to make reasonable use of his status. “Don’t worry too much.”

Although his words wouldn’t clear out all the Black Flash Organization members in the country, it was at least possible to prevent them from causing trouble within the capital.

His assurance did indeed put everyone at ease. It was one thing if they didn’t know the Black Flash Organization was plotting in the shadows, but now that they knew, the Afei Nation surely couldn’t fail to protect its own capital. They were right here in the capital. As long as their own safety wasn’t threatened and they weren’t trapped when the incident occurred, they could go and provide rescue if the Black Flash Organization caused trouble elsewhere.

Seeing everyone’s relieved expressions, Su Bei didn’t say much. He was currently pondering whether anything would happen at tomorrow’s recognition banquet, though the possibility was low. How incompetent would the Afei Royal Family have to be to let Black Flash members sneak into the castle and cause trouble on such an important day? The real question was how he would follow Wu Mingbai to find the guardian deity.

Using an Invisibility Talisman was a given, but the key was how to find a suitable reason to disappear for a while tomorrow, how to follow them without leaving any traces, and also how to escape if he was discovered.

Although he had already made some preparations for the last point, he needed to be more thorough to feel at ease.

He needed to scout the location first. A plan quickly formed in Su Bei’s mind. “Where will tomorrow’s recognition banquet be held?”

“In the grand hall on the second floor of the castle,” Wu Mingbai answered readily, having all the details at his fingertips. “They should still be making the final arrangements right now. What’s up? Do you want to take a look beforehand?”

What a considerate classmate, he didn’t even need to find an excuse. Su Bei was instantly moved and nodded repeatedly. “I’m a little curious.”

“I’d like to go see it too,” Lan Subing also raised her hand. It wasn’t that she was very curious; otherwise, she would have said so earlier. There was no need to be secretive with Wu Mingbai.

She was chiming in with Su Bei now mainly because she was very curious about what he was up to. She couldn’t imagine what there was to be curious about in a grand hall they would see tomorrow anyway, so Su Bei must have some other purpose for going.

As the saying goes, it’s better to guide than to block. Instead of stopping him, it was better to go with him openly. Maybe she would even get a little surprise.

Seeing that they both wanted to take a look, and since they had nothing to do in the evening anyway, the others also went along to the grand hall on the second floor. Su Bei had been to the second floor on his first day exploring the castle, but he had only taken a cursory glance at the hall from the doorway before leaving.

This time, upon entering the hall, he noticed many details. The most prominent feature of the grand hall was that it was ‘grand.’ Its area took up almost half of the castle’s cross-section. There was a space for dancing in the middle and a stage further in. The rest of the space was filled with tables, chairs, and decorations, nothing out of the ordinary.

The hall had two doors: the main entrance they had come through, and a smaller door next to the stage. After a brief survey of the location, Su Bei walked towards the small door. “Where does this lead?”

“To the staircase on the other side,” Wu Mingbai walked over and opened the door for him. “Performers will use this entrance, and we will also leave from here.”

Su Bei understood. He carefully examined the area a few more times before turning to leave. After a quick tour, he lost interest in the grand hall and yawned. “I’m heading back.”

“Leaving already?” Lan Subing was a little surprised. She thought Su Bei was going to do something, but he seemed to have just been looking around and did nothing else.

Su Bei looked at her, amused. “What else?”

Lan Subing didn’t play coy with him. Relying on her understanding of him, she replied confidently, “I don’t believe you. You definitely have another plan.”

Su Bei really couldn’t refute that. He messy ruffled her blue hair. “Don’t make wild accusations without proof.”

The recognition banquet the next day was in the evening. At seven o’clock sharp, the entire banquet hall was brightly lit. Reporters, media, royal relatives, political figures… all gathered here, waiting for the newly-minted prince to make his appearance.

Su Bei stood in a corner, holding a wine glass. The purplish-red liquid in it was grape juice he had specifically put in. Minors weren’t allowed to drink alcohol, but drinking orange juice on such an occasion would be too strange. Grape juice was a more reliable choice.

The others had originally planned to just get some normal drinks, but after seeing Su Bei’s convincing act, they all tacitly used grape juice to keep up appearances.

Before he had taken more than a few sips, the twin brothers came looking for him. Knowing about the conflict between them, Jiang Tianming and the others eyed them warily.

The brothers had unfriendly expressions, but they didn’t do anything impolite. Instead, they spoke to Su Bei very politely, “Can we talk alone?”

Su Bei raised an eyebrow. “Let’s go.”

The others weren’t worried about him. They believed Su Bei could easily handle these two kids.

The three of them left through the main entrance and stopped when they reached a secluded spot. The older brother had a serious expression and got straight to the point, “What exactly did you mean by the contents of the contract you mentioned before? Is it the destiny you saw?”

They had waited all day, until the recognition banquet began, before they finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. Nothing unexpected had happened so far, so the accident must be destined to occur either at the banquet or during the private royal event afterward. This was very serious. No matter which event the problem occurred at, it would not be a good thing for them.

At first, they thought Su Bei was planning to cause trouble himself and made them sign the contract to help him cover it up. But after learning about Su Bei’s Destiny-type ability, they couldn’t help but suspect that Su Bei had seen a destiny that was unfavorable to the royal family.

If the king had told them about Feng Lan’s prophecy, they would have been even more convinced of their judgment.

Originally, when they thought Su Bei was the one planning something, the two hadn’t been concerned. No matter how powerful Su Bei was, he was still just a fifteen-year-old boy. The pride of the royal family made them confident that Su Bei couldn’t cause any major trouble under their tight security.

But if it was the latter, that destiny had told him something, then it was truly worrisome. Could their forced secrecy lead to a real disaster?

Out of this concern, the two had specifically sought him out to ask for clarification.