Chapter 310

“I don’t think this is something you need to be curious about.” Su Bei waved his hand dismissively and pushed the door open to leave. “If it’s just about the video, then I’ll be heading back.”

“Hey, wait!” The younger brother quickly stopped him, his expression shifting repeatedly. “We’ve already… already been punished. We’re sorry, yesterday was our fault! We shouldn’t have rashly tested you.”

Unexpectedly, this guy was surprisingly straightforward, apologizing even faster than his more rational older brother. Su Bei showed a rare expression of surprise.

Immediately after, the older brother also apologized, and then revealed his true intentions: “As Prince Mingbai’s friend, you wouldn’t do anything detrimental to the Afei Nation, would you?”

“As Wu Mingbai’s brothers, you wouldn’t do anything detrimental to his friend, would you?” That was a short map of Yan, Su Bei complained inwardly. However, he didn’t show it on his face, using the same sentence structure to retort, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

They were willing to act against him, so how could he possibly have a good impression of the Afei Nation just because of Wu Mingbai? Forget him; even Wu Mingbai himself probably didn’t have much affection for the Afei Nation, at most just a trivial bit of yearning.

Understanding his implied meaning, the younger brother immediately became anxious: “But we already apologized! And we never meant to actually hurt you from the start. We knew you could definitely beat an Intermediate Nightmare Beast! If you don’t believe us, you can…”

“I know.” Before he could finish, Su Bei spoke calmly. “Otherwise, do you think you would have been able to leave so easily yesterday?”

He wasn’t saying this just to maintain a persona. If they had really been trying to kill him, Su Bei would not have shown any mercy yesterday, even if they were princes. Just as he had threatened them, all the evidence proving he had met them had already been destroyed by the two of them. So, wouldn’t he have been free to do whatever he wanted?

That was true. For a moment, the two brothers had a flash of realization. They also felt that his attitude towards them might not be as hostile as they had imagined, so they couldn’t help but continue the previous topic: “Then…”

However, Su Bei had no intention of giving them a chance to speak. He pushed the door open and walked back. “Alright, there’s nothing that requires two eight-year-old kids to accomplish, is there?”

The family reunion banquet began soon after. Although it was called a reunion banquet, after Wu Mingbai was paraded around like a monkey for everyone to see, it turned into a networking event. No one paid much attention to a newcomer prince. Although he had the potential to become king, that possibility was actually quite small. For most people, the benefits of befriending the new prince couldn’t compare to connecting with one of the bigwigs at the banquet.

Nevertheless, a large crowd still surrounded Wu Mingbai, leaving him no opportunity to find Jiang Tianming and the others. He could only occasionally lift his eyes and look around, hoping someone would rescue him from his sea of suffering.

Unfortunately, his hopes were clearly misplaced. No one came to rescue him. The “heartless” group sat together in a corner, eating fruits and snacks. The Afei Nation might be lacking in other areas, but their food was truly impeccable. Although the flavors were exotic, they weren’t unpalatable, and the novelty left everyone feeling very satisfied.

“What did those two guys want with you just now? Looking at your expressions… did they come to apologize?” Zhao Xiaoyu speculated while forking a piece of sweet and sour chicken on her plate.

When the three returned, Su Bei’s expression was as calm as ever. And although the two kids looked a bit reluctant, they weren’t angry, indicating that the conversation had been relatively peaceful. Recalling that Wu Mingbai had said he would tell on them to the king yesterday, this was the first possibility that came to her mind.

Not a wrong guess. Su Bei nodded.

Them being so well-behaved made it uninteresting. Zhao Xiaoyu listlessly withdrew her gaze and looked at Ai Baozhu. “I thought you guys would go out and chat with those people.”

She wasn’t used to this kind of occasion, but Ai Baozhu and the others certainly were. There were many important figures from the Afei Nation present. Even though they weren’t from this country, going out to socialize would be a good choice.

“No need.” Ai Baozhu gestured in Wu Mingbai’s direction. “We already have the biggest connection in the Afei Nation.”

It was a faraway foreign country anyway. Distant water can’t quench a nearby fire, so the use of making connections here was negligible. Plus, they already had Wu Mingbai as a connection, making it even more unnecessary to socialize with others.

Zhao Xiaoyu understood and nodded in agreement. “That’s true.”

“Mingbai is on stage again.” Jiang Tianming looked at the platform. It was the first time Wu Mingbai had worn something so ornate. The brown outfit, matching his hair color, made him look a bit like a loyal and reliable knight from a fairy tale.

This time on stage was for the closing remarks. To Su Bei’s ears, it meant the other party was about to get off the stage, would no longer be a monkey on display, and everyone could start moving freely.

Good news.

He let out a slight sigh of relief and immediately said to Si Zhaohua beside him, “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll head straight back to my room afterward.”

After saying that, he walked straight out of the banquet hall’s main entrance and into the restroom. He took out the “Dream Foam,” creating the illusion that he had left the restroom and returned to his room. Meanwhile, he himself used an Invisibility Talisman and returned to the banquet hall.

He had already carefully studied the staircase at the back entrance of the banquet hall this morning. It was a staircase exclusively for the banquet hall, inaccessible from other areas. Going up this staircase should lead to the top floor, while going down led to the basement.

By the time Su Bei rushed back, Wu Mingbai and the king’s party had already disappeared, leaving only Weise to manage the situation. What was more troublesome was that the back door was also closed. If he opened it directly, he would surely attract attention.

He had learned yesterday that many offensive or special-type ability items couldn’t be used in the venue; they would be detected immediately upon use. Su Bei thought for a moment, then flung a gear wrapped in toilet paper to shatter a distant vase. The moment everyone looked towards the vase, he quickly pushed the door open and slipped inside.

As for the gear, it vanished without a trace after completing its task.

Faced with two directions, upstairs and downstairs, Su Bei headed downstairs without hesitation. Along the way, there was no light except for a few scattered wall sconces, giving it a somewhat sinister feeling.

At the very bottom was an iron door. It was also closed, but not locked, so it didn’t look difficult to open. Su Bei frowned at the door for a few seconds, then first maxed out his luck value before starting to knock on the adjacent walls.

Anyone with half a brain would realize that this door couldn’t be the gate to the guardian deity. There were no obstacles along the way; a single staircase leading directly to the guardian deity? Only a fool would believe that.

Su Bei was certain there was a trap behind this door. Since he knew, he naturally had no intention of walking into a tiger’s den, and decisively began searching for clues elsewhere.

If there was another entrance, there had to be traces of it. Either on the walls or on the ground.

Looking down at his feet, Su Bei quickly made a discovery. The last section of the plush carpet was different from the rest; it showed no signs of being stepped on.

In other words, the last place they walked to was here…

Su Bei moved to that spot and continued knocking on the wall, and sure enough, he heard a hollow sound.

Blinking at the blank wall, he seemed to sense something and looked up at the wall sconce above his head.

A minute later, Su Bei successfully opened a hidden door and went inside. It was another staircase. Just as he reached the first turn, Su Bei faintly heard movement from below.

It sounded like the older brother’s voice, intermittent and unclear: “No need… it’s nothing… continue…”

After listening for a moment, Su Bei understood. It seemed that even though he had been as quiet as possible, he had still made a sound. The other party was covering for him as agreed in their contract, preventing the king from coming up to check and causing unnecessary complications.

Getting any closer would risk being discovered, even while invisible. Su Bei stood his ground and slowly released his Mental Energy. There were eight people below, precisely Wu Mingbai’s family of eight.

Besides them, Su Bei didn’t sense any other energy forms. It seemed the guardian deity hadn’t appeared yet.

This was undoubtedly good news. If the guardian deity had really appeared, it might have detected Su Bei’s presence instantly. He was only daring to be so reckless because he was invisible.

Since the guardian deity hadn’t appeared yet, he could take the opportunity to make some preparations to avoid being discovered instantly. Su Bei took out a low-presence item he had prepared in advance, which he had gotten from Wu Jin. It was one of his own abilities that he had specially stored.

This thing was quite magical. It was a defensive-type item and wouldn’t be detected by the machines in the banquet hall.

The king began the summoning ritual. Su Bei could feel a continuous stream of energy flowing from the surroundings, converging at a single point, and then transforming into an extremely uncomfortable energy. Su Bei was all too familiar with this energy—it was grievance. The guardian deity was about to appear.

Sure enough, after a short while, another energy form appeared in the room. Su Bei retracted his Mental Energy at the right moment and went down a few more steps to ensure he could hear their conversation clearly.

A strange voice rang out, sounding like the kind of coarse male voice you’d only hear with special effects: “This is your first son?”

“It is, Lord Guardian Deity. Please bestow your blessing upon him.” The king had no intention of making small talk and got straight to the point.

The guardian deity pondered for a moment and didn’t immediately agree to the request. Instead, it brought up another matter: “I consumed a lot of energy coming out this time, and giving this child protection will also consume a lot of energy.”

“I will hold a three-day nationwide lecture series praising your virtues, and all citizens must attend.” The king replied skillfully, clearly already knowing what it wanted.

These words greatly satisfied the guardian deity. It immediately agreed to the king’s earlier request: “Then I have no problem. Just like before, have him drip his blood here.”

Su Bei didn’t care about the subsequent steps of the protection ritual. He was pondering the information he had just gathered. Just as he had guessed, this guardian deity did indeed need something from the Afei royal family, which was why it repeatedly helped them.

And what it sought sounded like things such as prestige, gratitude points, or incense offerings—the more people who praised it, the better. No wonder they were able to cooperate. Wanting to accumulate long-term prestige in a country, relying on the royal family was the simplest method.

And the Afei royal family clearly understood the principle of “casting aside the fine bow after the birds are gone.” They didn’t let the people of the country truly revere the guardian deity as a god. This way, once the royal family’s support was gone, Godean Zhuo would lose the people’s trust within a generation.

So, the question now was, if the guardian deity needed prestige, how could Su Bei satisfy it so that it would answer his questions?

A good idea quickly formed in Su Bei’s mind. The “Destiny” organization he had access to was always a useful tool. If he provided some information in the organization about how powerful Godean Zhuo was, and then found a way for others to see it, it would surely earn it a lot of prestige.

This could work, but the degree had to be carefully controlled. Just as the Afei Nation knew not to satisfy Godean Zhuo too much, Su Bei also couldn’t let its prestige rise too high.

After all, the other party was a Nightmare Beast. Even if it didn’t target humans, that didn’t necessarily make it a good thing. The current situation was fine; it could only throw its weight around in the Afei Nation. It could help the people, but it couldn’t establish itself as a king.

Soon, the ritual was over, and the king led everyone away. Only after the great door was closed again did Su Bei step out. Without dispelling his invisibility, he faced the stone wall and said in a disguised voice that was completely unrecognizable, “How about a deal?”

Startled by the sudden strange voice, the guardian deity was shocked. A stone face—with distinct features but extremely generic and unmemorable—protruded from the stone wall, its mouth opening and closing like an animation. “Who?”

It didn’t immediately call the king back. As a variant of an Advanced Nightmare Beast, Godean Zhuo was very confident in its own strength. Although it indeed hadn’t detected the speaker’s presence, that didn’t stop it from believing the other party couldn’t defeat it. Otherwise, why wouldn’t this person dare to show themselves?

Compared to the trivial worry, curiosity clearly had the upper hand. Godean Zhuo hadn’t forgotten what Su Bei said: “What deal?”

Su Bei first answered the first question: “I’m someone sent by the ‘Destiny’ organization. It’s an intelligence organization that can…”

“I’ve heard of this organization.” Before Su Bei could continue explaining, the guardian deity saved him the trouble.

He hadn’t expected the other party to have heard of “Destiny.” Although Su Bei didn’t look down on the organization, he had only thought “Destiny” was moderately well-known among human Ability users, but had no reputation among Nightmare Beasts, especially given that the other party was such a special existence.

“I represent the land of the Afei Nation. If I wish, nothing here can be hidden from me,” the guardian deity said calmly, as if it hadn’t said anything particularly surprising.

Since the other party knew about the “Destiny” organization, things were much simpler. Su Bei answered its second question concisely: “As for the deal, you answer three of my questions, and I will spread information favorable to you in the organization’s intelligence database, while also finding a way to let others know about it. This should be what you want, right?”

If he could really make all the members of the organization aware of information favorable to it, Godean Zhuo felt it would indeed be a good thing. Especially since the price was only three questions. In a sense, it was a deal with all profit and no cost.

But it was very suspicious. It wasn’t that it doubted Su Bei’s ability to do it; appearing before it so silently was a skill in itself. Besides, with an ability contract, it didn’t have to worry about the other party backing out.

What truly made Godean Zhuo suspicious was that good things don’t just fall from the sky. A deal with all profit and no cost looked like a trap no matter how you looked at it.

“Can I know what you’re going to ask first?”

Su Bei didn’t hesitate and shook his head decisively. “Nope.”

What if Godean Zhuo refused to answer after knowing what he wanted to ask? After all, it was a Nightmare Beast and might not be willing to expose the secrets of the Nightmare Beast World. At that point, not only would Su Bei not get his answers, but he would also expose his own objectives—the loss would outweigh the gain.

“…Alright, I agree. But we have to sign an ability contract.” In the end, the temptation of fame was too great. Even though it felt like a trap, Godean Zhuo still agreed to Su Bei’s deal.

Su Bei had already prepared the contract and immediately took it out upon hearing this. Godean Zhuo examined it carefully, and after confirming there were no problems, signed it. The contract emitted a golden glow, officially taking effect.

Now that their partnership was established, Godean Zhuo didn’t waste any time: “What do you want to ask?”

“First question.” Su Bei held up one finger. “Why has the number of Earth Element Nightmare Beasts in the Nightmare Beast World increased? I know it’s because the Nightmare Beast World needs more Earth Element Nightmare Beasts, so what I’m really asking is why the Nightmare Beast World needs so many Earth-element-type Nightmare Beasts.”

His words were like a tongue twister, but not difficult to understand. However, they successfully silenced the guardian deity, who had been about to answer.

After a long silence, it asked in return, “What are you planning to do by asking this?”

Su Bei crossed his arms. “I don’t think our deal includes me answering your questions.”

Indeed. Godean Zhuo was rebuffed and didn’t waste any more time. “I can only tell you that the Nightmare Beast World needs more earth, especially the kind that floats in the air. And this requires more Earth Element Nightmare Beasts to maintain.”

So it seemed his guess was correct. Su Bei instantly understood. The Nightmare Beast World had sensed that humans were intentionally clearing out the meteorites, and the disappearance of the meteorites would lead to the disappearance of the Nightmare Beast World’s power. So, for self-preservation, the Nightmare Beast World instinctively gave birth to more Earth Element Nightmare Beasts.

“Then, the second question: If all the Earth-element-type Nightmare Beasts disappeared, or a large number of them were lost, what impact would that have on the Nightmare Beast World?”

Thinking in reverse, if the Nightmare Beast World created more Earth Element Nightmare Beasts for self-preservation, would the disappearance of Earth Element Nightmare Beasts cause a certain amount of damage to the Nightmare Beast World?

Su Bei didn’t think that the disappearance of Earth Element Nightmare Beasts would make the Nightmare Beast World disappear. The Nightmare Beast World was directly related to the meteorites, but the Earth Element Nightmare Beasts had no connection to these meteorites. The meteorites came from outer space; they weren’t created by them.

However, just because it wouldn’t make the Nightmare Beast World disappear didn’t mean it couldn’t severely damage it. Eliminating all the meteorites in one go was too difficult. If taking an extra step could lead to a good result, Su Bei didn’t mind a little more trouble.

The two questions were progressively harder to answer. Godean Zhuo felt that if it were human, it would probably be drenched in sweat by now. “It would lead to… a loss of soil, and the density of the earth element in the Nightmare Beast World would decrease.”

It didn’t sound like much, but the other party’s hesitation felt very suspicious… Su Bei’s gaze became thoughtful. He didn’t know if his line of thinking was correct; he could only take it one step at a time.

A loss of soil, but not a single meteorite fragment would be missing. In other words, if the Earth Element Nightmare Beasts really lost more than half their numbers, then the meteorite fragments should lose their earth element protection and be exposed.

This would certainly make them easier to destroy, but it seemed the loss would outweigh the gain.

Could he have been thinking about it wrong? Perhaps making the Earth Element Nightmare Beasts disappear wouldn’t actually benefit his ultimate goal at all.

Su Bei furrowed his brow, then suddenly thought of something. His previous line of thinking was wrong. The biggest benefit of the Earth Element Nightmare Beasts disappearing was clearly that they would no longer be able to protect the meteorites in the air.

With them around, whether it was creating chunks of earth to create confusion, collecting and hiding meteorites, or reinforcing the meteorites to make them harder to destroy, they could effectively hinder humanity’s progress in eliminating the meteorites. This was also the purpose for which the Nightmare Beast World created so many Earth Element Nightmare Beasts.

And as long as they were gone, the other Nightmare Beasts would have no appropriate means to stop humans. If they only relied on killing, weren’t they already doing that before? Humans would always have the upper hand.

Having figured this out, Su Bei’s mind was already moving on to how to eliminate these Earth Element Nightmare Beasts. But finding a solution to this problem couldn’t be done overnight, and he wasn’t in a hurry.

“Last question.” The number of fingers Su Bei held up had become three. “What do you need prestige for?”

Normally, Godean Zhuo would be unwilling to answer a question that touched upon its very essence. But compared to the previous two questions, it actually found this one to be the easiest to answer. “I need it to increase my strength, and to maintain my sanity and physical form.”

As a variant of a Nightmare Beast, Godean Zhuo was not a stable product of post-death grievance, so naturally, it couldn’t exist stably. Because it was a variant, absorbing grievance would cause it to lose its sanity. Despite having the strength of an Advanced Nightmare Beast, its mind would regress to that of a Low-tier Nightmare Beast.

So, Godean Zhuo had researched a brand new method of survival applicable only to itself: living by absorbing prestige. They were both forms of thought; grievance was a thought, and the people’s remembrance was also a thought.

However, getting a large number of people to worship it was difficult. In the years when information didn’t travel fast, Godean Zhuo could only get a single village to worship it, and that was just enough to maintain its basic needs. Forget about making progress; it could barely even use its abilities.

Fortunately, by a stroke of luck, it later met the first king of the Afei Nation. It signed a contract with him: the king would provide it with prestige, and it would protect the Afei Nation.

Hearing the word “sanity,” Su Bei’s brow twitched. As a Nightmare Beast, if Godean Zhuo lost its sanity, it would definitely follow its instincts and hunt humans. And since its ability was related to the earth, didn’t this perfectly confirm the landslides and earthquakes in the Afei Nation from Feng Lan’s prophecy?

Su Bei felt he now roughly understood where this crisis was coming from. The Black Flash Organization wanted to massively eliminate humans by making Godean Zhuo lose its sanity. Compared to other Advanced Nightmare Beasts with different abilities, a Nightmare Beast like Godean Zhuo, which could create natural disasters, was undoubtedly more suitable for wiping out humanity.

As for how the Black Flash Organization planned to make the guardian deity lose its sanity, Su Bei didn’t think about it. It wasn’t his problem to solve. He had already done what he came to do; now he could just slack off for the rest of it.

To be honest, if it weren’t too abrupt to suggest leaving now, Su Bei really wished he could return to his home country with Zhao Xiaoyu and the others and continue his wonderful vacation.

A natural disaster of landslides and earthquakes… Then his next goal in this incident was to find a hiding spot that wouldn’t be affected. Ideally, this hiding spot would also allow him to keep an eye on the battlefield at all times, so he could appear promptly when needed.