Chapter 312

【No.36: Regarding the main topic, it’s obviously not that. The ‘Destiny’ organization has no conflict with ‘Endless Ability Academy’.】

【No.37: I think the reason Su Bei is so calm is that he’s part of a neutral faction. He can get along with both the righteous side and the villains.】

【No.38: I feel like Su Bei doesn’t care much about things like betrayal. He himself looks like the kind of person who would betray everyone at any moment.】

【No.39 replying to No.38:

That’s a bit unfair. I think Su Bei is plenty reliable. Although he often runs away, he only ever does it when he’s alone. When he’s actually on a mission, he’s never bailed or let anyone down. Just like during the World Competition group match, Su Bei didn’t think about quitting at the beginning when he didn’t know there was a problem with the illusion, did he? You have to remember, he was holding so many points by himself; the pressure must have been immense. Even if he’s strong, he doesn’t have an advantage in the World Competition.】

【No.40 replying to No.39:

I support this! Our Su Bei is actually very reliable.】

【No.41: Su Bei is clearly the type who’s usually lazy and flippant, but is extremely dependable at critical moments.】

【No.42 replying to No.41:

Although the critical moments in his eyes are extremely rare.】

【…】

【No.86: Su Bei doesn’t care about Mo Xiaotian’s betrayal because he doesn’t care about anyone, right? The word ‘betrayal’ really only exists between friends or collaborators. If a stranger suddenly switched sides, who would get angry over it?】

【No.87 replying to No.86:

Sometimes I also wonder if he even considers other people his friends.】

【No.88: To the poster above, you really don’t have to wonder about that. He definitely does! In the beginning, Su Bei absolutely required payment for his help, but many of the things he did later were actually for free.

For example, saving everyone at Wesi Sanctuary. I refuse to believe he didn’t have another way to leave. For example, during the World Competition, he voluntarily asked to participate in the team match, which was something that offered him no benefit at all.】

【No.89 replying to No.88:

That makes a lot of sense! Looking at it this way, although Su Bei still has that same cynical attitude, he has indeed changed a lot.】

【No.90: Ahhh, I love it! The cunning are sincere. This is the whole reason I watch shonen manga!】

【…】

【No.155: Here’s something not very related to the main topic, but wasn’t the conversation between Su Bei and Mo Xiaotian pure filler?

Mo Xiaotian barely said a word about his own mission. The entire time was just an emotional dump with no substantial content. And don’t even get me started on Su Bei. This is the first time I’ve discovered he’s such a good listener.

The two of them finally managed to shake everyone else off to meet, their identities and stances are in opposition, and yet they were just there for pure small talk.】

【No.156 replying to No.155:

That’s kind of hilarious hahahahaha】

【No.157 replying to No.155:

Who said there was no content? Mo Xiaotian revealed the organization’s current situation, that it has become stricter for some unknown reason. Combining that with their previous closed-door research, I suspect they either developed something particularly important and are now strictly managing the organization to prepare for something big, or they didn’t manage to develop anything and are just taking their bad mood out on others.

As for Su Bei, he really didn’t say anything. But he’s not the type of person who makes small talk. The fact that he could chat with Mo Xiaotian for so long is proof enough that he got some intel from him. In other words, he was pumping him for information, information about the ‘Black Flash’ organization.】

【No.158 replying to No.157:

As expected of someone from the ‘Destiny’ organization.】

【No.159: It’s just a shame he didn’t manage to get out of him what the ‘Black Flash’ organization is planning to do this time.】

【No.160 replying to No.159:

It’s a good thing he didn’t ask, otherwise that man in black who appeared after he left would have definitely stopped him.】

【No.161: What do you guys think? Did Su Bei not ask related questions because he wasn’t interested in why Mo Xiaotian was here, or because he knew someone was watching them?】

【No.162 replying to No.161:

Definitely the latter. I think Su Bei definitely knew about that person’s existence.】

【No.163 replying to No.161:

The latter. Su Bei even stayed behind, so he should be planning to participate in this incident. How could he not be interested?】

【No.165 replying to No.161:

Probably a bit of both. On one hand, he wasn’t that concerned about what the ‘Black Flash’ organization was up to, so it didn’t matter if he asked or not. On the other hand, he knew someone was watching, so he didn’t plan on asking any out-of-line questions.】

【No.166 replying to No.161;

At the very least, he definitely knew someone was watching them. Otherwise, how could they have talked about so little, with no intention of going deeper at all? You have to know, Mo Xiaotian is a great person to pump for information!】

【No.167: You can’t really call it ‘pumping for information’. Xiao Tian was clearly enjoying it.】

【No.168: Xiao Tian really has no self-awareness as a traitor.】

【No.169 replying to No.168:

He just lacks that self-awareness when it comes to Su Bei.】

【No.170: This is just how we members of organizations get along. I suggest those without an organization should go join one, and then you’ll understand Mo Xiaotian (not).】

【…】

After reading this thread, he closed his eyes, and finally steeled himself to click on the conspiracy theory thread.

《Su Bei is definitely going to stir up trouble again next chapter. This chapter was just setting the stage》

【Percentage Pure Milk No.0: Let’s sort out Su Bei’s plotline. First, he knew about Mo Xiaotian’s appearance, which means he should know, or at least know a part of, the ‘Black Flash’ organization’s mission.

Second, he made the twin brothers who came looking for trouble sign a contract to help provide cover for him tomorrow. This means he knows something will definitely happen at tomorrow’s family recognition banquet.

And indeed, while there were no major incidents at the banquet, there was a constant stream of minor ones. Su Bei also disappeared for a period of time. The plot didn’t say what he went to do, but I deduce it must have something to do with the guardian deity.

Brother Bei must have collaborated with the ‘Black Flash’ organization again, but the incident hasn’t blown up yet, so I guess Su Bei still has other things to do. It’s not just about the ‘Black Flash’ organization’s business; perhaps he has his own mission as well.】

【No.1: Looking forward to it! I just love watching Su Bei stir up trouble!】

【No.2: Su Bei: His body is in Cao’s camp, but his heart is with Han.】

【No.3: But it looks like this time the target isn’t the protagonist group, but the Afei Nation, or to be precise, the Afei Nation’s guardian deity. The protagonist group was just unlucky enough to get caught up in it.】

【No.4: Do it! Make it a big one!】

【No.5: The plot has been building up how awesome the guardian deity is. If something happens to it, the Afei Nation will be in for a miserable time.】

【No.6 replying to No.5:

I feel like a lot of people are going to die.】

【No.7 replying to No.5:

Let’s just hope the Nightmare Beasts don’t kick them while they’re down. Otherwise, that would be truly tragic.】

【…】

【No.45: Has anyone noticed a very interesting point? Mo Xiaotian, who is both the Saint and the leader of this operation, didn’t even know about this collaboration. So who could have known? It could only be the leader of the ‘Black Flash’ organization. The fact that Su Bei can cooperate directly with the leader of the ‘Black Flash’ organization really makes me curious about his status in the ‘Destiny’ organization.】

【No.46 replying to No.45:

Dude, you’ve hit the nail on the head.】

【No.47 replying to No.45:

To be able to interface with the other side’s leader, he’d have to be a leader himself, at the very least.】

【No.48 replying to No.47:

Hahahahahahaha, then I’m going to start a rumor that Su Bei is the leader of the ‘Destiny’ organization.】

【No.49: I wonder what Su Bei is here for. If he’s really just here to cooperate with the ‘Black Flash’ organization, then all I can say is, save the child. The villain’s forces are too powerful.】

【No.50 replying to No.45:

Although, while Mo Xiaotian is the leader of this operation on the surface, from what I’ve seen in the manga, it feels like it’s just a title. It’s something the leader is using to burnish his reputation. In reality, Xiao Tian doesn’t know much; he seems kind of clueless.】

【No.51 replying to No.50:

I agree with your idea, but I have to point out one thing: Mo Xiaotian has always seemed clueless.】

【…】

The king was highly efficient; the celebration began the very next day. This sort of thing was clearly a common occurrence, and it was obvious that everyone was very practiced. When Su Bei arrived at the venue, he overheard a couple in the line ahead of him whispering.

“Why is the line moving so slowly? I only took three hours off. If I can’t get back in time, my wages will be docked!” The girl stomped her foot anxiously.

Her boyfriend next to her said smugly, “Who told you to only take three hours off? I took five!”

The girl immediately gave him a dissatisfied nudge. “Have you no shame? Your company is right next door!”

The boyfriend wrapped his arm around her and said with a grin, “So what?”

Jiang Tianming and the others, who were queuing behind the two, covered their mouths to stifle their laughter. However, from this conversation, they also realized that the Afei Nation did indeed hold such events often, enough for the citizens to be this practiced, not even taking much time off for it.

“What Tianming said yesterday was right after all.” After stifling his laugh, Mu Tieren frowned and said, “The celebration is probably a necessity for the guardian deity. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain why it’s so frequent. They don’t look like they enjoy partying.”

If the entire nation was enthusiastic about partying and attending celebrations, they wouldn’t have taken so little time off. Besides, under normal circumstances, holding such activities so frequently would be detrimental to the country’s development. It was only possible that there was a related need, forcing them to hold the celebration.

Si Zhaohua said thoughtfully, “If just holding frequent celebrations can secure the protection of a powerful being, I think it’s quite worth it.”

From the current looks of it, this celebration, apart from wasting time, didn’t really consume any resources. It was just a matter of finding a large area like a park and hiring a host to sing the praises of the guardian deity nonstop all day.

After watching one performance, Su Bei turned and left. This kind of celebration was utterly meaningless and held hidden dangers; he had no intention of joining the crowd.

This time, Jiang Tianming and the others had clearly learned their lesson from the past. The moment they saw Su Bei turn to leave, they immediately followed. Ai Baozhu asked bluntly, “Su Bei, where are you going?”

“Back to the castle. This performance is boring as hell.” Su Bei strode back with his long legs, answering lazily.

Qi Huang nodded in agreement and said listlessly, “I wonder when the crisis Feng Lan predicted will start. Speaking of which, do you guys think it’s possible for the King of Afei Nation and his people to resolve the danger before it happens?”

“Not likely.” Wu Mingbai shook his head. “If they really had the intention to resolve it, they wouldn’t have called out the guardian deity at a time like this.”

The future of crumbling mountains and splitting earth was clearly related to the guardian deity. If something hadn’t happened to it, such a natural disaster would surely not occur. After all, things like earthquakes were completely within the guardian deity’s domain of control. Normally, it could help prevent them, not just let the crisis happen.

Knowing full well that something would go wrong with the guardian deity, the best method should have been to lower its presence and not give the mastermind behind the scenes an opportunity. But the King of Afei Nation clearly had no such intention. Not only did he summon the guardian deity to give Wu Mingbai its blessing, but he also held a celebration for it, giving off a beautiful sense of disregard for the other party’s life or death.

Li Shu sighed, feeling that their luck really couldn’t get any better. But thankfully, they had plenty of cheats. “Su Bei, even Feng Lan has made a prophecy. You can’t fall behind, can you?”

Goading tactics had never worked on Su Bei. He had no desire to be provoked into making a prophecy. “My ability isn’t ‘Prophecy’. Isn’t it normal for me to fall behind in prophecies?”

Was it normal? For anyone else, it would be very normal. But for Su Bei, it was definitely just a perfunctory excuse. Everyone knew in their hearts that he had certainly foreseen something but was just unwilling to say it.

And what confirmed this for them was Su Bei’s disappearance. He suddenly vanished that afternoon, leaving only a single message for everyone: “Do not disturb.” The moment they saw the message, they felt something was off. When they went to his room to look for him, he was, of course, nowhere to be found.

How should one put it? It felt expected, like the end had finally come. No one was surprised by his departure; they just unanimously felt a sense of vigilance rise in their hearts. Every time Su Bei disappeared, it meant danger was imminent. They didn’t think this time would be an exception.

As for where Su Bei went, he actually hadn’t gone far. In fact, one could say he was very close to them—he was at the top of the castle. Not the top floor, but the very top, on the castle’s spire.

An ability item “Balancing Bed,” a “Defense Eggshell,” and a few Invisibility Talismans were all it took to set up a home on the castle’s spire.

He simply took a nap, and when he woke up the next morning, the entire Afei Nation had begun to change drastically. Earthquakes, which hadn’t occurred even once in a hundred years, suddenly appeared all over the country. The power of the earthquakes was immense. Just as Feng Lan had predicted, houses collapsed, mountains crumbled, and the earth split. In coastal areas, it even triggered violent tsunamis.

The natural disaster was terrifying enough, but it was immediately followed by a man-made one. Nightmare Beasts that had been hiding in various parts of the Afei Nation all mobilized at this opportunity, interfering with the Ability users and ordinary people who had come to the rescue from all over.

The main reason Su Bei knew all this without leaving his spot was thanks to Li Shu’s live broadcast in the group chat.

That guy clearly had no conviction for saving lives. Although he was forced to stay here because of Jiang Tianming, the result of his reluctance was that he was just slacking off. The defensive capability of ‘Illusion’ wasn’t bad either. When he wasn’t helping out, it could still play a very protective role.

In short, although he was supposedly there to help, in reality, he just found a safe place, activated ‘Illusion’ to hide himself, and acted as a field reporter, live-streaming the scene for those of them who hadn’t gone.

Su Bei didn’t know what the others were thinking, but he just wanted to give Li Shu a thumbs-up. If it weren’t for such a kind-hearted person, how would he have known about the protagonist group’s situation?

Jiang Tianming and the others were dispatched that afternoon. After all, they had stayed behind to help in the first place. With Wu Mingbai’s advance warning, the King of Afei Nation naturally wouldn’t let these good helpers go to waste.

Of course, the king hadn’t been idle either. The celebration over the past few days was actually one of their strategies. Since the impending danger was an earthquake, the best countermeasure was to get the populace away from buildings for a reasonable excuse. And a three-day celebration was the best reason.

Su Bei had no intention of replying to the messages, silently watching the broadcast. To solve the problem, one had to go to the source. To resolve the crisis in the Afei Nation, they had to find the guardian deity. This meant the protagonist group would have to come back sooner or later, so there was naturally no need for him to leave.

Besides, by staying here, he could also get some hidden information.

The Mental Energy he had left at the staircase entrance detected the king passing by. Su Bei raised an eyebrow, leaped off the bed, and headed straight for the stairs. He didn’t need to think to know that the king must have realized something was wrong with the guardian deity and was now likely on his way to find it and deal with the problem.

But due to a lack of information, he probably didn’t know what role the ‘Black Flash’ organization had played in this, nor did he know that the guardian deity might very well no longer have any intention of protecting him. If he rashly went to find the guardian deity, Su Bei was afraid something would happen to him.

The king could die, but not at this time. At this moment, the Afei Nation was facing internal turmoil and external threats. All the princes and princesses were young, and the next successor to the kingdom had not yet been established. Once the king died, the Afei Nation would inevitably fall into internal strife.

At that point, disaster relief would be impossible, and the princes and princesses fighting for the throne might even affect Wu Mingbai, thereby affecting the protagonist group. The thought of it was a huge headache.

But it would be different if the king lived. As a king who had been on the throne for many years, his appearance alone could immediately restore stability to the country. The ministers of the country would also not abandon a king who was still in his prime to choose a successor from a group of minors.

Of course, in Su Bei’s view, a more interesting move would be to let the country fall into chaos first, wait for some people’s malicious ambitions to be exposed, and then bring the king back like a divine intervention at the critical moment.

To boost his own popularity, although Su Bei still wouldn’t appear in the plot frequently to avoid being called a ‘royal’, he needed to ensure that in every plot he participated in, he could play a certain role.

Popularity was never dependent on how much screen time one got. Some people could appear in every chapter and still be destined to be disliked. He didn’t need to ensure quantity; he just needed to ensure quality.

If he could save the king and have him reappear at a critical moment, it would definitely be a dazzling move for the readers.

Remaining invisible, he arrived at the secret chamber. As soon as he entered, he saw a large Destiny Compass with the Major Destiny Pointer pointing downwards hanging over the king’s head. Just as he had predicted, if he let the king remain here alone, his final outcome would be a dead end.

Su Bei adjusted the pointer above the king’s head to its normal position, then listened in from the side.

“What on earth is wrong with you?” The king’s voice sounded somewhat irate. “Didn’t I hold a celebration for you? Why are you suddenly acting like this? If you’re dissatisfied with something, just say it! Don’t mess with my country!”

After his questioning, seeing that the other party didn’t respond, he softened his tone. “If you have some unspeakable difficulty, whether it’s a lack of energy or you need something new, you can tell us. I know that after such a major incident, it will definitely require a lot of energy to repair or smooth things over. As long as you ask, I can satisfy you. Our Afei royal family has cooperated with you for so long, you should know that we don’t respond to threats. We respond to reason, not force.”

Perhaps because of Godean Zhuo’s centuries of dominant performance, the king had yet to realize that it wasn’t just acting difficult, but had genuinely lost the ability to help them.

Suddenly, the floor of the secret chamber cracked open. The king panicked and almost fell straight down. However, as the king of a nation, he clearly had many items on hand. He had just fallen a little when he immediately conjured a pair of wings and flew back up.

But the enraged Godean Zhuo clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily. The entire ceiling suddenly detached and came crashing down.

The king activated another item, forcefully shattering the ceiling into small pieces. At the same time, he activated a defensive state to protect himself from being injured by the falling rocks.

One danger followed another. Stronger and harder rocks attacked from all directions. The king had nowhere to evade and shouted loudly for his guards.

Although he was currently meeting with the guardian deity, the king had not skimped on any necessary protection. Even if he trusted the guardian deity, he would never truly entrust his safety completely to it.

Especially now that the guardian deity was clearly having problems, it was even more impossible for him to come to see it alone. As a king, his safety awareness was naturally strong. However, the guardian deity’s secret was also very important, so although he had arranged for guards, he still came to meet the guardian deity by himself.

However, now that he was clearly in danger, no one came no matter how long he shouted. The king’s face was filled with astonishment, and he finally realized that things seemed to have spiraled out of his control.

Su Bei knew why no one came. They were all tied up by another group of people. This was clearly an organized and premeditated assassination by the ‘Black Flash’ organization, and the target of the assassination was the King of the Afei Nation.

The members of the ‘Black Flash’ organization were responsible for blocking any rescue, preventing others from getting close to the secret chamber. And the guardian deity, Godean Zhuo, was responsible for killing the king. Perhaps it had some special ability that made it more effective for it to kill the king than for the ‘Black Flash’ organization members to do it themselves, or perhaps having Godean Zhuo kill the king could help them evade suspicion, which was why the ‘Black Flash’ organization didn’t personally make a move on the king.

Reinforcements wouldn’t arrive anytime soon. The king kept pulling out items to protect himself. He had a large inventory, so holding out for a while was still possible. But how could an Advanced Nightmare Beast, especially a top-tier one whose ability could even cover an entire country, be so easily dealt with? No matter how many items he had, they were just single-use consumables. Unless the king himself had a way, this was nothing more than a slow death.

Just as the items in the king’s hands were about to run out, with nowhere left to hide and on the verge of despair, several gears suddenly shot out, directly shattering the boulder that was about to touch the king.

Immediately after, Su Bei grabbed the king’s arm, slapped an Invisibility Talisman on him, and even had the leisure to make a joke, “Should I say, ‘Your humble servant is late to the rescue’?”