Chapter 323

Just as Su Bei’s imagination was running wild, a loud crash suddenly came from above the room. Immediately after, Jiang Tianming and the other two burst in with a small, skinny girl.

“Brother!” Seeing the young man lying on the operating table, gutted and wide open, tears streamed down the little girl’s face.

The familiar voice made the young man abruptly raise his head, ignoring the pain in his body. He asked in shock, “Sister, why are you here?”

“If I hadn’t come, you would have died!” his sister roared, then looked at the doctor with hatred. “My big brothers and sisters have already found out that the school you mentioned doesn’t exist at all, and the people who left the island aren’t studying there!”

At these words, the brother’s expression instantly changed. He, of course, believed his sister unconditionally. “How could you do this? Where did all those people go? Wait… what is that?”

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the kidney that had already been removed and placed to the side. “That’s my kidney! Didn’t you say you only needed to take one? Since it’s already been taken out, why isn’t the surgery over?”

At this moment, he completely lost all trust in the doctors and struggled to get up from the operating table. Jiang Tianming and the others had already taken the opportunity to restrain the buyers. Wu Mingbai had dug a short tunnel leading directly from outside into the operating room.

It was worth noting that throughout this entire process, Li Shu showed no intention of stopping them. He merely stood aside, calmly observing the situation’s development. Then, after they entered the operating room, he quietly left the secret chamber.

After they went in, Su Bei also slipped into the operating room, retrieved the camera with sufficient evidence from a flowerpot, and returned to the area outside.

Jiang Tianming and the others wasted no time. They quickly subdued the doctors in the operating room and made them stitch up the young man’s wound. Lan Subing, who could control people, and the little girl stayed behind, while the other two went out to support Qi Huang and Mu Tieren.

Su Bei, of course, chose to follow them out to witness the impending conclusion of the event.

Outside, Qi Huang and Mu Tieren were wreaking havoc. Although the Li Family had Ability users, the fact that their trading partners were mostly ordinary families showed that they were still just an ordinary family themselves, with very few powerful Ability users within the clan.

As S-Class members of Endless Ability Academy, and battle-hardened ones at that, Qi Huang and Mu Tieren were naturally unafraid of these insignificant ordinary people and Ability users. The two of them remarkably held their own against a hundred without being at a disadvantage.

With the addition of Jiang Tianming and the other, the situation became almost completely one-sided.

The Li Family Head was furious. While directing his family members to deal with them, he tried to interfere with his words, “Your academy’s teachers will be here soon. When they see you fighting and killing here, they will definitely punish you.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the ones breaking the law. The teachers will only arrest you!” Qi Huang said with a cold laugh. However, she also knew in her heart that they would definitely be punished after this was over. After all, the teachers had repeatedly warned them not to come, yet they came anyway.

But Qi Huang had no regrets. If they hadn’t risked coming, how would they have discovered the Li Family’s secret?

“Do you have any proof?” the Li Family Head said with a smug smile. “So what if that little thing you brought and her brother testify against us? Her brother signed a contract. What we’re doing is a legal transaction.”

“Then what if I testify against you too?” Li Shu, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, finally spoke, and his opening words were a bombshell. “I contacted the academy long ago and told them about your private illegal activities. As your fourth child, and someone who has never participated in the transactions, my accusation should carry some weight, don’t you think?”

Su Bei had a sudden realization. No wonder Teacher Meng had tried so hard to stop them from coming. It turned out he already knew about the Li Family’s affairs and didn’t want them to get involved. If nothing had gone wrong, they should have been in the process of gathering evidence, waiting to wipe out the Li Family in one fell swoop. They just didn’t expect Jiang Tianming and his group to suddenly barge in and disrupt the original plan.

Seeing that Li Shu would actually turn against them at such a critical moment, and that it seemed to have been premeditated, the Li Family Head’s expression twisted for a second before turning into a sneer. “Li Shu! You… Heh, you really are an ungrateful dog.”

Li Shu lowered his gaze and said nothing.

Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai, who obviously already knew the truth about his withdrawal from the academy, were not surprised. Qi Huang and Mu Tieren, who knew nothing, were genuinely shocked. They hadn’t expected Li Shu to report his own family; they had misunderstood him.

After the sneer, though the Li Family Head’s face was grim, he acted as if he didn’t care about Li Shu’s betrayal. “Let’s just say I was bitten by a dog. But you should know, a dog can bite a person, but it can’t cause fundamental damage. You should know we’ve cooperated with so many people over the years, and there’s no shortage of big shots among them. As long as my ability is still useful, they won’t just let me rot in prison.”

He was right. The Head’s ability was most likely one that allowed people to have more children. This ability itself was extremely useful, especially for families with fertility issues. And its byproducts, the organs, were a blessing for many wealthy people.

Those who had benefited from him would not let the Head stay in prison forever. Firstly, they coveted his ability and didn’t want to let such a talent go to waste. Secondly, the Head had a list of buyers. Once something like this was made public, the buyers’ reputations would be instantly destroyed. If they didn’t want the Head to resort to a mutually destructive outcome, they would definitely have to rescue him.

The Head didn’t state this last point. He couldn’t make the threat explicit, or it might bring about his own death. In any case, those big shots were smart people and would surely think of this. So, even knowing that things would soon be exposed, he wasn’t panicking in the slightest.

In the Head’s eyes, as long as he was around, he could rebuild. With his ability in hand, given some time, he could always establish a new Li Family.

It had to be said, these words indeed left everyone at a loss. They were all intelligent people and could naturally deduce the Head’s hidden thoughts. As he said, those powerful figures would definitely rescue him. Even if they managed to lock him up, it would only be temporary.

After the Head got out, they could assign someone to watch him in secret and lock him up again when he slipped up. But who knew when that would be! Assigning an ordinary person to watch him might get them dealt with by the powerful figures who rescued him. Assigning an Ability user seemed like a waste, as the main task of Ability users was always to eliminate Nightmare Beasts.

Besides, it’s easier to be a thief than to guard against one. With so many things happening in the Ability World, who had the spare time to constantly keep an eye on the Li Family Head?

Just as everyone’s faces darkened, a familiar voice rang out, “Well, if those big shots can’t even protect themselves, would they still come to save you?”

Everyone looked up to see Su Bei standing on the second-floor balcony of a nearby villa, holding a blue-covered notebook.

With just one glance, the Head’s face turned pale with shock, finally losing his previous composed demeanor. Others might not know, but how could he not know what was in that notebook? That was his lifeline!

Su Bei deliberately covered his mouth as if he had misspoken and said cheekily, “Oh, no, that’s not right. If those big shots knew that their exposure was because of you, forget saving you, they’d probably use their last bit of strength to kill you, right?”

Seeing the Head’s reaction, Jiang Tianming immediately realized that the notebook in Su Bei’s hand was likely the key evidence. A flicker of joy appeared in his eyes, and he relaxed completely.

“Kill him! Kill him for me! Destroy that ledger!” At this point, the Head couldn’t care about anything else, his voice a hoarse roar. “All Li Family members, destroy that ledger at any cost!”

Seeing this, Mu Tieren grew anxious and helped block the attackers, shouting to Su Bei as he did, “Run! We’ll hold them back for you!”

Previously, they had been able to handle the Li Family members with ease because the attackers were fearful. There was already a power gap, and because these people hadn’t undergone professional training, they were afraid of death and pain and didn’t dare to go all out. Naturally, they were beaten back by the top students of Endless Ability Academy.

But it was different now. For this brainwashed group, the Head’s command was the highest order. Now that the Head had ordered them to destroy the ledger at any cost, they lost their weakness of fearing death and became fierce and fearless.

Even a madman fears a desperate man. Faced with so many people attacking recklessly, even Mu Tieren, who was much stronger than them, couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

Although Li Shu wasn’t too worried about Su Bei, he cared about the ledger and reminded him, “If you can’t handle it, put the ledger in your Storage Ring.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Su Bei said with a grin. Facing the few Li Family members who had already swarmed up behind him, he jumped directly from the second-floor balcony, brazenly holding up the ledger in his hand.

Seeing that he didn’t even intend to put the ledger in his storage space, Jiang Tianming subconsciously felt that Su Bei had an ace up his sleeve. He exchanged a look with Wu Mingbai, who also showed no signs of worry, clearly having great faith in Su Bei’s strength.

“Don’t worry about that guy. You think he’s going to lose?” Qi Huang said irritably while releasing a firebird to help Mu Tieren deal with a sneak attacker. Although her tone wasn’t great, her trust was evident.

And the facts proved them right. Next, Su Bei showed them what a Destiny-type was all about.

He strolled through the enemies as if in a garden. Whenever someone reached for the ledger, he would even feign handing it over. But despite such brazen behavior, not a single person managed to get the ledger. They couldn’t even touch it. Whenever they were about to touch the ledger, all sorts of accidents would happen.

Accidentally slipping, bumping into their own people, getting hit by friendly fire, their hands suddenly getting electrocuted, convulsing, breaking… all kinds of accidents occurred one after another, all leading to one result: the notebook in Su Bei’s hands remained perfectly intact.

And because everyone was focused on getting the ledger, and he often used it for timely protection, Su Bei himself didn’t suffer a single scratch.

Qi Huang’s lips twitched. “…This guy, is he using a cheat?”

“Is it the ability of an item?” Mu Tieren couldn’t help but ask curiously.

Hearing this, Su Bei shot him a faint glance, seemingly disdainful of the suggestion. In reality, however, Su Bei was nodding furiously in his mind. Great question! Truly his good classmate, coming to his rescue just in time.

If no one had asked, it would have been awkward for him to bring it up himself, since Su Bei wasn’t usually one to voluntarily reveal his trump cards. But with someone asking, it was different. He could naturally deliver the lines he had prepared long ago.

“The item? Of course, it’s an ability.” Su Bei snapped his fingers. “My destiny today is—no one can snatch this ledger from me.”

“In that case, couldn’t your destiny today also be ‘I will definitely win,’ ‘I will definitely be invincible,’ ‘I will definitely find the truth’…” Jiang Tianming, being very clever, immediately extrapolated. The more he said, the more shocked his expression became. “Wouldn’t that be too overpowered?!”

Su Bei wished he could design it that way, but he felt that with the author already paying attention to him, they probably wouldn’t allow him such a massive power-up. Most importantly, taking too big a step at once could lead to trouble. He was already portrayed as quite powerful in the manga; if he added a skill like that, he would easily become a ‘royal’ in the readers’ eyes, which was not a good sign.

So he shook his head and let out a light laugh. “I wish. But unfortunately, this skill can only be used for passive defense.”

What he needed from the start was a defensive skill, so there was no need to get greedy and add more on the spot. However, since Jiang Tianming had brought it up, Su Bei still left himself an opening for the future. “But ‘not now’ doesn’t mean ‘not in the future’. Please look forward to it!”

With his performance complete, Su Bei was in a great mood and didn’t plan to continue the show. Mainly because the ‘Evasion MAX Sticker’ was about to run out, and it couldn’t be used again in a short period, so he couldn’t afford to be reckless anymore.

Looking as if his interest had waned, he waved his hand. Following a path he had scouted out earlier—from a chair to a flower wall to a windowsill—Su Bei easily returned to the second floor, leaning against the sill and propping his chin on one hand. “I advise you not to waste your efforts. The teachers are about to… arrive.”

As his voice fell, the faint sound of a resounding dragon’s roar echoed from the distance. Everyone simultaneously turned to look. Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, a massive Western-style Black Dragon was slowly flying over from afar.

Of course, it only looked slow to them because of the great distance, just like how an airplane seems to fly slowly when viewed from the ground. In reality, the Black Dragon’s speed was extremely fast, covering immense distances in an instant as it headed in their direction.

“Great! The teacher is here!” A look of joy appeared on Mu Tieren’s face. He knew that the teacher’s arrival meant they were completely safe.

Although what had happened before might not have seemed too dangerous, the problem was that they couldn’t leave the island!

From the moment they were discovered, the moat outside the island had turned a deep purple. They knew without even touching it that the river was definitely poisonous. Moreover, the water was continuously emitting a purple mist. A flying bird that came above the river would immediately let out a cry and fall, apparently poisoned and incapacitated.

They didn’t know how the Li Family’s river had become so lethal; it must have cost a lot of money.

And even if they hadn’t used the poison mist, it would have been very difficult for the group to fly off the island. Qi Huang was different from Si Zhaohua; her [Flame Phoenix] ability didn’t grant her wings. She could fly because she was carried by a phoenix manifested from flames.

Since they were manifested wings, their carrying capacity was naturally inferior to real ones. It was almost impossible to carry all four people—Su Bei and the others—across that river.

And if she carried them one by one, the people left behind would be besieged by the islanders. Five people could still hold on, but three would be pure suicide.

The tunnel Wu Mingbai had dug earlier had been found, and several Li Family members were at the entrance filling it in. The possibility of digging another one elsewhere was slim. Wu Mingbai needed quiet surroundings to dig a tunnel, and in the current situation, they couldn’t even get out of everyone’s sight, let alone find a quiet enough place.

All methods of leaving the island were blocked. Unless they could incapacitate most of the people on the island, there was no way for them to leave. The Head had shamelessly called out the underaged children to join the battle, which made them hesitant and unwilling to strike heavily. If this continued until their Mental Energy was depleted, they would be in a crisis.

Meng Huai’s arrival resolved their predicament in the nick of time. Everyone was very confident that with his strength, he wouldn’t be deterred by a mere bit of poisoned water. If nothing else, his Black Dragon flew much higher than Si Zhaohua’s and Qi Huang’s creations.

The Black Dragon flapped its wings and landed on the Li Family’s island. Meng Huai dismounted, first glaring fiercely at Jiang Tianming and the others, then looking at Li Shu, who knew the inside story. “What’s the situation?”

Li Shu’s expression was complicated. After a moment of thought, he answered truthfully, “…Although there were many unexpected incidents, the mission was completed perfectly.”

If the ledger in Su Bei’s hand was genuine, then the Li Family was definitely finished this time. Just as he had said earlier, forget the police, even the people whose reputations would be ruined due to their transactions with the Li Family would be eager to kill him.

The second he finished speaking, the notification sound from the ‘Manga Consciousness’ echoed in Su Bei’s ear: “‘King of Abilities’ has been updated. Please check.”

The manga update meant the incident was over. For once, Su Bei was a bit impatient. He wanted to see if his plan had succeeded. Not being able to use the Oracle Account to build momentum for himself undoubtedly added a lot of uncertainty to the plan.

Even though the lack of reader discussion wouldn’t affect the characters in the manga from acknowledging what he said and believing that he did indeed possess a causality-based defensive ability, having people discuss it would certainly make it more impressive and would be more likely to help him successfully change his ability.

Moreover, when he had his forum account, he didn’t need to state his ability so explicitly at all. He just needed to analyze the phenomenon on the forum in a roughly accurate way, and there would naturally be readers who would believe him unconditionally.

But it was different now. He had to state what he wanted either personally or through someone else to ensure that the readers wouldn’t misunderstand, which could derail his plan and make all his hard work go to waste.

However, Su Bei was quite philosophical about this. You win some, you lose some. For the sake of having one more trump card, a little extra effort was worth it. Besides, compared to the protagonist team, he hadn’t worked that hard. Happiness really is derived from comparison.

After controlling everyone on the island, Meng Huai didn’t immediately leave with the group. He was the first to arrive, and there was a larger contingent behind him. They had to wait for the main force to arrive before they could leave.

During the wait, Meng Huai got the details of what happened from Mu Tieren. Logically, he should have gotten them from Li Shu, since Li Shu was his collaborator and a member of the Li Family.

But Li Shu clearly had no intention of saying more, decisively passing the storytelling task to Jiang Tianming and Mu Tieren. The Li Family was still his family, after all, and Li Shu had indeed admired the Head greatly before.

Now that the man was about to face justice, even though he now had people he cared about more, and this plan was his own creation, it didn’t stop him from feeling unhappy. But it wasn’t unhappiness about the Head being imprisoned or even killed, but because the father he once saw as a god was so easily defeated.

Alright, it wasn’t that bad, actually. Li Shu reviewed the incident again and clearly realized that the reason they were able to leave his father with no room to fight back was entirely because Su Bei had found the ledger.

If he hadn’t found the ledger, or rather, if he hadn’t found it right at the beginning of the incident, his father would have been invincible. Li Shu didn’t believe his father had no backup plan for that ledger. Most likely, the moment he was captured, the ledger would have been quickly taken away or destroyed.

Thinking about it this way, Li Shu didn’t feel so resentful anymore. His father was still very formidable; it was just a pity he encountered someone who didn’t play by the rules. Who, upon encountering such a situation, would have the presence of mind to look for the ledger first?

Seeing Li Shu huddled in a corner by himself, Su Bei walked over. Of course, he wasn’t coming over to comfort him. The main reason was that Su Bei had a question that needed Li Shu’s answer. “I heard that one of your roles here was to treat the buyers after their surgery. When did [Illusion] get a healing function?”

“Where did you hear that?” Li Shu was full of questions. “Only a few people know about this. You…”

He paused for two seconds. Facing Su Bei’s calm expression, he decisively gave up on that question and instead sneered with a smile, “Our dear classmate Su Bei knows so much information. Surely you can easily figure out where I got my healing ability. Why are you asking me?”

“Just wanted to verify it,” Su Bei shrugged, his face calm and composed, but in his heart, he voiced his guess with absolutely no certainty. “After all, even I would be surprised that you managed to get in touch with Teacher Ye.”

Actually, Su Bei’s statement was quite risky. If he had guessed wrong and Li Shu wasn’t cooperating with Ye Lin at all, it could easily arouse the other’s suspicion.

However, it was also easy to explain away. He didn’t know if Ye Lin was cooperating with Li Shu, but she was definitely cooperating with Meng Huai. He could just use that as an excuse later, saying he only knew Ye Lin was cooperating with someone from Endless Ability Academy but wasn’t sure who, and easily brush the matter aside.

Besides, the Su Bei of today was not the Su Bei of the past. Before, he had no room for error. Once he failed and lost the trust of his companions and the readers, it would be very difficult to rebuild it. But it was different now. Even if he really made a mistake, others would voluntarily cover for him, rationalizing his mistake or even turning it into a conspiracy through their wild imaginations.

Su Bei had established his persona as a riddle-maker from the very beginning precisely for this reason. Being a riddle-maker gave him a lot of fault tolerance, which became more and more useful as time went on.

But this time, the outcome was good. Li Shu once again showed a shocked expression, even more shocked than the last time. “Where do you get your information! It can’t be that Ye Lin told you, right?”