Chapter 333

Everyone’s expression was a spectacular mix of panic, fear, helplessness, and anger…

Only one person laughed, but it was a cold laugh. That person was Su Bei. With his head lowered, Su Bei let out a low, muffled laugh.

He had been wondering why everything was going so smoothly, as if it were all falling into place naturally, without any difficulty.

So this is where they were waiting for him!

Only he could see it. Through the phone screen, the Destiny Compass above everyone’s head had changed in an instant. Everyone’s Minor Destiny Pointer had suddenly skewed to the right, and for Si Zhaohua and Wu Mingbai, their Major Destiny Pointers had moved directly to the lower half of the compass!

Oh, and his own. His Major Destiny Pointer was down there too.

The author actually wanted to reduce the protagonist group’s numbers in this event, and they even wanted to take him off the board!

Su Bei was so angry he had to laugh. If it were just the Minor Destiny Pointers changing, that would be one thing, but normally the Major Destiny Pointer wouldn’t change so abruptly. Was this sudden change because the author was afraid that revealing their fate in advance would allow him to intercept and change it?

Under the shock of this huge news, no one noticed his strange behavior. Wu Mingbai almost immediately thought of a solution: “I’ll finish up here first, then I’ll come find you all. Just hold on for a while, wait for me…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Tianming interrupted him: “Even if you can find our exact locations from our signal flares, how would you get over? At your speed, by the time you reach us one by one, we might not be able to hold on anymore.”

They had to assume that the Nightmare Beasts approaching them now were the elite among the Advanced Nightmare Beasts. Forget holding on for one or two hours; they would have trouble lasting even ten minutes.

“I can go pick him up,” Si Zhaohua immediately offered. “I can fly, so my speed is already faster than others. Plus, I brought a flight accelerator and some other items to increase speed.”

This was a special item for flight-type abilities that could provide a boost during takeoff, increasing flight speed by four to five times. Si Zhaohua always kept one on him.

With these items, no matter how far apart the locations were, he could arrive in a short amount of time.

Hearing this, Su Bei understood. It seemed this was how those two died. As the ones traveling, they would certainly face more dangers. Along the way, who knew how many ambushes they would encounter; it would be normal for them to die in the end.

As for how he himself would die, who knew? Wouldn’t it be a piece of cake for the author to kill him off amidst the chaos?

Under normal circumstances, changing the Major Destiny Pointers of three people, while consuming a lot of Mental Energy, was still doable. The problem was that among the three of them were two members of the protagonist’s group, and one of them was the main protagonist of the main protagonists.

Changing the fate of a protagonist consumed a massive amount of Mental Energy. Su Bei had already used his Mental Energy multiple times just now—to change luck for Jiang Tianming, who was a protagonist, and to alter the fate of the stone forest Nightmare Beast and the two Advanced Nightmare Beasts. He now had less than a quarter of his Mental Energy left from his peak.

Trying to change the Major Destiny Pointers of three people in a row was simply impossible. His Mental Energy absolutely couldn’t handle it. Forget Mental Energy, even adding his entire life force wouldn’t be enough.

Wu Mingbai alone would be enough to consume more than half of his Mental Energy. Add Si Zhaohua, and it would practically use up all his Mental Energy from his peak state. That’s how terrifyingly powerful protagonists were. If Jiang Tianming were one of them, the consumption would be even greater.

If he didn’t save these two, it wouldn’t be a problem. He could use his remaining Mental Energy to change his own fate, and he wouldn’t even need to consume his life force. If he saved these two, whether they died or not was another matter, but he would definitely pay a heavy price.

But Su Bei was unwilling to accept what was, on the surface, the best choice for him.

He laughed out loud again, but this time it was a bitter smile. When he had just enrolled, he had thought about not getting too close to the protagonist’s group. With bonds, it was easy to get implicated.

It was truly a self-fulfilling prophecy. He found he could no longer be so cold-hearted.

The author could be ruthless enough to write characters off, but he couldn’t just watch his classmates, people he spent his days with, die like this. Although he usually acted detached, only Su Bei knew how much of that was an act.

Besides, even setting emotions aside and looking at it rationally, he didn’t think he could just stand by and watch.

“Do you think the author arranged it this way to really kill me, or to test me?” Su Bei suddenly asked in his mind.

He wasn’t surprised when he didn’t hear the voice of the ‘Manga Consciousness’ after a long while. It was normal for it to be blocked or unable to speak during such a major plot point. What if it accidentally leaked information?

The reason he asked that question was because Su Bei suddenly wondered, did the author truly not care about the characters’ deaths?

Wu Mingbai’s and Si Zhaohua’s deaths were indeed logical. Although real-life readers would absolutely explode with frustration upon seeing the plot, no one would feel like their deaths were completely forced by the plot, as if the damn author just decided to kill them off on a whim.

After all, this was a major turning point in the main storyline; it was perfectly normal for some characters to die. If the entire cast survived until the end of the manga, that wouldn’t be much of a shonen manga!

But just because the plot was logical, did that mean the author wouldn’t feel sad?

Setting Si Zhaohua aside for a moment, Wu Mingbai was a character he had written for two whole seasons. Even if he wasn’t the absolute protagonist like Jiang Tianming, he was the first person beneath the protagonist. The author must have invested countless efforts in him.

Did he really want Wu Mingbai to die?

However, the above was just a fleeting guess in Su Bei’s mind. Depending on whether the guess was correct, two possibilities could arise.

One was that the author arranged for characters to die here, but actually hoped he would save them. If he saved them and then saved himself, perhaps the author would let him off the hook for good.

The other possibility was that the author simply wanted some characters to die here, and Su Bei saving them would ruin his plan. In that case, after ruining the author’s plot arrangement, he would face an even more ferocious “hunt” from the author.

If the choice he was facing now was about something else, Su Bei would definitely choose to avoid trouble. The author had already arranged it this way; wasn’t he just asking for death by trying to ruin it for no reason?

But this matter involved the lives of his companions, so he couldn’t help but hesitate.

To be honest, with a choice already leaning in his heart, Su Bei couldn’t even tell if his string of analysis just now was truly born from reason, or just an excuse his emotions had forcefully concocted to make him save them.

Save them. I have no choice. I have to have a clear conscience.

Su Bei sighed internally. The fate the author had arranged for him… he would accept it, but only half of it. He was willing to save them, but he wasn’t willing to die for it.

The author of ‘King of Abilities’ was a bastard, but the characters he created were indeed quite lovable.

In any case, he had a way to ensure his own survival. A small price in exchange for the lives of two companions was worth it. Afterward, he could go to the forums and find a way to make up for it. Maybe in the end, he wouldn’t have to pay any price at all and would get two lives for free.

With that thought, Su Bei raised his head.

At this moment, Jiang Tianming was frantically throwing out defensive items to set up an array. The Nightmare Beast army was closing in. As the group Wu Mingbai and the others had decided to handle last, they needed to hold out the longest. If they didn’t set up their defenses before the Nightmare Beasts arrived, they could just pack it up and prepare to reincarnate.

Seeing Su Bei come back to his senses, Jiang Tianming quickly asked, “What were you thinking about just now? Did you come up with a plan?”

Ever since they finished discussing the plan with Wu Mingbai, Jiang Tianming had noticed the pensive Su Bei. But seeing that his mood was clearly off, Jiang Tianming was very considerate and didn’t disturb him, silently setting up the defenses.

Only when he saw him look up did he speak up and ask.

Su Bei looked at him, his eyes shimmering with a complex emotion that was hard to describe.

A moment later, Jiang Tianming saw Su Bei flash a roguish smile. “Remember to apologize to me afterward, for making me pay such a huge price to save your lives.”

That smile carried a hint of exhaustion and relief. A premonition he couldn’t quite explain suddenly rose in Jiang Tianming’s heart. He subconsciously wanted to stop Su Bei, but he didn’t know why he had that thought. His hand lifted slightly, but the words died in his throat.

He watched as Su Bei slowly floated into the air, his golden hair fluttering with the energy waves emanating from the center of his hands. A miniature gear appeared between his palms. The gear had a faint halo; it seemed ordinary at first glance, but no one could ignore the immense energy it contained, causing the expressions of those around to change.

At the same time, a compass array glowing with a dark light rose beneath Su Bei’s feet. The runes carved on the array were mysterious and magnificent. As the gear spun between his hands, specks of light floated up from below, converging into the gear. In an instant, the light flared brilliantly.

However, before everyone had a chance to admire this astonishing scene, they saw that the moment the gear emitted its light, Su Bei’s hair began to turn white, inch by inch, from the roots to the tips. The white was more pristine than the purest snow anyone had ever seen, yet it brought with it death and decay.

“Su Bei!” Jiang Tianming cried out in alarm, instantly realizing what was happening. “You’re using your life force to power your ability!”

As expected of the protagonist, his reaction is fast, Su Bei thought, his mind a little muddled. He slowly lifted his heavy eyelids and looked at the Nightmare Beasts that had already arrived and were beginning to attack the defensive barriers Jiang Tianming had set up. Feeling the last bit of life force remaining in his body, he slightly raised his hand to grasp the gear pendant on his chest and forced himself to focus. “Let me help you one last time.”

The pointer spun. The next second, more than half of the surrounding Nightmare Beasts suddenly died. Su Bei had exhausted his life force to cast his final ability.

Jiang Tianming was first stunned by the sudden fall of the Nightmare Beasts, then he seemed to realize something. He hastily turned back to look at Su Bei, shaking his head continuously, as if trying to say something.

However, before he could speak, right before his eyes, Su Bei calmly began to disappear from the bottom up, until he turned to ash and scattered into the air.

“Su Bei!” The moment he vanished, Jiang Tianming roared in panic, an unprecedented turmoil in his eyes.

Unfortunately, only silence remained. Su Bei’s voice would never be heard again.

At this moment, the others outside the phone screen also reacted. Qi Huang asked anxiously, “What happened? What’s with Su Bei—”

“I… I don’t know.” Jiang Tianming stood there, at a loss. He already had a guess in his heart, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Then, he suddenly thought of something, as if grasping at a life-saving straw. He quickly took out a sensor from his storage space. This sensor could detect if a person was alive and their specific location.

Jiang Tianming had previously collected a strand of hair from every classmate and recorded it, so it could now be used to sense Su Bei’s existence.

“Beep! Beep!”

The sensor’s indicator light flashed red, accompanied by a rapid beeping sound, which then vanished in an instant.

Jiang Tianming’s face turned deathly pale. He staggered back two steps in disbelief, muttering to himself, “Can’t sense him… The sensor can’t detect Su Bei’s existence.”

Under what circumstances could a sensor not detect a person’s existence? Only when that person was already dead.

Su Bei was dead? How was that possible!

The others were all stunned as well. They guessed the truth from Jiang Tianming’s reaction and his words.

“…He said just now that he saved us… was it because he overused his Mental Energy to save us, to the point of consuming his life force? But the way he looked just now… he…” Qi Huang said incoherently, her expression showing unprecedented panic.

The further she spoke, the more hesitant her voice became. Qi Huang felt that Su Bei’s state looked like his life force had been completely depleted, returning to dust, but she didn’t dare say it. Even someone like her couldn’t help but fear this outcome.

But even so, Qi Huang still couldn’t believe it. “But how is that possible? That’s Su Bei! Hasn’t he always been invincible? How could he die?”

It wasn’t just her; no one was willing to believe this outcome. Just as Qi Huang had said, Su Bei had always been an omnipotent figure in their minds. They couldn’t imagine that he would die just like that.

Lan Subing’s face was just as pale as Jiang Tianming’s. She remained silent for a moment, then suddenly began to use her [Word Spirit]: “「Su Bei, appear」! 「Su Bei, live」! 「Su Bei, come back」…”

One command after another came from her lips, but they had no effect. Su Bei’s figure did not appear, as if he had completely vanished from the world.

“Pfft—”

Overusing her ability took a huge toll on Lan Subing’s body. She spat out a mouthful of blood and immediately slumped, weakened.

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There will be another chapter later.