Chapter 345

To do that, he first had to flesh out the logic behind the founding of the ‘Destiny’ organization. What if readers wondered what kind of situation would lead a massive intelligence organization to choose a fifteen-year-old boy as its leader?

Only by thinking of the reason himself could he prevent the author from having room to improvise. Regardless of whether the author would ever draw the relevant content, he had to be prepared in advance.

As for a reasonable explanation for this situation, the only thing he could think of was a legitimate system of bloodline succession.

Su Bei’s eyes flickered. It seemed the new ability he had just mastered was about to be put to use.

“I plan to go back to the past and change the identity of the person who founded the ‘Destiny’ organization.” Since this matter was related to the ‘Manga Consciousness’, Su Bei informed it.

Upon hearing this, the ‘Manga Consciousness’ asked in great surprise, “Why?”

Although the ‘Destiny’ organization was established by it, in the role it played at the time, the organization in the comic world was founded by Su Bei. The status of a first-generation leader and a second-generation leader was bound to be different. The ‘Manga Consciousness’ didn’t understand why Su Bei would want to demote himself.

But Su Bei clearly didn’t think so. For the existence of the ‘Destiny’ organization, he had only provided an idea; the one who actually implemented it was the ‘Manga Consciousness’. If he had implemented it himself, he wouldn’t have made himself the second-generation leader. But since he was, in fact, the second-generation leader, it naturally didn’t matter who the first generation was.

“Otherwise, if readers ask, how will the author explain it?” Su Bei shrugged. “Explain how I, at the age of fifteen, established an organization that has existed for over a decade?”

This was indeed a problem the ‘Manga Consciousness’ hadn’t considered. It didn’t know much about readers, so naturally, it didn’t realize they would delve into such details. However, that was no longer its focus. It said with pleasant surprise, “So you’ve agreed to announce your identity as the organization’s leader?”

“Only to the readers, not to the people in this world,” Su Bei replied, remaining firm on this point. If his identity were announced to the people of this world, it would cause absolute chaos.

The ‘Manga Consciousness’ had no objections. All it needed was for the readers to know this identity and be shocked by it.

“So what will you do next?” the ‘Manga Consciousness’ asked curiously.

Su Bei activated his ability, tossing out a white gear. “The causality I want to correct is—Su Bei becoming the leader of the ‘Destiny’ organization.”

There was only one point in time for this event: the day the organization was fully established.

In the next second, the gear suddenly expanded into a circular gate of light with an opaque yellow light screen in the middle. Su Bei stepped right through it, arriving directly on that timeline.

The ‘leader’ at that time was played by the ‘Manga Consciousness’, so Su Bei could appear directly in front of it without worrying about two identical people appearing at the same time and causing problems with the timeline.

The past version of the ‘Manga Consciousness’ saw Su Bei appear before it at this moment and wore a look of surprise. “Why are you here? Did something happen in the future?”

“I need you to put on an act with me to make the founding logic of the ‘Destiny’ organization more complete.” After saying this, Su Bei explained his plan to it.

The ‘Manga Consciousness’ readily agreed. Although it didn’t know what had happened in the future, Su Bei’s request was perfectly reasonable. Besides, if there were a real problem, its future self would surely have stopped him. So, it had nothing to hesitate about.

What followed was simple. The ‘Manga Consciousness’ played the role of Su Bei, while Su Bei played the role of his own father. The two conducted a handover ceremony for the organization.

As for the reason for the handover, Su Bei used the excuse that he—that is, his father—was about to undertake a dangerous mission. Unsure if he would return alive, he handed the notebook symbolizing the ‘Destiny’ organization’s leadership to the Su Bei played by the ‘Manga Consciousness’. After completing all this, Su Bei retrieved the Destiny Gear. His change did not affect the causality, so the alteration was successful. With this correction, even if readers were curious about how he became the organization’s leader, there was now a logical explanation.

After returning to the present, Su Bei began to ponder the grand finale of the second season. He couldn’t just show up to make an appearance; the most important thing was to raise the prestige of the ‘Destiny’ organization.

Therefore, just him appearing alone wouldn’t be enough.

Su Bei immediately issued a mission in the ‘Destiny’ organization’s notebook in his capacity as leader: to provide support during the great war between humans and Nightmare Beasts.

The reward, naturally, would be points. The ‘Manga Consciousness’, which knew everyone’s identities, would evaluate their performance in the war and award points accordingly.

In any case, this was a private mission he issued, not an official one from the ‘Destiny’ organization, so there was no need for a public scoring system. They could take it if they wanted, and it was fine if they didn’t. He was just using this mission to express ‘Destiny’s’ stance.

“One last thing…” After issuing the mission, Su Bei put down the notebook and summoned an intricate and exquisite ‘Prophecy Gear’. “Let me see what dangers they will face.”

The result of the prophecy was very abstract. Who could tell him what this dancing black building was supposed to represent?

Su Bei carefully observed the building. It was completely black, which probably represented some kind of Nightmare Beast. Because the prophecies given by the ‘Prophecy Gear’ were often abstract, he didn’t think the Nightmare Beast actually looked like this monstrosity. The building’s appearance was likely a hint from destiny for him.

But what kind of hint was it?

Su Bei sketched the building from his vision onto a piece of paper and then searched for special buildings online, hoping to find something similar. He had never seen such a bizarrely shaped building covered in ladders. If he posted a bounty in ‘Destiny’, he was afraid it might be seen by Nightmare Beast supporters, which would tip them off. So, he could only place his hopes on the miraculous internet.

Fortunately, Baidu Baike did not disappoint him. With his equally abstract search terms, Su Bei quickly found what he was looking for.

It was a type of building used for sacrifices in ancient times, but it wasn’t for worshiping the heavens or the earth, but rather an unknown evil god. And this evil god’s ability was reversal, or in other words, swapping places.

Su Bei specifically searched the ‘Destiny’ organization’s database and found an incident recorded in a mythological story.

In ancient times, a poor man was jealous of his wealthy neighbor’s life. He secretly sacrificed to the evil god, wishing to swap their lives. He would become the rich man, and his neighbor would become the poor man.

As for the final result, of course, both sides suffered. The rich man did indeed become poor, but the sacrificer who had his life swapped was also soon wiped out, his entire clan exterminated due to an accident. That was clearly the price of the sacrifice; he just wasn’t aware of it himself.

One could only say that it was an evil god, after all. The price of making a deal with a tiger was to be devoured, bones and all, after your wish was granted.

“So, does this prophecy mean the Nightmare Beasts plan to swap places with humans? Or perhaps… achieve mutual destruction with humanity?” Su Bei’s expression turned grave. He felt his speculation was not without reason.

Human hostility towards Nightmare Beasts, aside from a small part stemming from an innate aversion to resentment, was entirely due to the harm Nightmare Beasts inflicted on humans. The Nightmare Beasts’ hostility towards humans was less complex. They simply loathed humans instinctively, their sole mission being to eliminate them.

Except for Advanced Nightmare Beasts, which might have some selfish motives, the actions of the other Nightmare Beasts were always pure. Nightmare Beasts killing humans was like humans needing to live—an absolute instinct.

Therefore, after learning that they would only grow weaker in the future, it was entirely possible that they would want to perish together with humanity.

The ‘Manga Consciousness’ could hear Su Bei’s inner thoughts during this time, but it didn’t say whether his guess was right or wrong. Just like before, it still couldn’t reveal too much of the comic’s content.

Su Bei didn’t mind. Getting plot details from it was a shortcut to begin with. Succeeding was a pleasant surprise, but he wouldn’t lose anything if he failed.

Su Bei didn’t think that Jiang Tianming and the others couldn’t solve the Nightmare Beasts’ plot. They were the main group, after all. Since the author intended to draw a third season, he couldn’t possibly let them fail in this war.

No, in fact, even without a third season, the author wouldn’t let them fail. Otherwise, if the entire human race was wiped out by the Nightmare Beasts, would this comic even pass censorship?

In short, even if the Nightmare Beasts found a way to sacrifice themselves for mutual destruction with humanity, it would ultimately be resolved. So, he didn’t need to worry too much about it.

What truly worried Su Bei was what role he needed to play in this process.

There were only two directions: either defense or offense. Su Bei knew that protecting the masses with his ability would be quite troublesome. Protecting an individual was fine, but protecting a group was simply wishful thinking.

So he could only choose the latter.

For a frontal assault, there were so many powerful Ability users. For thwarting the plot, there was the main group. If he wanted to play a major role, he needed to launch a defensive counter-attack, starting by helping with the defense.

Thinking of this, Su Bei instantly knew what to do next. He just needed to follow Ai Baozhu the whole time, and sooner or later, he would find an opportunity to make his entrance.

Among all the students in S-Class, the only one who was a true defense-type Ability user was Ai Baozhu. From the direction of her previous evolution, it was clear that she would be the one responsible for protecting ordinary civilians in the final battle.

By following her, he would inevitably face a siege of Nightmare Beasts. When that happened, he could just show up, activate his ability, and reap the harvest. After all, he had a powerful area-of-effect ability. If a powerful Advanced Nightmare Beast appeared, he could handle it too. It was the perfect role for such a scenario.

And most importantly, he wouldn’t have to worry about stealing Ai Baozhu’s moment in the spotlight. After all, her ability could indeed only be used for defense, which meant someone would always be needed for support. This support could come from the government, the teachers, or Jiang Tianming’s group—and naturally, it could also be him.