Chapter 361

Good news, Su Bei awakened an ability. Bad news, the ability he awakened is called [Summon Gear]. As the name suggests, it can summon gears.

Su Bei was greatly shocked. What kind of useless ability is this! Only cannon fodder who dies in the first chapter of a comic would have such a sloppy ability, right?

But in any case, now that this thing called an ‘ability’ existed, he had to go to an ability academy to get an ability user license. This was also the reason he was now sitting in the grand auditorium of ‘Endless Ability Academy’.

The one giving the speech as the outstanding freshman representative was Si Zhaohua from Class A, an Ability user who looked very strong and very rich at a glance. However, that had nothing to do with Su Bei. Compared to paying attention to a student he would likely have no interaction with in the future, he preferred to focus on the people around him.

That’s right, the ‘people around him’ he was referring to were Jiang Tianming and Feng Lan. Su Bei found these two very interesting.

The former had extremely rare black hair and black eyes. At least, in all his time living, Su Bei had never seen such a combination. Speaking of which, this was actually quite strange. Why did all other monochrome combinations exist, with there even being a celebrity with white hair and white eyes, yet only black hair and black eyes didn’t?

In any case, because of this magical color combination, Su Bei would always subconsciously pay attention to Jiang Tianming.

As for Feng Lan, that went without saying. He occupied the king’s seat by the window in the back, and he even had rare white hair. As someone who often read comics, it was hard for him not to notice.

In the end, Su Bei chose to sit with Feng Lan. Compared to Jiang Tianming, who looked a lot like he had a villain’s character design, Feng Lan’s setup was clearly much safer.

And it turned out to be true. His ability was [Prophecy], an ability that clearly wouldn’t belong to a villain. However, this ability was also very dangerous. Although someone with the [Prophecy] ability would definitely be hidden deep in the rear, if a Nightmare Beast wanted to cause trouble, it would definitely capture him first, no matter how well he was hidden.

In short, he was fine to have as a meal buddy, but if any accident occurred, it would be best for Su Bei to get away from him as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t his fault for thinking so pessimistically; this academy really wasn’t that safe. Before coming to school, Su Bei had maintained the mindset of an ordinary person. Who would have thought that someone would die in the academy on the very first day, and it was even a student from their class.

This made Su Bei keenly realize that an Ability academy was completely different from a normal school. Ability users faced danger at all times.

But unfortunately, Su Bei didn’t want to face danger. His ability, which at best could only make him a background character, couldn’t bring him any benefits, so naturally, he didn’t want to bear the corresponding risks.

Su Bei didn’t participate in the investigation of the case, but at the very end, he happened to overhear something about the ‘Black Flash’ organization and officially learned about this villainous organization that ran rampant in the Ability World.

A bit strange.

Returning to his dorm after school, Su Bei’s face was filled with a peculiar expression. What did he hear today? The Ability World actually had a well-known villainous organization? Doesn’t the government do anything about it?

You have to understand, in the world of ordinary people, cults are strictly cracked down upon. In his 15 years of life, he had never heard of any cults, and the few times he did, it was on the news about crime crackdowns.

Yet in the Ability World, this was something that could be established openly. Although everyone condemned it, they were truly helpless against it.

Su Bei felt his worldview collapsing. The government in the Ability World wasn’t stronger; it was actually weaker.

And it wasn’t just that the Ability Government was unreliable; the Ability academy wasn’t that reliable either. Otherwise, why would they let a few students like Jiang Tianming investigate the case?

Of course, what was even stranger was the Mo Xiaotian he had just encountered in the hallway. If he wasn’t mistaken, the black lightning bolt symbol on the back of his neck was the mark of a ‘Black Flash’ organization member that Jiang Tianming and the others had mentioned!

The existence of an undercover agent immediately put Su Bei on high alert. The ‘Black Flash’ organization’s influence was even greater than he had imagined, to be able to infiltrate the academy. However, if it was just one student getting in, it wasn’t a huge problem. But who knew if there were ‘Black Flash’ organization members among the teachers?

It was precisely because of this consideration that he didn’t dare to speak about Mo Xiaotian’s situation to anyone. After all, there might be people from the ‘Black Flash’ organization within the academy. Even if he could get Mo Xiaotian kicked out, could he guarantee his own safety?

He couldn’t. On the contrary, it would lead to him being targeted for revenge.

So Su Bei planned to pretend he knew nothing, stay away from Mo Xiaotian, and stay away from the trouble-making Jiang Tianming and his group. He would peacefully live through his three years of high school and then return to a normal school to continue his ordinary life.

“The class placement monthly exam…” Hearing Meng Huai’s announcement, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes. Although his ability was weak, Su Bei believed that he himself was not weak. At least, when facing his classmates who were still just first-years and not yet proficient with their abilities, he was definitely not weak.

The monthly exam was in a one-on-one combat format. He didn’t think he would only get a poor score. Perhaps in a few months, he wouldn’t be able to defeat those Ability users with powerful abilities using only the skills of an ordinary person. But at least for now, while those Ability users hadn’t mastered their powers well, his advantage was significant.

Although he only planned to peacefully get through his three years of high school, this didn’t stop him from wanting to get a good score on the monthly exam. After all, he had always been a good student at his original school. There was no reason to let himself fall behind just because he was at an Ability academy.

His first match in the monthly exam was against a student from Class C, whose ability was [Rubber Man]. His luck was as bad as ever. Being matched with a Class C student as someone from Class F made him laugh in frustration.

Fortunately, he wasn’t the only unlucky one in his class; Jiang Tianming also got matched with an opponent from Class C.

“If I remember correctly, you’re a Class F student, right? I say you should just surrender. It saves you trouble, and it saves me trouble. If you lose today, you can get a four-day holiday right away. Isn’t that great?” the green-haired opponent said, trying to intimidate him into surrendering while frantically twisting his body with his ability.

Su Bei: “…”

He couldn’t help but reveal a complicated expression. This ability should theoretically be quite strong. How could he use it in such a bizarre way?

But no matter what kind of ability his opponent used, the only way Su Bei could respond was to overwhelm him with pure force. Even though the opponent looked flashy on the surface, in Su Bei’s eyes, he was full of openings.

He curled his lip slightly and charged at him with the speed of lightning. Although the green-haired guy was caught off guard by Su Bei’s sudden attack, his reaction was still relatively quick. He immediately activated his ability, extending his arms to block Su Bei a few steps away.

As the saying goes, ‘an inch longer is an inch stronger.’ Unable to get close, an unarmed Su Bei indeed had no way to deal with him.

But unfortunately, those two arms couldn’t really stop Su Bei from getting close. Su Bei simply maneuvered around the arms and, in a few quick moves, tied them into a dead knot.

Laughter erupted from below the stage. Say what you will about Su Bei’s maneuver, but the comedic effect was definitely maxed out.

The green-haired guy was stunned. He never expected that his seemingly powerful attack would be neutralized in such a way, making him look like a complete idiot. “No, you… how could you… Ah!”

Su Bei punched him in the stomach. The green-haired guy cried out, clutching his stomach as he bent over and fell.

Almost no difficulty at all. Su Bei shook his hand, looking down at the green-haired guy. “Are you getting down yourself, or should I help you down?”

“I’m not getting down!” The green-haired guy put on a resolute expression of defiance and said angrily, “I will never give in! I won’t back down until the very last moment!”

So tenacious, as unyielding as a weed in a crack in the stone. Su Bei praised him internally, but after the praise, he felt something was off.

Seeing his opponent stand up again, Su Bei put aside his strange feeling and knocked him down once more. This time, he didn’t give him a chance to get back up, knocking him directly off the stage.

Off the stage, the green-haired guy knelt on the ground, gazing up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, with two wide streams of tears on his face. “No! Why did I lose! No!”

Su Bei: “…”

On one hand, he felt he should be moved. On the other, he couldn’t quite stop himself from wanting to say something. But what could he say? He couldn’t possibly comfort him, right?

If he were to say something like, “What are you crying about? Tell me, the winner, all about it,” that would be far too punchable.

“Amazing!” Mu Tieren said, his face full of admiration. “To be able to completely ignore an ability using only physical skills, you really are the best at physical combat in our class.”

Su Bei had never hidden his strength during regular physical combat classes. This wasn’t some comic book world, and he wasn’t a protagonist pretending to be weak only to reveal his power later, so there was no need to hide. Therefore, it was widely acknowledged in the class that his physical combat skills were the best.

Zhao Xiaoyu walked up to him and said with a smile, “There were always some sourpusses who said, what’s the use of being good at physical combat, you’d still be helpless against an ability? I bet they won’t be saying that after this.”

In Class F, Su Bei and Zhao Xiaoyu got along pretty well. The latter often sought him out after class to practice physical combat, and in exchange, she would help Su Bei with his homework. Both sides felt they got a good deal, so it was mutually beneficial.

“They’ll always have something to say,” Su Bei shook his head, not caring. “They’ll behave themselves when they face me in physical combat class.”

That group of people was really something else. Every time he beat them up in physical combat class, they would start spreading rumors about him, and then beg for mercy again in the next class. Sometimes, Su Bei really suspected they did it on purpose, as if their masochistic souls were burning brightly.

Shaking his head, Su Bei looked towards the stages. “Aren’t Feng Lan and Wu Jin done yet?”

Zhao Xiaoyu looked up, accurately located the stages of the other two, and pointed for Su Bei. “Wu Jin just got down. Feng Lan should be done soon.”

These were two other classmates he was on relatively good terms with. The former was brought over by Zhao Xiaoyu, and their relationship was merely at the level of being able to talk. But given Wu Jin’s personality, being able to exchange a few words was already a sign of a decent relationship.

As for Feng Lan, that was a given. In a sense, a regular high school meal buddy could be considered one of your closest classmates.

It was worth mentioning that for the upcoming team battles, Su Bei had teamed up with Zhao Xiaoyu, Wu Jin, and Feng Lan to form a four-person squad. Although none of their abilities were offensive, survival at least shouldn’t be a problem.

As long as they could survive until the end, who knew who would emerge victorious? He wasn’t going to give up on competing in the monthly exam just because his ability was poor.