Chapter 171

Chapter 171 "One of the books is definitely usable by someone among the five of you," Teacher John quickly replied. "The other is an elemental type, and you can choose which element. As for quality, well, that depends entirely on what we have in our storeroom." What skill books they could obtain from Knowledge Nightmare Beasts wasn’t something they could decide, nor could the Knowledge Nightmare Beasts themselves. Thus, the skill books given out, except for a few extremely rare ones, were simply whatever was available. This was already enough. Hearing his words, everyone was overjoyed. Although the skill quality wasn’t guaranteed, ensuring the attribute was sufficient! First, the promised first skill book was remarkable. After all, none of the five present had simple Abilities. No weapon types, no elemental types—they were all Special Track. Finding a skill book usable for them was no easy task. Even Si Zhaohua had only used one skill book, right? The second promise, allowing them to choose an element, was also great. They had already obtained a Fire Element skill book earlier, and now, if they got an Earth Element one, Wu Mingbai and Qi Huang could each buy one. If the skills were useful, those two wouldn’t be stingy. Wu Mingbai had earned quite a bit recently, and with Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing’s sponsorship, buying a skill book was well within his means. Plus, his Ability had greatly improved during the last incident. Even an ordinary skill in his hands would surely shine brilliantly. The five had no objections and were about to put the book back when Maria suddenly remembered something: "Eh? How did you get through my Barrier?" She only recalled this when Teacher John received the skill book. They had come here to find skill books, and to prevent others from entering, Maria had deliberately set up a Barrier. So how did Jiang Tianming and the others get in so quickly? At her words, the others in Team A also realized this issue. They further realized another problem: the purpose of their visit was surely also for those skill books. The atmosphere between the two groups grew tense, but Team A’s captain was the first to back down: "Let’s each search for our own and not interfere with each other. Although you saved us, I’m sorry, we can’t give up these skill books. However, we can give you everything we gain afterward except the skill books." Unlike other resources, skill books were rare and highly sought after, so if possible, they wanted to secure them no matter what. "Fine, let’s each search and not disturb one another," the five, who had already found skill books, naturally had no objections. After agreeing to the request, they quickly left the manor under the pretext of searching downstairs. "Let’s eat dinner first," Jiang Tianming said, finding a random house to settle in temporarily. Guessing everyone was hungry, he took out some leftover Nightmare Beast meat to prepare dinner. While he cooked, Si Zhaohua summarized their gains: "This time, we obtained three skill books from the manor itself, plus two rewarded by the teacher, making a total of five skill books. On top of that, our Mental Energy increased significantly. Plus, the Qingqing Fruit and Rubber Energy Alloy we got initially—having so much on the first day is quite a haul." Indeed, everyone was satisfied. These things weren’t easy to come by outside, and getting this much on the first day was a huge win. No wonder the students from Alpha Ability Academy were so upset about them snatching resources. With such rich resource points, who wouldn’t worry about others taking them? "There were hardly any Nightmare Beasts during the day here, which feels a bit strange," Jiang Tianming voiced his doubt after they finished speaking. True, this was a controlled resource Different Space, but since it was meant to train students, Nightmare Beasts should be an essential presence. Si Zhaohua agreed: "Let’s arrange a night watch. Who wants to go first?" "Me, me, me," Ai Baozhu immediately raised her hand. "I’ll go first. If I wake up in the middle, I won’t be able to sleep later." No one objected; such things were about mutual accommodation. The final order was Ai Baozhu, Su Bei, Si Zhaohua, Jiang Tianming, Lan Subing. After arranging the night watch, they ate dinner, said goodnight, and fell asleep. Soon, the first shift ended, and Ai Baozhu woke Su Bei. When Su Bei woke, he was startled. The five of them were inside a pink protective shield, surrounded by countless pitch-black bat-like Nightmare Beasts. Those Nightmare Beasts clung densely to the shield. Anyone with trypophobia would probably faint at the sight. Su Bei was a light sleeper, and this scene fully woke him up. Noticing his gaze, Ai Baozhu shrugged helplessly: "Looks like most of the Nightmare Beasts in this Different Space only come out at night. Not long after you all fell asleep, a bat Nightmare Beast flew in. This house has a hole, and the walls can’t block Nightmare Beasts. After I killed a few, more kept coming, so I activated [Gorgeous Domain]." Su Bei wasn’t too concerned about that. He cared about another issue: "Can [Gorgeous Domain] stay active after you fall asleep?" "No," Ai Baozhu said with an apologetic smile. "But you wouldn’t have the heart to let a cute little girl like me lose precious sleep, right?" Oh, he absolutely would. Su Bei gave a fake smile but said nothing more, getting up to take his shift. The night watch order was set, and if he couldn’t handle his part, that was his failure. Seeing him prepare, Ai Baozhu understood his intent: "Can you handle it?" "If I can’t, will you not sleep?" Su Bei countered. If she said she wouldn’t sleep, he’d immediately say "I can’t." "Sleep," Ai Baozhu replied firmly. Nothing could stop her beauty sleep. Su Bei shot her an exasperated glance and tossed her a blanket from his storage space: "Go sleep." Seeing Su Bei’s confidence, Ai Baozhu grew curious. Without [Gorgeous Domain], she couldn’t imagine a way to quickly kill so many Nightmare Beasts without disturbing the others. But since Su Bei was confident, she had no reason to doubt him. It was past Ai Baozhu’s usual bedtime, and she was exhausted. Yet, driven by curiosity, she didn’t fall asleep immediately, forcing herself to stay alert: "I’m about to withdraw [Gorgeous Domain], okay?" "Go ahead," Su Bei was ready. Since discovering a method to affect multiple targets, he had gained a pseudo-group attack ability. Though it was rarely useful, it was perfect for this situation. The bat Nightmare Beasts’ Destiny Compasses were almost identical. He had adjusted the few outliers earlier, so now all their pointers faced the same direction. The moment [Gorgeous Domain] was withdrawn, Su Bei adjusted one Nightmare Beast’s large pointer, moving it to the lower half of the compass. The next second, a thunderclap roared. Lightning filled the sky, illuminating the room as if it were daytime. The instant they touched the light, all the bat Nightmare Beasts let out a shrill "squeak," then turned to black smoke and vanished. No wonder they didn’t come out during the day—they feared light. Ai Baozhu, still awake, was stunned, her sleepy eyes wide open, her drowsiness gone: "Wait? Your Ability is a bit overpowered, isn’t it? Did you summon that lightning?" "Sort of," Su Bei nodded. The lightning came because he adjusted the Nightmare Beasts’ destinies to death, so it was indirectly caused by him. That bolt likely wiped out most of the bat Nightmare Beasts in the Different Space, ensuring some peace for a while. Not bad, this Ability was worth using. But the moment this thought crossed Su Bei’s mind, an overwhelming wave of fatigue hit him. It was an uncontrollable exhaustion of body and mind. Despite no significant drain on his Mental Energy or stamina, he was utterly drained. Su Bei’s face paled, and he let out a muffled groan, his eyes filled with confusion. What was happening? Why was he suddenly like this? If he hadn’t been ambushed, this change must be related to using his Ability. But Su Bei didn’t understand. Normally, using his Ability only consumed Mental Energy, and that method shouldn’t have used much. Why was he facing such a strong backlash? Suddenly, Su Bei recalled Feng Lan’s mention of causality. He had altered the destinies of so many Nightmare Beasts at once, and not with minor pranks but by causing their deaths. Meanwhile, the classmates who would have fought these Nightmare Beasts could now rest peacefully for the night due to his actions. Such a significant change made it reasonable for causality to affect him. This discovery surprised Su Bei. Though Feng Lan had warned him, since it had never happened before, he hadn’t taken it seriously. [Destiny] and [Prophecy] were different, after all. But now, it seemed they shared similarities. When he significantly altered many destinies, he faced a backlash. Fortunately, the consequences were still bearable, and Su Bei sighed in relief. However, he knew the reason the backlash was manageable was that he hadn’t made a massive change. Those bat Nightmare Beasts weren’t hard to kill. Even without that method, spending more time or waking the others would have easily solved it. For the other students, at most one or two might have been eliminated—hardly a big deal. But if he used his Destiny ability on a large scale to eliminate Nightmare Beasts in a real campaign, the backlash would likely be severe. "No way, I’m so sleepy, I really need to sleep," Ai Baozhu, despite the shock, couldn’t hold on. She closed her eyes drowsily, not forgetting to give a thumbs-up and add, "Awesome!" Su Bei chuckled, sitting against the wall with his legs bent, half-closing his eyes to recover his energy. Occasionally, he flicked a Gear to kill a bat Nightmare Beast entering through the hole. Thanks to the earlier lightning wiping out many, their numbers were significantly reduced, easily manageable. When his shift ended, Su Bei swapped with Si Zhaohua, briefed him, and closed his eyes. Though physically exhausted, he wasn’t sleepy. Unable to sleep, Su Bei thought about the Black Flash organization’s earlier attempt to collaborate with him. He hadn’t dwelt on it before, but now, recalling it, he found something intriguing: why did they want to remove the clock tower’s surveillance? Everyone with a map knew the clock tower’s purpose. Each new map required returning to the clock tower as a starting point before searching anew. Causing trouble at the clock tower was a smart move, as it often gathered many students. Removing surveillance there would make it easy to act, targeting students in the maze effortlessly. But this wouldn’t include Su Bei’s group of five. Only a few knew they had a map before the event began. The five of them were fine, Meng Huai was fine, and the teacher who gave them the map was likely fine, as he had no significant role and hadn’t appeared in recent manga updates. Thus, Black Flash couldn’t have known they had a map, let alone planned to trip them up at the clock tower. Even if they knew, they’d only know about one map, meaning Su Bei’s group would only visit the clock tower at the start. There was another visit at the event’s end, but planning so early risked exposure. Su Bei guessed their real action wasn’t tied to a specific visit but to when their target entered the clock tower. Black Flash contacted Su Bei in the afternoon, when his group might not return to the clock tower. So, their plan at the clock tower wasn’t aimed at Su Bei’s exchange student group but at Alpha Ability Academy’s local students! Realizing this, Su Bei frowned. Their country had three Ability academies. Why go abroad to cause trouble? From their task to him, it was clear Black Flash wasn’t as entrenched at Alpha Ability Academy as it was domestically. The only reason to go to such lengths was that something among Alpha Ability Academy’s first-years was particularly enticing. Most were ordinary Ability users, no different from those back home. Excluding the exchange students from Endless Ability Academy, Su Bei could only think of one possibility: they were targeting Elvis. No, just Elvis wouldn’t warrant such effort. Perhaps Ian and others too. From earlier interactions, Su Bei noticed a commonality between Elvis and Ian: both had Abilities potentially linked to longevity. Maybe others at Alpha Ability Academy had similar Abilities. Who knew what hidden talents were in Jiang Tianming’s class? Su Bei’s time here was short, and his “overbearing reputation” kept others at a distance, limiting mutual understanding. From what he knew, Elvis' team had three members: Ian and a girl. The girl was in the Control Track, strikingly beautiful like a doll, with long golden wavy hair, red lips, white teeth, and dark red pupils that gave a cold yet captivating vibe. She rarely spoke, always aloof, and others seemed wary of her. In Su Bei’s memory, she often acted alone, so he knew little about her. But now, he suspected she wasn’t simple. For Elvis to team up with her, even if due to team size limits, was impressive. And since she was in Jiang Tianming’s Control Track Class A, Su Bei couldn’t help but wonder if she too had a longevity-related Ability. He’d ask Jiang Tianming tomorrow. If true, things would become clear. With that thought, Su Bei succumbed to drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, they woke at 8 a.m. Having slept early, everyone was mostly alert. After a simple breakfast, Jiang Tianming took out the remaining two maps: "Both are unknown resource points. Let’s pick one and see if the stuff’s still there." Though others might have visited these points yesterday, it was just a possibility. There was still a chance no one went or failed to find the resources. From the team that followed them yesterday, which had three maps, it was clear many teams had multiple maps. They had to choose, might overlap with others, and could waste time in conflicts, like Su Bei’s group did. Thus, not every resource point was fully harvested. Otherwise, why give three days? "Wait," Su Bei didn’t want to waste time. He adjusted Lan Subing’s already good luck to its peak. "Lan Subing, pick a map." As the protagonist team, one of their two maps likely led to an untouched or resource-rich point. Choosing correctly was key. If wrong, it wasn’t a big deal, but Su Bei didn’t want to walk extra. Knowing his Ability, Lan Subing chose a map based on instinct, and the five headed toward the clock tower. On the way, Su Bei recalled his thoughts from last night and asked Jiang Tianming: "Do you know the girl in your class who teamed up with Elvis?" "Yeah," Jiang Tianming was surprised Su Bei asked about her, nodding. "What’s up?" No need to lie, Su Bei asked directly: "I’m curious, what’s her Ability?" Jiang Tianming didn’t hold back: "Her name’s Tiffany. She awakened a bloodline Ability from her family, [Vampire], like the vampires in literature. It’s similar—her physical abilities are exceptional, and she can fly. After an initial embrace, she can make others her subordinates, either temporarily or permanently. She uses the former, but... you get it." Everyone nodded knowingly. Like Jiang Tianming’s Ability, some Abilities were inherently feared, even if the user hadn’t done harm. People couldn’t help but imagine the devastation if such Abilities were used maliciously, leading to instinctive rejection. Because Jiang Tianming’s Ability was similar, he empathized with Tiffany. His open attitude, despite only being in class for a few weeks, made him closer to her than others. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have answered Su Bei so clearly. Vampires, immortal—that matched perfectly. Su Bei almost laughed bitterly. This trio of longevity specialists—didn’t they realize how conspicuous they were together? No need to speculate further; Black Flash’s target was obvious. And, predictably, the protagonist team would get dragged into this mess. The author would ensure it. "Why ask this suddenly?" Jiang Tianming asked curiously. As far as he knew, Su Bei and Tiffany had no interactions, and he wasn’t usually this curious. If he were, he could’ve asked Elvis or Ian directly—they were on good terms. Why ask him now? "Found something interesting," Su Bei said vaguely, keeping his thoughts hidden behind a casual facade. Sensing he didn’t want to elaborate, Jiang Tianming didn’t press. But he had a bad feeling—people Su Bei mentioned out of the blue often ended up in trouble. They reached the clock tower again. This time, they couldn’t disguise themselves as before. News spread fast in the Different Space, and thanks to the tracking team, most students knew they had maps—multiple ones. Upon seeing them, everyone eyed them greedily. Exchange students were strong, but the locals had numbers. They didn’t believe they couldn’t take down five people if they worked together. But who would take the lead? Though they felt justified, robbing maps, especially from foreign students, was dishonorable. The first to act would face criticism, so no one moved rashly. "Let’s go inside the tower first. From up high, we can see which of the two paths has been taken," Su Bei suggested suddenly. He needed to check if the surveillance sticker was still there. If it was, fine. If not, he’d need to be cautious now. No objections. Leaving now might attract a crowd of followers, so it was better to linger and assess. As they entered the clock tower instead of following the map route, the crowd outside relaxed slightly, starting to discuss their next move. At the top floor, Su Bei glanced and saw the sticker was still there, breathing a slight sigh of relief. Though he knew Black Flash’s plan would likely succeed, delaying it bought him time to prepare a safe exit. For dangerous matters like this, Su Bei preferred to steer clear. He had no protagonist halo—what if he died by mistake?