Chapter 181

Chapter 181 At this moment, the handsome blond man finally spoke, his words carrying an air of "hidden truths": "Teacher, do you still remember me?" These words were directed at the white-bearded principal, whose expression was deeply complex: "Cyril, it's been a long time." Hearing the teacher accurately call out his name, Cyril lowered his head and chuckled softly for a moment before calming down, smiling as he replied: "It's been a long time, teacher." It was as if he were still the exemplary student who once made the principal proud. By now, the white-bearded principal had composed his expression, regaining an air of unassailable authority: "I never expected you to be the spy sent by ‘Black Flash’ to our school, masquerading as someone else and posing as a teacher for so long. By revealing yourself now, is your goal to harm your junior schoolmates?" Though he had been transported to this space, the principal was clearly aware of the events unfolding on campus. However, since no students had yet been seriously injured or killed, he wasn’t overly anxious. "How could that be? ‘Alpha Ability Academy’ is my alma mater—how could I harm you all?" Cyril wore a wronged expression, as if misunderstood. "I’m here to let my junior schoolmates participate in the great cause of our ‘Black Flash’ organization, to benefit humanity!" Through yesterday’s interrogation of Elvis and the others, the principal and teachers had learned of the ultimate goal of the "Black Flash" organization. To be fair, this goal did aim to benefit all of humanity—if they could truly transform Nightmare Beasts back into humans, it would not only solve the issue of their overpopulation but also save many lives. The problem, however, was that such research shouldn’t be built on the sacrifice of others’ lives. The principal didn’t believe that saving one group by sacrificing another was just. Moreover, as far as he knew, their research had been ongoing for a long time without any truly useful discoveries. The principal shook his head, saying sternly: "I would never harm others’ lives for the sake of research. That was true before, and it’s true now." "Before? You dare mention before?" The man, previously calm, suddenly erupted in rage. "Back then, Leeds’ research could have succeeded, but because of your interference, so many people died. Haven’t you learned your lesson even now?" "Who’s Leeds?" Su Bei asked Elvis curiously, suspecting that, as a relative of the principal, he might know about these old events. Elvis indeed knew. He recalled a conversation he’d overheard from his parents reminiscing about their youth: "He was one of our seniors. My mother said that when they were young, a highly fatal infectious disease spread through the school. Leeds, as the most powerful healing Ability scholar in the school, was tasked with researching how to cure it. Many students volunteered, but some died during the drug trials. In the end, their homeroom teacher—now the principal—stopped Leeds’ research." "And then what happened? How was the disease resolved?" Su Bei pressed. Elvis pursed his lips: "Senior Leeds ended the epidemic with his life. His Ability could be used on a large scale, but only by exhausting all his life force could its healing effect cure the epidemic." At this, he suddenly looked up sharply at Cyril: "I remember who he is now! He was Leeds’ closest friend. My mother said they were the ‘Alpha Ability Academy’ twin stars back then!" Such trivial matters, unrelated to himself, wouldn’t normally stick in Elvis’s memory. But as he recalled the conversation and paired it with Cyril’s earlier words, he finally confirmed the man’s identity. So that was it—Cyril blamed the school for Leeds’ death. And from what he said, it seemed Leeds’ final experiment could have succeeded, but the principal’s interference prevented it from continuing, forcing Leeds to trade his life for the safety of others. Though his sacrifice was voluntary, Cyril, as his closest friend, clearly couldn’t forgive the principal. But was the principal truly wrong? As a teacher, it was his duty to protect students’ lives. When Leeds’ research had already caused several deaths, stopping him was the most natural course of action. It could only be said that their perspectives differed, with no clear right or wrong. On the screen, in an instant, Cyril regained his composure: "Forget it, it doesn’t matter. You’ve always been so indecisive—I gave up hoping long ago. Now I’ve found my true purpose in life, and no one can stop me anymore!" With that, a large group of black-clad figures appeared behind him. Cyril engaged the principal in a one-on-one fight, while the black-clad figures split up to tangle with the other teachers. Meanwhile, the campus descended into a chaotic battle, with the righteous side steadily losing ground. Those with reason couldn’t bring themselves to strike harshly at their controlled companions, who had no such qualms. Worse, a single scratch from them could infect others, rapidly increasing the number of infected and putting unaffected students in grave danger. At first, only the first-years were unlucky, as the source was Class 1 of the Control Track. But soon, second- and third-years began to fall, and the situation grew increasingly dire. Suddenly, Ian’s voice crackled through the broadcast: "All unaffected students, please come to the broadcast room. My Ability is [Golden House in Books], and I can send everyone inside to take shelter for now." Su Bei raised an eyebrow, sharply asking a key question: "Can he handle so many people?" Elvis hadn’t considered this at first, but Su Bei’s question made his expression turn serious: "I don’t know how many unaffected people are left, but Ian’s Ability definitely can’t hold more than a hundred." As classmates, and with Elvis often hanging around the Special Track, he knew a bit about the outgoing Ian. Their recent teamwork had deepened their mutual understanding. While Elvis didn’t know the exact limits of Ian’s Ability, he had a rough idea of its capacity. Even though many students had already been controlled, the number of unaffected students likely still exceeded a hundred. With this in mind, Elvis said immediately: "Let’s go to the broadcast room." Su Bei thought for a moment and decided to follow. With the situation outside so unsafe, the broadcast room was a better bet—plus, joining the protagonist group might yield new information. Led by Elvis, the two made their way to the broadcast room, which was already crowded due to the earlier broadcast, with students eager to enter Ian’s space. As Su Bei expected, Jiang Tianming and the others were indeed there, along with Tiffany. They had secured the broadcast room, keeping outsiders at bay. But Su Bei and Elvis clearly weren’t considered "outsiders." The moment Ai Baozhu, guarding the entrance with her Ability, saw them, she let them pass, not without complaining: "You’re finally here! I thought you’d been infected too." "How could we be in trouble? If anyone’s going to get in trouble, it’d be Jiang Tianming," Su Bei said. He’d already heard on the way that the source was Class 1 of the Special Track. Curiously, he looked at Jiang Tianming: "Why aren’t you infected?" Since Cyril had been posing as the homeroom teacher of Class 1 of the Control Track, Jiang Tianming, who was targeted by the "Black Flash" organization, shouldn’t have escaped so easily. Jiang Tianming spread his hands: "Only native students got infected. I think this infection requires some time to set up. I haven’t been in contact long enough." That made sense. Cyril had been here for so long; he couldn’t have been idle. This was likely their original plan, just accelerated by recent events. Elvis looked at Ian, asking the reason for their rush: "Can your Ability really protect so many people?" The door was closed, so those outside couldn’t hear their conversation. Ian shook his head openly: "Unless I use my life force, I definitely can’t hold too many. You know, my space can barely fit sixty living people at most." As expected, normal means wouldn’t work. Elvis frowned: "Then why did you..." "Because that’s not our real plan," Ian interrupted with a smile, walking over to Tiffany. "Our real plan relies on Tiffany!" Su Bei and Elvis turned to Tiffany. In an instant, Su Bei understood: "You want to use Tiffany’s Embrace to counter the infection?" Tiffany’s [Vampire] Ability also allowed her to control others, even with a temporary Embrace. If her "code" trumped the infection, it could resolve the crisis. Jiang Tianming nodded: "The unaffected coming to the broadcast room will draw the infected here. Once Tiffany controls some of them, we’ll have a chance to fight back." At that moment, Si Zhaohua descended from the window: "They’re coming." Caught in the thick of it, there was no choice but to act. Su Bei joined the attack when the enemy’s main force arrived, assisting Tiffany’s Embrace experiment. Attacking the infected required caution—a single scratch could turn someone into an infected within minutes. Thus, everyone had to fend off enemies while guarding against their companions suddenly turning. However, this didn’t mean Jiang Tianming and the others were entirely at a disadvantage. The infected couldn’t use Abilities, so in pure physical combat, they were no match for Ability users. But the "Black Flash" organization was clearly playing a "gentleman’s deception" tactic, betting that the righteous side wouldn’t dare strike lethally at the infected. And they bet correctly. Fearing irreversible harm or accidental deaths, the unaffected students didn’t dare use their full strength. Of course, another major reason was the fear of accountability if the infected could be restored. No one dared take that risk, so no one fought at full power. Yet, hesitating in battle made it easy for flaws to be exploited, leading to greater casualties. Su Bei found the most troublesome aspect was that the infected wouldn’t faint. Their brain centers seemed constantly stimulated, so even a chop to the neck had no effect—they just kept attacking. Without knocking them out, Ability users’ options were severely limited. They couldn’t really kill their classmates, could they? "It’s working!" Ai Baozhu suddenly shouted in delight. Su Bei turned and saw Tiffany standing behind her, cold and stern, with a docile classmate. That classmate had clearly been infected before, attacking wildly. Now, he was obedient, as if he’d regained his senses. But his scarlet eyes made it clear he was merely under Tiffany’s Embrace, not truly rational. This was still good news—it proved Tiffany’s Ability outranked the infection, the so-called "my code trumps yours." As long as Tiffany could Embrace enough people, the crisis could eventually be resolved. The question was: "Tiffany, is there a limit to how many you can Embrace?" "Permanent ones, yes. Temporary ones, no," Tiffany replied concisely to Ian’s question. No limit on temporary Embraces was undoubtedly more good news. But before anyone could celebrate, Tiffany added: "But I can’t control them for long." She could feel a force in the infected resisting her power, a force not weak. Even with her bloodline, she couldn’t suppress it. "How long can you maintain control?" Elvis asked. "Ten minutes." At this, everyone frowned. Ten minutes was too short, and Tiffany couldn’t Embrace all the infected at once. At this rate, the first batch would break free before she could Embrace half. "Forget it, I’ll put some people in my ‘Golden House’ first. Save as many as I can," Ian said, deciding to fall back on the backup plan as the previous one failed. Though his "Golden House" couldn’t hold many, every bit of protection helped. Not all students needed it—second- and third-years had enough combat power, and even among first-years, those with strong attack or defense didn’t necessarily need it. The ones truly needing Ian’s Ability were Support and Special Track students who couldn’t fight well. This drastically reduced the number, making it manageable for him. It’s worth noting that, despite Ian’s ability to take in so many at once, it wasn’t necessarily stronger than Zhou Renjie’s [Prime Minister’s Belly Can Hold a Ship]. Ian’s Ability leaned toward protection. If enemies were trapped in his "Golden House," they could easily break out. [Golden House in Books]—the "Golden House" was made of paper, so it could be torn apart easily. On campus, after some initial panic, students gradually figured out how to fight back. Though the infected wouldn’t faint, there were other ways to neutralize them. Binding or locking them up were effective methods. In this campus melee, Jiang Tianming and his group shone. They actively fought the infected, helped classmates, and treated the injured. Here, "injured" referred to those hurt by weapons, not by the infected directly, as the latter would cause infection. Si Zhaohua’s feathers scattered, dealing wide-ranging damage and saving classmates in peril. Ai Baozhu used her Ability to shield injured students on the battlefield. Lan Subing used [Word Spirit] to freeze enemies, sending them to designated rooms for confinement. Tiffany did the same, ordering controlled infected to lock themselves up. Elvis used [Time Hourglass] to restore newly infected Ability users, reducing their numbers. Ian stayed within Ai Baozhu’s [Gorgeous Domain]—if he fell, the fifty-plus students in his Ability would be in danger, so his job was to stay safe. Powerful Abilities yielded strong results, and with their vast experience, Jiang Tianming’s group stood out. Unlike their contributions in the book world, seen only by a few, this time most witnessed their efforts. Considering how they’d previously rejected these exchange students, the students now felt complex emotions as the group tirelessly saved them. If someone closely observed the exchange students rushing across campus, they’d notice that two of the supposed five were inexplicably missing. Those two were Su Bei and Jiang Tianming. Half an hour earlier, while helping Ian send students needing protection into the "Golden House," Jiang Tianming suddenly received a message from Meng Huai. Everyone was shocked—Meng Huai was clearly in the space Cyril created, so how could he message them? But then they looked at the big screen and noticed Meng Huai had vanished at some point. This meant the message likely wasn’t sent by someone else and was worth checking. Meng Huai’s message was an address. Jiang Tianming sent a question mark back. Soon, Meng Huai replied: "This is the address of Leeds’ family. First, ask a native student about this person, then go ask his family about what happened back then. From the look of the ‘Alpha Ability Academy’ principal, there seems to be more to this story. Go investigate." Jiang Tianming typed while asking who’d go: "Why us? Wouldn’t native students be better?" Why should a group of exchange students meddle in another school’s old affairs? They were helping now because they were here and had a sense of justice, but digging into family matters felt like crossing a line. "Do you think anyone else can leave?" Meng Huai sent two messages. "The native students here are all trapped. Only outsiders can go." That made sense—another pre-arranged setup. It was normal; Cyril was here for revenge on his old "Alpha Ability Academy" and had a mission from "Black Flash." Of course, he wouldn’t let the school’s students escape easily. If they could, everyone would’ve fled already. Su Bei was genuinely curious how Meng Huai knew all this. Despite being an outsider, he seemed to know more than the natives. So, he nudged Jiang Tianming to ask: "Quick, ask the teacher how he knows this. If he’s got some treasure, let’s share it!" The Jiang Tianming of now wasn’t the naive one of before. He wouldn’t blindly follow Su Bei’s lead. If he asked that, whether Meng Huai answered or not, he’d be the one scolded. "If you’re willing to go to that address, I’ll ask. Deal?" Jiang Tianming proposed a trade. He’d asked who’d go, but no one had volunteered, so he knew nobody wanted to. That was understandable—investigating wasn’t as thrilling as fighting, and it might yield nothing. Everyone wanted to maximize their impact, so they were reluctant to leave. But someone had to do it. Since Su Bei had just spoken up, Jiang Tianming turned to him. Going out... that was fine. Whether staying or leaving, both were troublesome to Su Bei, but leaving was likely safer and gave him an escape route if needed. With that in mind, he nodded: "Alright, but someone’s coming with me." Not being part of the protagonist group, Su Bei lacked their plot armor and accident-prone nature. Plus, with his rotten luck, he worried he’d waste time and find nothing if he went alone. So, he needed a protagonist group member to ensure plot points were triggered. Two people were safer, so Jiang Tianming nodded. Seeing no one else volunteered, he stepped up reliably: "I’ll go with you." True to his word, he typed into his phone: "Teacher, how do you know all this?" "The vice-principal told me. No more talk—I’m heading back to fight. The principal seems restrained by something, unable to gain the upper hand. You’d better hurry." Looking at the big screen, Meng Huai had reappeared. No one knew where he’d gone—truly a teacher with many tricks. Knowing time was tight, Su Bei and Jiang Tianming didn’t delay. Using Su Bei’s Invisibility Charm and changing into casual clothes, they left the school, taking a taxi to the destination. The place was far from "Alpha Ability Academy." Taxi, subway, another taxi—it took two full hours to reach this urban village in the suburbs. On the way, Su Bei had told Jiang Tianming Leeds’ story. Jiang Tianming deeply admired the medical genius who sacrificed his life for his classmates. Seeing his family living in such a place, he was surprised: "Is this really Leeds’ family’s address?" Su Bei was equally shocked. Leeds died for his classmates—logically, they should’ve given his family substantial compensation. And given how much Cyril cared for Leeds, seeking revenge years later, how could he let his family live here? The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the doubt in the other’s eyes. Had they moved? With this suspicion, Jiang Tianming stepped forward and knocked. The door opened to reveal an elderly woman with pale purple hair, in her fifties or sixties. Despite wrinkles, her features were still striking, hinting at a breathtaking beauty in her youth. One glance, and they knew she was Leeds’ relative.