Chapter 61

Chapter 61 Skipping a few CP posts, Su Bei finally clicked into one. It was already very late, and after reading this post, he would go to sleep. ["Don’t put too much faith in your teammates..." I smell a knife!] Chosen Knife Receiver No.0: Does everyone remember this line? It was said by Su Bei to Mo Xiaotian not long after the start of this chapter in the manga. Ahhhh, such a short sentence, but it made me think of so many things!!! Personally, I think the "companion" in this sentence refers to Su Bei himself. He doesn't consider himself a good person, but he was moved by the sincerity of Mo Xiaotian, which is why he said this—both as a warning to Mo Xiaotian and to himself. Based on this plot, I feel that in the future, there might be a storyline where Su Bei, burdened by fate, is forced to go against everyone. Sorry, Su Bei, but this is so intriguing! Is there anyone willing to write this? I'll hand you the pen! No.1: OP, you... said it so well! No.2: OP, you... said it so well! No.3: OP, you... said it so well! No.4: Hahahaha, someone save Su Bei! Next door, there's a post saying he's the owner of those little white shoes. No.5 replying to No.4: Isn't that just connecting to the main post! Because he's actually a mole planted by "Black Lightning" in the Abilities Academy, that's why he said those words to Mo Xiaotian—he's bound to betray them eventually. Damn! That makes so much sense! No.6: What the person above said really makes sense! No.7: I believe it. No.8: Not gonna lie, the idea of Su Bei being a mole fits his character really well. No.9: But would Black Lightning really send someone with such an important ability to the enemy side as a mole? That's fate we're talking about! ..... No.27 replying to No.9: I think so too. Is there a possibility that the "companion" Su Bei mentioned isn't referring to himself, but someone else in the protagonist group? Maybe he already saw through the Gear of Destiny that there's a mole in the protagonist group, which is why he warned Mo Xiaotian? No.28 replying to No.27: What you said also makes a lot of sense. No.29: Everyone's imagination is so wild! No.30: Am I the only one who doesn't want there to be a mole in the protagonist group? Everyone's such a good kid! No.31: Su Bei might not necessarily be the mole; otherwise, it feels a bit too predictable. ..... No.55: I saw someone say that this line might actually be based on Su Bei's own experiences. Are we overthinking it? Chosen Knife Receiver No.56 (OP) replying to No.55: That's also intriguing! No.57: More plot twists, please! No.58: I admit, I just want to see the carefree one burdened with a heavy fate. No.59: Seeing everyone as twisted as me is reassuring! The content of this post was quite interesting. For a statement he made half out of reflection and half deliberately, the readers had come up with multiple interpretations—some of which Su Bei himself hadn't even thought of. This was undoubtedly good news for him. The more guesses they made, the more options he had to respond. After the monthly exam, perhaps because of the team competition, the school mercifully gave everyone a few days off. The next class would be on Monday, so there were a full five days of rest. On the afternoon of the second day, everyone who had participated in the individual battles on the final day, including Zhou Renjie, was called to an empty classroom. When Su Bei arrived, everyone else was already there. It wasn't that he was late; he had just been delayed on the way. On his way, Su Bei ran into Zhao Xiaoyu, who had just finished her run and was heading to the cafeteria. Zhao Xiaoyu was a smart person. Seeing Su Bei appearing on this path to the teaching building at an unusual time, she immediately realized that the school might have something to do with him. Feeling that the two of them could now somewhat talk, she quickly approached him to ask what he was going to do. Su Bei had some guesses about the purpose of this meeting, but it was definitely not something he could tell her. So, he simply told her that it might be related to class placement. This delay naturally made him arrive a bit later than the others. Upon entering the spacious music classroom, Su Bei first observed the situation. The students all looked a bit curious, indicating that the teacher hadn't yet explained why they had been called here. When his eyes met theirs, many of them nodded at him. Su Bei was surprised to find that he was actually quite popular among the top ten students?! Even the most aloof Feng Lan and the most malicious Zhou Renjie didn't seem to hold any ill will toward him. This gave Su Bei a strange feeling—he hadn't been playing the social butterfly route, had he? Shivering, Su Bei quickly dismissed this absurd thought and continued to observe. There weren't many teachers in the room, only four. Besides the dean, there were the homeroom teachers of classes A, D, and F—the classes where the top ten students were from. The dean looked calm, while the homeroom teachers of classes A and D seemed to be in a good mood. After all, their students had made it into the top ten—how could they not be happy? However, Meng Huai was inexplicably scowling, and when he saw Su Bei looking over, he even glared at him. The other students from class F weren't surprised by this; they had probably all been glared at when they arrived. His tone was eerily similar to saying, “The big bad wolf loves to gobble up obedient children.” Everyone couldn’t help but twitch their lips at the comparison. Meng Huai, however, didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed. Seeing that the students were somewhat dismissive, he sneered, “If you don’t believe me, you can try it out for yourselves.” Naturally, no one wanted to test that theory. Seeing Meng Huai’s unpleasant expression, everyone wisely decided to leave, dragging Mo Xiaotian along with them. Once outside the classroom, they split into small groups. The team competition had indeed proven to be a great way to build camaraderie. The two sides, who had previously been at each other’s throats, were now mingling without issue. In this situation, Zhou Renjie, who hadn’t reconciled with Jiang Tianming and the others at all, felt somewhat awkward. He looked around—Ai Baozhu was with Lan Subing, Si Zhaohua was hanging out with Jiang Tianming, and Feng Lan was walking beside Su Bei. After some hesitation, Zhou Renjie decided to approach Su Bei. Although he wasn’t close to either of them, he also didn’t have any major grudges against them. Zhou Renjie’s feelings toward Su Bei were complicated. When it came to making friends, he usually cared about two things: family background and strength. Jiang Tianming and the others were orphans and from Class F, so they were completely outside his circle of potential friends. Even if they weren’t as weak as he had initially thought, the stereotypes had already formed, and the previous conflicts were hard to erase. Zhou Renjie definitely wasn’t going to reconcile with them. Su Bei, on the other hand, was different. When Zhou Renjie first met him, Su Bei was already with Feng Lan. Anyone who could hang out with Feng Lan, the young master of the Feng family, was definitely not weak. Subsequent events had proven this to be true. Additionally, although Zhou Renjie hadn’t investigated Su Bei’s family background, Su Bei’s demeanor made it clear that he was nothing like the poor, shabby types like Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai. So even though Su Bei had clashed with him before, Zhou Renjie wasn’t particularly angry about it. In fact, he couldn’t afford to be angry anymore. Si Zhaohua and Ai Baozhu had already stopped disliking Jiang Tianming and the others, so what was he supposed to do? At the very least, he needed someone in the S-Class he could talk to... Thinking this, Zhou Renjie tentatively spoke up: “What were you guys talking about just now?” Hearing his question, the two finally turned to him. When Zhou Renjie had approached earlier, Feng Lan hadn’t paid any attention, and Su Bei had noticed but didn’t feel like engaging. However, since Zhou Renjie had initiated the conversation, it would be rude not to respond. Su Bei answered succinctly, “We were talking about Black Lightning.” He wasn’t lying—there was no need to. They really had been discussing the Black Lightning organization. Like Si Zhaohua, Feng Lan, as a young master—or rather, someone of even higher status—knew a thing or two about Black Lightning. According to Feng Lan, Black Lightning had indeed developed some things. While they appeared low-key on the surface, they secretly controlled many commercial channels to sell the tools and products they had researched. One of these was a potion that could enhance mental strength, which many ability users used. Although it was expensive, the effects were indeed impressive. Feng Lan knew about this because his family had considered using it on him. However, he had refused, preferring to improve his mental strength through his own efforts. Assuming they were condemning the organization, Zhou Renjie immediately chimed in: “This Black Lightning is really getting out of hand! When I get home, I’ll make sure my parents deal with them!” Hearing this, Su Bei immediately lost interest in the conversation. He had brought up the topic to gather useful information, not to listen to someone brag about something they couldn’t possibly achieve. “Tch!” Wu Mingbai, who was walking not far away, couldn’t help but scoff at Zhou Renjie’s words. However, he didn’t say anything and simply walked away. This reaction only made Zhou Renjie angrier. He furiously retorted, “What’s that supposed to mean? Huh? You don’t think my family can handle it? Don’t judge the elite with your commoner’s perspective!” “Enough,” Si Zhaohua said calmly, unable to bear seeing his friend left alone. “Let’s go. We should head back to the dorm.” His invitation immediately made Zhou Renjie forget his anger. He quickly put on a flattering smile and said, “Coming! Let’s go!” Si Zhaohua nodded at Su Bei and then led Zhou Renjie away, leaving the others behind. As they walked, Si Zhaohua couldn’t help but sigh. He and Zhou Renjie had known each other for almost ten years, having been classmates since elementary school. Although he hadn’t wanted to pay attention to Zhou Renjie when he first approached him, over the years, he had developed some feelings of camaraderie. However, precisely because of this, Si Zhaohua knew very well that Zhou Renjie was genuinely unlikable. He had also overheard their conversation earlier. While everyone else was discussing the "Black Lightning" organization—Jiang Tianming analyzing their motives, Wu Mingbai reviewing what went wrong during the team competition, Mu Tieren talking about the school's measures, Feng Lan sharing what he knew, Lan Subing trying to gather information, Ai Baozhu loading herself up with defensive tools, Mo Xiaotian curiously asking around, and Su Bei planning how to avoid danger—Zhou Renjie was the only one who thought his family could take on "Black Lightning." What could Si Zhaohua even say to that? In truth, Zhou Renjie wasn’t unaware that his family couldn’t handle "Black Lightning." After all, this was an organization that dared to openly oppose the Ability Academy. Anyone with half a brain could figure that out. Moreover, Zhou Renjie was far from stupid. In their previous regular school exams, he had often ranked in the top ten. But the family-first ideology he had been indoctrinated with since childhood made it impossible for him to admit that his family wasn’t capable. Although Si Zhaohua knew that many children from branch families underwent similar brainwashing, and it wasn’t Zhou Renjie’s fault, it also wasn’t anyone else’s fault that he wasn’t well-liked. "I just realized Si Zhaohua has the potential to be a 'male mother,'" Su Bei remarked, noticing that Si Zhaohu had intentionally taken Zhou Renjie away to help him save face. Hearing this, Feng Lan blinked and repeated, "Male... mother?" "It means someone who takes care of others," Su Bei replied without hesitation, keeping a straight face. While the term was often used teasingly, it did roughly mean that. Lan Subing made a strange expression. Aside from Su Bei, she was the only one present who had heard the term before. Before Feng Lan could respond, Ai Baozhu, who hadn’t left yet, nodded in agreement. "That’s right. That’s just how he is." Although Si Zhaohua always appeared aloof and untouchable, Ai Baozhu knew he was actually quite soft-hearted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tolerated Zhou Renjie, who had clearly approached them with ulterior motives. It was also because of this personality that he could put up with her. Ai Baozhu had always known she wasn’t the most easygoing person, but she wasn’t ashamed of it. Her family had spoiled her so much; it was only natural that she had a bit of a proud temper. Back in his dorm, Su Bei thought for a moment and decisively opened the forum. It had been a while since he last used the "Prophet" account. Now was the perfect time to build up its persona using the information he had gathered today. Coffee