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Su Bei hesitated for a moment before lowering his eyes and shaking his head. "No, I meant that it's normal for new ability users to be unskilled. It’s understandable that your prediction wasn’t perfect," he said.
Feng Lan didn't press further, and Su Bei said nothing more, turning his head back. He had said that intentionally, hoping to make Feng Lan suspect that his ability was prophecy-related.
Initially, Su Bei hadn't planned to show off in front of Feng Lan, since Feng Lan wasn't the main character. After all, sticking with the protagonist guaranteed screen time; performing in front of others would be a waste of effort.
However, after reading the latest manga update, he changed his mind. Who said only the protagonist got screen time? Meng Huai was a perfect example.
Although Meng Huai’s solo scene stemmed from his critique of the protagonist, he also critiqued others, didn’t he? Su Bei benefited greatly from this, and many readers likely followed Meng Huai’s lead in making predictions.
He suddenly realized that leaving a strong impression on side characters, especially important ones, was crucial. After all, the protagonist was bound to leave a strong impression on them, and two characters who both leave strong impressions are often discussed together.
Seeing that everyone had completed using their abilities once, Meng Huai asked, "Did you feel any loss of power?"
“It’s mental energy!” came a few scattered replies in the classroom, with most people not taking it seriously. This was common knowledge; it didn’t require much thought to answer, so everyone naturally didn't think it needed to be taught.
Meng Huai sneered, then suddenly furrowed his brows and said sternly, "Do you think this is unimportant? Remember this! The exhaustion you feel after extensive use of your abilities is an illusion caused by the depletion of mental energy. In reality, your physical strength hasn’t been fully drained."
This was something no one had considered before, not even Su Bei, who was stunned, a look of contemplation flashing in his eyes. He hadn’t realized there was such a principle behind this common knowledge.
Meng Huai continued in a loud voice, "So, when you run out of abilities on the battlefield, don’t forget that you can still escape. No matter how tired you feel, remember it’s an illusion—you still have physical strength left! Stand up and run! Got it?"
This was a genuine survival tip. Remembering this could save your life in a dangerous situation. This time, everyone was convinced, and they all loudly replied in unison, "Got it!"
Seeing that everyone was now taking this seriously, Meng Huai nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to continue speaking, his phone suddenly rang—he had received a message.
As the homeroom teacher, he was quite professional and always turned off his phone notifications before class. Only messages that might be important were allowed through.
So, after hearing the notification, he promptly picked up his phone. After frowning and reading the message, Meng Huai glanced at Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing, then said loudly, "Alright, since you understand, now try to exhaust your abilities as much as possible until you’re completely drained and can’t use them anymore. Pay close attention to this feeling and distinguish it from true physical exhaustion."
After saying this, he left the classroom.
Watching the teacher’s actions, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, recalling Feng Lan's earlier words. Was the so-called “quarrel” about to start?
Was it going to be an argument involving Meng Huai and someone else?
Just as he was about to turn and ask Feng Lan what he thought, he noticed Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing, who were sitting in the front row, sneaking towards him while the teacher was gone.
What were they up to?
Puzzled for a moment, Su Bei’s gaze inadvertently fell on the gear sitting on the desk, and his expression suddenly changed.
He had let his guard down!
Normally, when using 【Gear】, he summoned the most basic gears. So earlier, when the teacher asked them to use their abilities, he instinctively summoned a regular gear.
But his public persona wasn’t really about 【Gear】 as an ability—it was about 【Fate】. Summoning an ordinary gear like this clearly messed up his persona.
Judging by their actions, those two were probably coming to question him about this.
What should he do? How could he explain this and cover up the flaw?
If the protagonist group started doubting his ability, then the readers, who viewed things from the protagonists’ perspective, might also start doubting.
For his ability transformation to succeed, the majority of readers had to believe it. If they were led to question it, things would get complicated. Even if he managed to dispel the protagonists’ and readers’ doubts later, it would slow down his progress.
In just a few seconds, Su Bei’s mind raced through countless thoughts, but outwardly, he remained calm and composed.
A moment later, Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing walked over, just as he expected. The black-haired boy looked thoughtfully at the ordinary gear, asking, "Why does this gear look so different from the one yesterday?"
"Why should I answer that?" Su Bei propped his chin on one hand, lazily responding.
"Isn’t this part of after-sales service?" Jiang Tianming was momentarily taken aback but quickly recovered. "Yesterday, we had a legitimate transaction, and now I suspect there’s something wrong with the product you provided."
Hearing this, Su Bei gave him a half-smile, not denying it. The truth was, he did need an opportunity to explain, so he decided to go along with it.
His gaze swept over the two of them. "Because it’s missing something."
Missing what? Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing almost simultaneously recalled Su Bei’s mention of the “threads of fate” yesterday.
That explains it—the gear is merely a medium for fate. Without being fused with the threads of fate, it’s just an ordinary gear.
"Bring that person out here!"
Suddenly, an angry female voice echoed from outside the classroom, though it was distant and unclear.
Then there was a commotion, with footsteps and faint sounds of arguing. At some point, the classroom fell silent as everyone was curious to know what was happening. If it weren’t for Meng Huai’s authoritative presence in the past few days, someone would have probably sneaked out to see what was going on.
Su Bei glanced at the two protagonists nearby, who were eagerly observing the situation, and couldn’t help but feel amused. These two were still acting like onlookers, but if he wasn’t mistaken, they were probably involved in the situation.
As expected, after listening for a while, their expressions suddenly changed, and they abruptly stood up. Lan Subing, with a serious look on her face, said, "Wu Mingbai?"
Jiang Tianming nodded with a frown, looking towards the door. "I think I heard him too."
They walked towards the door and looked out through the glass window. A group of teachers had gathered down the hallway, and it seemed that Wu Mingbai was the one being surrounded.
The two of them quickly pushed open the door, ignoring the admiring looks from their classmates.
"It was me who pushed him! If you want to cause trouble, take it out on me. They didn’t even touch him, so why are you coming after them?" As soon as the door opened, Wu Mingbai’s angry voice came through.
Then a strange woman’s voice responded, "Please calm down, ma'am. We deeply regret Sun Ming’s death, but the surveillance and evidence have been shown to you. This incident has nothing to do with the students, so please try to calm down."
Barely had she finished speaking when another, more hysterical female voice rang out—the same one they had heard earlier. "Calm down? How can I calm down? My child, whom I raised with so much love and care, came to your school for one day and now he’s dead! I’ll make sure everyone pays for his death!"
Next, a cold, mocking male voice said, "Hmph, we will avenge Mingming. If you can’t find the culprit, don’t blame us for being ruthless. Mingming is lonely on the road to the afterlife; someone will have to accompany him."
"We will protect them," Meng Huai said calmly.
But the man was unfazed. "We might not be able to do anything to the Ability Academy, but it’s easy to target a few students. If our investigation is correct, this Wu Mingbai is an orphan, isn’t he? Mingming was a kind child; I’m sure he’d like the orphans to join him."
This was a blatant threat. If the school couldn’t find the killer, the parents would take out their grief on Wu Mingbai and the orphanage. If they couldn’t make Wu Mingbai pay with his life, they’d make the children at the orphanage pay instead.
Although any rational person would know that Wu Mingbai and the others were innocent, Sun Ming’s parents, in their extreme anger, didn’t care about rationality.
Having understood the situation, Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing couldn’t stay put any longer. They pushed open the door and strode over. No matter what, they couldn’t let Wu Mingbai face this situation alone. Even if it meant facing retaliation, they would stand together.
Barely a few seconds after they stepped outside, Meng Huai’s voice called out, "What are you two doing? Get back here!"
However, the two were unmoved, standing firmly by Wu Mingbai’s side.
Meng Huai rolled his eyes in frustration, quickly walked back to the classroom, and shot a fierce warning look at the clearly curious students. Then, with a sharp "bang," he shut the door, cutting off the sounds from outside.
Once the door was closed, the class immediately burst into chatter, with everyone discussing what they had just overheard.
Some students who had been in the cafeteria yesterday filled in the others on what had happened, including Wu Mingbai and the others’ involvement.
When they heard that the trio was merely the ones who had discovered the crime and had passed a lie detector test, everyone felt deep sympathy for them. It was truly unfortunate—an innocent disaster.
The parents were being completely unreasonable, but there wasn’t much anyone could do.
Sitting in his seat, Su Bei sighed. He had known this matter would eventually involve the protagonist group, but he hadn’t expected it to happen this way.
At that moment, he suddenly felt someone looking at him. Turning his gaze, he saw the class monitor, Mu Tieren, sitting not far away.
Mu Tieren was watching him curiously. When their eyes met, he didn’t shy away but instead walked over confidently. "Su Bei, you heard what those people outside were saying, right?"
If you weren’t deaf, you should have heard it. Su Bei remained still, curious about what Mu Tieren wanted.
Mu Tieren, who clearly disliked the people outside, spoke with a hint of disapproval. "This might be a bit abrupt, but I have to ask—do you have a way to deal with people like that?"
It was indeed a blunt question, considering they had barely interacted before. But since both of them were interested in engaging, it wasn’t surprising.
"Of course I do," Su Bei replied with a light chuckle.
Handling this kind of scoundrel was something he was quite good at.
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