20

“What were you just talking about?” Mu Tieren, who had been waiting for them at the door not far away, suddenly asked, “Did Su Bei give you any hints?”

Due to his special abilities, his five senses were quite sharp. Although he was standing some distance away, he still faintly heard what Jiang Tianming and the others were saying. He didn't fully understand the latter part of their conversation, but he caught some of the earlier part about Su Bei.

From the first day of school, he had been curious about Su Bei’s abilities. Anyone who seriously listened to his conversation with Jiang Tianming back then wouldn’t believe that Su Bei’s ability was really something as simple as "gears."

Though he wouldn’t usually seek out information, he couldn’t help but feel curious when he overheard something.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Tianming shook his head. “Sorry, maybe you could ask Su Bei directly?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell Mu Tieren. After all, this past week of getting to know him had made Jiang Tianming fully understand that the class monitor was indeed a righteous and good person. He wasn’t stingy about helping his classmates and usually knew when not to pry into others’ secrets.

But this was Su Bei’s matter, and if he spoke out of turn, it could bring trouble to Su Bei. After all, Su Bei had helped him, and repaying kindness with betrayal wouldn’t be right.

Mu Tieren wasn’t upset by his evasion. Instead, he very understandingly said, “I should be the one apologizing. If I want to know something, I should ask Su Bei directly and not put you in a difficult position.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Mo Xiaotian curiously moved closer. “I think I heard you, Brother Mu, saying you wanted to ask Brother Bei something? Could you bring me along when you do?”

Obviously, this guy didn’t know anything but was just keen on joining in the fun. Wu Mingbai curled his lip. “What a fool, Tianming. Why do you even bring him along?”

Jiang Tianming helplessly looked at him. “Then you go and get rid of him.”

At this, Wu Mingbai fell silent. Even he couldn’t chase away someone who didn’t understand human speech, especially since Mo Xiaotian, though not smart, hadn’t done anything wrong. It wouldn’t be right to actually kick him out, would it?

The five of them walked into the cafeteria together. With the school’s help, all the cafeteria staff who had been present that day had been gathered in the cafeteria hall.

It’s worth mentioning that the Ability Academy did a good job in this aspect. They didn’t look down on the students just because they were students; instead, they actively helped Jiang Tianming and the others in their search for the culprit.

After all, this wasn’t an ordinary school but an ability school. They weren’t training ordinary students but future ability users who would need to fight against nightmare beasts.

Ability users often face accidents, danger, and death. Students can’t be trained to face such dangers inside the ivory towers of the school. This is also why the Ability Academy frequently organizes competitions and actual combat training.

Now that an unexpected situation had occurred in the school, if the students could solve it themselves, the school authorities would naturally be pleased.

At this moment, there were about twenty people sitting in the cafeteria, who were the staff present that day. Since they had been working in the cafeteria, they had heard something about the incident. Now that they had been gathered, many of them vaguely realized what had happened, and their faces didn’t look good.

Getting inexplicably involved in a murder case and becoming a suspect is something that no one can take lightly.

The group stood in line according to their positions. Jiang Tianming scanned the room and said, “Everyone, please tell us what you were doing between four and five o’clock that afternoon.”

This time period was when the victim had died. Sun Ming had been stabbed through the heart from behind and died instantly, so there was no delayed death.

Mu Tieren responsibly added, “If there are any issues with someone’s timeline or if they left out something important, others can refute it after they’ve spoken.”

“Anyone who provides valid evidence will receive a reward of five thousand yuan.” A mechanical voice sounded—it was from Lan Subing’s phone.

During this time, since investigations often required communication, Lan Subing, despite her severe social anxiety, had finally found a way that suited her—using her phone to communicate.

Although this wasn’t much help in using her abilities, at least she now had a means to communicate with strangers.

With the incentive of the reward, the crowd’s enthusiasm rose, and their eyes were no longer full of complaints about being implicated. They began recounting the events of that day one by one.

Soon it was a male chef’s turn.

The moment Jiang Tianming made eye contact with the male chef, he suddenly froze. At that moment, a realization struck him, and he almost couldn’t control his facial expression.

But he quickly composed himself. After listening to the chef’s timeline and two more people, he finally spoke. “Everyone, take a break, have some water, and let’s discuss the information we’ve just gathered.”

The cafeteria staff thought he was being considerate. After all, they were just suspects, not actual murderers, so they had nothing to feel guilty about taking a break.

The others might not have noticed, but Jiang Tianming’s companions could sense that something was off about him. So no one argued with him and quietly followed him out of the cafeteria.

As soon as they stepped outside the cafeteria, before anyone could ask, Jiang Tianming’s expression turned serious. “One of the chefs had eyes the exact same color as the clue Su Bei gave us!”

Upon hearing this, both Lan Subing and Wu Mingbai were stunned. They hadn’t noticed such a small detail.

It had to be said that Jiang Tianming was indeed the most observant among them. After receiving Su Bei’s hint, he had carefully recalled the purple-red smoke that Su Bei had created with his ability that day. That’s why he was able to immediately notice the difference in that chef.

Although Wu Mingbai hadn’t noticed this detail, he trusted his teammate’s judgment: “Among those suspects, aside from the one you mentioned, none of them had purple-red eyes.”

“So, does that mean the clue represents eye color?” Lan Subing, who had previously tried to analyze the hint given by Su Bei, finally started to uncover a small part of the mystery.

At this point, Mo Xiaotian couldn’t hold back any longer. The only reason he had managed to stay quiet for so long was because Mu Tieren had already asked Jiang Tianming about it, and since they didn’t want to share the information, he hadn’t pressed further.

But now, if they still didn’t explain, it would just be frustrating: “What exactly is this hint you’re talking about? At this point, you can’t keep it a secret anymore, right?”

As expected, Jiang Tianming didn’t plan to hide it any longer: “The hint we received is a clue about the murderer’s identity. It was a puff of purple-red smoke, the same color as that chef’s eyes.”

Actually, the hint that Su Bei provided hadn’t explicitly stated what it was indicating, but given how things had progressed, the hint could only point to the identity of the murderer. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been of any use.

“Brother Bei gave it to you?” Mo Xiaotian’s eyes lit up, then he wrinkled his nose. “He’s so unfair! He never told me his ability was this powerful! I’m going to be mad at him when I get back!”

Even though he said this, he clearly wasn’t holding a grudge. In fact, he seemed very happy. And this happiness wasn’t the kind that comes from clinging to someone powerful; after all, he himself was a top student in Class A. He was simply happy that his friend had become stronger.

After all, for an ability user, having a weak ability not only meant staying in the shadows but also facing significant danger.

Any ability user, no matter how strong or weak, would attract attacks from nightmare beasts. Even if they never left the city in their lifetime, they might not be safe. Only by becoming strong could they ensure their safety.

This was the reason why Mo Xiaotian was so happy.

After spending over a week together, Lan Subing had developed a good impression of the innocent and naive Mo Xiaotian, and she was now able to speak a bit in front of him: “Su Bei didn’t tell us what his ability is either.”

In other words, it wasn’t that he was deliberately keeping it from you; he was keeping it from everyone equally. Even now, Su Bei was still firmly insisting that his ability was “gears,” regardless of whether anyone believed it or not.

Understanding that Lan Subing was trying to comfort him, Mo Xiaotian flashed a big smile and nodded vigorously: “Okay! That makes me feel better!”

Lan Subing: “?”

“Pfft!” Wu Mingbai, who had been listening to the whole conversation from the side, burst out laughing, not giving his friend any face. He even proudly said, “See? Didn’t I tell you he and I have the same personality?”

—Both are “white on the outside, black on the inside.”

Jiang Tianming’s eyes were also full of amusement, but hearing Wu Mingbai’s shameless words, he still gave him a sideways glance: “No need to slander Xiaotian like that.”

The ever-reliable big brother Mu Tieren brought the conversation back on track: “If, according to what you’re saying, the purple-red represents the color of the murderer’s pupils, then what does the smoke represent?”

The hint was purple-red smoke. They initially thought it was all one thing, but now that the purple-red color had a purpose, the smoke must have its own significance as well.

“What could the smoke represent?” Jiang Tianming’s thoughts returned to the matter at hand. “Smoking?”

Wu Mingbai also began to speculate, but he hadn’t completely separated the idea of purple-red and smoke in his mind, so what he thought of was: “A fire?”

Mo Xiaotian looked around and scratched his head: “Isn’t anyone guessing it could be an ability?”

One sentence woke them all up!

They hadn’t considered the possibility that it might be an ability, but now that they thought about it, it seemed highly likely.

Many of the staff at the Ability Academy were also ability users, though most of them were weak, classified as F-level or D-level ability users. These people didn’t want to give up their identity as ability users, but they were also afraid of being attacked by nightmare beasts. So, if they happened to have a skill, they would work at the school. It was hard to say whether these suspects had abilities or not.

Given how elusive the murderer was, it was likely due to the use of an ability.

Jiang Tianming made a decisive move: “I’m going to ask the homeroom teacher if the school has any machines that can detect abilities. You guys stall them so they don’t notice anything.”

The group split into two. Jiang Tianming quickly found Meng Huai and explained the help he needed.

Meng Huai didn’t doubt him and promptly took out a machine, the same one that was used to test students’ abilities before the school year began.

Meng Huai had thought even further ahead than Jiang Tianming. Aside from the teachers, none of the school’s staff had abilities higher than D-level. If any of those suspects had a higher-level ability, even if they weren’t the murderer, they probably had bad intentions.

With the machine in hand, Jiang Tianming rushed back to the cafeteria, this time with Meng Huai by his side. After all, if the murderer was indeed in the cafeteria, they might become violent once exposed, so having Meng Huai there would be safer.

As soon as they entered the cafeteria, all eyes turned to them. When they saw the machine in Jiang Tianming’s hand, Wu Mingbai, who had been watching the prime suspect closely, noticed that the suspect’s expression changed slightly.

But that person quickly returned to normal. If he hadn’t been watching closely, he might not have noticed it at all.

With everyone working together, the machine checks were done quickly. In less than half an hour, everyone had been checked, and no one showed any issues.

The purple-red-eyed chef didn’t even have an ability.

Could they have guessed wrong? Jiang Tianming was doubtful. Could the smoke hint represent something other than an ability? But if that’s the case, they would be back at a dead end.

After all, Su Bei’s ability provided a very abstract hint. If it hadn’t been for the chance encounter with the suspect, Jiang Tianming would never have realized that the purple-red smoke was actually two separate clues: purple-red color and smoke, with the purple-red referring to the murderer’s eye color.

Honestly, who could have figured that out!

The expressions of the others who knew the inside story were also grim. They had all thought they were close to the truth, but who would have expected such a setback at the final moment?

Could they really have been wrong?

“If nothing abnormal was detected, then I’ll take my leave.” Meng Huai, packing up the machine, prepared to leave. Although he didn’t have much to do in the office, the school believed that the students needed to be trained. If these students could figure things out on their own, all the better, and he preferred not to interfere unless necessary.

“Uh…” Jiang Tianming hesitated, still feeling that their guess was correct.

Just as he was beginning to doubt himself, Wu Mingbai’s eyes suddenly lit up as if he had thought of something. He stepped forward and whispered in Jiang Tianming’s ear: “The detective’s ability didn’t work on the murderer either.”

With those words, Jiang Tianming suddenly realized what was happening.

That’s right! The machine used to test abilities was itself powered by an ability that could test others. In other words, it was an ability that tested the user’s ability.

The detective had mentioned before that the reason he couldn’t use his ability to summon the dead person’s spirit was that the dead person had been subjected to “ability suppression.”

If the murderer could suppress the abilities of others, it made sense that he could suppress his own as well. If the murderer had used this ability on himself, it would be perfectly normal for the machine not to detect anything.

Jiang Tianming became more convinced that the chef was indeed the murderer. With Meng Huai right there, it was the perfect opportunity to expose him.

“Teacher, is there any way to lift ‘ability suppression’?” He knew that their earlier actions had likely alerted the murderer. If he left to privately discuss his suspicions with Meng Huai, the murderer might become wary. It would be better to confront him directly now, leaving no time for preparation.

As soon as he spoke, Meng Huai understood what he meant. After all, he had been present when the detective used his ability and knew that the dead person had been “ability suppressed.”

However, before he could respond, the purple-red-eyed chef suddenly sprang forward like a hunting leopard, rushing straight towards Wu Mingbai, who was closest to him, clearly intending to take him hostage as a means of escape.

He moved so fast that Wu Mingbai didn’t even have time to react. In fact, no first-year student could possibly react in time to a sudden attack from a high-level ability user.

But this clearly didn’t apply to their homeroom teacher. To become a teacher at the Ability Academy, and to have taught Class S, Meng Huai was no pushover. Almost at the same moment the murderer acted, Meng Huai turned into a blur and rushed forward, intending to protect Wu Mingbai and subdue the attacker.

He was confident in his strength. It was nearly impossible for any ability user below S-level to escape from him, let alone harm someone in front of him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to come along even knowing that Jiang Tianming and the others might have identified the murderer.

Sure enough, even though the murderer and Wu Mingbai were less than two meters apart, Meng Huai, who was five meters away, managed to get there first, seemingly teleporting to Wu Mingbai’s side, and reached out to grab the murderer.

But the murderer wasn’t stupid. He clearly knew he couldn’t match the school’s teacher. So, just as Meng Huai was about to grab him, the murderer suddenly turned into smoke and tried to escape.

Meng Huai wanted to catch him, but it wasn’t easy to capture someone in smoke form. In just a few moments, the murderer had dispersed into the air.

“Fast escape.” Even though the opponent had vanished, Meng Huai didn’t seem the least bit concerned. He casually retracted his hand and made no move to pursue, instead taking out his phone to fiddle with something.

After he finished, he put his phone back in his pocket and turned to see everyone staring at him in stunned silence. Meng Huai frowned slightly but didn’t bother with the staff. Instead, he looked at the students, crossing his arms: “What are you standing around for? Go find him!”

Even Jiang Tianming was at a loss: “How do we find him?”

Similarly confused, Wu Mingbai quickly chimed in, hoping for more guidance: “Teacher, aren’t you going to help?”

Next was the ever-diligent class monitor, Mu Tieren, who furrowed his brow and asked, “If we’re searching, what if he hurts someone in the meantime?”

Typing quickly on her phone, Lan Subing set up a voice message and pressed play: “Where is he?”

Finally, Mo Xiaotian, feeling left out, raised his hand and declared, “Mission accepted! Detective game switched to hide-and-seek!”

Lan Subing facepalmed, pulling his hand down and signaling him to be quiet.

After they had all spoken, Meng Huai leisurely replied, “He can’t hurt anyone; that ability won’t last long, and all the buildings have already been sealed. Now, can you go find him?”

Since Meng Huai dared to speak with such confidence, he was surely well-prepared. After ruling out the issues he had addressed, the murderer would only be able to move in the outdoor areas of the school with their physical body, making it much easier to find them.

Without further hesitation, the group left the cafeteria together.

******

On the other side, Su Bei had just left the library and was heading back to his dorm. He wasn’t planning to go to the cafeteria tonight; he would make do with a quick meal. He already knew that the cafeteria wouldn’t be peaceful tonight, which could easily trigger his ill-fated destiny.

After taking only a few steps, Su Bei frowned, realizing something was off.

When did this area become so quiet? Why was there no one around?

Although first-year students rarely came to the library, it was next to the teaching building, so the foot traffic wasn’t usually that sparse.

But now, the entire road was deserted, not a single student in sight.

Did something happen?

Su Bei instinctively took out his phone and checked it. Two messages popped up immediately. The library had signal blockers, so he hadn’t received them in real time.

Both messages, one from the class group and the other from the grade group, had the same content: “A dangerous individual is on the loose on campus. All students are to remain indoors and not venture outside.”

Su Bei: …? (Speechless emoji)

He rolled his eyes and decisively turned back toward the library to take refuge.

Only a fool wouldn’t realize that the “dangerous individual” mentioned in the message was the murderer who killed Sun Ming. Given that he already had a connection with this person, staying outside would likely make him a target. It was best to hurry to a safe place to protect his life.

Speak of the devil.

Just as he touched the library door, Su Bei felt a cold sensation on his neck.

Without even looking down, he knew it was a sharp knife pressed against a vital spot.

“Stay still if you don’t want to die!” the person behind him growled, tightening their grip on Su Bei’s neck, as if they intended to strangle him.

Su Bei sighed silently and obediently followed the assailant’s lead. “Don’t strangle me. If you kill me, where are you going to find another unlucky soul to use as a hostage?”

Hearing this, the murderer’s grip did indeed loosen slightly. He didn’t believe Su Bei could escape from his hold, especially since a high-level ability user was physically much stronger than a low-level one. Most importantly, he had the support of his ability, making it almost impossible for things to go wrong.

He didn’t realize that this was the same student who had thrown him earlier. Naturally, Su Bei wasn’t planning on trying another over-the-shoulder throw.

Last time, the attacker had been completely unprepared, and the “manga awareness” had likely helped a bit, making it easy to subdue him. But this time, Su Bei was the hostage, and the murderer wouldn’t let his guard down.

So, running away was out of the question; it was better to make himself as comfortable as possible.

Evidently, Su Bei’s attitude confused the murderer. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of course I’m afraid, scared to death,” Su Bei drawled lazily, clearly indifferent, making it obvious that he was lying.

He didn’t actually feel afraid. Apart from anger, he was more resigned to his fate.

He hadn’t dared to get involved in this case for fear of his life. But then, just by stepping outside, he ended up running into the murderer, making it hard not to believe that he would ultimately die at the murderer’s hands.

Fate is unavoidable. No matter what he did, it would only result in one more death.

If that’s really the case, then both this cursed “manga awareness” and the manga world itself should die along with him.

So now he had adopted a “whatever happens, happens” mindset. If he could survive, great; if not, so be it—he had done all he could.

The “manga awareness” was playing dead at this point, not daring to say a word, fearing that Su Bei might completely break down.

“You…”

Before the murderer could finish his sentence, footsteps could be heard approaching from not far away. He tightened his grip on Su Bei again and forcefully turned him around to face Jiang Tianming and the others.

The murderer, using a slightly hoarse voice, shouted angrily, “Stay where you are! If anyone takes another step, I’ll kill him!”

Jiang Tianming and the others stood in a row, somewhat surprised by what they saw. They weren’t shocked that the murderer had taken a hostage, but they hadn't expected the hostage to be Su Bei.

How did he get caught?

“Didn’t the teacher say no one would get hurt?” Mu Tieren’s frown hadn’t eased since they discovered the murderer.

Upon hearing this, Su Bei’s eyebrows subtly twitched.

“I don’t know…” Jiang Tianming shook his head. But seeing Su Bei's calm expression somehow made him feel less worried. If it was Su Bei, maybe he wouldn’t get hurt so easily, right?

This wasn’t just wishful thinking. Su Bei had always seemed like he knew a lot, so it would be strange if he were to die easily.

With that thought, Jiang Tianming asked, “Su Bei, do you have a way to save yourself?”

After a moment of silence, Su Bei calmly replied, “I do, but this is your stage.”

The implication was that he wouldn’t help, even if it was to save himself.

But the truth was, they didn’t need his help. Su Bei quietly observed as the main group exchanged glances with him, while they were already secretly making their moves—Lan Subing's scarf seemed to twitch, and Mo Xiaotian’s fingers subtly moved...

This sight instantly put Su Bei at ease. The main group really had a knack for teamwork.

However, the murderer didn’t notice this, or rather, he didn’t care about the small actions of these first-year students, thinking they weren’t worth his attention.

But Su Bei’s words made him uneasy. He pressed the knife harder against Su Bei’s neck, leaving a purplish-red mark. A little more force, and it would become a bloodstain. “No tricks! Tell me, what’s your plan?”

“Hey!” The five others who had been quietly scheming were startled by this and looked at Su Bei in concern, fearing the murderer might actually kill him if he wasn’t careful.

Although Su Bei claimed to have a plan, facing such direct harm might not end well for him.

“Do you think I could fool them and still fool you?” Su Bei put on a helpless expression and whispered, “What plan could I have? I just wanted to reassure them.”

The murderer didn’t quite believe him but couldn’t think of what else Su Bei could do. So, he issued another warning before turning his attention back to the main group. “Let me leave the school, and I’ll let him go.”

The five exchanged glances, and Jiang Tianming spoke up, “Don’t hurt him. Walk to the school gate first, and we’ll go talk to the teacher.”

If the school gate was opened, the murderer could leave immediately. He nodded and took big strides forward with Su Bei.

“Thud!”

They had barely taken a few steps when a loud thud echoed. It was as if the murderer had hit something, causing his grip on Su Bei to loosen.

Su Bei, never one to waste an opportunity, had been ready for this moment. He seized it, broke free, and sprinted forward at top speed.

The murderer instinctively wanted to chase after him, but he tripped over a piece of earth that had somehow risen under his feet. This stumble cost him his chance to recapture the hostage.

In the next instant, a vine cage sprang up from the ground, trapping the murderer inside.

This vine cage wasn’t the work of Jiang Tianming and the others, but the school’s backup support.

With the situation fully resolved, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Mo Xiaotian gave Su Bei a thumbs-up, his eyes sparkling. “Brother Bei, you ran so fast just now! We really are in sync!”

Su Bei had managed to escape just in time after seeing Mo Xiaotian’s fingers move. If there were no mistakes, the thing the murderer hit was likely Mo Xiaotian’s ability.

Is being in sync with an innocent fool a compliment? Before Su Bei could figure that out, he heard Wu Mingbai curiously ask, “So, did you really have a way to escape?”

Hearing this, the others also turned to look at Su Bei, curious about the answer. Without their help, how would Su Bei have saved himself?

Only Mu Tieren wasn’t curious. Thanks to his keen hearing, he had overheard Su Bei’s whispered conversation with the murderer earlier, so he didn’t believe Su Bei had a real escape plan. He figured Su Bei just wanted to put everyone at ease.

Seeing everyone pressuring him for an answer, Mu Tieren was about to speak up to help Su Bei out. However, before he could, Su Bei shrugged and shouted, “Teacher, help… ow!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than he received a light knock on the head.

Meng Huai, who had appeared out of nowhere behind him, withdrew his hand after tapping Su Bei’s head and said irritably, “What are you shouting for?”

Then he looked at the group and, with a satisfied smile, said, “Well done.”

The next moment, the long-silent “Manga Awareness” voice echoed: “The King of Superpower” has been updated. Please watch.”

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