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It is known that people without watches cannot exit the alternate space, making them easy targets. Although Qi Huang is a rookie ability user, her power is undeniably strong. With her around, she can at least protect her teammates. However, if she frequently investigates noises, she might easily fall into a trap.
Qi Huang wasn’t foolish. Hearing Su Bei’s words, her expression turned serious. “What do you mean by that?”
She didn’t think Su Bei was mocking her for meddling in others’ affairs—after all, she had just helped him moments ago. Even if someone wanted to be ungrateful, they wouldn’t act so quickly.
However, Su Bei didn’t respond. He simply waved his hand again and said, “I’ll be off now.”
Watching his carefree departure, Qi Huang didn’t stop him. Instead, she frowned deeply, pondering his words. She didn’t know much about Su Bei, but after her loss last time, she had deliberately looked into his abilities.
Ai Baozhu had told her that Su Bei’s ability was [Gears of Destiny], something related to fate...
After standing in place for a while, she stomped her foot and hurried back to her team. No matter what Su Bei meant, staying with her teammates was undoubtedly the safest choice.
Meanwhile, after Su Bei left, he continued toward the direction the arrow had indicated. The alternate space was vast, accommodating nearly 200 participants. Without a speed-specialized ability, it would take hours to rely on foot.
The farther he traveled southeast, the more uneasy he felt. The reason? He had encountered far too many Nightmares—twice as many as before!
In a dense forest, running into enemies wasn’t common. Along the way, Su Bei had recovered much of his mental power, expanding his detection range.
As a result, he could sense several Nightmares hiding nearby. In half an hour, he had detected four sleeping Nightmares and killed one, making it five in total.
If it were just this, Su Bei wouldn’t have found it too strange. Perhaps the Nightmares had always been here, undisturbed until now. A slightly higher concentration of Nightmares could be explained as this being a harder area.
But the problem was, the Nightmares he encountered this time were different from before.
Over the past two days, he had faced creatures like Nightmare Lizards, Nightmare Monkeys, Nightmare Snakes, and Nightmare Wasps. Despite their variety, they all shared one trait—they excelled in speed.
Yet now? Nightmare Bears, Nightmare Boars, Nightmare Turtles... These were clearly not speed-oriented creatures.
Especially the Nightmare Bear—it was extraordinary. While Nightmare Beasts couldn’t be judged by the standards of ordinary animals, it was obvious that this bear couldn’t be a weakling.
Before entering the alternate space, the headmaster had assured them that all the powerful Nightmares had been eliminated. So how could such a creature still remain?
When Su Bei discovered that most of the Nightmares he encountered were speed-based, he assumed the academy had left them there intentionally to help students improve the accuracy of their abilities. After all, the monthly exam wasn’t just about rankings but also about identifying weaknesses.
But the Nightmares he just encountered were clearly not part of the academy’s plan. There was no reason for the school to arrange such powerful Nightmares for a group of rookies. Even for Su Bei, they were tough opponents—let alone others.
If these Nightmares weren’t placed by the academy, then who else? The only explanation was the 'mastermind behind the scenes.'
This confirmed Su Bei’s theory that he was heading in the right direction. Otherwise, the number of Nightmares wouldn’t be increasing.
Realizing this, Su Bei became even more cautious. Most of his mental power was focused ahead to detect enemies in advance without alerting them.
Even with his vigilance, he still managed to provoke one or two Nightmares along the way. These Nightmares weren’t easy to deal with, and escaping or killing them took up quite a bit of time.
By the time Su Bei finally reached his destination, it was already dark. Fortunately, he had wisely eaten dinner earlier. Arriving here on an empty stomach would have made things even worse.
Interestingly, during the past few days of the individual competition, Su Bei had overheard a cafeteria worker mention that Nightmare Boar meat was tastier than most other Nightmares meats. Unfortunately, his cooking skills were terrible. Even the boar meat he cooked tasted worse than the Nightmare Monkey dish Mo Xiaotian had made.
One thing struck him as odd—besides Qi Huang, he had barely encountered any other students along the way. During the initial teleportation, participants were randomly scattered across the alternate space, and even with constant movement, it was unlikely for such a large area to be devoid of people.
Su Bei suspected that the mastermind might have some kind of ability or tool that deterred students from approaching this area. This would prevent anyone from uncovering their scheme prematurely. While it didn’t seem harmful, an ability with such a wide range, even if non-lethal, was still terrifying.
When Su Bei’s mental power detected a small house up ahead, he crouched down and stopped moving. A house in such a location was undoubtedly man-made. The school wouldn’t have prepared something like this for the students, so it must have been set up by the mastermind.
He carefully crept forward until the wooden house came into view. While mental power could outline objects, it couldn’t capture details—he needed his eyes for that.
Around the house, several people in school uniforms were moving back and forth. Those leaving carried small boxes, while those entering brought stacks of watches. Clearly, they were collecting the watches taken by the mission tablets.
However, Su Bei couldn’t tell what was inside the boxes being taken out. He suspected it might be related to the increasing number of Nightmares.
From this distance, even his Fate Compass was difficult to make out. Getting closer wasn’t an option—he couldn’t assume these people were fools.
Even from afar, it was clear that despite wearing school uniforms, these individuals weren’t actual students.
Before the exam, Su Bei had memorized the participants’ faces. He recognized everyone from classes C, D, and F, and he couldn’t have overlooked anyone from class A. While he hadn’t thoroughly studied class B, he could still tell if someone looked familiar.
These people? Definitely not from his school.
It was clear that these people wore school uniforms to avoid suspicion and explain themselves if they accidentally encountered students. For now, they didn’t intend to reveal their true motives.
But it was already the second night, and by tomorrow, their conspiracy would likely come to light. Before that happened, Su Bei needed to gather some critical information to act accordingly.
How could he find out the information he wanted?
He wasn’t sure about these people's strength, but anyone who could infiltrate the academy’s stronghold couldn’t be weak. Even if they were, knocking one out wasn’t an option. If someone suddenly disappeared, the others would undoubtedly be on high alert.
Got it!
Suddenly, Su Bei’s eyes lit up, and he sluggishly turned around, leaving the scene.
If he remembered correctly, he had passed by a Nightmare Rabbit on his way here. These creatures were known for their speed and weren’t very strong—likely native inhabitants of this alternate space.
If he could catch that rabbit, he might be able to put it to good use.
“Finally caught you!” Holding the black rabbit by its ears, Su Bei exhaled in relief.
Fortunately, the Nightmare Rabbit wasn’t strong. Apart from its speed and high jumps, it had no notable abilities. When threatened by his gears, it quickly gave up resistance.
Reflecting on it, he realized he owed his success to previous encounters with other fast Nightmares. Without those battles honing his skills, he might not have caught the rabbit so easily. In this sense, the academy’s training had proven effective.
Carrying the rabbit back to the original spot, Su Bei deliberately made some noise in the nearby bushes using his gears.
“What was that sound?” A sharp-eared member of the group immediately became alert. Within moments, three or four people emerged from the small building, fully armed and cautiously approaching the source of the noise.
Once they were close enough, Su Bei released his mental control over the rabbit, allowing it to leap out of hiding.
Upon seeing the rabbit, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just a Nightmare Rabbit. Let’s take it back as extra food.”
They didn’t suspect that the rabbit had been deliberately released. After all, how could a group of first-year rookie capture a Nightmare Rabbit so quickly after being discovered?
One person used their ability to conjure a rope, securely tying up the rabbit. Then, holding it by its ears, they returned to the building, laughing and chatting.
As they turned their backs, Su Bei squinted and carefully observed, finally spotting the black lightning emblem on the back of their necks.
So, it really was this organization!
This was undoubtedly good news. Since the conspiracy was already underway, it was better for the culprits to be from a known organization rather than an unfamiliar one. For now, this comic’s main antagonist group appeared to be this single organization.
Su Bei knew only two things about this organization:
1. His discovery—the secret that Mo Xiaotian was a member of this group.
2. The manga revelation—the organization had been planning something big.
The second point wasn’t particularly useful unless he could figure out the plan. After all, wasn’t it obvious that an organization would have a plan?
The first point, however, could be leveraged. If used wisely, he might even infiltrate the organization himself.
But he needed a proper plan. The real world wasn’t as easy to deceive as manga readers. Without the filter of the “fourth wall,” people wouldn’t blindly believe whatever they were told.
After thinking it through, Su Bei planted several trigger-activated gears in the grass near the building.
These were his latest invention. If they came into contact with the “fate aura” of someone he had already analyzed, nothing would happen. But if they detected an unfamiliar aura, they would instantly vanish.
In other words, if Jiang Tianming and the others approached, the gears would remain inactive. But if anyone else came close, the gears would disappear on their own.
This wasn’t too difficult—he just needed to leave a thread of mental power in the gears. Fortunately, he had recently analyzed Jiang Tianming and the others’ fate auras; otherwise, creating these gears wouldn’t have been so easy.
Su Bei’s intention was partly to test his luck. The protagonist group would inevitably come here. If they discovered his gears and they ended up being shown in the manga, he could naturally guide readers to start questioning his identity.
If the gears weren’t discovered, it didn’t matter—he could always come up with other plans.
After a moment of thought, Su Bei tentatively sent his mental power into the building, trying to sense what was inside.
This action was quite risky. If there was someone inside with advanced mental power, they would immediately notice his intrusion.
Unlike Su Bei, who had been “cheating” with his high-level mental power, others must have attained their strength through rigorous training, making them significantly stronger than him. If they detected his mental power at such close range, Su Bei would have no chance to escape.
Fortunately, he had the watch that allowed him to exit the alternate space at any time, so he wasn’t overly worried. Besides, he had already laid the groundwork for his plans, so leaving early wouldn’t be a major issue.
Slowly, Su Bei sent his mental power into the building. Luckily, no one noticed it. Aside from the group that had gone outside earlier, three people in black remained inside.
Among them, the man wearing a baseball cap seemed to hold the highest rank. Compared to the others, he exuded a much stronger sense of danger—a natural oppressive aura that powerful ability users have over novices.
Judging by his movements, he appeared to be speaking into a walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, the other two were focused on something, possibly a display screen.
In the corner of the room, someone was tied up. Su Bei guessed it was Feng Lan.
If it really was Feng Lan, then he was in quite a pitiful situation. He had come to participate in the monthly exam, only to be kidnapped on the first day. Now, he had been tied up for two or three days—a truly maddening experience.
The good news, however, was that Feng Lan seemed to be unharmed. Despite being tied up, Su Bei’s mental power didn’t detect any injuries on him. This suggested two things: first, the captors hadn’t tortured him, and second, Feng Lan hadn’t given in to them.
Perhaps Feng Lan had some protective tools on him? Otherwise, it was hard to explain why the Black Lightning organization neither hurt him nor used mental control on him.
Given that they had clearly planned Feng Lan’s abduction in advance, it didn’t make sense for them to simply neutralize him without trying to recruit him. If they could turn him to their side, it would be far more beneficial.
If they refrained from torture to avoid angering Feng Lan and his powerful family, it was still strange that they hadn’t used mental control. Such abilities were rare but surely present in a villainous organization like this.
Beyond these details, there wasn’t much else of interest in the room.
After gathering the necessary information, Su Bei decided to retreat for the time being. The night was already deep. While the darkness made it easier to act, the enemy wouldn’t be stupid; they were likely on high alert. As a novice ability user, this wasn’t the time for him to challenge their defenses.
As for rescuing Feng Lan? That was out of the question. That was the protagonist group’s job. Su Bei wasn’t about to risk his life for it.
After wandering for another two hours, Su Bei noticed a decrease in Nightmares in the area. Finally, he settled down to rest, starting a small fire.
Lying on a bed of leaves, Su Bei closed his eyes, though his mind kept circling back to the situation. The Black Lightning organization was clearly up to something in this alternate space, and the academy would surely notice sooner or later.
After all, the rate of student eliminations had suddenly dropped by more than half. Anyone paying attention would realize something was wrong. Moreover, Su Bei had already informed someone to tell the teachers about Feng Lan’s disappearance, so they would likely begin investigating.
Though Su Bei understood that, in this manga world, the school would hardly play an active role in resolving key issues. But at least after they know about it, they would provide some support for the students inside.
As these thoughts lingered, drowsiness overtook Su Bei, and he gradually fell asleep.
At dawn the next day, Su Bei’s biological clock woke him naturally. Rubbing his eyes, he instinctively glanced at his watch to check the time.
But as soon as his gaze landed on the watch, his expression froze. The familiar display was gone, replaced by an alarming red warning box with bold red text:
[Never hand over your watch for any reason! Please check the latest mission immediately!]
Yesterday, Su Bei had been wondering when the academy would notice the problem. He hadn’t expected them to respond so quickly. With that thought, he opened the mission interface and saw several new tasks highlighted in red at the top:
1. Special Mission 1: Without harming fellow students, locate [students you know] who don’t have watches, gather them in a safe place, and protect them.
- Reward: 500 points per student.
2. Special Mission 2: Students with watches must pay close attention to unfamiliar faces in the forest. If possible, work with others to subdue them. (The enemies are very strong—if you can’t handle them, immediately shatter the glass case and leave.)
- Reward: 2000 points per enemy.
3. Welfare Mission 1: The free item mall is now open. If you need it, please redeem it as soon as possible.
- Reward: None.
When Su Bei saw the welfare mission, his eyes lit up. The academy was finally taking action. It seemed they couldn’t forcibly enter the alternate space just yet, so they resorted to helping the students this way.
But any help was better than none. Excited, Su Bei quickly returned to the main interface and noticed a new icon labeled Item Mall.
Opening it, he found only ten items available, but each was incredibly useful:
- 10-Minute Invisibility Talisman (Limited to 1)
- Walkie-talkie (A pair)
- Jammer (Can disrupts abilities and electronic signals)
- Fireball Talisman (Limited to 5)
- Mini Bomb (Limited to 1, stock: 37)
- Powder that repels Nightmares
- 10 cubic meters spatial storage bag (lLimited to 1)
- Healing Potion
“…”
(All items must be returned after leaving the alternate space.)
Additionally, there were basic tools such as ropes and daggers, which could be redeemed without limit.
Seeing so many useful items, Su Bei immediately put his hands to work and redeemed a bunch. The invisibility talisman was a must, the jammer would definitely come in handy, five fireball talismans, one bomb, and of course, the storage bag—it was all free, so there was no guilt in taking as much as he wanted.
Each time he clicked to redeem an item, a small spatial wormhole would appear in front of him, delivering the item directly from the wormhole.
In no time, a pile of items accumulated before him.
First, Su Bei picked up the jammer. Since he had never encountered such a device before, he needed to figure out how to use it.
The jammer was about the size of a human head—a black rectangular box resembling a miniature telegraph machine, complete with an antenna.
Apparently aware that students might be unfamiliar with such devices, the academy thoughtfully included a user manual.
After carefully reading through it, Su Bei quickly grasped its functionality. In simple terms, by turning the knob on the device, it could disrupt all signals within a 100-meter radius indiscriminately, including both ability signals and electronic signals.
When disrupting ability signals, the effects could vary. Some abilities might fail intermittently, like a pen running out of ink, while others might produce entirely unexpected results—what you intended to do might turn into something completely different.
However, users needed to keep an eye on the gauge on the display screen. If it approached the red zone, they had to stop the device immediately; otherwise, the jammer would overheat and break. The speed at which the gauge advanced depended on the total strength of the abilities being disrupted.
Disrupting electronic signals, on the other hand, was much simpler. Being a product of supernatural power, the jammer was exceptionally effective against electronics.
Next, Su Bei examined the bomb, which was also a black rectangular box but much smaller, about the size of a palm. The bomb came with its own manual as well.
The instructions explained that the bomb could be set as either a trigger bomb or a timed bomb. While the blast radius wasn’t large, its power was sufficient to kill someone. The manual even included illustrations to help students better understand how to use it.
It was clear the academy wanted the students to use the bomb to eliminate enemies. The bomb’s manual was much more detailed and engaging compared to the jammer’s.
As for the talismans, they were straightforward to use—just tear one open to activate it.
The spatial storage bag was a small pouch resembling an antique drawstring bag, about half the size of a palm. Designed with a traditional aesthetic, it was tied with an elastic string, making it easy to attach to one’s belt.
While the bag’s 10-cubic-meter capacity was unquestionable, Su Bei couldn’t help but wonder how such a small opening could accommodate large items. Curious, he tried pulling the opening outward. To his surprise, it was like magic—the opening expanded endlessly, and even when Su Bei stretched his arm as far as he could, he couldn’t reach the bottom.
“Truly a product of superpower,” he marveled as he quickly stored the larger items inside. Smaller items, like the talismans, were kept in his pockets for convenience.
It was still early, just past six in the morning, so most people were likely still asleep. The protagonist group would probably head toward the villain’s base soon, so Su Bei needed to use the remaining time wisely to see if there was anything else he could do.
Retracing his steps back to the wooden cabin, he found the path much easier now, having visited it the day before. Perhaps due to the academy’s newly issued missions, the cabin was now bustling with activity, housing at least ten people.
The man with the baseball cap, who Su Bei assumed to be the leader, was speaking. Before long, he waved his hand, and the group filed out of the cabin in an orderly manner.
This time, they weren’t carrying any items, but their demeanor was different—they were brimming with confidence and energy. Even from a distance, Su Bei could sense their excitement.
What were they planning to do? One thing was certain—they weren’t going out to collect watches like yesterday. Their state of mind was entirely different.
Su Bei guessed that the academy’s actions had alerted the group, prompting them to take more aggressive measures. They were about to use force.
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