Using his mental perception, Su Bei noticed that the man in the baseball cap, who was alone in the wooden cabin, was fiddling with something again. Without delay, Su Bei adjusted the jammer and activated it.
When not actively interfering, the jammer’s electronic mode could only monitor the target’s electronic activities.
Through the jammer’s built-in miniature headset, Su Bei quickly overheard the man in the baseball cap conversing with his superior.
“Yes, the Holy Son still hasn’t contacted me,” the man said humbly. His tone was completely different from the commanding presence he showed earlier when addressing his subordinates. Now, his voice was filled with respect.
Holy Son?
Su Bei raised an eyebrow. If nothing unexpected happened, this "Holy Son" was probably Mo Xiaotian. Since Mo Xiaotian had been with Su Bei the entire time, he hadn’t had the chance to contact them.
But the idea of Mo Xiaotian being called the Holy Son was so ridiculous that Su Bei couldn’t help but find it amusing.
On the other end of the line came a low, androgynous voice: “This matter has nothing to do with the Holy Son. Avoiding contact with you to prevent exposure is the right thing to do.”
“You’re absolutely correct. The Holy Son just needs to focus on his studies right now,” the baseball cap man agreed. Though he didn’t fully understand the Holy Son’s purpose at the academy, he knew it must involve a major mission far beyond his own petty schemes.
“The academy has started to respond to the situation here. I plan to capture the students in advance.”“Well done. They’ll likely break through the alternate space barrier by the day after tomorrow at the latest. Before that happens, I want you to capture as many students as you can, as long as they have watches!” the androgynous superior commanded.
“Yes!” the man in the baseball cap answered decisively before adding, “From the tools the academy provided for the students, I noticed that they included jammers that might interfere with electronic signals. Because of this, I may not be able to maintain contact with you next time.”
This cautious approach didn’t bother the superior. “Understood. We sent that device to help you prepare. Being careful is a good thing. I have no further instructions…”
As soon as the superior said this, Su Bei decisively used the jammer to connect the call to himself.
In a low, androgynous voice mimicking the superior’s, Su Bei spoke: “One more thing.”
“What is it?” The man in the baseball cap didn’t suspect a thing. He naturally didn’t believe anyone could already be using a jammer to intercept his call.
Moreover, Su Bei’s imitation was close enough to the real voice that the slight differences were masked by the distortions inherent in phone calls.
Realizing the man hadn’t detected anything, Su Bei breathed a quiet sigh of relief. In his younger years, he had been fascinated by voice-changing techniques and had specifically learned them from his father. Although he hadn’t used the skill much since his voice deepened, it was proving useful now.
Indeed, skills have a way of becoming handy when you least expect it.
Continuing in his disguised voice, Su Bei said, “Apart from the Holy Son, there’s another secret line in the academy. If needed, you can seek his help.”
“A secret line?” The man in the baseball cap was surprised. “Is he one of us?”
Su Bei had no intention of joining the Black Lightning Organization, so he flatly denied it: “No, he’s a collaborator.”
After a moment of thought, he added, “Send up a signal flare, and he’ll come to you. But his help doesn’t come cheap, so it’s best not to rely on him unless absolutely necessary.” ṝＡŊỘВЕ§
Su Bei refrained from revealing his identity, as Feng Lan was still in the room. Whether he was asleep or awake, it was safer to remain cautious.
The man in the baseball cap felt that this supposed collaborator sounded unreliable, but since his superior mentioned it, he assumed it was legitimate. After all, mutual interest is the strongest bond. Based on Su Bei’s vague description, the man pictured the collaborator as a capable yet profit-driven merchant.
After ending the call, Su Bei waited patiently for a while. Once he confirmed that the man had indeed shut down all electronic devices, he left the area with confidence.
“Should I rest here for now?” Su Bei lazily sprawled on a sturdy tree branch about five meters off the ground. The dense grass around him provided excellent cover for his figure.
As he had said before, based on his character’s personality, he would be the first to disappear when the protagonist team faced danger.
And wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to disappear?
Having planted his deception, Su Bei had no intention of involving himself in the upcoming events. Unlike the protagonist team, who always managed to escape unscathed, Su Bei knew he was at genuine risk of dying.
As a newbie ability user, if not for the possibility of future opportunities requiring his presence, he would have shattered the emergency glass to exit the alternate space long ago.
Still, Su Bei suspected that the academy had some support. They were likely confident they could ensure the safety of most students.
Otherwise, if faced with a sudden villain organization invasion, the first step would have been to evacuate students who could leave and then devise a rescue plan.
After all, these students had only been at the academy for a month. It wasn’t yet time for them to handle such tasks. The academy probably intended for this incident to serve as training, pushing the students to learn self-rescue.
Although Su Bei guessed as much, he wasn’t entirely sure he would emerge unscathed from this crisis. Besides, the protagonist team would undoubtedly defeat the villains with or without him. He decided to find a safe place to lie low and let them handle the rest.
It seemed like Su Bei might have chosen the wrong spot. After lying down for just two hours, someone showed up beneath the tree.
It was someone he knew—Si Zhaohua.
Si Zhaohua had run all the way here, but now he was clearly exhausted, gasping for breath as he darted behind the tree Su Bei was resting on.
The moment he hid, two adults wearing school uniforms arrived in pursuit. Being adults, they had better stamina than Si Zhaohua and weren’t too tired after the chase.
Seeing their target suddenly vanish, the two paused and exchanged glances.
“Did he keep running forward?” one of them asked, about to take a step to continue the chase.
The other stopped him in time, sneering, “How could he suddenly disappear? He must be hiding.”
Hearing this, the first man hesitated. The area was a small clearing, and given how close they had been to Si Zhaohua earlier, there was no way he could have simply disappeared at that speed.
With that in mind, he raised his voice: “I suggest you stop hiding and surrender. Given your status, we won’t do anything to you.”
Before the operation, they had already investigated the first-year students who stood out, focusing on those who were particularly strong.
The man who had spoken had an ability called [Flight Prohibition] It wasn’t particularly powerful but was highly specialized, making anyone with flight abilities completely ineffective in his presence.
The smarter of the two chimed in, “That’s right. Your friends have already been captured. If you don’t surrender, we can’t promise what might happen to them.”
Hiding behind the tree, Si Zhaohua gritted his teeth. They had hit on his greatest fear: Ai Baozhu and Zhou Renjie might not have been able to escape far. If they were caught, what would happen to them?
Still, Si Zhaohua didn’t reveal himself. He knew that if he got caught now, he would lose all control of the situation. These people weren’t even afraid of provoking the academy—would they fear his family?
Su Bei on the tree watched the scene unfold without making a move. After all, he knew Si Zhaohua wouldn’t get into serious trouble, and he was curious about how things would play out.
After waiting for a while and seeing no one emerge, the two men stopped wasting time and began searching the small space. At their pace, it wouldn’t take long to find Si Zhaohua.
Left with no choice, Si Zhaohua tore an invisibility charm, making himself vanish, and quickly escaped the area.
Failing to find Si Zhaohua, the two men discovered traces of his movements behind the tree. Realizing they had missed him, they angrily kicked the tree.
The smarter one said, “Looks like he used an invisibility charm. No problem—he can only buy one of those. Next time we see him, he’ll have no escape.”
“Ugh, what a pity. Once the watch is removed, it blacks out and can’t be used anymore. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be great if we could use their own tools against them?” the other man lamented wistfully. He really wanted an invisibility charm—not for any specific purpose, but just out of curiosity.
Invisibility charms were rare, only obtainable through wealthy organizations like the academy, which could afford to distribute them in bulk.
The Welfare Mall was a new feature introduced by the academy. To counter their opponents, the watches would deactivate the mall once removed from the wrist, rendering them useless—even for viewing items.
Fortunately, the organization had already informed them of what items could be redeemed in the mall. Armed with this knowledge, they wouldn’t be easily caught off guard.
Hearing this, the other man chuckled and teased, “Dream on! Do you think they’re stupid?”
Besides, if the academy didn’t impose any restrictions, they wouldn’t dare use the items either. As the saying goes, no one’s a fool. The academy wouldn’t have allowed the use of such items unless they were confident. Who knows what kind of traps might be embedded in those tools?
Laughing, he put an arm around his companion, and the two left the area together.
After they were gone, Su Bei raised an eyebrow. He had just learned that removing the watch would cause it to black out completely.
The man in the baseball cap had mentioned that his knowledge of the mall’s offerings came from members of the organization outside the academy.
This revelation hinted at a shocking secret: there was a mole within the academy!
What’s more, the mole had access to sensitive information, such as the mall’s inventory, implying they were involved in its design. Su Bei couldn’t believe the academy would casually disclose such details—it had to be an internal secret.
This suggested not only the existence of a mole but that the mole likely held a high-ranking position.
No wonder the murderer who killed Sun Ming had been able to infiltrate. The academy had internal problems all along.
While this was bad news for everyone else, Su Bei saw it as an opportunity. The information could definitely be exploited to his advantage.
With these thoughts, he closed his eyes again.
Just as he was deep in thought, the long-absent 'Manga Awareness' suddenly reappeared:
"You don’t actually need to be so cautious."
Hearing this, Su Bei chuckled. "You mean...?"
Of course, he already knew what 'Manga Awareness' was referring to—his refusal to get involved in the main plotline.
"You’ve already figured out that this time no one will easily die. So what are you worried about?" 'Manga Awareness' asked bluntly.
Apart from a few thoughts, most of Su Bei’s ideas were open to 'Manga Awareness.' After all, they were in the same boat now. If Su Bei made a wrong assumption, 'Manga Awareness' could step in to remind him, even if it could only give hints due to certain rules.
Hearing what it said, Su Bei realized he had been right all along. The academy had clearly anticipated the danger they would face and made preparations, even if they didn’t outright acknowledge it.
After all, no matter how safe this place seemed, it was still an alternate space filled with nightmares. Ensuring student safety was non-negotiable. The watches were helpful, but having a backup plan was essential.
And sure enough, those precautions were now proving useful.
Su Bei shook his head. "But what can I do?"
The previous individual matches had already showcased his abilities in full. Group competitions were usually about building relationships, but if he joined this plotline now without forming some bonds of friendship or camaraderie, he would easily fall behind.
On the other hand, if he did build relationships, it would become inconvenient to maintain his detached demeanor later on.
It was better to rest for now. If something really demanded his action, it wouldn’t be too late to step in.
'Manga Awareness' wanted to ask him why he cared so much about the plot. But then it recalled how, during the last incident, when Jiang Tianming and the others were hunting for the murderer, Su Bei hadn’t gotten involved either.
Thinking this over, it realized Su Bei had always been consistent.
For a moment, 'Manga Awareness' was left with nothing to say. Su Bei’s mindset had never changed, and it wasn’t something it could persuade him about.
However, there was one thing it hadn’t warned Su Bei about—whether due to luck or coincidence, the spot he had chosen to rest was about to become very eventful.
He wouldn’t be able to stay peaceful for long.
Sure enough, not long after, Si Zhaohua came back the same way. He was clever enough to know that, having just been searched, this spot wouldn’t be revisited so soon.
But the opponents had an unknown ability that prevented him from flying. While the [Divine Judgement] wasn’t powerful because of flight alone, for a rookie like him, flying was the easiest and safest way to ensure his safety.
Now that he couldn’t fly, his trump card could only take down one person. Once his wings folded, they could protect him from harm, but that wouldn’t stop him from being captured.
Moreover, while his defenses were sufficient against first-year classmates, they were inadequate against stronger ability users.
"What was going on?" Si Zhaohua glanced at the new tasks displayed on his watch. "Is this something arranged by the academy?"
"It’s not," a voice called out from the woods.
Startled like a frightened cat, Si Zhaohua whipped his head around and saw Jiang Tianming—the person he disliked the most—walking out. It was clear he, too, had gotten separated from his teammates.
Even though he didn’t have a great relationship with Jiang Tianming, Si Zhaohua couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief upon seeing a familiar face. He frowned and asked,
"How do you know?"
Jiang Tianming didn’t hold back: "Do you know about that student from Class F, Sun Ming, who was killed on campus?"
Si Zhaohua nodded. "I know."
Although the incident wasn’t widely publicized, it had led to the cafeteria being locked down. Many students knew about it. Moreover, Si Zhaohua’s family had specifically checked on his safety because of it.
Seeing his nod, Jiang Tianming continued:
"The murderer had a black lightning mark on the back of their neck. Just now, I saw the same mark on the necks of those enemies."
If these people had been arranged by the academy for a test, there wouldn’t be such markings on their necks. Clearly, the current situation was a genuine enemy invasion.
Hearing this, Si Zhaohua’s expression darkened. If these people had the audacity to commit murder on school grounds, their actions in this alternate space would undoubtedly be even more dangerous. Their current predicament had become far more dangerous.
"Black lightning..." Si Zhaohua murmured, feeling as though he had heard of it before.
Soon, he remembered. As a member of an old and established family of ability users, the Si family knew many secrets. And as the young heir, Si Zhaohua had some knowledge of them as well.
However, even after finding the answer, Si Zhaohua didn’t seem relieved. Instead, his expression grew even darker.
“I know who they are. They’re people from ‘Black Lightning.’”
“What is ‘Black Lightning’?” Jiang Tianming asked, unfamiliar with the name.
Up in the tree, Su Bei pricked up his ears. He, too, had been curious about this organization for a long time. So far, the only villainous group to appear was "Black Lightning," and the imbalance between good and evil was undoubtedly tied to them.
Unfortunately, the manga had only recently begun updating. Although this organization had been involved in the previous case, the information revealed was vague, and Su Bei barely learned anything useful.
But now things were looking up. Someone who actually knew the inside story was here. At the very least, he could gather some general knowledge.
When Su Bei first saw Si Zhaohua turn back earlier, he had regretted choosing such a poor spot to hide. After all, as an important character, Si Zhaohua was bound to trigger the plot.
Unexpectedly, the plot triggered was exactly what Su Bei needed, and he immediately stopped complaining.
“‘Black Lightning’ is an organization of ability users that has supposedly existed for many years. Initially, it was founded as an academic group by a scientist with abilities. The members were characterized by black lightning tattoos on the backs of their necks. Later, the group gradually disappeared from public view.”
Then, he delved into the insider knowledge: “However, I once overheard that they might still be active, just operating in the shadows. Back then, the elders mentioned this group with disdain, so I suspect they’re involved in some kind of unethical research.”
Even though it was just speculation, Su Bei believed about 80% of it. After all, scientists in manga were almost always depicted as straying down dark paths. In the manga he had read, eight out of ten featured an evil scientist doing something terrible.
After all, there are countless secrets about the human body. When scientists conduct experiments, things are bound to go wrong.
Su Bei couldn’t help but wonder what “Black Lightning” was trying to achieve. Based on previous patterns, villainous scientists typically sought to eliminate privilege, so he suspected their goal was either to awaken abilities in all humans or to eliminate abilities entirely.
Judging by Mo Xiaotian’s attitude, Su Bei felt it was more likely the former.
But then again, how could such a straightforward plotline create an imbalance between good and evil? While Su Bei didn’t know what manga was like in the real world, he figured the world he was in wouldn’t differ too much.
A good story follows its arcs—setup, confrontation, climax, and resolution. The themes, settings, and character designs might be novel, but the core ideas remain the same.
So why was it that in other stories, the righteous side always won, yet in his case, the author had messed up the power dynamics so badly that evil was winning instead? Even if they hadn’t eaten pork, shouldn’t they at least have seen pigs run?
In Su Bei’s view, the author must have come up with some "brilliant" plot twist in the manga, which led to this mess.
As Su Bei pondered, the two below him continued their conversation.
Hearing Si Zhaohua’s information, Jiang Tianming furrowed his brow.
“So, if that’s the case, trapping us here might also be part of some experiment.”
Si Zhaohua nodded in agreement. “I suspect so too. Human experimentation has never truly been eradicated, let alone on people like us with abilities.”
Once these students were captured, it was unlikely they’d meet a good end.
“What items did you redeem?” Jiang Tianming suddenly asked.
Si Zhaohua paused for a moment before catching on to Jiang Tianming’s meaning. He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re planning to complete the mission?”
If he weren’t planning to complete a mission, there’d be no need to redeem items. Si Zhaohua knew Jiang Tianming’s question hinted at a desire to cooperating.
Jiang Tianming rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you stay behind too?”
Those who had watches but chose not to leave were all aiming to complete special missions. Initially, it might have been about earning points, but now it was genuinely about saving everyone.
Unlike Si Zhaohua, Jiang Tianming spoke bluntly when not facing enemies. Perhaps this was why Si Zhaohua found him insufferable, though Jiang Tianming equally disliked Si Zhaohua’s self-righteous demeanor.
But the situation is different now. Given the current crisis, with both knowing the other was trustworthy, Jiang Tianming kept it simple.
“Want to team up?”
Si Zhaohua was momentarily surprised but quickly realized that teamwork was essential now. After a brief, reserved nod, he said,
“Let’s team up.”
Watching this from the tree, Su Bei sighed internally and told 'Manga Awareness.'
“When I used to read shounen manga, I loved seeing moments like this—where the protagonist bonds with their friends. If I liked the scene enough, I’d even reread it a few times. Never thought I’d see it live.”
He had seen plenty of classic friendships like this, where two characters who initially didn’t get along eventually reconciled. But witnessing it in real life felt overly dramatic. As expected of a manga world.
Since attending the ability academy and learning he was in a manga world, Su Bei hadn’t read any shounen manga. Now, he thought he should buy a few volumes after this was over—if only to familiarize himself better with the routine!
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