Chapter 161

He was very clear that the competition between these two was about who had more Mental Energy. As long as Ai Baozhu had enough Mental Energy, her Domain would remain unbreakable.

Unless it was an Illusion-Type Ability, no one could harm her within her Domain. Elvis, on the other hand, could infinitely rewind the damage he received, as long as it wasn’t an instant kill, he could keep rewinding.

Since the test was about their defensive capabilities, the teachers naturally wouldn’t use instant-kill techniques.

This contest, besides comparing their Mental Energy, also depended on how strong the teachers’ attacks were.

After all, Elvis' ability ignored the strength of the attack—high or low, he could rewind it all. Ai Baozhu’s ability, however, consumed more Mental Energy the stronger the attack was.

If Su Bei’s guess was correct, Elvis would likely win this time. The teachers couldn’t possibly miss what he could see, and this was Alpha Ability Academy—naturally, they’d consider their own students’ interests.

As the strongest first-year student, Elvis had already fought to a draw twice. Winning once would greatly boost the students’ morale.

Moreover, it wasn’t cheating—just increasing the attack power. The defense track’s test was inherently about escalating attacks to see how much an Ability User could withstand, and in this regard, Elvis was invincible.

However, if the attack power was increased gradually, Elvis would definitely be the first to run out of Mental Energy. The Mental Energy he consumed with each time rewind was undoubtedly greater than Ai Baozhu’s.

No longer dwelling on it, the three went out to eat, celebrating Si Zhaohua’s successful draw. The cost of living in Mus Country was quite high, especially in areas frequented by Ability Users, where prices were even higher because everyone knew Ability Users made good money.

That’s why Alpha Ability Academy gave them preloaded meal cards to help save on expenses. Fortunately, none of the three were short on cash—a mere meal wasn’t a burden for any of them.

At eight in the evening, while strolling back after dinner to digest, their phones suddenly pinged in unison. Checking them, they saw messages from Jiang Tianming and Lan Subing in their group chat. They had arrived at the Ability User Job Base.

It seemed the main storyline was about to begin. Su Bei turned off his phone and said meaningfully, “There’s going to be quite a show over there.”

Hearing this, Si Zhaohua and Ai Baozhu thought of Wu Mingbai’s disappearance and couldn’t help but feel worried. Ai Baozhu frowned, puzzled, and asked, “Who exactly kidnapped Wu Mingbai? What could they gain from it? They’d be better off kidnapping me.”

Su Bei gently shook his head. Kidnapping Wu Mingbai wasn’t about money—it was purely because he was standing in someone’s way. But once he was taken, there would naturally be profits to be made.

The Black Flash organization had carried out multiple operations targeting Class S before. Now that a Class S member had fallen into their hands, how could they let him go easily?

The next two days were uneventful. As expected, Elvis found time to compete against Ai Baozhu and unsurprisingly the result was his victory.

He didn’t make a special trip to her class like he did with Si Zhaohua. After all, when it came to defense, Elvis had never feared anyone. Though his ability wasn’t primarily defensive, its nature made him unmatched in that aspect.

Ai Baozhu wasn’t particularly upset about it. She knew her ability wasn’t among the absolute best, so losing to something like [Time Hourglass] was normal.

Besides, what good would winning do her? Enduring injuries just to gain a bit of fame in this foreign school? In less than a month she’d be leaving and that fame would be meaningless.

So, she was quite indifferent about her loss. She was satisfied with losing cleanly, unlike others who ended up sweaty and exhausted after a fight.

At noon the next day, the three received a message from Meng Huai. It said something had happened at the Ability User Job Base and that they should immediately request leave to return to their country and head there.

But five minutes later another message arrived saying to ignore whatever they had just seen.

“What’s going on?” Since boys and girls couldn’t visit each other’s dorms, Ai Baozhu called Si Zhaohua directly to ask.

Si Zhaohua analyzed, “The first message was probably fake. Either the teacher was forced to send it to trick us or someone else used the teacher’s phone to deceive us. The second message should be what the teacher actually meant.”

As students, if something really happened at the Ability User Job Base, they should seek help from the academy, not be called upon themselves.

Recalling Su Bei’s earlier words, he looked at Su Bei, “Do you know the specifics?”

“It won’t take long before everything settles,” Su Bei didn’t answer directly but gave a reassuring reply.

As he predicted, that evening, the prompt from Manga Consciousness sounded in his ear: “《King of Abilities》 has updated. Please check.”

Su Bei raised an eyebrow and returned to his room to open his phone. Since this Manga chapter wasn’t directly related to him, he only focused on the parts involving the main storyline.

The chapter began with Ye Lin receiving a leave request from Wu Mingbai’s phone. After getting the message, Ye Lin called Wu Mingbai, but the call was rejected.

“Wu Mingbai” messaged her, saying he was attending a funeral and couldn’t take calls. Someone in his “family” had passed away, and he needed to return home for a while but would be back in a few days.

Though she knew he was an orphan, and “family” likely referred to the orphanage, who’s to say he couldn’t have close friends or elders there? Their passing would understandably warrant a visit.

So, Ye Lin approved a week’s leave and informed Zhao Xiaoyu and the others. No one suspected anything and classes continued as usual.

The comments went wild here.

“It’s over! Isn’t Wu Mingbai in grave danger?”

“Don’t believe it, it’s from the kidnappers!”

“Opening with a bombshell. My week-long suspense is finally dead.”

“Will it take a week to realize Wu Mingbai’s missing? By then, it’ll be too late.”

“The kid’s been taken. Save him quick!”

The next scene was at night. After washing up, Zhao Xiaoyu checked her phone and saw a message from Su Bei. A flurry of her inner thoughts followed, successfully deducing that Wu Mingbai was in trouble.

What happened next aligned with Su Bei’s guesses. Zhao Xiaoyu informed Ye Lin, who immediately contacted the orphanage through student records, only to learn no one had died recently, and Wu Mingbai hadn’t returned.

She reported the matter to the academy, halted study activities and began searching for Wu Mingbai’s whereabouts.

The next day, Zhao Xiaoyu informed Jiang Tianming, who, along with Lan Subing, first asked Su Bei and Feng Lan if they had any prophecies, then requested leave from Meng Huai.

Meng Huai decided to come along. The three headed out, reuniting the protagonist team, and the arc officially began.

The Manga also gave Su Bei and Feng Lan a brief scene regarding their prophecies. Feng Lan, naturally, wouldn’t sit idly by after seeing the message. His prophecy yielded “underground, experiment, ability” and a judgment of “no immediate danger.”

This reassured everyone somewhat.

Su Bei’s prophecy, however, took a completely different direction, concerning a conspiracy at the Ability User Job Base.

The comments flew by rapidly.

“A team with two prophets feels so secure.”

“Su Bei, you’re charging for prophecies now!”

“Jealous. Prophecy abilities are so cool.”

“Feng Lan’s is a true prophecy, but Su Bei’s feels more like seeing the past.”

“I can really feel the difference between prophecy and destiny now.”

“Ahhh, save him quick! Can’t they just drag both prophets over to help?”

Since the later content wasn’t relevant to him, Su Bei turned off the comments and quickly skimmed the updated plot. The story split into two parts. On Wu Mingbai’s side, he was taken to a Black Flash organization research base.

Being underground, his [Earth Element] ability drew power from the earth, replenishing some Mental Energy, allowing him to wake early and escape. He hid and evaded pursuers in the base, stumbling upon their research project.

It was a project related to the earth. They discovered that burying large numbers of earth-element Nightmare Beasts underground would enhance the “Mental Energy” of that land. Living in areas with high Mental Energy concentrations would naturally boost one’s own Mental Energy, including that of newborn infants.

In theory, this was a decent technology. Humans had little sympathy for Nightmare Beasts, their relationship being one of mutual destruction. If it could eliminate them while boosting human strength, why not?

But, as expected of a villainous group, Black Flash took it further. After discovering this, they began researching whether burying earth-element Ability Users underground could further enhance the soil’s Mental Energy.

After all, humans had far more Mental Energy than Nightmare Beasts, and the soil could absorb it more easily.

The results showed it was possible but not cost-effective. The conversion rate was less than 30%, making a living earth-element Ability User more valuable.

After all, Ability Users were scarce. Though elemental Ability Users made up a significant portion, their overall numbers were still low.

But being a villainous organization, they didn’t stop there. Building on prior research, they developed something sinister.

The elements in Elemental Ability Users’ bodies could be extracted to form Ability Essence, which could manipulate the type of Ability an unawakened person would develop.

The twists and turns of their research left Su Bei in awe. Honestly, with such research capabilities, why waste them on villainy? The research was absurd—starting with something normal and beneficial, only to veer into harm. In a way, that was a talent of its own.

This part of the plot concluded, shifting to Jiang Tianming’s side. With Wu Mingbai’s disappearance uncovered, the conspiracy at the Ability User Job Base accelerated.

Black Flash’s goal was to control all job seekers at the base, indirectly dominating the Ability World in the future.

Their method leveraged the final research from Wu Mingbai’s side, enhancing Ability Users’ powers. They could grant Abilities and had ways to take them back. Controlling Ability Users’ powers ensured loyalty.

Their original plan was to send undercover agents to the Ability User Job Base to sow discord, making new Ability Users realize the gap between themselves and powerful ones. Then, they’d tempt them with promises of great power, likely succeeding.

When they learned Wu Mingbai and his group were coming for a study tour, the plan shifted slightly. They wanted to control the Ability World and capture Class S students.

However, Wu Mingbai’s early discovery of the conspiracy triggered a chain reaction Black Flash hadn’t anticipated. Forced to abandon one plan, they ditched the newcomer temptation scheme, as it had already been detected.

Though it wasted their prior preparations, capturing five students with powerful abilities could offset some losses.

Despite the setbacks, Wu Di, as agreed, lured Ye Lin away. He trusted the Destiny organization’s leader, and with Meng Huai already stepping in, calling away one teacher wouldn’t hurt.

The next segment shifted perspective, away from the students, to Black Flash’s members.

[An old man, only his white-bearded lower face visible, sat in a previously seen villa, reviewing a message from his subordinate.

“Oh? Ye Lin was actually called away?” the old man muttered to himself, surprised. “It seems I underestimated that person’s influence. Truly far-reaching, heh…”

Soon, he refocused and replied to his subordinate, “Since that’s the case, transfer the remaining payment we promised to the Destiny organization.”]

Seeing this scene gave Su Bei a rare surprise. He hadn’t expected the author to actually include the Destiny organization in the Manga. He’d thought it was just his private intelligence-gathering operation.

But since the organization was now in the Manga, perhaps he could use it for something else. He hadn’t planned for this, so he’d need to think it over carefully.

Let’s see what the readers say first. With that, Su Bei reopened the comments he’d closed.

“Destiny organization? 《King of Abilities》 finally introduced a new group!”

“This chapter’s info dump is a lot.”

“Calling Ye Lin away like that is some serious influence. Worthy of Endless Ability Academy’s higher-ups.”

“Another villain group?”

“The name Destiny sounds pretty high-class.”

Not bad. The readers didn’t seem to have any negative reactions so far. He’d check the forums later.

With that, Su Bei closed the comments and continued reading. The setup was complete, and the rest was straightforward—resolving crises or escaping.

The plot focused on Wu Mingbai. After infiltrating the data room and learning about the research, he connected it to what he’d found at the Ability User Job Base. He cleverly deduced Black Flash’s plan and decided to destroy the Ability Essence they’d created to prevent them from controlling Ability Users.

After various dangers, he found an earth-element light orb in a high-tech underground chamber—likely the Ability Essence.

As Wu Mingbai searched for a way to destroy it, something unexpected happened—the Ability Essence spoke!

It claimed that Abilities were born alongside Mental Energy. When enough purified Ability Essence was gathered, it brought along substantial Mental Energy, granting it sentience.

It said it didn’t want to be destroyed and was willing to let Wu Mingbai absorb it. As an Earth-Element Essence, it could sense the strong earth element in him and knew he needed it.

At this point, Su Bei sensed something off. The essence couldn’t be as harmless as it claimed. Not wanting to “die” was a sentient being’s instinct, but if it was destroyed, its consciousness would “die.” Could it retain consciousness after being absorbed?

The logic was contradictory, so it was definitely lying.

But in the comic, Wu Mingbai seemed not to notice, agreeing immediately and asking several questions. Seeing this, a smile flashed in Su Bei’s eyes.

Clearly, he’d also noticed something was wrong but was tempted by the Essence’s words. Absorbing it would greatly enhance his ability.

But with the other party’s ill intentions, he couldn’t fall into the trap. The questions he asked were to probe for the essence’s weaknesses, ensuring a smooth absorption later.

Soon, he finished his questions, and the Essence urged him to merge. Upon contact, feeling the changes within, Wu Mingbai realized its true intent.

It did want to merge, but not just the ability—its consciousness too. If the merger followed its plan, Wu Mingbai would become its vessel, his Ability transformed and his mind fully overtaken.

A plan to seize his body, which he naturally wouldn’t allow.

Watching their struggle, Su Bei recalled Zhao Xiaoyu’s Ability change. Non-protagonists were just luckier. Though she was separated briefly, it was a painless coma with no danger.

But Wu Mingbai faced conspiracies and body-snatching attempts. The author’s favoritism was hard to judge.

Of course, Wu Mingbai ultimately won the mental struggle. In its final moment, to spite him, the Essence used its last strength to temporarily seal his Ability, calling it a fusion phase. As his old Ability merged with the new one, he couldn’t use it for now.

In a place like this, losing his Ability was deadly. Wu Mingbai initially planned to escape and hide but realized this was the best hiding spot—hiding in plain sight.

Then, he found a phone on a knocked-out researcher and sent his location to Jiang Tianming and the others, hoping they’d arrive soon.

This plot segment ended, shifting back to Jiang Tianming’s side. Zhou Renjie fully betrayed them. After Ye Lin left, he secretly spiked their water with sedatives, clearly planning to work with Black Flash to take down Class S.

But because of his prior attempt to drug Mo Xiaotian everyone was subconsciously cautious of food or drink he handled, even though they didn’t show it.

“Everyone” mainly referred to Zhao Xiaoyu, Jiang Tianming, and Lan Subing. Mo Xiaotian and Mu Tieren lacked such vigilance.

Thanks to their caution, they noticed Zhou Renjie’s urgency for them to drink the water. The three pretended to drink but didn’t ingest the suspicious liquid.

Meng Huai did the same, wanting to see what the kid was up to.

Soon, Mo Xiaotian dizzily said he was sleepy and wanted to return to his room. They realized Zhou Renjie’s scheme and played along, feigning tiredness and going back to “sleep.”

Thinking his plan worked, Zhou Renjie messaged Black Flash and slipped into Meng Huai’s room, using his phone to send a message to Si Zhaohua and the others. If he could take them all down, the mission would be a success, and he’d gain significant rewards.

So that’s how it was, Su Bei realized. It matched his guess—someone used Meng Huai’s phone. He just hadn’t expected it to be Zhou Renjie.

He noticed that people around him didn’t seem to lock their phones. If they did, could others so easily use them to spread fake messages?

What a bad habit, he shook his head, continuing to read.

When Black Flash invaded, the group, fully aware of Zhou Renjie’s plan, launched a counterattack.

Notably, of Class s' five students plus one teacher, only Mo Xiaotian was still asleep. Even Mu Tieren was alert. This was a clue—based on the comic, Mu Tieren likely didn’t notice Zhou Renjie’s plot, so how did he avoid the sedative?

Seeing they weren’t unconscious, Zhou Renjie realized he’d been exposed. His face alternated between pale and flushed, but he didn’t turn back, recklessly attacking them.

With Meng Huai present, though they were Black Flash’s main target, their teamwork repelled the enemy and received Wu Mingbai’s location.

Zhou Renjie retreated with the enemy, likely absent for a while. The true spy, Mo Xiaotian, stayed hidden, probably able to remain undercover.

Su Bei had to admit, Black Flash’s strategy was clever. Using Zhou Renjie to cover for Mo Xiaotian gave Mo Xiaotian a chance to slack off during the crisis and provided a scapegoat.

Now, it depended on whether others could figure out when Zhou Renjie turned traitor. If not, more heavy blows awaited.