Translator: AkazaTL

Proofreader/Editor: JWyck

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Chapter 309

The next day was still a tourist activity, but I had no interest in it and left the group early to search for traces of Nightmare Beasts. I wasn’t sure if the Black Flash organization’s mission this time involved cooperation with Nightmare Beasts, but since their target, the guardian god Gao Di An Zhuo, was a Nightmare Beast variant, I felt it was unlikely that Nightmare Beasts wouldn’t get involved.

Sure enough, my search revealed something. Under the wide coverage of my advanced Mental Energy, I detected what seemed like traces of a Nightmare Beast in the Yafei Royal Ability Academy. But the trace appeared for only a moment before vanishing quickly, so fast that I almost doubted it was an illusion.

But how could it be? If I didn’t know that Nightmare Beasts might appear in the capital, I might have thought it was an illusion. But knowing Nightmare Beasts could indeed show up, I naturally wouldn’t dismiss the discovery as a hallucination.

Hiding in the academy? That was truly a clever blind spot. Although there were many powerful Ability users in the Ability Academy, that very fact meant no one usually checked thoroughly. As long as one could blend in, they could stay hidden.

When I had swept the area with my Mental Energy earlier, I had encountered another type of Mental Energy, likely from security personnel of Yafei Kingdom. They had tangled with me for a while, and I let them check me honestly. Only after confirming I was fine did that Mental Energy withdraw and move on to check other places.

Unfortunately, despite such strict checks, they still hadn’t discovered that a Nightmare Beast had already infiltrated the capital of Yafei Kingdom. I shook my head and suddenly remembered something. If I recalled correctly, Jiang Tianming and the others’ itinerary today included a visit to the Yafei Royal Ability Academy.

As expected of the protagonist group—trouble followed them wherever they went. But with the protagonist group around, I wasn’t worried. Even if they couldn’t deal with the Nightmare Beast hiding there, they would surely uncover some clues.

Sure enough, when they returned that evening, Jiang Tianming shared their discoveries. While visiting the Yafei Royal Ability Academy, they had actually found traces of a Nightmare Beast.

Following the trail, they discovered it was a deliberate lure by the Nightmare Beast after being exposed, intended to trap them and prevent them from alerting others.

But the protagonist group wasn’t to be underestimated, especially Qi Huang, who had recently made significant gains. She was unstoppable, single-handedly holding off the Nightmare Beast.

Hearing everyone’s unabashed praise, Qi Huang couldn’t help but let a radiant smile bloom on her face.

As they chattered about their experiences, Wu Mingbai looked at me, who hadn’t spoken much: “Did you run into Third Brother and Fourth Brother today? They came to me earlier to pry about you, and they didn’t seem to have good intentions.”

“They played a prank on me.” I said nonchalantly, “So I gave them a little lesson.”

This happened that afternoon when I had just returned from outside and ran into the twin brothers. These past two days, we’d had almost no interaction with Wu Mingbai’s siblings, so I only nodded politely at them before intending to continue upstairs.

But the younger of the brothers suddenly said to me: “Hey, you’re... the friend Brother Wang brought back, right? He has something to discuss with you and asked us to find you. Since you’re here, come with us to find him.”

At that, I raised an eyebrow, nodded, and followed them upstairs. On the surface, I acted as if I had no doubts, but in reality, I had already spread my Mental Energy wide, scanning for any traps nearby.

This prince’s words were full of holes, making it impossible not to be suspicious. First, Wu Mingbai wouldn’t possibly not know we were all out at this time, so why would he need to discuss something with us? Second, even if he did, wouldn’t the best way be to call? Besides, when these two saw me, they didn’t show any excitement, not like they had suddenly completed a task.

Though I knew something was off, I was genuinely curious about what they were lying for, so I played along, pretending not to notice and following them.

After arriving at a room upstairs, the moment I walked in, the two silently backed out and locked the door. The younger brother’s gleeful voice came from outside: “I heard you’re a powerful Ability user? You even participated in the world competition? I’m worried Brother Wang might be deceived, so let’s test your strength.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a mid-level Nightmare Beast with a tiger’s head and snake’s body slithered out from behind the bed, eyeing me menacingly.

A single mid-level Nightmare Beast was really nothing to me, but being tricked by two brats was a problem. I sneered, turned around, and with one kick, forcibly broke open the locked door.

Facing the twins outside, whose eyes were wide with shock, I said with a half-smile: “I heard royal family members have special training methods? Let me test your strength.”

With that, I unhesitatingly grabbed each of them with one hand, tossed them into the room, and shut the door.

“You can’t do this! We’re princes!” The younger brother with a shriller voice screamed, full of anger. “If we die, Father will never let you off!”

I leaned against the door, using my strength to block their escape, and said lazily: “The Nightmare Beast was prepared by you, the room was chosen by you. If I’m not mistaken, you deliberately avoided the castle’s surveillance along the way, right? So if you die here, what does it have to do with me?”

As I spoke, I didn’t forget to release my Mental Energy to suppress the mid-level Nightmare Beast. With my Mental Energy, though I couldn’t directly kill a mid-level Nightmare Beast, intimidating it was more than enough, leaving it frozen in place, not daring to move.

These two kids had some sense of measure. Since they knew I had competed in the world competition, they must know I had the strength to deal with mid-level Nightmare Beasts.

Releasing just one mid-level Nightmare Beast clearly wasn’t aimed at taking my life. Since that was the case, I only planned to teach them a lesson.

But the two kids didn’t know that and thought they really had to face the mid-level Nightmare Beast. They completely panicked, not expecting to have trapped themselves.

The very methods they planned to use to trouble me had now backfired on them. As I said, to avoid giving me a chance to snitch, they had deliberately avoided people, so no one knew they were with me.

Even if they really died here, no one would likely think it was my fault. In fact, with a slight investigation, the king would find that they brought the Nightmare Beast themselves.

The entire death scene would look like playing with fire and getting burned—like they were bitten to death by their own pet, an embarrassingly unthinkable way to die.

The older brother’s lower voice came from the door, trying to sound calm despite his panic: “What do you want? Let us out, and we can fulfill your demands.”

“What if I say I want you dead?” I maintained my lazy tone, as if I hadn’t said anything terrifying.

But while I didn’t find it terrifying, the two kids in the room were already trembling. After all, they were only eleven or twelve years old; even with their mischievous nature, they had never faced a life-or-death crisis before.

Facing the Nightmare Beast eyeing them hungrily, the two warily stared at it. Though they didn’t know why this mid-level Nightmare Beast hadn’t moved, its mere presence was oppressive enough. They hadn’t even awakened their Abilities yet; there was no way they could defeat a mid-level Nightmare Beast on their own.

Normally, the guardian god could protect them, but because of the preparations for Wu Mingbai’s family recognition ceremony—mainly to let Wu Mingbai gain the guardian god’s approval—the guardian god was temporarily unavailable and couldn’t protect them.

“What did you want by bringing me here?” Feeling they were scared enough, I asked unhurriedly.

The older brother’s voice was dry but tried to explain: “We just wanted to test your strength. You and Brother Mingbai are classmates, so your strength should be similar to his.”

In short, since they couldn’t test Wu Mingbai’s strength, they tested his classmate’s to gauge his.

“And then?” I asked. I believed their words but didn’t believe that was their only purpose.

“And then... and then...” The older brother hesitated.

I casually warned him: “You’d better not lie.”

With that, the older brother finally made up his mind: “And then, if your strength is weak, that’s fine. But if you’re strong, we... I’d find a way to make Brother Mingbai return to your country.”

A powerful Ability user heir naturally had a higher chance of ascending. While a king’s strength wasn’t crucial, it was definitely a bonus.

“Hah, you sure think highly of this position.” I sneered, my tone carrying a faint mockery.

Having understood their intentions, I didn’t say more and directly stated my demand: “Tomorrow, no matter what happens, everything proceeds as normal. Don’t let your parents cause any trouble. Can you do that?”

Tomorrow, Wu Mingbai would meet the guardian god, and I absolutely had to follow. If I slipped up while tracking, this agreement would ensure Wu Mingbai could still meet the guardian god that day without affecting the plot’s direction. It could also somewhat restrict the king from investigating my whereabouts. “What do you want to do?” The younger brother asked warily. “We won’t harm...”

Before he could finish, the older brother interrupted, promising concisely but urgently: “We can.”

No matter what I wanted to do, their priority was to leave alive. If they died here, even if I were up to no good, they couldn’t do anything about it.

“Your brother’s got brains.” I opened the door, tossed over an Ability Contract and a pen, which included the terms I mentioned and an additional clause that they must keep today’s events confidential.

The two signed and sealed the contract, and only then did I use a Destiny Gear to end the mid-level Nightmare Beast’s life, “respectfully” seeing off the two red-eyed young boys as they left.

But there was no need to mention the part about signing the contract; I only shared the earlier part.

Hearing my account, Qi Huang was furious: “That’s too much! If you couldn’t handle a mid-level Nightmare Beast, wouldn’t they have gotten you killed?”

“If he couldn’t handle a mid-level Nightmare Beast, those two would probably have used a low-level Nightmare Beast to test him.” Jiang Tianming said calmly, though the anger in his eyes was clear. “But this kind of baseless test really shows a lack of manners.”

“A child’s lack of manners is the parents’ fault.” Si Zhaohua said coldly, glancing pointedly at Wu Mingbai.

Wu Mingbai’s brows were tightly furrowed, equally angry: “I didn’t expect them to cause you trouble... You were right to teach them a lesson. Tomorrow, I’ll have Father discipline them again.”

I nodded indifferently. After all, the contract only bound them to secrecy, not me. Omitting the contract part, the lesson I gave was measured, so I doubted the Yafei king would take issue.

Even if he did, it didn’t matter; I wasn’t the one in the wrong. In modern society, with Ability users around, they couldn’t just quietly kill me. If things came to light, Yafei Kingdom would at least suffer a major loss. If the king was really that foolish, I’d accept the consequences.

With this matter settled, Mu Tieren suddenly spoke up uncertainly: “By the way, I’m not sure if I saw wrong, but when leaving the school, I thought I saw a familiar figure...”

Seeing his obvious hesitation, Jiang Tianming asked curiously: “Whose figure? Why didn’t you mention earlier?”

There was no accusation in his words, just genuine curiosity about his companion’s hesitation.

“It was... Mo Xiaotian.” Mu Tieren answered hesitantly. “I only saw a back, not a familiar build, but it felt familiar.”

Back at the academy, he had been closest to Mo Xiaotian, so he trusted his instincts. Even though the figure wasn’t like the Mo Xiaotian he knew—much taller and sturdier—the hopping silhouette made him suspect it was Mo Xiaotian.

“Mo Xiaotian?” Hearing this long-unheard name, everyone was a bit dazed.

Unlike Zhou Renjie’s defection, Mo Xiaotian was a confirmed undercover agent and couldn’t return to the academy like Zhou Renjie. Everyone had thought Mo Xiaotian, once exposed, would cause a big stir, but he didn’t; he simply vanished. This made it hard for them to truly feel he was an undercover agent, as if he had just been sent on a business trip.

But now, their illusions seemed about to be shattered. Mo Xiaotian suddenly appearing in Yafei Kingdom, combined with the upcoming crisis, made it hard to believe he was just here for tourism.

“Don’t overthink it.” Jiang Tianming quickly adjusted his mindset. “First, we don’t know if that was really Mo Xiaotian. Even if it was, it might not be related to Feng Lan’s prophecy about the crisis. Doesn’t the Black Flash organization always target only Ability users and Nightmare Beasts?”

That was true. In their understanding, every Black Flash operation was for research, targeting either Nightmare Beasts or Ability users, with ordinary people not even considered.

They had occasionally harmed ordinary people for research, but never specifically targeted them. The upcoming crisis in Yafei Kingdom clearly wasn’t just aimed at Ability users; it targeted the entire population of Yafei Kingdom.

It didn’t make sense for the Black Flash organization to do this; it was more like the work of Nightmare Beasts, and the Nightmare Beast found today at the Yafei Royal Ability Academy supported this view. As for Mo Xiaotian’s appearance, even if it was him, it might just be for another mission.

Optimistically, maybe the Black Flash organization got wind of the Nightmare Beasts’ plans and came to help, like during the campaign outbreak or the world competition.

“I’ll have Father investigate.” As a prince, Wu Mingbai could finally use his status reasonably. “No need to worry too much.”

Even if he couldn’t clear out all Black Flash members nationwide, he could at least ensure they couldn’t cause trouble in the capital.

With his assurance, everyone felt much more at ease. If they didn’t know the Black Flash organization was scheming behind the scenes, that’d be one thing, but now that they did, Yafei Kingdom surely wouldn’t fail to protect its capital.

They were in the capital; as long as their safety wasn’t threatened, preventing them from being trapped when things happened, they could go join the rescue efforts in other places where Black Flash caused trouble.

Seeing everyone’s relieved expressions, I didn’t say much. I was thinking about whether anything would happen at tomorrow’s family recognition banquet, though the likelihood was low.

How incompetent would the Yafei royal family have to be to let Black Flash sneak into the castle on such an important day? The real thing to consider was how I could follow Wu Mingbai to find the guardian god.

Using an Invisibility Charm was a given, but the key was how to find a suitable excuse to disappear for a while tomorrow, how to track them without leaving any flaws, and what to do if I was discovered and needed to escape.

Though I had made some preparations for the last point, I needed to be more thorough to feel at ease. I’d need to scout the location first, and a plan quickly formed in my mind: “Where’s tomorrow’s family recognition banquet being held?”

“The grand hall on the second floor of the castle.” Wu Mingbai knew this like the back of his hand, answering casually. “They’re probably still setting up the final arrangements now. Why? Want to check it out early?”

What a considerate classmate—he didn’t even need me to come up with an excuse. I was touched and nodded repeatedly.

“I’m a bit curious too.” Lan Subing raised her hand. To say she was curious wasn’t entirely true, or she would’ve spoken up earlier; she didn’t need to hide anything from Wu Mingbai.

Her reason for chiming in now was mainly curiosity about what I was up to. No matter how she thought about it, she didn’t believe the grand hall we’d see tomorrow was worth being curious about, so I must have another purpose.

As the saying goes, it’s better to guide than block. Instead of stopping me, she’d openly follow, maybe even stumbling upon some unexpected surprises.

Seeing both of us wanting to check it out, and since there was nothing to do that evening, the others came along to the second-floor hall. I had explored the second floor on the first day in the castle but only glanced at the grand hall’s entrance then.

Entering the hall this time, I immediately noticed many details. The grand hall lived up to its name—its size took up nearly half the castle’s cross-section. There was a space in the middle for dancing, and further in was a stage. The rest were tables, chairs, and decorations, nothing particularly special.

The hall had two doors: the main entrance we came through and a smaller door beside the stage. After a quick scout, I walked toward the small door: “Where does this lead?”

“The staircase on the other side.” Wu Mingbai walked over to open it for me. “Performers enter and exit from here, and we’ll leave through here too.”

I nodded in understanding, carefully examining the area before turning to leave. After a brief tour, I lost interest in the hall and yawned: “I’m heading back.”

“Leaving already?” Lan Subing was a bit surprised. She had thought I was up to something, but it seemed I was just looking around, doing nothing else.

I looked at her amusedly: “What else?”

Lan Subing, relying on her understanding of me, answered confidently: “I don’t believe it. You definitely have other plans.”

I couldn’t really refute that and casually ruffled her blue hair: “No evidence, no accusations.”

The family recognition banquet was the next evening. At seven o’clock sharp, the entire banquet hall was brightly lit. Reporters, media, royal relatives, political bigwigs... all gathered, awaiting the debut of the newly minted prince.

I stood in the corner, holding a wine glass filled with grape juice I had deliberately poured. Minors couldn’t drink alcohol, but drinking orange juice in such a setting would be too odd; grape juice was more fitting.

The others had planned to get regular drinks, but seeing how well I pulled off the act, they silently followed suit, using grape juice to keep up appearances.

Before I could take a few sips, the twin brothers approached. Knowing of the conflict between us, Jiang Tianming and the others warily watched them.

The brothers’ expressions weren’t friendly, but they didn’t act rudely. Instead, they politely said to me: “Can we talk privately?”

I raised an eyebrow: “Let’s go.”

The others weren’t worried about me; they trusted I could easily handle these two kids.

The three of us left through the main door and stopped in a secluded spot. The older brother, with a serious expression, got straight to the point: “What exactly did you mean by the terms in the contract? Was it a destiny you saw?”

They had waited all day, and only when the family recognition banquet began did they finally lose patience. Nothing had happened earlier, so the issue could only be at the banquet or the royal private event afterward. Either way, it was serious; no matter which event the problem occurred in, it wasn’t good for them.

Initially, they thought I was planning to do something bad, which was why I had them sign the contract to cover for me. But after learning about my Destiny Ability, they couldn’t help but wonder if I had seen some destiny unfavorable to the royal family.

If the king had told them about Feng Lan’s prophecy, they would’ve been even more convinced of their judgment.

When they thought I was up to something, they weren’t too concerned. No matter how strong I was, I was just a fifteen-year-old boy, and their royal pride made them believe I couldn’t cause trouble under their tight defenses.

But if it was the latter—if destiny had told me something—that was worth worrying about. Would their forced secrecy lead to real problems?

With this concern, the two had specifically come to ask me for clarity.