Chapter 91

Su Bei’s heart sank slightly. When he dodged Si Zhaohua’s hand for the second time just now, he had already realized his mistake. With his current identity, how could he possibly dodge it?

The silence of Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua at this moment made him feel even more uneasy. Uncle Liu’s words were correct. Although he was deliberately pretending to be a child, his earlier performance was not an issue for a child of this age.

But the attitude of Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua toward him was too familiar. They were bound to become suspicious because of his behavior, especially since Si Zhaohua was definitely not an approachable person.

"Maybe it’s because I’m extremely cute." Su Bei spoke without hesitation, interrupting their thoughts.

He deliberately put on a slightly narcissistic expression: "After all, not every child is as cute as I am. It’s normal for them to be unable to resist."

Zhao Xiaoyu: "..."

Si Zhaohua: "..."

Although they did think this kid was quite cute and had an inexplicable sense of familiarity, when he said it himself, it somehow felt like he deserved a beating.

But there was no time for banter now. The door was suddenly pushed open, and the Scorpion-Braid Woman from earlier, now dressed in a beautiful evening gown, walked in. Behind her was a group of foreign-looking waiters, each pushing a cart filled to the brim with food.

It was probably around two or three in the morning. Although everyone was still mentally alert due to the earlier kidnapping ordeal, their stomachs were undeniably starving. Seeing the food, many people’s eyes lit up, and their stomachs let out gurgling sounds.

Hearing the sounds, the Scorpion-Braid Woman showed a satisfied smile: "I assume everyone is hungry? I’ve come to bring you some food."

No one spoke. Although they were hungry, they weren’t so starved as to lose their rationality. Who would dare to eat food sent by kidnappers in such a situation?

The Scorpion-Braid Woman naturally knew why they reacted this way and said in a gentle tone: "You don’t need to worry. Although the process of bringing you here was a bit rough, we actually bear no malice. We just invited you to be our guests."

Only a fool would believe that, but no one dared to contradict her. After all, the kidnappers from the three teams had more or less killed a few "chickens" to "welcome" them. Who would dare to openly provoke them now?

Seeing that they still didn’t move, the Scorpion-Braid Woman wasn’t angry and continued to persuade them kindly: "You’ll be staying here for a long time. You can’t go without eating or drinking forever, can you? Hurry up and eat, so you don’t suffer needlessly."

Her words were almost blatantly telling everyone there was something wrong with the food, but the group had no choice.

They even knew deep down that the Scorpion-Braid Woman was right. If the Academy couldn’t rescue them immediately, they would eventually have to eat while being held here.

Even so, no one acted immediately. After all, everyone still held a sliver of hope—what if the Academy rescued them in the next couple of days?

The Scorpion-Braid Woman still wasn’t angry but was too lazy to keep persuading: "During this time, you will stay in this reception room. We will bring you fresh food every day. The toilet is over there. If anyone eats the food, you can knock on the door to tell us, and we will arrange a better place for you."

After saying that, she left with the group of waiters, leaving the crowd staring at the exquisite food with complicated expressions. Uncle Liu swallowed hard, ruthlessly turning his gaze away: "This food is absolutely problematic. Everyone, don’t fall for it."

Naturally, everyone knew this and moved a bit farther from the food. Big Sister sighed: "I just hope they come quickly. Otherwise, who can stand being hungry? There are three kids here, too."

Su Bei didn’t speak, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep. Of course, he wouldn’t sleep at a time like this. In fact, Su Bei was thinking.

There were many ways to make a group of ordinary people eat something. They could be directly controlled, like with Lan Subing’s [Word Spirit], Li Shu’s [Illusion], or Wu Jin’s [Charm]. Even without those, they could forcibly pry open their mouths and feed them.

But these people didn’t do that. Instead, they only wanted them to eat the food themselves after being starved to the point of desperation.

Why was that?

Su Bei naturally came up with an answer—the food had to be eaten willingly.

Thinking of this, he raised an eyebrow, forming an idea. Since it had to be eaten willingly to work, wouldn’t it be fine if they forcibly fed each other?

That made things simple. Su Bei wasn’t afraid that others wouldn’t think of it. He calmly stared at the food, waiting for someone to propose this method, and then he would volunteer to be the first test subject.

The first to propose it was Zhao Xiaoyu. She thought the same as Su Bei. It would be easy for Ability users to make them eat the food, so the reason they were given autonomy was likely because the food only worked if eaten willingly.

So, they could eat it "unwillingly."

"I think I have a way to let us eat some food." Zhao Xiaoyu spoke, sharing her idea, then walked toward the cart: "Who wants to try?"

Although it was risky—after all, once eaten, it couldn’t be spit out—Si Zhaohua was willing to trust his classmate. Zhao Xiaoyu wasn’t someone who would joke with her life, so he was willing to be the first to try.

But before he could speak, Su Bei, whose stomach had been growling from hunger, rushed forward first: "I’ll do it!"

No one expected the first volunteer to be him. They thought he was too young and lacked foresight. Big Sister, who had always been quite caring toward him, quickly tried to persuade him: “Don’t go... maybe wait a bit longer?”

The Glasses Man, full of paternalistic tone, lectured: "You kid, you’re too impulsive. For something risky like this, you should let others try first and only act after it’s proven safe."

"But if you don’t do it and I don’t do it, who will be the first to try?" Su Bei tilted his head, asking sincerely.

Having known Wu Mingbai, Feng Lan, Mo Xiaotian, and Li Shu for so long, the thing he learned most was this kind of seemingly sincere sarcasm, even though half of those four weren’t intentionally sarcastic.

The Glasses Man was choked by his words. He wanted to say, "Someone will do it," but such overly self-serving remarks weren’t suitable to say to a child.

Su Bei smiled and said to Big Sister: "I think she’s right. Ability users are so strong, they can easily... so why can’t they force us to eat? If she doesn’t force us, it proves that forcing ourselves is feasible."

With that, he walked to Zhao Xiaoyu, who looked somewhat surprised, and unceremoniously ordered: "I’m hungry. I want this steak and that pudding."

In truth, this amount of food wasn’t enough for him. After all, a growing boy could eat a lot, and Su Bei’s appetite wasn’t small. But since he was maintaining the persona of an eight-year-old, eating too much would give him away.

Zhao Xiaoyu found it a bit amusing and thought for a moment before asking: "Not scared?"

"Scared? I’m scared to death," Su Bei replied lazily, suddenly realizing he had said this before—when he was held hostage by the assassins of the "Black Flash" organization.

Fortunately, neither Zhao Xiaoyu nor Si Zhaohua was present at the time, so they couldn’t recognize him based on this one sentence. At most, future manga readers might notice this foreshadowing and guess his identity early.

But what Su Bei didn’t know was that both Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua, seeing his response just now, felt a momentary daze. The carefree attitude this kid exuded somehow felt a bit familiar.

For now, feeding him was the priority. Zhao Xiaoyu quickly focused, picked up the steak Su Bei ordered, and forcibly fed it to him. Su Bei, as expected, put up a struggle, but it had no effect.

After eating, he didn’t turn to feed Zhao Xiaoyu but looked toward the door. Their actions had clearly gone against the kidnappers’ intentions, so it wouldn’t be long before they came.

The others followed his gaze, and sure enough, the door was soon opened. The Scorpion-Braid Woman’s face didn’t look good. After walking in, she sarcastically clapped her hands: "Think you’re pretty smart, huh? Unfortunately, I’m the knife, and you’re the fish. Under absolute dominance, this little cleverness is useless."

At this point, she took out a brocade box from her bag. Opening it revealed a black pill the size of a Myrisu candy: "I’ll tell you straight—there was indeed something hidden in the food, and this is it."

Hearing this, the crowd gasped. Although they had long suspected something was wrong with the food, having it confirmed still sent a wave of fear through them.

"From now on, no more games. Whoever is willing to eat this pill, knock on the door. If you’re not willing, stay in here until you die!" She snorted coldly, turned, and was about to leave the room.

Zhao Xiaoyu called out in time: "Can we know what this pill does? You tell us nothing—how can we dare to eat it?"

"It won’t kill you," the Scorpion-Braid Woman turned and glanced at her. "I quite admire you. I advise you to eat it sooner to avoid suffering. Let me tell you, without eating this pill, none of you will leave this island alive." With that, she left completely, slamming the door shut behind her.

The air fell into a deathly silence. After a moment, Uncle Liu sighed, slowly walking toward the food: "Eat quickly, but ration it. This is probably the last food they’ll send before we give in."

Sure enough, for the next whole day, no one came in. It was as if they had been abandoned by the world, left to sit and wait for death in this small room.

A restless atmosphere spread among the group. Everyone was thinking about what to do. Should they really compromise? Or wait obediently for rescue? But would rescue really come in time?

Unlike the others, Su Bei wasn’t panicked at all. If he were alone, he might be a little anxious, but Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua were here. It was obvious these two wouldn’t die so pathetically here—they must have a way out.

Of course, he still showed a bit of fear appropriately, lest someone notice something off. Even if he were a fearless newborn calf, it would be impossible to feel no fear in such an unfamiliar environment.

The room had no windows, so they couldn’t see outside. Su Bei took the chance to visit the toilet and checked it out. There were no windows there either, but there was an exhaust vent on the ceiling. Apart from that, the entire reception room was a completely sealed space. Without a special Ability, there was no way to escape.

The Scorpion-Braid Woman had revealed one piece of information earlier—they were on an island. An island, surrounded by sea on all sides. Escaping back to the mainland from such a place was nearly impossible. Moreover, the nearby mainland might not even be their own country. If it was a foreign land, it would be even harder to get to safety.

Having stayed up late and with nothing to do now, Su Bei soon felt sleepy, curled up in a corner, and fell asleep.

When he woke up, the room was quiet. Some were sleeping, others were staring blankly. Among those staring, some had woken up and were dazed, while others hadn’t slept all night.

Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua were among those who had woken up. Seeing Su Bei awake, they tacitly sat next to him.

"Little friend, what’s your name?" Zhao Xiaoyu asked.

"Yan Nan," Su Bei answered casually.

Su (plain) to Yan (vivid), Nan (south) to Bei (north).

The joke was too subtle, and neither of them noticed anything amiss. Si Zhaohua asked curiously: "Do you think we should eat that pill?"

From yesterday’s events, it was clear that this kid, though young, had his own opinions and was very interesting. Si Zhaohua thought asking him might yield a different perspective.

"Eat—"

Hearing Su Bei actually say "eat," both showed surprised looks.

But immediately, Su Bei continued: "—it’s fine, not eating is fine too."

The two, along with others eavesdropping, were instantly disappointed, almost cursing this brat. Why drag out his words like that? Wasn’t he deliberately teasing them?

Su Bei was, of course, being intentionally mischievous, shaking his head smugly: "When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a way."

But one thing he said was true—eating or not eating was fine. They were the protagonist group; there was no way they’d really die in a place like this.

In truth, Su Bei hadn’t figured out what to do either. There were only two paths now. Either knock on the door, take the pill, and pretend to eat it. Or find a way to escape this room and then flee the island.

Honestly, the latter was highly unlikely, so they had to find a way through the former. Su Bei just wasn’t sure if the methods to fake eating the pill would work. If it failed even once, the kidnappers would be extremely vigilant afterward, making it harder to deceive them later.

So it had to succeed on the first try.

There was another concern for Su Bei. The Scorpion-Braid Woman had said that without eating the pill, they couldn’t leave the island alive. The obvious interpretation was that those who didn’t eat would be killed directly.

But there was a deeper meaning—perhaps they were already bound to the island, and the pill was the key. Without eating the pill, leaving the island would cause them to die for some reason.

With these dual concerns, even he didn’t dare act rashly. For now, they could only wait for the first person to give in and eat the pill. That person would surely be sent back by the enemy to persuade the others. Then they could ask for details and decide what to do.

Should he push this process along?

If everyone stayed united, they could probably hold out for three to four days before someone gave in due to unbearable hunger. But if he stirred up trouble, making the room’s atmosphere worse, someone might give in as early as tomorrow.

After thinking, Su Bei decided not to do anything proactively. He might not be able to find a way to leave the room soon after the first person gave in. If the atmosphere soured and someone left, the following days would likely be even harder.

For long-term considerations, he decided to stay put. There was no need to make himself uncomfortable just to save a little time. Even in a kidnapped state, comfort was important.

The two carts of food were eaten in just one day. With over thirty mouths, even rationing couldn’t save much.

Because they weren’t starving, the first two days were quiet, with no one intending to give in. Some people started frequently visiting the toilet, naturally noticing that the exhaust vent was their only possible way out. And since the toilet likely had no surveillance, they could do things there without the kidnappers noticing.

But watching their actions, Su Bei felt these people were courting death. Could the kidnappers not think of something they could? The room had only one exit, conveniently in a place without surveillance—didn’t that seem suspicious?

Zhao Xiaoyu and Si Zhaohua thought the same and even tried to dissuade them once. However, their well-meaning advice wasn’t appreciated and was even mocked. So they began to watch coldly from the sidelines. On the third day, those frequenting the toilet became even more active, sometimes going in groups, as if afraid others wouldn’t know they were plotting an escape.

Such blatantly foolish behavior made Su Bei feel a twinge of caution. These people were, after all, prominent politicians in the country. How could they become so foolish just because they were kidnapped?

He considered himself fairly smart but not far beyond ordinary people. If the three of them could see through it, there was no reason others couldn’t.

There were two possibilities. Either the manga forcibly lowered the intelligence of these cannon fodder characters, like when he was forced to die. Or these people had another agenda, and everything they were doing was just a smokescreen.

After seeing two people come out of the toilet again, he went to the toilet, leaving an activated recording pen in a hidden corner.

That night, he went to the toilet again, picked up the recording pen, and listened to its contents.

"We can’t keep waiting like this. We need to start the plan," Su Bei recognized the Glasses Man’s voice.

Another male voice sounded hesitant: "But they’re not fools. If we say we found a way out, will they believe us?"

"But they have no other options, do they?" the Glasses Man said confidently. "As long as we trick most of them up there, the kidnappers will have to expend a lot of energy to catch them. You knock on the door pretending to eat the pill. When they open the door, we escape."

"I know, I know, the plan is in my head. But..." the man was still very hesitant, as it would harm more than one person. "What if we’re exposed?"

"If none of us talk, how could we be exposed? If they go up and get caught, we just say we didn’t scout properly and were tricked by the cunning kidnappers. It wasn’t intentional."

He then added coldly: "I chose you because you seemed sharp. Don’t make me regret it and ruin things for the rest of us."

Hearing this, Su Bei sneered. He had a good plan—using the others as bait while he escaped during the chaos.

Too bad it was a doomed plan. No matter how cunning, it was useless.

The man was ultimately persuaded by the Glasses Man, agreeing and leaving the toilet with him. After a while, two more people came in, also part of the Glasses Man’s team, discussing the same plan.

"I always feel this plan isn’t reliable," the first man’s voice sounded fearful. "Don’t let Zhang Lei screw us all over in the end."

"I also think it’s unreliable," another deeper male voice replied. "But we have no other options. I don’t want to starve here or eat that pill. Escape is our only way out."

Both fell silent, and the second man continued: "This method is worth a try. At worst, we neither help nor hinder."

There were a few more conversations, and Su Bei calculated that six people were involved in the Glasses Man’s plan. A and B were responsible for telling others they had found a way to the surface through the exhaust vent, guiding them in.

As pioneers who had supposedly already gone through once, they would naturally stay in front to lead. Then C and D would step in, insisting someone had to stay to hold off the kidnappers, shamelessly keeping A and B back, forcing the others to go up alone.

Finally, E would knock on the door, saying he decided to eat the pill. The remaining people would rush the door when it opened, taking out the person outside to escape the reception room.

And who was left among the six besides A, B, C, D, and E? Naturally, the Glasses Man. He righteously claimed he was in charge of commanding. Since he was already the planner, why should he be the executor?

And he wasn’t wrong. You couldn’t expect someone to both plan and execute, so what were the others for?

Knowing their plan, Su Bei ignored it. He wouldn’t go out. It was obvious their plan wasn’t reliable. The reason the five, including the Glasses Man, were willing to execute it was probably because they thought there was safety in numbers.

By involving everyone, unless the enemy wanted to take them all out, they wouldn’t kill. If they escaped, it would be a happy ending. Even if they failed, it wouldn’t be a big deal—they couldn’t kill everyone.

But this couldn’t succeed. If caught, even if they didn’t die, they’d suffer. Su Bei wouldn’t do something so foolish. He’d just watch them make trouble.

NOTE :

Looking For a volunteer proofreader/editor. Dm/Ping AkazaTL on Discord.