Chapter 244

Chapter 244 Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novę

However, the Black Nightmare Spider clearly misunderstood. Seeing me head straight for the cinema, combined with the High-Level Nightmare Beasts’ database on me, it assumed I knew it was there from the start and came specifically for it.

Hearing this, I remained calm on the surface, but my mind was racing. I hadn’t come for the spider at all—in fact, I desperately wished the mall was free of Nightmare Beasts. But now that I’d run into it and it had misunderstood, I couldn’t waste the opportunity.

What did I need? The general plan for placing the fake Nightmare Beasts made by Dream Bubble was set, and I’d likely find the exact spot soon by exploring. What I needed now was a way to ensure Jiang Tianming and the others would come here.

This High-Level Nightmare Beast could be that chance.

“Don’t be so wary. I’m here to bring you some results,” I said with a grin.

“Results?” As a High-Level Nightmare Beast, it understood the term and asked suspiciously, “You’re bringing people to me?”

Seeing it catch on so quickly, I snapped my fingers. “Smart! I know you Nightmare Beasts have your eyes on my classmates. I can bring some of them here, but whether you can take them down is up to you.”

The spider’s face was filled with astonishment. “Why?”

As a High-Level Nightmare Beast, its intelligence was no less than a human’s. It didn’t believe I would inexplicably cooperate to kill my classmates. The risk was high, the reward low, and I wasn’t foolish. Even if I wanted someone dead, I wouldn’t choose this method.

“You don’t really think you can kill them, do you?” I said with deliberate disdain. “I just think some of them need a bit of training.”

At that, the Black Nightmare Spider understood. I wanted to use it as a whetstone to hone my classmates’ skills! Realizing this, it was almost amused by its anger. A mighty High-Level Nightmare Beast, when had it ever been so humiliated?

If it weren’t certain it couldn’t beat the blond kid before it, it would’ve shown me why flowers were so red.

Let alone beating me, it wasn’t even sure it could handle the students I planned to bring. The first-year Class S students of Endless Ability Academy had killed plenty of High-Level Nightmare Beasts. So my idea wasn’t far-fetched—it was highly feasible.

But if they could kill it, it might also seize the chance to counter-kill them. Its eight eyes gleamed as it agreed: “I can cooperate, but we need to discuss the specifics.”

It wanted to hear my plan and see if it could make its own arrangements. If not, it’d rather pass on the opportunity. If it couldn’t kill the people I brought, it’d be the one to die.

“I’ll find a chance to bring them here after the campaign starts. I need you to stay put and not attract a swarm of ability users to gang up on you. Then, when I bring them, send one or two Nightmare Beasts to provoke them, giving me a chance to lead them to you,” I quickly laid out my demands.

My demands weren’t high, and knowing the other party agreed to cooperate likely meant it had its own plans. So, despite barely needing to do anything in this plan, I spoke without a hint of guilt.

The Black Nightmare Spider indeed had no intention of refusing. After brief consideration, it agreed and made its own demand: “I require you to only bring your classmates. If anyone else tags along, I’ll leave immediately.”

I instantly knew its plan—clearly, it intended to bring multiple High-Level Nightmare Beasts to ambush them without a teacher watching.

I had no objections. This was the protagonist team, after all! As if they’d die to such a minor plot twist—their protagonist aura wasn’t just for show, right?

But I had one thing to remind it: “If you bring too many High-Level Nightmare Beasts, the government will notice. If you attract someone too strong to handle, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

I wasn’t just being kind. More importantly, if the spider brought too many High-Level Nightmare Beasts, I’d struggle to find a spot unnoticed to stage my act.

And I wasn’t wrong. If it drew powerful ability users, the plan would be ruined, which I didn’t want.

Hearing my warning, the Black Nightmare Spider was startled. It hadn’t expected me to guess its plan, let alone proceed with bringing people despite knowing it might bring many High-Level Nightmare Beasts.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll actually kill them?” it couldn’t help asking. It was quite confident in its strength, or it wouldn’t have agreed.

“Isn’t that the point of training?” I said nonchalantly. “The strong get honed, the weak get eliminated.”

No, that’s not the point of training! The spider looked at me with awe, thinking I was ruthless, caring so little for my companions’ lives.

Unbeknownst to it, the “weak” I referred to was myself. Jiang Tianming and the others, with their protagonist aura, were the strong ones. If I, the weak one, didn’t become strong enough, I’d face elimination.

In this training, the only one in danger was myself.

After settling with the spider, it retreated into the darkness, no longer disturbing me. Undisturbed, I quickly toured the shopping center, concluding the cinema was the best spot for my act.

The darkness made fake Nightmare Beasts less suspicious and harder to spot flaws. If something went wrong, the dimness would help me cover it up.

But clearly, the Black Nightmare Spider was using the cinema as its base, so I’d need to drive it out first.

With this in mind, on the empty fifth floor, I called out: “By the way, do you know why I knew you were in the cinema right away?”

“Why?” The spider crawled out, its eight eyes full of curiosity. It had assumed I found it through my ability, but my words suggested otherwise.

I sneered, openly mocking it: “The whole plaza has just one dark spot—where else would you hide? You High-Level Nightmare Beasts claim to be as smart as humans, but you’re still far off.”

Without waiting for a rebuttal, I left the shopping center.

I was sure after those words, the spider wouldn’t stay. Pride aside, it clearly favored ambushes. If its hiding spot was so obvious, how could it ambush anyone?

Spending a day securing the location, I didn’t stop there. After a day’s rest, I took a taxi to other cities.

I wasn’t sure where Jiang Tianming’s group would go during the campaign. Suqi City, though the main outbreak spot, was heavily guarded by strong ability users, so they might not be needed there. I had to prepare more to avoid missing the chance.

My next stop was the city where Jiang Tianming’s trio was from—a prime spot for trouble. I also planned to visit a city active in Black Flash’s records and Meng Huai’s hometown.

After that, I’d return to the city of Endless Ability Academy, not directly to the Academy, but to a potential spot outside to prepare, then back to the Academy for final preparations.

By the time I finished, over two days had passed. I quietly returned to school, slept heavily in the dorm, and went to class as usual the next day.

“He’s back?” Unbeknownst to me, the moment I entered the school gates, Meng Huai was informed.

As I suspected, Meng Huai had tried to have an ability user track me, worried about world-altering matters. But to his surprise, the tracker couldn’t lock onto my location.

Meng Huai realized I had deliberately hidden myself with a concealment prop. Giving up on tracking, he figured he’d done his duty as a teacher as long as I returned in three days.

“Yes,” the school security nodded. “Should I stop him for you?”

Meng Huai kicked away a mid-level Nightmare Beast lunging at him. “No need. The kid’s back, that’s enough.”

The next day in class, I learned the excuse Meng Huai gave for me. A group crowded around my desk, Mo Xiaotian asking first: “Su Bei, Su Bei, what mission did the teacher give you? You were gone for three days!”

Unfazed by the sudden question, I replied coolly: “If the teacher didn’t say, you think I would?”

“Is it related to recent events? If you can’t say, pretend I didn’t ask,” Mu Tieren said, more curious about the recent anomalies, hoping to glean some info.

With the frequent personnel movements between the government and Academy, anyone with eyes could sense the storm brewing. Though Mu Tieren suspected a campaign was coming, without confirmation, he held onto a sliver of hope it might not be.

“Probably related,” I replied ambiguously, leaving those unaware guessing. I was dealing with Nightmare Beasts, so in a way, it was tied to the impending Nightmare Beast tide, but not directly, hence “probably.”

Others, unaware, assumed I was brushing them off. Wu Mingbai gave an exasperated look: “You’re really something.”

Seeing I wouldn’t answer, Jiang Tianming returned to his seat: “Feng Lan was called away two days ago, Ling You and Zhao Xiaoyu were taken by the teacher yesterday. If you hadn’t returned today, I’d think this was a targeted divide-and-conquer tactic against us.”

I glanced around the classroom. I’d noticed fewer people when I arrived but thought they were just late for class. Now it seemed they couldn’t come.

With a campaign against Nightmare Beasts looming, those three were likely being protected. Feng Lan purely so, while Ling You and Zhao Xiaoyu were ready to play major roles.

Few were better suited for campaigns than Ling You. She’d be a human superweapon, especially against hordes of low-level Nightmare Beasts, killing thousands with one move—something even powerful ability users couldn’t match.

Zhao Xiaoyu, conversely, was a Nightmare Beast killer. Her mutated ability excelled against them, especially High-Level ones. No matter how strong, Nightmare Beasts were born of resentment, naturally countered by her Happiness ability.

That day’s

first class was Lei Ze’en’s. Perhaps feeling it couldn’t be hidden, or that our group was a valuable asset, he announced: “You’ve probably noticed, Feng Lan’s Prophecy has confirmed a campaign is imminent. The main battlefield is Suqi City next door, so many ability users have been sent there.”

“I want to go!” Mo Xiaotian raised his hand. “I can help eliminate Nightmare Beasts!”

“Of course, I believe you can,” Lei Ze’en replied with a relaxed smile. “But Suqi City isn’t the only battlefield. Other places might need you too. Those with decent but non-essential combat power should stay on standby. If other areas need support, you can rush over immediately.”

His words calmed our eager hearts. Many, like Mo Xiaotian, wanted to fight, but Lei Ze’en’s logic made sense. If we weren’t being sidelined, there was no need to rush. We could use this time to sharpen our skills at the Academy, ready to shine when called.

In this tense atmosphere, the Different Space Gates appeared.

Three gates opened—one in Suqi City’s center, as Feng Lan’s prophecy predicted, right at the library’s entrance.

Hearing this, I felt a wave of relief. I’d anticipated the city center would be critical, so I hadn’t planned anything there, avoiding wasted effort. The area was now crawling with ability users and Nightmare Beasts, making my plan impossible there.

The other two gates were in the city of Houde Ability Academy and a small city.

Terrifyingly, I had only prepared for Suqi City. The other two gates were unexpected. To achieve my goal, I had to find a way to draw Jiang Tianming’s group to the most dangerous Suqi City.

Realizing this, my head throbbed. I wanted to stay far from the dangerous Suqi City, but I had to go—and find a reason to go. How was this not self-inflicted torture?

As the campaign erupted, we were assigned different tasks.

The tasks involved supporting the two other cities besides Suqi City, mainly the small city, as Houde Ability Academy’s city had enough ability users despite some being reassigned.

The city of Endless Ability Academy was also affected, with more Nightmare Beasts appearing. But since they weren’t too strong, Academy students could handle them in teams.

Before I could worry, Suqi City’s main battlefield began to falter. Despite being guarded by many powerful ability users, it shouldn’t have been an issue.

But the Nightmare Beasts’ tactics were unusual. Instead of focusing on killing ability users, they aimed to break through their blockades to attack ordinary people outside.

In this campaign, low- and mid-level Nightmare Beasts were the main force, with High-Level ones assisting. The High-Level Beasts kept powerful ability users occupied, preventing mass eliminations, while the lesser ones rushed out, uncaring of losses, aiming to escape.

The Ability Government was caught off guard, unable to counter effectively. Ability users could handle multiple Nightmare Beast attacks but struggled to stop multiple escapes simultaneously.

If Nightmare Beasts escaped Suqi City, they’d vanish like needles in a haystack, requiring far more effort to find than to kill.

The damage to civilian society would be unimaginable. Even the weakest Nightmare Beasts could easily kill ordinary people.

To protect civilians, we had to contain the Nightmare Beasts within designated areas—not just in Suqi City but the other two cities as well.

Suqi City faced the most pressure. The other two cities had smaller gates and fewer Nightmare Beasts, making them easier to control. After discovering the gates, the government sent strong Control Track ability users to those cities, preventing escapes.

Ironically, Suqi City, known as the main battlefield, was prepared with strong attack, defense, and healing ability users for a major battle.

But the expected battle was only half-realized. There was fighting, but mostly fleeing Nightmare Beasts. Unless an ability user was fast or had wide-range attack skills, they were powerless against the escaping hordes.

Calling back Control Track ability users from the other cities wasn’t an option—they were needed there. So, they had to increase Suqi City’s ability user numbers. Thus, Jiang Tianming and others with combat ability were urgently summoned to Suqi City that day.

“I thought we’d miss this campaign, but we’re joining the main battlefield!” Mu Tieren looked vibrant, thrilled to fulfill his wish to make a difference.

Mo Xiaotian was equally excited: “This is awesome! I’m gonna take down so many Nightmare Beasts!”

“Hot-blooded boys,” Ai Baozhu muttered, complaining to Qi Huang. “What’s there to be happy about? First-years like us being sent means the government’s incompetent!”

But she picked the wrong person to vent to. Qi Huang was just as pumped: “Ahem, well, I’m kinda excited too.”

Ai Baozhu: “…”

She abandoned Qi Huang, intending to gripe to Lan Subing, but suspecting she might feel the same, scanned the group and chose the least likely to be excited: “Su Bei, what do you think?”

“Me? I’m watching from my seat,” I shrugged, earning an eye-roll.

Si Zhaohua spoke fairly: “The Nightmare Beasts’ tactics are different this time, likely retaliating for the Life Stone.”

Jiang Tianming nodded rationally: “Killing civilians benefits them less than killing ability users. It’s normal the government didn’t anticipate this.”

Previously, Nightmare Beasts targeted ability users, as their rarity made each loss significant. Their bodies aided Nightmare Beast advancements, and dead ability users could spawn High-Level Nightmare Beasts—a win-win for them.

But this time, they targeted civilians. Once the Different Space closed, they’d be trapped, not a normal tactic. As Si Zhaohua said, it was revenge for the Life Stone.

“Good thing Suqi City’s civilians were evacuated early,” Lan Subing said with relief.

Everyone nodded. Without Feng Lan’s prophecy and the early evacuation, even with ability user protection, civilian losses would’ve been severe. The other two cities proved this, as Nightmare Beasts’ slaughter of civilians shifted ability users’ focus to evacuation over elimination.