A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga - Chapter 331 : Chapter 331

Chapter 331

After reading the manga, I sat in my chair, lost in thought. Supporting my chin with one hand, I muttered to myself, “It seems things won’t be peaceful from now on. I’d better stick close to Jiang Tianming.”

There was no way the “Black Flash” organization could keep the loss of their precious treasure a secret; they had probably already received the news. Others might not know the machine could perform a reverse conversion, but how could the members of “Black Flash” themselves not know?

Since they were now cooperating with the Nightmare Beasts, they would never allow this machine, which could potentially threaten the entire Nightmare Beast population, to fall into the hands of the righteous side.

Now that the machine was at the Tri-School Base, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what “Black Flash” would do. They would either send someone to infiltrate the base and destroy the machine, or they would inform the Nightmare Beasts and have them attack the base directly.

But either way, the base was in for a rough time.

Similar plots had occurred before, and the author’s solution was to divide the team into two groups: one to protect the people, and the other to handle the crisis.

If nothing unexpected happened, the same method would likely be used this time. In other words, the ethnic Yi people would stay at the base, while the other group would deal with the meteorite or the Earth Element Nightmare Beasts.

It went without saying which team I wanted to join. I had to go and deal with the meteorite.

I had been striving for this goal for so long. If I didn’t get to participate in the final act, I would feel immense regret even if the matter was resolved. Although I usually loved to slack off, I also had a sense of ceremony.

Just as I had predicted, the number of Nightmare Beasts around the base began to increase on the third day. The area around the Tri-School Base had already been cleared once, and missions were regularly issued for ability users to clean up. An occasional one or two was understandable, but for so many to appear at once was a clear sign that something was wrong.

And the Nightmare Beasts clearly had no intention of hiding their purpose. More and more of them gathered around, making it obvious they intended to surround us.

At this point, I was still confused. What was the point of the Nightmare Beasts doing this, other than to alert us? It wasn’t like we couldn’t leave. I wasn’t trying to jinx it, but it was impossible for the Nightmare Realm Gate at the Tri-School Base to be closed.

This was the Tri-School Base’s lifeline. To close this Nightmare Realm Gate, it had to be done from the real world. However, the gate in the real world was jointly guarded by the three academies, with countless abilities cast around it.

If the Nightmare Beasts could exploit a loophole and forcibly close it, then the three academies might as well shut down and stop misleading their students.

In the manga 《King of Abilities》, although the academies and the government had the usual trope of always showing up after the fact, compared to other manga I’d read, the official powers in this one were actually quite decent, or at least somewhat reliable.

This was why I believed they wouldn’t make any major blunders.

Since everyone could leave the Nightmare Beast world and return to the real world at any time, what was the purpose of the Nightmare Beasts’ large-scale encirclement of the Tri-School Base?

If they wanted to destroy the base we had worked so hard to build, then I could only say they were overthinking it.

Admittedly, this base was important, but what was more important was the data gathered over such a long time, the staff of the base, the ability users active within it… Compared to these, the base itself was not that important.

We could completely regroup, and after reorganizing, come back to eliminate the Nightmare Beasts and then rebuild the base. It wouldn’t cost that much anyway.

Even changing the base’s location wouldn’t be a problem. We were clear about the map here. As long as we slowly expanded the new base in this direction, we could eventually connect the two maps.

I felt that if I could think of this, the Nightmare Beasts couldn’t possibly have not. After all, it wasn’t something difficult to understand. They wouldn’t engage in a useless effort, so what was the real purpose of surrounding this place?

Soon, I had my answer.

On the fifth day of the siege, as the number of Nightmare Beasts grew, the unprepared ability users began to grow restless. The Tri-School Base made a decisive move, deciding to first let a group of people retreat with the data.

They wouldn’t abandon the Tri-School Base immediately; after all, they had put so much hard work into it. But they couldn’t possibly do nothing when they had already seen the Nightmare Beasts’ determination. The various coordinate maps and other data in the base absolutely could not be compromised. Transporting them out first was the best outcome.

As for the ability users in the base, they were not in an employment relationship, so they naturally had no obligation to defend the base to the death. However, eliminating Nightmare Beasts was the duty of an ability user, and with the promise of substantial rewards from the base, many were willing to stay. The base didn’t force those who were unwilling; they could just leave with the data.

However, a small accident occurred during the retreat—the machine Jiang Tianming had brought back couldn’t pass through the Nightmare Realm Gate.

To be precise, it couldn’t leave the Nightmare Beast world.

With this incident, I finally figured out the Nightmare Beasts’ objective.

They just didn’t want the base to research the converter. The options were to destroy it now or fight a decisive battle with the Nightmare Beasts. In any case, the number of Nightmare Beasts in the Nightmare Beast world was virtually infinite. This was their home turf. If a real battle were to break out, the Tri-School Base would ultimately be defeated.

Not long after I figured this out, I was called away by Jiang Yan along with the other S-Class students. When we arrived at the conference room, besides Jiang Yan, there were several other adults who were, not surprisingly, the leaders of the Tri-School Base.

Mu Tieren, whom I hadn’t seen for several days, had dark circles under his eyes. He was sitting on a chair, lost in thought, and it was hard to tell if he was thinking about something or just spacing out.

We took our seats one by one. After we were settled, Jiang Yan stated the purpose of calling us over. “I’m sure you’ve all seen clearly these past few days. The cause of the Nightmare Beast siege is very likely the machine you brought back. It’s very important to the Nightmare Beasts, and they want to take it back. The machine can’t be brought back to the real world, so we were thinking, since that’s the case, why not just destroy it? Given that you brought the machine back, this meeting is mainly to ask for your opinions.”

Because she wasn’t sure if I and the others knew about the relationship between the Nightmare Beasts and the meteorite, Jiang Yan was vague here, only saying that the machine was beneficial to the Nightmare Beasts.

However, Jiang Tianming and the others knew the truth, so there was no communication barrier between them. But despite knowing she was right, Jiang Tianming couldn’t make a decision. He kept feeling that something was wrong.

Because he was still hesitating, Jiang Tianming remained silent. I watched quietly from the side. Although I was well aware that this was the moment to reject Jiang Yan’s idea and argue with Mu Tieren to keep the machine for further research.

But I never opened my mouth.

I believed in Jiang Tianming, believed that he would definitely realize this. Since he could refuse, why should I be the one to speak up? He was the one who brought the machine back; this was his moment.

Sure enough, just as Jiang Yan and the others were starting to get puzzled, Jiang Tianming finally looked up, his gaze firm, and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can destroy this converter.”

Without waiting for Jiang Yan to ask, he took the initiative to explain, “If, as you say, the Nightmare Beasts’ goal is to reclaim the machine, then they couldn’t possibly have failed to consider that once they lay siege, we would definitely destroy the machine if we couldn’t take it with us. This contradicts what you said about their intentions.”

His thinking was simple. The Nightmare Beasts were clearly trying to pressure them into destroying the machine, so they should do the opposite. Keeping the machine was the best choice for them.

After he finished, Jiang Yan pondered for a moment. “Actually, we’ve also considered this point. The Nightmare Beasts may have another purpose. But if it falls back into their hands, it will surely bring us nothing but harm, so destroying it is still the best option. We can’t take such a huge risk for a machine whose benefits we’re unsure of.”

“Um… I think I know why they want us to destroy the machine.” Mu Tieren, who had been spacing out for a long time, seemed to have finally made up his mind. He resolutely raised his hand. “My research has yielded some results.”

As he spoke, he took out a diagram he had made and showed it to us. “This machine is not one-way. In fact, according to my research, its original function should have been the exact opposite of its current one, which is to convert meteorites into other stones, and Earth Element Nightmare Beasts into other elemental Nightmare Beasts.”

He paused, waiting for the others to absorb the meaning of his words, then continued, “Through the researcher’s ingenious design, the machine’s function was successfully reversed, becoming what it is now. But if you give me a little time, I think I can change it back to its original state.”

For a moment, the conference room fell silent. Jiang Yan and the others, who knew the inside story, naturally understood what a huge help it would be to their ultimate goal of completely eliminating the Nightmare Beasts if Mu Tieren could really succeed.

Even though he himself wasn’t sure if he could succeed, and they would pay a heavy price if he failed, the enormous potential benefits made Jiang Yan inevitably tempted.

She looked back at her leader, and with just a glance, she could tell he was also hesitating. Jiang Yan pursed her lips, and when she spoke again, her tone had become persuasive. “If Student Mu Tieren can really succeed, any price would be worth paying. Besides, can’t we leave at any time? If we leave just like this, we might miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Then we would be sinners to the entire human world.”

Towards the end of her persuasion, her tone had become completely firm, with a hint of “if you don’t agree, I’ll force you to agree.”

The leader looked at her a few times and suddenly smiled. “It seems you’ve already made your decision. In that case, I support you. I’ll give you one week. We can hold out for a week at most. If there are still no results from the research after a week, everyone will leave together, and no one is to delay.”

It had to be said, he was quick to pass the buck, shifting the blame onto Jiang Yan in an instant. If they succeeded, it was because of his foresight; if they failed, it was because Jiang Yan acted rashly.

But Jiang Yan had no objections. Since she had decided to support Mu Tieren, she was already prepared to bear all the consequences. She was willing to gamble her future on that possibility. Compared to completely eliminating the Nightmare Beasts, her future wasn’t even worthy of being on the table.

The matter was quickly settled. The leader was responsible for informing the outside world and insisting on their decision to stay. Everyone else, except for Mu Tieren, was responsible for holding out for this week.

As for Mu Tieren, it went without saying. He just needed to focus on his research.

My dream was shattered. I wasn’t planning on slacking off during this incident, but that was limited to eliminating the meteorite, not being a grunt for the Tri-School Base!

The current situation was that Mu Tieren would continue to research the machine, while the rest of us began to make urgent preparations for battle.

Initially, the base leadership planned to bring in some ability users to help with the preparations and make up for their lack of manpower.

But Jiang Tianming, who soon learned of this, stepped in to stop them. The reason he gave was also very legitimate: “‘Black Flash’ has spies in many places, right? If we recruit a few spies, the plan could fail directly. It’s best to use the existing ability users; at least they’re absolutely reliable.”

It was true. Sometimes, one spy could be more effective than a thousand enemies. In their current situation, if they really recruited a spy, it would be a huge mess.

The leader was willing to hold on for a week because he hoped Mu Tieren would succeed. He had to avoid any unexpected complications. So, after hearing Jiang Tianming’s reason, he decisively gave up on seeking outside help and decided to send out the important data before closing the Nightmare Realm Gate one-way, ensuring that everyone could make a last stand for this week.

Learning of this move, Ai Baozhu’s expression was complicated. “Is this person cowardly or bold?”

If you said he was bold, he had passed the buck at the very beginning of the incident. Even his agreement sounded like he had been coerced by Jiang Yan. But if you said he was cowardly, he was also the one who insisted on them staying here under pressure, disregarding life and death.

“Human nature is complex,” Zhao Xiaoyu said calmly. “We should focus on how to deal with the impending beast tide.”

Compared to a large-scale beast tide in the normal world, the small-scale one here had its pros and cons. The advantage was that the area was relatively small, allowing for a concentrated defense. The Tri-School Base fortress itself was also very sturdy and definitely not easily breached. The supplies in the fortress were very abundant, enough to last for a week at least.

The disadvantages were also obvious. Our forces were concentrated, but so could the Nightmare Beasts’ forces. And no matter what, this was the Nightmare Beast world, their natural home turf.

Fortunately, our goal was not to defeat them, but to hold out for a week. This was a manga world, and I believed that a week was definitely enough for Mu Tieren to achieve results.

Then it was time for me to plan ahead.

Once Mu Tieren developed the reverse-converter, what we needed to do was use this machine to eliminate the meteorites. It was certainly impossible to convert all the meteorites, but we could convert the large ones first.

As long as the large meteorites were converted, it would immediately deal a heavy blow to the Nightmare Beast world. The remaining small ones were just a matter of time.

From the information of the “Destiny” organization, or rather, from the world-building supplements provided by the author, those few large meteorites were the reason for the continuous birth of Nightmare Beasts. The smaller meteorite fragments served to maintain the environment of the Nightmare Beast world.

The latter, of course, also needed to be eliminated. Otherwise, as long as the Nightmare Beast world was not destroyed, the countless Nightmare Beasts could continue to exist and even evolve. But the most important thing was to eliminate the large meteorites first.

As an intelligence officer, I instantly knew what I had to do. My job was naturally to provide the coordinates of those large meteorites so that Jiang Tianming and the others could find them smoothly.

Realizing this, I opened my notebook and went through the data. The large meteorites were commonly called “Boundary Stones” and were important pillars supporting the Nightmare Beast world.

The “Destiny” organization truly lived up to its name as an intelligence organization personally established by the “Manga Consciousness.” It had recorded a total of five Boundary Stones and their specific locations. It should be known that the Nightmare Beast world had almost no coordinate system, so the specific locations recorded in the organization were not through coordinates, but through items.

That is, there were items in the organization that could directly take you to the vicinity of a Boundary Stone.

A bit too omnipotent, isn’t it? I couldn’t help but marvel in my heart, then with a wave of my hand, I exchanged for all those teleportation items.

Unexpectedly, these things were not expensive. Of course, this “not expensive” was from my perspective as the leader of the organization; for others, they were still very expensive. But in my eyes, the price of the items was far less than their usefulness.

But I soon figured it out. I was certain that Mu Tieren’s research would be successful. At that time, we would only need to put the meteorites into the machine to complete the conversion in an instant, so I felt that this teleportation item would be of great use.

But others didn’t have this item, and trying to destroy the Boundary Stones with their bare hands was almost impossible. In addition, the Boundary Stones were definitely guarded by more than one powerful high-level Nightmare Beast, making it even more difficult to destroy them. So in the eyes of others, this teleportation item was probably just for sightseeing and getting themselves killed, so the price naturally couldn’t be high.

The reason a few were exchanged was probably because some people were overconfident and wanted to try their luck. But one try and they were silenced. If anyone had been able to achieve anything, these teleportation charms wouldn’t be so obscure.

“Are there only five Boundary Stones in total?” I suddenly asked, looking at the five teleportation charms.

“…”

After a moment of silence, the “Manga Consciousness” gave an answer: “Sorry, I can’t give spoilers.”

So there was a sixth one. I immediately understood. If there were really only five, the “Manga Consciousness” could have said so directly.

Thank goodness I discovered it in advance. I couldn’t help but feel a wave of fear. If we had started our operation only to find out there was another Boundary Stone to deal with, I couldn’t imagine how desperate I would have been.

You had to know that with this kind of thing, if you didn’t succeed in one go, it would be extremely difficult to implement the plan again. A Boundary Stone protected by the entire Nightmare Beast world would be almost impossible to destroy again.

After a moment of thought, I directly posted a bounty in the “Destiny” organization for the whereabouts of the sixth Boundary Stone.

That’s right, in my opinion, I only needed to offer a bounty for one.

There weren’t many people in the class who could actually complete this mission: myself, the main trio, Qi Huang, and Si Zhaohua. There was no one else.

Although Zhao Xiaoyu’s ability was a natural counter to Nightmare Beasts, it wasn’t very effective against the top-tier Nightmare Beasts guarding the Boundary Stones for now. Wu Jin also couldn’t charm high-level Nightmare Beasts.

Ling You’s ability was more effective on low to mid-level Nightmare Beasts, so she also couldn’t perform the mission. Ai Baozhu and Ling You could both be useful, but they weren’t the type to face danger, so they could also be ruled out. Zhou Renjie couldn’t devour multiple high-level Nightmare Beasts at once, and there was no need for him to take any more risks now.

Mu Tieren was a researcher, and since he already had a role, the author probably wouldn’t have him appear again. The same applied to Feng Lan.

Therefore, there were six people who could go. According to the laws of manga, there should also be six Boundary Stones.

I wasn’t sure if anyone would take this bounty. The points I offered were more than enough, but the location of the sixth Boundary Stone might not be known to anyone. No matter how much money there was, it would be a seller’s market.

But I figured that if I couldn’t get an answer here, the author would probably find a way for Jiang Tianming to stumble upon the sixth Boundary Stone by chance. I thought uncertainly, not knowing how the author had arranged it.

After finishing my own preparations and being bored, another curious question arose in my mind. Since there were so many powerful ability users in the base, how could the task of clearing the meteorites fall on the heads of Jiang Tianming and the others?

No matter how you thought about it, they couldn’t possibly let a few students complete this mission, right?

In terms of both strength and experience, Jiang Tianming and the others were not competent enough for this job. Besides, their status as minors was a major limitation. Any conscientious adult, if they still had any other options, would not let minors put themselves in harm’s way.

Soon, I knew the answer to the question. The one who came to find me was Feng Lan. And it was a Feng Lan with an extremely pale face and bloodless lips. Seeing him like this, my first reaction was that he was injured somewhere. But there was no smell of blood on him. Knowing Feng Lan well enough, I quickly realized that he had probably used his [Prophecy] ability, and had prophesied a “big one.”

As soon as Feng Lan came in, he solemnly activated an item that shielded against abilities, then said seriously to everyone, “In the future I foresaw, the people sent by the base to convert the meteorites will fail, because as soon as they disappear from the main battlefield, the Nightmare Beasts will sense that something is wrong and discover our plan.”

His prophecies were usually rarely this precise. This time, because he knew that what they were about to do was crucial, he used his mental energy without regard for the cost when he discovered that the future was not good, and prophesied an accurate future.

“Did you tell Teacher Jiang about this?” Jiang Tianming was the first to ask.

Feng Lan shook his head. “Not yet.”

In this unfamiliar place, facing a major mission concerning the entire human world, and knowing that the team arranged by the base would run into problems, the only people he could trust were his classmates.

Jiang Tianming thought for a moment. “In the future you foresaw, the reason those people were discovered was because they didn’t appear on the battlefield and were noticed. This means that the Nightmare Beasts have been paying attention to the ability users of the Tri-School Base all along, so that they can immediately notice who disappears.”

But this was also normal. The Tri-School Base was established in the Nightmare Beast world and was a major threat to the Nightmare Beasts themselves, so it was normal to be watched at all times. And a new batch of ability users would only enter here every six months. Unless they were “class-hoppers” like them, the number of people would not change for a period of time, so collecting their information was very valuable.

But this also meant— “Then are we not under the observation of the Nightmare Beasts?”

The one who asked this question was Lan Subing. She had grasped the crux of the problem at once.

Jiang Tianming, who had the same thought, nodded and said, “I was thinking the same thing. In that case, let us complete this mission.”