Chapter 68

After the investigation ended, they were finally able to set out for school.

Ji Qing was not separately dragged off by the investigators for questioning again afterward. Perhaps even they understood how badly that would sour people’s impressions of them. Even so, Ji Qing still received an invitation from the First Ability Academy. An extremely formal invitation letter appeared in his Terminal inbox.

The contents of the invitation were nothing out of the ordinary: it simply tried to lure him in with the school’s excellent resources.

Ji Qing immediately showed the email to Shao Huayu.

Lying on the bed, Ji Qing did not even bother lifting his eyelids before asking, “How much do you think this can raise the success rate of our complaint?”

“It won’t raise it at all.”

Shao Huayu expressionlessly swept a glance over the Terminal screen, then reminded him, “But you can choose to keep this invitation. If you ever want to transfer schools in the future, you won’t need to go through any kind of assessment. They’ll accept you.”

“Hm?” Ji Qing gave him a meaningful look. “Student Shao Huayu, are you perhaps implying…?”

“I have no intention whatsoever of trying to persuade you,” Shao Huayu said, lifting his eyes at that. “It’s just that this can serve as a backup option. Even though I don’t think highly of the First Ability Academy’s atmosphere, its reputation is extremely prominent.”

“Many important officials in the Federation came out of the First Ability Academy.”

Ji Qing’s expression immediately turned serious.

He studied the contents of the email carefully, and an almost imperceptible curve rose at the corner of his lips. “This invitation doesn’t seem to name anyone specifically.”

“Hm?” Shao Huayu turned back in surprise.

After thinking for a moment, he explained in a somewhat odd tone, “Perhaps it’s because they think openly poaching people is undignified. But in that case, they might add an extra Ability test to verify whether the person who comes is the talent they actually want.”

…So the letter really was useful.

Ji Qing closed the Terminal in one smooth motion and said casually, “Then I’ll keep it for now. Although I don’t think I’ll ever use it.”

Or rather, he hoped there would never come a day when he needed to use it.

Ji Qing stretched lazily and quietly considered the current state of Dawn Society. He thought that perhaps this could be useful for infiltrating an important Federation site in the future. As an Ability high school closely tied to government institutions, the students presumably came into contact with many assignments from the Federation’s upper ranks as well.

As for what came afterward… he would wait until then to think about it.

Ji Qing got up and began organizing the suitcase for the trip back.

While packing, he also chatted with Shao Huayu on and off about the things they had been through recently. Most of the time, Shao Huayu would answer seriously, but the moment he realized Ji Qing was deliberately stirring up trouble out of boredom, he would immediately go cold-faced and stop talking.

To be honest, it was rather cute.

Ji Qing instantly understood why You Xingluo was so fond of teasing this young master. It really was extraordinarily easy to get hooked. Deliberately making someone so rigidly bound by etiquette reveal a completely different side because of you… ah, it really was amusing.

Of course, that was absolutely not something he could say in front of Shao Huayu.

They took the train back to school. The school had specifically arranged for the students of Class S to be placed in the same carriage. However, Li Xuehua had returned to school in advance because of official duties, so before leaving, she had specifically entrusted another accompanying teacher to ride with them.

Ji Qing felt that this was entirely unnecessary.

They were not little children who needed taking care of. Even if something happened after the train set off, the group would still be able to respond reasonably. Although, admittedly, returning from the outskirts to Yancheng would indeed waste quite a bit of time and effort.

Song Xiaoran was visibly in a much better mood.

The others also looked far more relaxed than they had in Xicheng. After the troublesome and unending island competition, they were finally able to return to the familiar school they knew. You Xingluo let out a sleepy yawn and complained, “At last, this is finally over.”

“You didn’t seem to show up at all on the day of the investigation,” Shao Huayu said.

“Don’t even mention it. They dragged me off to analyze the situation directly.” You Xingluo’s gaze instantly turned resentful. “Wasn’t grabbing Liu Mu enough for them? They even hauled me over too. The problem is, I know those two investigators. It’s hard to refuse acquaintances.”

“Oh?” A trace of surprise flashed through Ji Qing’s eyes.

But when he recalled You Xingluo’s identity, it felt entirely reasonable again. You Xingluo was from Central City to begin with, and he was also a Federal council member. It was only natural for him to know people from the Inspectorate.

Song Xiaoran, however, was quite surprised.

So the group began sharing what Central City was like, and after that, the conversation naturally drifted back to school life, final exams, the transfer student, future new classmates, and all sorts of everyday topics. When Ling You’er heard the news about the transfer student, she clasped her hands together and prayed devoutly, “Please let them be someone easy to get along with.”

She wore the sort of despairing expression that practically said, If they aren’t, I may as well just die.

The others did not react in any particularly unexpected way, probably because Li Xuehua had either already reminded them beforehand or asked someone else to inform them. Zhou Que, however, looked eager to try something. “That works out perfectly. We can ask the transfer student about the Second Ability Academy.”

“I’m really curious why they’re transferring here!”

Once the topic reached that point, it was only natural for everyone to feel curious. Ji Qing nodded in agreement. He also wanted to know the answer to that. It would play a crucial role in helping him predict the manga’s future plot.

Ji Qing had once learned from the system that, in the manga’s original main storyline, Class S had only six people.

Presumably, that person was one of those six.

***

Review week for the final exams proceeded smoothly.

The list for promotion to the next class would be announced within a week after the final exams. That was also meant to let the students prepare for the exams with peace of mind.

The point tally for the team competition was also completed smoothly on the second day after they returned to school. Ji Qing saw his team’s ranking. It was still fourth place. The points gap between them and Song Xiaoran’s team, which held third place, had narrowed even further.

Ji Qing felt that if they had only killed one more Aberrant, or explored one more unknown area, they would have surpassed them.

What a pity.

But there had been reasons for what happened at the time, so there was no point in dwelling on it too much. The only fortunate thing was that neither of his teammates cared about the grant money, so in a roundabout way, it could be counted as “having no effect.”

At this point, the story of the team competition was completely over.

Ji Qing could finally devote himself fully to preparing for the final exams and surveying the route to the World Book.

Dark clouds covered the sky beyond the window, and lightning flashed amid rolling thunder.

Ji Qing sat calmly at the desk in the dormitory, recording what he had seen and heard over the past few days on sheets of paper. Li Xuehua had come to see him after they returned to school. She knew that Ji Qing had been invited by the investigators, but as a teacher at the Third Ability Academy, she had no intention of interfering in that matter.

After all, she could hardly stop a student from choosing a better school.

But before that, Li Xuehua had chosen to use her own experience afterward to advise Ji Qing a little. Ji Qing did not feel much about it, however. Instead, he suddenly asked, “Teacher, what is your Ability?”

“My Ability?” Li Xuehua froze for a moment when she heard that.

Why had he suddenly brought that up? A trace of confusion surfaced in Li Xuehua’s heart, but outwardly she still replied gently, “It’s a support-type Ability called Spiritual Sight. You can think of it as being able to see scenery that is quite far away. If I try to observe an Ability user whose mental strength is higher than mine, it’s very easy for them to notice.”

“Then… what is the principal’s Ability?”

Li Xuehua sounded even more puzzled after hearing that. “The principal’s Ability is Lightning Manipulation. He used to be an S-rank Hunter who ranked in the top five of the Hunter’s Guild, but because of an injury, he retired here to serve as our principal.”

“Then what about the principal of the First Ability Academy?”

Li Xuehua suddenly understood inwardly. Oh, so he was making a comparison?

“The current principal of the First Ability Academy once served as the director of the Defense Bureau, as well as the head of the Federal Special Operations Department,” Li Xuehua said with a smile. “In the past, he led his team in conquering quite a number of dangerous zones, but like our principal, he retired to a second-line position because of injury.”

After hearing that, Ji Qing nodded. “Then, Teacher, who do you think is stronger, the two principals?”

“That…” Li Xuehua looked troubled. “The two principals specialize in different areas, so it really isn’t easy to compare them.”

“Then why are you worried that I’ll leave?”

“Hm?” Li Xuehua froze.

But in the next second, she suddenly smiled with a trace of self-mockery. “It seems Student Ji Qing already has his answer.”

“That’s right,” Ji Qing said in a low voice.

To him, Li Xuehua’s concerns were nothing but nonsense. Ji Qing’s purpose in coming to the Third Ability Academy in the first place was the World Book. Before obtaining the World Book, he would absolutely not leave. Besides, Xie Chang’an, the manga’s protagonist, was here as well.

Without the identity of the Valedictorian, it would be difficult for him to influence the direction of the plot.

But since they were already talking about this… Ji Qing pretended to ask out of curiosity, “Teacher, may I ask how the school plans to arrange things during winter break?”

“Hm?”

Ji Qing said, “Will there be teachers staying on campus during winter break?”

“There definitely will be.” Li Xuehua smiled instinctively. “But compared to now, there will certainly be far fewer people. After all, the teachers need to go home too. I heard that when the time comes, the principal will…”

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

The tip of the pen swiftly wrote down her words.

The moment the final word was finished, Ji Qing spun the pen dexterously around his fingers. He stacked the still-wet sheet in front of him together with the other pages of intelligence he had written down, then calmly flipped through them one by one.

Judging from the intelligence he already had, the most suitable route had now appeared.

As for the timing…

A meaningful smile curved Ji Qing’s lips. “I’ll set it for the winter practicum.”

As those words left his mouth, a blinding flash of lightning suddenly split the night sky.

A thunderous boom immediately rang beside his ears.

Ji Qing reached out to check how well the window was sealed, then drew the dark gray curtains shut. With that, the fearsome sounds of nature were cut off from the warm, peaceful room.

Ji Qing sat back down at his desk.

There was still an open copy of Fundamental Theory of Abilities laid out in front of him. The final exams were about to begin, and Ji Qing had really been busy enough these past few days to make his head spin.

But fortunately, the results had been fairly good.

The route had been decided, the timing had been decided, and even the teachers who would remain on patrol could be determined. The only thing that surprised Ji Qing a little was that the principal of the Third Ability Academy remained stationed on campus every year during both winter and summer breaks to supervise things.

But on second thought, Ji Qing found that perfectly normal.

Since the school was an important place for storing Ability artifacts, someone had to guard it. Normally, that duty could be handled by other teachers, but during school breaks, when the teachers went home, only the principal himself could remain and hold the fort.

And the most important reason Ji Qing had chosen winter break was this: the principal of the Third Ability Academy had once been a famous Hunter, and there were many videos of his battles online. Although a great number of them were already distorted, they were still enough to allow a rough estimate of the principal’s combat methods and preferred weapons.

That would greatly increase the odds of successfully seizing the World Book.

Of course, taking the World Book away without anyone noticing would be the best possible outcome, but Ji Qing also had to consider how to deal with the situation if he was discovered afterward.

As for Li Yuan’s Talent…

Ji Qing’s eyes curved into a smiling crescent. “I’ll settle on ‘Shadow Trickery.’”

Shadow Trickery, as the name implied:

It allowed him to control shadows as weapons, and those shadows could also transform into ravens to deliver information.

Ji Qing had always been worried in the past that it would be too difficult to cover up, and because he needed to preserve the plot’s internal logic, he had never dared to make it too obvious. But this trip to the island had instead made him a little bolder. Even though Ji Qing still did not understand the full truth behind “Qing,” he could already make use of it.

This Talent matched Li Yuan’s usual habit of appearing at night, and also corresponded perfectly to Li Yuan’s codename.

It really was an excellent fit.

However, before acting, Ji Qing still had to get through one round of final exams, one class promotion, and yet another round of self-introductions in Class S.

It was also about time for him to meet Class S’s new classmate.