A Guide for Background Characters to Survive in a Manga

Chapter 26

His faint sympathy had completely cooled. Wu Mingbai no longer felt his actions were excessive.

Losing a son raised for fifteen years was tragic, but it wasn’t an excuse for their madness. They could blame the culprit, the school, or fate, but never him.

Since they chose to be unreasonable, they should bear the consequences.

Sun’s Father and Mother didn’t catch Wu Mingbai’s meaning, assuming they’d successfully placated him. To them, Wu Mingbai was just a kid, easy to fool.

After they spoke, Meng Huai snapped his fingers, and a Vine Cage rose from the ground, holding the unconscious culprit inside.

The moment they saw the culprit, Sun’s Father and Mother lost control, rushing forward with twisted expressions, hurling the most vicious curses they could muster at the enemy who killed their son.

Once their emotions settled slightly, Meng Huai said: “The culprit has been caught. We’ll send him to prison and bring him to justice.”

“No.” Sun’s Father’s eyes were red, but his expression was calm. “I want you to hand this culprit to us, so we can personally avenge Xiaoming. That should count as part of your compensation, right?”

Since the student was killed on campus, Endless Ability Academy bore significant responsibility. For compensation, they gave Sun’s Father and Mother a large sum of money, some Ability-world benefits, and promised to catch the culprit.

But now, the Sun Family clearly wanted more—taking the culprit.

In normal cases, the school could accept such a request. But this culprit wasn’t ordinary.

Meng Huai shook his head regretfully: “Sorry, though we’d like to agree, this culprit must be strictly controlled.”

“Why? He killed my son! Why can’t I take him?” Sun’s Mother roared, like a lioness who’d lost her cub.

Sun’s Father was calmer, holding her back and looking at Meng Huai: “What’s this culprit’s background?”

“A dangerous organization.” Meng Huai glanced at the culprit, a cold glint in his eyes. “We still need to investigate.”

Even the renowned Endless Ability Academy needed to investigate, so Sun’s Father gave up on taking the culprit. If there was truly an organization behind him, forcibly taking him could harm them.

Though reluctant, Sun’s Mother understood the gravity and also gave up. But trusting the academy’s capabilities, she made a new request: “Once you’ve investigated the organization behind him, I want to personally deal with the culprit.”

For ordinary people, even the victim’s parents, the law wouldn’t allow them to handle the culprit. Justice was for the law to deliver.

But in the Ability world, such constraints were fewer.

“We’ll notify you then.” The future was uncertain, so Meng Huai gave a vague answer.

Looking at the unconscious culprit, Mo Xiaotian asked curiously: “What kind of forces are behind him?”

Hearing this, Su Bei, who’d unintentionally glimpsed Mo Xiaotian’s identity, instinctively glanced at him but quickly looked away, joining the others in looking at Meng Huai.

Meng Huai waved dismissively, unwilling to dwell on it: “You kids, don’t meddle in this.”

Su Bei knew the truth but wasn’t sure if he should speak up now. Thinking it over, he asked Manga Consciousness in his mind: “In the original manga, didn’t the protagonists already discover Black Lightning by now?”

Without his hints, the protagonist group relied on the victim’s clues to find the culprit, so they must have uncovered the truth about the Cards.

Sure enough, Manga Consciousness confirmed: “Yes.”

Hearing this, Su Bei raised an eyebrow, looking at the culprit, planning to “accidentally” notice the tattoo with less exaggerated acting and then shout it out.

The culprit was lying in the cage, but his collar perfectly hid the lightning tattoo. To see it, he’d need to go to the other side. But walking over randomly would seem too deliberate, right?

Su Bei always found the tattoo’s placement odd—on the back of the neck, it was fairly easy to spot. Like with Mo Xiaotian, because Su Bei was taller, he’d easily noticed his little secret by chance.

If it were him, the tattoo should either be somewhere less visible, like the inner thigh, or made invisible, only appearing at specific times. At the very least, slap a sticker over it!

As Su Bei was thinking this, his peripheral vision caught something on Mo Xiaotian’s neck—a bandage, placed exactly over the tattoo.

He nearly laughed out loud.

Mo Xiaotian was clearly guilty. Should he thank him for not using random tape? But a strawberry bandage wasn’t much better! Was this thing really not meant to be a joke? As his thoughts wandered, Jiang Tianming had already noticed Su Bei’s gaze lingering on the culprit’s neck.

Why look there?

Puzzled, he looked in the same direction and stepped closer. This revealed the Black Lightning tattoo, previously hidden by the collar, clearly in his view.

Jiang Tianming’s eyes widened, instinctively wanting to ask aloud. But the next second, he shut his mouth, staying silent.

If this symbol was tied to that organization, announcing his discovery now could drag him into it. As an orphan, Jiang Tianming knew the basics of self-preservation.

He didn’t want to drag his friends into this mess.

But Su Bei clearly wasn’t among those friends. From his earlier behavior, Jiang Tianming guessed he’d already spotted the symbol.

Thinking this, he subtly moved beside Su Bei. While Meng Huai was explaining the culprit’s capture to Sun’s Father and Mother, he quietly asked: “Did you already see what’s on the back of the culprit’s neck?”

At this, Su Bei’s pupils shrank. As expected of the protagonist, spotting the secret like that. He’d planned to reveal it himself, but now it seemed unnecessary.

There was no need to hide it, so he nodded, asking curiously: “Why ask me?”

Jiang Tianming replied softly: “I saw you looking that way, so I figured you already knew.”

Hearing his hushed response, Su Bei realized he was wary of something. Wary of what? Only of others knowing he’d discovered the secret.

Understandable—this was obviously dangerous. Given Jiang Tianming’s personality, without plot pushes, he wouldn’t touch such matters.

Admittedly, though Su Bei was a cryptic guy now, he really liked protagonists who spoke directly. He appreciated Jiang Tianming’s straightforward questioning.

So he didn’t mind saying more: “That organization’s not simple. Not just any riffraff can go against Endless Ability Academy.”

What he most wanted to reveal was that the school had more than one Black Lightning member, or even directly tell him Mo Xiaotian was one.

But saying too much would ruin the fun and clash with his persona. As a chaos enjoyer, if he knew there was a mole from the organization in the school, he’d likely watch from the sidelines or even help Mo Xiaotian hide for the sake of drama. Spilling the truth would break character.

In reality, if Su Bei followed his true nature, the day he spotted Mo Xiaotian, he’d have told a teacher about his identity.

So he only said that one line. If Jiang Tianming thought deeply about it, he might realize: an organization capable of challenging the academy wouldn’t just plant one member.

But that was too far-fetched. Jiang Tianming didn’t dwell on it, his face merely heavy from the organization’s power.

After the culprit handover, Meng Huai shooed Su Bei and the others out. Mo Xiaotian jumped excitedly: “Are we going to eat now? Victory banquet! Victory banquet!”

It was 5:30 PM, perfect for dinner.

Lan Subing nodded, sharing the restaurant she’d booked on her phone. Though everyone had to board at school, they could leave campus before the 11 PM curfew. But except for Mo Xiaotian, none of them liked going out much, so they hadn’t explored the area.

For this banquet, Lan Subing had done some research. After bonding with the group, she could now say a few simple sentences in front of them. Pulling down her scarf, she introduced in a soft voice: “There’s a food street outside the school. I booked a six-person set meal at a stir-fry restaurant there. It’s supposed to taste great.”

While speaking, she nervously clenched her fists and kept her eyes down, as if looking up would meet something terrifying.

Jiang Tianming and the others considerately held their breath, staying silent to give her a quiet space to speak.

When Lan Subing finished and exhaled in relief, as if completing a monumental task, and covered her mouth with her scarf again, the others also exhaled and livened up.

“Your pick is definitely good,” Wu Mingbai said, winking at her, acting cute and ingratiating. He knew the art of softening people with food—guests don’t nitpick.

Jiang Tianming, very familiar with him, promptly snitched to Lan Subing: “He’s brushing you off.”

And successfully started a playful scuffle with Wu Mingbai.

Already hungry, Mo Xiaotian cheered: “I’m a big eater! I’ll clean every plate!”

Mu Tieren searched the restaurant, then nodded affirmatively: “Lots of good reviews, and the addresses are all from our school, so they’re probably not fake. Subing picked a solid place.”

Smiling at Mo Xiaotian, he added: “Let’s see who eats more. My appetite’s not small either.”

“Ding!”

Suddenly, Lan Subing’s phone pinged. She checked and saw a 50-yuan transfer from Su Bei.

The note read—“AA meal cost, no need to treat for the victory banquet.”