Chapter 24: Even Acting Requires Perfection

"Su... Su Yi?"

Mu Xiaowei’s eyes were filled with horror. She stared in disbelief at the man shielding her. The boy whose supernatural powers had spiraled out of control was equally stunned, never expecting his attack to be intercepted. He stood frozen in place.

The gazes of the crowd converged, all fixated on the scene.

"This is going to be a big problem..."

In that split second, Su Yi exerted all his strength, accelerating his brain’s processing speed and reaction time a hundredfold. The flow of time around him slowed to a crawl as he frantically calculated his countermeasures.

There were five teachers nearby, positioned at the stairs and corners of the hallway. There were forty-eight students scattered across the first-floor classrooms and the staircase. Outside the building, another three people were in a position to notice the commotion.

Su Yi’s eyes swept across the surroundings at lightning speed, observing everyone’s location, a flash of ferocity crossing his gaze.

"Should I kill everyone who saw this?"

Although these people were scattered in different places, he was confident he could decapitate everyone present within three seconds, before they could even let out a scream. Once they were dead, they couldn't talk. If he killed them all and destroyed the surveillance footage, no one would ever know.

However, this insane thought only flickered in Su Yi’s mind for a moment before he suppressed it.

Killing wouldn't solve the problem; it would only escalate the situation. If he had only cared about killing, he wouldn't have bothered saving Mu Xiaowei in the first place—it would have been far easier to just flick a small pebble and blow the rampaging boy’s head off.

Should he use his own supernatural ability this time?

Su Yi hesitated, but quickly dismissed the notion. The more he used his powers, the less he could control the desires lurking in his heart. He had promised others he wouldn't rely on them too much.

Killing was out. Using his powers was out.

It seemed he would have to rely on acting.

Su Yi made up his mind, carefully considering how to perform without raising suspicion. Intercepting the punch perfectly was out of the question, and he couldn't appear evenly matched either. He had to look incredibly weak, he had to be injured, and he had to be sent flying; that was the only way it would seem reasonable!

Furthermore, he had to handle the details of his injury well—just like those common NPCs, looking pathetic, screaming in agony, crying out for his parents, or perhaps passing out entirely.

His body also needed to sustain injuries, especially from hitting hard surfaces like the ground or steps. There had to be abrasions and bruising, but the damage couldn't look too severe, lest he be sent to a hospital for a comprehensive examination.

With his mind set, time began to flow again.

"Ah—!"

He let out a loud cry. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, his body paused, then he was sent flying backward. He did a 360-degree spin in the air, tracing an arc before crashing heavily onto the steps.

In the blind spot of the onlookers, he used his hands to create realistic abrasions on various parts of his body. He landed in a sprawling position, clutching his fingers tightly, groaning while his limbs twitched and curled uncontrollably as if in a spasm.

To make the scene even more miserable, he forced himself to produce a nosebleed, soaking his school uniform and staining the floor.

The sight terrified the surrounding students, who kept backing away.

"Hmph... a perfect finale."

Lying on the ground, his face pressed against the floor, Su Yi allowed a faint smile to touch the corners of his mouth.

The boy whose powers had surged out of control laughed, "Haha! Turns out you're just a weakling. Watch me finish you off!"

But the next second, a cold, high-pitched female voice rang out.

"Take him down."

With the time Su Yi had bought, Meng Xi arrived at the scene with her team. Several members of the Special Operations Unit, disguised as teachers, rushed forward and pinned the out-of-control boy to the ground, forcibly restraining him.

"Let me go! I’m powerful now! I’m going to kill you all!"

The boy continued to struggle violently, slamming his fists into the floor until the tiles shattered.

Seeing the situation worsening, Meng Xi pulled out a powerful sedative and jabbed it into his neck. The effect was immediate; the boy, who had been thrashing about, fell unconscious in the blink of an eye.

The teachers moved with clinical efficiency, quickly binding him tightly and carrying him to a black business van waiting outside the building.

"As expected, these guys were prepared. They came specifically for the awakened."

Lying on the ground, Su Yi squinted, watching Meng Xi inject the sedative. After all his waiting, he had finally figured out the teachers' true purpose. No normal person would carry something like that around.

With the crisis averted, the students gathered around once more, whispering to each other.

"He looks so pathetic. He isn't dead, is he...?"

"He should be fine. He’s still breathing. He probably just got knocked out from that punch."

The crowd murmured, but no one stepped forward to check on him. Their words, however, served as a reminder to Su Yi.

He needed to remain unconscious for a while to make it convincing. Five minutes should be about right. Without obvious external trauma, he’d likely just be diagnosed with a concussion; any longer and he’d be sent to the hospital for a check-up.

Thinking this, Su Yi slowly closed his eyes. Before losing consciousness, he vaguely saw Mu Xiaowei running toward him, crying out in a heart-wrenching voice.

"Teacher! Teacher, please, save Su Yi!"

"Hey, Su Yi! Don't fall asleep! Hang in there, hang in there!"

"Su... Yi... I’ll never yell at you again..."

Mu Xiaowei’s tears fell onto his face, the warm droplets sliding down his cheeks. The voice in his ears grew hoarse as she tremblingly dialed for an ambulance on her phone, tugging at the nearby teachers for help.

"I think I might have overacted a little..."

Looking at the girl’s near-collapsed face, Su Yi whispered to himself, but there was no turning back now.

He had no choice but to commit to the act, and he was carried off to the school infirmary.

...

In the Principal’s office.

Meng Xi and the others stood before the desk, faces filled with guilt. "Sir, this was my oversight. I failed to stop the student from awakening his powers in time, causing such a negative impact. I am willing to accept punishment."

"Your response was indeed too slow this time. As soldiers, you cannot become careless simply because your environment is too comfortable. This is unacceptable behavior."

Xidai reprimanded them mercilessly. This incident was indeed grave. Fortunately, no one had died, or the repercussions would have been too great to suppress.

This was exactly why he had said it was dangerous for students at this age to awaken their powers; adults could lose control and lose themselves, let alone teenagers who had yet to be tempered.

"However, I bear responsibility for this as well," Xidai sighed, resting his hands on his cane. "I should have screened out those with physical ability potential beforehand. Let’s arrange a large-scale physical examination for tomorrow to identify the more dangerous ones."

"Yes! I will arrange it."

"As for that student who has awakened... send him to the newly established laboratory in Luocheng. Someone there will handle him."

After the brief instruction, Xidai’s expression turned incomparably grave.

"I will warn you all one more time: this explosion caused quite a stir. Many are eyeing the new awakened ones. Numerous foreign factions have already infiltrated, and our intelligence officers report that the S-class wanted criminal, Tu'erwa, has snuck into Daxia because of this matter. He may have already reached the vicinity of Luocheng."

Hearing that name, Meng Xi’s cold face was filled with disgust and murderous intent, her tone dropping even lower due to the negative emotion. "Is he here again?"

"Yes, it is confirmed."

Xidai tapped his cane heavily on the floor.

"Be absolutely vigilant during the transport. Do not expose the location of the laboratory."

"I do not wish to see the same mistake made a second time."