Compass

Xia Shou stood alone amid the ruins, the shadow beneath his feet spreading over the charred corpse above his head.

His Devouring progress crept upward, while the red lines beneath his feet rotated at an extremely slow pace.

Under normal circumstances, assuming the Blood Demon moved at a constant speed, the slower its red line rotated, the farther away it was.

Right now, the Blood Demon seemed to be quite some distance from him. He also noticed that, besides the thickest red line, another, thinner one was moving slowly as well. The danger it represented was second only to the Blood Demon. Unless he was mistaken, it belonged to that Ghost Leopard wreathed in black flames.

He had to admit that Death Road was more than a navigation map. In a sense, it could also serve as a tracking system.

Judging by the direction the two lines were moving, the Blood Demon was currently pursuing that Grudge Spirit.

This matched what had happened last time. The Blood Demon had arrived immediately after the leopard reached the ruins. It must have been tracking Black Panther then.

Neither was particularly close to him right now. He should have no trouble holding out until the Devouring was complete.

"Lord Xia Shou, I'll protect you," Alice said gently.

Xia Shou couldn't reply, but he felt much more at ease.

Time ticked by. After an unknown stretch, the Devouring finally neared completion.

He had saved so much time on this attempt compared to the last.

[Devouring progress: 100%]

[Devouring complete. You have acquired a skill-[Peak Perfection in Solitude!]]

[Description:

Practice your punches alone, meditate alone;

Fight alone, tend your wounds alone;

Shoulder everything alone, save the world alone.]

[Effect: Lock onto any number of hostile targets. Upon activation, reset the cooldowns of all supernatural skills. For one minute, ignore your targets' supernatural resistance and waive the costs of all supernatural skills except this one.]

[Cost: If any locked-on target remains alive after one minute, you die;

Everything you do during this minute will be considered a "secret." If that secret is passed on a second time, you die;

Once this skill's effect ends, all supernatural skills are forced into cooldown.]

[Note 1: Though this power may be used frequently, those who challenge the abyss must beware of falling into it-using this power will increase the rate at which you sink.]

[Note 2: You have obtained a Mighty One's Memories. These memories can be read through prolonged meditation.]

Xia Shou clenched his fists and stretched his stiff body.

"Good. I've gathered everything I can. Time for the final stage."

The café.

Su Weiyu had changed into a white shirt. She took the Compass from behind her waist and checked it. Its needle kept spinning, showing no sign of stopping, as though it were broken.

"I should never have come in here." Su Weiyu sighed, leaned against a load-bearing wall, and slowly slid to the floor.

She no longer had the strength to keep running around this place. Sooner or later, the Blood Demon would find her.

But... did I have any choice other than trusting the Compass?

She had had enough of being alone in the world.

No one could see her. Nothing she did ever drew anyone's attention.

No one praised her, and no one criticized her.

No one felt sorry for her. No one cared...

Saving a drowning child earned her no praise. Even the child she saved ignored her existence.

Tripping an innocent passerby earned her no criticism, either. Not even the person she tripped would get angry with her.

Even when she took useful Sealed Anomalies from the powerful Containment Bureau, no one stopped her.

Likewise, when she fell ill, no doctor would treat her. She had to look up information online and diagnose herself.

If she accidentally injured herself, a minor cut was manageable. She could administer anesthetic and stitch it up on her own. But if the wound happened to be on her hand, stitching it became much harder. Anything more serious could threaten her life.

She probably owed her survival to her exceptionally healthy body. Otherwise, even a single severe fever could have left her dead in bed without a sound.

"You'll find someone who can see you someday, Su Weiyu... Hang in there." Su Weiyu forced a smile, trying to encourage herself.

Talking to herself was a habit. Once, having no one to speak to had cost her the ability to speak normally, and it had taken her a long time to recover.

She had also thought that, since she had no one to talk to anyway, becoming mute wouldn't matter. But deep down, she had always harbored one small wish... What if?

What if someone in this world could still see her? What if such a person really existed?

When they met for the first time, how should she greet them?

"I'm Su Weiyu. It's nice to meet you."-That was what she planned to say. After countless additions and cuts, it was the most concise opening she had come up with.

If.

If such a person really existed, she would become his most loyal companion and join him in anything he wanted to do!

Because, to her, she and that person would be the whole world, and that world would belong to them alone!

So she had taken the famous pirate's Compass and traveled the world, hoping it would lead her to what she desired. She believed that had to be someone who could see her.

She watched that endlessly spinning golden needle twenty-four hours a day, with no appetite for food or drink, imagining the moment it would suddenly stop and point in one direction!

Then she would follow that direction, on and on, all the way around the earth! Until she found the person who could see her!

...But in reality, the Compass had kept spinning and spinning for three whole years, exhausting every last bit of her patience.

Until yesterday.

The Compass had suddenly stopped.

Su Weiyu had nearly fainted with excitement.

But when she followed its guidance to the door of this house, she realized there might be risks.

She went to the Containment Bureau and read everything they had on the house. She learned that it was an anomalous phenomenon that had once swallowed an S-Rank Investigator. This was undoubtedly beyond her capabilities.

Should I really go in here?

Is the person I'm looking for really inside?

She questioned herself relentlessly.

Even then, she had already had a faint inkling.

But in the end, she came in anyway.

Now, at last,

she was certain of what she had truly longed for back then.

"Captain Sparrow, you were right... Maybe what I've wanted for a long time isn't companionship, but death." Su Weiyu watched the endlessly spinning golden needle and laughed at herself.

The words had barely left her mouth when, suddenly, she saw the Compass's golden needle stop again, pointing straight ahead!

Su Weiyu's pupils contracted. Her breath stopped, and her expression froze on her face like dried oil paint.

Su Weiyu braced herself against the wall and stood, narrowing her eyes in disbelief.

Compass, oh Compass... What do you mean by this?

Have you pointed me toward my death because I've finally made up my mind? Or... is it actually real this time...

"Should I trust you one more time?"

"Yes! One more time!"

With the Odachi, taller than she was, strapped to her back, Su Weiyu began sprinting across the café ceiling.

She had to find the person she had been searching for before the needle started spinning again!