Cooperation

The answer to that question inspired an inexplicable terror! Almost no one present wanted to think too deeply about the reason behind it.

All they knew was that the situation had gone completely beyond their ability to handle. In their current physical condition, their chances of defeating a Blood Demon host at full strength were infinitely close to zero!

"Blood Demon, we want to talk to you," one of them said coldly.

"Blood Demon? The Blood Demon's already been dealt with." Xia Shou frowned in confusion.

"Stop playing dumb. When a high-level anomaly dies, Curse Power always dissipates, but our readings show no dissipation... Since you're inhabiting this body, you should know what that means," the Execution Squad captain said languidly.

Xia Shou stood silently in place, his mind racing as he considered how best to phrase his answer.

Although he did not know what Curse Power dissipation meant, he could roughly guess the reason.

Because he had eaten the Blood Demon's corpse, the Curse Power that should have dispersed had not.

And the notebook had warned him not to let the Containment Bureau learn that his shadow could devour anomalies, making this even harder to explain.

...What a headache.

Just then, the detector beside them suddenly let out a piercing screech. The technician's expression changed drastically, and he shouted, "We're detecting signs of Curse Power dissipation! Judging by the pattern, this is the kind of dissipation that only occurs after an anomaly dies!"

The Execution Squad froze on the spot, staring at Xia Shou in bewilderment and confusion.

The masked man beside them stepped forward at that moment. "Allow me to interject. This man is external support for Division Three, and his Anomaly Level is only one. If the habits described in the records are accurate, the Blood Demon would try to inhabit the strongest Transcendent available. In that case, its host should be the Tamer, not him."

The Execution Squad's tense expressions relaxed a little, but they remained deeply wary of Xia Shou.

Zhang Zhengde, standing nearby, demanded coldly, "Where's the Tamer?"

"He's dead. Also, this belonged to him. He asked me to deliver it to the head of Division Two. You can take care of that, right?" Xia Shou tossed the Tamer's obsidian necklace to him. "He told me to wait for him in the Entrance Hall, then went to deal with the Blood Demon himself. By the time I realized what was happening, the Entrance Hall door could already be opened."

Xia Shou simply gave all the credit to the Tamer. That way, no one would press him about how he had killed the Blood Demon or how he had suppressed the Curse Power that should have dispersed upon its death.

"If what you're saying is true, please stay where you are and await instructions," the Execution Squad said.

Xia Shou nodded cooperatively. "Sure."

"Why did you give that guy all the credit? You were the one who dealt with the Blood Demon, weren't you?" Su Weiyu asked beside him.

"For certain reasons, I can't let the Containment Bureau know about this." Xia Shou sat cross-legged on the grass. As he waited, he also considered how to secure a place for himself in the Containment Bureau.

Although the Containment Bureau had not provided much useful intelligence for this encounter with the Blood Demon House, the specialized terminology in its files showed that it possessed a wealth of documentation far beyond anything he could imagine. Whether for exploration, rescue, or containment, it had an effective procedure in place.

With the Containment Bureau's support, devouring anomalies would become much safer for him.

Of course, Xia Shou had another consideration: staying with the Containment Bureau might be the fastest and easiest way to grow stronger. The residue and skills he had gained this time had all come from its employees.

But... to remain in the Containment Bureau long-term without raising questions, he needed a believable persona.

The notebook required him to keep the black shadow's ability to devour anomalies secret from the Containment Bureau, while his publicly known Anomaly Level was only one.

Level-one employees completed missions at an unimaginably slow rate, so he had to find a way to improve his performance rating.

"Ahem, you still haven't told me your name. What's your name? And how did you know mine?" Su Weiyu crouched in front of Xia Shou and asked with a bright smile, as tentative as a kindergartener trying to make her first friend.

"My name's Xia Shou. You have to keep what I did in the house just now a secret. If anyone else finds out about it... I might die," Xia Shou stressed earnestly.

The price of [Peak Perfection in Solitude] was as terrifying as the skill's power. The moment information about what had happened there was passed on, he would die.

And the only other person who knew what had happened was the beautiful girl before him.

"Don't worry, don't worry! I absolutely won't tell anyone! You can trust me completely!" Su Weiyu hurriedly raised her hand and swore.

"I trust you."

Xia Shou had no doubts whatsoever about Su Weiyu. During his first exploration, he had been pinned in place, unable to move. When the Blood Demon attacked, she had lured it away to buy him time to devour the corpse, allowing him to learn exactly how that skill worked. Only then had he been able to devise the best possible plan for his second attempt.

It was fair to say that without Su Weiyu sacrificing her life to lure the Blood Demon away the first time, he might not have won. Since he could not have predicted how long devouring that corpse would take, he might even have abandoned the idea to be safe and fought the Blood Demon using only the residue and Everlasting Wound.

Xia Shou looked up and happened to meet her unwavering gaze. Her eyes shimmered like the waters of a lake in summer, and a smile lingered on her lips.

Xia Shou could tell that she seemed quite fond of him. From risking her life to lure the Blood Demon away the first time to severing an Execution Squad member's arm to protect him just now, he could feel her affection in everything she did.

In his entire life up to that day, Xia Shou had never experienced such overwhelming enthusiasm from anyone his own age. He had only ever encountered it from scammers.

Yet he and Su Weiyu had only met that day. Although Xia Shou considered himself reasonably good-looking, he was hardly some kind of male succubus.

Suddenly, Xia Shou came up with a bold guess. "Your ability makes people unable to notice you, and you can't turn it off. Is that right?"

Su Weiyu nodded emphatically. "How should I put it... According to the Containment Bureau's research classifications, my ability would count as an 'anti-meme.'

"Any information about me gets ignored by other people, and any effect my actions have on their awareness becomes axiomatized.

"By axiomatized, I mean a phenomenon that human reason treats as self-evident, requiring no proof."

Just as I thought!

Now it all made sense. Her ability had forcibly isolated her from the entire world!