Looking at the compass that had just been tossed into the trash can…
One of the team members couldn't help but ask, "Captain, what do we do now?"
He had been fairly confident about surviving this punishment mission. But the way that compass reacted? Like a thunderclap at the opening act.
They all knew—even if that compass had only reached the two-thirds mark on its scale, it still meant a boss-level enemy that would require the whole team's full effort to handle.
And if it hit the maximum? That usually meant a high probability of a total wipeout.
Yet for the compass to completely collapse on the spot? That was beyond anything they'd imagined.
His confidence shattered instantly.
The rest of the team didn't say anything out loud, but their eyes revealed clear signs of dread.
"…Don't panic. This was just a small hiccup."
The captain knew he had to rally morale. His expression turned serious as he said, "I've still got a reinforced version of the compass—blessed by the Holy Spirit. Let's first get a read on the target's power before making any decisions."
He then reached into his spatial storage and pulled out another compass, this one noticeably larger than the last.
Unlike the previous one's simple design, this compass was etched with golden runes glowing faintly with divine light—clearly a high-grade item.
Even as he took it out, the captain felt a pang of pain. This compass was imbued with a one-time enchantment. If he weren't feeling so uncertain himself, he'd never have used it so lightly.
Seeing the new compass, the Purgators in the room quickly shifted their attention, eager to see what this one would reveal.
Under their tense gazes, this compass at least didn't break down like the last.
Its needle began to rotate slowly after locking onto the target.
Soon, it climbed past the 60-mark on the scale—out of a total of 100.
In their last world, a 100-mark reading meant a being at the
"Demigod" Rank.
The kind of entity that could destroy cities or even nations singlehandedly.
And when the needle finally reached the full 100.
Every Purgators present, including the captain, looked grim.
If it were an open battlefield, they could maybe set traps or use trickery.
But inside a spaceship, face-to-face with a Demigod-level opponent?
They didn't even have a place to run.
Even if they somehow won, the cost would be disastrous.
Before they could process how to handle the situation—
The needle, after completing one full rotation to 100, didn't stop. Instead, it looped back to 1 and started rotating again.
"…?"
One of the team members stared in confusion. "Wait, does this thing stack?"
Everyone was baffled. No one had a clue what it meant.
Under their watchful eyes, the needle finished its second rotation… then a third…
A fourth… fifth… sixth…
The compass needle showed no sign of stopping, spinning faster and faster with each loop.
A dozen seconds later—
To everyone's shock, the needle was spinning like a helicopter rotor, even generating noticeable wind.
And then, with just that one needle, the compass lifted off from the captain's outstretched hand and began to float in mid-air.
"???"
"Damn!"
"Holy shit!"
"What the hell?!"
"Mother—!"
Everyone was completely stunned by the scene.
Just then, on the nearby Lewis and Clark, the spaceship that was about to dock with the Horizon, Captain Miller—who had been briefing his crew for landing—also caught sight of the floating compass.
Puzzled, he asked, "What's that? Some kind of new drone?"
It was the first time he'd seen a compass-shaped drone.
Strange as it looked, it gave off a weird sense of déjà vu.
What's the term for it again?
Ancient aesthetic + modern tech?
Faced with the question, the captain glanced at the compass now hovering over his head. He licked his lips, then muttered, "…Uh, yeah. Right."
Miller's curiosity was piqued.
"Cool design. Got a link to where I can buy one? I'd love to pick one up when we get back."
"Sure… no problem…"
After brushing Miller off with a few polite words, the captain turned serious and told his deputy, "Get those Tsar Bombs we bought at a premium ready. If things go sideways, detonate them immediately!. We'll use the space scrolls to hide in an alternate dimension and ride it out."
"Understood…"
---
Meanwhile, aboard the Horizon, its creator—a scientist named William—was preparing to brief the crew on the mission details.
Trying to ease them in, William started, "First of all, I'm really glad—"
But before he could finish, Captain Miller cut him off, clearly annoyed:
"You might be glad, but we sure as hell aren't. We had to cancel our scheduled leave just to come all the way out to Neptune—not exactly a vacation. And FYI, the nearest rescue station is 3 billion kilometers away. The last time someone tried to rescue a ship from that distance, both vessels ended up gone!"
He had every right to be pissed—having both their holiday taken away and being sent on a high-risk mission.
It was only because they were all professionals with status and reputation that no fists were thrown.
Otherwise, Miller would've flipped the table by now.
But William simply brushed aside the complaint with a glance and continued,
"Due to how sudden this situation was, a lot of details weren't disclosed to you in advance. For instance, not long ago, the Space Administration received a distress signal.
And that signal came from the Horizon—which mysteriously vanished several years ago."
Hearing this, many of the crew members frowned.
They had assumed they were just heading out for a regular rescue mission.
No one expected the target to be a ghost ship that had disappeared years ago.
It all sounded… off.
One of the crew, who hadn't heard about the incident becoming headline news on Earth, scoffed, "Yeah right. That thing's been gone for years. It's already been searched for countless times—how could it just be floating out by Neptune?"
Captain Miller, however, figured William wouldn't joke about something like this.
Wanting more information, he said, "Alright, let's hear him out."
With that bit of support, William shrugged and continued:
"The Horizon was a special government-commissioned vessel, designed specifically for faster-than-light travel…"
One of the crew cut him off, frowning, "Pardon me, but that's impossible. According to relativity, nothing can move faster than light."
This crew member was a tech officer—top graduate from a prestigious university.
To him, William's words sounded like utter nonsense.
But William didn't try to hide anything. He said plainly:
"Since we couldn't break relativity, the ship itself can't exceed the speed of light. But we used a different approach. Put simply, we used magnetic fields to compress gravitons into a small cluster, then used Scalar's Tensor Theory to fold space-time…"
One of the less educated crew members instantly went cross-eyed.
He cut in, "Can you not use alien language? Speak Human, man."
William rolled his eyes.
'The educational gap on this ship is insane…' he thought silently.
But to keep the mission moving, he picked up a sheet of paper.
He wrote "A" on one end and "B" on the other, then asked, "This paper represents space. What's the shortest way to get from point A to point B?"
A crew member replied, "Draw a straight line?"
William shook his head. "Wrong. One point."
He folded the paper so that point A touched point B, then stabbed through both with a pen.
After the demonstration, he explained:
"The Horizon's FTL system works by using gravity to fold space. By overlapping the starting and ending points, the ship effectively skips all the space in between. It doesn't travel faster—it jumps across folded space."
After hearing all this…
The crew felt like they were listening to a sci-fi novel.
They didn't fully understand the technical stuff, but it sounded very high-tech.
One curious crew member asked, "How do you know all that?"
William replied casually, "Because I built it."
That answer instantly changed the room's mood.
Their attitude toward William improved drastically—and for good reason.
Anyone who could build something like that had to be a serious powerhouse. Not someone you wanted to offend.
Seeing their shift in tone, William was satisfied and continued:
"During the test flight, everything was going smoothly. But once the Horizon reached Neptune and initiated its first space-jump…
The ship disappeared.
No signal. No wreckage. Nothing.
It just vanished without a trace—until now."
__
T/N:
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