Aki blinked.
"Why should I say it? If you've got something to say, get out alive and tell Himeno yourself."
Su Tang patted dust from his clothes and smiled. "What? Are you some pure-hearted boy who can't get the words out?"
Aki cooperated with a laugh, drew in another mouthful, his face hazy in white fog. "Ms. Makima told me you're the strongest among us."
"Strong means better odds of living."
"Himeno and I… our shared wish for rookies is that they survive each mission. But it's only a beautiful wish."
He spoke slowly. This time he didn't do the epic lung-hit, but "chewed" the last cigarette, and went on:
"For devil hunters, you never know which comes first—tomorrow or death. Especially in Public Safety, the death rate is higher—because we handle what the civilians can't."
"Himeno has lost six partners, and I've lost plenty in my squads. Many died on their first mission."
"So I made my peace with death long ago. It's only a pity I didn't get to avenge myself on the Gun Devil. Still, there's good news—Himeno isn't on this operation…"
"If you see her, tell her not to choose a partner as boring as me next time."
"Boring?" Su Tang raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Boring." Aki smiled. "My life is filled only with revenge, with no room for anything else. Even smoking—Himeno taught me that."
"No need to be that pessimistic. We're all still alive, aren't we?" Su Tang toyed with a small fireball, optimistic. "Maybe if we rest and take a nap, we'll wake to find a way out."
Aki's cigarette was down to the end. He shook his head. "This is the most bizarre thing I've seen since joining Public Safety. We haven't even seen the devil's face… Don't say that to the rookies."
Su Tang nodded.
If both captain and vice-captain were spouting doom here, there'd be zero hope left.
"I'm going in. You staying out?"
Aki opened the door, his face returning to its strict, reliable set.
"I'll take another look around," Su Tang said. "I'll call you if anything happens."
"Right."
Click.
The door shut.
Flipping his hand to put away the fireball, Su Tang leaned against the wall and sighed.
He'd been comforting Aki with optimism—but also himself.
Before the mission, he'd sworn to Makima he'd bring everyone back, whole and sound.
Now never mind whole and sound—bringing them back at all was a problem.
If only there were something that could point the way in a situation like this.
He sighed again and pulled out the four-direction dragon-head compass hanging from his neck.
If they were waiting anyway, he might as well work on his contract task.
He held up the talisman locator and idly swung it around like before.
East.
West.
South.
North. North? North!
He straightened at once, eyes fixed on the bronze dragon head pointing north.
! It had reddened again!
————————————
Who said the talisman locator doesn't point the way?
Holding the four dragon heads aloft and constantly adjusting his angle, Su Tang advanced and joked to himself.
The talisman had chosen the worst, or the best, time to light up. If there wasn't some quid pro quo between the righteous and demonic bigwigs, he wouldn't believe it.
He just didn't know which talisman this time.
He thought about it. It had been nearly two weeks—about half a month—since the Tiger Talisman appeared. The interval matched the show.
As the classic saying goes: there are no useless talismans, only useless users.
The Tiger had seemed the least useful early on, yet it had helped immensely.
Without the Tiger balancing his power, he couldn't have breathed fire while maintaining a half-dragon state, nor condensed that Blazing Sword to suppress the Dick Devil's "Angel Dick Sword"…
But the situation now was special.
He was trapped in space and time. Which talisman could help him break free?
He mulled it over. Two might help.
One was the Sheep—separate the soul; maybe he could find the devil that way, defeat it, and end the ability.
One was the Rabbit—he vaguely remembered an episode where the Rabbit's acceleration opened a time channel. If it let him go back, he could alter the root of this situation.
As for the Monkey's transfiguration… maybe as a backup. Perhaps he could morph the entire hotel and break the devil's lock that way.
He built castles in the air.
At first there was a smile on his face; then it flattened; then even the flatness vanished.
His brows knit.
He'd been walking according to the locator's direction—but never reached the end!
The northern dragon head's blood-eyes still flashed red.
A jolt in his heart.
The locator's range was a full kilometer. That was obviously bigger than the hotel—let alone that he was only on the eighth floor.
Worst case: the talisman was outside. In that case, he'd never find it before getting out.
And only by finding a talisman did he have hope of getting out.
Great—a death loop.
Pressing his temples with his thumb, he looked around.
This was a small room—not a guest room; likely a staff rest room.
If he remembered right, it was the fifth time he'd come here.
Frowning, he was about to have the Shadow Ninjas dig downward when a grating voice sounded in his ear.
"Human, what are you looking for?"
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