Chapter 59: House of Merlin

This person's ability is indeed terrifying, even giving off the feeling of a protagonist's cheat, but Xia Shou felt not a single trace of tension.

He was considering how to consume the other party and acquire their abilities.

An Gangxiongwu's [Ability Bank] is indeed a massive trump card against ordinary transcendental beings, but when Xia Shou goes to Edinburgh, he will definitely be operating alongside Su Weiyu. Once they meet up, he'll just have Su Weiyu slaughter him on the spot.

A Level 3 Finisher Beastmaster was already slaughtered by Su Weiyu, so killing another An Gangxiongwu would merely require lifting a finger.

Before this, however, he had devoured many transcendental corpses in the House of Blood Demons. Aside from the Level 2 Finisher Zhou Hongjie and that mysterious charred corpse, the other corpses only provided disposable residues.

From this, it can be seen that the higher the anomaly level, the higher the probability of obtaining an ability after shadow devouring, and it is even very likely that the efficacy of the skill is directly linked to the anomaly level itself.

It would be even better if this An Gangxiongwu's level were higher; that way, he might be able to obtain an ability very close to the original version.

"If he's LV2, wouldn't his level be too low?" Xia Shou muttered to himself.

"What did you say? The level is too low?" Bai He frowned. "You completely fail to understand his danger. You should be grateful his anomaly level is only 2. Before he levels up, we need to capture him back quickly."

"Such a dangerous person, why not just kill him directly?"

"Although dangerous, his utility is also great, and the Control Bureau has plenty of things far more dangerous than him—one more doesn't make a difference.

The Research Department is extremely interested in his ability to forcibly seize other people's abilities, and since he is also a patient with Abyss-Sinking Syndrome, those tech geeks love him even more.

According to the Research Department, the ability [Ability Bank] is something An Gangxiongwu obtained from the Sea of Origin."

You can even obtain abilities from the Sea of Origin?

Does such a method truly exist, or is it merely the delirious raving of An Gangxiongwu?

Xia Shou pondered for a few seconds and tentatively asked, "Abyss-Sinking Syndrome patients—how do we usually handle them?"

"We study them, and depending on individual circumstances, there is no uniform treatment method for this illness. However, most deep-sea divers go mad, so we must monitor them closely for a long time."

"That's not too bad then," Xia Shou muttered in agreement.

Bai He pointed at the photo on the file: "Remember what he looks like. If we split up later and you encounter him by yourself, run away immediately.

Then call me, and I will rush over at top speed."

Xia Shou nodded silently, firmly etching the face of the middle-aged man in the photo into his mind.

The file listed the other party's age as 16.

"I only came to you for this little matter, so it's time to get off work! Director, I'm heading out." Bai He stood up and called out toward the inner office.

"Get some good rest," Shangguan Yan's voice came from within. "Xia Shou, you can go back and rest too. You've worked hard."

Xia Shou felt as if granted a grand amnesty upon hearing this. After exchanging pleasantries, he sprinted toward his dormitory.

Arriving at the dormitory entrance, he found an insulated box placed outside with a note attached: [Late-night snack — Su Weiyu]

Xia Shou hugged the insulated box into his dorm and opened it to take a look. Inside were piles of skewers wrapped in tin foil, a KFC family bucket, milk tea, and cola.

At this moment, Xia Shou's sense of happiness skyrocketed.

That feeling of happiness—coming home exhausted after a hard day's work only to find that someone has already prepared late-night snacks and drinks for you—is utterly beyond description!

"Yet, despite the two worlds being so vastly different, many places are astonishingly alike," Xia Shou mentally complained.

He had actually sensed this for a long time. Upon crossing over, he discovered that people here spoke Mandarin, the urban architectural style was very similar, and Su Weiyu's compass was even called [Captain Sparrow's Compass], proving that the *Pirates of the Caribbean* film series likely existed here as well.

The KFC now was no exception.

Although the two worlds were unavoidably too similar, this was by no means a bad thing. If he had crossed over and found that the people in this ghost place spoke entirely unfamiliar languages, with completely different social concepts and laws, that would have been a matter of life and death.

"Lord Xia Shou, are you still eating a late-night snack this late?" a gentle inquiry sounded from behind Xia Shou.

"Alice!?" Xia Shou exclaimed in pleasant surprise, almost turning his head around, though Alice's hand timely stopped his instinctive turning motion.

"You must be careful, oh," Alice smiled. "Actually, you don't need to buy barbecue directly; you just need to buy ready-made ingredients. I can cook them for you. That way, both health and flavor can be guaranteed."

"Oh, Su Weiyu bought these for me," Xia Shou explained.

Yet Alice acted as though she hadn't heard a thing, completely ignoring it.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?" ...

"Su Weiyu... you know her, right?"

Alice still gave no response.

"How can you be unable to perceive Weiyu? Clearly, your ability can take effect on her," Xia Shou calculated. "Could it be that when you're awake, you're judged to be human?"

"Lord Xia Shou, are you not going to eat? Since they've already been bought, it's better to enjoy them while they're hot," Alice reminded him.

Any content Xia Shou spoke of concerning Su Weiyu was directly ignored by him—her, rather.

"True, time to have a good feast!"

Xia Shou opened the office computer in his dorm, casually searched for the new anime season rankings, opened the top-ranked anime to watch while eating, and then picked up the skewers, devouring them with gusto.

The simple, unadorned sensation of chewing meat, the flavor of beef and lamb combined with cumin, the mere act of chewing generating an incomparable sense of satisfaction, coupled with the stimulation of iced cola bubbles bursting on the tip of his tongue, alongside a brilliant anime series...

At this moment, Xia Shou felt his life was complete.

"Ah, this is so awesome."

"It really is very interesting. I also quite like the themes of this type of anime. If you like it, Lord Xia Shou, I can recommend some classic older series for you to watch," Alice said opportunistically.

Xia Shou widened his eyes, took out a mirror, and looked in shock at Alice behind him.

"Alice, you even have this kind of... interest?"

"Mm, this should also be considered... part of a maid's qualifications, I suppose? I have dabbled in fairly common forms of entertainment."

Good grief.

Xia Shou had originally thought Alice was merely a portable maid, but in the end, she turned out to be a female version of Sebas!

Being all-around proficient in housework and cooking wasn't enough; was she also completely versed in such earthy plebeian entertainment?

"That's amazing."

"You flatter me. Apologies, please don't mind me and continue watching," Alice apologized.

With that, Xia Shou spent the duration of two anime episodes completely filling his stomach.

"Whew—so satisfying. Though I'd love to go straight to bed, it's completely fine that you're awake, Alice. Right now, I'd like to return to our original room." Xia Shou adjusted his mood, tightening his overly relaxed train of thought just a bit.

After all, what he needed to ponder next was information regarding that Idrisu.

"I believe you are referring to that room with many eccentric doors. Are you going there now?"

"Yes."

"Very well, then let us use the bathroom door as the 'passage' medium."

The moment the words fell, a pair of transparent hands closed the bathroom door and then opened it once more.

When Xia Shou walked to the bathroom entrance, the interior was no longer the familiar bathroom he knew, but rather the foyer of the room he had seen when he first arrived in this world.

"Now, we have returned to the 'House of Merlin,'" Alice said from behind him.