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The incident occurred three days ago.
To escape the stalker, Ryu took Karupin away from Sunshine Beach Park and boarded the subway for their return journey.
Everything was going smoothly until now.
But when the train was halfway there...
Karupin, who was in Ryu's arms, suddenly became restless, broke free, and ran in the opposite direction of the train's journey.
Ryu was startled by Karupin's action and, not knowing what was wrong, quickly gave chase.
The carriage was packed with people; Karupin might get caught.
If that happened, he'd probably be dead soon.
The people in the carriage were also quite frightened by the man and the cat.
Ryu chased after him through three carriages before finally spotting Karupin.
He breathed a sigh of relief, went over, and picked Karupin up again.
Ryu apologized somewhat sheepishly to those around him, then carried Karupin to a secluded corner.
He spoke to Karupin telepathically, a hint of reproach in his voice.
"Are you crazy? This is a train! You'll cause panic, and they might catch you."
Karupin seemed oblivious to Ryu's scolding.
It transmitted its voice to Ryu:
"Get off at the next stop."
"Get off? Why?"
Ryu didn't understand what Karupin was up to.
Karupin continued:
"Just now, I suddenly sensed an energy. This energy is very special. Although I don't know what kind of energy it is, I'm certain that I can absorb it directly."
Ryu was stunned.
Energy?
What kind of energy?
Why didn't he sense it?
"What do you mean?"
"It's like [Cat Food] and [Cat Energy]," Karupin explained impatiently.
"It's like that energy—very special. I can feel it. That energy will give us tremendous benefits; we absolutely can't miss it."
Ryu was completely confused.
He understood Karupin's words, yet he didn't.
"Even though I don't understand what you're saying, we just get off at the next stop, right?"
"That's right."
Karupin nodded firmly.
Soon, the train arrived at the station.
Ryu and Karupin got off the train.
Karupin, guided by that faint, almost imperceptible feeling, led Ryu in one direction.
They walked for over two hours.
Ryu and Karupin stood in a rarely visited alley.
It was empty; there was nothing there.
Only the walls in front and to the sides.
Ryu looked around the alley with a puzzled expression.
"There's nothing here! You must be mistaken!"
Karupin stood there, staring in one direction without speaking.
"Hey! I said, there's nothing here. Are you in the wrong place?"
"It's right in front of me," Karupin replied.
"Huh?"
Ryu followed Karupin's gaze.
There was nothing there.
"Are you kidding me? There's only concrete."
A sudden blue light flashed in Karupin's sapphire vertical pupils as he said irritably, "Look again now."
At the same time, blue light shimmered in Ryu's eyes.
This time, Ryu could clearly see a colorful ball of light in front of Karupin.
It was very faint, almost imperceptible, with a vaguely discernible circular outline.
"What is this?"
Karupin shook his head.
"I don't know either, but I can sense that this thing is very beneficial to me."
"So what should we do now?" Ryu asked.
Karupin didn't answer his question, but instead began circling the colorful ball of light.
After a long while, Karupin stuck out his tongue and licked the ball of light.
Ryu looked completely bewildered.
Karupin said excitedly, "I can absorb it! This energy seems to be able to be converted into [Cat Energy], but it won't be successful until I completely digest it."
Hearing this, Ryu was astonished.
"Convert into [Cat Energy]? Then this thing is a treasure! How much can it be converted exactly?"
Karupin shook his head.
"I don't know; we'll only know after trying."
"Then hurry up and take it back."
Ryu stared intently at the colorful ball of light, wishing he could devour it whole.
However, when Ryu tried to pick up the ball of light, his hand passed right through it.
It seemed only Karupin could touch it.
"Since I can't take it with me, I can only slowly eat it first, and then it can digest."
Hearing Karupin's words, Ryu quickly said, "Then what are you waiting for? Eat it quickly!"
Karupin didn't hesitate and began trying to eat the ball of light.
However, the ball of light seemed to have taken root and sprouted, remaining motionless.
Helpless, he could only lick the ball of light bit by bit.
It was a rather long and lonely task.
Ryu could only silently stand aside.
Karupin, meanwhile, licked the ball of light bit by bit with his tongue.
If any outsiders were here, they would look at Karupin like he was an idiot.
To ordinary people, Karupin looked like he was licking the air with his tongue out; every move he made was utterly comical.
Time passed slowly.
Until dusk fell, and a fiery red sunset appeared in the west.
Karupin finally absorbed the ball of light completely into his body.
Karupin told Ryu a new kind of energy had appeared within its body.
This energy was constantly being converted into [Cat Energy], but the conversion process was extremely slow.
At the current rate, only 1 unit of [Cat Energy] could be converted per day, while also increasing its [Activity Range] by one meter.
Ryu's lips twitched upon hearing this.
He had waited for hours, only to receive this result.
Ryu was somewhat disappointed.
Karupin, however, said with a hint of satisfaction, "You seem dissatisfied?"
"Nonsense, you only get 1 [Cat Energy] a day, and the range only increases by one meter. It's practically the same as nothing."
Karupin licked his lips.
"What if I told you that this energy contains power from another dimension?"
"What?" Ryu's body trembled.
He looked at Karupin and exclaimed, "Are you serious? Another dimension?"
Karupin nodded.
"That's right, another dimension. You should know that the Asura Path is the necessary gateway to otherworldly ball techniques. Of all the abilities and ball techniques I've shared with you, only the Asura Path exists; there are no otherworldly ball techniques."
Hearing this, Ryu's eyes brightened.
"You mean I can directly inherit otherworldly ball techniques from you in the future?"
Karupin straightened his back, first nodding, then shaking his head.
"I sensed the inheritance of otherworldly ball techniques within this energy, but for some reason, it's only the tip of the iceberg. This energy is too little for me to see the whole picture."
Ryu wasn't as disappointed as expected.
He lowered his head in thought.
After a long while, he asked, "You mean there are more orbs of light like this, and as long as enough of this energy is accumulated, it's possible to…"
Ryu hadn't finished speaking.
Karupin nodded.
"That's right. Now that we have the first one, there should be many more in other parts of this world."
This is also why Ryu has been skipping practice frequently these past three days.
Because Karupin told him he had sensed that energy again.
However, what neither he nor Karupin expected was that this energy seemed to disappear.
The two of them lost sight of their target several times.
But today, Ryu was determined not to let this opportunity slip by.
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It's really frustrating.
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