William's ship flew over one star after another. There were shining stars, silent and dreamy planets, and small celestial bodies wandering in the deep sky.

The party were traveling at five times the speed of light. As William drove, he looked at his computer. The map told him that they would reach the last planet in about three hours.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar, angry voice,

"Why has my plan been spoilt again! The judging panel let Rebecca win! This is impossible, impossible! You'll never go back, William, never!"

"Hum, there he is again." William steered the ship calmly.

"He? Who? You-Know-Who?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"Yes, that's him. He doesn't want me to go back to my own planet. He's simply dreaming!" William gave the console a hard hammering with his fist.

Gradually they drew near their destination. "Look," William said, observing the planet from low planet orbit. It was noticeably different from the first two planets -- it was almost entirely black, horrible black. Some whispers were ringing in his ears. He could not understand what the voice was saying, but he could feel that it was malicious. Whether it was the voice or not, his heart ached faintly, and he clutched the lever and pressed his hand to his chest.

Ranran walked quietly to him and touched his shoulder. "Don't be afraid. We will always protect you. You will surely go back." She said.

"Yes," William gasped, "I surely will."

The ship approached a mountain roaring. William found a dense forest, carefully controlled the ship, and made it stop successfully. The engines stopped working and everyone got off the ship.

William sensed the eerie atmosphere clearly. The air seemed to freeze, with a pungent smell that made them cough incessantly at first. After the analysis of the small robots inside the backpack, William knew that it was the smell of a trace of hydrogen sulfide. Looking around, the shapes of the trees were also very strange. They were like monsters disguised as trees, all with grotesque branches which were covered with black leaves. Occasionally a few crows flew by, but everyone thought their cry was strange too, because it was like the cry of a man falling from the sky into a deep ravine.

William tripped over something. "Look out!" Ranran shouted. Fortunately, he was not hurt. When he got up, he saw at his feet a treasure box half exposed. On it there were some gold words:

Slide on the lock to open the treasure box.

William did so. With a creaking sound, the treasure box opened itself. A round object appeared in front of their eyes. Then it rose slowly until it reached the palm of William's hand.

"That can't be true, can it?" Rebecca said in surprise, "Why does it move by itself?"

The reason was simple -- the writing on the box changed.

As you were unlocking the lock, William, a small magnet sucked your hand. This object is also magnetic, so you don't have to pick it up.

Now, you have the manjusaka compass. Don't look down on it just because it only has a flower on its lid. It can help you reach many places that your computer can't find.

If you don't believe it, that's fine. Now open the map and try searching for "Black Tower". You will find that the computer will not find the location because it is too small.

"Wait." Said William, puzzled, "Too small? How small can a tower be?"

The writing on the box changed again.

No, William. Small here means not size but position. It is too remote to be recorded on the map. Yet your map is still powerful because it can tell you where the checkpoints are. You will need to use this compass a lot, however, so keep it well. If you lose it, please buy one at Griffin's. The map can find that place, so you won't get lost.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Bon voyage. Goodbye.

The words on the treasure box disappeared.

William gaped at the round object in his hand, stunned. He wondered if it was really as powerful as those words said. But it turned out his computer map couldn't find Black Tower, so it seemed that he would have to trust it for now.

"Let's go," William said to the others.

So they began to walk through the dark forest. Every few steps, William checked the compass to see if they were heading in the right direction. There were no instructions, so he didn't know exactly how the compass worked. But after checking the computer map, William was sure they were on the right track.

This planet was very special -- it was tidally locked, and all the checkpoints on this planet were at the nighttime hemisphere. So it would always be night that would accompany with them until they left here.

When Rebecca learned this, she said sadly, "I miss the quick change of day and night on my planet."

They walked past a huge tree. It really seemed to be a monster, for it made a strange noise when William passed it. In Photon's and Natalie's opinions, it was saying something incomprehensible, but William didn't care what it said. He just wanted to get out of this strange forest as quickly as possible.

The compass needle rotated and their direction changed constantly. Crows passed overhead, and the strange shapes of the trees looked ghastly in the faint starlight. William and his party breathed the eerie air and were always on their guards. William, in particular, never relaxed his grip on the laser gun. Ranran, Photon, Natalie and Rebecca closed around him.

Checkpoint 27 is cleared. Energy charge: 2.5%.

The computer map went invalid. A dialog box popped up,

Data for this area cannot be found.

"I'm counting on you, dear Compass," William whispered, closing his eyes. Something strange happened -- the compass's manjusaka and needle were shining a faint red light.

"I want to be out of this forest in the next second... Oh, God, it is too scary!" Rebecca said nervously, standing next to William, "Look at the trees, the crows..."

"Never mind, Rebecca. You must trust the compass and believe that it can carry us out." William's smile sparkled under the stars.

They walked on through the forest, but the trees did not seem to want them to go out so easily. Two of the larger trees, their roots intertwined, formed a barrier in front of William.

The manjusaka glowed again and the needle pointed to the right. Photon's keen eyes spotted a huge springboard. "Look, Master. The solution is right next to you." He said.

William noticed it. "Oh." He said scornfully, "Trying to make me puzzled like that? I can jump over you." With that he stepped on it, and in a moment he was about seven or eight meters high. Then, like a feather, he settled slowly in front of the roots. "You guys come too." He said to the others.

Within a minute, everyone passed. "I didn't expect you to be so reliable. Thank you, Compass." Ranran said.

The compass glowed as if it could understand them.

But soon they encountered another problem: more trees intertwined their branches, creating a circular maze. The dim starlight shone on the branches, making them look like the tentacles of devils. Natalie even had an illusion that some of the branches were even moving. Her tires were weak with fear, and she stayed close behind William, bumping the bumper against his legs.

"M... Master, the trees are moving... Be careful!" She stammered and trembled.

"Don't worry, you saw wrong scenes. With the help of the compass, we can certainly get out." He clutched his laser gun and strode forward.

Every time they passed a fork in the road, the compass needle would change direction, sending them along in the right direction. Although everyone could sense that the trees were not trying to let them through, yet they were getting closer to the exit.

Suddenly, there was the roar of an engine in the air. The compass gave off a bright red light and showed a big word "Stop" on the lid. Everyone quickly stopped, holding their breaths.

William looked nervously overhead. "Danger." He whispered to the others, "It's time for us to become invisible."

The little robot quickly brushed the stealth coating for them. In the twinkle of an eye, they were invisible.

As the roar grew louder, the party could clearly see a large black plane passing overhead. It poked out its front camera and scanned the forest below.

It noticed nothing unusual and flew away.

"Whew," Ranran breathed a sigh of relief, "how close!"

The cover of the compass showed,

That plane is a drone fighter. It's searching for you. Don't let it find you.

"Fighter?" William asked, puzzled, "And from what base did it come? Why search for us but not someone else?"

Then he thought, "Could it have been sent by You-Know-Who? Or is he controlling it?"

As he thought about it, he felt more than ever how lucky he was to have this compass on such a dangerous planet. "Please do protect us." He said to the compass. As before, it gave off a reddish glow.

The road beneath their feet widened and the trees became sparse. In a few minutes they reached the edge of the forest. In front of her, Natalie looked out at the mountains, which were towering under the dim stars. There was a very sharp black shadow which rose up into the sky like a huge pillar. That was Black Tower. But at that moment, there was another whisper in William's ear, and the strange smell in the air grew thick again. He felt dizzy, thought the fighter was coming toward them again, and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Master, we are safe for the time being." Said Photon, "Stop worrying."

William came to himself, nodded, took out the compass, and saw that it pointed in the direction of Black Tower. So he said, "Come on, guys, we can't let the fighter find us, although I don't know why we should do that yet."

Under the starlight, several small shadows ran toward the big one.