Eldritch Horror Theatre

The door was still there.

The facts proved it: capable of slaying a New God, the Red Moon was truly powerful.

Sprinting the entire way without encountering a single obstacle, Fu Qian returned to the terrace.

At this moment, he resembled a flawless muscular specimen.

Regenerating the flayed Skin wasn't actually that troublesome, but the imbalance he had accumulated along the way finally erupted, proving difficult to suppress even with the Decree of Return.

Even exerting his utmost control, for the moment he could only ensure that nothing extra grew out of him.

But these were minor details. The divine pollution from the Blood Lake had been mostly purged by his previous actions.

With that settled, the trip was already a complete success.

Even if he wanted to avoid scaring people by returning like this, he could easily rest a while longer on the Half-Step Moon—wait a minute.

Had the tide stopped?

Just as when it appeared, the disorienting wash instantly subsided. The sky full of flowing light stilled in a single second, shifting into a scattered, drifting state as if nothing had happened.

The only change was that the Ruins before him seemed a fraction more withered.

Now he completely understood how Senior Liliana had ended up in that state.

Sighing softly, Fu Qian pulled back the foot he had just extended. He casually opened another door and sat down beside a wide table.

Recovering here worked just as well.

...

The massive Ruins were exceptionally silent; the flowing light danced and drifted gently.

Flesh, hair, bone armor—as the seconds ticked by, his physical form gradually restored itself.

Fu Qian did not wander around this time. He simply leaned there, listening to the sound of every fiber in his body unfurling.

In Liliana's remnant thoughts, she had mentioned that the form of a conscious entity would struggle to resist the tide and needed to be transformed into a physical body.

So she most likely never experienced this kind of pleasure.

In fact, this was one of the reasons why Fu Qian had asked Chaumont whether one could enter this place through the Mind World.

As for the second reason, it was Toshima Shiki from the Brain Erosion mission.

As a mere mortal, he had undoubtedly accomplished an incredible feat, passing through a dream of a similar category.

Unfortunately, when faced with his sudden probe, Chaumont's reaction had been remarkably confident, and his answer completely watertight.

But that didn't mean the probe was meaningless.

Fu Qian interpreted that confidence to mean that while it might have genuinely been a viable path at one time, Chaumont was absolutely certain it was now blocked off. Even a Demigod's attempt would yield zero results.

But if that were the case, how could Toshima Shiki's situation be explained?

Being polluted—this was a crucial detail.

That person had effectively established a connection with the things inside here first, allowing him to enter through the dream.

And someone like himself—a "clean" character in the eyes of Old Man Chaumont—would never have such an encounter.

Aside from all that, there was another simple, brutal piece of information regarding the entrance: the Ash Sea might contain a path in and out of this place.

Otherwise, it would be rather difficult to explain why a Divine Trait that shouldn't even exist had suddenly appeared in two portions.

However, this was still just one possibility.

Slowly sorting through his gains from this trip, Fu Qian let a long time pass before lowering his head to inspect his own body.

His superficial injuries had healed, the pollution was almost entirely purged, and a layer of bone armor even coated his skin.

However, it would still take a bit of time to eliminate the instability brought on by his massive depletion and imbalance.

Regardless, this trip was a complete success; he could leave now.

Rubbing the White Ring that had reappeared on his finger, Fu Qian stood up and stepped through the door.

...

Returning to the Lucid Dream, Fu Qian immediately sensed he was being watched.

It wasn't strange. By doing this on the Half-Step Moon, the Red Moon inherently possessed authority over the Lucid Dream—not to mention that after he left, it was almost entirely maintained by It.

However, despite the attention, the Red Moon made no sound this time, nor did It comment on his dangerous behavior.

A moment later, the illusory Ruins vanished like a popped bubble, and a new door appeared out of thin air before him.

Studying its vaguely familiar design, Fu Qian pushed it open and was greeted by the sight of his own Laboratory.

Was this a hint that he could leave?

Waving a greeting, Fu Qian decisively accepted the suggestion.

...

Compared to when he had left, the interior of the Tower was already much darker.

He had rested for quite a while at the end, and by now, night had clearly fallen.

That wasn't a bad thing, though. Otherwise, going out with his current appearance would be somewhat conspicuous.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Fu Qian realized the light around him was rapidly brightening.

In the blink of an eye, everything was bathed in a brilliant crimson glow.

...

The Red Moon was shining down on the Academy after all.

Having noticed his abnormal condition earlier, It hadn't said a word, but had chosen to watch over him in this manner?

Feeling the moonlight that seemed to gently soothe him, Fu Qian didn't know what to say for a moment.

It wasn't that he was worried about It causing trouble for him.

As long as It hadn't flared up during Chaumont's verification, there were too many possible explanations for the causal relationship. Not to mention, he was now an officially certified model citizen.

Still, being "stared at" so earnestly made him feel like it would be difficult to run wild from now on.

The Red Moon's current state made Its reactions rather unpredictable.

If he made too big a move and It overreacted with a divine descent or something similar, Professor Lanaya's nightlife would probably be ruined again.

Forget it!

Facing this unexpected development, Fu Qian thought it over briefly and decided that on such a night, he might as well indulge in the nightlife fitting of an academic oligarch.

Having quickly made up his mind, Fu Qian didn't even bother to inspect the rest of the Laboratory. He made a few minor adjustments to the bone armor on his body, opened the door, and walked right out.

...

He still remembered the last time he took a night stroll through the Academy, when he became the Terminator and sent Professor Yi'an on his way.

The Academy could be considered deserted at night, but Fu Qian quickly found a familiar path and walked against the usual flow.

After leaving the Academy, it didn't take long for the crowd to gradually thicken. Fu Qian even spotted what looked like the exact spot where he had appeared as the Terminator.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Knight and his girlfriend this time—wait, it seemed there was someone even more familiar!

The next moment, a figure hurried out of a nearby alley. After taking just two steps, the person realized something and slowly turned around.

"Why are you here?"

Looking Fu Qian up and down, Lanaya asked in disbelief.

"Nightlife."

After that concise answer, Fu Qian casually asked a question of his own.

"Heading back to rest so early?"

"I don't want to either... Everything was perfectly fine. Who knew this would happen again?"

Lanaya looked up at the Red Moon in the sky, instantly full of bitter complaints.

"I just feel like something's about to go wrong. I have to head back and keep an eye on things."

"I just came from over there. What could possibly go wrong? Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

Fu Qian gave a noncommittal "oh," his tone incredibly relaxed.

"...Alright."

This mood seemed to carry an inexplicable infectious power. After only a moment of struggle, Lanaya was persuaded.

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