Eldritch Horror Theatre

He had a feeling this three-person team wasn't his target.

Inside the room, facing a remarkably honest Elena, Fu Qian silently came to this conclusion.

Choosing to catch up with these three to learn the specifics of the blessing was only one part of his goal.

More importantly, he wanted to use the opportunity to check on their recent status—specifically, to see if they had any connection to the title of Oathbreaker.

After all, from what he had personally confirmed, two of them had already strayed onto the crooked path of covenants.

Yet after talking with them, neither Elena nor the Child of Lorraine seemed to be in any unusual state.

Even their incredibly ambitious goal for this trip still fell within the realm of normalcy.

"Based on what we've learned, the ruins before us should be connected to the Ancient Dragon Faith from the Mythological Era."

Seeing Fu Qian remain silent, Elena took the initiative to explain further.

"The blessing that appears once a year is considered a remnant of that faith's power. Judging by previous explorations, it's quite chaotic inside."

"But even so, there are still some transcendent creatures born from the condensation of special forces within—such as the Soul Butterfly, which can bewilder a person's mind."

"The so-called Ancient Giant Dragon is essentially a similar existence. It isn't the manifestation of a true Deity, which is why we decided to come over and try our luck."

So that was it.

In Fu Qian's eyes, Elena's explanation was highly credible.

If it was just a slightly higher-tier transcendent creature, killing it wouldn't be impossible with this team's lineup.

Of course, they would primarily rely on Lorraine's power.

With proper guidance, it wouldn't be a problem for her to briefly unleash the strength of the Demigod Realm.

...

"That does sound promising. So Gerald and his people are here for the same reason?"

He really wasn't boasting. This guy actually knew the Wasteland incredibly well!

Elena was secretly astonished once more. After all, Gerald hadn't introduced himself to Fu Qian.

"Most likely. They could easily trade for minor spoils with others; it wouldn't be worth putting in so much effort otherwise."

Elena let out a sigh.

"The Ji Clan is the same. That's why the atmosphere was so incredibly tense last year, even though they didn't catch so much as a glimpse of the Ancient Giant Dragon..."

"But you still came."

Fu Qian nodded, voicing the question he had been holding back.

"Logically, you shouldn't want to clash with either faction. Is there something so special about the materials gathered from the Ancient Giant Dragon that makes you this determined to get them?"

"I don't know."

Surprisingly, Elena continued to shake her head with a bitter smile.

"The only reason we came here is precisely because Siren considers that thing to be incredibly valuable... What we truly want is actually in Siren's hands."

So that was it...

Elena's phrasing was a bit convoluted, but Fu Qian caught on instantly.

"You want to get the item first, and then trade it to Siren?"

"Yes..."

Surprised by his sharp intuition, Elena grew even more certain that her decision to be honest was the right choice.

Tsk, tsk!

Fu Qian inwardly shook his head as he listened, not pressing her on exactly what they wanted to trade for.

Of course, anyone could guess that it had to be extremely important.

Their team was simultaneously powerful and fragile. Without sufficient motivation, they would never take such a massive risk.

As for why they didn't just work directly as Siren's mercenaries, the reason was also easy to guess—their contributions wouldn't carry enough weight.

Acting as mercenaries, even if they finally accomplished the mission, the value of their contributions wouldn't be enough to make the exchange.

It seemed the thing she wanted was truly quite expensive.

Snatching food from a tiger's mouth, only to then turn around and trade it back to the tiger—business truly was a wondrous thing!

"So, what Mister Lu mentioned earlier about there being more bloodshed during this blessing... may I ask if that's true?"

After conversing with him, the extraordinary nature she sensed from his reactions only deepened the worry in Elena's heart, compelling her to ask the crucial question.

The man in front of her was absolutely no rambling lunatic. That meant the implications behind his earlier words were inevitably panic-inducing.

"Of course."

"...How can you be so certain?"

"Simple. If there isn't more, I'll personally create more."

Fu Qian answered completely naturally.

"...You must be joking, Mister Lu."

This shockingly refreshing answer caused Elena's face to stiffen severely, though she quickly chose to interpret it as his refusal to give a straight answer.

"How can you be so certain?"

Fu Qian offered a faint smile, repeating the exact question she had just asked.

...

The current situation was still quite clear. He only needed to figure out two things.

Who was the Oathbreaker?

And for what reason were they bound to die, to the point that the Warehouse had to trouble him to intervene?

That was the whole reason he had been mingling with all these different people earlier.

What he could confirm so far was that the factions present could basically be divided into four groups.

The clearly opposed Siren and Ji Clan, who had been clashing since last year.

Elena's trio, who kept a low profile despite theoretically possessing the highest Combat Power.

And the ordinary stragglers and independent operators, represented by Old Man Tyr.

More or less, conflicts of interest existed between all four of these groups.

However, the problem was that, in Fu Qian's eyes, these conflicts of interest clearly weren't intense enough.

Judging from the conversation between Gerald and Amir earlier, despite the same opposing stances last year, it seemed that only one person from the Ji Clan had died.

Given the current lack of heavyweights leading either side, Fu Qian didn't think the conflict between them would really get all that bloody.

Not to mention, the two groups secretly seemed somewhat inclined to make a deal with each other.

As for the rest, the friction between Elena's trio and Siren was arguably the biggest point of contention.

The current situation was a far cry from any sort of bloody treasure hunt.

It didn't seem possible to track down the doomed Oathbreaker based purely on these conflicts of interest.

Was the core issue unrelated to profit, and someone was just using this opportunity to settle a personal grudge?

It wasn't impossible, but if that were the case, he definitely wouldn't be able to single them out through normal deduction.

Because of this, Fu Qian had just thought of a highly efficient method—he would just start killing everyone in sight. He wouldn't spare a single soul. He would slaughter them all, and the moment his mission failed upon killing a certain person, he would immediately lock onto them as his target and ensure they stayed alive.

In fact, as far as Fu Qian was concerned, this "river of blood" plan was actually the optimal solution to the current situation.

First of all, there were absolutely no operational issues.

As long as he was willing, Fu Qian didn't think a single person here could survive his hunt.

And since a mission failure would trigger an automatic restart—bringing everyone who died back to life—there wouldn't even be any academic or ethical issues to worry about.

Finally, it would drastically save him brain cells.

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