Eldritch Horror Theatre

It truly could be called fraught with misfortune.

In just a few seconds, a layer of crystalline white frost had already coated Brother Brain Fork, who had only just found a moment of peace.

Though the presence of the Brain Fork kept him stoically silent, his ordinary human constitution meant he would be dead in moments.

The instant she realized this, Amira quickly spoke up to stop the volunteer.

Fortunately, the latter didn't exhibit the intoxication that usually came with newly acquired power and took her advice immediately.

The freezing cold radiating through the surroundings rapidly dissipated.

"Should we head outside to talk?"

Seeing Brother Brain Fork's breathing gradually steady, Amira breathed a sigh of relief as she made the suggestion.

The situation today had spiraled out of control again and again. Staying here any longer would be too dangerous for the poor man.

Fu Qian naturally had no objections, and Reginald agreed after a brief moment of thought.

The next moment, Reginald stepped forward and grasped the Brain Fork. Just as when it was inserted, he pulled it out bit by bit, firm and steady.

No blood flowed out. The instant the Brain Fork was fully extracted, the gash in his flesh rapidly healed.

The victim's body trembled, and his breathing grew hurried. He looked as if he might wake up at any second.

"Let's go."

Reginald stored the Brain Fork away without so much as a second glance.

Amira gave Fu Qian a slight nod, signaling for him to follow.

With their footsteps deliberately muffled, Fu Qian fell in between the other two as the group quietly returned outside.

...

The night was still deep. After all, in theory, only a few minutes had passed.

Yet on this round trip, the team could truly be said to have returned with a bountiful harvest.

"So, is this the time of day when the members of The Order are at their most alert?"

Looking up at the starry sky, Fu Qian asked casually.

"Not necessarily. After all, inside the Church, the starry sky remains perfectly clear at all times."

She clearly didn't understand why Fu Qian would care about this, but Amira answered anyway.

"Of course, many people do keep similar habits to seek inspiration at night."

"I completely understand. Darkness makes the mind clearer... So, are you going to report in right now?"

Fu Qian nodded repeatedly, then changed his tone, his face full of expectation.

"I can hardly wait."

...So this was why he cared whether the people of The Order were alert at night?

Amira froze for a moment before realizing the logical leap.

Since people were working the night shift, they could report up right away, and then swiftly find him some new entertainment—was that it?

Barely wanting to respond to the guy, Amira turned her head and glanced at Reginald.

A trace of helplessness actually appeared on the latter's face.

It was obvious that this volunteer—who never stopped courting death as long as he drew breath—had instilled a deep sense of frustration even in him.

"There are indeed higher-ups on duty at night, but my report won't be finished until tomorrow at the earliest."

Even so, facing the eager Fu Qian, Amira strongly felt she couldn't let herself be dragged along by this guy's crazy pace. She immediately spoke with a straight face.

"Given your cooperative attitude, we won't force you to accompany us to The Order during this time. However, you cannot stray far from your residence. I'll have my police friends keep an eye on your place."

"Actually, I don't mind being forced or anything—"

However, the person in question seemed to have his own thoughts regarding this generosity. Unfortunately, before he could finish expressing them, he was cut off.

"Additionally, I must give you a special warning. Although you have my backing and that of His Excellency Reginald, and the Hunters won't cause you trouble, if you use the gift you just acquired without permission and cause harm, the Hunters will still lock onto you immediately. At that point, we won't be able to help you. Do you understand?"

As if she hadn't heard Fu Qian's words at all, Amira delivered her warning in total seriousness.

"Understood."

Sensing the determination of the two professionals, Fu Qian sighed with a hint of regret.

"Good. We'll escort you back first."

Amira finally nodded in satisfaction.

...

"Go on in. Your landlady looks like she's sound asleep; she won't notice."

A short while later, the group quietly came to a halt in the shadows, and Amira gestured to Fu Qian.

'Then you are a bit too naive.'

Looking at the familiar building before him, Fu Qian thought to himself.

The two members of The Order certainly had sharper perception than ordinary people, but it still wasn't enough.

The person lying there was indeed Mrs. Harper, but had they not noticed that her breathing was a little too steady?

Although she was just an ordinary person and couldn't even be considered to have sharp senses, the power of her mind was formidable.

Clearly, unlike the retirement hobbies of other seniors, Mrs. Harper harbored a few conspiracy theories about this city.

Even more unfortunately, the old lady was right.

Her reaction right now clearly meant she had already noticed he was gone.

Faced with a possible threat, she was pretending to be asleep.

If his guess was right, when he opened the door and entered the house later, she truly wouldn't "wake up," but would simply record this bizarre nocturnal event in secret.

She really didn't wake up.

Returning to his room without any hindrance, Fu Qian let out a sigh. Instead of getting into bed to sleep, he pulled a broken Pocket Watch out of his pocket.

He knew perfectly well that Amira and her companion downstairs hadn't left yet.

But it didn't matter. Since happy occasions lift the spirit, it would seem abnormal if he didn't carefully study his loot when faced with it.

Today's true spoils.

...

Fu Qian rubbed the Pocket Watch, not missing a single mark on it.

The last time he saw it, it was still rippling with a liquid known as "Dragon Blood."

That was right. Fu Qian recognized this watch and even knew how it had ended up like this.

In the Painting World, before he went to the Underground to visit the Witch, the person in charge of the security squad, the Countess, had stolen this from the Seven Lights Church and broken it, making him drink the Dragon Blood inside.

After working so hard up until now, he finally had something meaningful.

As for why this thing had so coincidentally appeared in the Nightmare, and had even been brought right out of a stomach just to land in his lap?

Of course, there were no such coincidences—this thing was originally dropped on the ground by Reginald during his "purification."

The Order's investigation into the Painting World truly hadn't been fruitless.

Although it was a Sacred Relic that had lost all its power, the only reason it appeared in Reginald's hands was because it had been obtained from investigating a series of victims.

They might not know its purpose, but they knew it was very special.

And with him constantly pushing the limits until an anomaly truly appeared, Reginald was finally swayed. He made up his mind to let him carry it under the guise of spoils of war, to observe any changes.

This was also why Amira, who always had strong principles, was actually somewhat hesitant about Reginald's actions.

The highest realm of controlling a situation was to make the one being controlled believe that everything was in their own grasp.

No matter how peaceful things seemed on the surface, what they were facing this time was something so despair-inducing that even the Pope had left no information behind, and its very traces of existence were denied. It didn't allow for the slightest bit of slackness.

What was comforting was that pushing things to the absolute limit had finally yielded results.

Without needing Amira to finish her report, The Order's new resources had already been invested... and had even brought returns.

The next moment, Fu Qian carefully pried open the back cover of the Pocket Watch and looked at the lines of text on it.

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