Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was obvious that the Countess held considerable authority here.

After readily agreeing to Fu Qian's suggestion, the Priest showed absolutely no intention of raising any objections.

This heroine was a woman of swift and resolute action. After exchanging greetings with the Priest, she led Fu Qian straight out of the room.

The two of them quickly found the waiting squad outside—the other four members of the Monitoring Team.

The team consisted of three men and one woman, none of whom looked particularly old.

Fu Qian observed them briefly. Judging by their auras, every single one of them was stronger than him. They were definitely an elite squad.

"I assume you all know who this is."

Meeting the team's confused gazes, the Countess pointed at Fu Qian.

"As a new sequence member, Fu Qian will be joining our operation."

It was obvious the team members felt some resistance toward this decision.

Under the Countess's imposing authority, however, they merely exchanged glances. No one voiced an objection.

The Countess then gave Fu Qian a brief introduction to the four of them.

From her introduction, he learned that the sole female member belonged to the Astral Sequence like the Countess, while the other three were all from the Spire.

"Do sequences have gender restrictions?"

Fu Qian found an opportunity to ask the Countess quietly.

"Some do. The Astral Sequence, for example, can only be awakened by females."

The Countess confirmed his suspicion.

By now, the group was standing at a crime scene. This was the investigation target the Countess had mentioned earlier—a bloody murder suspected to be the work of a Colorless.

A heavy stench of blood permeated the small room.

Blood was splattered everywhere, and a mangled corpse lay on the floor.

Judging by the distinctive long-sleeved robe, the deceased was likely a Nun.

The exceptionally gruesome state of the body made almost everyone frown.

"She must be a Nun from The Church."

"This is absolute madness!"

Amid the team's indignation, the Countess bent down in silence.

After a thorough inspection, she pried open the corpse's mouth and fished a sparkling object out of the bloody saliva.

"A brooch!"

A sharp-eyed team member recognized it immediately.

"No wonder her mouth was slightly deformed."

"Keeping this in her mouth... she must have been trying to leave a clue, right?"

"The style clearly isn't meant for a woman."

...

The team members discussed the discovery, chiming in one after another.

"Fu Qian, what are your thoughts?"

After letting the team discuss it for a moment, the Countess looked at the silent Fu Qian.

Fu Qian instantly felt several gazes lock onto him.

Sure enough, it was only natural for someone like him, who had joined purely on style points, to be questioned!

"Me?"

Fu Qian thought for a second, then stepped forward just as the Countess had and scrutinized the corpse.

Seeing his serious demeanor, a faint sense of approval rose in the team members' hearts.

At the very least, he had guts. A typical rookie would probably piss their pants at a scene like this.

A minute later, Fu Qian stood up and nodded at the group.

"Looks like a homicide."

What the...

Pretending not to see the circle of people looking like they were about to cough up blood, Fu Qian nonchalantly strolled back into the formation.

He was long past the age of seeking everyone's approval—which, for him, had been around ten years old.

With the corpse destroyed to this extent, it was impossible to discern anything besides the item in the Countess's hand!

These guys had been passionately analyzing the scene, and he had fully intended to coast along as a bystander. He hadn't expected the Countess to suddenly ask for his opinion.

His intuition told him her motives weren't exactly pure; it seemed she wanted to test if he truly had amnesia.

"This is indeed a man's brooch. We'll start by looking into the men she associated with to see if any show signs of color loss."

Nuns have boyfriends?

"The Church does not forbid Nuns from marrying."

Noticing Fu Qian's doubt, the Countess stated plainly.

"In fact, because of the threat of the colorless curse, many people marry at quite a young age."

"Understood."

Fu Qian nodded, continuing to play the role of an amnesiac.

As it turned out, the Nun did indeed have a lover. Following the clues, the group soon located the man's home.

Unfortunately, the front door was wide open. With a single glance, it was obvious the place was empty.

"Looks like we're late."

Someone spoke up immediately.

The interior was a mess, clearly indicating the owner had left in a severe hurry.

"He's highly suspicious now."

"It's highly likely the Nun discovered his color loss. Afraid of being reported, he murdered her first and then fled to avoid punishment. There have simply been too many cases like this lately!"

"We'd better issue a wanted poster as soon as possible. A Colorless running loose is incredibly dangerous."

The rest of the team chimed in with their agreement.

"Not necessarily."

Seeing that the group had reached a consensus and the Countess had raised no objections, Fu Qian coughed lightly.

"Hmm?"

The team was shocked to hear him suddenly speak up, wondering what he was trying to pull this time.

His previous "homicide" deduction had left a rather deep impression on them.

"Who said there's no one here?"

Fu Qian took two steps forward.

"You can see the whole place at a glance. Where could anyone hide?"

Someone retorted immediately.

It's obvious your cultural lives are completely barren. You haven't been baptized by the deranged imaginations of true psychopaths.

Fu Qian shot the group a side-eye.

Though it was understandable. From his cursory glance earlier, the industrial level of this place seemed quite backward; they most likely hadn't been exposed to movies or television.

The significance of crime scene investigation goes far beyond your wildest imaginations!

"You're right. You can take this place in at a single glance. At first look, there truly is nowhere to hide a person."

"But if you let go of certain preconceptions—such as the structural shape of the human body—you'll realize there's actually quite a bit of space."

"Normally, the density of a human body is slightly greater than water. By that calculation, if you ball up a normal adult, they'd take up roughly a few dozen centimeters in length, width, and height."

"And there are definitely spots like that in this room. As professionals, we should at least verify them before declaring the place empty, shouldn't we?"

Having said his piece, Fu Qian walked over to a red wooden chest.

It was a wardrobe. The lid had long been thrown open, revealing nothing but a few messy articles of clothing inside.

Chests of this type often had a small false bottom used for storing relatively valuable items.

Fu Qian reached out and gave it a pull. Beneath lay a compact compartment, which was currently stuffed airtight with a mass of pale, squishy flesh.

"Holy shit!"

"See?"

Fu Qian gestured to the shocked crowd, then crouched down for a closer inspection.

It appeared to be a human body, but it was severely deformed, coiled up inside the compartment like a snail.

Even the shape of the skull was completely gone. Some body parts had even been tied into knots to prevent bodily fluids from leaking out.

The twisted scene was incredibly visceral, and a few of the team members immediately struggled to stomach it.

The young woman had already run outside to throw up.

"He was probably rushed, making it inconvenient to take the body outside to destroy the evidence. So, it was processed and hidden here instead."

Fu Qian was undoubtedly the most composed person in the room. He squatted by the chest, observing it, and even reached out to give it a squeeze.

"I can't feel any bones. It doesn't seem like they were crushed—that would most likely leave wounds. It feels more like the bones inside were entirely dissolved."

"Can the colorless curse cause this kind of effect—huh?"

Halfway through his question, Fu Qian suddenly let out a sound of surprise and pulled an oval stone out of the chest.

"What's this?"

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