Eldritch Horror Theatre

The Self-Isolation Device...

Fu Qian's actions naturally drew Wen Li's attention.

She obviously had a deep impression of this uniquely shaped item, a prop capable of bestowing a prison-style aesthetic upon its wearer.

But after only a brief moment of surprise, her attention was caught by something else.

"Mr. Fu, your arm..."

Her head snapped up, her gaze locking onto Fu Qian's left arm.

...

So relaxed. Truly fitting for a dream state.

Facing the bewildered Wen Li, Fu Qian made his silent evaluation.

It was solid black, elegantly styled, and impeccably tailored—even more exquisite than the tactical gear Eldest Miss Wen had prepared at his request.

But even so, the anomaly of his left arm remained obvious.

Wen Li possessed decent observational skills. Under normal circumstances, she would have noticed it at first glance, especially since his left sleeve hadn't been altered into the loose, wide design he usually requested.

However, while in this dream state, her focus was clearly much looser.

"It's just a minor injury. It makes moving a bit inconvenient for now."

Sitting calmly, Fu Qian offered a casual explanation.

"So that's what happened."

Not only were her observational skills compromised, but she was also significantly easier to convince. Wen Li let out a soft sound of understanding, though her expression quickly grew solemn.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Evidently, in her mind, for the great Dayun Mingwang who terrified Shangjing and its surrounding regions to be injured to the point of impaired mobility, the danger he had faced must have been unimaginably perilous.

"No need. The matter is already settled."

Understanding her thoughts perfectly, Fu Qian politely declined her enthusiasm. To show that everything was under control, the sleeve hanging from his left shoulder even twitched slightly.

...

He hadn't, of course, conjured up a few tentacles inside the sleeve to confuse her.

The Warehouse's description was still very precise.

Perhaps due to the accumulated negative status effects from the Nightmare Corridor, other than the two items in his hands, the Extreme Hunger Infection, and the Decree of Return, all of his other supernatural abilities were undisputedly locked away.

According to the Warehouse's explanation, he was currently equivalent to an ordinary person possessing Tier 2 Status. It was a truly bizarre state.

And this wasn't the only change. There was another negative effect distinctly originating from the Nightmare Corridor—the place where his left arm should have been was not entirely empty.

Something faintly responsive to his will, yet clearly possessing a mind of its own, hid beneath that sleeve, fused with his flesh and blood.

Given his past experience in Fenghou City, it was all too easy to picture a giant worm writhing in its place.

While suppressing his abilities, the Nightmare Corridor's erosion seemed to target his weakest points first—weak in every sense of the word.

"That's good."

Eldest Miss Wen possessed an excellent sense of boundaries, and coupled with her absolute confidence in Mr. Fu, she immediately dropped the subject.

"Things in Shangjing have been very stable lately."

The next moment, she began to rapidly share whatever valuable information she had on her end.

"Over at the Jiang Clan, Jiang En has grown completely disillusioned after the recent events and has severed ties with the family."

"As for the Gulade Family, they have kept a rather low profile. After Taylor was cleared of the false charges, they declared their full cooperation with the Night Watchers to catch the culprit who framed the Blood Clan. Word is that they've already locked onto a specific syndicate."

"Brother Daneta's remnants?"

Fu Qian wasn't the least bit surprised by the situation Wen Li described.

"Yes. The confidentiality of this information isn't too high. Supposedly, they haven't caught anyone yet. That group must have fled Shangjing at the first opportunity."

Eldest Miss Wen had been right there when he and Yuan Shan shifted all the blame onto the Greed Worm and its group, so she effortlessly kept up with Fu Qian's train of thought.

"Even Chief Yuan hasn't been around these past few days. She must be very confident in Shangjing's stability, and it's true that nothing major has happened since."

"Oh?"

Fu Qian raised an eyebrow at that.

"How is it that this seat hears that each generation produces new talents? I was told that even though Southern Jiang En and Northern Taylor have both laid low, a new genius has suddenly emerged. They've firmly reached Tier 4 in a short period and even plan to challenge this seat to restore Shangjing's honor?"

"...Mr. Fu is joking."

She certainly wasn't dense enough to miss who Fu Qian was talking about. Blushing instantly, Wen Li waved her hands in frantic denial.

"There are still so many questions I need your guidance on while I stabilize my condition—wait."

Midway through her modest deflection, Wen Li suddenly realized something and looked at him in confusion.

"It's strange. I can't feel your emotions at all..."

"And more importantly, I feel like I've only just noticed."

...

Of course you can't. My current role is basically an NPC in your dream, okay?

Seeing Wen Li finally catch on, Fu Qian remarked inwardly.

Since his arrival, he had been constantly evaluating his situation.

Drawing on his rich experience interacting with nightmares during his escort missions, reaching a conclusion was fairly easy.

Right now, he was fundamentally no different from the various evil forces inhabiting the numerous nightmares eroding Laerdin.

Entities like the character behind the bloodsucking worms in the hospital that treated boiling blood disease, or Brother Proxy, who had fought alongside him and ultimately sacrificed himself for a greater cause.

The biggest difference between himself and a dreamwalker was that there was no corresponding self existing in reality right now.

To put it bluntly, take Wen Li right before him—after their brief exchange, he could almost guarantee this was her dream.

The real her was likely fast asleep in a fragrant bed at this very moment.

The moment she opened her eyes and woke up, it would be equivalent to a direct Descent into the Real World.

Though the two of them appeared to be having a casual conversation, they were separated by a literal dimensional gap.

This was the most fundamental impact the Nightmare Corridor had forced upon him.

What he needed to do now was just like the many corruptions within the nightmares: find a channel to break through the barrier.

And the concept of this channel was already crystal clear. It was the dreamwalkers, who could cross dimensions at will.

Even the method to exploit them had already been demonstrated by his predecessors—corrupt the dreamwalkers with one's own concept, ultimately tainting them on a profound level with one's mark.

Not the kind of pollution that vanished upon waking, like the boiling blood disease, but a deepened, more fundamental desecration of their ego, forcing them to carry that madness back into the Real World.

What a textbook Evil God procedure. Is this what they mean by catching the disease you've spent too long treating?

Fu Qian felt absolutely no psychological barrier toward doing this.

The only problem was that he, the so-called Evil God, was still nothing but an empty shell.

The reason Wen Li couldn't sense his emotions was very simple. The man sitting in front of her was undeniably Tier 2—but completely lacked Transcendent Tier power.

With such a massive gap in Rank, it was perfectly normal for her not to sense his emotions.

But Eldest Miss Wen could honestly just grab his collar and hoist him up to physically confirm his emotions.

In fact, he couldn't rule out the possibility of her actually doing that.

Fu Qian didn't rush to answer Wen Li's doubts; instead, he stared fixedly into the space just above her head.

Accompanying her confusion, an illusory, endlessly twitching eye was slowly opening.

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