Eldritch Horror Theatre

The hostage was suddenly using the rescuers to threaten the terrorist.

It all happened in a flash. With a casualty suddenly on their hands, the complexity of the situation skyrocketed exponentially.

As elites of the transcendent realm, the two remaining Night Watchers stubbornly managed to grasp the true nature of the situation, even while struggling under the influence of the Frost Variant Commandment Residue.

From Fu Qian's perspective, however, they seemed to wish they hadn't.

After all, identifying a problem without the power to solve it was a miserable feeling.

This was especially true when the completely unfazed criminal was watching them from the sidelines with keen interest, seemingly anticipating the law enforcers' next move.

"Save him first..."

Under this mounting psychological pressure, the Night Watchers finally made their decision.

Unsurprisingly, they opted to play it safe.

The final remaining operative drew a short blade to cover them, keeping a wary eye on the Old Lady who had just lashed out.

Their reason for not keeping Fu Qian under surveillance was simple: his figure was simply too disorienting to look at.

Even catching a glimpse of him in their peripheral vision seemed to aggravate the chill in their consciousness, dragging them toward an abyss where they would lose all will to resist.

"There are no wounds, and no unusual marks... Can you hear me?"

In the midst of this response, he soon received a report from his teammate.

It sounded as if that terrifying strike from moments ago hadn't inflicted any substantial damage at all—

"Something... isn't right..."

Unfortunately, that brief spark of optimism was ruthlessly shattered a second later.

Recovering somewhat from his stupor, a bizarre expression surfaced on the casualty's face as he muttered to himself in an even stranger tone.

His body was contorting into an unnatural posture, faintly corroborating his own statement.

...

It possessed the elegance of a prefrontal lobotomy.

The sight in his field of vision once again validated Fu Qian's judgment.

His earlier critique hadn't been baseless nonsense.

That giant claw certainly wasn't just for visual effect; it could even be called a kind of elegant cruelty.

It bypassed the vulgarity of flying flesh and blood, directly mutilating the essence of existence.

The reason the operative felt something was wrong was simple—when the giant claw swept past, the fundamental self of the corresponding body parts had been shredded, yet the flesh and blood tissue remained.

As a result, the relationship between those parts and his original body instantly became incredibly delicate.

To some extent, it could be understood as a bisected body that should have been dead, its missing parts patched together by a mass of flesh that did not belong to it.

This temporarily maintained his blood circulation and basic physiological functions... but only temporarily.

It was entirely believable that as time passed, this stitched-together essence would firmly manifest itself.

His ability to deduce this so quickly stemmed not only from his perception, but also from his wealth of experience.

As an expert in the power of flesh and blood, Fu Qian had already experienced disability multiple times.

The only silver lining was that this elegant mutilation hadn't catalyzed the spread of pollution.

Having immediately targeted the casualty and independently activated Lucid Dream, he detected no resistance to the dream.

...

"Don't move. We're taking you back right now."

Though unable to comprehend the changes occurring in his team member, the leading Night Watcher clearly didn't doubt the authenticity of his reaction.

Supporting the unsteady body, he made a swift decision, even fighting back his discomfort to stare directly at Fu Qian as he spoke.

"The situation here is no longer something we can control. We'll go back and report first."

Taking shame as a spur to courage—uttering words that talked up another's strength was no easy feat for the arrogant Night Watchers.

But it was an irrefutable fact.

An apparently ordinary person had suddenly transformed into a massive threat.

A single strike had inflicted severe trauma, even when they had been on guard.

Not to mention there was an unfathomable criminal eyeing them like a tiger.

Not joking around with his teammate's life, he decisively acknowledged that the greatest value the three of them could secure right now was bringing the experience of this trip back while preserving the casualty's life.

From this reaction, it could be seen that the internal culture of the Night Watchers in Loss was quite pragmatic.

Even directing his gaze at Fu Qian while speaking was likely meant to lay his plan out in the open, allowing the criminal to weigh his options.

Unfortunately, the latter didn't even pay attention to this veiled compromise, his gaze remaining fixed on the hostage who had just lashed out.

After delivering that elegant strike, the Old Lady hadn't made another move.

...

Ugh—

She didn't make Fu Qian wait long. The slightly eerie stalemate lasted only a few breaths before the Old Lady's posture shifted.

With a groan of awaking as if from a dream, the Old Lady's body went limp, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.

Such a commotion was undoubtedly eye-catching, but neither Fu Qian nor the Night Watchers showed any intention of helping the elderly woman up.

What a pity.

At that moment, Fu Qian was well aware that the Old Lady had completely snapped out of her "sleepwalking" state.

And with this shift, that transcendent presence had also faded away.

Even in the face of his clear hostility, she ultimately hadn't gone for another bite.

In truth, with the previous victim serving as an example, Fu Qian had originally considered not dodging, attempting to glean more from that elegant interaction.

Unfortunately, his earnest intentions had ultimately gone to waste.

"She's no longer a danger. You can consider taking her back with you."

Almost simultaneously, Fu Qian turned to look at the wary Night Watchers, not only finally responding, but even offering a suggestion.

The casualty injured on duty, currently being supported, was looking increasingly stitched-together; he would clearly be needing some professional treatment next.

Take her back with us...

The information behind this brief suggestion was undoubtedly rich. The most intuitive point, at least, was that the criminal seemed to have no intention of stopping the law enforcers from leaving.

But why... What exactly was his goal?

Even as their objective was met, the Night Watchers couldn't help but look around, pondering the original target of their mission.

And what their group might be missing out on, given they had no chance to conduct a prior search.

"...We're leaving."

However, despite the myriad of thoughts racing through his mind, the Night Watcher didn't express them, instead stating his stance in the most direct manner.

The Old Lady, who was clearly still a bit dazed, was directly supported by an arm the next moment. The four of them split into two pairs and quietly retreated.

Of course, what they didn't know was that even after only Fu Qian was left in the office, he didn't do anything like turning the place upside down to search.

Because the planned harvest had already been obtained.

Fu Qian had never expected Rick to leave anything special behind at his old office.

The focus of this trip had always been to spur the Night Watchers into action, and the information they would be taking back.

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