Eldritch Horror Theatre

Dazzling Visage.

Now that Insight had been restored, how could this papal bestowal be absent?

"A God-Man? This power of yours might be strangely exquisite, but apologies—our Dark Moon Pope will never lose when it comes to thick skin... I mean, surface tension!"

A flash of arrogance crossed his mind. Even as he firmly reined in his brain cells to stop them from committing such gross disrespect, Fu Qian also finished his fanatical declaration.

But it was enough. He knew very well that the face of the Dark Moon Pope, Nelgria, had already condensed into this world using his body.

Just like the changes taking place overhead.

The difference was that while his own condensation was complete, the Pope couldn't use this face to initiate a Descent.

Meanwhile, the entity above truly had power seeping out, even though its condensation wasn't finished yet.

But that didn't matter. How would the onlookers know those details?

And as everyone knew, once technical skill was off the table, good looks were justice.

Although the entity's features were fairly regular and bore some resemblance to a God-Man, in front of the Pope's true face, it fell short by the magnitude of a mole.

With the audience having already made their choice in their hearts, all he needed now was a good story to win the match.

...

It wasn't that he had suddenly been possessed by Zou Ji, swearing to compete over beauty on the Pope's behalf.

As mentioned before, Fu Qian approved of the Old Man's deductive research regarding the God-Man bloodline.

That meant the hidden face truly was the essence of the Laria Family's talent.

And presumably, the moment they "saw" that face on the dome, Aike and the others could easily piece together a clear chain of events in their minds.

A special newborn with a constantly shifting face eventually triggered the family's talent. Then, disaster struck, dragging everyone present down with it and turning them into victims.

That perception would, in turn, greatly help that face become real.

Because according to his hypothesis regarding "consensus," what was happening to Benjamin right now shared the exact same nature as his own recent restoration to the Demigod Rank.

It was also a true two-way street, a mutually reinforcing transformation—

From the start of the exploration, they had continuously discovered traces of a Deity's authority...

The team members reasoned and deduced, believing the likelihood of the new Laria Family member's talent awakening was growing higher and higher...

Then came the even more exaggerated traces and corruption...

Along with deeper suspicions...

Finally, upon reaching a certain critical point, the group—having braved countless dangers and explored all the way here—discovered the root of it all.

And at that exact moment, Benjamin's face would turn into a true Face of Gods and Men.

This idea was highly subjective, but the recent mission update served as the best proof.

Only the absolute, authentic Face of Gods and Men could induce the Transcendent Tier. Yet, by following various transcendent signs, this team had step-by-step found a Face of Gods and Men that hadn't even fully condensed yet.

It was a paradox that absolutely could not be smoothed over.

Starting from this point, one could even see that although this mission looked ordinary, it was fundamentally sinister—a trap that tightened the more they struggled.

To solve the problem, they had to investigate what had actually happened here. But the process of investigating the problem was, in essence, exactly what was creating it.

Higher efficiency meant pushing themselves into the countdown even faster.

Even the ubiquitous corruption was essentially urging them to increase that efficiency.

And even if you slacked off, there was still an elite team led by a former Dean of the Academy boosting the efficiency for you.

The Old Man, who knew the secret of the Laria Family's talent, was absolutely the central pillar when it came to forming a consensus.

And if they couldn't break free from this apparent advantage that actually shackled the team, then no matter what they did, it would essentially be a suicidal death charge.

Even now, although the Phase 2 Mission had been triggered, Fu Qian judged that unless he killed off this entire team, they would soon help the Face of Gods and Men finish condensing for real.

Right now, they were merely running on a slight time difference bought by their earlier high-speed advance.

As for why he didn't just directly kill the thing overhead and solve the problem at its root?

When even "looking" at it required such specific methods, the difficulty of killing it was probably far higher than just slaughtering the Old Man and his group.

Given this, it was better to guide than to block. Since the audience liked to use their imaginations, he might as well give them a new line of thought.

"Don't run..."

Wearing the Witch's face, Fu Qian called out across the space to that thin, weak body, letting out a rather tasteless laugh.

"I have received your plea..."

"Thank you for helping to preserve this face. After the Progenitor awakens, your family will receive another boon..."

...

The Progenitor of the Blood Clan? Was She behind all this?

The classic villainous showdown laugh was clearly still quite infectious.

In that instant, more than one of the gazes looking his way became uncertain and alarmed.

This highly elite team was obviously undergoing a certain mental enlightenment.

Of course, the most important factor was undoubtedly the Pope's sacrificed personal image.

Although his laughter was overly ostentatious, no one dared to ignore the transcendent significance radiating from that beautiful face, which had already far exceeded conventional bounds.

Nothing else was needed; the mere existence of that face alone seemed to represent the condensation of a certain concept.

Furthermore, the Progenitor of the Blood Clan had indeed always been depicted with a female image.

Was everything here the will of that legendary "Her"?

Was this also why this Ancient Blood Clan member named Anke had awakened after such a long passage of time?

He didn't appear here by accident; he came specifically for the special bloodline power of the Laria Family!

At that moment, Fu Qian believed that inspiration was galloping wildly through everyone's hearts like a runaway horse, and no one could stop it.

"Does the curse on Benjamin have something to do with you?"

Reality did not disappoint him at all.

With a complex look in his eyes, the Old Man was ultimately the first to speak, asking coldly in the next moment.

...

Worthy of an academic elite who once led the First Transcendent Academy, his ability to draw inferences from one instance was admirable.

The Old Man's meaning was obvious; he didn't believe in such coincidences.

Rather than believing the anomaly in the new Laria Family member had attracted him here to use their bloodline talent to awaken the Progenitor, the Old Man leaned more toward the idea that he had been the Director from the very beginning.

The reason Brother Luyi couldn't purify it was precisely because it was a method stemming from an ancient era.

The logic remained silky smooth, and everything seemed to fit together.

Although he really wasn't the one who did it, Fu Qian's most direct reaction to this was simply—was there really such a lucky break?

The Old Man was simply being too cooperative!

He could see that before he even responded to the question, the expressions of the others had entirely changed.

"What a beautiful tree of bloodlines. Thank you for the hospitality."

Without answering, or even bothering to turn his head for a look, Fu Qian stared at the dome and wiped the corner of his mouth.

"Now, the fallen leaves belong to you, and the fruit belongs to me."

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