Eldritch Horror Theatre

He upheld the academic spirit: seeing past the surface, seeking the hidden rules of reality, and mobilizing resources to test and verify.

Everything he had done from the start allowed him to "reluctantly" lay his cards on the table when questioned, smoothly weaving a shocking conspiracy surrounding the Progenitor of the Blood Clan.

The most immediate result of this operation was successfully restoring his Demigod Rank.

But as stated before, a true professional never stopped at the surface.

The conspiracy itself was the true purpose behind his actions.

He had beaten the real mastermind to the punch, providing a unified, logical explanation for the entire crisis.

Voluntarily taking the blame gave him a massive preemptive advantage in this trap, where consensus served as a precious resource.

In fact, that was exactly when Lu Yi finally aroused obvious suspicion.

Despite being in mortal peril, the man had the mental agility to spot the logical holes in Fu Qian's story, leaping at the chance to prove it was nonsense—twice.

Of course, sincerity is the ultimate killer move. In the end, Lu Yi's interrogation only helped flesh out the story's details and lent it more credibility.

Stacking all these maneuvers had secured him the maximum possible advantage for now—but it was far from enough.

Winning a game with open cards required far more than just taking the initiative.

......

If his worst-case deductions held true, their opponent was fighting with a true home-field advantage—

Backed by a power resembling a Deity, they fully understood the rules of consensus, could guide creations like the Tree Infant, and could watch his every move.

Even Lu Yi himself, as suspected, was far beyond the Mid Tier.

"You're looking well, Excellency. How reassuring."

Smiling and nodding, Fu Qian finally returned Lu Yi's greeting.

His comment wasn't just empty politeness.

In this brief time, Lu Yi had not only toppled the ginseng fruit tree and purged all traces of corruption, but he had also ascended to the Demigod Realm.

At a glance, his imposing aura fully matched that of Excellency Aike beside him.

He was willing to call it highly efficient.

When facing such an opponent with his own cards unilaterally exposed, he had to maximize the value of every single move just to secure a chance of survival.

For instance, his minuscule sliver of familiarity with this place.

Fu Qian wasn't naive enough to think this slight information advantage would let him set an ambush or dig up some rare, game-changing artifact.

His opponent knew this place far better than he did.

In Fu Qian's mind, the only value of this knowledge lay in letting the enemy know that he possessed it.

After leaving the group, he had marched straight here with clear intent, impatient to act.

If the audience witnessed such a scene, it would deeply undermine his earlier story about the Progenitor of the Blood Clan.

It would show that he, a Blood Clan Demigod, wasn't nearly as aloof as he had pretended to be.

Therefore, once Lu Yi noticed his unusual behavior, it was perfectly logical for him to use the Tree Infant to intercept and probe him, while simultaneously leading the audience here to witness the true face behind his making an empty show of strength.

It was exactly what Fu Qian needed him to do.

Of course, before that, mending the fold after the sheep is lost by learning to lay his cards on the table and claiming to be the true mastermind in an attempt to wrestle for the power of consensus was undoubtedly an essential move.

Both his healed injuries and the Demigod Rank already fully demonstrated this point.

"Truth be told, I preferred my previous appearance. It made me feel closer to everyone, even allowing me to experience their care."

Facing Fu Qian's greeting, Lu Yi dropped any pretense, chuckling modestly.

"But I simply couldn't bear to let Your Excellency take the fall for my crimes, so I had to step forward."

"It's just a shame about the disguise I spent so much effort perfecting, though from the look of it, Your Excellency probably saw through it long ago."

......

He laid his cards on the table, but only some of them.

Lu Yi had clearly learned from his past mistakes. He gave no openings in this confrontation, speaking up instantly to seize the initiative.

Even from those few brief sentences, Fu Qian extracted crucial information.

Disguise. Step forward. Saw through it.

While admitting to being the mastermind, Lu Yi deliberately framed his transformation as a return to his true form, dismissing his previous state as merely a clever disguise.

The power of consensus—and the role Li He and the others had played in it—was cleverly concealed.

Despite hearing the "truth" of the conspiracy twice, the audience was still completely in the dark.

It was completely unsurprising. If the resource contributors realized the role they were playing, it would somewhat dampen their enthusiasm.

This selective laying of cards on the table was clearly the optimal choice after careful deliberation.

Fu Qian could almost picture what Lu Yi had done after he left.

While confessing to being the mastermind, he slowly catalyzed his divinity, guiding the audience's consensus to meet him halfway. In the end, he successfully "dropped the disguise" and restored the true face of a Demigod Realm—exactly as Fu Qian had done.

Plagiarizing without a word, he truly showed no respect for intellectual property.

As for why he slightly deliberately exposed this fact the very moment they met, Fu Qian completely understood the reason—he was confident that Fu Qian wouldn't blow his cover.

......

After his perfectly laid plans were disrupted so thoroughly, Lu Yi couldn't possibly be naive enough to think Fu Qian didn't understand the essence of consensus.

But Fu Qian's past actions had shown no intention of exposing this secret.

Lu Yi might not have believed the tale about the Progenitor of the Blood Clan, but he knew Fu Qian was here for a reason.

He knew Fu Qian wanted to use the stage he built to achieve his own goals.

Therefore, actively exposing the essence of consensus would bring no benefit to either of them.

Being certain of this point gave him the confidence to actively say so, hoping to reach a tacit understanding between capitalists.

That is, competition was competition, but they still needed to preserve the right to exploit the remaining three people.

"You're looking much better yourself. Did Lu Yi cure your corruption?"

The next moment, clearly having received this message, Fu Qian surprisingly didn't voice a single doubt.

He didn't rush to defend himself either. Maintaining his elegant Blood Clan demeanor, he stepped forward under the scrutiny of his three audience members, offering Aike a smiling greeting.

This wasn't empty politeness either. Even in a flesh-and-blood state, Aike no longer bore any signs of corruption.

If Lu Yi wanted to make others believe he was the true mastermind, using such means to display his strength couldn't be more normal.

Li He and the other person were in the exact same state.

"It seems so...... but the crying still hasn't stopped."

Unfortunately, the answer made one thing perfectly clear: Aike held him and Lu Yi in the exact same terrible regard.

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