Eldritch Horror Theatre

As the saying goes, to do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools.

He had just come up with a laboratory upgrade plan, and now such a perfect opportunity had delivered itself to his door. How could he not take advantage of it?

"Huh?"

Clearly, Li Weixuan hadn't expected to be providing this kind of hardware support.

His surprise only lasted a moment, however. Soon, he let out a loud laugh and surveyed the surroundings.

"Professor Fu's place is indeed a bit empty. I'll make it clear to them to provide everything you need."

Li Weixuan was quite generous regarding this small request.

"I appreciate the effort."

Once the matter was settled, he didn't linger. He nodded to Fu Qian and took his leave.

The latter's excessively decisive and ruthless style was truly striking—he had already executed both a student and an instructor.

Coupled with his malicious abduction of a rising star, many within the Sword Comprehension Institute harbored quite a few complaints.

But those were just surface details. Li Weixuan knew very well that this man had essentially turned the tide at crucial moments on several occasions, minimizing the Academy's losses to the greatest extent. His actions had long exceeded the responsibilities of the Disciplinary Department.

He had even gone on to become the entire Academy's newest demigod.

He might have a few secrets, but how many high-tier transcendents didn't?

Now, faced with this slightly presumptuous small trouble that had knocked on his door—and despite Li Weixuan repeatedly stating he could refuse it—the man's reaction spoke volumes.

Dean Casi's judgment was trustworthy after all!

...

He wondered how Dean Li would feel if he knew that his final step toward becoming a demigod had been kicked right back by Fu Qian himself.

Watching Li Weixuan depart satisfied, Fu Qian let his thoughts wander for a moment.

Even in the already declining Academy, there was more than one person stronger than Li Weixuan, but it was clear why he was considered the ideal candidate for the next Dean.

Old Man Li had raised him well, even if his retirement had been a bit too hasty.

Recalling the old friend he had recently attended the royal banquet with, Fu Qian suddenly felt a surge of curiosity about the incident from years ago that had caused the Academy such heavy losses.

"Professor Fu, the item is here."

As expected of such swift and resolute action, not long after Li Weixuan left, more visitors arrived.

There was actually quite a crowd this time.

Aside from Chang Mo, who immediately handed over a jewelry box-like item, there was an unfamiliar face whose Rank wasn't much lower than hers. The stranger greeted him neither haughtily nor humbly, likely the personnel Yuan Fang had sent to assist.

The key was that besides the two of them, Ji Liushuang, who had just recently gone to the Academy to study hard, was also present.

"Thank you... why did you come along?"

He offered a polite word of thanks. After taking the box from Chang Mo, Fu Qian didn't rush to open it. Instead, he looked at Ji Liushuang with a weird expression and asked.

"I asked her to come."

Before the laboratory assistant could say anything, Chang Mo spoke up first.

"I heard from Dean Li that Your Excellency requires some equipment support. I figured that as a laboratory assistant, it would be convenient for Liushuang to come along and take notes."

"Makes sense."

Although Chang Mo's face showed no emotion as she spoke, it didn't stop Fu Qian from agreeing with her thoughtful reasoning.

"First, tell me about your current progress."

In the next moment, Fu Qian didn't rush to state his material demands, but directly signaled for them to get down to business.

...

"It seems the Night Watchers' guess was actually correct. This item and the 'Invitation Letter' mentioned by those victims really do seem to share some similar properties."

The topic switched directly to the main matter. Faced with Fu Qian's professional attitude, Chang Mo didn't waste any time and reached out to open the jewelry box.

In the fairly small space lay a single, lustrous white sphere.

And just as Li Weixuan had described, its surface wasn't smooth. Slender, elongated structures resembling finger bones were fused together like melted wax.

Even so, there were gaps between the intersections. A single glance from the outside in revealed a profound sense of depth, much like a bizarre puzzle ball.

Of course, that wasn't his only association.

At the same time, Fu Qian's mind flashed back to the false history where Professor Yi'an had successfully achieved demigod status. After he had blown Yi'an's head off, the body had displayed a similar appearance.

That uneven, multi-layered, overlapping net-like structure.

It actually shared a certain underlying essence with the sight before him.

"According to the Night Watchers, this thing was confiscated at a gathering themed 'Return to Chastity'. Its owner claimed it could return people to a childlike purity."

Chang Mo quickly explained the information she had.

"Unfortunately, after the father of a certain girl spent a fortune participating and found it entirely ineffective, he reported it in a fit of rage."

"After obtaining it, I had more than one 'Invitation Letter' victim come into contact with it. I eventually discovered a specific change—the hopeless condition of those people finally seemed to improve."

Oh?

Chang Mo's words naturally reminded Fu Qian of the people at the Masquerade, especially the organizer, Old Man Qiao.

The living desires induced in those people by Yi'an essentially possessed an independent existence; their relationship with the self was no longer a simple subordination.

If the condition ran deep, it wasn't at all strange for them to be beyond saving.

Now, hearing Chang Mo's account, this item—which was completely ineffective on some ordinary people—could actually influence this higher-dimensional form of desire?

Fascinating. After all, the Rank of this thing didn't seem particularly high.

"But it's limited to that. At present, its effect isn't enough to truly cure them, nor have any other changes been discovered."

As Chang Mo spoke, she handed over a stack of documents.

"These are the detailed records for Your Excellency's reference."

"Thank you for the effort."

Fu Qian reached out to take them. Flipping through them briefly, he could clearly sense her dedication.

Chang Mo had obviously taken this matter quite seriously.

Because of that, being forced to hand it over right when it was nearing completion was even more likely to bring about negative feelings.

"I wonder what else Your Excellency might need?"

Her impression of the man before her wasn't great—especially because of Ji Liushuang—but even Chang Mo had to admit that, for a demigod, he was quite approachable.

Quickly suppressing a trace of displeasure, she asked earnestly.

"There might be quite a lot. Liushuang, help me jot this down."

Hearing this, Fu Qian looked rather pleased and gestured to Ji Liushuang.

...

Are you setting up a laboratory or a damn hotel?

Is there a single proper item on here?

A moment later, faced with the Checklist Fu Qian had provided, Chang Mo—whose impression of him had just slightly improved—was dumbfounded.

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