Eldritch Horror Theatre

'Quite the results. It seems the active research atmosphere at Apocalypse hasn't been in vain.'

Fu Qian set down the sword he had borrowed for observation and did nothing else.

Indeed, shortly after entering the Sword Pavilion earlier, he had sensed something unusual—a peculiar aura he had encountered during a night inspection with Dean Casi.

During that laboratory accident, Professor Rob, who rarely worked night shifts, had been testing his new idea of breeding an insect swarm using Demigod Realm flesh.

In Fu Qian's eyes, it was certainly an interesting concept.

Of course, it was even more interesting now.

After verifying it up close, Fu Qian was quite certain he wasn't mistaken. The sword carried the exact scent of the mushroom that had sprouted from those flying insect corpses.

This raised a question: why would a product of the Apocalypse Laboratory have any connection to the Sacred Land of the Sword Comprehension Institute?

It was a question that sparked the imagination. Aside from pure coincidence, Fu Qian could easily form a few other speculations.

...

"Professor Fu..."

It was gratifying to see the vitality of Apocalypse demonstrated once again.

With his medium-length hair and large eyes under thick eyebrows, Professor Rob's demeanor remained unchanged. The sun had barely set, yet he was already cautiously opening the laboratory door, holding a long, black object in his hands.

"Professor Rob, please, sit down. You're too polite!"

Fu Qian rose to greet him with an incredibly easygoing manner, though he stared openly at the gift the professor had brought.

"Sorry to intrude..."

Fu Qian's complete lack of surprise clearly added to Professor Rob's stress, especially when his gaze locked onto the Sword Comprehension Institute piece sitting on the table.

Rob, who already had a somewhat neurotic air about him, instantly grew even more on edge.

However, his straightforward nature as a researcher quickly took over. After a brief, perfunctory greeting, Rob got straight to the point. He unwrapped his gift right then and there, placing it on the desk.

It was identical.

The Broadsword that Professor Fu had understood at a glance—prompting him to take the liberty of borrowing it from the Sword Comprehension Institute—was completely indistinguishable from the gift placed beside it.

Faced with this magical sight, not only did Fu Qian observe it with keen interest, but even Professor Rob himself fell silent for a long moment.

"I've caused Your Excellency trouble."

Fortunately, he hadn't forgotten why he came. Taking a deep breath a moment later, he admitted his fault.

...

'Lowering his posture, showing up at my door, bringing a gift, and admitting his mistakes... at first glance, my position as the interim spokesperson seems to be getting more and more secure.'

Watching this unfold, Fu Qian couldn't help but click his tongue in amusement.

"Today was just a coincidence. I happened to bump into a friend outside the Sword Pavilion."

Of course, as an interim spokesperson with a technical background, he still hadn't shed some of his bad habits.

For instance, instead of offering a tactful response like "What trouble?", Fu Qian chose to cut straight to the chase and explain his day's experience.

"Considering that although her Rank isn't high, she still has some talent in the sword path, I submitted a request to Dean Li. We were granted a special exception to enter the Sword Pavilion for some observation."

"To my surprise, I was the one who gained something first. I noticed a familiar scent on this sword, one I'd smelled in your laboratory... so I borrowed it."

Fu Qian reached out, grabbed both swords, and held them together, examining them closely.

"I was just getting ready to go find you to discuss it, Professor Rob, but it seems you beat me to it."

Whether in weight or appearance, they were completely indistinguishable, save for the faint, nearly imperceptible trace of fungal scent on the one he had borrowed.

"My laboratory... can pick up on certain changes related to it..."

It was clear that as Apocalypse's newly advanced Demigod Realm expert—and having recently crushed Linghui's momentum—Fu Qian's prestige had skyrocketed.

Seeing that Fu Qian wasn't visibly upset, Rob seemed to relax slightly. After a brief hesitation, he explained why he had rushed over so quickly.

"Oh? It really is related to your experiments?"

With his guess confirmed, Fu Qian made no effort to hide his curiosity.

"If I remember correctly, Dean Casi arranged for someone else to take over and forbade you from touching those things."

...

"Once they confirmed everything was safe, they gave it back to me after I strongly petitioned for it."

Seeing that Professor Fu had such a good memory, Rob chuckled.

"That was only after I went to the folks at the Benevolent Curse Institute, of course. I had them help add another layer of protection to maximize isolation from the influence of those divine patterns."

"I see."

This explanation naturally reminded Fu Qian of how this very colleague—despite wearing a full suite of protective gear—had been contaminated simply by looking at the special patterns formed by the churning insect fog, causing fungal threads to sprout inside his own body.

'Brother Ah Kai and his people really do answer every request.'

'Still, anyone else could have easily taken these remedial measures. In the end, it seems Casi simply didn't want to strip him of his ownership over the project.'

'After a minor accident, he produced a solution, and they just pushed the boat along with the current and returned the project to him.'

'Of course, Casi probably never expected this guy to turn around and cause an even bigger incident.'

"Does Your Excellency remember how the constantly dying Insect Swarm eventually began forming into a mushroom after fusing with the Divine Flesh?"

When discussing his research, Rob actually looked somewhat excited. Before Fu Qian could ask, he began offering more details, even adding animated gestures.

"Not long after that, it actually grew to completion. It was about this big."

"Following that, the Insect Swarm stopped gathering on it and instead started forming a new one right next to it... Once I realized this, I tried plucking the mushroom out. And does Your Excellency know what happened then?"

"It turned into this sword?"

Fu Qian didn't seem to find this line of questioning strange at all. He even cooperatively raised the prop in his hand.

"It can indeed turn into a sword like that, but to be more precise, it can become any item."

Staring at what Fu Qian was holding, Rob's eyes shone with undisguised awe.

"Though even now, I have no idea how it does it."

"But through specific induction methods, it can rapidly assume the appearance of whatever item it touches, including items with Transcendent Tier properties."

'Dealing with a bunch of eccentrics like this every day... Dean Casi really doesn't have it easy.'

With his previous guesses confirmed, Fu Qian let out a long sigh in his heart.

"Does that include the item's Transcendent Tier properties?"

'Speaking of which, did he suddenly run off on that field expedition just to slack off and take a vacation?'

"As expected of Your Excellency, you noticed the key point immediately!"

Fu Qian's casual question earned him a shower of praise from Professor Rob.

"Unfortunately, I've tried more than once, even borrowing items with various properties from other instructors, but it seems it can only mimic their appearance..."

"And so you didn't give up, but instead expanded your search to the other institutes?"

"...Yeah."

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