Eldritch Horror Theatre

Let me see... 3-0205, here it is.

The Warehouse's shelves were still arranged in a somewhat haphazard way, but Fu Qian didn't need to spend much effort to find his newly contained target.

Given how strange this latest mission had felt, he was quite curious to see what the Containment Object known as All Fools' Day actually looked like.

He had to admit, just a single glance at its packaging was enough to reveal how out of the ordinary it was.

It was the same silver-white metallic square box as the others, but its size was incredibly diminutive—barely the length of a palm.

He reached out and opened the box, revealing its contents.

"Oh?"

Fu Qian reached two fingers into the box, pinched out a bright red feather, and examined it closely.

Indeed, the Containment Object named All Fools' Day was just a slightly curved red feather, not even a palm's length.

Have I been running into a bit too many feathers lately?

Considering he had just recently examined the remains of a Prison Archangel, it was hard not to draw connections.

But that wasn't Fu Qian's only association—there was also the Fool's Idol.

It sat on a table not far away, occupying a central spot in his collection. He had even borrowed its appearance not long ago to guide the Greed Worms.

That statue was draped in a bright red feather cloak.

Although its feathers were far smaller than the one in front of him, the color and shape were absolutely identical. Fu Qian was completely confident in that assessment.

Does it have to do with the Fool... All Fools' Day. That actually makes sense.

He had already entertained this possibility back when he first heard the name.

So is the holiday of All Fools' Day actually a fragment of power related to this divine entity's former authority? A conceptual Anchor Point or something similar?

However, based on previous circumstances, the Fool seemed to be just like the many fallen ancient deities—highly inactive.

So inactive, in fact, that borrowing His appearance hadn't drawn down any divine punishment.

At the same time, he hadn't found any traces of a covenant during that mission. Did that mean He had died even more thoroughly than those deities who were actively searching for pawns?

That seemed reasonable enough, but there was one small problem: how could an utterly diminished power fragment from an ancient deity place such restrictions on him, or rather, on the Warehouse?

Restrictions so severe that the mission assigned to him required his abilities and Items to be completely blocked out in order to resolve it.

If that's really the case, just how powerful was His Excellency the Fool in His prime?

Or does He, like a certain predecessor, Blazing Rainbow, hold some extra influence and grasp over the Warehouse's operations?

Yet so far, the power stemming from the Fool doesn't seem to carry any particular malice...

Interesting.

Fu Qian felt deeply satisfied with the harvest from this quick visit.

Though he couldn't draw any definitive conclusions just yet, there was no doubt that the divine statue on the table warranted a great deal more attention.

The unfortunate part was that its effects were a bit too unique. The risk of using Insight on it, as he did with other objects, was simply too high.

Perhaps the Night Watchers might know more about it?

Or maybe there are meaningful clues to be found in that deity graveyard deep within the Mind World?

Of course, the most ideal outcome would be if the Greed Worms could bring him some relevant surprises following his previous display.

Silently pondering his next steps, Fu Qian confirmed there were no other special marks on the feather before taking a step to the side.

The next moment, his hand was completely empty. The red feather had reappeared inside the square box.

As expected, he only had the right to view it; taking it with him was impossible.

Having no objections to the strict scope of authority granted by the Warehouse, Fu Qian casually closed the box and made his way back to his collection.

Staring at the beautiful, four-armed statue with the red feathers, he confirmed once again that the feathers looked identical. At the same time, Fu Qian's face and body rapidly shifted, meticulously replicating the form of the Fool's Idol.

He even matched and recreated its four distinctively shaped arms.

...

No reaction. The Warehouse seemed completely unbothered.

He maintained the new form for about half a minute. After failing to sense any divine wrath or similar backlash from his surroundings, Fu Qian snapped his fingers and swiftly reverted to his original appearance.

His actions just now were by no means born of idle boredom.

One purpose of that experiment was that if His Excellency the Fool truly had some special arrangement in place, acting out like that immediately after finishing a mission served as striking while the iron was hot, giving the Warehouse a heads-up.

Although judging by the results, the Warehouse looked entirely in control. He seemed to have overthought it.

But that was fine, because there was a second purpose: since His Excellency the Fool didn't mind, he would inevitably continue plagiarizing His image in the future. Fine-tuning the transformation to make the replica as precise as possible might yield better results.

As for right now...

Fu Qian glanced at the Emissary beside him and, answering the Warehouse's notification that he could leave, placed it directly on his face.

Time to clock out.

As the scenery shifted, his vision swapped to the bright and bustling city of Shangjing, bathed in sunlight and teeming with life.

Even from the second floor, he could feel the restless thirst for knowledge radiating from the passing customers in the alleyway outside.

...

Heaven rewards diligence. What a thrilling, bloody battle in the sea of commerce this had been.

The evening twilight had deepened. Inside a small street-side shop in Shangjing, the Bookstore Owner, having worked hard all day, finally raised his head, closed the book in his hands, and set it aside.

"Sorry, we're closed."

Looking at the nearly double-digit number of customers in the store, Fu Qian stretched grandiosely. As he shooed them out, he used a sharp gaze to stop any customer who dared to walk toward the counter with a book.

And as the final person to leave carefully pulled the door shut, the little shop officially concluded its busy day.

"Have you eaten dinner?"

Fu Qian called out to the single figure remaining in the shop, gesturing for her to sit nearby.

As expected of Classmate Su Gao, truly dedicated to her work.

That was right. Clad in a black outfit and a narrow hat, calm and composed, the arrival who had directly prompted the bookstore's closing was none other than the Yama Enforcer stepping up in a crisis, Su Gao.

According to Chief Yuan, she had been earning bounties not too far away, but for her to arrive before the night had even deepened still spoke volumes about how seriously she treated this new mission.

"I haven't."

Immediately responding to his call, she sat down. Faced with Fu Qian's deeply domestic question, the expression on Su Gao's face softened a bit as she honestly shook her head.

"Then we'll eat on the way."

Unfortunately, Fu Qian didn't intend to host a banquet this time. He stood straight up, signaling it was time to head out.

"Okay."

Su Gao clearly had no objections to this arrangement.

"Do you prefer somewhere more spacious, or somewhere more quiet?"

The next moment, a card appeared in Fu Qian's hand. He waved it and asked her for confirmation.

"...Either is fine."

"Then we'll go with somewhere spacious and quiet."

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