Eldritch Horror Theatre

By the looks of it, if he had acted any later, the two of them probably would have grown together.

Watching Mister Luo casually separate the two, Fu Qian marveled silently.

'The boundary of life being erased? That concept is actually quite novel.'

'But this Mister Luo is a ruthless one!'

Others might not have noticed, but he could clearly see that after the two were enveloped in that black light, their life auras had weakened to varying degrees despite the smooth separation.

Simply put, there was a high probability the man had cast a curse, accelerating their aging to kill off the connected tissue.

Fu Qian reserved judgment on this method of resolution, but one thing was certain: Mister Luo clearly knew a great deal.

He had likely prepared contingency plans for any potential problems well in advance.

...

Afterward, almost everyone used various methods to bundle themselves up tightly.

They walked with extreme caution, terrified of making contact with anyone else.

In this tense atmosphere, the group began their operation for the day.

By this time, Fu Qian had already figured out the operation plan.

Yesterday's operation had only been a probe to lure out the Dolls so they could capture a specimen for observation.

According to Delin's explanation, the employer had strict quality requirements for the Doll.

If it did not meet their conditions, the commission would be canceled outright, and only a tiny fraction of the payment would be issued.

The commission continuing was supposed to be a good thing, but after that bizarre scene this morning, it was hard to say if everyone still felt the same way.

...

On the way to their destination, Fu Qian unexpectedly drew quite a bit of attention.

The reason was simple—he was the only one in the group whose hair hadn't grown longer.

For a while, everyone kept shooting glances at the top of his head.

'What a bunch of bumpkins!'

'As an expert in the power of flesh and blood, I have even reached the Demigod Realm.'

'If I couldn't even control my own hair growth, Yuan Shan would laugh herself to death if word got out.'

As early as last night, Fu Qian had noticed the anomaly with his hair and casually made targeted adjustments.

It wasn't that he cared much about his image, but mainly because the Dense Forest was heavy with moisture, making long hair extremely bothersome.

"What should I call you, brother?"

With a hearty laugh, even their employer, Miyamoto, eventually came over to cozy up to him.

His hair had also grown quite a bit.

"Fu Qian."

Fu Qian glanced at him.

According to the idle chatter among the team members, this Young Master Miyamoto was a wealthy second-generation heir from a small family.

After remaining thoroughly incompetent well into his twenties, he had relied on a tiny shred of talent and his family's capital to take control of a mid-sized company.

The company mainly dealt in gray-area business and maintained decent relationships with a few conglomerates. He was the one who had secured the Pass this time.

To ordinary people, this man was absolutely high and mighty, capable of pulling many strings.

But to the group of transcendents in the team, Miyamoto's capital merely added a bit of luster. His strength and family background weren't nearly enough to awe everyone.

This was likely why Delin had accepted the commission; in his eyes, this transaction remained relatively controllable.

If the power disparity between the two parties was too vast, the nature of the commission would warp.

"...Good name!"

Hearing Fu Qian's reply, Miyamoto stared blankly for a moment before reacting, his laughter instantly growing even more exaggerated.

"Out of everyone here, you alone possess the most extraordinary bearing."

'Nonsense, that's just because I'm the only one who maintained my hairstyle.'

"Speaking of which, how exactly did you pull that off?"

Miyamoto gestured toward Fu Qian's head, his face full of disbelief.

"Passive skill. I used to be a programmer," Fu Qian said expressionlessly.

...

Miyamoto ultimately didn't pry any further. With another hearty laugh, he returned to his own group.

'A little strange!'

Having dealt with the employer, Fu Qian frowned slightly.

He felt that this guy's personality hadn't been nearly this flamboyant yesterday.

It seemed that staying in here for too long was making everyone a bit abnormal.

...

It didn't take long for the group to reach their morning destination.

The area before them was the complete opposite of the Dense Forest; it looked entirely like scorched earth.

Sand and dust covered the ground, and not a single blade of grass grew.

A sharp boundary was maintained between the two zones, leaving them clearly demarcated.

Compared to the Dense Forest, visibility on the scorched earth was excellent. Aside from the spiders they had seen yesterday, creatures with a strikingly unusual bone structure could also be seen moving around.

"Those Dolls are fiercely territorial. Any monster here that trespasses into the oasis will be attacked."

Delin took the lead, walking at the front.

"By the same token, they won't venture out easily either."

"Next, we need to pick another monster as bait."

As he explained, he quickly locked onto a target—a crab-like creature that was a full size larger than the spiders from yesterday.

From the massive single pincer held across its front, it was obvious the thing was quite ferocious.

Unfortunately for it, in the face of a group of tool-using superhumans, it was still somewhat outmatched.

With a little luring, the muscular, eight-limbed giant beast fell into their prepared trap and was securely bound by a transparent net.

At Delin's command, the team members swarmed forward, working feverishly over its sturdy body in an attempt to turn it into proper bait as quickly as possible.

Perhaps because of his outstanding performance yesterday, Fu Qian was merely assigned to stand guard from a distance, leaving him with an easy job.

Watching the lively struggle up ahead, Fu Qian suddenly furrowed his brows. That sensation of being spied on had returned.

He glanced at the utterly indifferent Mister Luo, thought for a moment, and stepped forward to pat Delin on the shoulder.

"Looks like we have a situation."

'What?'

Delin's brain clearly hadn't caught up yet.

Fu Qian pointed behind him.

"It seems someone is watching us."

'You're being too fucking paranoid!'

Though no sound was made, Fu Qian could read that exact sentence in Delin's eyes.

"...Investigate and report back!"

"I can report right now..."

Fu Qian exhaled and began to count down.

"9, 8, 7... 2, 1. They're here!"

"Ah!"

The moment Fu Qian finished counting the final number, an agonized scream rang out.

One of the guys who had been vigorously tormenting the captive beast suddenly lost his balance and crashed to the ground. When he looked down, one of his lower legs was already gone.

This sudden development gave everyone else a fright. Naturally assuming he had been injured by the giant beast's counterattack, they instinctively rushed forward to help him up.

As a result, two more people collapsed.

At this point, even the dullest among them realized something was terribly wrong and rapidly halted their actions.

Only then did they finally see it clearly. Right beside the giant beast, several small Dolls were brandishing the freshly torn legs and showing off their might.

Hadn't they said these things wouldn't leave the Dense Forest behind them?

The entire group turned to look at Delin in unison.

Delin's face was filled with shock, and he instinctively cast a glance at Fu Qian.

'This is what happens when you don't believe the professionals!'

Fu Qian sighed deeply to himself.

"Why are you looking at me? Look straight ahead!"

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