Eldritch Horror Theatre

"How bright is it?"

The relentless changes pushed the oppressive tension to its absolute limit without a single sound.

A ring of churning flames lifted Excellency Stoss into the air, allowing him to evade the thrashing ropes. Instead of rushing to protect himself, Fu Qian suddenly turned to Su Gao and asked his question.

"Eleven o'clock."

The difference in their caliber was obvious once again. Su Gao hadn't rushed to react either. She instantly grasped that Fu Qian was asking about the change in brightness, and she responded using Professor Ah Kai's modified method of description.

"Can you sense the change?"

She didn't just give a simple answer; a split second later, she fired back a question of her own.

"No."

Fu Qian's reply was just as crisp, so natural it sounded as if he'd memorized the answer in advance.

Su Gao sighed lightly at this.

"...Nor can I."

Their exchange was so ruthlessly efficient that Old Man Stoss, watching from the sidelines, had only just now managed to slip a word in.

Fortunately, he could still keep up with their train of thought. Demigod Su and Professor Fu were checking whether they could sense any shift in their predicament now that the ship was causing such a massive commotion.

Though the result was far from optimistic.

It wasn't just the two of them. Even as a Tier 2 combatant, Stoss hadn't detected a single exploitable opening in this suddenly deteriorating situation.

And if their earlier deduction was correct—that the brightness represented their level of distortion synchronization with the ship—then they didn't have much room left to maneuver.

This ship was truly angry.

"Be careful not to let those ropes entangle you. I'll keep going."

Excellency Stoss's sheer decisiveness was on full display once again.

Even as he tossed out the casual warning, he had already resolved to tear this place apart to the bitter end.

Things had reached a point of no return. Their only option was to escalate their force and apply maximum pressure.

The moment he made that choice, another miniature sun was already brewing in the old man's palm.

"How about now?"

A split second later, however, the scene unfolding beside him nearly shattered his dao heart, almost making him throw the attack prematurely.

Turning a deaf ear to the warning, the operations advisor, Professor Fu, simply reached out mid-thought and grabbed one of the thrashing ropes. Then, he continued questioning Su Gao.

...

Without a doubt, there was something incredibly wrong with those ropes.

As the very things that bound and connected so many Human Ambers, it was obvious that touching them would forge a deeper connection with the ship, highly likely amplifying the distortion effect.

Stoss had sensed this almost intuitively, which was why he had issued the warning in the first place. Yet this guy...

"Your connection to the ship has indeed grown stronger, but I still can't sense anything else."

While Stoss watched in bewilderment, their efficient dialogue continued.

His employer, Su Gao, completely understood the motive behind Professor Fu's actions: by actively strengthening his connection to the ship, he was trying to introduce more variables into her perception.

It was an undeniably bold exploitation of a negative effect... but unfortunately, the result was still less than ideal.

"Then what about this?"

Fu Qian showed no sign of frustration at this outcome. He didn't even try to let go of the rope; instead, he simply reached out with his free hand and grasped Su Gao's empty hand.

...

Without a word or a hint of refusal, Su Gao stood frozen in place like a statue.

Of course, even as a bystander, Excellency Stoss didn't harbor any bizarre misunderstandings about this sudden development.

Since his attempt to help Su Gao find an opening by tethering himself to the ship had failed, the operations advisor was simply taking things a step further. Through physical contact, he was acting as a buffering medium to deepen Su Gao's own connection to the vessel.

Fully understanding his intent, she instantly threw everything she had into her perception.

He had to admit, although this choice defied his own arrangements and was excessively reckless, it was certainly a valid approach.

Following that logic, if this still didn't work, the next step would be for Su Gao to grab the rope herself. And if that didn't work...

The miniature sun in Stoss's hand didn't extinguish. It hovered there quietly, ready to be unleashed to dramatically ramp up the stimulation if their escalating gambles failed to produce a result—

"Found it."

But it seemed that backup plan wouldn't be needed just yet. A moment later, Su Gao's voice rang out; she had finally found something.

Her gaze sharpened abruptly. She thrust her sword downward, aiming directly at the wooden floorboards that had just sealed shut, all while maintaining her grip on Fu Qian's hand.

Shnk—

Though there wasn't a terrifying amount of physical force behind the strike, her blade still shattered the wooden planks.

At the same time, the space revealed beneath wasn't the churning void they had seen earlier, but rather the familiar, rough-hewn hull of the ship's cabin.

What they had seen earlier hadn't been an illusion, of course. Su Gao's strike had pierced through more than just the floorboards; it had pierced through some kind of spatial barrier.

Just like she had done when they first breached the entrance.

Only, this time she hadn't carved a path to the outside of the ship, but rather a path to the layer below.

...

"Shall we?"

Taking in the sight, Fu Qian finally gave a pleased nod. He turned to check with Excellency Stoss, releasing his grip on Su Gao's hand at the same time.

"Do you need a hand?"

The miniature sun had quietly vanished from the old man's palm, and his gaze was now fixed on Fu Qian's other hand.

Letting go on that side didn't seem quite so easy.

The coarse hemp rope was coiled around his hand as if it had come alive. Its end looked as though it had mutated into actual flesh and blood, splitting into countless tiny fibers that buried themselves deep into his skin.

"No need."

The man himself remained completely unfazed. He shook his head to signal that it wasn't worth the trouble. A moment later, Fu Qian simply ripped his entire hand off and tossed it to the floor.

It was indeed incredibly wicked. Given enough time, it might even infect his fundamental self, but the current erosion was nowhere near that level yet.

"Alright."

Witnessing such a calm, ruthless display—especially on top of his earlier string of performances—Stoss suddenly understood why someone with Executive Yama Su's temperament had insisted on hiring this operations advisor.

Without another word, he carefully evaded the thrashing ropes and became the first to leap down.

Nice work.

Fu Qian met Su Gao's eyes, offering her a glance of praise. Without needing any further prompting, he jumped down right after the old man, leaving her to bring up the rear.

"They're still here."

The area beneath them was indeed the Third Layer they had visited previously. Almost the instant he landed, the old man confirmed a reassuring fact and immediately dashed toward a corner of the cabin.

"Look out!"

Unfortunately, before he could reach them, a voice rang out. Professor Ah Kai was screaming in sheer panic.

The two men, who had faithfully stayed behind to guard their original spot just as instructed, leaped backward together the moment he shouted.

With the two of them out of the way, the sight revealed before them instantly turned bizarre—

More than one Gestating Body Amber was being sliced down in unison, falling away just like harvested wheat.

And the culprit behind all this was a rust-mottled, long-handled scythe continuously spinning in a wide circle.

Its handle was even continuing to lengthen as it spun.

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