Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Where did you go?"

The return journey was naturally just as long, but being able to appreciate the scenery along the way made it far more pleasant.

When the source of the voice finally appeared right before their eyes, Excellency Aike let out a low growl before Fu Qian or Su Gao could speak.

To maximize the effect, the caller had even run right into the Coffin Path.

Although he had once again lost his vision and Transcendent Perception, Fu Qian remained convinced she hadn't actually seen them, but was merely tracking their footsteps.

Exactly. His Pseudo-God Incarnation had already ended—everything was perfectly calculated.

Disappearing for quite a while and then showing up with an unfathomably deep Rank would have easily startled the Old Man.

For now, he just needed to keep fulfilling his duties as a consultant.

"Sorry, there was a little accident."

"Come here, quickly."

She didn't continue to complain. Instead, Aike breathed a sigh of relief at his voice, turned around, and signaled for the two of them to follow.

...

"There really was an accident?"

The conversation below had clearly already drawn attention. Once they passed through the passage and finally returned to the group, the sight of Fu Qian and Su Gao triggered a wave of shock.

Su Gao was slightly better off; she was merely covered in blood from when her body had shattered earlier, and she was already wearing black.

Fu Qian's appearance, however, was far more miserable.

Although his wounds were mostly healed, the gashes left in his clothes by Su Gao's highly effective attacks were shocking.

The crowd, who hadn't thought much of his casual explanation moments ago, suddenly realized he had been entirely literal.

"It looks like there weren't any accidents over here?"

Before anyone could ask, Fu Qian greeted them, then frowned slightly as he looked around.

He wasn't speaking nonsense. Despite the alert that had sent Stoss hurrying back, The Ark appeared completely intact.

"Not long after you left, those Human Ambers suddenly started moving, and Feathers even surged out of their bodies."

Preempted, Aike looked a little awkward as she rushed to explain.

"I tried to handle it, but the entire ship seemed to be growing more active. For safety's sake, we decided to call you back first."

Oh?

Following Aike's gesture, Fu Qian observed the Human Ambers a short distance away.

Sure enough, regardless of whether the pregnant hosts were men or women, their abdomens had repeated the fate of the previous body, splitting open into numerous folds.

Unfortunately, according to Aike, they hadn't birthed new Marr Brothers, erupting into Feathers instead.

"It might be related to that final self-destruction. The attacker wouldn't have repaired this ship out of good intentions; it likely triggered some secondary effects."

Standing to the side, Excellency Stoss simply explained his thoughts.

"Although we're still unsure of the exact purpose and the commotion has since stopped, considering you were gone for so long, I had Aike notify you to come back... So, what kind of accident did you encounter?"

Quickly clarifying the sequence of events, the Old Man was equally straightforward in inquiring about what had happened to Fu Qian and Su Gao.

"That passage below, and everything we saw up until just now, very likely belong to the Mind World of a child."

"Then, thanks to Professor Ah Kai's attempts, certain connections were briefly established, which was why the passage appeared."

This time, there was no need for Fu Qian to reply. Su Gao answered directly, quickly describing the door at the end, the scene inside the longhouse behind it, and even the sorrowful conversation.

As for the state of her own body, her explanation followed Fu Qian's advice completely: affected by the tide and the chaos, her body had suffered a violent impact.

Fortunately, with the consultant keeping watch over her, she was able to recover.

...

"So everything we saw earlier were symbols of a Mind World? That explanation is actually much more reasonable, including the unnatural darkness in that passage."

The Old Man had clearly listened intently and seemed to highly approve of Su Gao's speculation.

"A dream within a chaotic world produced a much stronger binding force than usual... So the wounds on Professor Fu are from some kind of attack encountered in that world?"

He then turned to look at Fu Qian, expressing his sympathy and concern.

"No, Su Gao slashed me."

Fu Qian's response, however, was astonishingly honest as he directed his gaze toward Demigod Su.

"Under the impact, I briefly lost control."

Su Gao nodded quite naturally, admitting to the atrocity.

...So keeping watch over her actually meant keeping watch like this?

It was obvious this explanation was quite unexpected. Ah Kai and Aike stared blankly from the side.

"That is already a very good outcome. Thank you, Professor Fu."

Stoss, however, didn't seem to doubt it in the slightest. In fact, this unexpected absurdity seemed to make the story even more credible to him, and he thanked Fu Qian with total seriousness.

"So in your view, what should we do next?"

Without giving Fu Qian a chance to be polite, the Old Man immediately asked for their opinions.

"Although we still didn't find sufficient reason in there, I lean toward continuing to wait."

Su Gao had clearly already made her decision, answering without hesitation.

...

Of course they had to keep waiting.

Fu Qian wasn't surprised by Su Gao's decision; he even knew her reasons for reaching this conclusion.

Although tracing the path this time had finally allowed them to step into "reality," their ultimate discoveries inside merely helped clarify their experiences on the journey so far.

As for what to do next, it didn't offer much practical guidance.

But one shouldn't be too rigid. There was actually a convincing enough reason right in front of them—the commotion on the ship.

Based on Aike's description, it practically confirmed their previous guess: the commotion was a little trick Nepheli pulled in the dark to draw them back.

The timing, the execution, the scale... in Fu Qian's view, if he had to orchestrate it, he would have made roughly the same choices.

One of the reasons Su Gao had insisted on investigating earlier was her lack of trust in Nepheli's words.

This reaction proved Nepheli's stance to a certain extent, proving there was a high probability she was still around.

The credibility of her words at the tea break rose once more, allowing them to wait for the journey to end with greater peace of mind.

Of course, Su Gao still chose her previous strategy: no reasons were needed, just a stance was enough.

"Agreed."

And it was the stance of two people.

Meeting Excellency Stoss's inquiring gaze, Fu Qian nodded seamlessly.

Snap!

And as if in response, while the Old Man frowned in deep thought, the downward passage rapidly retracted.

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