Eldritch Horror Theatre

The bloodline inheritance of transcendent power really was rather abstract. Given the chance, he would have to discuss it thoroughly with Dean Casi.

Having gleaned some insight, Fu Qian didn't forget that he was standing on the shoulders of giants. He immediately offered silent thanks for his superiors' guidance.

"This is too absurd. I've never seen anything like this!"

Professor Lisa didn't pay much mind to the minor difference in phrasing, immediately returning her focus to the changes inside the box.

The scene unfolding before her had clearly dealt her a considerable shock—

The very instant her exclamation faded, violent struggles and tremors racked the placenta. The humanoid form—now nearly the size of a full-term infant—suddenly convulsed, erupting with terrifying strength as it practically tore the sac apart from the inside.

Ultimately, it failed to break through. Soon, the thrashing began to leave a visible toll on its limbs instead, every single movement warping and deforming its shape.

It twisted and softened like squashed clay. In an instant, the body was rendered entirely unrecognizable, and the placenta rapidly clouded over.

The mystical power of that single axe strike could seemingly only sustain it this far.

Though it had been clear from the start that the placenta contained nothing more than a lump of humanoid flesh—far from possessing the actual anatomical structure of an infant—reaching this stage was astonishing enough.

In the blink of an eye, the tiny humanoid figure melted away completely. The box quickly fell silent, settling back into its original state.

"Glad we didn't cause any problems."

While Professor Lisa and the others were still staring in a daze, Fu Qian simply handed the box right back to her.

"It's over just like that?"

Taking it back on pure instinct, Professor Lisa was visibly startled.

The display had certainly been spectacular, and he truly hadn't caused any trouble. But even as her mind spun trying to process it all, she was genuinely caught off guard by how easily he surrendered the material he had gone through the trouble of requisitioning.

"It's over. The test was a complete success."

Fu Qian merely smiled and confirmed her doubt.

Returning what you borrow makes it easier to borrow again next time. Why do something that would put Professor Lisa in a difficult position?

"Alright... I'll put it back now. I'll need to stay here and monitor it for a little while. Do you two know the way back on your own?"

Seeing that Fu Qian was serious, Professor Lisa looked genuinely relieved. Always the responsible worker, she didn't force the two of them to stick around and wait for her.

...

He was a professor of the Apocalypse, after all. He might not visit often, but he wouldn't get lost.

Soon, Fu Qian and Classmate Liushuang made their way back to the surface. She had remained rather silent for the entire trip.

"How old was your mother when she had you?"

He completely understood her mood, so much so that it was only after they had walked quite a distance and spent a moment admiring the warm winter sun that Fu Qian casually broke her out of her trance.

"The exact same age I am now..."

Ji Liushuang turned to look at him. It was a question that had clearly already cycled through her own mind a thousand times over.

It was a somewhat abrupt exchange, but so much more was left unspoken.

Ji Xue had given birth to her at the exact same age Ji Liushuang was now. She had been a rather young mother.

And this year, the equally young Classmate Liushuang had formed a fateful connection with this very Hand Axe.

She clearly wasn't the sort of youth to bury her head in the sand and embrace the peaceful years. She refused to believe this was purely a coincidence.

The continuation of the Ji Clan's bloodline truly hid an astonishing secret behind it.

And judging by the reaction of the Divine Flesh just now, she could clearly realize one thing: the biological father she had never been able to find would likely never be found.

"I look exactly like my mother. I always have. Aunt Miller used to sigh over it all the time... When I was young, my health wasn't very good either..."

Ji Liushuang quickly turned back to gaze into the distance, continuing to speak as if muttering to herself.

Though she was merely reminiscing about the past, the implication behind her words was overwhelmingly clear.

As for this Aunt Miller she mentioned, Fu Qian still remembered who that was—the rigid, serious housekeeper from his last visit to Silver Mist Manor, who hadn't even shown much courtesy to the next family head.

It sounded just as he had judged back then. Though the woman appeared stern, she actually cared deeply for Ji Liushuang.

Hearing it now, it seemed Madam Miller had actually personally witnessed the growth of two successive family heads.

Considering what had happened to Ji Xue, her fears of Classmate Liushuang straying down the same path seemed far more reasonable.

"My mother spoke very little about what happened back then. Her rare descriptions of it were only that it was 'wondrous,' and that she never regretted having me... The reason she chose to return home at the time was also for the sake of my health."

Classmate Liushuang's reminiscence continued.

He had to admit, the word "wondrous" sounded rather wondrous in itself.

No matter how you looked at it, it should have been a romantic tragedy. Yet Ji Xue somehow still viewed it through a beautiful, girlish filter?

This anomaly was now unquestionably lending further support to Ji Liushuang's theory—

Was it possible that the so-called elopement back then never actually involved a male lead at all? Or perhaps, the male lead existed solely in her imagination?

Wounded by the Birthing Axe without knowing what had truly transpired, Ji Xue—driven by physiological changes or psychological suggestion—might have wandered away from home in a daze, failing to find the child's father all the way up until the moment of birth.

The very first time he heard that juicy rumor, Fu Qian had wondered just what kind of incredibly resourceful paramour could evade detection by the mighty Ji Clan.

Back then, he had leaned more toward the idea that it wasn't that they couldn't find him, but rather that they were keeping it a secret from the public.

Looking at it now, it seemed reality was often much more bizarre.

Whether or not the current acting family head had played a hand in it, the "male lead" of the elopement incident really was impossible to track down.

Furthermore, regarding Ji Xue's reason for returning home of her own accord, Fu Qian believed it was indeed partly for the sake of her daughter's health. But more importantly, it had to have been for the sake of her daughter's safety.

"Look on the bright side. You're still the crystallization of your mother's love, regardless of whether there was actually another person involved in that beautiful dream."

Fu Qian was confident that Classmate Liushuang had reached the same conclusions. Fully understanding how this must make her feel, he offered a casual word of comfort.

...

"Professor Fu really knows how to comfort people."

The reasoning was rather abstract, and Ji Liushuang had to ponder it for a moment before grasping the logic and open-mindedness behind it.

It was true... The process of her conception might have been steeped in confusion or even deception, but a young woman's beautiful hopes and dreams had still condensed within it.

"You're welcome. For now, you ought to head back to the Laboratory and get some rest."

Accepting the praise without false modesty, Fu Qian didn't rush to discuss any more details, merely gesturing in a certain direction.

Without waiting for Ji Liushuang's reaction, he strode off with the gait of an otherworldly master, heading straight for the deeper reaches of the Academy in the opposite direction.

'Wait a minute, he's heading to...'

Having instantly accepted his advice, Classmate Liushuang watched her superior walk away and quickly deduced exactly where he was headed.

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