Eldritch Horror Theatre

The corpse even fell into the "gender is not an issue" category. It was hard to say whether the demonstrator had deliberately chosen this for maximum shock value.

Faced with the changes before him, Fu Qian drew mental connections as he searched for more commonalities.

"What is this thing?"

"Is this also a resurrection?"

It was undeniably impactful. When the corpse's abdomen swelled to the size of a seven-month pregnancy, waves of shock finally rippled through the audience.

Instead of backing away, more than a few people looked eager, reaching out to touch it.

Not bad. No matter the time or space, this death-defying dedication to scientific research had endured.

Fu Qian found the sight quite gratifying, though he had no intention of joining the herd. He remained where he stood.

"Step back."

That was more like it. This wasn't a circus, and true experimenters despised it when others messed with their work.

Completely unsurprised, Fu Qian understood the sentiment perfectly.

Not to mention, having them breathing so closely was probably triggering Excellency Nepheli's mysophobia.

"This is a resurrection, of course. Your understanding of life is far too shallow... just as mine was."

It was clear the researchers were familiar with the eccentricities of this Academy titan. Like a flock of sheep, they took a unified step back, opening up the view around the freezer.

Her expression softening slightly, Nepheli ignored them completely. She fixed her gaze on the distended, nearly transparent belly and murmured with a sigh.

Slash!

Decisive and precise. Without missing a beat, she raised her hand and dragged a fingertip across the flesh.

The concept of Spirit and Flesh Chaos was no joke. Although the corpse's external outline remained mostly intact, its skin and flesh had already taken on the consistency of rotten eggs.

Having lost its original structure, the tissue had dissolved into a bizarre, muddled sludge.

But even so, the experimenter's handling remained flawless.

Working against the still-expanding belly, she sliced open the surface layer to reveal the structures beneath.

'I really am shallow in my understanding. Is this actually complete metamorphosis?'

A chorus of gasps erupted around the room. Even Fu Qian joined in.

There was definitely a living thing inside the belly, but its location clearly defied any normal reproductive anatomy.

It didn't even match mammalian conventions.

Despite being about the size of a placenta, it was shaped like a Cocoon.

It was translucent, and inside lay a boy—matching the corpse incubating it.

Furthermore, the Cocoon rested at a strange angle. Rather than simply nesting in the abdominal cavity, it looked as if an invisible thread were suspending it from above.

...

'Everyone's desire to reproduce has certainly been running high lately.'

By his count, this was the second time he had witnessed a similar scene in a short period, and this one was undeniably far more grotesque.

The audience seemed too shocked to speak, yet Nepheli's movements never stopped.

With another light hook of her finger, the Cocoon unraveled rapidly, like a spool of yarn pulled by a loose thread.

"What does resurrection look like in your minds? Forcing this pile of rotten meat back into order? The mysteries of life far exceed your imaginations."

Barely two seconds later, Nepheli reached in and lifted out a weakly struggling body. Her gaze locked onto it completely as she spoke in a dreamlike murmur.

"Whether you believe it or not, this is him. He has returned through rebirth..."

'Giving birth to himself?'

A dead silence fell over the room at her claim.

"Do you believe it?"

Faced with this reaction, Nepheli suddenly turned her head, her gaze landing squarely on Fu Qian.

"Do you believe it?"

There was even a chorus of echoing voices.

The same crowd that hadn't dared to breathe a moment ago turned in perfect synchronization, staring right at him.

Even though he was theoretically in the middle of a Blood Crusade and should have been nothing but thin air, they were staring exactly where he stood.

"I don't believe it."

Sighing softly, Fu Qian casually deactivated his state, holding his ground against the pressure.

...

'Even when keeping such a low profile, am I still as conspicuous as a firefly?'

He had practically confirmed what kind of parallel spacetime this was.

As an academic who frequently conducted field research, Fu Qian found "giving birth to oneself" terrifying, but he had to admit he wasn't entirely a stranger to the concept.

Ehm Palace, the Divine Human Laria Family.

In the Order of Blood Theory shared by his old friend Luyi from the Origin Council, the Fool Tree had even been cited as an example.

Not to mention the cases of male Laria Family members turning into a Cradle of Flesh and Bone.

But saying "I don't believe it" wasn't just talk. The thing in front of him was far more potent than those past examples.

A Cocoon extending a thread upward—unfortunately, he had seen something similar before, during the Ash Descent of a certain disgrace from the Ji Clan.

In fact, the very reason that Ash Descent could be activated was that the individual had supposedly undergone limb grafting with the remnants of that family's Golden Generation.

And the one responsible for bringing about the Golden Generation was a certain magnificent Mother of Gospel.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the authority-questioning Fu Qian reached out and caught a dark flame that couldn't even accurately be described as black.

It was drifting down from the sky, fluttering alongside countless others of its kind.

'Is this the apocalypse? The Mother of Gospel is actually leading the charge?'

'Anyone who ends up as my enemy is truly a formidable character.'

...

The reason he was willing to follow them here was partly out of curiosity about the secrets of the Benevolent Curse Institute, and partly because Master Yuhun had indeed pulled off quite a stunt.

The humanoid silhouettes he had seen at the very beginning could seemingly be understood as the intersection of two spacetimes.

The moment he finally stepped into this building symbolized his transition from the original Academy into this golden era of the Benevolent Curse Institute.

'But how was this stunt pulled off?'

After their repeated clashes, Fu Qian no longer harbored any doubts about his opponent's methods regarding idealism.

Yet, much like the mushrooms in Professor Rob's Laboratory, even if the demands on one's imagination weren't high, didn't there still need to be an Anchor Point of some sort?

If they truly could conjure a higher entity out of thin air, why waste the effort luring him here? They could have just launched a war of attrition from the very start.

This sudden disconnection from reality exhibited by Nepheli and everyone else was likely the work of his twice-met enemy, the Mother of Gospel.

Furthermore, the thing inside the corpse's belly didn't seem to be a simple resurrection.

As previously noted, Excellency Meria was indeed a complicated entity.

It might be difficult to pin down the exact relationship between her and the Mother of Gospel, but it appeared that this Miracle of Meria's Resurrection had finally allowed the seed the Mother of Gospel had been trying to plant behind the barrier to penetrate it successfully.

The Anchor Point that Master Yuhun relied on to pull off this spectacle seemed to be triggered by this very event—an apocalypse originating from the Benevolent Curse Institute.

This was definitely not just another ordinary projection of a higher entity. Something was utterly collapsing.

Meanwhile, as an anomaly who remained temporarily unaffected, he was now firmly locked in the sights of the complete Mother of Gospel.

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