Eldritch Horror Theatre

An artistic soul indeed.

Even her deeply devoted husband used the word "obsessed" to describe it. It seemed Rachel genuinely had been pouring herself into painting lately.

Judging by the room before them, the lady of the house clearly had an eye for aesthetics. It perfectly suited her hobby.

But none of that was the main point—the Art Prison?

Her passion for painting seemed to connect to a certain location mentioned in the car earlier.

It was also the very place he needed to visit alone next.

"Heh... that sounds like her. I can't believe she still has that kind of patience."

Old Man Hake naturally caught on to this as well, but in the face of Ed's gloomy recounting, he forcefully held back from glancing over at Fu Qian.

Instead, he let out a rare chuckle, marveling at Rachel's excellent mindset.

The target of that last comment was clearly still Ed, making it obvious Hake had seen right through his inability to relate to his wife's hobby.

"True..." Ed said. "I've actually tried my best, but I really just don't get it."

Even though Hake's comment was essentially a slight against him, Ed not only didn't mind, but the worry previously evident on his face actually eased. His posture relaxed as he laughed at himself.

"As for that unfamiliar kid you mentioned earlier, I really don't recall seeing one, and I haven't heard anyone at the shop mention it either. If some strange kid showed up in this godforsaken place, word would spread fast."

Scratching his head absentmindedly, he hadn't forgotten the original reason for Hake's visit.

Unfortunately, even after thinking hard about it, he still came up empty.

"That's fine. I'm just doing my duty and asking around while I'm here. You know how hard it is to find a living soul in this place these days—oh, by the way, this is An Ke, the new officer."

Hake shook his head, offering a rather half-hearted declaration of duty before finally remembering to introduce the man beside him, pointing at Fu Qian as he spoke.

"Hello... Sorry, I hadn't heard. I didn't realize you were Hake's partner."

Ed looked genuinely surprised, clearly not having expected Fu Qian to be a cop.

"It's all right. Honestly, it's my first time hearing it too."

Fu Qian was quite magnanimous about it, even tossing out a joke just like Hake.

Though it was actually the truth. From the start of the mission up until this very moment, this was the first time he had heard his own alias for this operation.

Clearly, the Warehouse was reusing assets again.

Even though it had generated a new face for him, it couldn't be bothered to come up with a new name, blatantly plagiarizing the title of the Seventh Dark Moon Apostle.

...

"My mistake... An Ke, do you mind handling the rest of the visits on your own? I think I'll slack off here for a bit."

Ed wasn't exactly a smooth talker, and Hake finally turned around, voluntarily taking the blame in the face of Fu Qian's magnanimity.

"The rest of the visits" naturally referred to the trip to the Art Prison. It would even give him a chance to check on Rachel's whereabouts.

From the subtle shifts in Hake's expression, Fu Qian perfectly understood the unspoken instruction.

The entire exchange was completely seamless. Even with his overly sensitive mental state, Ed clearly failed to notice anything amiss.

Now, it seemed it was time for him to make a choice—should he move straight to the third location with astonishing efficiency?

Their unspoken cooperation had flawlessly defused a potential marital crisis, but looking at it from another angle, it had also smoothly diverted Fu Qian away from this location.

Even if Old Man Hake's behavior hadn't shown any glaring flaws so far, if he really was his competitor, this move reeked of wanting to monopolize information.

"Sure."

Without any hesitation, Fu Qian instantly agreed.

Suspicion was one thing; the real issue was what he could actually do about it right now.

Even if Hake really was the Old Hunter, and had indeed discovered some extra clues here, stubbornly refusing to leave would hardly be a rational choice.

He had already noticed earlier that Hake was carrying the exact same model of gun.

Sending him away instead of just shooting him meant the situation was, at most, one of suspicion. He hadn't confirmed anything yet.

It couldn't even be ruled out that Hake still didn't know there was a competitor in play, and was only doing this to keep his next moves secret.

But if he hesitated at all when faced with the arrangement to split up, the other man's guard would likely skyrocket, plunging them straight into a mutual iaijutsu standoff.

As for why he didn't just strike first and blow his head off?

Based on what happened at the breakfast shop, he had already deduced that his opponent likely retained some Transcendent Tier abilities.

In that scenario, the chances of a preemptive strike closing the power gap weren't exactly high.

Furthermore, all of this analysis hinged on the assumption being true—that the old man was intentionally sending him away to monopolize the intelligence.

In Fu Qian's eyes, if Hake was clean, his actions right now actually made perfect sense. Was Ed definitely telling the truth? Was Rachel truly not at home?

Don't forget, this was a place where the Inner World's influence could seep into people's minds and dictate their actions.

Was it possible that beneath Ed's harmless exterior lay a deep-seated resentment even he hadn't fully recognized? One that had driven him to commit some extreme act?

As a seasoned beat cop dealing with Rachel—theoretically the third missing person—Hake was sending him to check her most likely whereabouts while staying behind himself. It was entirely possible he was keeping an eye on Ed to make sure the man didn't flee out of guilt.

And if that were the case, he had even less reason to waste his energy on an ordinary police case.

To sum it up, under any circumstances, his best move was to answer the call and head to the Art Prison.

...

This should be the place.

Their investigation into the missing persons commenced with an astonishing level of unspoken synergy.

Setting off under the watchful eyes of Hake and Ed, Fu Qian quickly ran into his first problem: figuring out exactly where this legendary Art Prison was located.

Unfortunately, not only was the car Hake had driven obviously a private vehicle, he couldn't even find a map inside.

It wasn't much of a problem, though. The area was desolate, but it wasn't exactly No Man's Land.

With his unfamiliar face and his already disheveled appearance, Fu Qian barely even had to speak when asking for directions; the locals seemed to guess his destination the moment they saw him.

Old Man Hake was as street-smart as expected. Of the occasional outsiders who wandered into this place, a vast majority were here for the legendary Art Prison.

Thanks to its unique creativity, the latter had already garnered quite a reputation—it truly was somewhat unique.

Following the directions of a helpful passerby, Fu Qian headed straight north and soon arrived at a location with an unmistakably flamboyant vibe.

Meaningless yet brilliantly colored graffiti climbed up the several-meter-high surrounding walls. He had to admit, it possessed quite a bit of visual impact.

Especially when surrounded by dead-zone-like clusters of even more abandoned buildings.

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