Eldritch Horror Theatre

Going too far is as bad as falling short. With the conflict between the real and fake Ariel concluded, there was no way he would stay there like a fool and serve as a target.

Fu Qian had always respected the Origin Council's knack for escaping, and he certainly didn't mind hitching a ride.

What he had offered up wasn't just a Frenzied Fireball, but also the Corrosion of Life.

For "Ariel" to achieve that level of manifestation moments ago, a simple projection wouldn't have cut it.

In Fu Qian's eyes, though he wasn't sure exactly how it was done, the nature of that Burlap Doll meant it practically counted as the main body descending in person.

Thus, while offering up the Frenzied Fireball for a clash of momentum, his true substantive move had been attempting to activate a Seed of Corrosion inside the target upon impact.

The results proved that the doll indeed possessed strong life attributes; the skill had activated quite successfully.

Even more gratifying was that the earlier interview process, combined with the Imprint on his hand, was just as complex as he had suspected, seemingly introducing a few subtle properties.

He couldn't forget that his inspiration was currently at zero. Even with the Seed of Corrosion planted, the theoretical probability of using it to trigger the Extreme Hunger Infection wasn't high, simply because he couldn't "see" it at all.

Yet a wondrous thing had occurred: the very moment the Burlap Doll leaped out of sight to flee, a special concept actually allowed him to "see" a faint trace of it.

This led to the current scene—using the Seed of Corrosion as his direct target for the jump.

Such a discovery held even more meaning than simply facilitating an easier escape.

...

That final Sword of Heavenly Punishment was certainly astonishing, but its execution seemed somewhat conservative.

In Fu Qian's estimation, taking a direct hit from that strike with his already wounded body would have been quite difficult to endure.

Put simply, the one who launched the attack likely held a higher Rank than the Needle Witch.

Although the Night Watchers boasted a gathering of elites, the probability of their upper echelons possessing two near New God-level experts—both being lightning-attribute users—felt rather low.

Therefore, when that strike appeared, the very first person Fu Qian thought of was that Tier 1 entity who had exchanged blows with him across space in Lanphilai.

But if it truly was the latter, this level of force felt as though they hadn't gone all out.

Fu Qian could think of two reasons for this. First, as he had noted before, the Night Watchers leaned toward minimizing damage to this place, so they were meticulous with their application of force.

Second, their killing intent toward him might not have been that strong; they were comparatively more interested in seeing his subsequent response—or even making use of him.

In fact, the absence of a second Sword of Heavenly Punishment falling right now faintly proved this point.

...

In this special place, he was the true stranger.

The Origin Council seemed to have been plotting for a long time, while the Night Watchers appeared to have been constantly monitoring the situation.

The situation with the Origin Council was very simple. After activating the Extreme Hunger Infection, he had certainly relied on their backup escape plan to get out of that place alongside them.

But Ariel, who no longer housed the Seed of Corrosion, had continued his flight without hesitation, and Fu Qian obviously couldn't jump a second time.

As for the Night Watchers, Fu Qian didn't think a suspected Tier 1 entity would let a target they wanted to kill escape so easily in a place over which they had a high degree of control.

Theoretically, if he didn't run continuously without stopping like Ariel and the others, he would likely have been locked onto the moment he took cover in the Underground, with the Sword of Heavenly Punishment crashing down in pursuit.

Yet, he had been waiting here for a while, and there was still no movement.

Such an attitude was genuinely a bit subtle.

Always counting on the opponent to be an idiot wouldn't work. Thus, Fu Qian leaned toward the idea that the other party hadn't lost track of him, but had deliberately held back.

So the interesting question right now was—what did the Night Watchers plan to use him for?

Fu Qian turned his head and sized up his surroundings.

This initial jump coordinate of Brother Ariel looked rather unremarkable at first glance; the furnishings and such were all very ordinary.

No matter how one looked at it, this was just an utterly ordinary corner of this special city, not even as spacious as the interview location—but that didn't matter. It wasn't ordinary anymore.

Stepping forward a moment later, Fu Qian found a spot and sat down.

...

That was right. Fu Qian continued his previous strategy: making a move was worse than staying still.

Theoretically, he should be figuring out a way to continue tracking Ariel right now.

While the upcoming mission objective seemed somewhat erratic, the Warehouse wouldn't assign meaningless tasks.

Having him find Ariel first indicated that the matter of the Solitary King giving birth to an Offspring was related to him, or rather, related to the Origin Council's plans.

Considering he had only heard the name and didn't have a single concrete detail about the Solitary King, this clue was exceptionally precious.

However, it only sounded good in theory.

Having just shown his face to the Night Watchers and practically playing his illicit intentions out in the open, the Origin Council would undoubtedly be hiding as if their lives depended on it. Tracking them down now would be anything but easy.

Not to mention, there was a very high probability that a squad of Night Watchers was still tailing him.

Even if he truly found them and wanted to use them for something, he would likely face interference and have to waste energy clearing out the Night Watchers first.

And finally, it would ruin the persona he had been building all along.

Indeed, Fu Qian was quite interested in finding out what the Night Watchers wanted to use "Ariel" for.

In his eyes, given the solid foundation laid down previously, choosing to play this persona to the very end was likely much more reliable than foolishly chasing after them.

During this operation, the Night Watchers might have seemed to play the role of troublemakers, but they were also excellent pawns that could be turned to his advantage.

After all, they were immensely powerful, and he had already guessed their goal: they were very likely here for the Solitary King as well.

All in all, there was no harm in waiting a bit.

Without a word, he sat quietly, not even rushing to heal the burn marks on his body. He hadn't maintained this posture for long before he truly noticed an anomaly—was it snowing?

...

The clear sky was the color of blood.

Sitting in his seat, Fu Qian could clearly see the anomaly outside the window.

It was no figure of speech; in that moment, everything was bathed in a sea of scarlet.

The reason was simple: large, crimson snowflakes were swirling down from the sky, reflecting a soul-stirring hue.

And this wasn't the only change.

Within his line of sight, he could see a few pedestrians walking through the snow as if utterly oblivious, yet their bodies were entirely covered in a hue similar to the trio of white-collar workers from earlier.

Only this time, it wasn't limited to their necks; their faces were equally deathly pale, as if smeared with paint—White-Faced Men.

Now they looked exactly like the one he had encountered at Akons, even—

Fu Qian touched his own face. Even he was one of them.

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