Eldritch Horror Theatre

'Aha?'

Back in his chair at the Warehouse after yet another successful assignment, Fu Qian found the summary he had just heard deeply amusing.

It wasn't particularly long, but the sheer volume of information packed into it was immense.

Its contents even departed from the usual format, offering remarkably blunt descriptions of a senior figure.

The "he" mentioned in the summary was undoubtedly the Solitary King.

And when covering his background prior to taking the throne, the report explicitly used the term "assignment."

It sounded like he had been a veteran of the Warehouse himself, only to lose his way to greed and meet his end here.

As for the nature of that greed, the Warehouse didn't state it explicitly, but it was incredibly easy to guess—

To hoard more opportunities for trial and error, and to stave off the fear of death... Was it really his SAN Value?

Going by the Warehouse's account, this senior seemed to have discovered a treasure trove during an assignment where he could harvest SAN Value to his heart's content, and from that point on, he had spiraled completely out of control.

Where was this treasure trove? His previous encounter with the Akons had already explained everything.

Faith really could be consumed for sustenance. The entities that had fallen into the depths of the Mind World through their devotion had actually been transformed into non-renewable resources, ripe for the picking.

...

Unfortunately, going too far was as bad as falling short.

This resource-hoarding obsession seemed to have handed a clever opponent an opening to exploit against Senior Lone King—to think such a thing could actually happen?

To be honest, though Fu Qian had never deliberately gone out of his way to do so, he perfectly understood the fear his predecessors harbored.

After all, once the intensity of an assignment ramped up, the resulting attrition rate was never small.

Under such circumstances, hoarding a few extra revival coins went a long way toward stabilizing one's mindset, not to mention that some special skills directly consumed SAN Value as a resource.

In fact, the way Fu Qian saw it, the reason many other seniors hadn't resorted to this wasn't necessarily out of compassion; they probably just hadn't found such a safe "treasure."

So, had this senior amassed so many revival coins that it went to his head?

It shouldn't have been that simple, but it was a pity he couldn't witness the senior's detailed Path to Kingship.

Judging from his entanglement with the Goddess of Sins, could it be related to the still-unclear concept of original sin?

He couldn't be certain just yet. Regardless, it seemed the senior who had lost his composure fell into the exact scenario Fu Qian had previously imagined: forced by the Warehouse to physically block the line of fire, trapped forever within the assignment grounds.

As a result, the Solitary King who ascended the throne saw his greed increase rather than diminish, directly transforming into the nightmare of the Barrier Land.

He pillaged and slaughtered to consolidate his royal court—and once again invited disaster.

His intention to sire Offspring, in Fu Qian's view, wasn't necessarily Rom's inducement.

After all, the Solitary King himself hadn't been in the best condition; it wasn't strange that he had sought a way to completely reinvent himself.

Unfortunately, possessing a treasure brings misfortune, and this beacon of hope had clearly been targeted by others.

Rom wanted to take his place, while Patches wanted to watch the flower bloom.

If the SAN Value was also serving as nutrients to support the growing bloodline inside the Solitary King's stomach, the whole situation could only be described as a masterpiece of "the harder you try, the more unfortunate you become."

Furthermore, he had even managed to screw over two others in the process: the Goddess of Sins and Rom.

These higher entities might not die so easily, but there was no way they were walking away from this battle unscathed.

The biggest beneficiaries were none other than Patches, who successfully got to see the flower, and Ariel, who became the new Solitary King.

Indeed, the summary clearly stated at the end that after the Night Watchers confirmed the Flame of Frenzy hadn't polluted the area, they had no plans to destroy the barrier.

With the Solitary King dead, it was actually the once highly favored Ariel who took over the reins of power.

Because of his unique mental state, the Warehouse even evaluated him as excellent seedling material for becoming a "king."

Could this senior, who had suffered such a tragic fate, actually have a chance at finding a way out of a desperate situation and escaping his destiny as a puppet?

This was exactly what they meant when they said everything is the best arrangement—or was it Excellency Patches's arrangement?

Compared to pure luck, the latter's final statement had left a deep impression on Fu Qian—"Your little game is quite interesting; I think I'll join in too."

In Fu Qian's view, he actually hadn't done much this time around; his approach had been incredibly leisurely. The only thing that could seemingly pique that hedonist's interest was his steadfast adherence to his persona.

Resolute, persevering, and unwaveringly playing the role of Ariel to sling mud... If Excellency Patches wanted to get involved, steering this aspect to the very end was clearly a good choice.

For example, by directly pulling the Ariel on the outside onto the Solitary King's throne. While the Origin Council suffered the painful loss of their tool, even the most slow-witted of the Night Watchers would realize the Solitary King had been replaced. At that point, they wouldn't be able to sweep the matter under the rug even if they wanted to.

Next, they would inevitably have to keep an eye on the movements inside while having a thorough "exchange" with the Origin Council to figure out their schemes.

In short, regardless of how complicated the situation was this time, the Origin Council would almost certainly end up taking all the blame for the entire incident.

...

Yes, insisting that the Night Watchers believe he was the real Ariel would have been too fixated on appearances.

In truth, by the end of it all, who was real no longer mattered.

The core of what Fu Qian had been doing all along was making people believe that both the real and fake Ariel shared the exact same nature: they were both puppets.

Under these circumstances, the Council, which mastered this specialized technique, was truly stewing in its own juices.

Whether it was internal strife or a smokescreen didn't matter; the point was, they were the ones who had done it.

This was what it truly meant to be unable to wash oneself clean, even if one jumped into the Yellow River.

Excellency Patches, on the other hand, had grasped the spirit of the matter and helped draw an exquisitely perfect period to close it all out.

Fu Qian had even managed to share in his "ultimate goal."

Attempting to recall the scene from back then, Fu Qian finally located the special reward for this trip.

[Name: Heart Seal]

[Type: Ring]

[Not forged, but a thin, transparent ring formed solely from crystals.

However, within the structure reflecting the Truth of the universe, filth and corruption echoed all the same.

When used, it locks onto a target and consumes 1 point of SAN Value to form a freezing crystal that never misses.

Upon hitting the target, it will not cause damage or freezing, but will instead temporarily seal their Transcendent Perception.

The higher the target's Rank, the shorter the duration. The same target can only be affected once within twenty-four hours.]

[Note: Seal the heart and lock the mind; overcome the enemy and slay their body.]

'Oh?'

He had just been talking about using SAN Value as a resource, and now he received such a fitting reward right on cue?

Its form was even that of a Ring?

In that moment, Fu Qian let out a long sigh, as if he could feel the Warehouse's thoughtfulness.

Furthermore, although it required expending his life force, he had to admit that the effect was extremely practical.

Given that his own Transcendent Perception was currently at zero, this was undeniably an area where he was at a disadvantage.

The Ring's effect undoubtedly brimmed with the life philosophy of dragging his opponents down to his own level, and it even boasted a guaranteed-hit characteristic upon activation.

It was just that the Warehouse seemed to have forgotten one minor problem—how was he supposed to activate it?

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