Eldritch Horror Theatre

As expected of the technical expert; she truly was a talent exported by the Academy.

Deng Feizhou had been merely an acting enforcer. The true designer of Chen Xing's advancement plan was the woman sitting right in front of him.

Nepheli's answer didn't surprise Fu Qian in the slightest.

During the incident in Shangjing, there had been one glaring inconsistency: Deng Feizhou himself had been nowhere near the Demigod Realm.

It was true that their conversation had revealed his extensive theoretical knowledge and deep reverence for the Origin Council's grand ideals.

But from Fu Qian's personal experience, offering guidance in that area without having touched divinity oneself would be exceedingly difficult.

That was exactly why grasping divinity was considered an uncrossable chasm on the transcendent path.

Now, however, everything made perfect sense.

Nepheli had provided the specific plan, while Deng Feizhou had acted as a qualified executor—and one who had actually done a rather good job.

"I'm very curious about the core concept. Theoretically, aren't they on a cultivation path? They even have secret family techniques."

Fu Qian didn't stand on ceremony, diving straight in to humbly ask for advice.

...

The direction the atmosphere had taken was clearly bizarre to Nepheli.

It had gone from a deliberate hunting trap, to the revelation that it was all an illusion, and then shifted straight into a technical exchange...

Throughout the entire process, his tone hadn't changed once, as if this really had been his sole purpose for coming here.

After staring at Fu Qian in silence for a moment, Nepheli finally seemed to realize that maintaining this eerie environment only made her look foolish. She reached out and waved a hand.

The location remained the same, but the lighting suddenly turned bright.

Coupled with the near-total disappearance of the pus and blood stains, the oppressive atmosphere plummeted.

"So you really did kill Deng Feizhou?"

As she asked the question, Nepheli took two steps forward and sat down in a nearby chair.

"Yes. After seeing Old Man Chen's condition, I was very envious and hoped to get a set for myself, but he refused."

Fu Qian recalled the man who had remained unyielding to martial might, his face and voice vividly surfacing in his mind.

"I knew it. I said at the time there was no need to waste effort investigating it... Besides, would you really care for such crooked methods?"

At Fu Qian's explanation, Nepheli shook her head gently, seemingly caught in her own memories.

From her tone, it was clear that Deng Feizhou dying—rather than being captured and taken away by the Night Watchers—was a much more acceptable outcome for the Origin Council.

"To be honest, given the entity backing you, I was actually a little surprised you weren't a Demigod back then."

Narrowing her eyes, Nepheli brought up the sensitive topic, staring at Fu Qian to gauge his reaction.

That was because I had just started working, and the Work Unit wasn't doing well financially.

Nepheli's knowledge of the Warehouse had been out in the open for a while now.

Not only had she used Senior Ariel as a puppet, but she had even directly told Emperor Yasui that Fu Qian might share a similarly special background.

But judging from her expression, she still treated it as a highly classified secret; she would completely understand if he chose not to respond.

"Unfortunately, people are different. I really wasn't back then... What about when you picked up Ariel?"

Instead, Fu Qian nodded readily, directly using his senior as a point of comparison.

Was she kidding? He had finally caught a technical expert and maneuvered her into sitting down for a proper chat. Why would he let her off the hook so easily?

...

Excellency Nepheli's current situation was far from optimistic.

She had chosen to abandon the light and plunge into darkness, giving up her research position, only to find herself no longer tolerated by the Origin Council.

After stirring up so much trouble, it was hard to imagine the Night Watchers didn't have dirt on her. Washing her hands clean now would be nearly impossible.

Furthermore, based on her past actions, she clearly had no intention of being a good person. Right now, operating as a lone wolf, she was most likely trying to figure out how to ride this dark path to the bitter end.

Actually, looking on the bright side, being without an organization wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

After all, if she had stayed with the Origin Council, figuring out how to withstand the Night Watchers' impending crackdown would be a serious issue.

They had committed quite a few offenses lately, not to mention a certain scoundrel was tirelessly slinging mud at them.

Hmph, this is what happens when you cross my Rebirth Club.

Connecting his senior to the current plight of his competitors, Fu Qian let out a cold, inward sneer.

"When I found Ariel, he was indeed a true Demigod, though he was wandering around in an extremely chaotic state."

After a brief hesitation, Nepheli was evidently moved by the atmosphere of honesty and actually started explaining little Ariel's past.

"Not only was his mind utterly devoid of sanity, but his physical state was also extremely unstable. He easily reduced any living creature he came into contact with to ashes.

"His only stroke of luck was that the location was a forbidden zone far from human society. Otherwise, the Night Watchers would have discovered and purged him immediately."

A double madness of the mind and transcendent form? Is this truly the miserable fate of a senior who lost all their SAN Value?

Fu Qian could somewhat picture the scene Nepheli described, and he agreed with her definition of "luck."

It seemed the Warehouse had no pollutant recovery measures for seniors who died in the line of duty. They were quite literally just casually tossed aside.

Also, a forbidden zone... Was there a mission in there?

Regardless, the Night Watchers' response would indeed be slower in a place ordinary people couldn't reach.

"It took a great deal of effort to trap him and assess his condition. The collapse of his mind was one thing, but his physical state was far worse than a typical loss of control...

"For instance, inside a hollow space in his chest were three stars revolving around each other. Their Rank was even loftier than his own."

Once she started reminiscing, Nepheli couldn't stop, quickly sharing more details.

"A trait? Is that why he was later able to advance to Tier 2?"

Picturing the scene she described, Fu Qian nodded slightly and offered a guess.

"Exactly. At first, I almost thought something had gone wrong during his advancement... Anyway, to calm him down, I invoked a Miracle said to have once been used to aid those who lost control—the Tyrant's Boon."

Nepheli's emotions grew somewhat complicated when mentioning the Miracle she had previously discussed with Fu Qian.

After all, the man sitting before her had just admitted that he was the one who had truly received the Tyrant's Boon.

"The effect was unexpectedly good. Not only did Ariel calm down, but whatever was inside his body began to digest, visibly transforming into a new form.

"I didn't even understand the cause behind it, so I specifically sought Rom's advice. That's how we ended up with that unique Tier 2 you saw."

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