Eldritch Horror Theatre

There was actually another gun.

It wasn't Mercy, of course. The Warehouse wasn't foolish enough to overlook that kind of smuggling.

It shared the same revolver design, though its size and caliber were slightly smaller, and its aesthetic was far more extravagant.

If Mercy's beauty lay in its tones and lines, the gun holstered at his waist was much more direct.

Dazzlingly intricate gold lines covered the entire gun, extending even to the holster.

Consistent in style and masterfully crafted, it was clearly the work of a master.

Fortunately, he had only caught a fleeting glimpse of it earlier. If he had drawn this extravagant piece and pointed it at the store manager from the start, the man might have eventually doubted whether it could even fire.

In short, it was a fully loaded gun that looked more like a piece of art than a murder weapon.

Fu Qian could easily confirm this as he casually drew and handled it, without needing to open the cylinder.

Moreover, the extravagant style happened to match his current outfit perfectly.

Both prioritized visual impact over practicality, making him increasingly curious about the old man's identity.

The plaid-shirted manager's description had been quite confident: Fu Qian was currently playing the role of the old man's driver.

Given this desolate road and their eye-catching appearance, it was no surprise the manager had remembered so many details.

This also made the manager's foul mood at the start of the mission more understandable.

Aside from his grating behavior, he and the old man were customers who had previously passed the shop without buying anything.

Taking the opportunity to squeeze someone who had already made a bad impression was only human nature.

Considering how quickly the manager guessed the car had broken down, he had probably been secretly hoping for exactly that.

As for the abandoned rest stop he mentioned, its failure wasn't surprising given the area's desolation.

This also offered a possible explanation for the contradiction in the mission briefing—

The "familiar old road"—did that refer to him, the driver, or the old man?

He clearly didn't recognize the area he had just walked through.

Could the old man's familiarity with this region have prompted him to push a little further down the road before resting?

That seemed much more reasonable. For now, though, he just hoped the old man hadn't also gotten lost.

Looking up at the completely darkened sky, Fu Qian didn't deliberately pick up his pace. He merely calculated the distance in his head—

And it seemed he had found it.

His gaze landed on a patch of gravel beside the road.

A black sedan sat parked there. Compared to the clothes and the gun, its design was remarkably plain.

That plainness was actually a drawback right now, as the black vehicle was quite difficult to spot in the faint starlight.

If its exterior had a bit more flair, they might not have needed to pull off the road at all.

It would have been easier to flag down a passing driver for help or a ride—though that still wouldn't have been easy here.

Fu Qian walked up to the car and peered through the tightly shut windows.

There really was an old man inside, his hair completely white but meticulously groomed.

His eyes were half-closed, radiating a profound aura of decay that could be felt without him speaking a word—an aura that almost seemed to be breeding true rot.

Indeed, this old man walking in the night dressed in brocade not only failed to react to his arrival, but his heart had also completely stopped beating.

Most people simply wouldn't have the guts to give a dead man a ride in the middle of the night.

Click!

Fu Qian didn't mind. Dropping his other items, he went straight to popping open the gas tank to refuel.

Hmm...

The moment he settled back into the driver's seat amid the refreshing scent of gasoline, an unusual noise echoed through the cabin.

In the rearview mirror, the old man in the back slowly opened his eyes and even sat up a little straighter.

"...You took a while."

His very first words were a tactful criticism of his driver's efficiency.

"I got lost for a bit."

Fu Qian offered a casual explanation as he started the engine.

"We got lucky, though. Supposedly, that shop is closing down soon."

...

It was as if the gasoline had been pumped straight into the old man's veins, instantly bringing him back to life.

Though his words hadn't been loud, they still carried a certain imposing weight.

Fu Qian didn't even need to turn around to clearly hear the man's heartbeat starting up again.

This wasn't a ghost story; the old man was currently very much alive.

It seemed that earlier, tired of waiting for his driver to return, he had just casually died for a while.

The whole process sounded absurd, but Fu Qian didn't find it too exaggerated.

The Transcendent Tier was, after all, a foundational element of this world. He had realized the moment he first observed the old man that he was no ordinary mortal.

In fact, judging by the standards of his Vision Radar, the old man was at the Mid Tier.

It wasn't too strange for a body like that to break a few common biological rules.

Even if the driver he was impersonating had been an ordinary person, they wouldn't have been frightened anyway—an ordinary mortal wouldn't have even noticed that the man's heart had stopped, so they couldn't exactly accuse the old man of lacking common courtesy.

"It's dark, and you've never been here before... It certainly wouldn't be easy to find."

Faced with Fu Qian's explanation, the old man mused for a moment before readily expressing his understanding.

"But why did you buy a first-aid kit like this?"

As he spoke, his dull eyes had already swept over the supplies Fu Qian had brought back.

He fired off the question before Fu Qian could even thank him for his understanding.

"You know how it is. There are always unexpected situations."

Given the desolate location and the atmosphere, discussing a topic involving bloodshed felt more than a little eerie.

Fortunately, having already previewed the question with the plaid-shirted manager, Fu Qian didn't even turn his head and simply copy-pasted the shopkeeper's excuse.

He even steered the car back onto the road as he spoke.

...

So it really was the old man's familiar road.

The old man remained silent in the backseat, but Fu Qian was highly satisfied with his gains.

The old man's wording had made it clear: as the driver, Fu Qian had definitely never been here before.

That basically cleared up his earlier doubts about the mission briefing. This trip was clearly initiated around the old man's will.

Now, the only thing left to confirm seemed to be what they needed to do.

"Very well... keep driving straight. There will be a fork in the road in ten minutes, but we need to turn off before that onto a small road with a red roadbed."

Comfortingly, as if reading his mind, the old man in the back provided a detailed route.

[Containment Fulfillment Conditions: Help complete Kadon Dickens's Dying Wish List]

It didn't even end there. Almost at the exact same moment, another system prompt rang out.

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