Eldritch Horror Theatre

"What method?"

Inside the Warehouse, the Persuader's body was rapidly crystallizing, turning into a translucent gray statue before crumbling away inch by inch.

Yet his eyes remained fixed on Fu Qian, completely oblivious to his own disintegration.

"If I was right, and a parasite that could pry into my consciousness was attached to my body, then my chances were very slim."

Fu Qian watched him.

"My only advantage was that you wouldn't dare expose yourself in this place. Not even the slightest bit. Because of that, my consciousness wouldn't be spied on while I was here."

If his guess was right, the true target of this mission was the Persuader. In that case, the Warehouse had to possess some means of dealing with him; otherwise, the mission would have been completely meaningless.

So while he was in here, the parasite had to maintain the deepest possible state of concealment.

Fu Qian added silently.

"The moment I stepped out, I stopped thinking about anything related to it. I merely executed the established plan."

"Boil the water, cook the noodles. I proceeded step by step, never once pondering why, keeping my timing precise to the second."

"Finally, after a series of incredibly normal actions, I abruptly stopped at the designated moment and blanked my mind."

"I set that duration to exactly five seconds."

"During that interval, I didn't wonder why I was doing it, nor did I monitor my body for changes. Once the five seconds were up, I came right back here."

"Assuming you had been spying the whole time, how would you react upon realizing your host was suddenly acting strangely?"

"You're in a weakened state right now, so you definitely wouldn't want to be discovered. You'd worry whether my sanity had been affected by the parasitism, and whether my abnormal behavior might attract unnecessary attention. Since you didn't sense any danger, giving me a slight nudge to return my behavior to normal would be a very reasonable and safe move. And then—we ended up here."

"This was a dangerous gamble, and I likely only had one chance."

Fu Qian looked at the Persuader, whose body was already in tatters, his head teetering on his neck.

"If I failed, I probably wouldn't even know I'd failed. It's kind of amusing to think about, but fortunately, it didn't come to that..."

"Your performance is truly astonishing!"

With a muffled thud, the Persuader's shriveled head hit the floor. His messy hair looked like withered grass, yet he continued to speak.

"But I can tell you this: no matter what form I'm bound in, one day, I will return."

"Great!"

Fu Qian waved a hand at him.

"Good luck with that!"

The Persuader didn't make another sound. His head rapidly turned ethereal and shot into the depths of the Warehouse.

'Done.'

Witnessing this, Fu Qian let out a breath.

This had to be the most bizarre mission to date!

And the most dangerous!

He had to admit, this kind of corruption—one that transcended concepts, perhaps even dimensions—was a real eye-opener.

In previous missions, the greatest danger had merely been his SAN Value dropping to zero.

This time, if he hadn't noticed, he would have been turned into a puppet without a sound.

Fortunately, his imagination was rich enough.

Thinking back, the Warehouse had actually given him a few hints.

Take the mission rewards, for example.

Aside from the SAN Value and inspiration, there was nothing else, which was undoubtedly abnormal.

Beyond that, there was another detail that was extremely easy to overlook.

[Today's work has been completed; you may now leave the Warehouse.]

This prompt, which usually appeared after every mission, hadn't popped up even after he sat in the Warehouse for a solid half hour.

That was practically an explicit declaration that his mission wasn't over yet.

'Now, the real reward should be arriving, right?'

Fu Qian sat in his seat, his gaze fixed on the depths of the Warehouse.

As if in response to his thoughts, two objects silently materialized on the desk.

'What are these?'

Drawn by the bizarre shapes of the items, Fu Qian reached out and lifted the larger one.

'So heavy. It looks like a torture instrument!'

This first reward was impressively a Hexagonal Iron Cage.

The iron cage was a full half-meter tall, cast from rough pig iron that made it exceptionally thick and heavy.

One end had a hole just large enough to fit a head through.

[Name: Sweet Dream Head Cage]

As Fu Qian focused his attention on it, lines of information appeared.

[Type: Helmet]

[Description: A head cage for self-imprisonment. Wearing it isolates thoughts. Depending on the duration it is worn, it will produce different effects.]

[Worn for 0-60 minutes: Can isolate all observation.]

[Worn for 1-6 hours: Allows one to see the undistorted truth.]

[Worn for more than 6 hours: The wearer will fall into a sweet Nightmare.]

[Upon each removal, the head cage will automatically close and can only be opened again after 24 hours.]

[Note: It is said that absolute self-isolation will give birth to the Wisdom of the Deity.]

'This thing is actually a helmet?'

'Its design is truly unique!'

Fu Qian marveled as he read the description.

'The effects are quite interesting, too.'

His biggest problem right now was how easily he attracted the gaze of various entities.

Under these circumstances, the first effect was a perfect fit.

Although the description stated it was only effective for up to an hour and couldn't be maintained indefinitely, it would still be incredibly useful at crucial moments.

As for peering into the truth, he couldn't think of a use for it at the moment. And as for that subsequent sweet Nightmare—grammatical oxymoron aside—it definitely didn't sound like a good thing.

'I can't wear it for too long.'

After a rough analysis, Fu Qian placed the head cage back on the table and picked up the other reward.

He was actually no stranger to this item.

[Name: Insect Whistle]

[Type: Special Item]

[Description: Emits a sound that pierces the barrier between reality and the dreamscape, summoning a Nightmare Worm to devour everything.]

[Note: In most dimensions, the worm can only exist for an extremely short time and will not distinguish between friend and foe.]

'It really is this thing!'

Fu Qian played with the white whistle in his hand.

If it had the same effect as it did during the mission, the summoned worm was undoubtedly still very powerful, at least at the Demigod Grade or above.

Even though it didn't distinguish between friend and foe, as long as he used it properly, it could still produce miraculous results.

Both of these rewards were undeniably practical. It meant his hard work hadn't been in vain!

Considering their potential dangers, Fu Qian didn't carry them with him, choosing instead to leave them both in the Warehouse.

After sorting everything out, Fu Qian activated the Imprint and returned home.

It was still morning outside, and the noodles on the table were still steaming.

However, the peace and quiet were no more. Almost instantly, a tide of shouts surged within his mind.

'It should be fine now!'

Fu Qian nodded to himself.

He hadn't heard those voices just a moment ago, which confirmed their absence was indeed because he had been parasitized.

'Maybe because my soul wasn't pure anymore?'

'I could actually use this to test if I've fallen into a trap in the future.'

"Quiet!"

Fu Qian scoffed as he thought this, picking up the chopsticks in front of him.

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