Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Right now?"

With his grim suspicion confirmed, Rob grew even more worried.

Fu Qian's next request, however, left him somewhat baffled.

It was related, certainly, but their conversation on the way over made it feel as though Professor Fu had simply dropped by to supervise his work.

"Right now."

Fu Qian nodded, flipping through the manuscripts scattered nearby.

Unfortunately, the Benevolent Curse Institute's peculiar habit of strict secrecy seemed to be holding strong.

Aside from a sketch of those four items over there, he found no other relevant information—not even a project name.

...

Despite his confusion, Professor Rob was highly cooperative, quickly leading Fu Qian over to his laboratory.

Pointing at the familiar set of equipment, he noted that the earlier commotion had left no visible traces.

"It really is suspended in midair."

Not doubting the claim, Fu Qian leaned in for a closer look and acknowledged the strange phenomenon the professor had described.

Just as Professor Rob had said, the mushrooms' reproduction had clearly accelerated. At a glance, their numbers were nearing the double digits.

The Insect Swarm continued to flutter in arcane curves, but the focal point of their gathering was obvious. One or two of the mushrooms hovered without any support, as if growing straight out of the void.

Aside from that, there was no obvious difference in color or shape.

"Could you pick one for me?"

Before Rob could respond, Fu Qian gestured toward them with a rapid new request.

As the project leader, Rob's assessment was naturally sound—there really wasn't anything unusual left inside the equipment—but Fu Qian hadn't come here for that.

"...Of course."

Though he felt the situation was getting increasingly bizarre, Rob cooperatively collected a sample on the spot, even specifically selecting one of the suspended mushrooms.

This thing... if it kept reproducing, would a Sword Saint pop out of it one day and start hacking people down?

Naturally, Fu Qian wouldn't make the rookie mistake of handling the sample barehanded. Accepting the specialized container Professor Rob provided, he took a whiff of the familiar scent, recalling the sharp attack that had nearly shattered his Transcendent Tier form.

He had to admit that Master Yuhun had a good eye; the Academy truly was a place of illustrious people and blessed land.

"The situation isn't optimistic, but at least we haven't found a body... Can you find anyone else from the Benevolent Curse Institute?"

Snapping the container shut with a click, Fu Qian finally brought up the main issue, directly querying Rob about his social circle.

"I'm only somewhat close with Ah Kai..."

Just as expected, Rob's social circle was quite narrow. Put on the spot, he had no idea where to even start looking for anyone else.

"You can go find Lanaya and have her take you to drag a few people out."

Fu Qian didn't mind, directly suggesting they trouble their recent workaholic.

...

Professional matters were best left to the professionals.

If this really was an experimental accident, no one was better equipped to figure out what had happened than the tutors of the Benevolent Curse Institute, who were deeply familiar with Miracles.

After all, every trade has its own specialization, and the effects of Miracles were often quite abstract.

Lacking Transcendent Perception, Fu Qian had no intention of taking on everything himself.

In fact, normally speaking, if the Benevolent Curse Institute's organizational structure wasn't so loose, Rob should have reported this incident directly to them.

"Alright... I'll go right now."

Clearly realizing this as well, and finding the idea of troubling Professor Lanaya highly feasible, Rob immediately agreed.

"After that, you can come back and continue monitoring."

Fu Qian pointed at the Insect Swarm and the mushrooms, indicating that once the necessary errands were done, coming back to keep an eye on this setup was much more meaningful than blindly joining the fray.

"Understood."

Rob nodded again, his thoughts gradually clearing.

...

Although his rest had been interrupted, it was an interesting situation nonetheless.

The sky was already dark. After leaving the building and quickly parting ways with Rob, Fu Qian toyed with the item in his hand, silently pondering this sudden turn of events.

Ah Kai had likely encountered some kind of accident; the current situation made that a highly probable conclusion.

And it was practically a certainty that the accident was related to a Miracle.

But for the Miracle to seemingly be connected to this special fungus felt a little too coincidental.

On one hand, they needed to find Ah Kai; on the other, considering the Fungal Emperor he'd encountered before, this was clearly worth a deeper look.

Fu Qian even had a few vague ideas about how to utilize the item in his hand—

"So lively?"

Amidst his thoughts, Fu Qian had already made the round trip, arriving back at his own Laboratory.

Facing the three people inside who all turned to look at him, he couldn't help but marvel at the stark contrast.

Classmate Liushuang, Wen Li, and even Professor Lisa, whom he had asked for a favor not long ago...

"What do you think?"

Unamused by his surprise, Professor Lisa was clearly a bit annoyed, casually standing a Metal Cylinder on the table.

Regardless of her customer service attitude, she had indeed delivered the goods right to his door as requested.

"And what's that in your hand?"

Professor Lisa had sharp eyes, noticing the item in Fu Qian's hand almost immediately.

"Experimental materials."

Fu Qian didn't mention Professor Ah Kai's accident.

"This is something Rob is working on, isn't it?"

However, Professor Lisa's knowledge was quite broad. Frowning at the mushroom in the container, she managed to deduce the bizarre item's likely origin in the very next moment.

"That's right. It's a very interesting specimen. Want a taste?"

Having just requested a new portion of Claudora Flesh earlier, the chances of Professor Lisa knowing what Rob was using it for were indeed quite high.

Fu Qian gave the container a shake, genuinely offering it out to her.

"Forget it. I don't like eating mushrooms."

Unfortunately, Professor Lisa looked completely disgusted. Even knowing he was joking, she instantly refused.

"Alright... I've delivered the item, so I'll be taking my leave."

Before Fu Qian could say anything, she seemed to suddenly realize that her words aligned a bit too well with certain biological habits. She snorted and prepared to leave.

She was gradually learning how to take a joke; the Dean's painstaking efforts hadn't been in vain.

Fu Qian admitted to himself that his previous question had indeed been a malicious insinuation, making Professor Lisa's reaction all the more gratifying to watch.

"It's fine. You can stay here and chat with them a little longer. I still need to head out for a bit."

He actually spoke up to urge her to stay, gesturing for the three of them to continue gossiping. He then picked up the Metal Cylinder containing the Divine Flesh and, toying with it in his hands, genuinely turned and walked out.

The two girls he had singled out, Wen Li and Liushuang, giggled. As they echoed his invitation for Professor Lisa to stay, they showed very little sympathy for Professor Fu's hardships.

...

Oh... are the limitations really this high?

He wasn't just talking nonsense to escape. Not only did he leave the Laboratory at light speed, but after stepping out, Fu Qian even sprinted straight toward the outside of the Academy. Throughout the entire dash, he kept a close watch on the reactions of the two items in his hands.

At a certain point, his footsteps came to a sudden halt as he examined the container holding the mushroom.

As if reacting to something, the specimen inside was already rapidly withering in the blink of an eye.

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