Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Don't be nervous. You just don't look like you're in the best shape."

Humanity's joys and sorrows are never truly shared. Professor Lisa's gaze made it clear she was still at a loss over how to handle his concern.

Beside her, even Lotte had grown less stiff, though she clearly sensed the bizarre atmosphere.

Under these circumstances, Professor Fu's follow-up comment noticeably made the atmosphere even stranger.

"...Are you sure? I feel fine."

Lisa had evidently been shaken out of her confidence, her hand rising subconsciously to her neck.

She might have ignored such a remark from anyone else, but the man before her possessed not only an astonishing Rank, but a truly unforgettable combat record.

She did, indeed, look fine.

Fu Qian wasn't in a rush to refute her claim. His gaze simply followed her hand, observing her closely.

In every respect, she looked like a perfectly healthy adult. It was truly difficult to pick out any flaws.

"True, maybe I'm just overthinking it."

He didn't stare too rudely. A moment later, Fu Qian withdrew his gaze and nodded in agreement. After all, when the Old Lady demigod spoke just now, she hadn't been referring to Lisa's physical state, but her mental one.

Issues like that were generally difficult to self-diagnose, which fit Professor Lisa's reaction perfectly.

At the same time, due to the unique nature of his own perception, he was practically illiterate in that field—which also aligned with his current observation results.

Although the situation wasn't entirely unchanged—under his Vision Radar, Professor Lisa's resistance to Calamity was actually a tiny bit stronger than when he had first seen her yesterday.

...

The boundless vitality of all things competing to grow—this was exactly it.

He had seen her around this exact time yesterday; less than twenty-four hours had passed.

Yet in just one short day, not only was the entire Academy brimming with vitality, but Professor Lisa—who was clearly still bogged down by administrative work—was somehow gaining power while idling?

Strictly speaking, this growth had already appeared last night.

That was right. When Lisa went over to the Laboratory to deliver the Claudora Flesh, the reason he had casually suggested she stay a little longer was precisely because of that slight anomaly on his Vision Radar.

One of his theories at the time was that it might have been caused by frequent contact with the Claudora Flesh.

After all, based on his previous exchange with Cass, Lisa's origins were almost entirely confirmed—

A natural-born transcendent creature who, under Cass's direction, had been nourished by Claudora's Divine Flesh. In short, she was practically Apocalypse's most outstanding masterpiece in this line of research.

But precisely because of that, even with the mystical restriction around her neck, one couldn't help but wonder what the consequences would be if Lisa came into too much contact with those things.

Unfortunately, it seemed that even after he took the Claudora Flesh away later, it hadn't brought any relief.

...

One of his core purposes for coming over as a volunteer today was to confirm these changes in her condition.

In fact, if Professor Lisa hadn't left in such a hurry yesterday, he might not have even needed to make this trip.

Of course, Professor Lisa might be straightforward, but she was no fool. At this moment, her face remained a mask of skepticism.

"Did you go see Cass afterward?"

Seeing the awkwardness in the air, Fu Qian changed the subject without batting an eye.

"No... I was worried I wouldn't be able to resist making him eat these things."

It turned out that shifting the aggro worked wonders. By introducing another, much clearer target of hatred, Lisa's attention was instantly diverted.

As she shook her head, she glared fiercely at the pile of documents on the desk. The sheer venom in her expression certainly didn't look faked.

Professor Lisa truly didn't hold back on her grudges.

At this sight, Fu Qian couldn't help but praise her inwardly.

One must keep distinct matters separate. Her angry rebuttal against the Old Lady demigod just now didn't delay her utter contempt for these documents; this was the mark of a truly pragmatic academic.

"But ultimately, they still have to be handed over to him for review, and only after they've been properly sorted... so we'd better get started quickly."

Admiration aside, of course, that didn't stop Fu Qian from reminding her of cruel reality.

Sigh—

Professor Fu's reminder was undeniably persuasive. Having just vented her emotions, Lisa soon released a long sigh into the silence.

Seeing that her volunteer had actually picked up a document and begun reviewing it closely, she found herself at a loss for words and sat down as if resigning herself to fate.

The morning meeting with its little interlude thus came to an end. All that was left was the appreciation of these wildly imaginative ideas.

...

It was a pity the Old Lady hadn't been more cooperative; otherwise, he could have at least gotten a name to conveniently check whether she was on the roster from back then.

Time ticked by. As Fu Qian leisurely navigated the ocean of knowledge, he continued to analyze his harvest.

As the only one aware of the little interlude, he naturally wasn't going to let the recent experience go unexamined.

The short exchange made it clear that the Old Lady wasn't an easy character to get along with, so he hadn't wasted any effort on her, directly testing a few other aspects instead.

And aside from his recent conclusions, he had also gained a few extra insights into the effects of Etched Intellect that could not be ignored.

For instance, while its time span was rather unrestrained, its spatial span seemed to adhere somewhat to a proximity effect.

The previous incident with Classmate Liushuang went without saying. The Old Lady was the former owner of the Laboratory, which was why this exchange had triggered when he came here—didn't it feel a bit like the missions from the Warehouse?

Yes, to Fu Qian, this was the most interesting part.

As early as his time on Ye Island, he had already begun to faintly deduce the Warehouse's operational rules.

And by the time he reached the Sacred Night Capital, he had taken full advantage of this, making his entire rank advancement process far smoother.

Therefore, Fu Qian had always been highly sensitive to this aspect.

And the manifestation of "Etched Intellect" had successfully broadened his perspective.

It seemed even less like mental delirium caused by food poisoning, and more akin to the Warehouse, touching upon the underlying logic of how the world operated.

At the same time, it also seemed to explain why Claudora could be ranked at the head of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse.

The primary unsolved mystery left over from the Holy Infant Calamity Star incident was why Claudora was placed last.

The result of his analysis at the time was that her calamitous aspect was bringing out the "Crystal Blessing."

Through various subsequent incidents, the latter's bizarre nature had already gradually revealed itself.

However, his harvest from this Insight had instantly elevated the severity to a whole new height.

"Etched Intellect" was indeed a negative effect. It was like a completely illogical fallacy of the world, flashing before his eyes from time to time.

Yet it wasn't entirely meaningless. On the one hand, he was quite durable; on the other hand, it seemed he could occasionally extract sparks of wisdom from this fallacy—much like these things currently in his hands.

Was this what they meant when they said that when all things reached their highest realm, their cores were interconnected?

Amidst his marveling, Fu Qian set down the candidate file for the Preservation Chamber.

"Shall we call it a day here? I still have a few things to take care of."

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