Eldritch Horror Theatre

It made perfect sense. Though Professor Ah Kai's process of stabilizing his state had been rushed, he didn't appear to have made any mistakes.

While Fu Qian shared his concern regarding the situation Ah Kai had described, he fully endorsed the knowledge the professor had shared.

The concept of a mystical "affinity," for instance.

The Miracle used to attain divinity didn't simply provide physical or mental enhancements of a corresponding nature, nor did it directly impart knowledge. Instead, it manifested as an unquantifiable leap in comprehension.

This made the path of Miracles feel far more intellectual, which aligned perfectly with his earlier observations.

When Ah Kai first woke up, Fu Qian hadn't yet deactivated the Burial Scroll he was using as an external sensory tool. At the time, he hadn't detected a Meria Imprint on the professor like the one on the Snow Tree Leaves.

If advancing to a High Tier through a Miracle route granted the blessing of a corresponding higher entity, then this phenomenon would severely challenge his recent theory. He had just hypothesized that Meria was three faces of a single entity, which would explain why Ah Kai had fallen into a state resembling general anesthesia.

If Ah Kai had received the blessing of the "sea" but radiated no connection to the concept of Meria, wouldn't that serve as an immediate counterexample? It would prove the "sea" was unrelated to Meria, entirely disproving the three-in-one theory.

But since the blessing solely manifested as an abstract boost to comprehension, things made much more sense.

"Do you have the materials for the Yesterday Once More Miracle on you? I want to share something with you."

He gestured directly at Ah Kai.

He figured the chances were high; the other man had just used it himself, after all.

...

"Ah? Yes, I do."

Ah Kai was slightly taken aback, but he quickly collected himself.

Professor Fu's generosity was always staggering, but it would be a lie to say he wasn't looking forward to what was going to be shared.

Setting aside his extensive track record in past incidents, anyone recalling their recent ordeal could easily sense the profound mystery Professor Fu exuded.

His scalpel-like precision, his perfect control of force, his refusal to waste a single second, and his optimal allocation of manpower... It was a frankly terrifying display of leadership.

Given his current confusion and worry, there was no one better suited to offer guidance—and Professor Fu truly didn't seem to mind providing it.

"Let's begin."

Upon receiving that affirmative response, Fu Qian waved his hand.

"Alright. We might not succeed on the first try."

Ah Kai wasted no time, quickly setting up the surroundings as he offered that word of warning.

"I know. Let's hope it works."

Fu Qian merely nodded, not bothering to pressure him with demands for guaranteed success.

This Miracle only had a marginal success rate, a fact Ah Kai had pointed out previously.

Even though Ah Kai's Rank had just increased, Fu Qian's own state had grown significantly more unique.

As a result, Yesterday Once More was simply the gentlest option among the methods he could currently think of, making it his first choice to attempt.

In the blink of an eye, Ah Kai finished the preparations. Muttering beneath his breath, he tossed a handful of glittering dust toward Fu Qian.

...

The success rate truly was abysmal, but they eventually broke through.

It wasn't until the third handful of dust was thrown that Fu Qian finally experienced a seemingly familiar sensation.

The fabled past unfolded before his eyes, allowing him to review his peaceful years in a single glance.

Did this serve as indirect proof that he hadn't yet become a purely "soulless" automaton?

Then again, those peaceful years made up a remarkably small percentage of his career.

Sighing internally, Fu Qian zeroed in on his least peaceful recent memory: the surreal experience that followed his mushroom consumption.

Considering the memory was quite lengthy, he skipped straight to the final scene—the moment the vibrating mycelium violently tore apart the "real world," though the Fungal Emperor never made an appearance.

To be able to share a hallucinogenic mushroom trip with someone else truly was one of life's little marvels.

The only question was, how much enlightenment could Professor Ah Kai glean from such a scene?

Well...

To his relief, Professor Ah Kai seemed to have withstood the test following his increase in Rank.

Although the sharing process had been a bit rocky, his reaction remained extraordinarily intense.

Long after the effects of Yesterday Once More faded, the professor remained frozen in place, staring blankly ahead.

...

The chances of Excellency Meria being three faces of a single entity seemed to have just gone up.

Fu Qian didn't rush to disturb him, simply arriving at a conclusion while he waited patiently.

His goal here had been quite simple: he wanted to continue testing the three-in-one theory using the "mystical affinity" Ah Kai had mentioned.

While his external perception was currently inactive, he had already proven that he possessed a certain "Meria" attribute.

If Ah Kai's special affinity, the "sea," truly was connected to Meria, then the memory he shared should carry a profound significance for the professor, shouldn't it? Meaning it would be much more likely to trigger an enlightenment?

The current situation seemed to prove exactly that. Ah Kai looked as if he had been struck by a burst of pure inspiration.

"What did you see?"

When Ah Kai finally exhaled softly, Fu Qian broke the silence to ask.

"Nothing at all..."

At first glance, this answer was less than ideal.

Ah Kai turned toward him, his voice sounding as though he were speaking in his sleep.

"Be specific."

Fu Qian, however, wasn't so easily discouraged.

"It was incredibly strange... I felt as if I were sensing something, but the harder I tried to grasp it, the further it slipped away. There was this maddening sense of a fallacy... as if I were staring directly into the concept of 'nothingness' itself."

The experience clearly hadn't been easy on Professor Ah Kai. His expression was pained as he spoke, and his conclusions were riddled with contradictions.

A maddening fallacy... the only thing to be found was "nothingness"?

Fu Qian didn't mind the contradictions; he simply continued to chew on the words.

"Zero?"

After a moment, he offered a single, distinct word to the bewildered Ah Kai.

...

As a number, zero was a magnificent invention.

It was far more than just a mathematical concept. It bridged the gap between a "blank void" and "existence"—the idea that nothingness is, itself, something. Even from a philosophical perspective, it was a dangerously bold innovation.

Before the suffering Ah Kai could even respond, Fu Qian faintly felt as though he had brushed up against the answer to a pressing question—

What exactly was going on with Meria? Why was she "not allowed" to exist? And how exactly was such a thing enforced?

The answer: she might not be "forbidden" from existing, but rather, only allowed to exist in the form of "zero."

The situation involving Meria and the Red Moon might share far more similarities than initially apparent.

The Red Moon had been distorted by the "moon" itself. Meria, on the other hand, had been distorted by a far more abstract concept: "zero."

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