Eldritch Horror Theatre

He was not just the Prophet, but also the Offspring.

According to the clown, this was the dark enlightenment Yuan Fang received after entering the door.

Though it sounded a bit convoluted at first, looking at it now, this might not merely be an issue of ethics.

The mission summary revealed that the irreconcilable conflict between his two personalities was why Ji Feng couldn't even recognize his true Offspring.

Given that the Ji Clan and the Yuan Clan were also two distinct factions, it was easy to draw a one-to-one parallel.

The Yuan Clan obviously corresponded to the dark side, while the Ji Clan represented its opposite.

So, would it be possible to conduct some sort of paternity test to help determine the nature of the doomsday problem?

Although the Ji Clan currently seemed to hold an absolute advantage, how exactly one would perform this paternity test still required far more theoretical support.

...

Standing inside the Warehouse, Fu Qian sighed, deeply convinced that one could never slack off on the path of learning.

Beyond that, the summary also revealed a few other minor details—such as the clown's whereabouts.

It seemed that, just like his ally of justice last time, the consciousness that had gambled with him was now completely dead, having lost all possibility of returning.

Although they had only met a few times and stood on opposite sides, they had genuinely enjoyed their interactions. Such an ending couldn't help but evoke a tinge of sorrow.

Fortunately, his excellency the clown had thoroughly enjoyed his final moments. Faced with a superior gambling tactic, he hadn't shown a shred of dissatisfaction. In fact, he had been absolutely delighted, his uproarious laughter still ringing in Fu Qian's ears.

Moreover, reading between the lines of the mission summary, a new clown would eventually appear in the future Unseen Hill. Acting as the representative of chaos and madness, he would always be ready to arrange a new show for 'Grimm Ballard,' coming and going like a ghost.

He had to admit, this shared a striking resemblance to the return of the name Ballard—different tunes played with equal skill.

It was just a pity that the commute was so inconvenient. He could only hope that the new Brother Clown would have the same good luck as his predecessor, managing to time his next grand spectacle perfectly with Fu Qian's arrival.

That aside, there was another lingering question: why had Ji Feng specifically chosen Akasha to join his criminal gang?

Fu Qian didn't doubt the clown's claim, but everyone shared the same consensus in this regard—the Spider Silk Queen's abilities weren't exactly outstanding.

To lack exceptional abilities yet still earn the Old Man's favor... could it be because of her excellent innate conditions?

That was right; Fu Qian suspected that the Old Man saw a shadow of himself in her.

Weren't Akasha and the Spider Silk Queen also in a state of sparring between left and right?

Normally, it wasn't too obvious; they seemed to blend together quite well.

But the moment the intensity ramped up during that recent gamble, the split immediately began to show.

As for the Old Man's purpose behind selecting her... was it a clue left for him?

It sounded a bit bizarre at first, but this was the guess Fu Qian leaned toward the most.

In this sparring between left and right, while the dark Old Man clearly had the upper hand, was it possible that the other side was also orchestrating some form of resistance?

For example, dropping a subtle hint to the Cold-Blooded Plague Doctor who might soon arrive, informing him of what was currently transpiring.

And since Akasha wasn't just a parallel example but also an acquaintance of the doctor's, the theoretical probability of them making contact was much higher.

They hadn't miscalculated, either; Fu Qian had indeed started unraveling the situation precisely from that point.

He could only say that this painstaking effort had been successfully received; Akasha hadn't failed to prove her worth.

It was just that, judging from the final gamble, the situation had grown genuinely awkward.

What kind of state would the crystal and Amber ultimately end up in?

And as for the involved parties who had fled in panic, how were they supposed to deal with 'them' in the years of Clamor to come?

...

Alright, enough with the reminiscing. Next up was a very practical issue directly related to his vital interests—where was this seat's SAN Value?

The kill judgment this time around had actually been quite lenient; he had managed a rare haul of four kills.

Among them was that 'Gang' fellow. Fu Qian had to jog his memory for a moment before realizing who that was—while taking a stroll around the lake, just before reaching the end, he had casually swatted an entity at the Demigod Realm to death, the one who had transformed on the spot.

But here lay the problem: for a kill roster that included at least three Demigod Realm targets, aside from the base 20 points, it hadn't given him a single extra point of SAN Value?

Although his recent consumption had been so low that he was almost developing a hoarding complex, whether he chose to spend it or not was his own business; the act of docking his pay was a serious offense in principle.

He still remembered when he first started running missions; casually swatting a small mob would add to his SAN Value. Was it because he was too 'big' now?

Griping aside, in the process of raising the question, Fu Qian simultaneously arrived at the answer.

It definitely wasn't because there was a glitch in the acquisition process after he incarnated as the Mechanical King of the Abandoned Prison, like what had happened with his inspiration.

He couldn't forget that he had already run a few missions prior to this one, and more than one of them had granted extra bonuses on top of the base 20 points of SAN Value.

Some had even provided quite a hefty sum, like the 'Wish of Oblivion' mission from last time, which had rewarded him with a full 10 extra points.

At that time, he had killed an unformed higher entity.

So, could it be that the King of the Abandoned Prison was simply stationed too high? Could it be that aside from competitors at his own level, everyone else had already become a 'grey name,' and killing them no longer yielded experience?

Drawing analogies with practiced ease, Fu Qian arrived at a plausible answer and concluded that his benefits were truly getting worse and worse.

Furthermore, while metaphors helped with understanding, the actual differences could not be ignored.

These weren't just experience points; they were his admission tickets to walk through the history of this world.

Yet now, with so many bodies piled up together, they couldn't even provide enough 'energy' to let him make a single trip?

It was also an absolute necessity for maintaining his sanity here. The moment it hit zero, he would instantly turn into a mindless idiot.

How exactly did this reinforcement process happen? If that moment truly arrived, would being the Mechanical King of the Abandoned Prison allow him to resist it?

Hard to say.

But considering the experience, admission tickets, and willpower shields, combined with his docked commissions this time around and the contrast in Rank...

He couldn't help but feel that, although he still lacked a concrete conclusion, he had faintly brushed up against a deeper truth regarding the essence of SAN Value.

Besides that, there was at least a special reward.

Feeling no real dissatisfaction, Fu Qian took stock of both his finalized and pending rewards before finally shifting his focus to that bizarre title.

...

[Name: Finger Pulp]

[Adds a new morphological form to your Commandment Residue]

[Tainted Blood, Vortex of Order.

Upon activation, triggers a Crimson Storm visible only to yourself. For any lifeforms above a certain threshold of strength caught within it, their bloodline concepts at the Transcendent Tier will be continuously torn apart and restructured over time.

These restructured bloodline connections will affect their Transcendent Tier forms, breeding instability and mutation. Once this accumulated instability and mutation exceed their carrying capacity, it will erupt under the concept of Offspring.

The lifeforms will attempt to gestate a new fetus of a higher level than themselves, using it to replace their original bodies and raise their carrying capacity.

As long as they do not escape the Crimson Storm, this process will continue endlessly.

A small minority of special lifeforms are immune to this effect.]

[Note: Bloodline Curse]

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