Eldritch Horror Theatre

Crimson Storm.

To clock out, he only needed to put on his mask; there was no need to even stand up.

So standing up naturally meant he wasn't ready to clock out just yet.

Scanning the ever-quiet Warehouse, Fu Qian wasted no time and directly activated his harvest from the mission.

He had to admit, it was certainly crimson.

Similar to the original, eye-blinding effect of his Commandment Residue, an abnormal hue that theoretically only he could see instantly enveloped his surroundings.

It was a red brimming with a profound sense of vitality.

Clear and translucent, entirely placid—yet with a single glance, he could almost feel the very concept of life pulsing within.

If he kept this active and took a stroll through a crowded area, wouldn't it be an even greater source of disaster than Resplendent Tyrant?

Fu Qian continued through the Warehouse, strolling as casually as if he were taking a walk by a lake. Yet, all along the way, the Warehouse remained completely unresponsive.

Even the Containment Objects in their boxes stayed perfectly quiet, showing no reaction to concepts like bloodlines or ethics.

But it didn't matter. If they wanted to ignore this seat, this seat could simply come knocking.

At one point, Fu Qian stopped in his tracks, looking at a modestly sized silver-white square box in front of him that bore the designation 1-039.

...

[Hotbed; 1-039]

[Grey Bed; 1-093]

His lack of rush to clock out wasn't just to use the Warehouse as a testing ground, of course.

A question had been raised right at the beginning of the mission, and now was a good time to explore it a bit.

Not only had this mission been a second visit to the same location, but even the names and designations of the Containment Objects shared a strange sense of correspondence.

If it wasn't a coincidence, could the underlying reason reflect certain essential attributes of the Warehouse?

Or perhaps offer a slight interpretation of its power over space, time, and causality?

It was fine to be bold with his hypotheses. Besides, taking a convenient look wouldn't cost him any effort.

Click—

The box holding Hotbed was opened.

This...

Honestly, having seen some illusory projections before the mission even began, and considering the name and mission content, it wasn't hard to imagine a few potential forms it might take.

Lava kindling, souls of The Deep, or even a nest of flesh and blood would all be normal. Yet, what lay inside was... a brain in a vat?

Indeed. As a flesh-and-blood expert, Fu Qian could attest that it was a perfectly standard human brain.

There were no flaws in its size or shape as it hovered there, looking exceptionally plump.

The box even contained a water-like liquid.

It was clear and translucent, completely colorless and devoid of impurities.

The only issue was that the brain might be a bit too plump, as if it had become inflamed from soaking for too long.

...

How should he put it... it actually made sense.

Scrutinizing the bizarre sight before him, Fu Qian quickly came up with a way to interpret it.

Unseen Hill—an existence residing in the deepest depths of human nature, a cage for all sorts of wills, where freedom remained out of reach no matter how hard one struggled...

Using the concept of a 'brain in a vat' to describe it was inexplicably fitting.

Although, based on his past experiences, the Containment Objects within these boxes were more often condensations of symbolic meaning. The chances of Old Man Ji's actual brain soaking in here were extremely slim.

After all, by the simplest logic, the old man wouldn't have grown a second brain for no reason—

Holding 1-039, Fu Qian stepped in front of 1-093.

Click—

Another square box, entirely identical in size, was opened, revealing its contents.

It was another brain, though this one looked slightly shriveled.

It was far from being as plump and pale as the previous one, presenting instead as an unnatural, sickly dark grey.

Threads of profound power from The Deep were even entwined within its sulci and gyri.

Hmm... for an elderly man, this one actually fit human physiology a bit better.

Comparing them back and forth, Fu Qian gave a nod and delivered a fair assessment.

So the brain from 1-039 must have been Old Man Ji's when he was much younger.

...

Did a physical change like the one in 1-093 hint at an embrace of the darkness?

Jokes aside, these two brains undoubtedly proved his earlier theory about them being 'symbolic.'

Fu Qian then focused his efforts on interpreting the grey brain.

Not only was it unappealing to look at, but it had even affected the liquid it was submerged in.

The profound hue of The Deep marking the brain seemed to have seeped directly into the fluid, making the entire display look increasingly gloomy.

Furthermore, these Containment Objects—similar in form yet different in nature—seemed to validate his earlier hypothesis.

That meant the numerical designations of the Warehouse's items weren't entirely random; they too held some sort of symbolic meaning.

He just didn't know if these two sets of numbers held any deeper connotations in themselves, beyond representing opposing natures.

Although the sight was rather grotesque, to be honest, this observation hadn't provided much substantial insight into the two grand goals he had set out earlier.

But this was exactly where the perks of being an academic lay—there were always plenty of subjects to study.

Given that the designations held meaning, it brought to mind a recent case at the Academy—one that might have been bound by the very concept of 'zero.'

If 'zero' had a meaning, what about the other numbers?

Could these Warehouse designations directly correspond to the properties of their respective Containment Objects?

Of course, this was a rather far-reaching tangent. Right now, there was another conclusion sitting right in front of him—

A long time ago, he had marveled at a certain detail regarding Unseen Hill. The superheroes, supervillains, and various other elements with such an overwhelming sense of déjà vu felt as if they had all been extracted from a brain originating from the exact same place he did.

Granted, interpreting the place as a realm akin to Ji Feng's spiritual world was a perfectly fine way to explain it all, but at this moment, the word 'extracted' felt remarkably subtle.

Deteriorating brain in a vat aside, didn't the sight before him also give off the vibe of goji berries soaking in water?

Without limiting this thought process to just Unseen Hill, Fu Qian's mind naturally wandered further, linking it to a particular question he had about the Bookstore World—

Despite possessing transcendent powers, why did it bear so many similarities to the place he had lived in for twenty years?

...

Fu Qian had harbored similar sentiments since he first started taking on missions.

As everyone knew, going down a Psionic Ascension Route would have a massive impact on a civilization's tech tree.

Yet, whether it was their vehicles or their communication devices, their tech tree seemingly hadn't deviated at all.

To him, this seemed slightly illogical.

Not to mention the language spoken by the vast majority of the population, which was almost identical to the one in his own world.

Was it possible that either the Bookstore World or his original world wasn't real?

That was an easy thought to arrive at.

Applying that model, even the situation with the Witch could be easily explained.

However, Fu Qian had never hastily made such assertions. Instead, he kept pondering if there were other possibilities.

And the scene before him seemed to present a rather bizarre theory—

Was it possible that the essence seeping from Ji Feng's brain hadn't been entirely confined to Unseen Hill?

What if, after being filtered, it had seeped out from the deepest parts of his psyche and affected the entire world in a manner akin to memetic contamination?

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