Eldritch Horror Theatre

A stronghold? And a secret one at that? It certainly carried an air of mysticism.

But was it really necessary?

Old Man Laurie clearly hadn't brought them here to tour an office building. This place was actually hiding Siren personnel.

Although he trusted that the Greed Worms wouldn't joke about something like this, Fu Qian still found the setup a bit superfluous.

Moore wasn't exactly a place where Anjing held absolute power, nor had he seen the Night Watchers impose overly strict control. Siren's ship was even out there throwing its weight around in broad daylight. Why did they need to establish a stronghold in secret?

Dignified transcendents holing up here, clocking in alongside ordinary office workers, perhaps even fighting them for the public restrooms—was that truly necessary?

"Oh? What's their main line of business?"

Holding back his doubts, Fu Qian gave a slight nod, mildly curious about their operations.

"...Logistics and security, it seems."

As she spoke, she deliberately led the group into a secluded corner.

Those two businesses combined... an Escort Agency?

It was a bit of a leap, but as a professional businessman himself, Fu Qian didn't blindly question it. Instead, he quickly found a fitting business model for them.

He had to admit, it certainly gave the operation a more professional air.

"Not bad. The name Zhenyuan would suit them nicely."

Not only did Fu Qian offer his approval, he even started guessing their registered business name.

"No... and apparently, they've never actually done any business."

With every word he spoke, the conversation strayed further off track. Finally, Laywoman Tooth-Throat couldn't take it anymore and took the initiative to explain.

"The reason this place is so special is that, aside from that ship, almost all of Siren's overt personnel in Moore have withdrawn. Right now, it seems they are the only ones who haven't left."

...

Put that way, the situation was a lot more interesting.

As maritime overlords, how could Siren possibly have no business in a port like this? Running nothing but an Escort Agency would have been the truly strange part.

So they originally had plenty of operations here, but all of them had fled except for this one?

Laywoman Tooth-Throat's explanation made the underlying logic much clearer.

Of course, that also raised an even bigger question—why had they fled?

Their ship was out there having a grand old time, yet they had completely abandoned all their businesses and left?

It was just as absurd as Anjing hiring a bunch of mercenaries to cause trouble simply because they didn't want to see Solondil achieve his goal. Both approaches were different tunes played with equal skill.

However, there was no such thing as a coincidence without a cause. Given that both were purely profit-driven organizations, he was increasingly curious about what exactly they knew about Moore.

"What about Anjing?"

Fu Qian shifted his attention back to Siren's competitor.

"They've withdrawn too."

This time, Laurie answered. Meeting Laywoman Tooth-Throat's inquiring gaze, he didn't shirk his responsibility, even though he wasn't sure if Fu Qian already knew the answer.

"And judging from the current situation, their withdrawal was even more thorough. They didn't even leave behind a secret stronghold like this one."

They were that resolute?

Catching a whiff of impending bloodshed, Fu Qian gave a slight nod.

"Yet they left you behind."

...

They were clearly conflicting organizations, yet they had bizarrely withdrawn at the exact same time.

However, despite their resolute departure, their lingering connections hadn't been completely severed.

One maintained a high profile while boldly searching for opportunities, while the other chose a rather unreliable method for sabotage...

Why did they suddenly give off the aura of star-crossed lovers?

Although these strange terms surfaced in his mind, Fu Qian's smile didn't falter as he silently watched Laurie and the others.

"When the time comes, what we need to do is target this hidden stronghold..."

He didn't disappoint. Under the somewhat lost gazes of Laywoman Tooth-Throat and their companion, Laurie didn't hesitate long before revealing the details of their employment.

"They hid themselves extremely well; we never could have found them on our own. This information was provided to us by Anjing in the first place."

So that was it.

Someone was monitoring Solondil's movements, but the true objective of the operation was actually here.

Looked at in that light, although Gene's role was dangerous, it wasn't completely outrageous.

And sure enough, Laywoman Tooth-Throat hadn't been slacking off either; her responsibilities were equally vital.

Even if Anjing's thought processes were absurd, the Greed Worms wouldn't just follow along and go crazy with them.

If they had truly forced Laurie and the others to face Solondil head-on, their first reaction would probably have been to run as far away as possible.

At that moment, Fu Qian felt many things start to become clear.

Furthermore, although Laurie's expression was a bit conflicted as he revealed all this—looking very much like someone violating a confidentiality agreement—Fu Qian didn't feel the man was acting under much duress.

With Gene missing, Laurie had chosen to bring an important partner here instead. The old man's purpose couldn't possibly have been just to check in on Laywoman Tooth-Throat; he must have made this decision a long time ago.

"Continue."

But sometimes, one still had to maintain a certain posture. Playing along, Fu Qian let out a cold smile, dialing the oppressive atmosphere up to the max.

"They're all transcendents, but their Ranks aren't very high, so dealing with them shouldn't be too difficult."

As expected, Laurie glanced at his two companions, let out a soft, "helpless" sigh, and continued.

"And what we need to do isn't kill them, but rather use them as targets to release a certain something."

He didn't forget to justify his actions, emphasizing that no civilian casualties were involved.

"But whether or not they die after it's released is another matter entirely?"

Unfortunately for him, as an expert in word games, how could Professor Fu be so easily misled? He simply sneered and pressed him further.

...

At that moment, Laurie and the other two fell silent.

They were all veterans of this line of work; naturally, they weren't naive enough to truly expect to fool the man in front of them so easily.

"It doesn't matter, I get the gist of it. So your job is to monitor Solondil's movements, and the moment he starts acting out of the ordinary, you stir up trouble over here, and then you can evacuate?"

Fortunately, Fu Qian didn't press the issue, nor did he dwell on details like what exactly they were supposed to release.

"Right. Because what needs to be done is very clear, we can keep our tracks as hidden as possible... Even if there are no changes on Siren's side within half a month, we can still collect the rest of our pay and leave."

That intangible sense of boundaries was undoubtedly heartwarming, and Laurie readily confirmed the details.

"But Gene's current situation makes it feel like this whole affair is spinning out of control. Disappearing without a trace, his life or death unknown—"

"He should be fine."

Toward the end of his sentence, however, he was casually cut off by Fu Qian.

Even if their sensory sharing had been severed, their life link was still intact. How could Laurie and the others not know that Gene hadn't been beaten to death?

"Let's go pay them a visit."

But he didn't bother calling out this little scheme. Instead, Fu Qian pointed a finger upward, issuing his first directive for action.

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