Eldritch Horror Theatre

But he hadn't even told her when he wanted to depart.

Honestly, the receptionist had handled a difficult customer quite tactfully.

Heaven itself had even played along, turning her statement into words carrying absolute law.

Logically speaking, of course, the current weather had little to do with the commission the customer wanted to place.

"True, the weather doesn't look too good. What a shame."

He didn't point out the logical loophole, however. His gaze fell on the window, and at that moment, Fu Qian actually stood up.

Moore's volatile weather was currently on full, vivid display.

It was absolutely not making an empty show of strength. In the blink of an eye, the beautiful evening vanished entirely, and visibility plummeted.

Within a second, the fierce howling wind made the top-floor office feel precariously unsafe.

The difficult guest was sent away with a single sentence, and the receptionist was almost pleasantly surprised in that moment. At the same time, with seasoned professionalism, she said no more to avoid causing new complications.

"So, how did you know? Word is that nobody can predict the weather in Moore."

Unfortunately, she still couldn't avoid them. Fu Qian seemed to remember something, pausing in his tracks to ask.

"It's strange... but I just knew. Or maybe it was just a coincidence."

The receptionist weighed her words even more carefully for a moment, but still chose to respond.

"Understood. Thank you for your time."

Looking finally satisfied, Fu Qian turned and walked ahead by himself.

...

Weak and low-profile, yet possessing a special knack for weather forecasting.

It only made this secret stronghold all the more bizarre.

Then again, considering how freely the receptionist had exposed her forecasting ability, it seemed they didn't feel the need to keep it a secret.

"What was the point of that?"

Although he hadn't signaled Laywoman Tooth-Throat, she had followed him down very quickly.

Her face had been tense the entire way down, and the moment they reached a slightly safer distance, she couldn't hold back the question.

"They can't possibly not be suspicious. They might even realize they've been exposed, increasing the risk of them running away. And you even deliberately brought up a place like the Ash Sea?"

Clearly, people were different; she couldn't begin to appreciate the joy of Fu Qian's harvest.

"What do you mean, 'brought up'? I'm genuinely interested in that line of business."

Fu Qian immediately corrected her last point, indicating that he was actually paying very close attention to the Ash Sea shipping routes operated by the Two Major Corporations—he had even used their services once already.

"Besides, are you sure what you're saying right now won't expose us? That woman can manipulate the weather from a considerable distance."

He didn't dwell on that point, however. A moment later, Fu Qian countered with a question of his own, hinting that she might be getting a little too anxious.

"Ah—"

Laywoman Tooth-Throat looked as if she could barely resist turning her head to look back, though she forcefully restrained herself at the last second.

"That wasn't a coincidence earlier? The change in the weather had something to do with that woman?"

They had already reached the ground by now, but she still unconsciously lowered her voice.

"Have you encountered any pure coincidences lately?"

Fu Qian couldn't be bothered to explain, merely shooting her a glance.

...

Laywoman Tooth-Throat didn't utter another word until they met up with Laurie and the others.

Clearly, all her recent experiences really made it impossible for her to give a definitive answer.

All of her harrowing struggles—whether she was surrounded by danger or finding a way out of a desperate situation—always seemed to bear the faint, lofty traces of the Shadow in the end.

Even looking down from above to design and manufacture all sorts of seamless coincidences—the Greed Worms themselves did that sort of thing all the time.

"They should be on alert by now."

Of course, after meeting up with the person in charge, Laywoman Tooth-Throat instantly found her voice again and quickly recounted their experience.

"And they just let you walk away like that?"

It proved that Laurie hadn't secured his position on seniority alone. He grasped the main point immediately, a strange look crossing his face.

"Yes. And it certainly looked like no one was following us."

Because of Fu Qian's reminder, Laywoman Tooth-Throat had looked back multiple times during the latter half of the trip, even deliberately walking in circles twice. She was able to answer with reasonable confidence.

"What exactly do you think they are doing?"

Nodding slightly, Laurie turned to Fu Qian to consult his opinion.

"It looks like they're manipulating the weather?"

Fu Qian gestured toward the outside.

In just that short span of time, all of Moore had truly entered a premature night, the raging storm no less violent than the previous one.

Combined with Laywoman Tooth-Throat's earlier description of the receptionist, it unexpectedly gave Fu Qian's words a strong sense of déjà vu.

...

"I have to say, it really can't be denied. They seem almost too low-profile."

Even though the logic was sound, Old Man Laurie remained silent for a while before speaking up.

As mentioned earlier, he was sharper than Laywoman Tooth-Throat. He instantly realized that the target they had been monitoring was taking a slightly too mild stance.

As for the theory of manipulating the weather, he obviously didn't quite believe it, though it wasn't that easy to falsify based on the sequence of events.

"Or perhaps they predicted the weather, and then, under pressure from you, showed off slightly to bluff you into backing down?"

There was no need to rush to falsify it. Frowning, the Old Man was already trying to offer another explanation.

"That does sound much more moderate."

Fu Qian was very accommodating, immediately stating that this sounded much more reasonable.

After all, compared to a player who hadn't even reached the Mid Tier casually manipulating Moore's weather, it was indeed far easier to imagine that the place was actually an observation station using some method to forecast the weather.

The Old Man's line of thought was also sound. The results of a weather forecast were naturally considered a secret, but the decryption time was fast approaching, and his own visit was clearly with unfriendly intent.

Under these circumstances, slightly showing their edge to make him consciously leave was indeed a choice worth considering.

"A storm is coming, so we cannot accept your sea commission." Such crude logic had already been criticized earlier, and the probability of driving away a hostile guest with such a sentence was clearly not high, but it was obviously quite good as a display of muscle.

And the risk to be borne was nothing more than the current situation.

Their motives and their abilities were suspected, to the point that the safety of their cover was affected.

But don't forget that if they didn't do this, there was a probability of a fight breaking out on the spot. Weighing the two, it could clearly be treated as a necessary sacrifice.

Of course, there were still some doubts. For instance, how exactly were they predicting the weather in the erratic and unpredictable Moore, and why did they need such a team... Thinking about it closely was actually quite subversive.

"It looks like they probably don't know about Gene."

But after acknowledging this, Fu Qian didn't mention it, and instead proceeded to give another conclusion.

"It seems so, otherwise they wouldn't have reacted like this."

Laurie also let out a soft sigh, appearing to breathe a small sigh of relief.

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