Eldritch Horror Theatre

Matters had to be prioritized. For the Greed Worms, Gene's situation was undoubtedly the most critical.

After all, Old Man Laurie had even mentioned that they needed to finish the job before they could collect the "final payment."

This carried an unspoken subtext. If they didn't mind ending up on Anjing's blacklist, they always had one final option: abandoning the job and walking away.

Therefore, their highest priority was never what happened to their target, but rather what had happened to one of their own.

Even their suggestion to come over and take a look served a clear purpose—to determine why Gene had disappeared, or at least confirm whether Siren was involved.

However, the reaction from that mysterious Escort Agency upstairs had been far too mild.

If they were truly involved with Gene and knew about the Greed Worms' movements or goals, they logically should have taken more action.

At the very least, they should have sent someone to tail them.

In truth, that had been the main point of their earlier visit.

"So, are you going to continue? By all accounts, that ship is about to set sail again."

But they could only breathe a brief sigh of relief. After all, they still had an unfathomable partner to deal with.

The moment they reached an agreement regarding Gene's situation, Fu Qian gestured out the window.

"For now, it still seems necessary to do so..." Laurie said. "Does The Club have any additional requirements?"

After exchanging a brief glance with the other two, Laurie seemed to have made up his mind, even appearing to probe what exactly the Rebirth Club was trying to do.

"None. Just fulfill your duties."

Unfortunately, Fu Qian remained as easygoing as ever, simply gesturing for them to carry on.

...

The darkness was profound.

It wasn't particularly late into the night, but the atmosphere was remarkably harsh and desolate.

Befitting a city battered by storms, it took only a few short minutes for every trace of living people to vanish from outside.

If not for the people still moving inside the buildings, it would almost feel like they had instantly stepped into the Inner World.

As the saying goes, a dark night and howling wind, a night for murder. For transcendents harboring malicious intentions, an environment like this should make them feel like fish in water.

As for Fu Qian, he had absolutely no intention of restricting their freedom of movement.

He had not forgotten the purpose of this return. He had made the trip back amidst his busy schedule solely to reap the harvest.

The yield might not have been particularly bountiful so far, but the appearance of Laurie and his group was a harvest in its own right.

Now that he had roughly figured out the reason for their appearance here, there was no way he would let them slack off like this. The obvious next step was to drive them all out, trying to let the crops yield even more crops.

"Thank you for your trust, Excellency... If we discover anything, how should we find you?"

Laurie sighed softly. He seemed to have expected this, well aware that the Greed Worms wouldn't be let off the hook that easily.

He didn't put up a fight, choosing instead to simply confirm the contact details.

"The place where we had tea will do. I live around there."

Fu Qian answered instantly. He had clearly already thought this through.

Hmm...

However, that casually added detail seemed to deliver quite a shock. In that moment, the Greed Worms all seemed to hold their breath in unison.

...

When speaking, one always had to ensure their words echoed previous statements. This was a communication skill that had been mentioned long ago.

This point was even more crucial when telling lies.

The reason the Greed Worms had come knocking had already been deduced earlier: Serana, whose traces they had faintly caught onto, had vanished, and then a suspicious individual had appeared nearby.

Emphasizing this detail now perfectly echoed that deduction, indicating that he truly did frequent that area.

The logic had come full circle.

The question the Greed Worms had been wanting to ask but didn't dare to—whether a certain mysterious female demigod was affiliated with the Rebirth Club—had also successfully been "confirmed" in this manner.

"If you make any interesting discoveries, just sit there and wait for me."

Seeing the three of them exchanging covert glances, Fu Qian went on to outline the reporting procedure.

"Understood. We'll move out immediately. I'll personally keep an eye on things."

Laurie was still the first to speak. He had absolutely no objections to this arrangement, even volunteering to take the field himself.

"So, are you the only ones in Moore right now?"

Unfortunately, Fu Qian still wasn't going to let them off the hook just like that, seemingly having realized something because of Laurie's words.

Wasn't this Rebirth Club a bit too incredibly resourceful...?

At that moment, the room fell entirely silent save for the wind and rain outside, yet one could almost hear the turmoil stirring in their hearts.

"That's right... Besides Gene, it's just the three of us."

Ultimately, it was still Laurie who nodded, slowly confirming Fu Qian's words.

He not only knew about the people in front of him, but he even knew there were more than just them. The other party's intelligence network was clearly terrifying—

"Excellent. I wish you a smooth operation, then."

Fortunately, in that slightly suffocating atmosphere, Fu Qian didn't continue to pressure them. Instead, he casually offered his well wishes.

Then, without waiting for a response, he turned and was the first to leave, completely unconcerned about whether the Greed Worms would follow through.

...

Being a person in charge really wasn't easy.

Hurrying through the rainy night, Fu Qian experienced Moore's wild side once again while simultaneously empathizing with Old Man Laurie's predicament.

With such a dangerous mission, it sounded a bit illogical at first for the Greed Worms not to have everyone present, but he was still more inclined to believe what the Old Man had said.

On one hand, a larger group made for a bigger target. On the other hand, while Laurie was highly respected, his word wasn't absolute law. Deciding whether or not to take on this job probably wasn't an easy matter to reach an agreement on.

This had already been proven back when Gene sneaked off to accept Anjing's commission.

Laurie had even personally admitted that he suggested the Greed Worms temporarily sever their sensory connection for this exact reason.

Laywoman Tooth-Throat's reaction upon discovering the truth was probably considered a good one. He had no confidence that he could persuade everyone.

And from the looks of it, that sensory connection still hadn't been restored.

From that detail alone, it was easy to imagine that out of those same considerations, only a portion of them had come to Moore.

As for the contact method he had mentioned, he naturally hadn't just been spouting nonsense either.

Identifying his direction in the dark, Fu Qian soon approached the Old Slaughterhouse and step-by-step narrowed his search perimeter—it should be right here.

Coming to a halt in front of an unlit building at a certain moment, Fu Qian figured he had seemingly found the former Interrogation Room.

That was right. He had genuinely returned to the vicinity of the tea shop, attempting to locate Excellency Serana's previous hideout.

His earlier actions made it seem like he was looking for Gene's whereabouts together with the Greed Worms, but one must never forget that there were actually two people currently "missing."

One of his core purposes for willingly acting alongside Old Man Laurie and his group for so long was to confirm just how much intersection Serana had with them, and whether she had left any traces behind.

And from the looks of it, the mysterious disappearance of that demigod seemed to involve other factors.

Click!

Casually opening the door, Fu Qian stepped into a familiar room.

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