Eldritch Horror Theatre

The ideal scenario would be a portal appearing out of thin air, taking him straight to the Inverted Lake in a single step.

Unfortunately, that kind of luck was rare. Having his current haul was already good enough.

The sky was bright, the sudden downpour had just stopped, and the air remained damp.

Listening to the rainwater flowing around him, Fu Qian casually played with the Prosthetic Eye in his socket, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

He really had managed to bring it out.

That was the legendary Realm of the Dead, a place synonymous with a one-way trip.

That alone seemed to prove he had made the right choice. Did this Lens Core possess some unique property?

Although he hadn't discovered anything too special about it just yet.

Refracted through the uneven Prosthetic Eye, his surroundings were decidedly abstract, vividly illustrating the bizarre and grotesque.

Fortunately, he hadn't expected too much to begin with. The entire point of pulling this thing out was a baseline guarantee—to take it to the previous coordinates and see what happened.

...

This wasn't pure luck, but a logical guess.

The focal point was the question he had asked earlier: if such a research organization had really discovered the Wise Dead, what did they intend to use them for?

To point the way. That was the previous answer.

But why did they need to point the way?

Like the Academy Exploration Team, had they found some older research legacy containing guidance on this, and then acted according to those instructions?

That was too much like nested dolls, and it severely underestimated the world's capable figures.

Assuming the anomalies in the Ash Sea were entirely created by those past sages, the role of the Wise Dead became very particular. Did they find this place first, or the Inverted Lake?

At first glance, finding this place first made more logical sense.

They discovered some crystal-related power or material, came here to use the Lighthouse for guidance, realized it pointed somewhere in the sea, went there to conduct research, and ultimately met with an accident.

It sounded like a smooth progression, but it hinged on a crucial step: how did they know the Wise Dead could point the way?

A closer look revealed a massive logical leap. Mere "accidental" discovery was completely unconvincing.

Fu Qian was actually more inclined to believe they knew of the Wise Dead first but didn't know their purpose, only discovering the connection between the two during subsequent research.

Don't forget there was a Starfall Point at the suspected location of the Inverted Lake.

That concept alone felt sufficient to act as a guide, prompting people to run over there and stir up trouble. They didn't necessarily need more clues.

Pondering this sequence of events might sound a bit overly pedantic, but taking things for granted often led to a confusion of cause and effect.

For example, if he extrapolated from this premise, his previous question became very interesting. The destination had already been found, so why did they still need the guidance of the Lighthouse? Was there any point in going to the effort of creating such a setup?

There was. They were worried about getting lost in the sea.

In fact, that was the original purpose of a Lighthouse.

...

The Lighthouse wasn't meant to point the way to the Inverted Lake, but to guide the researchers at the Inverted Lake on their way back.

For Fu Qian, this was the most interesting hypothesis he had arrived at after all that deduction.

A connection definitely existed. It didn't contradict the information the Academy had previously obtained, and the underlying motivation suddenly became much more reasonable.

No matter how dedicated they were to research, those past sages couldn't have been ignorant of the dangers of the Ash Sea. Preparing safety contingencies in advance was perfectly reasonable.

It even seemed that these safety contingencies weren't enough, as disaster still struck later.

For one, after the Academy Exploration Team went in, they were infected with the Crystal Blessing and ultimately wiped out.

For another, hadn't the place itself completely disappeared when he looked around earlier?

In short, if he operated on this assumption, was it possible that this Lens Core, which could once guide the way, might somehow resonate with the vanished Inverted Lake and allow the lost to find their way back?

And would bringing it there trigger some special reaction?

This was the core motivation behind Fu Qian's recent series of actions. Discovering anything else in Moore was merely a secondary benefit.

...

The harvest was complete. It was just about time to set off again.

After fiddling with it a bit longer, Fu Qian finally withdrew his hand from his eye socket.

His gaze wasn't vacant, however. Instead, a ring of tiny tentacles had formed inside the socket, controlling the eyeball as it rotated and rolled.

Bearing this progressive new gaze, he walked a lap around the platform, looking down at his surroundings to admire the view from the highest point in Moore.

That was right. After returning from the Domain of the Dead, he hadn't gone back to the initial entry point at Excellency Serana's resting place, but had directly synchronized to his final location.

This seemed to highlight, once again, the difference between a death Reflection and a dream.

The only pity was that, just like before, he hadn't spotted anything particularly special.

The Lighthouse next to him was also much newer, its visual presence lacking a bit of weight—and even a bit of depth.

Having gained nothing from his lap around the platform, Fu Qian stepped inside the Lighthouse once again.

The facts proved his earlier suspicions hadn't been overthinking. The Lighthouse in reality really was just a model; neither the lenses nor the light source were installed.

...

The probability that he had obtained something valuable increased once again.

And to that Wise Dead bro, the Prosthetic Eye really did seem to be a foreign object.

A sharp contrast yielded a sharp answer. In that moment, Fu Qian even used the tentacles in his eye socket to push the Prosthetic Eye back out, sizing it up against its original position.

Completely ordinary.

The researchers had seemingly focused more on practicality and hadn't made the thing overly flashy.

Regardless, it was time to consider setting off.

The tentacles pulled the eyeball back in. Fu Qian didn't linger any longer; choosing a low-profile angle, he leapt straight down.

The storm had only just stopped, leaving barely anyone active outdoors. Coupled with the darkening sky, there was truly no need to worry about scaring ordinary people.

Of course, the non-ordinary ones were a different story.

Landing silently, Fu Qian didn't hesitate. Ignoring his sole spectator entirely, he walked straight toward a specific direction.

...

"Pomegranate juice again?"

It was obvious that Old Granny, the drink seller, had a deep impression of this particular customer. Her gaze followed Fu Qian to his seat as she took the initiative to ask with a smile.

"Sure."

Fu Qian nodded and took a seat.

Although the ground was still slick with water, the plastic table and chairs had been wiped spotlessly clean. That dedication successfully earned Old Granny a returning customer.

While waiting for his drink, Fu Qian adopted his previous posture, gazing once again at the Cattle Slaughterhouse not far away and a certain figure standing beside it.

The figure's build couldn't be considered imposing, but just standing there quietly exuded an aura of natural authority that didn't require anger—although Excellency Sorondil was probably genuinely angry.

That was right. The only spectator mentioned earlier was this demigod from Siren.

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