Eldritch Horror Theatre

The cars were still there. Both of them.

Unfortunately, so were the traffic cones. The checkpoint remained locked down.

The only welcome change, perhaps, was that the guard booth was no longer empty.

A slightly plump middle-aged man was leaning back inside, dozing as if he had just returned from lunch.

Without a doubt, he was the first character they had encountered in this Mind Space so far who actually looked like a local.

Furthermore, while his physique didn't exactly scream health, he maintained a certain professional competence. Though Fu Qian and Su Gao were still a fair distance away, he quietly grew alert.

He didn't bother sitting up straight, but he was already squinting in their direction.

"A local?"

Instead of answering right away, Fu Qian verified the man's identity with Su Gao.

As expected, Su Gao was fairly certain about this, indicating that the man was an official staff member.

"But he wasn't here before."

Fu Qian recalled the scene from their last visit.

"It likely has something to do with our driver."

True to her nature as the sharpest of swords, Su Gao boldly jumped to a direct conclusion, pointing straight at Chief Yuan.

"How so?"

It was quite a leap in logic without any supporting deduction, which momentarily piqued Fu Qian's curiosity.

"When we left, she made some specific movements."

Sure enough, it wasn't an unfounded accusation. Su Gao gestured that she had seen something.

When they left...

"That makes sense."

Having recovered a little of his strength, Fu Qian gave a slight nod.

If this solitary NPC had left his post because of outside influence, it was almost certainly the work of one of those special guests.

After all, assuming those people were all here to prevent Professor Fu from being taken to the Sanctuary, locking down this checkpoint was a highly reliable countermeasure.

Since Su Gao had successfully smuggled him out of the Dark Sanctuary while the others remained trapped inside, if Yuan Shan had done something specific that wasn't aimed at the two of them, there was every reason to suspect she had used some method to restore the checkpoint's operations.

Considering Su Gao's keen observation skills—coupled with the more closely aligned state of mind they had shared at the very end in the Dark Sanctuary—Fu Qian had a lot of confidence in her judgment.

From this perspective, Yuan Shan's consistently ambiguous stance suddenly made perfect sense.

As expected, it wasn't as simple as mere cooperation with Wen Li. Instead, she seemed to be playing the role of a behind-the-scenes mastermind.

On the one hand, she had cooperated with Wen Li to recapture the prisoner; on the other, she had used some unknown method to completely eliminate any possibility of passing through the checkpoint.

Finally, by taking on the role of the driver, she had remained by the side of the key figure—Professor Fu—throughout the entire process, maximizing her control over the situation.

And facts had proven that these preparations weren't an overreaction.

Just on the way to the checkpoint, two suspicious individuals had successively boarded the car.

If the checkpoint hadn't been completely devoid of guards, it was hard to imagine what kind of battle would have broken out here.

"Take me over there for a chat first."

Having further clarified the sequence of events, Fu Qian marveled at everyone's sheer dedication. Without delaying their main objective, he gestured for Su Gao to take him straight to the checkpoint.

They might still have to figure out another way to get through, but at least someone was on duty now.

...

"Pedestrians don't require inspection."

Su Gao's execution was unquestionable. In the blink of an eye, she had supported Elder Professor Fu up to the guard booth.

Throughout this process, the degree to which the staff member's eyes opened was almost inversely proportional to the distance between them.

The moment they drew close enough, the man tossed out that sentence before they could even ask.

Was it really that simple? Not that skipping the inspection did them any good right now.

"Thanks for the heads-up. So, what exactly are you inspecting for?"

Fu Qian mused, casually striking up a conversation.

"Stowaways."

Gratifyingly, even though the staff member's face remained utterly expressionless, he still answered the question without beating around the bush.

Though that didn't make his answer any less abstract.

Intercepting stowaways—Fu Qian had certainly heard of that sort of thing often enough.

But when combined with the rule of exempting pedestrians from inspection, the logic possessed a certain brain-dead charm.

He could only conclude that this place was indeed worthy of being a Mind Space; it simply couldn't be judged by common sense.

"And they usually hide in the cars?"

Without pointing out the logical flaw, Fu Qian gestured toward the two parked cars.

"Almost certainly. It is the only method of transportation."

His tone was resolutely firm. As he spoke, the staff member scratched at his own curly hair and looked Fu Qian up and down.

"Then what do you usually rely on to identify them? ID documents?"

The man's gaze was somewhat piercing, but Fu Qian didn't take offense. Acting as if he were simply enjoying a casual chat, Fu Qian pressed on with his curiosity.

Let alone a checkpoint guard, if he walked down a normal street looking the way he did now, he'd turn every single head he passed.

Leaving the Dark Sanctuary hadn't magically healed all his wounds—such as his various exposed internal organs.

All the way here, Classmate Su Gao had even helped press a hand over his chest the entire time, a heartwarming gesture.

"Why would we? We don't have things like that here."

The staff member snorted, seemingly disdainful of the method Fu Qian had suggested.

"Eyes."

Before Fu Qian could say anything else, the man gestured to his own face with two fingers.

"This is the standard. I just need to take one look, and I'll know if they're authorized personnel."

Was it really that arbitrary?

Fu Qian listened with sudden admiration and even looked down at his own body.

"Take you, for example."

Sure enough, his movement provoked a reaction. The staff member immediately used him as an example.

"At first glance, I found you highly suspicious."

...

He knew this checkpoint wouldn't be that easy to pass.

No matter how he looked at it, he had just walked right into the line of fire. Fortunately, he had never expected this place to be friendly, so his emotions remained perfectly stable.

"Is that so? What's suspicious about me?"

Maintaining a look of pure innocence, he asked why he couldn't enjoy the same treatment.

"You smell wrong."

The staff member's answer, however, once again stretched the definition of abstract.

Having just emphasized his keen eyesight, he was now indicating that his judgment was actually based on smell.

"Besides, that thing in your hands—you stole it from somewhere, didn't you?"

Before Fu Qian could offer a rebuttal, the man pointed at his chest, escalating the matter to a criminal accusation.

...He actually had.

It was undoubtedly a severe accusation, but as Fu Qian looked down, he found he couldn't even refute it.

It was an entirely black Candlestick with only a little residual wax left at the top.

That's right—it was the one from the Dark Sanctuary. After blowing it out, Wen Li had handed it back to him.

Given his relatively weakened state, everything else had been too heavy, so he had conveniently brought it along when they left.

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