Eldritch Horror Theatre

Anything could be said. What was there to hide?

The exchange between the Twin Prides of Shangjing was so candid that Fu Qian felt deeply moved, readily accepting good advice.

"Fu Qian... why have I never heard of him?"

It was a pity that candor was so often misunderstood.

Bombarded by a continuous stream of explosive information, the usually triumphant Taylor was the first to break the silence.

And his first instinct was to question it.

"Are you trying to say that a Deity-like existence hides out in The Bookstore every day, and the Night Watchers not only do nothing about it, but actually maintain a close relationship with him?"

Before Fu Qian could respond, Jiang En decisively followed up, unwilling to be left behind.

As expected of the one among the Twin Prides who preferred to use his brain, every word out of his mouth hit the nail on the head, brimming with skepticism.

That was utterly absurd no matter how one looked at it.

Even if they wanted to imagine themselves as the protagonists of the world, thinking that a Deity-like entity capable of walking the mortal realm needed to beat around the bush to scheme against them was simply too narcissistic.

The two young men were clearly not that narcissistic yet.

Not to mention that such a figure actually seemed to be on good terms with the Night Watchers.

The dignified Chief of Shangjing not only interacted closely with him, but made no effort to hide it, even appearing together at a banquet. It made no sense whatsoever.

Fu Qian highly approved of Jiang En's skepticism. If anything, it proved that the young man had truly climbed out of his slump.

Even though he had officially cut all ties with his former family, the fact that he immediately knew which bookstore was being discussed without needing confirmation proved that Jiang En's information networks were slowly recovering.

Furthermore, considering how he and Chief Yuan had acted at that banquet where they ran into Gan Baobao, it was no surprise that the news had spread throughout Shangjing's upper-crust circles.

What a pity that their perspective was still so limited. They didn't realize that for some people, the Transcendent Tier was not everything; the ruthless tides of the business world were an equally worthy ambition.

"That is exactly what I am saying. He is even a professor at the Academy."

As he sighed inwardly, Fu Qian continued, never resting until his words astonished.

It did not matter if they disagreed. He had only spoken up to correct the trajectory of the plot and steer their attention toward the real focus. He just needed to keep dropping bombs.

Besides, the two of them were actually being quite cooperative. No matter how much they questioned things, they were strictly focusing on the issue, not the person.

Their attention remained fixed on whether the King of the Abandoned Prison was truly named Fu Qian, completely ignoring who was telling them this and what ulterior motives he might have.

...

"The Academy... no wonder that name sounded so familiar. But you are exaggerating a bit too much now."

Unfortunately, no one noticed Fu Qian's silent praise. After a two-second stunned silence from the latest bombshell, Taylor suddenly looked as if he had remembered something.

"A newly advanced Demigod Realm expert with a mysterious identity is certainly a great target for conspiracy theories, but a higher entity running off to play games with that crowd at the Academy? Things are just getting more and more ridiculous."

His following words only proved Fu Qian's earlier deduction: there was virtually no keeping a secret when a public institution produced a new expert of the Demigod Realm.

For a faction like Gulade, it probably took mere days for the news to hit the family's daily briefing.

And Taylor had just proven that even he was kept in the loop regarding such matters.

But the same issue remained. Their limited perspective meant that even with the truth right in front of them, they still could not grasp it—

"Is there some sort of special collaboration between them? Are the Night Watchers only treating him with such leniency because of his identity within the Academy?"

On the other hand, because Jiang En's information channels had been blocked for a while, and because he had encountered his fair share of twisted personalities, he did not rush to refute the claim. Instead, he silently searched for the underlying logic.

Though his guesses were a mix of right and wrong, Fu Qian did not bother correcting him.

"Idiot. The Night Watchers cooperating with someone like that? Are you trying to say the mess in Shangjing recently was a joint scheme between the Night Watchers and the King of the Abandoned Prison?"

The reason was simple: without needing any prompting, Taylor predictably seized the opening to mock him.

Driven by their destined rivalry, his firepower was brutal. His relentless barrage of questions made Jiang En sound like he had a screw loose.

"You're the idiot here. Did you not hear me mention his identity in the Academy? What if the Night Watchers only knew part of the truth and were being used as well?"

Jiang En was not one to back down easily. He immediately fired back, insinuating that Taylor's head was nothing but a useless ornament.

...

Truth be told, Jiang En's analysis was actually somewhat close to the facts.

And since everyone was being candid, even the bitter rivals didn't resort to petty quibbling.

Taylor fell silent for a moment, clearly lost in thought.

He might be a bit blunt, but in Fu Qian's view, he would not be convinced that easily.

His reaction was likely tied to what had been noted earlier: the Gulade Family simply had better information networks.

For instance, Jiang En might not know it, but Taylor was definitely aware that the Night Watchers had taken a rather ambiguous stance during the hunt for the Greed Worm.

Didn't that make the puzzle pieces fit perfectly?

"But that only proves it's a possibility. Until it's verified, you're still a suspect."

Sure enough, Taylor's attitude shifted quickly. When he finally spoke again, his tone was as abrasive as ever, but he had clearly filed the theory away as something to verify.

"I know. In your eyes, I'll always be a suspect."

Jiang En, however, was entirely unappreciative, sneering in mockery.

"Proving it is simple enough. If that is His true name, calling upon it will definitely draw a response much faster than praying to the King of the Abandoned Prison."

...

Now that was more like it. This was the true meaning of effortless control.

Watching the Twin Prides of Shangjing butt heads while he was instantly ignored once again, Fu Qian wasn't the least bit displeased. In fact, he was highly satisfied with how things were developing.

His core objective right now was to study the true nature of SAN Values, and he had just landed two very enthusiastic volunteers.

They weren't just young and energetic. Thanks to their rivalry, they would constantly push each other, creating a highly motivated atmosphere where neither was willing to back down.

To make the best use of this, he needed to carefully design his experimental plan.

However, a meticulously designed plan didn't necessarily have to be complex to execute, as evidenced by the current situation.

Fu Qian's strategy was actually quite simple: interject at the perfect moment and steer the conversation toward the true identity of the King of the Abandoned Prison.

This was an issue of massive consequence, and the two of them not only held differing stances but also had conflicting personal interests—on top of being bitter rivals.

A little gentle nudging was all it took to spark a fierce debate between them.

Jiang En had lived up to expectations beautifully by proposing a very specific method of verification: Taylor could try praying directly to "Fu Qian" to see if there was a response—which happened to be exactly what Fu Qian himself wanted to know.

As the subject of the experiment, Fu Qian fully agreed. He snapped his fingers, and Taylor's figure instantly dissipated on the spot.

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