Eldritch Horror Theatre

Unlike everywhere else, the floor of the Head Physician's Office was covered by a single, seamless carpet.

While not particularly plush, its waterproof and stain-resistant qualities were top-tier, perfectly matching the room's pragmatic atmosphere.

He walked across it, approaching the massive desk, and still no alarms sounded.

But Fu Qian knew this wouldn't stump the Attending Physician. In all likelihood, his trespass into this forbidden area had already been discovered.

This was undoubtedly an unfriendly move, and theoretically, a rather irrational one.

From the moment he created the Black Box, he—as the weakest link in this trio act—had effectively seized the opportunity to print himself a playing card.

Using that brief window he had fought for, he could continue to drive the situation, testing the methods and true depths of the other two.

There was even a subtle advantage to this approach: the intensity of his tests was fully controllable across multiple levels.

Take his earlier action of opening the door, for example.

If he had reached that conclusion and confirmed it was truly an absolute Black Box, he could have simply restored everything to its original state afterward and tried other tricks.

It would be like catching a wolf empty-handed—gaining a piece of information completely for free.

Even if he had gotten a different result—proving that Servis was actually cheating—it still wouldn't have been irredeemable. After all, the Director wouldn't have known.

It was just like two werewolves making eye contact in a game of Werewolf.

To the remaining Director, this information would still exist in a Black Box state.

The Director might appear to hold the high ground, but as analyzed earlier, he was absolutely at a disadvantage compared to Servis.

Now it was even clearer that the Attending Physician's methods were also unbound by rules—all taboos are lifted, without a shred of principle or moral bottom line.

In such a situation, taking this opportunity to mutually confirm their werewolf identities, convey some goodwill, and establish a united front would have been the proper move.

For instance, he could have directly closed the door again, forming a tacit understanding without words to jointly target the Director next.

Even from a standpoint of pure alignment, there was nothing wrong with doing so. After all, it was the Director who kept pulling him in here from the outside.

In his search for someone to clear the minefield for him, the man clearly intended to lock the intruder firmly inside the Sanitarium, never allowing him to leave.

He was a textbook obstacle to the mission objective.

In contrast, while Servis's attitude remained ambiguous, if the earlier deductions held true, the man's sole goal was to lure the Director into opening the safe.

And Fu Qian was merely a tool in this process, a pawn both sides used to pressure each other in their private game.

So he simply needed to assist Servis in getting what he wanted; once that happened, Fu Qian would lose his value for remaining here, and everyone would walk away happy.

It was a pity, though. Some things looked beautiful on paper, but actually carried invisible risks.

In this Black Box trio act, he might have seemed the most relaxed, but he was actually bearing the greatest pressure—not to mention the previously mentioned Well of Time.

If he had closed the door and sat back down, would Servis still have called those people away?

From Servis's perspective, he most likely would have silently accepted the goodwill and continued observing his subsequent performance.

After all, he had just tacitly allowed the Director to push things this far. To suddenly orchestrate such a massive reversal would have clearly told the other party that he might have grasped some special circumstances.

And that he was using methods completely beyond common sense.

Anyone with half a brain wouldn't choose an action so akin to blowing their own cover.

It was precisely his confidence in the Attending Physician's intelligence that led Fu Qian to make a choice that would undoubtedly displease the man.

Using this method, he forcefully compelled Servis to withdraw his people.

It might not have successfully conveyed goodwill, but it did mask his own weakness.

In short, this was the beauty of the trio act.

Due to the complexity of the game, any minor variable would rapidly magnify, causing the difficulty of controlling the situation to grow exponentially.

Click—

And now, there were even more variables.

A quick glance confirmed that no one was hiding behind the desk, eagerly playing a game of hide-and-seek with him.

Fu Qian didn't stand on ceremony, directly opening the hidden compartment behind it.

...

A keyhole and a brass combination dial.

Still, no alarms appeared. As Fu Qian looked at what lay behind the hidden door, he noted that certain earlier suspicions were continuing to be verified.

Sure enough, it was a safe of the exact same model as the one in the VIP Area.

He could only say that his theories regarding the origin of the Key in his hand—and even the predicament the Director faced—were becoming increasingly credible.

Had the man really handed the Key over just to have him open it for him?

Just what inside this thing was so terrifying?

Of course, if he continued to push his luck, it seemed it would only deepen the Attending Physician's displeasure—Click!

With a soft click, Fu Qian had already slid the readied Key into the keyhole and given it a twist.

What kind of rhythm master would he be if he didn't push his luck? Let the wild tempo continue.

Not to mention, the Attending Physician had been so generous himself—he hadn't even set a combination.

That was right. Mrs. Tracy's superficially loose male companion had gone out of his way to add extra security to his safe.

Yet here, in the core of this Sanitarium, the safe belonging to the person in charge, Servis, didn't even require a single spin of the combination dial. The Key could be turned directly.

...

This posture of inviting the gentleman into the urn was simply too blatant.

Not only was there no combination, but it was even the original Key. It could almost be called the simplest lock-picking job imaginable.

And after the Key smoothly turned a quarter-circle, Fu Qian didn't stand on ceremony, directly pulling the safe door wide open.

It might not have looked like a friendly gesture—it was a total disregard for the Attending Physician's face.

But to Fu Qian, this was instead an absolutely necessary move.

With the trio act in full swing, he needed more chips.

As earlier events had proven, the "Black Box" he created held little significance to Servis.

This was a rather dangerous matter.

It meant he was subtly following in the Director's footsteps, operating at an absolute disadvantage against Servis.

That wasn't to say there was absolutely no room to maneuver in this situation.

For instance, having seen through the man's goals, he still held the threat of pure disruption in his hand. He could simply derail Servis's attempts to guide the Director.

But passivity was still passivity. When you lacked sufficient chips, even actively showing goodwill or offering help meant your final reward could only depend on the other party's moral standards.

And Fu Qian had no desire to place such heavy moral pressure on Excellency Servis—especially since the man appeared to be such an incorruptible person in charge.

As the safe door swung open, the contents inside were revealed.

Even in the dim light, he could see that it held no vulgar trinkets like jewelry or Gold.

In the relatively small space rested only a single, rather thin notebook.

And a pen placed right beside it.

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