Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Hmm?"

Hearing Tyr's words, Fu Qian looked up at him.

"Though my own strength is average, I do have an eye for these things."

The older man simply offered a faint smile.

"I can confirm one thing. If you really wanted to kill Felix, you wouldn't have needed that gun at all."

"You're much stronger than you let on!"

As he spoke, Tyr sighed.

"Young people always relish tales of the lucky ones and lament their own poor fortune, never realizing that every coincidence happens for a reason."

"I imagine that exact strength allowed you to be the sole survivor."

How should he put it?

Looking at the old man's confident expression, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

In theory, he was right—just with the cause and effect reversed.

Furthermore, Tyr's words proved one thing: the total annihilation of the first batch of cannon fodder, save for himself, was not top-secret information.

That wasn't surprising. After all, the incidents had happened at their respective residences. For a seemingly influential figure like Tyr, finding out wouldn't be difficult.

"You flatter me. However, since you know I'm no longer working with the Siren Group, chatting with me right now doesn't seem like the wisest move."

Fu Qian pointed around the room as he spoke.

His meaning was clear. You know I'm the sole survivor and the one who willingly terminated the partnership—there's no way you wouldn't expect someone to be watching me.

Approaching him now was a surefire way to invite trouble.

"Haha!"

Tyr clearly caught Fu Qian's subtext and let out a hearty laugh.

"Here in the Wasteland, trouble is the most common thing there is. Being afraid is useless; you just need to get used to it."

There was an inexplicable persistence in the old man's tone.

The meaning behind his words was equally clear: the Siren Group might be powerful, but the potential threat this conversation might bring wasn't enough to make him care.

"In fact, as a newcomer, that is the trait I value most in you. You don't seem to fear trouble."

After laughing, the man actually praised Fu Qian in all seriousness.

"Perhaps."

Fu Qian remained noncommittal.

"That is why we are having this conversation. Regardless, I am still very glad to see a young man like you appear."

Tyr spoke as he fished out a card, pressing it against the table and sliding it over.

"If your plans in the Wasteland aren't too concrete just yet, you can come find me in Old Town when you have the time."

Without waiting for Fu Qian's response, he got up and left, heading straight to the bar to order another drink.

What a free-spirited old man!

Watching his retreating back, Fu Qian sighed in appreciation, then looked down at the card in his hand.

Its contents were extremely simple. Aside from a name, there was only an address.

After a quick glance, Fu Qian pocketed the card. He reached for his mask, put it on, and left his own stage under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

...

As it turned out, Felix was still fairly level-headed. He hadn't done anything stupid like wait outside for revenge.

While marveling that acknowledging a mistake and correcting it is the greatest virtue, Fu Qian discovered a piece of bad news: he was lost.

Logically speaking, getting lost in an unfamiliar place was perfectly normal.

Especially with this kind of layout, completely devoid of urban planning.

But if getting lost was accompanied by everything turning to shades of black, white, and gray, that was a little unusual.

Seemingly familiar!

After passing the exact same intersection for the third time, Fu Qian simply stopped in his tracks.

Everything around him looked like an old-fashioned black-and-white television, completely covered by an omnipresent monochrome wash.

If he remembered correctly, he had seen this kind of scene once before—at the Rebirth Club in the Ring Archipelago.

The first time he went there, that fellow named Ji Ping had created a similar spectacle to welcome him.

He had relied on the eye embedded in his hand.

Of course, the area of effect back then had been nowhere near this large.

And there was no universally idolized Jennie Ma here, either.

...

"Hello there!"

After scanning his surroundings, Fu Qian approached a nearly three-meter-tall figure by the side of the road and took the initiative to greet it.

In terms of appearance, it could barely be considered a bipedal creature. The rest of its body was a far cry from anything human; beneath its deathly pale skin, it looked like a mummified corpse from head to toe.

When Fu Qian had passed this intersection the first time, it had been standing there quietly, as if waiting for a non-existent traffic light.

Except Fu Qian had chosen to ignore it, paying it no mind whatsoever.

Now, faced with Fu Qian's greeting, it finally reacted.

Two clusters of white flame ignited within its hollow eye sockets, and it let out a string of laughter.

The laughter was bizarre—it sounded like a braying donkey with inflamed tonsils doing vocal warm-ups around a mouthful of radishes.

While launching this mental attack, a giant, nearly two-meter-long claw slashed through the afterimage Fu Qian left behind.

It seemed a little different!

Fu Qian, who had maintained his guard the entire time, managed to dodge the sneak attack.

However, looking at the several claw marks gouged into the ground, he still sensed an anomaly.

This thing in front of him didn't seem to be an illusion.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Even as he thought this, Fu Qian's hands didn't stop. He fired three shots in rapid succession.

Having missed its strike, and given its massive size, the monster only had time to dodge the shot aimed at its head.

The remaining two special bullets whistled through the air, trailing flashes of white and gold, and unmistakably struck its chest.

Instantly, a large chunk of the monster's chest turned to ash, leaving two gaping holes that pierced straight through.

Before Fu Qian could carefully study the fruits of his labor, a black shadow flashed. A bone spear shot out from each of the wounds in perfect unison, nearly skewering him clean through.

It really was different!

Looking at the monster's increasingly exaggerated form, Fu Qian confirmed his judgment.

It looked similar, but the essence was completely different.

This scene before him had a fundamental difference from the one Ji Ping had created.

The latter could almost entirely be chalked up as a mere illusion, reverting to normal at the slightest touch. The monster in front of him, however, was solid reality.

Relying on past experience was a mistake.

Fu Qian wasn't in a hurry to use his ultimate move and instantly kill the target before him; instead, he began to circle and clash with it in close quarters.

The addition of the bone spears gave the monster the equivalent of four claws, and it even raised a leg to stomp on him every now and then.

Yet its bulky frame meant that, as long as he was prepared, it was virtually impossible for it to touch even the hem of Fu Qian's clothes.

As Fu Qian dodged, he was also constantly searching for the best shooting angle.

Judging from what just happened, the special bullets could still damage this thing, and he only had two rounds left in his gun.

Finally, after a series of evasive maneuvers, Fu Qian found his opening. Letting one of the bone spears pierce his trench coat, he used the momentum to plunge straight into the monster's embrace.

Facing the massive head right before his eyes, he pulled the trigger twice.

Radiance pierced through its skull, detonating the flames in its eye sockets and blasting apart a brilliant shower of fireworks.

As the monster crashed heavily to the ground, the surrounding black, white, and gray rapidly receded.

"Very good!"

Almost at the exact same time, the sound of applause rang out from ahead.

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