Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was likely mixed with the blood of some transcendent creature, though the concentration was extremely low.

Under Sawada's expectant gaze, Fu Qian picked up the cup.

He didn't rush to drink it, however. Instead, he held it up to inspect it.

It clearly contained a residual transcendent aura. Now he knew what those continuously harvested transcendent creatures were being used for.

Still, a test product meant for the general public probably didn't contain any particularly precious materials.

Fu Qian also doubted this method could ever produce an artificial army of transcendents.

People with nothing left to lose might be willing to gamble everything, but once they actually became transcendents, very few would willingly remain pure experimental subjects.

Therefore, Anjing Company's tests were likely designed primarily to deduce underlying patterns.

Unfortunately, judging by the abysmal success rate, it seemed they hadn't deduced any at all.

Sawada's reminder interrupted his thoughts, the man's voice sounding almost plaintive.

Was Sawada worried he would back out and refuse to drink it?

What a joke. If he wasn't going to drink it, why go through all this trouble?

Shaking his head inwardly, Fu Qian raised the cup and downed it in one gulp.

The lukewarm liquid slid down his throat. An instant later, it felt as though countless bubbles were bursting inside him, bringing a series of formless ripples.

Fu Qian closed his eyes to carefully sense the changes.

It definitely contained transcendent residue, but it didn't seem very potent!

A wave of doubt quickly surfaced in his mind.

After that initial ripple, absolutely no further anomalies occurred.

The faint trace of transcendent aura had been like a firework, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

This might be a problem.

Fu Qian drew in a sharp breath.

The lack of any effect was not a good thing; in fact, it made the problem even bigger.

Given that he was already in the Demigod Realm, it was obvious that something meant for ordinary people wouldn't have much of an impact on him.

But his real reason for wanting to taste the potion himself was to utilize the Insight ability of the Original Sin Sage.

If this potion truly followed a certain pattern and contained the code to some transcendent power, swallowing it might trigger his Insight rather than his body purely rejecting and digesting it.

Yet there had truly only been a single ripple, followed by absolutely nothing.

There was every reason to believe that this was a failed formula.

But that begged the question: why did a failed formula provoke a reaction in Kisaragi Kana?

An effect as exaggerated as returning from the dead, no less?

He had observed her repeatedly. Even though she had come back to life, she possessed absolutely no fluctuations of transcendent power.

The same was true for Anjing Company; after multiple tests, Kisaragi Kana had clearly been written off as a failure.

Therefore, the true nature of this mission clearly wasn't that Anjing Company had discovered some incredible potion formula and the Warehouse needed him to eliminate it.

After all, he knew from Sawada's words that while successful cases were rare and lacked any pattern, they did exist.

There were successful formulas out there, yet the mission specifically targeted an ineffective one. Why?

If Anjing Company discovered Kisaragi Kana's abnormal case, just what kind of danger could it cause?

...

"How do you feel?"

Seeing Fu Qian down the potion in one gulp, Sawada finally seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I don't really feel anything."

To Sawada's disappointment, Fu Qian merely shook his head, choosing to tell the truth.

"You don't feel anything... Are you sure?"

Stunned, Sawada stared at him, his voice suddenly dry.

"Yes. Nothing has changed at all."

Fu Qian set the cup down, his tone completely matter-of-fact.

"From the looks of it, I'm not the lucky lottery winner."

Fu Qian naturally knew the reason behind Sawada's reaction.

To achieve the results they had agreed upon, it would undoubtedly make more sense for Fu Qian to display some slight changes after drinking the potion.

Otherwise, showing no reaction at first and suddenly becoming overpowered later would look incredibly suspicious.

Too bad for Sawada, Fu Qian had no intention of playing along.

His current actions were an entirely unnecessary complication outside the scope of his mission.

While his goal was to satisfy his own curiosity, the mission still had to be completed in the end.

Thus, Fu Qian was absolutely determined not to let the Writhing-7 formula draw Anjing Company's attention.

In fact, he wanted to use his own case to further convince them that the formula was a total failure.

"Usually, if the potion works the first time, it shows up in the physical data," Sawada said, sounding rather unwilling to give up as he led Fu Qian out of the room.

The other observer had already left. Clearly, his only job was to ensure the subject drank the potion.

"Is that so? It's a shame I really don't feel anything right now. But in research, being objective is the most important thing, isn't it?"

Fu Qian cast him a meaningful look.

His unspoken message was clear: forge the data according to his instructions, and don't try anything funny.

...

Only now did Sawada realize that he had been completely roped into this scheme, leaving him no leverage whatsoever to bargain.

After all, if the things he had done were discovered, he would face far worse than just getting fired from the company. He truly had no choice but to follow this madman's orders.

Why had he ever thought cooperating with a madman was a good idea?

"Fine."

His voice was heavy with resignation.

...

It had to be said that thanks to Sawada's careful arrangements, the entire process was highly efficient.

However, by the time Fu Qian came out, Kisaragi Kana was already long gone.

Had she left early because she was devastated by the test results?

Fu Qian wondered silently, making no move to look for her.

She probably wasn't in much danger for now. Given his current persona, chasing after her would only draw suspicion.

In fact, after the Miracle Potion failed to produce any effect, Fu Qian had even briefly considered swallowing her whole to see what would happen.

Though doing so would guarantee the failure of his mission, sacrificing a little SAN Value wouldn't be a big deal if it yielded valuable information.

...

Inside the spacious apartment, Fu Qian sat alone at the dining table.

Sitting in front of him was a plate of macaroni he had cooked for himself using the kitchen's high-end cookware.

After leaving the Anjing Building, he had thought things over and ultimately decided not to rush into action. Instead, he returned home to quietly observe the situation.

Just as he was about to dig in, a soft click echoed through the room. The front door had suddenly swung open on its own.

Fu Qian looked up expressionlessly, fixing his gaze on the doorway.

The next second, a sharp gale howled through the air. Blood splattered as a blade pierced straight through his right hand.

The weapon was an elegantly crafted Dagger. Its slender blade had driven through the back of his hand, pinning it firmly to the table.

The strike was so forceful that the blade sank all the way to the hilt.

"Madam Suzune."

Unfazed, Fu Qian switched his spoon to his other hand, scooped up some macaroni, and placed it into his mouth.

"If you're hungry, there's actually a little more left in the pot."

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