Eldritch Horror Theatre

"That fast!"

Fu Qian's statement clearly took Wehle by surprise.

Beside him, Marco stared at the bizarre aura radiating from Fu Qian's right hand, his expression growing even more guarded.

"Relax. It's just getting a bit hard to maintain my previous form."

Fu Qian raised his hand in front of him, gesturing for his two colleagues to relax.

The next moment, his bizarrely dazzling right hand slowly turned translucent again, suppressing the aura of the curse slightly.

This time, however, it only lasted for a few seconds before changing back.

"Just like that. The form is hard to keep up, and in this state, the curse is spreading noticeably faster."

Looking largely unbothered by his current predicament, Fu Qian offered this self-assessment, then looked up at Wehle.

...

This rapid flip-flopping, of course, was entirely an act put on by Fu Qian.

Although he had felt the ability he acquired from Camus destabilizing earlier, it wasn't dissipating nearly this fast.

The recent fluctuation was entirely his own doing—he had voluntarily dropped the form.

His goal in doing so was simple: to dispel Wehle's suspicions.

In Fu Qian's eyes, this demigod he had just met was leagues above Marco in both strength and cunning.

Fu Qian wasn't so optimistic as to believe his previous round of explanations had truly cleared him of all suspicion.

Especially when it came to an operation of this magnitude. Now that he had "overheard" their plan, Wehle's guard would undoubtedly be raised to its absolute peak.

Standing here right now, he was undeniably dancing on a knife's edge.

One wrong move, and it would turn into a one-versus-three situation.

And a full-package one at that—against a Divine Emissary, a demigod, and a Tier 4 Transcendent.

This was why, even though Fu Qian had the chance to put his Glove back on and gamble that they wouldn't notice by relying on the mask's aura-concealing effect, he had chosen not to.

Knowing the other party was already suspicious, how could he do something that so blatantly exposed his weakness?

So in the end, he took the opposite approach and deliberately offered them a flaw.

There was another reason for doing this—Fu Qian was quite interested in that mysterious demigod, Crow Feather.

Anyone who could casually pull out something like the Divine Blood Curse was clearly far from simple.

"...I can only try to contact him, but considering he likely doesn't want to be disturbed right now, I can't guarantee when he'll respond."

Wehle finally said this after a long hesitation.

Doesn't want to be disturbed?

Fu Qian nodded.

"I appreciate the effort."

"It is only proper, especially since your injury was a result of participating in the operation."

"But we're all on the same side here. You don't have to worry about being discovered. If the mask's negative effects are this severe, why not take it off for now?"

Wehle had been perfectly polite a second ago, but as he stared at Fu Qian, he suddenly threw out this question.

Good question.

Seeing Ariel and Marco grow instantly alert, Fu Qian gave a low chuckle.

"It's too late."

He had already prepared an answer for such an obvious question.

"To prevent any accidents on the way here, I kept the mask on the entire time. By now, some of its effects have become irreversible."

Fu Qian shook his head, examining his hand.

"But after wearing it this long, I've found that this Demigod Will isn't completely useless."

"At the very least, it seems to slow the spread of the curse."

"Besides..."

Fu Qian shot Marco a glance.

"Unlike you young folks, I'm getting old. I don't exactly enjoy showing off my inhuman side, so I'll just keep it on."

You...

Marco naturally heard the mockery in Fu Qian's words. Unfortunately for him, the moment he wanted to lash out, he remembered his recent experience and gave a cold snort, choosing to prioritize the bigger picture.

"I will try to contact Crow Feather first."

Witnessing this stifled conflict, Wehle only took a deep breath and offered no further comment.

"I'm going to step out for a bit as well."

Marco suddenly announced.

"Where are you going?"

Wehle frowned, clearly not expecting him to say this.

"Cross Square."

In response, Marco offered a sinister grin and a reason that was hard to refuse.

"To familiarize myself with the environment for tomorrow's operation."

"Then go. Just make absolutely sure you don't get into any conflicts."

Faced with this perfectly reasonable request, Wehle merely gave a warning and said nothing more.

After shooting Fu Qian a provocative look, Marco quickly strode out.

Wehle followed him out, leaving only Fu Qian and Ariel in the living room. The atmosphere instantly fell into silence.

"Mr. Camus, your mask is quite fascinating. Could you tell me where you got it?"

After Fu Qian had spent ten seconds pretending to be deep in thought, the blond Divine Emissary, Ariel, finally broke the silence, watching him with a smile.

"Of course."

Looking at the man in front of him, Fu Qian felt a momentary sense of weirdness.

Had it not been for their previous encounters, it would be truly hard to believe that this was a sentient Classmate Xiao Ai.

But the more normal he seemed, the more terrifying he actually was.

The thoughts of a smart person were easy enough to predict, allowing him to guide and counter them, but a smart Chinese room was on an entirely different dimensional level.

Especially since he also wielded terrifying destructive power.

"The original owner of this mask was a lady. Due to a connection we shared seven years ago, she gave it to me."

"According to her, the power of this mask comes from the Dark Moon."

"As for the Demigod Will inside, it supposedly belongs to someone called the Sage."

"How he fell is unknown, but judging from his residual consciousness, the Sage seemed quite young. Furthermore, his abilities appeared to revolve around the power of flesh and blood, exceedingly fierce and brutal."

"The Sage..."

Ariel had undoubtedly been listening with great intent. When Fu Qian finished, he repeated the name thoughtfully.

"Speaking of which, a young soul is an enviable trait no matter the era!"

At this point, Fu Qian sighed and looked at Ariel as he continued.

"Much like Your Excellency's. It is far beyond what a decaying mind like mine could ever compare to."

"But please, rest assured."

Fu Qian's tone sounded extremely resolute.

"I am not like Marco. As long as my condition stabilizes, I will definitely rush over to the docks first thing tomorrow to help. I will do my utmost to eliminate the God of Clamor as quickly as possible."

Yet, faced with Fu Qian's earnest and heartfelt speech, Ariel simply stared at him, expressionless, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

This feeling—that one wrong step could trigger a killing machine—was truly thrilling!

Met with such scrutiny, Fu Qian remained perfectly still, leaning back in his chair. The surroundings fell back into silence.

Just then, the sound of the door opening rang out. It was Wehle, returning from making his summons.

His gaze swept over Ariel and Fu Qian before finally resting on Fu Qian's face, and he slowly spoke.

"Crow Feather will be here shortly."

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