Eldritch Horror Theatre

"What was that commotion just now?"

Unsurprisingly, the first group to catch up was led by Kasi.

Besides him, there was Brother Ah Kai and another member of the Kamakura Family.

Quite the star-studded lineup!

Marveling inwardly, Fu Qian pointed behind him.

"We found something unusual inside, and it seems we startled it."

He didn't even need to say it. At this distance, Kasi had clearly already noticed the anomaly.

Yet the man kept his composure, surprisingly restraining the urge to immediately satisfy his curiosity.

"You followed it all the way in?"

Fu Qian pointed at Chang Mo.

"Teacher Chang and Classmate Ji were very proactive as well. They led from the front and helped out a lot."

'Proactive, my ass...'

Chang Mo had regained her senses by now, but hearing Fu Qian's blatant lie left her too exhausted to even retort.

This guy was the one doing whatever he pleased, and since Liushuang insisted on tagging along, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow them.

Yet now he was making it sound like she had been the one pushing for it.

Still, such a glaringly flawed excuse shouldn't easily fool Kasi. He would surely spot the problem—

"Thank you for your hard work, Mister Yun."

In the next moment, under her dumbfounded gaze, Kasi actually offered a deadpan, earnest expression of gratitude.

"Professor Chang as well, you both did great. Furthermore, pulling back in time instead of blindly risking yourselves was a very rational choice."

As he spoke, Kasi looked past the door, his gaze turning sharp.

"With a dangerous target like this, we'll go in together to investigate it shortly. We need to handle this with care."

'Is there something wrong with everyone's brains today?'

Seeing Kasi genuinely planning their next move without a single shred of suspicion, Chang Mo began to feel a vague sense of unreality.

'He just bought that? He really can't see such an obvious hole in logic?'

Even though people from the Apocalypse Branch were often unreliable, that was mostly just due to their eccentric interests. Their minds were always sharp.

'Wait a minute... interests!'

'This guy isn't blind to the lie! He just heard what's inside and wants an excuse to go take a look himself!'

It suddenly dawned on Chang Mo.

The moment that thought entered her head, she subconsciously glanced at Ji Liushuang beside her.

'Ever since coming to Ye Island, every single one of them has completely let themselves go. Do they really think this investigation is a vacation?'

'Though that thing in there is quite unique...'

Seeing Kasi's resolute attitude and realizing they were highly likely to press forward, Chang Mo had no choice but to resign herself, her thoughts drifting back to the scene behind the door.

'Spending a little time investigating it might not be entirely meaningless, right?'

'After all, it appeared in the Ruins guarded by the Kamakura Family. Maybe it really is connected to the anomalies affecting them.'

Once a person decided to convince themselves of something, their efficiency was often remarkably high.

"What's going on? How did you end up down here?"

Just then, another wave of people arrived. Judging by their numbers, two teams must have merged before heading over.

Aside from Ni Huayuan, who had unhesitatingly barked out the question, Fu Qian also spotted Kamakura Ki, Guan Jingzheng, and the rest of their group.

However, the focus of Ni Huayuan's question was completely different from Kasi's.

He had clearly noticed the slacking attitude implied by the hole above them, and his tone carried a harsh edge.

'He's in a bad mood. Obviously, they didn't find anything.'

Faced with this, Fu Qian slipped right back into his true colors as the Sword Demon. He simply scoffed coldly, too lazy to even bother explaining.

"Mister Yun, Professor Chang, and the others discovered a suspicious target behind that door. We are just preparing to investigate it."

Kasi said this with complete seriousness, fully displaying his demeanor as the person in charge of the operation.

"The situation is urgent. Let's not waste any time."

'You have the nerve to say it's urgent!'

Suppressing the flare of anger bubbling up in his chest, Ni Huayuan's expression sank like heavy water as his gaze swept across everyone's faces.

Yet, upon seeing that not only Brother Ah Kai but even Chang Mo beside him showed zero objections, he ultimately gave up on arguing with Kasi.

It was clear that this group had already reached a tacit understanding without words; they all wanted to go inside and take a look.

"Then make it quick."

After a brief silence, Ni Huayuan agreed to Kasi's plan.

...

"You said you encountered a small one outside just now?"

The scene behind the door undoubtedly packed a tremendous visual impact.

Witnessing the slowly writhing pool of crystals, even the vastly experienced Demigod Kasi fell silent for several seconds before opening his mouth to ask.

"To be precise, we were attacked by a small one."

As someone directly involved, Chang Mo nodded, trying her best to recount the events as concisely as possible.

"By now, that crystal worm should have already merged back into the pool."

"How could such a thing exist!"

At this moment, the Kamakura Family members were staring in dumbfounded shock. Even the usually unflappable Kamakura Ki couldn't help but lose his composure.

To think that such an incomprehensible entity lay hidden beneath the Ruins their family had guarded for generations—and that it appeared to have been there for a very long time—it was a truly bizarre feeling.

"It seems you guys don't come down here often?"

Fu Qian asked from the side.

"To my knowledge, no."

Kamakura Ki said with absolute certainty.

"The collapsed hall above is pretty much the furthest extent of our activities. We are guardians. Our creed has always been to maintain everything in its original state. We don't blindly clear things out."

The credibility of those words wasn't low. Fu Qian nodded.

"A peculiar structure. These crystals clearly belong to the Transcendent Tier. I feel like we could extract a bit to take back."

Beside them, Brother Ah Kai looked eager to give it a try.

"It is indeed quite magical, but it's best to be careful. This thing's durability is exceptionally high, and we already startled it earlier."

When it came to taking samples, Chang Mo didn't seem to feel any moral burden either.

"Then hurry up. We still have a lot of ground to cover."

Although similarly shocked by the sight before him, Ni Huayuan clearly hadn't forgotten the operation he was leading. He coldly urged them on.

This thing might be magical, but the probability of it being related to the Kamakura Family's troubles was truly slim.

The group of slackers clearly possessed enough self-knowledge regarding their own behavior. In the face of Ni Huayuan's urging, Brother Ah Kai swiftly put away his metal disk and instead pulled out a crumpled Glove.

Slipping this human-skin-like object over his right hand, he cautiously stepped down two stairs, attempting to grab a bulging crystal tentacle.

The tentacle was composed of individual crystal fragments of varying shapes. You could even see gaps between them, yet they remained miraculously linked together.

Amidst a crisp series of clinking sounds, Brother Ah Kai's hand grasped the tentacle.

This Glove seemed capable of shielding one's life aura. At this moment, his hand gave off the feeling of withered wood.

However, just as he tried to snap the tentacle off, it suddenly froze.

The crisp clinking sounds abruptly grew as dense as pouring rain. Countless crystal fragments began to spin and tumble, creating a dazzlingly gorgeous display.

At a certain moment, the clinking sounds came to an abrupt halt.

Hundreds upon thousands of crystal fragments converged into an entirely new structure, unexpectedly reshaping themselves into the form of a hand.

And the very instant it formed, it clamped tightly around Brother Ah Kai's wrist.

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