Eldritch Horror Theatre

"That renegade demigod?"

Su Gao was clearly perceptive. She had immediately noticed that the victims hadn't put up much resistance, looking completely caught off guard, and voiced her surprised guess.

"So she faked her surrender? That's a clearly irrational move. Wasn't Anjing being a little too overconfident?"

"It's possible she simply convinced herself she had won."

Fu Qian had always recognized the sharpness of Su Gao's combat intuition.

However, the information gap meant she could only sense the problem without reaching a conclusion.

"She was made to surrender at the time."

Fu Qian tapped his head, passing on the information Yasui Tokiyuki had so selflessly shared.

"Just as you said earlier, Yasui Tokiyuki wasn't just making a single move. This was also part of his ritual to ascend to the Divine Station."

Su Gao quickly connected the dots.

"Defining a concept and granting it supernatural significance is bizarre, but it does align somewhat with my understanding of authority. His subsequent actions might be logically sound, but—"

"The style is inconsistent, right?"

Fu Qian cut her off.

In truth, he felt the exact same way.

Compared to the former, which seemed like a manifestation of the essence of power, the latter—specifically targeting and mentally violating a Divine Being—was truly dark and twisted.

Like the old legends of executing someone as a sacrifice to the war banners?

"There's actually another point. For something as important as a ritual to become a God, if its controllability could be increased, expending any amount of resources would be worth it."

Fu Qian followed Su Gao's train of thought.

"So under those circumstances, Yasui Tokiyuki actually had a simpler and safer choice: targeting his own people. The Anjing Company is full of talent, isn't it?"

"Mhm."

Su Gao agreed with his reasoning.

"Aside from Yasui Tokiyuki himself, they publicly have more than one Demigod."

"But he didn't choose to do that. Does this mean the ritual requires a certain level of resistance?"

"The more intense the process, the more likely the ritual is to succeed?"

Su Gao's eyes lit up as she understood what Fu Qian was getting at.

"Understanding it that way does make more sense, but it also makes it even more twisted. How did they figure out the details for this kind of ritual?"

I can't be sure either, but there is someone we can ask.

Faced with Su Gao's question, Fu Qian remarked inwardly.

According to Yasui Tokiyuki, Nepheli, acting as a technical advisor, had provided the core elements of the ritual plan. This even started all the way back when she helped him stabilize his state as a Divine Emissary.

"If you don't understand something, just ask. Don't worry about it."

The next moment, Fu Qian called out to her.

"I'll take you somewhere."

"Huh?"

Su Gao was clearly a bit confused, but she still cooperatively stood up and carefully put away a black notebook.

Not bad at all. She didn't take things for granted and let her guard down.

Fu Qian wasn't surprised that Su Gao had been holding the Abyss Notes directly in her hand, and he nodded in appreciation.

...

"So we're going off to do what ladies love doing again?"

Under the setting sun, everything around them looked as normal as ever, maintaining the appearance of a bustling metropolis.

Even with him being the King of Ye Island, the incident with Yasui Tokiyuki didn't seem to have caused any impact, nor was there any sign of the concept of notoriety spiraling out of control.

Taking in the scene, although Su Gao's expression didn't change, she looked a bit more relaxed overall.

And as they continued walking down familiar streets, she even recalled what Fu Qian had said earlier.

"Right, there's also this."

Fu Qian confirmed her guess, naturally handing her a portion of rice cakes sprinkled with brown sugar powder while eating another portion himself.

Yasui Tokiyuki's death had brought about some changes after all. For example, they no longer needed to wear a mask right now.

Or more accurately, they only needed to wear one mask.

...

"She's so hardworking. Even with Kisaragi Kana's situation, she's actually still working."

Standing in front of the Fortune Teller's Cabin once more, Su Gao looked at the open sign and murmured with a sigh.

"The path to success is simply that heaven rewards diligence."

Fu Qian's tone carried the profound weight of someone who had navigated the ups and downs of the business world. The next moment, he pushed the door open and walked right in.

"Welcome. What would you like to ask?"

A familiar voice drifted over. The female fortune teller, who prided herself on reading people, actually failed to recognize the identities of her two customers right away.

"...Violetta?"

The next moment, Kisaragi Chie pulled back the heavy hood from her head and looked at Su Gao in surprise.

"Ms. Kisaragi, what is all this?"

Su Gao, who had fully slipped into her casual window-shopping mode, also frowned as she observed the fortune teller.

Not only had Kisaragi Chie changed into a hooded robe, she had even smeared dark red greasepaint on her face. Yet, the combination still couldn't mask her exhaustion.

"It makes me look more mysterious, and it helps me focus. I'm just a bit too sleepy."

Kisaragi Chie rubbed her eyes and gave a somewhat awkward smile.

"Why don't you go rest?"

Halfway through her question, Su Gao realized something and caught a glimpse of Fu Qian out of the corner of her eye.

Before coming here, it was as if Mr. Fu already knew she would definitely be open for business.

"Mastery flourishes with diligence and wastes away with play. I can't slack off."

Sure enough, Kisaragi Chie looked Fu Qian up and down and spoke half-jokingly.

Were my words really that effective?

As the peddler of that chicken-soup wisdom, Fu Qian inwardly clicked his tongue in awe at its therapeutic effects for a moment.

He didn't actually think Kisaragi Chie was deeply brainwashed by his words. Seeing the sorrow that even her exhaustion couldn't hide, it was highly likely that Kisaragi Kana's ordeal had forced her to rely on this method to stay calm.

"Do you still want to know if your vacation will go smoothly?"

Sure enough, the one who couldn't wait to get into work mode was Kisaragi Chie.

Even though she was utterly exhausted, she still sat up straight, and the rhythm of her words adjusted accordingly.

"Hmm..."

Su Gao subconsciously glanced at Fu Qian, only to find that at some unknown point, several Rings had appeared on his hand. The most eye-catching among them—one red and one blue—were sparkling brightly.

Instantly coming to a realization, Su Gao turned back to look at Kisaragi Chie, frowning in deep thought.

"This time, I want to know if the vacation will be fruitful."

...

Kisaragi Chie was clearly listening very attentively, yet Su Gao's new question caused her movements to slow down for a moment.

"I can tell that you have a lot of expectations for this vacation, Violetta."

Saying this with a smile, Kisaragi Chie laid the cards out in front of Su Gao and shot Fu Qian a half-smile, her meaning implied.

"In fact, from where I'm standing, you've already reaped quite a harvest."

"Thank you."

Su Gao thanked her as she shuffled and cut the deck, then handed it back.

At the exact same time, the Lucid Dream on Fu Qian's hand flickered slightly, and a Dislocation occurred between reality and what was perceived.

Su Gao wasn't surprised by this at all, blending into this Dislocation with unparalleled naturalness.

Completely unaware, Kisaragi Chie flipped over the card in front of her and frowned in thought.

But from Fu Qian's perspective, an extra figure had appeared in the cabin, standing at the furthest possible spot from him.

That was fast. Ms. Nepheli is anxious, just as expected.

There were many doubts, and next up was the Q&A session.

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