Eldritch Horror Theatre

In that instant, murderous intent surged.

"Your honesty is admirable. So, what is the purpose behind this?"

They clearly hadn't expected Fu Qian to be so straightforward, openly admitting that he was the one who tipped them off.

After exchanging a few glances, it was finally Aike who asked the question.

"It's very simple."

Fu Qian smiled mysteriously.

"I'm also an outsider."

...

Fu Qian's words were shocking once again. Though Aike tried hard to conceal it, his eyes flickered, and he instinctively looked toward Chaumont.

"An expert in the Demigod Realm named Andiel. I must admit, the name is quite unfamiliar."

Chaumont's expression remained relatively normal as he sized up Fu Qian's face.

"You mentioned earlier that you came here for fire?"

"Yes, I was entrusted by someone to find a special kind of flame here."

Fu Qian displayed an abundance of sincerity in his communication.

"But then you told them about the arrival of an outsider? Isn't that highly illogical?"

This time, it was the previously silent Stoss who spoke up, directly pointing out the contradiction in Fu Qian's story.

Compared to Chaumont, his personality was clearly much blunter.

"Does this benefit you in any way? Or are you trying to borrow a knife to kill, thinning out the competition?"

"How could I? That would be too malicious!"

Fu Qian waved his hands repeatedly at the accusation.

"I have always maintained a friendly attitude toward communication. Even leaking your information was simply a way to show my sincerity."

"...This guy is full of nonsense. There is no need to waste time talking to him. Let's just kill him."

The surrounding air seemed to grow scorching hot. Stoss clearly had an explosive temper and demanded they attack immediately.

"Where is the sincerity? You obviously could have chosen a much more reasonable way to communicate."

Chaumont ignored Stoss's suggestion and spoke a moment later.

"I did choose one!"

Fu Qian looked genuinely surprised.

"Didn't I wait for you by the carriage?"

"But you attacked without a word the moment you arrived. If I had run any slower, I probably would have been beaten to death."

...

"You were tracking us the whole time?"

Worthy of a High-Tier Transcendent. After a brief moment of silence, Aike felt absolutely no shame at the accusation. Instead, he immediately caught onto a different point.

"I already told you, I bear no ill will."

Fu Qian gave a noncommittal response, implying that everything was indeed within his grasp.

"I was entrusted to find traces of fire here, but I didn't have any leads at first."

"Then your appearance gave me quite a pleasant surprise."

"You were fully prepared, decisive in action, and even seemed to have a detailed plan. But most importantly—"

Fu Qian pointed at the three of them.

"You carry traces that resemble the fire."

"Unfortunately, when I found an opportunity to reveal myself, I immediately realized that I was being treated as your prey."

"You didn't even have the interest to hear me out. After paying a considerable price just to escape, I had no choice but to change my method of communication."

"So you only spread the information after that?"

Aike seemed to understand something, his mood becoming indescribably complicated.

No wonder the situation had seemed normal at first, only to become visibly tense later on.

"Exactly. I found some of your potential targets and used a special way to give them an idea about this hunt. Honestly, there was no need for it to be this troublesome."

"So you're saying this is our fault?"

Aike couldn't stop himself from wanting to roll his eyes.

"Not necessarily. I understand that it is perfectly normal to be a little on edge during an operation like yours."

"However, realizing that showing myself again would likely result in an even more dangerous reception, I thought it over repeatedly before resorting to this drastic measure."

"Hardship often promotes communication, doesn't it? If the situation hadn't suddenly changed, you probably wouldn't have taken the initiative to chat with me, right?"

Fu Qian looked entirely unapologetic, as if it were a matter of course.

"Now that this is our second meeting, and under such special circumstances, you have finally started paying attention to the information I bring rather than just hunting me down as prey."

...

Faced with this earnest nonsense, Aike found himself momentarily speechless and couldn't help but look at his two companions.

"Right. Regarding our shared predicament, do you have any suggestions?"

Stoss took over the conversation, staring at Fu Qian with a fake smile.

"It's very simple—cooperation. We act together as temporary allies."

Fu Qian seemed to have thought of the answer long ago.

"You will eliminate an uncontrollable hidden danger and gain an ally at the Demigod Grade."

"On one hand, it strengthens your frontal combat power. On the other hand, keeping me right under your noses will effectively prevent me from stirring up trouble and causing you more headaches."

He really dared to say that!

Aike listened, dumbfounded.

First, he ruined someone else's operation plan, and then he turned around and declared that since things had come to this, he was willing to stand side by side with them?

Where did this guy learn such thug logic?

"...What makes you think we would believe you are a reliable ally?"

Chaumont, however, appeared extremely pragmatic. He didn't dwell on the past and immediately asked the next question.

"I am not a reliable ally. It's purely about mutual benefit; I just want to learn more information about the fire."

Fu Qian continued shaking his head, his honesty terrifying.

"But compared to outright abandoning the operation, tolerating the slight risk of unreliability is clearly a more acceptable choice, isn't it?"

"Ultimately, this is all just your side of the story. How do we know you aren't lying to us?"

"For instance, what if you aren't an outsider at all, and by claiming to be one right now, you are actually just waiting to lead us into a trap?"

Before Aike's voice even faded, he noticed an elegantly shaped broken claw in Fu Qian's hand.

The object was clearly far from ordinary. Just looking at it, one could feel the power contained within.

"This came from a lady named Akasha. We had a wonderful conversation, and she even gave this to me of her own accord."

Fu Qian toyed with the broken claw.

"This is a privilege an ordinary person would never receive."

...

The silent Chaumont exchanged a glance with Stoss, and finally, he nodded slowly.

"It sounds... like it is indeed worth considering."

As he spoke, he even spread his hand open on the table, displaying the meandering marks on it.

"However, it is best we make things perfectly clear. On one hand, I cannot guarantee this is what you are looking for; on the other hand, we will not share any of our harvest with you."

"Understood. It is better to teach a person to fish than to give them a fish. From the beginning, my only concern has been the method to obtain the fire."

Fu Qian did not mind in the slightest, closely examining those peculiar marks.

"So what is the true nature of this thing?"

"You can think of it as the physical manifestation of Death. By collecting the death trajectories of Divine Beings, one can condense this kind of flame."

Chaumont explained straightforwardly.

'The death sparks of Divine Beings?'

'It's even more bizarre than I imagined, but at least I finally have a lead.'

"Is that why your targets are at least in the Demigod Realm?"

Fu Qian asked calmly on the surface, but inwardly he was extremely satisfied.

'All this hard work hasn't been in vain after all.'

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