Eldritch Horror Theatre

Sure enough, pulling off a flashy stunt like that was still pushing it.

Standing before the main doors of the Laboratory, Fu Qian could still feel the tearing sensation in his right hand.

Forcing the eruption of his Biochemical Demonic Arm earlier had taken an even heavier toll on his body than yesterday's transformation.

Fortunately, he had only maintained it for a split second this time, stopping short of losing any San Value.

Even so, this kind of overdrawn damage couldn't be fixed just by chopping the limb off and regenerating a new one.

Still, as long as it achieved the desired effect, it was worth it.

Transforming his arm into a tentacle had indeed been for dramatic effect, but scaring people hadn't been the goal.

That horrifying attack method, combined with the stain left on his arm, should have been enough for Ebu to misread the situation.

The window of opportunity would be fleeting.

Fu Qian looked at the guards stepping up to meet him.

Replicating Lu Ming's face was genuinely difficult, and a few subtle details still felt off.

Fortunately, the guards didn't dare look too closely, and they quickly opened the door.

Guided by his memory, Fu Qian moved rapidly through the Laboratory.

Likely because of the tournament, there were even fewer people around than yesterday.

Since he wasn't the real Lu Ming, the numerous Security Doors inside proved far harder to bypass.

Fu Qian came prepared; before he even reached a door, an Air Bullet arrived first to blast it open.

Alarms blared to life in his wake.

Amid the shouting, he could hear a large swarm of guards rushing over.

Fu Qian paid them no mind. He passed through door after door without changing his expression, heading straight down.

Soon, the dazzling Materials Repository appeared before him.

Ignoring the massive hoard of items around him, he walked straight inside and located the Box from yesterday.

He wrenched it open. The glowing blue tentacle appeared before him once more, visibly thrashing the moment it saw him.

Fu Qian raised his hand. The stain on his right arm had already spread to his shoulder, faintly resonating with the tentacle.

Fu Qian slammed the Box shut. Before he could do anything else, the sharp sound of shattering crystal rang out by his ear.

Countless slender, translucent ice crystals sprouted from beneath his feet. In an instant, they swept across the entire room and began to grow wildly.

Within two seconds, Fu Qian's lower half was entirely encased in clusters of razor-sharp ice spikes.

"To be honest, I'm disappointed."

A familiar voice spoke from behind him as Lu Ming, clad in a loose gray robe, walked in.

Blasphemous Fire was already brewing faintly in his right hand, its gaping, beast-like maw aimed right at Fu Qian.

"I thought we were kindred spirits with a shared vision. I didn't expect you to harbor ulterior motives of your own. Fortunately, I had them keep a close eye on you."

"Where did you plan on taking the tentacle? Wouldn't it have been better to just cooperate and follow our agreed-upon plan?

Why couldn't you wait just a little bit longer?"

"That kind of nonsense only fools idiots."

Fu Qian looked back at Lu Ming.

"I stopped believing in free lunches back in elementary school. Did you really think I'd believe you were just handing me a chance to reach the Demigod Realm?

In your plan, I'm just another test subject, aren't I?"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"You aren't stupid, I'll give you that."

Lu Ming applauded, an expression of admiration on his face.

"That's right. You are a perfect experimental specimen, and you will serve as the final step in our test."

"In fact, if you hadn't tried to take the item away just now and had simply touched it, we wouldn't have intervened at all. We would have just sat back, quietly observing the changes."

We.

Fu Qian turned toward the corner of the Warehouse, right where the ice crystals had blown in from.

A haggard old man stood there with hair and a beard as white as snow. His right hand was a deformed beak similar to Lu Ming's, except his was covered in a layer of frost.

He was the one who had conjured the ice on the floor.

"Let me guess, this guy is also from the Rebirth Club?"

"Indeed. You can call him Kikuchi. After all, I wasn't entirely confident I could take you down alone."

Sure enough, pulling off a flashy trick like that was pushing it.

Standing before the main doors of the Laboratory, Fu Qian could still feel the tearing sensation in his right hand.

Forcing his Biochemical Demonic Arm to erupt had taken a heavier toll on his body than his transformation yesterday.

Fortunately, he had only maintained it for a split second, stopping short of losing any SAN Value.

Even so, the strain of an overdrawn injury like this couldn't be fixed just by chopping the limb off and regenerating a new one.

Still, as long as it achieved the desired effect, it was worth it.

Transforming his arm into a tentacle had indeed been for dramatic effect, but his goal hadn't been to scare anyone.

That terrifying attack method, combined with the stain left on his arm, should have been enough for Ebu to misinterpret the situation.

The window of opportunity would be fleeting.

"Open the door."

Fu Qian looked at the guards stepping up to meet him.

Replicating Lu Ming's face was genuinely difficult; a few subtle details still felt off.

Fortunately, the guards didn't dare stare too closely and quickly opened the door for him.

Guided by his memory from earlier, Fu Qian moved rapidly through the Laboratory.

Likely because of the tournament, there were even fewer people around than yesterday.

Since he wasn't the real Lu Ming, the numerous Security Doors inside proved far harder to bypass.

Fu Qian was already prepared for that; before he even reached a door, he blasted it open with an Air Bullet.

Alarms blared to life in his wake.

Amid the shouting, it was obvious that a swarm of guards was rushing over.

Fu Qian paid them no mind. He passed through door after door without changing his expression, heading straight down.

Soon, the dazzling array of the Materials Repository appeared before him.

Ignoring the massive hoard of items around him, he walked straight inside and located the Box from yesterday.

He wrenched it open. The glowing blue tentacle appeared before him once more, visibly restless the moment it saw him.

Fu Qian raised his hand. The stains on his right arm had already spread to his shoulder, faintly resonating with the tentacle.

He slammed the Box shut. Before he could do anything else, the sharp sound of shattering crystal rang out by his ear.

Countless slender, translucent ice crystals sprouted beneath his feet. In an instant, they swept across the entire room and began to grow wildly.

Within two seconds, Fu Qian's lower half was entirely encased in clusters of razor-sharp ice spikes.

"To be honest, I'm very disappointed."

A familiar voice spoke from behind him as Lu Ming, clad in a loose gray robe, walked in.

Blasphemous Fire was already brewing faintly in his right hand, its gaping, beast-like maw aimed right at him.

"I thought we were kindred spirits who shared the same vision. I didn't expect you to harbor ulterior motives. Fortunately, I had them keep a close eye on you."

"Where did you plan on taking the tentacle? Wouldn't it have been better to just cooperate and follow our plan?

"Why couldn't you wait just a little bit longer?"

"That kind of nonsense only fools idiots."

Fu Qian looked back at Lu Ming.

"I stopped believing in free lunches back in elementary school. Did you really think I'd believe you were just handing me a chance to reach the Demigod Realm?

"In your plan, I'm just another test subject, aren't I?"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"You really aren't stupid, are you!"

Lu Ming applauded, an expression of admiration on his face.

"That's right. You are a perfect experimental specimen, and you will serve as the final step in our test."

"In fact, if you hadn't tried to take the item away just now and had simply touched it, we wouldn't have even intervened. We would have just sat back, quietly observing the changes."

We.

Fu Qian turned toward the corner of the warehouse, where the ice crystals had blown in from.

A haggard old man stood there with snow-white hair and a beard. His right hand was a deformed beak similar to Lu Ming's, except it was covered in a layer of white frost.

He was the one who had conjured the ice on the floor.

"Let me guess, this guy is also from the Rebirth Club?"

"Indeed. You can call him Kikuchi. After all, I wasn't entirely confident I could take you down alone."

Lu Ming smiled.

"Why waste your breath on him?"

Kikuchi finally spoke from the corner. His voice didn't sound old at all; in fact, it carried a hint of effeminacy.

"Fighting like this, aren't you afraid of breaking the item?"

Fu Qian glanced at the Box.

"Even if you were ground into dust, that thing would be fine."

Kikuchi sneered.

"But I'll try my best not to grind you into dust. After all, a perfect experimental subject like you is too hard to come by."

Before he even finished speaking, a frosty white stream of freezing air erupted from his right hand.

At the same time, a wave of sickly green fire surged toward him from Lu Ming's direction.

The white and green blasts crossed over each other, instantly swallowing Fu Qian whole.

Fu Qian made no attempt to dodge.

The space here wasn't very large, so dodging an area-of-effect attack of this scale would be pointless.

Amidst a crackling noise, Fu Qian forcefully tore his legs free, leaving them bloodied and slashed by the razor-sharp ice crystals.

But it won him a brief moment of freedom, and without hesitation, he charged straight through the flames directly at Lu Ming.

In an instant, Fu Qian felt a layer of skin and flesh burn right off his right hand, the corrosive embers continuing to eat their way deeper.

Meanwhile, Kikuchi's icy attack made his body feel as though he had been crushed beneath a glacier, making every step exceptionally heavy.

His counter-charge clearly startled Lu Ming, who instinctively tried to dodge backward. But just as he moved, a sharp pain flared in his abdomen, and blood sprayed outward.

Under the cover of the ice and fire, Fu Qian had fired an Air Bullet right into him.

The injury stalled Lu Ming's movements, and by then, Fu Qian had already closed the distance.

Up close, Lu Ming was completely outmatched. Targeting the wound on his abdomen, Fu Qian mercilessly unleashed a Visceral Attack.

Boom!

The brutal strike ripped the wound on Lu Ming's stomach even wider open.

And that was only because Fu Qian had held back.

Unspeakable agony caused Lu Ming's vision to blur.

But before he could even react, Fu Qian reached out with his other hand, holding a blurry, glowing blue mass.

Lu Ming's hollowed abdomen suddenly felt full, as if something had been forcibly shoved inside.

He didn't even have time to see what it was before his throat was seized in a vice grip.

Fu Qian seized Lu Ming by the neck and dragged him along as he charged toward his next target.

A crystal-clear wall of ice formed to block Fu Qian's path, but it was smashed to pieces before it could fully take shape.

Amidst the flying ice shards, several Air Bullets were already howling through the air.

Even with Lu Ming's failure as a warning, the distance was simply too close. Despite evading with all his might, Kikuchi still took a hit right to the ribs.

Boom!

Before the injured Kikuchi could regain his balance, the furiously sprinting Fu Qian slammed him directly into the wall.

A crisp series of cracking bones echoed out, and he crumpled into a heap on the floor.

All the dazzling visual effects across the room finally dissipated.

"We can talk about this..."

Staring at Fu Qian, who looked like a god of death, Kikuchi forced himself up and spoke rapidly.

"Even though we wanted to use you for an experiment earlier, the fusion process is real. As long as you're willing to cooperate, combined with the results of our previous tests, we can truly help you reach the Demigod Realm..."

Unfortunately for him, Fu Qian's only response was to toss Lu Ming directly on top of him.

Forcing himself to protect his vitals, Kikuchi opened his mouth to say something else, only to suddenly notice something writhing like a snake inside Lu Ming's abdomen.

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