Eldritch Horror Theatre

Though his tone was mild, Mask's words carried a distinct persuasiveness.

Coupled with the group's armed-to-the-teeth appearance, the effect was even stronger.

The young woman named Adele finally took a deep breath and reluctantly dragged her gaze away from Henry.

Given the circumstances, Fu Qian normally should have handed the kitten over to ease her longing.

Unfortunately, Fu Qian remained completely unmoved. His Lingxi Finger was as steady as Mount Tai, leaving several creatures—including the kitten, Henry—visibly disappointed.

"Just a few days ago, someone foresaw that something terrible was going to happen—this omnipresent, incomprehensible color."

Adele finally gathered her thoughts, gesturing around them as she spoke.

"They say that in the future this person experienced, under the shroud of these colors, masses of people would plunge into madness and ultimately become walking corpses."

Adele's voice betrayed a deep terror of that imagery.

As long as you stayed within these colors, you would continuously accumulate madness?

That really sounded quite serious.

Could this also be the reason why Transcendent Tier powers had failed?

Fu Qian was undoubtedly listening very closely.

One reason was that right after she finished speaking, a prompt rang out in his mind—it felt very much like he had triggered a keyword.

[Current task updated: Find the Source of the Rainbow Light]

And to his satisfaction, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed all five of his teammates subconsciously looking up to size each other up.

It seemed they weren't bluffing. Had everyone actually received the task?

So they really were five veterans?

"Did it pop up for everyone?"

Just as Fu Qian was once again marveling at the bizarre nature of this mission, Mask actually spoke up directly, his words shockingly blunt.

"What popped up?"

Adele was clearly taken aback, not understanding what this had to do with her story.

"Nothing. Keep going."

Mask smiled and waved his hand, seemingly quite satisfied with how the situation was developing.

"...Anyway, I was originally leaving with a group of people, but halfway there, I realized Henry was missing. I ignored everyone's objections and sneaked back to find him..."

As she spoke, Adele could not resist reaching out for the cat again.

"And then you discovered the current anomalies?"

Red Dragon glanced at the still-unmoved Fu Qian and interjected.

"...Yes. I've lived here for a few years and have never seen anything like this. Everything was perfectly fine when we left."

Sensing the caution in Red Dragon's tone, Adele gave a very firm answer.

"But although it's bizarre, it doesn't seem quite as terrifying as that person foresaw... After all, not everyone evacuated. If it truly drove people mad, things wouldn't be this peaceful right now."

"It does seem that way. So, you live around here?"

Mask nodded.

"When we found Adele, she was searching all over a movie theater."

Madam Star spoke up before Adele could reply.

"Henry likes running off to that place."

Adele explained softly.

"So, is this your cat?"

Fu Qian spoke up then, asking a rather strange question.

"...No."

Facing Fu Qian—who was still holding the cat by the scruff of its neck—Adele didn't dare ignore him. However, after a brief hesitation, she actually shook her head.

"He belongs to my neighbor, Paul. But Paul is terrible to him."

"Honesty is a Virtue."

Fu Qian offered a nod of approval and didn't ask anything else.

"How do you know she's telling the truth right now?"

Unexpectedly, it was Brother Death Row Inmate—who hadn't spoken in a long time—who suddenly chimed in to question him.

Perhaps because he didn't speak much, his voice was slightly hoarse, but he sounded quite young as well.

It was obvious that Death Row Inmate had the weakest sense of team cohesion out of everyone, speaking with an aura of absolute suspicion.

The rest of the group also seemed confused by Fu Qian's earlier question, so for the moment, they all chose to simply watch.

"Very simple. There's a collar around the cat's neck."

Fu Qian didn't mind Death Row Inmate's rudeness and simply lifted Henry up.

Henry looked slightly dejected right now, his head drooping to reveal the leather collar around his neck.

"But you can't see an owner's name on it."

Death Row Inmate wasn't so easily fooled. He took one look and spoke coldly.

"Correct, and it's heavily worn."

Fu Qian used a finger to hook the collar outward.

"And so?"

At this point, even Madam Star couldn't help but ask.

"You can see that the size has already been adjusted to its maximum, yet it still looks a bit tight. While it doesn't affect his eating, it clearly isn't very comfortable to wear."

"Someone who risked her own life to come back and look for a cat... if this were her own pet, how could she allow such a thing?"

Fu Qian pointed at the silent Adele.

"A much more reasonable explanation is that this isn't her cat. She merely takes care of him often. And since the cat still has to return home from time to time, as a non-owner, she can't just casually remove his collar. At most, she can only feel indignant about such inhumane treatment."

"And her answer just now proved this point."

...

Although he detailed his reasoning, Fu Qian spoke quickly, swiftly wrapping up his explanation.

"Paul is a model... He's very good-looking, but he has a terrible personality. That's why Henry often runs over to my place."

Adele seemingly had no objections to this deduction, lowering her head as she mumbled her reply.

"He even forgot to bring him along this time."

"I figured that if I could find Henry this time, I would be completely justified in taking him home to care for him."

"I can completely understand how you feel."

Seeing this, Mask nodded from the side and offered soft words of comfort.

"If you couldn't find him in the movie theater, where were you planning to look next?"

"The research institute over there."

Adele answered, pointing completely naturally toward the building the two of them had just searched.

"The air conditioning there is always turned up high, so Henry likes going there too. A lot of people there like him."

"The reason I didn't go there first was because it was one of the earliest places to evacuate. I figured it would be hard for him to find food there."

"So that's how it is..."

Mask sounded pensive. The next moment, he lightly patted Adele's shoulder.

"Don't worry. Henry will be very well taken care of."

"Okay—"

Adele's voice came to an abrupt halt.

Just as she looked up, Mask smoothly drew a Hand Crossbow from his waist, aimed it right between her eyebrows, and pulled the trigger.

With terrifying force, the bolt pierced straight through her skull.

A full second later, screams finally erupted.

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