Eldritch Horror Theatre

That actually made some sense!

Death Row Inmate's words sparked a sudden enlightenment among the group. In an instant, every gaze snapped toward Fu Qian's hand—and the cat named Henry.

In the dim light, the pupils of its emerald-green eyes were narrowed into thin slits.

Aside from that, it didn't seem to care much about Adele's death. Even now, its struggles had only grown slightly more intense.

To sum it up, it looked more than a little abnormal.

"Guansi..."

For a moment, even Brother Red Dragon hesitated, despite being its co-discoverer.

"Understood. So your name is Henry."

While the rest of the group watched, struggling for words, Fu Qian lifted the cat until its head was level with his own.

He made the declaration a moment later with brimming confidence.

Was keeping an eye on it really the issue here?!

His words left his teammates exchanging blank stares.

The priority right now was to kill it to prevent any unnecessary danger! Was he seriously suggesting they bring it along with them?

"By being exposed to this prismatic color, it's very likely accumulating madness, just like Adele said."

Pressing a hand over Death Row Inmate's gun to stop him from pulling the trigger, Red Dragon hesitated briefly before speaking.

Truth be told, after their brief interaction, he didn't dare underestimate this sixth member of their team, regardless of the man's nonchalant attitude.

But that was exactly what baffled him.

No matter how you looked at him, this guy didn't seem like an animal lover. Yet right now, he was willing to face down the rest of the team rather than kill this highly suspicious cat.

"Yeah, so why are you all still standing here?"

Unfortunately, faced with the reminder, Fu Qian merely blinked. Not only was he entirely unmoved, but he even threw the warning right back at them.

That was true... Although this prismatic color was everywhere, it was noticeably weaker indoors. They had already dawdled outside for far too long.

But wasn't that exactly why he should just put the cat out of its misery so they could stop agonizing over it?

Prompted by Fu Qian's words, the killing intent directed at Henry actually flared even stronger.

"It was found locked inside a safe."

Before Red Dragon could say another word, Fu Qian presented his argument.

"Theoretically speaking, its level of exposure is likely lower than ours."

...

Everyone, including Mask, immediately turned to look at Red Dragon. Clearly, this piece of information hadn't been shared yet.

"That is true."

Hearing this, Red Dragon blanked for a moment; he had actually overlooked that detail.

"We found it inside a locked safe, in a place that looked like a Laboratory. It's hard to say how long it had been in there."

After a slight hesitation, he honestly corroborated Fu Qian's claim.

"The research institute Adele mentioned?"

Mask looked thoughtful.

"Right."

"So what? Even assuming it isn't a threat right now, give me one reason why we absolutely have to drag this dead weight along."

Death Row Inmate was unrelenting, his tone freezing cold.

"I think it suits my vibe."

In the face of the man's blatant dissatisfaction, Fu Qian simply drew Mercy. With a gun in one hand and a cat in the other, he struck an incredibly flamboyant pose.

It had to be said, at first glance, there was a bizarre sense of harmony to it—a strong Mad Cat Gunner aesthetic.

"And if it were up to me, I'd get rid of you as the dead weight first."

He wasn't even finished. A second later, Fu Qian directed those words at Death Row Inmate without an ounce of politeness.

"Alright. Considering the danger isn't that high, there's no harm in bringing it along for now."

"Finding it in a place like that means it might also be a clue."

Seeing the two at each other's throats, Mask, the team's person in charge, exchanged glances with the others before finally giving his ultimate verdict.

"All things considered, we learned a lot just now. Next, it's best we move indoors to look for answers."

"Go where?"

Pointed at by the elegantly designed Mercy in Fu Qian's hand, Death Row Inmate hesitated before finally lowering his own gun and voicing his question.

In fact, it wasn't just him. Madam Star and the others breathed a sigh of relief, but they appeared equally confused.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Mask smiled, gesturing toward the tall building in the distance.

"To the research institute that got the news first, of course."

...That actually made some sense!

The group instantly understood what he meant.

The research institute was one of the first locations to evacuate. Adele had indeed mentioned that detail earlier. With no other leads available, this was definitely a piece of information worth exploring.

"The time you spent earlier shouldn't have been enough for you to finish exploring the place, right?"

Mask continued, directing the question at Red Dragon.

"We got through half of it."

The latter confirmed his guess.

"Then here's hoping we find even more this time."

Mask offered a bright, beaming smile, signaling for Red Dragon to lead the way.

The group's ability to take action was undoubtedly strong, and they quickly followed close behind.

This team, which could fall apart at any moment, finally embarked on their first joint operation.

...

Of course, following their little exchange just now, the group had deepened their understanding of one another—which only resulted in an even tenser atmosphere within the team.

For example, perhaps because of Adele's death, Madam Qing appeared much more withdrawn than before.

And Brother Death Row Inmate, who already looked like he didn't trust anyone, kept watching Fu Qian and his cat out of the corner of his eye, clearly still holding a grudge over what had just happened.

Unfortunately, the latter couldn't care less. With a cat in his left hand and a gun in his right, his mad gunner aura was on full display.

Naturally, his flamboyant pose was only a very small part of the reason why he hadn't killed the cat earlier.

The biggest benefit of that conflict was actually helping Fu Qian send a message to the rest of the team: he would not do anything he didn't want to do.

In this less-than-harmonious team, Fu Qian had positioned himself as a slacker from the very beginning.

The highest realm of slacking was never about doing nothing; it was about making others realize that the cost of forcing him to act was far greater than whatever they stood to gain from it.

Fu Qian believed his actions just now had perfectly demonstrated that fact.

Moreover, even though Henry didn't seem particularly useful at the moment, to Fu Qian, the cat's rather miraculous entrance alone made it well worth keeping around to observe.

The same went for Adele.

Given the situation just now, no matter how good he felt about himself, the chances of her being an innocent civilian were undeniably slim.

But if it were him, in their current clueless situation, he would choose quietly observing changes—trading risk for information rather than prioritizing his own safety above all else.

Unfortunately, Brother Mask's philosophy was clearly different. He strictly followed the route of striking first and snuffing out all danger in the cradle.

In fact, this could be seen from the codename strategy he proposed earlier.

That was also why Fu Qian hadn't been the least bit surprised when Mask suddenly made his move.

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