Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Let's go, then."

Faced with Adele's request to tag along, Fu Qian's expression remained perfectly calm, looking as though it were entirely up to her.

That was only on the surface, of course. In reality, he was quite pleased that she had volunteered so readily.

After all, he only knew the man's name was Paul; he had no idea where he actually lived.

"But didn't you say you disliked him?"

Despite his satisfaction, Fu Qian casually tossed out the question to make the conversation feel a bit more natural.

"It's precisely because I don't like him that I need to go."

Adele let out a soft snort, making no attempt to deny Fu Qian's words.

"If I don't go and give him a warning, that bastard might just lock Henry in a cabinet."

After silently commending Adele's profound foresight, Fu Qian made a "ladies first" gesture.

...

Sure enough, they were neighbors.

A short while later, after following Adele down the street and between buildings, Fu Qian stood quietly to the side as she casually pulled out a key and unlocked a door.

This was obviously Adele's own home. As for why she had brought him here, Fu Qian soon found out.

After stepping inside, Adele walked straight to the window, adjusted a mounted spotting scope, and parted the curtains just a crack.

Fu Qian could see clearly that the scope was aimed at the building across the street, pointing at a floor slightly lower than their current vantage point.

"He's home. Let's head straight over."

Adele glanced back a few seconds later, her tone certain.

"I had to check. That guy doesn't really want to see me, and if he hears my voice, he'll probably just pretend he isn't home."

Having explained the reason for her little reconnaissance mission, Adele motioned for Fu Qian to follow.

It was easy to see that this place had been quite lively before the accident, and Adele was clearly popular in the neighborhood.

As they passed through a narrow alley between two buildings, no fewer than three people greeted her over the course of just a few short steps.

She was clearly in no mood for pleasantries, however. Offering only strained, brief replies, she marched straight up a flight of stairs, walked up to a door, and began pounding on it.

"I know you're in there! Hurry up and open the door."

She gave the homeowner no time to think. The moment she finished knocking, Adele pressed her ear flat against the door. After listening intently for a few seconds and hearing no movement from within, she simply shouted for him.

Fierce!

Fu Qian offered a silent word of praise. With such a capable vanguard leading the charge, he decisively chose to stick to quietly observing changes.

She didn't disappoint. After the second barrage of knocks, the owner of the apartment finally caved, and the door swung open.

Adele had been right; this neighbor of hers truly was tall, well-built, and handsome.

With medium-length blond hair resting on his shoulders, he exuded a somewhat artistic flair. He definitely had the looks for a male model.

At the moment, however, his expression was distinctly foul as he glared at Adele with outright hostility.

But when his gaze shifted to Fu Qian standing behind her, he clearly froze for a second.

"Angelo? Do you need me for something?"

For a moment, Paul completely ignored Adele, staring straight at Fu Qian with evident uncertainty and alarm.

Being the center of such intense focus felt genuinely... suspicious.

"I do."

Taking in Paul's slightly exaggerated reaction, Fu Qian answered naturally, wearing a deeply meaningful expression.

"I was just making a casual remark back then. You really didn't need to take it so seriously."

Fu Qian's tone had clearly piled on the psychological pressure. Paul ground his teeth slightly and blurted out the defensive reply on instinct.

Oh? That was quite a lot of information to unpack.

Several hypotheses instantly sprang into Fu Qian's mind, prompting his smile to turn even more eerie.

"I didn't take it seriously, but it seems someone else might have overthought things."

"Are you two..."

Adele seemed to finally catch on. Unable to suppress her shock, her gaze darted back and forth between the two men.

"Did this guy tell you about the disaster?"

Her mind worked quickly, and she rapidly reached a conclusion.

"What exactly are you trying to do by coming here?"

Adele's obvious ignorance of the matter gave Paul a counter-shock. He suddenly realized he might have just suffered a slip of the tongue.

"Oh, I found this under a seat at the cinema."

Seeing the situation tangle itself into an awkward knot, Fu Qian, the center of attention, simply lifted the cat in his hand.

"Given its penchant for relieving itself wherever it pleases, Sergei was absolutely furious."

Just for this?

For a split second, Paul's expression was a masterpiece of conflicted complexity. After staring at Fu Qian in sheer disbelief for a long moment, he finally reached out in silence to take Henry back.

"Regardless, if you dare to lock him up, you'd better watch out—I'll report you."

Though she was still reeling from the shocking influx of information, Adele clearly hadn't forgotten her original goal.

Especially given Paul's current mental state, there was no reason to be optimistic about how he might treat a pet that had caused him so much trouble.

"Unfortunately, this is my cat. What I do with him has nothing to do with you."

Paul was clearly in no mood to be accommodating. Faced with his neighbor's harsh warning, he snapped back without yielding an inch.

You...

Adele's face instantly twisted in anger. She even stepped forward on instinct, wanting to stop Paul from taking Henry away.

But Paul wasn't afraid of her in the slightest. With a cold sneer, he deliberately slowed his movements, betting on the fact that she wouldn't actually dare to lay a hand on him.

Why did this suddenly feel like some bizarre love triangle?

Watching the scene unfold with great interest, Fu Qian was in no rush to intervene. Instead, he shot a glance back in the direction he and Adele had just come from.

Even though his physical abilities had regressed to those of an ordinary human, keeping an ear out for his surroundings had long since become second nature. Just a moment ago, he had caught the faint, hurried sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs.

Unlike Adele, Paul was clearly paying far more attention to Fu Qian's reactions. He instinctively followed Fu Qian's gaze, and his hand froze mid-air.

Two figures rounded the top of the stairwell, rushing in their direction without a moment's hesitation.

"You..."

Paul whipped his head back toward Fu Qian and Adele, his tone suddenly turning ferocious.

"You set me up."

"Are they here... because of the rumors?"

Adele didn't even bother to defend herself against Paul's accusation. Instead, she looked to Fu Qian on instinct.

"They're probably here to deal with the rumor-mongers."

Catching sight of a familiar uniform on one of the approaching figures, Fu Qian confirmed Adele's guess.

Of course, to Adele and Paul, both of those men likely appeared to be in uniform.

That was because one of them was none other than his recent partner, Brother Red Dragon.

It seemed that in this space-time, he was playing the role of some sort of security guard for the research institute.

And it wasn't just him.

Fu Qian turned to look toward the other end of the corridor, where he suddenly spotted the figure of Madam Star.

Naturally, compared to Brother Red Dragon, her choice of attire was far more coordinated.

At this moment, the expressions worn by those two were completely identical. Both of them were staring in his direction with looks of pure astonishment, clearly not expecting to run into him here.

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