Eldritch Horror Theatre

A plain robe and a delicate short bow. Red Dragon was right—the person standing a short distance from the trio was none other than one of their missing teammates, Madam Qing.

At this moment, her gaze was unequivocally locked onto Fu Qian, her shock impossible to hide.

This wasn't surprising. After all, by normal logic, this vanguard's survival rate shouldn't have been very high.

"You're all here."

Compared to Star and Red Dragon, however, Qing was noticeably calmer. She quickly reined in her emotions, calling out as she approached.

"You weren't down below?"

Instead, it was Madam Star who couldn't wait to voice her shock.

"The real Laboratory is down below?"

Qing was startled at first, but she instantly understood the implication.

"We did alright. Guansi obtained a lot of the information."

In the brief time they'd had, Madam Star had learned enough from Red Dragon about what Fu Qian did to Michelle and the old expert. As a result, she hardly dared to look Fu Qian in the eye, let alone try to claim any credit for herself.

"Is that so?"

Shooting Fu Qian a deep look, Qing didn't seem particularly doubtful.

The fact that he had survived under those circumstances already proved more than enough.

"Let's talk while we walk."

Finding a teammate so quickly left Red Dragon looking noticeably energized. He didn't rush to catch up on old times, however, instead offering a reminder.

"The entrance is on the top floor, right? Then we really do need to hurry. Judging by the previous shift, the blue color might not last very long."

From those few words and the trio's actions, Qing had clearly already formed her own guesses, so she wasn't particularly surprised.

"There's a chance Mask and Death Row Inmate are inside. Once it turns red, the situation will be very bad."

"Alright."

Deeply appreciating the ease of communicating with a smart person, Red Dragon straightforwardly continued to lead the way.

...

"So you and Red Dragon became security personnel, and Guansi even went outside?"

"Yeah, Guansi guessed it might be because he had more contact with the cat."

"It's possible, but it was obviously quite random."

At Star's explanation, Qing gave a slight nod.

Not much time had passed between Guansi leaving and the color shifting. Even if he had gone straight downstairs, it wouldn't have been nearly enough time to run outside.

"But regardless, it's not a bad thing. You obtained some rather important information."

A moment later, she sighed.

"Compared to you all, my harvest is pitifully small!"

"It's just good that you're safe. We actually thought you went down below, so we didn't search everywhere. Thankfully, we happened to run into you."

As the one with the strongest sense of teamwork, Madam Star was already quite satisfied with the current situation.

"I had originally planned to head up as well."

Qing nodded slightly.

"But that was only because I figured the outer Laboratory was likely just for show. After all, the colleagues sitting with me didn't seem to be doing any real work."

"You became a staff member?"

Star couldn't hide her surprise.

"Mhm. I was actually quite happy when I first realized it. I didn't expect our range of movement to be so severely restricted—possibly because of the rumors. We weren't even allowed to converse much with one another, so we've just been trapped there this whole time."

Qing sighed.

"It was only after I noticed those people weren't doing anything that I beat around the bush and confirmed they had 'come out' to rest."

"And keeping in mind how many people were on the top floor earlier, I guessed the entrance might be there. Was the commotion right before the shift caused by Guansi?"

After recounting her own experience, Qing glanced at Fu Qian.

This wasn't hard to guess. Among the four people present, only Guansi carried a gun.

"Considering the shift was imminent, I tried to gather a little more information."

Fu Qian wasn't being falsely modest.

"Judging by their response, The Company was clearly very confident in the safety of its current research project. So when faced with the rumors, their priority was dealing with the rumor-monger—Adele's neighbor, Paul."

"As for the Items we're looking for, they might be located on the final layer of the Third Zone below."

"You really have gathered quite a lot..."

Digesting the information Fu Qian provided, even someone as composed as Madam Qing couldn't help but offer a heartfelt sigh of amazement.

"In the end, they're merely deductions based on the periphery. If things go smoothly, we should be able to obtain more substantial data shortly."

Fu Qian was referring to Mask and the others.

"Mhm. Hopefully, they can bring some good news—we're here."

Qing shook her head and gestured forward a moment later.

While chatting, the group had already returned to the door they had yet to open.

"Guansi."

Red Dragon did a brief check. After confirming the door was still closed, he called out to Fu Qian.

"Alright."

As the technical specialist, Fu Qian naturally stepped up.

As he operated the mechanism, Red Dragon pressed his ear to the door, listening for any movement inside.

Although it had been chalked up to coincidence, the exaggerated reaction the last time they opened a door still left them wary.

Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

No fluorescent lights, no roars. Following a soft click, Fu Qian stepped back, exactly as he had last time.

Seeing this, Red Dragon applied force, and the door swung open in response.

...

"It seems last time really was a coincidence."

All at once, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

The long-awaited top floor behind the door was truly expansive and vacant, completely empty as far as the eye could see.

The only conspicuous feature was an elevator situated in the corner.

And the most delightful part was that, unlike the outside, this elevator was actually powered on.

"No matter how you look at it, this is a timeline where they believed the disaster forecast and chose a full evacuation. Why would this single elevator still be running? Could someone have stayed behind?"

However, this overly convenient sight instead made the explorers—who had painstakingly felt their way here—hesitate out of wariness. They gathered around the elevator, in no rush to press the button.

"Don't be so pessimistic. It could be our people."

Faced with Madam Star's worries, Qing instead displayed a decisive front.

"Mask and the others did it?"

Red Dragon paused for a moment.

"At the very least, if I were down there, I would definitely do it—find a way to activate the elevator to provide an access route for anyone outside who might come in."

Qing nodded.

"Then we'd better hurry."

Red Dragon clearly agreed with this assessment, quickly stepping forward to test it.

"It seems to require a keycard to activate."

But the very next moment, he discovered a problem.

"This is the troublesome part."

Qing sighed, speaking almost through gritted teeth.

"I don't have one on me. What's most depressing is that, after realizing the color was starting to shift, I attacked and knocked out one of my colleagues, only to find that the guy didn't have one either."

This woman was certainly decisive and ruthless, but what a pity... why was it so hard to just slack off for a bit!

Seeing his three teammates' crestfallen expressions, Fu Qian sighed inwardly, pulled out a card, and tossed it to Red Dragon.

It was Oliver's Access Card. Because it was an Item he had safely stowed away, it hadn't vanished along with the shift in time and space.

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