Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Oh? How did you complete it?"

Mask was rarely this talkative, and Fu Qian gladly played along as his willing foil.

"Who could have imagined that a casual remark back then would actually come true?"

Looking Fu Qian up and down, Mask made no effort to hide the deep reflection in his voice.

"Coincidences are always so misleading. The five of us wracked our brains back then, but looking back on it now, we were heading in completely the wrong direction."

"We weren't the ones who found the Origin of Colors. You did, Guansi."

"And your current appearance is a benefit you gained from it, isn't it? Otherwise, it's hard to imagine how you could have survived this long."

"Who are you looking down on?"

Fu Qian took immediate offense to that assumption.

This was undoubtedly the truth, but his listener clearly wasn't buying it.

"Heh... heh..."

Mask sneered repeatedly as he listened.

"You really are a proud and conceited man. You saw all five of us as dead weight and preferred to operate alone."

"And looking at the situation now, I actually can't refute that."

"Let me think. You left so decisively back then. You definitely wouldn't entertain any boring thoughts of coming back to save your teammates... so your return must serve some other purpose."

"This thing... is actually The Abyss?"

Looking down at the Well next to his hand, Mask reached a conclusion.

"And where is the Origin of Colors? You couldn't possibly be walking around without it."

Worthy of his role as the person in charge, Mask displayed incredibly sharp deduction skills, successfully piecing together most of what had happened.

However, smart people are often blinded by their own judgment. While sizing Fu Qian up, Mask's gaze didn't linger on Henry for even half a second.

It was obvious that this cat—which spent most of its time dangling from Fu Qian's hand—had been logically ruled out as the Origin of Colors. To Mask, it was merely an accessory Fu Qian had picked up out of personal interest.

After all, if this cat was the Origin of Colors, the mission would have been completed a long time ago.

"Whatever you're hiding must be hard to find."

Mask quickly gave up on that effort. Yet, even as he sighed in reflection, his body abruptly dropped to the ground.

Following a lightning-fast roll, he sprang back to his feet with a rifle in his hands, its dark muzzle aimed directly at Fu Qian.

"But that doesn't matter. I can just throw you both down there together."

His tone turned instantly frigid. Because of that sudden movement, the last clean spot on Mask's body had vanished. He now looked like an oversized green army man.

A battle-damaged version, no less.

There was a glaring gunshot wound on Mask's shoulder. Most likely, it was left by Madam Qing's dying counterattack.

Yet, his mental state didn't seem terribly affected. It was genuinely a miracle.

After all, Star Lady Stella had been in much better physical condition, but she had become so delirious that she couldn't even recognize anyone.

Staring down the barrel, Fu Qian wasn't panicked in the slightest. Instead, he clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Let me show you a little something your teammates managed to harvest while you were away."

Tapping the rifle in his hands, Mask smiled brightly.

In fact, this wasn't the only gun at his feet. He had clearly planted them there on purpose to grab at a moment's notice.

After all, pretending to be mentally insane was far less convincing if you were walking around with a rifle in your hands.

"I have no idea how you turned yourself into a walking bio-weapon, but as long as you're flesh and blood, you won't be immune to this."

"So, are you interested in showing off what you found out there?"

"That's all? I'm always happy to share, so there's no need to make things so tense—"

"Mask!"

Fu Qian's faux-shocked remark was cut off by a piercing roar.

The voice sounded faintly familiar.

Fu Qian controlled his body to turn his head.

In the direction of the shout stood the blood-soaked figure of the Death Row Inmate.

His weapon had obviously been upgraded as well, matching the caliber of the one in Mask's hands.

At this moment, his gun was leveled straight at Mask, his expression ferocious.

"Impressive. I can't believe you actually had the guts to come back!"

Despite having a gun pointed at him, Mask remained perfectly calm. Not only did his muzzle stay trained on Fu Qian, but he even goaded the newcomer.

Given the situation, shouldn't he pull out Mercy and aim it at the Death Row Inmate to make the standoff a little more dramatic?

With the sudden interruption, Fu Qian opted to stand quietly and watch the show while his mind wandered.

"You were never crazy! You planned all this to murder us!"

Provoked by Mask's taunt, the Death Row Inmate grew increasingly agitated, screaming as he closed the distance.

"Why? What do you gain from this?"

"Where is Red Dragon?"

Unfortunately for him, Mask was obviously skilled in the ultimate art of answering a question with a question, and the Death Row Inmate's mental state already seemed unstable.

"He's dead."

Instantly derailed, the Death Row Inmate paused for a brief moment before speaking through gritted teeth.

"And it looks like I have no hope of escaping in my right mind anymore. Fortunately... neither do you!"

As he spoke, the Death Row Inmate arrived at Fu Qian's right side.

"I had my reasons for doing that!"

Faced with this red-eyed avenger, Mask finally adopted a more serious stance. His rifle swung away and aimed squarely at the Death Row Inmate.

"Is that right... Well, I'm sorry, but I have no intention of listening."

A slightly unhinged sneer crept onto the Death Row Inmate's face.

"Go to hell—"

And with that death declaration, the Death Row Inmate suddenly pivoted, aiming his gun straight at Fu Qian. The very next second, he realized Fu Qian had a finger pointed right back at him.

Before he could even pull the trigger, his head and chest exploded like fireworks.

It was only then that Mask managed to swing his rifle back toward Fu Qian. Through sheer Supreme Will, he forcibly stopped himself from pulling the trigger.

"Transcendent Tier power... you've recovered?"

His composure finally shattered, his voice completely dry.

...

"Not at all. It was just a simple attack released by compressing air at high speeds using strength amplified by the virus."

Not wanting to deal a blow to the man's pride, Fu Qian modestly spouted absolute nonsense.

"Heh... heh..."

Naturally, Mask didn't believe a single word. Amid a string of incredulous laughter, he tossed his gun aside with a dull clatter.

"Who could have imagined... after racking my brains... a monster like you would pop up. So you knew all along that the Death Row Inmate was targeting you?"

"Yeah. Though I could tell he was acting his heart out."

Looking at the Death Row Inmate's mangled remains, Fu Qian didn't deny it.

"But no matter how you spin it, returning to rid the world of evil just because escape was hopeless completely broke his character."

"As far as I'm concerned, the only people capable of doing something like that were Qing, whom you killed, and Red Dragon, whom he killed."

"Honestly, he would have been better off just shooting without a word. It's just a pity that he clearly didn't have enough faith in his marksmanship, and had way too much faith in his acting."

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