Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Despite your appearance, you're really afraid of getting hurt!"

As Fu Qian sorted through his gains, Mask reached a conclusion from his probing and was quite satisfied with it.

Although the guy in front of him was terrifying, he clearly had many limitations. His attacks were entirely one-dimensional, and he was terrified of getting hurt. With no gap in Rank between them, the advantage was his.

As for the guy's baffling ravings, they wouldn't have the slightest psychological impact on him.

"So, how many months has it been since you received your first task?"

However, it seemed his opponent was unwilling to give up, still trying to distract him with words.

"Keep guessing..."

Mask was naturally not one to take that lying down. Not only did he refuse to answer, he even took the opportunity to launch a psychological counterattack.

Sure enough, the guy might be clear-headed, but he wasn't very cooperative.

"So, the task you just received was to collect flesh and blood to plug that Well, and the reward was a partial release of the seal on your power?"

Clap, clap!

Mask actually began to applaud.

"Spot on. A hundred points."

"That's right. Although it appeared a bit late, I believe if you were in my shoes, you'd choose to follow the instructions too."

Was he really an existence akin to source code?

Ignoring Mask's arrogance, Fu Qian felt his train of thought growing clearer.

First, there was almost no doubt that Mask and the other four were his predecessors.

But their appearance here definitely wasn't some kind of cross-temporal collaboration.

In all likelihood, they were long dead, or perhaps only wisps of their remnant souls remained. Just like Captain Colter in the source code, they were being controlled by a Higher Existence who was quite familiar with the Warehouse.

And when that Higher Existence felt it might be disrupted by the Warehouse's gaze, they were deployed.

Utilizing their traits as former administrators, they could simultaneously receive tasks and monitor movements in real time. Working as a team, they could even lead the true Scavenger astray.

It might sound a bit exaggerated at first, especially the part about acquiring five puppets.

But a moment's thought revealed the truth: once you had the first tool, manipulating and luring the rest would be far easier!

This was simply outrageous!

The more Fu Qian thought about it, the more indignant he felt.

The Warehouse was already foolish enough, and it had finally managed to trick an employee into working for it, yet this group was still ruthlessly fleecing it.

First, there was Patches maliciously scamming SAN Value, and now this entity was straight-up abducting employees!

Of course, as mentioned before, all of this was still just speculation. He would need the Warehouse to give him the exact details.

Even if it was "foolish," he had already proven that the more information he gathered during a task, and the closer he came to the world's hidden essence, the more feedback the Warehouse would provide at the end.

If not for that, why would he work so hard? It would be much better to just finish the task early and go back to rest!

The organization was unreliable, so he had to carry the weight himself.

"Of course, the task always comes first."

Amidst his internal sighs, Fu Qian agreed with Mask.

"Actually, I'm just like you. I only restored my power to this state by following special prompts."

"You're spouting nonsense..."

Mask froze slightly and retorted almost instantly, though the smile on his face wavered.

This guy was also acting on a special task?

Those words were naturally nonsense, but they clearly dealt a heavy blow to Mask.

On one hand, he desperately wanted to disbelieve it, because it meant his status as the protagonist of the story was no longer unique.

But if he didn't believe it, that raised another problem—the other party had found a way to restore his power without any prompts.

In contrast, he himself—who had been entirely engrossed in team management here—suddenly looked very stupid.

Whether it came down to ability or luck, it instantly put him in a rather difficult dilemma.

"There is no need to be nervous, fellow Daoist. Although our paths differ, we're all working for the same cause. It's best if we pool our efforts moving forward."

"Is that so? That's wonderful."

Amidst Fu Qian's nonsense, Mask seemed to finally break free from his internal struggle, and his answer was—

"Because my next task is to send you on your way. I hope you'll actively cooperate."

As expected, it still came down to 'winner takes all'?

Everyone had their own claims, and whoever survived to the end was the real deal?

How vulgar!

Amidst his internal complaints, Mask was already glowing with radiant light, looking like a heavenly deity.

He had to admit, the visual effects of this guy's power were quite spectacular, making him look far more righteous than Fu Qian did.

Even the fluorescent light that had previously spread over his body was completely dispersed.

If Red Dragon and the others were still alive to see this, they would likely be swayed to his side quite easily.

Fortunately, he had meticulously honed his own image management as well.

Facing Mask, who was wreathed in light and throwing a heavy punch, Fu Qian snorted coldly. He narrowly dodged the attack and casually activated the Commandment Residue, as well as—

[SAN Value -10]

Aside from Mercy and the sedatives hanging on the outside, all of his Items were now usable, including Pseudo-God Incarnation.

In fact, if it weren't for this final guarantee, why would he have pushed things to such an extreme?

...

Facts proved that when a person's will wasn't firm enough, they would not only bow before a True God, but a False God as well.

Although the Commandment Residue hadn't broken out of the Demigod Tier, under its full activation and the boost from his divine status, Mask's attack instantly faltered a bit.

From his slightly unfocused eyes, it was clear that his faith was undergoing a severe test.

"What kind of... thing are you?"

Unfortunately, Fu Qian paid no heed to his question.

After easily dodging once again, he countered the question with a final question of his own.

"What was the name of the last item you placed in Containment?"

"The last item..."

Visibly dazed, Mask didn't resist and actually began to recall.

At the same time, Fu Qian sensed the entire space trembling as if overwhelmed, ready to collapse at any moment.

"The number was..."

Amidst this instability, Mask finally seemed to remember the answer.

"Shut up!"

However, the moment he opened his mouth, a voice that seemed to manifest directly within the consciousness swept across the entire space.

For a moment, even Fu Qian found himself similarly restricted.

Simultaneously, the confusion in Mask's eyes vanished, replaced by an aloof detachment that looked down on everything.

The light retracted, yet it became impossible to look at him directly, as if some supreme entity transcending everything had performed a Descent upon him.

Finally here?

Fu Qian felt a surge of excitement at this change.

Mask's answer wasn't actually important. He had only asked to see if anyone would step in to stop Mask from answering.

Facts proved that the entity behind the scenes had indeed made a flashy entrance.

Judging from this display, if he hadn't activated Pseudo-God Incarnation, having his SAN Value drop to zero wouldn't have been just a dream.

The resulting side effect was that at the exact same moment, the floor of the entire Laboratory violently shattered, exposing the chaotic Abyss below that defied all observation.

Even the original fluorescent light had now transformed into a red mist as thick as liquid, rolling madly as if ready to devour everything.

The reaction of The Abyss had also been triggered. Now, it was a three-way standoff. Of course, he was obviously the weakest party, teetering on the edge of peril.

Fortunately, there was no need to maintain this any longer.

Resisting the terrifying pressure from the possessed Mask, as well as the chaotic erosion coming from beneath his feet, Fu Qian held up Henry.

The next moment, a massive triangular head slowly poked out from the red mist, followed by two bulging eyeballs.

A frog?

With its red eyes and green skin, this creation—which seemed to be made of pure chaos and madness—looked exactly like a frog.

As he marveled at it, the creature opened its mouth wide, and Fu Qian very cooperatively tossed the cat inside.

To him, this was now the friendly faction.

[Current task completed. Number 1-105 successfully placed into Containment.]

"How should I address you?"

The moment he regained his ability to speak, Fu Qian made sure to ask Mask.

Unfortunately, the other party ignored him.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!