Eldritch Horror Theatre

Working late at night truly offered a distinct sense of satisfaction!

Strolling leisurely downstairs, he found The Bookstore exactly as it had been when he left, save for an envelope now resting by the door.

It seemed everyone was growing accustomed to this classic method of communication.

One glance at the envelope’s style was enough to tell it probably wasn’t from Eldest Miss Wen. There was an eighty percent chance it was a summons from Chief Yuan.

Quite pleased with this development, Fu Qian picked up the letter and opened it.

[Thursday?]

Its brevity was delightfully refreshing, making even the signature ”Yuan Shan” at the bottom look much more agreeable.

As expected, it was an invitation from Chief Yuan to inspect operations at the Night Watchers Base.

It appeared Shangjing’s security situation had remained quite stable during his absence.

But it looked like tomorrow was Monday. Did that mean he only had three days left?And if memory served, even departing from the closer Shangjing, the journey to the Ash Sea would still take nearly a day.

After that, he would have to literally find a needle in a haystack across that vast, treacherous region—plenty of time. He would simply go and return!

This wasn’t a vacation anyway. Since he didn’t need to factor in a return trip, having nearly two days to operate was more than enough for his planned strategy.

Fu Qian folded the letter back up, tossed it onto the counter, and fished a card out of a drawer.

It was the Special Transit Pass Chief Yuan had given him during the Municipal Officer incident.

After a brief preparation, a dense blood mist surged. Entering his Blood Crusade State, Fu Qian walked straight through The Bookstore’s door and reappeared several streets away.

...

The Night Watchers truly were overbearing!

Having randomly selected an unlucky soul and directly commandeered their cramped seat, Fu Qian began the first leg of his aerial journey.

It was obvious the victim wasn’t exactly thrilled, but the entire process went incredibly smoothly. Once the Special Transit Pass was verified as authentic, no one even dared ask for his name.

Of course, privileges weren’t always a silver bullet—like when he attempted to transfer to his next mode of transportation.

”No ships? Isn’t it a bit early in the morning for you people to be slacking off?”

Fu Qian frowned at the middle-aged man in front of him.

”I apologize, but this actually has nothing to do with the time. The weather conditions right now are simply too severe...”

The man pointed helplessly outside.

It was the truth. At this very moment, the weather at this port—the closest one to the Ash Sea—was truly spectacular.

Wind howled, thunder roared, and rain poured down in sheets. The visibility was impressively abysmal.

”It can’t be helped. That’s just how Moore is.”

Stroking his mustache, the middle-aged man made a rather dramatic gesture.

”It always brings surprises.”

A surprise indeed. If I had known, I would have chosen an aerial route closer to the Ash Sea and just jumped out halfway.

Fu Qian thought to himself.

Unfortunately, the weather had been perfectly fine right up until his arrival.

Naturally, Fu Qian already knew the weather in Moore was highly unstable due to its close proximity to the Ash Sea.

Yet his reason for choosing it remained simple: it was close.

Being easily affected by the sea was exactly why he had picked this port. It was just a pity his luck seemed rather poor this time.

His previous question had mainly been an attempt to spur the man into taking some initiative, but the effort yielded little result.

”Think harder.”

Fu Qian snapped his fingers, offering a word of encouragement.

The man instantly fell silent. His professional smile vanished, replaced by a look of deep concentration.

Fu Qian didn’t rush him, simply waiting quietly.

”Sailing into the Ash Sea is impossible. No ship would do that unless hijacked by a madman.”

A moment later, having seemingly organized his thoughts, the middle-aged man spoke slowly.

”Not to mention the current conditions, which make even normal navigation impossible. If you want to get as close to the area as you can, the only boats heading out in this weather belong to transcendents.”

”For one, they have their own methods of enduring the waves. At the same time, some use the severe weather as cover for illicit poaching. But even they supposedly only dare to go near the Floating Islands.”

”Poaching what?”

Since the man had suddenly become talkative, Fu Qian didn’t hold back and pressed the issue.

”Many things... If they’re lucky, maybe even mermaids, though that’s the most serious offense. Plus, they have to pray they don’t have the misfortune of running into fishmen. Rumor has it more than one person has died at the hands of those creatures.”

Fishmen. He had just heard Gerald mention them.

Fu Qian naturally thought of the head inside that cage.

Considering there could even be Demigod Level entities among them, they did indeed seem far more dangerous than mermaids.

As for the Floating Islands the man had just mentioned, that matched the information he had gathered previously.

It was said that the Ash Sea, an area whose boundaries were never entirely fixed, possessed another defining feature besides its signature bone-ash waters: a continuous chain of islands sharing the exact same hue along its edges.

These rootless behemoths looked as though they were formed from accumulated bone ash in the water. Not only were they veritable death zones, but they were also constantly shifting.

It was entirely possible to fall asleep on one, only to wake up and find it had completely dissipated, leaving you floating in the sea—assuming you could still wake up at all.

This was supposedly the personal experience of the author of that book, a fortunate shipwreck survivor.

”Thanks.”

The next moment, Fu Qian smiled.

”So where can I find them?”

...

”He’s gone?”

Looking up again, the middle-aged man realized the mysterious, inquisitive individual had vanished without a trace, and he breathed a subconscious sigh of relief.

Granted, he had been a bit overly enthusiastic today.

Frowning slightly, he tried to recall their conversation, but it seemed he had spoken too much; he could only remember fragmented pieces.

He hadn’t said anything inappropriate, right?

A faint trace of worry clashed in his mind with the lingering relief of having answered the questions.

...

Consulting professionals frequently really was a good habit!

At the same time, Fu Qian watched several figures walking through the wind and rain, feeling deeply satisfied.

What he had done just now was very simple: he used Lucid Dream to make the man attempt to use his brain again.

The results were quite ideal.

At the very least, these individuals walking past him clearly possessed extraordinary skills and an inhuman aura.

In such terrible weather, a group of transcendents setting out to sea in the rain with such flair couldn’t help but arouse one’s curiosity.

The next moment, blood mist surged. Fu Qian activated Blood Crusade and boarded the exact same ship.

...

The boat was only small in a relative sense; it actually had quite a bit of space on board.

A moment later, Fu Qian stood in an empty room, restraining his aura as he observed the view out the window.

The shadowy pier gradually receded into the distance, yet the small boat, despite being buffeted by the storm, remained absurdly stable.

The moment the ferocious waves approached, they rapidly changed direction and softened, ultimately turning into nothing more than gentle caresses against the hull.

This scene was seemingly familiar. When he first met Ms. Jia Keke, she had done something similar.

In specific situations, highly specialized technical talent was simply too important.

Amidst Fu Qian’s silent admiration, the small boat glided with silky smoothness straight into the depths of the darkness.