Eldritch Horror Theatre

What did I just see?

Dead silence fell over the deck. Even the sounds of ship repairs ground to a halt.

The clash had ended in mere seconds, leaving every onlooker in profound shock.

Rachel was no exception.

Her close friend had praised Mister Fang highly, and the man had indeed displayed extraordinary methods earlier. Yet witnessing such a clean, decisive kill still struck her to the core.

This guy really is extremely dangerous!

She was fairly familiar with the man who had just died so horribly. His strength ranked highly on this ship, and he even wielded a Transcendent weapon tailored to his abilities.

Even Lane usually treated him with an extra degree of courtesy.

Who could have imagined he would be killed instantly in a single exchange, faring no better than she had?

Even though he had relied on pure combat skill rather than any overtly bizarre abilities, Rachel’s skin crawled as she stared at the pale bone fragment clutched in Mister Fang’s hand.His expression hadn’t changed at all throughout the ordeal, and the way he was now carefully scrutinizing the gory remains in his hand filled her with genuine dread.

Is traveling with a guy like this really a good idea? It feels like the stronger they are, the more dangerous they become!

For a moment, she desperately wanted to find Li Min for another chat.

Unfortunately, to avoid blowing her cover, her friend hadn’t said a word since the incident began, staying perfectly still beneath the clothes Rachel had thrown over her.

”Huh?”

Just then, she heard the usually cultured Mister Fang let out a sound of mild confusion.

She looked up to see him holding the bone fragment under his nose. He sniffed it carefully, a look of surprise crossing his face.

”Mister Fang, is something wrong?”

It was Lane, standing across from them, who asked the question, not Rachel.

Staring at the corpse that was only now slowly slumping to the deck at his feet, Lane finally raised a hand to stop his crewmates from swarming forward.

In truth, Lane wasn’t even sure how genuine their urge to attack really was. Almost the very instant he signaled them to halt, the entire group obediently froze in their tracks.

They were up against just one man, and the gap in strength didn’t seem completely insurmountable, but that ruthlessly efficient slaughter had seemingly crushed everyone’s fighting spirit.

”My apologies, our man acted impulsively. Please, don’t take offense.”

Though heavily conflicted about how to proceed, Lane was the person in charge. It took him only a single breath to decide how to frame the situation.

”It’s fine. Everyone has their cognitive limits. It’s just...”

That pensive expression made Lane’s heart skip a beat. A moment later, Fu Qian shook his head.

”It smells a little fishy.”

Fishy?

The remark plunged the deck into silence once more.

Was there anywhere on the ocean that didn’t smell fishy?

Besides, compared to a normal ocean, the fishy smell of the Ash Sea was incredibly faint, wasn’t it?

Wait a minute. He had just been smelling a skull fragment, right?

Was he saying the brains on it smelled fishy?

After a moment of absolute bafflement at Fu Qian’s critique, realization dawned on the crowd. Every pair of eyes instantly dropped to what he was holding.

”A bit fishier than normal,”

Fu Qian said, completely oblivious to how much he sounded like a deranged butcher as he offered a polite nod.

He really was talking about the brains. But it was normal for brains to smell metallic. Was this guy mocking them?

Did he mean that uncultured people have fishier brains than normal, like mindless salted fish?

”Like the smell of actual fish,”

Fu Qian elaborated, almost as if he had heard their collective internal questioning.

...

Proving his worth as a leader, Lane was the first to snap out of the bizarre exchange.

He squatted down beside the corpse’s half-destroyed head and took a careful sniff. An instant later, his expression drastically changed.

It really is...

He was absolutely certain that the distinct smell of fish was wafting directly from the warm, freshly spilled blood and flesh.

Muttering to himself in shock, Lane’s immediate reflex was to bring his own hand up to his nose.

It carried no strange odor, but just as he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his hand, he caught a terrifying sight.

From this angle, he could see a bizarre, iridescent sheen coating his pinky nail. It looked exactly like a distinctively shaped fish scale.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled his hand back. He quickly found similar traces across all five fingernails on his right hand.

”You didn’t notice it earlier?”

Just as shock overwhelmed him, he heard Mister Fang ask the question in a mild tone.

Based on where the man was looking, the question was clearly referring to Lane’s fingernails.

”It must be a recent change. Otherwise, there’s no way I would have missed it.”

Taking a deep breath to maintain his composure, Lane analyzed the situation, his words carrying a hint of self-comfort.

”How recently? Be precise.”

Mister Fang didn’t let him off the hook so easily, tossing the brain-covered bone fragment back onto the deck as he asked.

”After you realized the path back had vanished?”

He had initially assumed this conservative crew wouldn’t be able to provide much meaningful information for the time being. He hadn’t expected them to directly manifest physical symptoms.

As he asked the question, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

Both the fishy stench and Lane’s fingernails proved that unusual mutations were starting to appear on the crew—it wasn’t just limited to the little mermaid’s split tail.

Considering these people hadn’t even entered the water, Fu Qian suspected this wasn’t solely the distorting influence of the Ash Sea.

”It’s possible. After all, before this Miracle appeared, I was constantly monitoring my body for any changes.”

Lane nodded rapidly, naturally adopting the terminology of a Miracle.

”Based on your understanding, Mister Fang, does this Miracle accelerate the mutation process for those caught inside it?”

Sorry, I haven’t learned that much yet. I certainly hope not.

Fu Qian thought to himself.

Otherwise, it would mean this trace of abnormality has once again been classified as normal.

”If that’s what you’re worried about, it seems you should put them back to work.”

Rather than mislead the man about things he didn’t know, Fu Qian simply pointed behind Lane.

”We need to start trying to find a way out as soon as possible.”

We? Was this guy’s purpose in coming over to use this ship so we could travel together?

He’s trapped in here too!

His words were easy to understand. If the Miracle truly accelerated mutation, then they absolutely needed to repair the ship and find a way out as quickly as possible.

The logic was undeniable, but it also made Lane’s heart skip as a sudden sense of relief washed over him. He felt far more at ease, not even caring that the man had completely sidestepped his question.

Terrifying strength was fine. As long as this man wasn’t some desireless lunatic, there would be a way to deal with him.

”We truly can’t afford to waste any more time.”

Clenching the fingers of his right hand into his palm, Lane offered a smile.

...

Back here again!

The drastically multiplied sense of crisis had clearly provided a significant burst of motivation.

Not long after, Fu Qian was standing in the familiar guest room, gazing out the window at the Floating Islands.

”Come in.”

Before a knock could even sound at the door, he called out.

”Mister Fang.”

Rachel opened the door and slipped in without a sound. She walked right up to his side before speaking in a hushed voice.

”Being inside the Shattered Crown is indeed said to accelerate mutation.”

Ms. Li Min, you really know how to ruin a mood.