Eldritch Horror Theatre

This Starry Sky Commandment was rather domineering.

Quickly sorting through the logic, Fu Qian offered it his silent praise.

Every Transcendent Tier domain he had encountered so far was clearly built upon an understanding of the supreme truths governing this celestial sphere’s movements.

The Sleep Aid Sword from moments ago, the masks on their faces, and this unique method of identification all perfectly demonstrated the commandment’s control over the Nightmare.

Even here, everything still operated by its rules.

Whether it was corruption or evil, it was all just filth forced to fester in the shadows.

”So, how many targets actually need inspecting in this Nightmare?”

Setting his admiration aside, Fu Qian curiously scanned their surroundings. Through the window, he could clearly see the hospital was a solemn, multi-story building.

It was certainly small for a world, but as a dreamscape, it was quite spacious.

”Twelve.”Perhaps taken aback by how quickly Fu Qian grasped the core issue, Amira hadn’t rushed to answer him, only speaking up just now.

”That’s not a huge workload. If you actually find something, will you handle it right then and there?”

Fu Qian showed an enthusiasm perfectly matching his current status, looking every bit the bystander eager to watch the chaos unfold.

”Yes. This is a Nightmare with a fairly small area of effect, and what we want to see most is the number of people appearing inside steadily decreasing until it completely dissipates.”

”Understood. So according to your investigation, what’s the origin of this Nightmare?”

Since Amira didn’t seem to mind sharing, Fu Qian naturally pressed on.

”A very unique antique. Supposedly, it’s a pair of shorts made from a certain patient’s skin. After this small club of twelve pooled their money to buy it, every one of them took a turn wearing it.”

Even Amira’s tone carried a sense of absurdity as she recounted this.

Not bad. Very spirited.

Fu Qian offered another silent word of praise as he listened. Humans really did just need to find their kindred spirits.

”Look on the bright side, at least those shorts weren’t displayed in the Art Gallery. The Painting World Nightmare I fell into was much more lively than this.”

Fu Qian placed heavy emphasis on the word ’Nightmare.’

”Yes. Currently, the known number of people affected by the Art Gallery is at least a hundred times that figure.”

Given Fu Qian’s current persona, Amira didn’t look the least bit surprised by his attitude.

The Celestial Sphere Cult had it rough!

From the rough victim count Amira shared, Fu Qian could easily imagine what this organization had just gone through.

Originally, everything had been perfectly ordered. At most, they only occasionally had to deal with a few corrupted individuals like Harriet. Then the Nightmares suddenly struck—not only erupting all at once, but involving an absurd number of victims. Just imagining it was enough to know how disastrous the scene must have been.

To manage to restore order to this extent within a month, and even have the guts to keep the Art Gallery open to the public, was already quite impressive.

”Look on the bright side, at least you have an extra helper today.”

Fu Qian shamelessly boasted.

”And I can’t help but be curious again about what you want me to do. You aren’t just showing me around so I can mentally prepare myself before you stick that thing into my head, are you?”

”Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.”

Amira sighed, notably not outright denying it.

”The Brain Fork doesn’t react to you at all.”

The Brain Fork was obviously the Sleep Aid Sword sticking out of the victim’s head. As for the reaction?

Fu Qian naturally recalled the bright, snow-white patterns that had lit up on it when Reginald was holding it.

So that thing came with a built-in scanning function and could detect if anyone nearby was troubled by a Nightmare?

Even when they weren’t asleep?

Truly impressive!

”Just to me, or to all of us?”

Setting aside his admiration, Fu Qian naturally pressed on.

”To all of you.”

Seemingly used to his sharpness by now, Amira stayed silent for a moment before admitting it.

”That Painting World is arguably the Nightmare that affected the most people, but that’s exactly where the strange part lies. Everyone is just like you. Even though they retain some memories of what happened inside, the moment they wake up, all traces of the Nightmare vanish from them.”

Her tone carried a sense of disbelief.

”Even those like The Rayson Couple, who experienced it for a prolonged period, are the same. They haven’t suffered any further disturbances afterward.”

”In other words, it truly seemed to be just a dream... aside from being excessively long and massive.”

”To be honest, this reduced our workload significantly. Compared to other Nightmares, we only had to compile a list of names; we didn’t have to do anything else.”

There was such a thing?

Amira’s words undoubtedly touched upon many secrets.

However, her description made Fu Qian secretly frown as he listened.

After a whole series of maneuvers, he had finally managed to personally step into a Nightmare, walking within this half-real, half-fake existence while waiting for an opportunity to mimic the method to return to the Dark Moon Church.

Yet now she was turning around and telling him that the Painting World was more like an ordinary dream shared by many people, and that it vanished into nothingness once it ended?

”Of course, considering the massive number of people involved, and the possibility of more undiscovered victims, we’ve been trying to find a way to enter it like this, or confirm that it has completely dissipated. Unfortunately, we haven’t had any leads—until you appeared.”

Amira pointed at Fu Qian.

”A new, special victim. Therefore, we need your help.”

But in the next moment, it was Reginald who chimed in.

”You don’t need to know the specific method right now. Now that we have satisfied your curiosity, what you need to do next is follow us and act according to our orders.”

This clearly wasn’t a negotiation; it was a command.

”Sure.”

Blessed with the fine virtues of being as open-minded as an empty valley and habitually slacking off, Fu Qian didn’t mind this minor slight at all.

Of course, the main reason was that they seemingly shared a common goal.

”Good. Then we should head out.”

The patient on the hospital bed was clearly in a semi-comatose state, not reacting to the trio’s conversation at all. Reginald treated the patient exactly the same way; from start to finish, he couldn’t be bothered to spare him a single glance, simply beckoning the others to leave.

”Strange.”

However, after following them for barely two steps, Fu Qian suddenly stopped and muttered to himself.

”What is it?”

This undoubtedly caught the attention of Reginald and Amira, bringing them to an immediate halt.

”As believers of the Stars, both of your attitudes seem a bit disrespectful, don’t they?”

Fu Qian gestured with his chin toward the sky outside the window.

”I can understand not being interested in people, but from earlier until now, it seems neither of you has even glanced outside to pay your respects.”

”This is why all of this is called a Nightmare... This kind of Chaotic Starry Sky is the greatest blasphemy.”

Fu Qian’s comment undoubtedly made them feel like they were being messed with. After a brief silence, however, Reginald decided against stooping to the level of someone with cognitive problems, instead delivering his assessment with absolute disgust.