Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was Anjing Company finally unwilling to remain passive, deciding to make a move?

They had certainly bided their time.

Fu Qian didn’t interrupt the conversation on the other side. Instead, he put down his book and listened with keen interest.

Though it was just a brief exchange, it yielded a significant amount of information.

Given the previous conflict between Anjing and Siren, along with the Ji Clan fanning the flames from the shadows, this struggling top-tier company was likely preparing something drastic to strike back.

It wasn’t surprising. A group with a single person in charge was often less prone to extremes, as they had to weigh the consequences of their actions.

It was exactly when a group was leaderless that they became prone to reckless, consequence-blind moves.

Emperor Yasui, who wielded unquestionable control, had been missing for quite some time. Even her imposter had been assassinated. With everyone watching Anjing’s reaction, it was entirely normal for a few extremists to surface right now.

As for the Greed Worm member sitting opposite Laywoman Tooth-Throat, he wasn’t a familiar face, but his Rank was actually a hair higher than hers.

It made sense that such a figure would be highly valued and recruited.Furthermore, from this alone, one could deduce that the Greed Worms’ current hiding place was likely on this man’s turf.

After all, in matters like this, a Mid Tier of unknown background would struggle to earn trust regardless of their strength.

Laywoman Tooth-Throat must have accidentally witnessed something that sparked this confused argument.

And this guy had made it very clear: he wasn’t doing this for potions or transcendent items, but solely to have Anjing help them find someone.

And it was all too easy to figure out who this ”Boon Bearer” he mentioned was—

Not long ago, he had lured the Blood Clan Demigod, Serana, into unknowingly cooperating in filming a scene of her gladly receiving a boon. He had then broadcast it to the entire Greed Worm Team, helping establish a grand objective.

He had to admit, their initiative was quite gratifying. The Greed Worms had quickly thought to borrow the strength of others.

”Are you sure this will work? Setting aside how much effort they’re willing to put in to help us, how exactly do you expect them to find her? By searching for a suspected female demigod?”

Of course, ideas were just ideas, and their potential effectiveness clearly didn’t inspire much confidence. Laywoman Tooth-Throat, for instance, had paused briefly before voicing her doubts.

”If we don’t handle this delicately, our secrets will easily leak. Are you certain letting them know of His Excellency the King of the Abandoned Prison’s existence is a good thing?”

It was obvious from her tone that, after multiple incidents, her faith in the supreme entity guiding them from the shadows had grown incredibly devout.

The reason she had called out just now was likely because her teammate’s actions made her instantly realize the risk of their faith being exposed, prompting her to instinctively call upon the King of the Abandoned Prison in her mind.

Silently pondering the cause and effect, Fu Qian was quite satisfied with this level of devotion. He even recalled his past dealings with Brother Sanxun.

Should he follow that example and give them numbers, too?

Given Laywoman Tooth-Throat’s level of faith, she would undoubtedly rise to the top of the ranks when the time came.

...

”I’m not sure, but what’s the alternative?”

Unfortunately, not everyone was so devout. The guy sitting across from Laywoman Tooth-Throat was clearly more concerned with weighing the gains and losses.

”Are we supposed to just blindly try our luck? Or risk going back to Shangjing?”

”Have you even considered how long it’ll take for the heat to die down?”

He openly scoffed at Laywoman Tooth-Throat’s excessive caution.

”...I admit that the instructions we’ve received so far are vague, but isn’t the situation clearly improving? Are you really that impatient?”

His argument hit a sore spot, but Laywoman Tooth-Throat was not one to back down easily. After a brief hesitation, she shot right back.

”We can only develop one new member a year, but haven’t we waited out all these years?”

Oh? So they really could only develop one subordinate a year?

This single-lineage covenant from His Excellency the God of Death was truly bizarre.

As a listener, Fu Qian instantly picked up another new piece of information.

It sounded like this covenant was perpetuated by older members searching for a new ”good seed” each year, then bringing them to a specific place to perform a ritual. During this period, they couldn’t select anyone else.

And if they misjudged their target, a whole year’s effort was wasted.

From that perspective, reaching their current size couldn’t have been easy.

”It’s ’we,’ not ’you.’”

However, not everyone appreciated Laywoman Tooth-Throat’s words as much as Fu Qian did. The man across from her wasn’t buying it at all, letting out a cold sneer.

”You’ve waited the least amount of time out of all of us. Believe me, the feeling is completely different.”

...

Surprisingly, that assessment sounded flawless.

He had already deduced that Laywoman Tooth-Throat was likely the superior of the deceased Daneta, who in turn had been Northern Jiang En’s mentor in Shangjing.

So theoretically, she might have only been part of the team for as little as two years.

The fact that Laywoman Tooth-Throat, who never backed down easily, was momentarily left speechless served as proof.

”But regardless, you’re risking everyone’s lives. I feel it’s necessary for me to pass this on to the others.”

Even so, she gritted her teeth a moment later and held her ground.

”There’s actually no need for that.”

This time, however, a different voice answered her.

In Fu Qian’s perception, this new figure was just as blurry, yet somewhat familiar.

”Laurie... you support him messing around like this too?”

Facing the newcomer, Laywoman Tooth-Throat was visibly shocked.

The newcomer was none other than the Greed Worm Team’s de facto person in charge, the host of the Shangjing underground auction, Old Man Laurie.

”Whether or not it’s just messing around isn’t absolute. The danger you mentioned does exist, but the current situation might not allow us the luxury of patience.”

To Laywoman Tooth-Throat’s utter disbelief, the normally steady and experienced old man immediately made his stance clear.

”Why? Even if an all-out conflict breaks out among those major organizations, as long as the Night Watchers are around, we have plenty of room to stay out of it.”

Realizing that the man across from her had likely made his decision under Laurie’s instructions, Laywoman Tooth-Throat’s voice grew rather dry.

”I completely agree with that. The problem is, we are likely dealing with more than just that right now...”

Laurie merely sighed in response.

”All the recent changes feel very wrong.”

”Yasui Tokiyuki’s issues with his condition don’t seem simple. Not long ago, the Night Watchers offered absolutely no explanation for the strange weather anomaly in the Sacred Night Capital. And then there’s Him, the one who guides us...”

”With all these things happening at once, I don’t think it’s pure coincidence.”