Eldritch Horror Theatre

As expected, you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. They both seemed like short-tempered old men, but Stoss was ultimately far more composed than Old Man Logan.

It might sound like making a mountain out of a molehill, but as someone who had already led an expedition of his own, Fu Qian completely understood the man’s reasoning.

Regardless of how credible Marco’s words were, since he mentioned two ”people” being there, they absolutely had to try to account for them.

If they spent the effort and found nothing, proving it was just nonsense, they would have only wasted a little time at most.

However, they were already in an operation with a ticking clock, and the location itself was highly dangerous.

Unearthing this kind of intel—that there might be two unseen ”people” lurking about—made it absolutely impossible to ignore them, regardless of whether their presence was benevolent, malicious, or purely accidental.

This mission was about exploration, not a fight to the death. They had plenty of operational leeway to eliminate major safety hazards.

Beyond that, for Fu Qian, the information had undoubtedly yielded even more.

For example, regarding those ”two people”—barring some twisted brain-teaser where it actually referred to himself and Su Gao—the first thought that popped into Fu Qian’s mind was that fat and skinny pair: the two demigod brothers, Malfoy and Malka.

Were they actually still inside The Ark?Was his previous guess—that they had already completed their Rebirth and left—wrong?

Because their Rank was higher, was their Rebirth much more troublesome than Marco’s, meaning they might still be hiding inside some piece of Amber right now?

It was an easy scenario to imagine, and also the least dangerous one.

And if that were really the case, it seemed these three pitiful brothers had all been abandoned by the Origin Council together.

The parting gift he had given the Prison Archangel—Typhoid Terror—had accidentally scored a quad-kill.

Excellency Stoss’s caution would therefore prove redundant. On the one hand, finding them really wouldn’t be easy; on the other hand, even if they weren’t found, they posed no actual threat.

But a person could never be blindly optimistic. Without blinking an eye, Fu Qian could easily think of other reasonable explanations—

For example, Nepheli and her group originally believed this place wouldn’t be easily found.

But after Su Gao and he left, they noticed the disturbance and decisively took certain countermeasures—such as sending the Marr Brothers back to their hometown to wait for an opportunity to scheme.

If that were the case, the malice behind those two pairs of eyes in the dark would be glaringly obvious.

...

”Professor Fu, what do you think?”

Facts proved that Excellency Stoss truly lived up to his high praise.

Without any intention of explaining further, he directly consulted the operations advisor hired by Demigod Su in the very next breath.

”I suggest starting from the layer above.”

And how could he disgrace Demigod Su’s discerning eye? Fu Qian offered his suggestion with almost no hesitation.

”You’re still more concerned about the dead guy up there? Do you suspect those ’two people’ are connected to him?”

Stoss had not only agreed with his line of thinking, but had even directly put forward the course of action. The old man nodded slightly, waved for the others to follow, and directly left the room before casually verifying Fu Qian’s thoughts.

”I don’t suspect it that strongly, since we have far too little information right now. But if we’re preparing to simply use the process of elimination, I suggest we start with the worst-case scenario.

”Besides, these things down here are quite special. If we study them a little longer, we might discover something interesting.”

Fu Qian’s explanation was quite direct. As he spoke, he gestured toward the ”ears of wheat” ahead that had yet to fall.

Up until now, Yuan Shan had not revealed the true cause of the meteor shower to the upper echelons of the Night Watchers.

Therefore, the official reason he was operating with Su Gao had always been that an attacker had recently appeared in Shangjing, leaving behind traces somewhat similar to the Feathers that had appeared at the Academy. Thus, he was representing Yuan Shan’s special interest in the matter.

Under these circumstances, in the eyes of Old Man Stoss and the others, this incident was undoubtedly even more bizarre.

An attacker with unknown motives, suspected to be Tier 2, had been inexplicably smashed to death by a string of meteors in a hidden location.

With such a strange occurrence, coupled with the adverse effects that appeared the moment they entered The Ark, anyone would wonder if some conspiracy was at play—such as a trap designed to lure people in.

And the life of a grand Tier 2 transcendent couldn’t possibly be used as mere bait, no matter how one looked at it. At the very least, it had to be the lethal component of the trap.

For instance, amidst that pile of ”ears of wheat” on the layer above, some peerless fiend born from the combination of two forces might be rapidly gestating.

...

”We should have cleared them out on our way down.”

While he spoke, the group had already stepped back into the wheat field. Deep in thought, Stoss glanced to the side. The next moment, a ball of flame ignited on one of the pieces of Amber, instantly swallowing the entire ear of wheat.

Silently watching the whole process and ultimately finding nothing at all, Stoss finally let out a sigh, feeling a little regret over his previous choice.

As expected, it’s still the process of elimination.

Fu Qian similarly sighed in his heart at this.

Just as he had thought earlier, aside from a random, unverified dying statement, they genuinely lacked any other information related to these ”two people.”

In this situation, how else could they search? They had to eradicate every possible hiding spot one by one, observing changes and confirming any movements during the process.

Such as these highly suspicious pieces of Amber.

His suggestion was actually just this kind of low-tech massive purge, which could be attempted starting from the layer above.

Of course, the best-case scenario would be to use a more skillful method that didn’t require such a clumsy approach.

Unfortunately, as was obvious from just now, this team clearly still favored the route of crushing their enemies with absolute power.

”We’ll split up.”

At this time, without needing anyone to counsel him, Excellency Stoss quickly cast aside that trace of regret and decisively began making arrangements.

”Professor Fu, you will come with me, along with Su Gao. We’ll head up to confirm the situation.”

Not only had he chosen the highly dangerous strategy of splitting their forces, but his personnel allocation was also exceedingly bold.

”Ah Kai, stay here and try your best to test and confirm the nature of this place. Aike will ensure your safety.”

Without giving anyone a chance to raise objections, Stoss even assigned a separate task to the personnel staying behind.

The difference between him and Old Man Logan was once again highlighted. Although Stoss also walked the path of sheer power, he clearly respected professionals far more.

”Understood.”

Seeming to feel the heavy pressure, Ah Kai did not decline in the slightest. Without even waiting for Fu Qian and the others to leave, he had already started pulling a chaotic assortment of items from his person.

”Before we return, do not touch a single one.”

Finally pointing at the ears of wheat and finishing his instructions to Aike, Stoss immediately took the lead, returning to the place where they had just boarded the ship.