Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was indeed moving, and not with the frantic intensity they had experienced earlier.

Quite the opposite. It felt more as if the vessel had stabilized, fueled up, and set sail once again.

As Su Gao delivered two successive pieces of shocking information, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

Her perception remained sharply accurate. The sudden movement was clearly far from normal.

During their initial exploration of the ship, it was mentioned that the Underground of the Benevolent Curse Institute acted like a dock forged by a Miracle, drawing this space-time wandering Escape Vessel into a brief mooring.

Though there were no sounding horns or sudden bursts of acceleration, Fu Qian had just felt his body transition from stillness to motion. It was as if, without warning, they were already sailing across a vast ocean.

This did not look like good news. In theory, this ship had been drifting for millennia.

If it truly was setting sail again, a mere three-day stay would be the least of their worries.

Not to mention, when it might return to the dock was an utter unknown.

”...Those things are all gone.”Old Man Stoss remained silent, and Fu Qian was in no rush to speak. Instead, it was Demigod Aike—who had not spoken in a while—who broke the stifling quiet to point out another change.

She was right. In the blink of an eye, the filth left behind by the Marr Brothers’ self-destruction had entirely seeped into the ship. Even the unpleasant stench had dissipated somewhat.

Furthermore, the Scythe Feather had vanished along with it.

For a moment, it almost seemed as if those two brothers had died a heroic death to mend the vessel.

...

She was correct, yet Excellency Aike did not question Su Gao’s judgment either.

Following her gaze, Fu Qian still offered no comment.

This discovery did not contradict the ship’s movement in the slightest; in fact, it served as theoretical support.

After all, a ship could only move once it was repaired.

Moreover, her tone made it clear that her colleague Su Gao’s track record along the way had been far too convincing. The recent news had left a heavy weight on Aike’s heart.

Right now, she was simply adding to their findings, leaving Old Man Stoss to make the final decision.

”It’s gotten dark again...”

There was even a new discovery.

This time it was Professor Ah Kai. Looking slightly dazed, he muttered the observation to himself.

Considering how the mess he had just caused had been resolved, it was hard to say exactly what he was feeling right now.

His observation was entirely correct, and he was not the only one to notice it.

”It really has grown darker. It’s almost the same as when we first came in.”

Aike decisively affirmed Ah Kai’s discovery, even accurately describing the extent of the shift.

As Fu Qian and Su Gao exchanged a glance, they could see that the other felt the exact same way.

This change undoubtedly served as proof for one of their previous theories.

Namely, the light variable Fu Qian had mentioned earlier was fake, designed solely to hurry them along.

”It looks like someone meticulously prepared a welcome ceremony for us.”

The next moment, Excellency Stoss also spoke with a sigh.

”Professor Fu, what do you make of our current situation?”

Having clearly expressed his agreement, the old man sought Fu Qian’s perspective once more, fully demonstrating how much he valued the consultant’s input.

”What time is it?”

Fu Qian did not answer him immediately. Instead, he looked at Ah Kai to confirm.

”Six o’clock?”

The professor was not particularly confident, but he understood the question perfectly and answered after a moment’s consideration.

”The situation isn’t great, but fortunately, we still seem to have some time... whether we continue to observe or consider our last resort.”

Sweeping his gaze over the layer of starlight that had yet to fade from Ah Kai’s body, Fu Qian finally faced the old man and gave a fair assessment.

A consultant needed to act like a consultant—providing only analysis and suggestions. Making decisions was the client’s job.

...

”Indeed... at least it looks like we still have time.”

Unfortunately, making a swift decision was often the harder task.

While agreeing with Professor Fu’s analysis, Excellency Stoss was clearly hesitating.

The notion that they ”still had time” naturally stemmed from the fact that the previous brightening of the light had indeed been an illusion.

Even before reaching this conclusion, they had specifically used Professor Ah Kai’s condition as proof.

It all looked perfectly reasonable. After everyone came in, Ah Kai had been the most severely affected. Meanwhile, at certain appropriate moments, the brightness inside the ship had been artificially manipulated, creating a seamless misdirection.

For instance, when they severely damaged the ship up on Layer 1, causing those ropes to extend outward.

And later, when the passage had been reopened.

Now, with the Marr Brothers’ self-destruction, that operation seemed to have been abandoned, and the illusion had been lifted along with it.

As for the ”last resort,” that obviously referred to completely destroying this place, as previously discussed.

Professor Fu had even mentioned that he possessed a technique they could try, but...

Even though the ship moving was a terrible sign, Old Man Stoss still seemed unable to make up his mind on whether to be decisive and ruthless and destroy the place directly.

He could not be blamed. After all, they had attempted to be decisive and ruthless several times already, only to be stopped—and those interventions had later been proven correct.

After this happened several times in a row, anyone would easily develop ”learned self-doubt.” For example, was everything happening right now still part of the plan? Would destroying this place play right into a trap?

”Shall we observe for a moment?”

Seemingly sensing his mood, Aike cautiously offered a suggestion from the side.

Although she lacked a detailed understanding of what had happened above, just the things she had observed were enough to convey the sheer depth of the mastermind’s plotting.

Consequently, it brought up worries like, ”Are they really just giving up like this?” For the time being, Aike’s mindset was noticeably leaning toward the conservative side.

”That is certainly a safer idea, but it carries its own risks.”

Sighing softly, the old man clearly had an inclination, though he inevitably worried about sinking deeper into the trap. As he spoke, he glanced at Su Gao.

”There haven’t been any obvious changes since just now.”

Without waiting to be asked, the latter directly provided a new conclusion, having clearly kept a close eye on the situation the entire time.

”I feel the same way.”

Just like with Fu Qian, her consistent performance had clearly earned the old man’s trust. The next moment, he directly stated that great minds think alike.

”But we cannot just wait around. Professor Ah Kai, I need you to hurry and continue your previous tests. Confirm our situation to the greatest extent possible.”

Even with a team member who had just messed up, he continued to entrust him with heavy responsibilities.

”And we need to split up our manpower to check if there have been any other changes to this place—”

His instructions for the operation came to an abrupt halt. A moment later, Stoss seemed to sense something, and he looked at Su Gao again in shock.

”We are falling. It feels as if we have dropped into a void in the ocean.”

The latter remained expressionless as she once again confirmed the shift.