Eldritch Horror Theatre

It had to be said—befitting a Tier 2 Transcendent, Excellency Stoss’s perception remained remarkably reliable and keen.

The moment they stepped into the darkness, Fu Qian experienced the exact same sensation.

Even standing right in the middle of it, the visual experience was identical to how it had looked from the ship.

It was a chaotic stretch of darkness where absolutely nothing could be seen. His eyes had practically become useless decorations, and his Transcendent Perception was completely suppressed.

It was so absolute that, short of bumping right into them, there was no way to confirm whether a cluster of faces was silently staring at you from the dark.

At the same time, although the visual experience was similar, it felt different from the Absolute Lightless Darkness he had once used in the Sacred Night Capital.

The latter was akin to directly banishing the concept of light, leaving the fundamental laws of reality incomplete.

This darkness, however, added something extra—it forcefully instilled the concept of the unseen straight into your mind.

The Old Man was right. Just like on the ship, where a flow of information had been forcefully injected to form their vision, this process was now essentially operating in reverse.

Meanwhile, their hearing miraculously remained unsuppressed. They could converse freely and even pick out the footsteps of every individual on the team.”Same here.”

Up ahead, Su Gao seemed too focused on navigating to reply to the Old Man, so Fu Qian casually voiced his agreement instead.

”The good news is that I haven’t sensed any other distorted forces yet. However, it’s hard to say what will happen as we go deeper. Handling threats in a place like this will be much more strenuous.”

Not minding the somewhat brief response, the Old Man continued to fulfill his responsibilities as a Tier 2, working to confirm more of their surroundings.

”It’s wooden boards down here, too.”

Su Gao’s voice finally drifted back, and even the sound of her footsteps had changed.

...

The ladder did not turn out to be very long.

It was easy to hear the shift in movement, and following closely behind her, Fu Qian stepped onto solid ground a moment later.

However, the material of the floor was a bit surprising.

Given the general aesthetic so far, one would normally expect to be stepping into a bottomless abyss, or at least onto magma, asphalt, or frigid ice. Surprisingly, it was still wood—and the surface even felt quite regular underfoot.

”But it shouldn’t be connected to that ship. It’s very narrow down here. It feels more like an underground passageway, and the walls are made of wood as well.”

Leading the team, Su Gao shared her latest discovery.

With their hearing unsuppressed, High-Tier Transcendents could discern a great deal just from the sound of footsteps.

Thus, even while walking in total darkness, she did not deliberately stop to wait for the others.

At the same time, without even needing to reach out and touch the walls, Fu Qian knew Su Gao was telling the truth. The group was indeed standing in a relatively narrow corridor.

Still, the fact that everything around them was made of wood felt more than a little bizarre.

”Be careful not to break anything carelessly. Let’s head a bit deeper and see... For now, the path back remains stable and shows no signs of vanishing.”

Behind them, Excellency Stoss issued his instructions.

It was a perfectly reasonable decision. Time was precious, so they couldn’t afford a slow approach, yet the location was so peculiar that they couldn’t act recklessly either.

The only problem was what they would do if this tunnel stretched on infinitely and they simply couldn’t reach the end.

...

They encountered zero resistance, so even though they were moving cautiously, the trio’s efficiency was extremely high.

But soon, a startling realization hit them: after walking forward for a long stretch, the path simply demanded they keep walking.

The route was perfectly straight. Everyone was quite certain of this, and Su Gao had even specifically verified that there were no branching paths.

Yet, despite three High-Tier Transcendents sprinting down the path, the underground tunnel showed absolutely no sign of ending.

Aside from the sounds of their own footsteps, their only companion was that ethereal humming.

Pressing on while stripped of their vision was undoubtedly a massive drain on their patience, not to mention that, in theory, every extra step they took put them one step further from the way back.

”Hold on.”

As expected, Old Man Stoss did not like this feeling. He was the first to stop in his tracks.

”Something is very wrong down here. It’s hard to say if continuing will yield any results, and the risks are going to spiral increasingly out of control. We’re going to try and break through directly.”

His subsequent decision wasn’t surprising either—he had clearly resolved to use brute force.

Even though he couldn’t see or sense it, Fu Qian could vividly picture the deadly weapon already itching for action in the Old Man’s hands.

”That means we need to head back the way we came first.”

Seeing that Su Gao remained silent, Fu Qian—in his capacity as the operations advisor—took the initiative to comment a moment later.

”Exactly. If this triggers a violent reaction or even affects the ship, we need to ensure we still have time to rush back—”

Just as Excellency Stoss’s voice faded, a strange noise echoed through the darkness.

It was unhurried and ethereal, complementing the humming quite perfectly.

”It’s Ike... Something’s happening on the ship.”

However, the Old Man had little mood to appreciate it. He was visibly startled.

...

One could only say that in critical moments, ancient methods of communication were still the most reliable.

Fu Qian certainly did not doubt Stoss’s judgment; in fact, he silently praised it in that moment.

Being able to recognize it instantly proved that this was a commonly used method. Had they been outside, he believed it would have involved far more than just producing a sound.

Yet, with their Transcendent Perception completely blocked off right now, this primitive method was exactly what worked. However, as for what came next...

”I’ll have to trouble you to verify the issue on the ship. I will continue onward from here.”

Unsurprisingly, Su Gao’s voice rang out through the darkness.

”That’s too dangerous... Even though it doesn’t sound like the situation up there is necessarily critical, why not just retreat together, confirm the situation, and then resume our current plan?”

After a brief hesitation, the Old Man clearly showed his lack of support for the idea.

”Madam Su is likely considering that if you return to hold the fort, the situation by the ship will be far more reassuring than what lies ahead. Because of that, she wants to try pushing a bit deeper to see what we can find.”

Classmate Su Gao wasn’t fond of talking much, so as the operations advisor, Fu Qian naturally stepped up once again to casually explain on her behalf.

Of course, Excellency Stoss hadn’t necessarily failed to realize this. It was just that under such an arrangement, the danger level for Su Gao would simply be too high.

But if they didn’t do it this way, the sliver of opportunity they had finally managed to uncover would be somewhat wasted.

”I am the person in charge of this investigation.”

Just as Stoss fell silent after hearing the advisor’s explanation, Su Gao spoke up once more. Her tone was calm yet resolute as she provided an additional reason.

”And she also has her operations advisor.”

Before the Old Man could spend any more time hesitating, Fu Qian followed up, adding a comment of his own.

...This guy was actually choosing to stick with her?

”Then I’ll leave it to you, Professor Fu. Please ensure your own safety.”

Those two reasons, coupled with the pressing time constraints, finally spurred Excellency Stoss to make a decision. After leaving that single instruction, he hurried straight back to take charge of the situation.

And in his echoing voice, one could almost hear his growing astonishment at Professor Fu’s professional work ethic.