Eldritch Horror Theatre

With great power came great responsibility.

In Fu Qian’s eyes, this phrase still held true on an academic level.

The higher their Rank, the undeniably closer a transcendent drew to the truth of this world.

As he saw it, elevating one’s Rank was one thing, but failing to use that elevation to actively seek out knowledge was a terrible waste.

Unfortunately, good things face many setbacks. This dedicated academic heart just had to run into a bug. So much so that, despite clearly standing at the ”peak” of the supernatural sequence, his scientific research methods were ironically heavily restricted.

Fortunately, a true academic never relied solely on upgrading their equipment.

Even without his perception, Professor Fu still had plenty of methods at his disposal. Hadn’t he just discovered something interesting?

Something that even Excellency Blazing Rainbow would very likely find interesting.

The only obstacle now was that, without the Red Moon around to help him, venturing deep into the Bone Burial Ground wouldn’t be so easy.

But that was fine. His current projects needed to be scheduled anyway.The next trip to the Sea of Ashes was already set. His time here at the Study Abroad Academy was merely to make thorough scientific preparations and casually rest his mind and body along the way—just like he was doing right now.

The warm sun was past its noon peak. After a busy morning, Professor Fu studied the rather beautiful weather outside the window and nestled into the chair he had been gifted not too long ago.

And while enjoying his time in such a comfortable posture, he seemed to feel a deeper empathy for the Dean, who had previously decided to go in for a penny, in for a pound.

The latter had displayed a similar demeanor in his office back then.

...

”Professor Fu.”

It was a pity that logic still applied—such as the aforementioned truth that for leaders, trouble always came looking for them.

The sun had been slowly setting in this rare moment of peace, but right before it dipped below the horizon, a call rang out.

An urgent one, at that.

It certainly wasn’t his Laboratory assistant or the rising star of the Linghui Courtyard. No matter how relaxed their postures might seem, neither of those two had the sort of personality that would slack off at this hour.

But the voice was somewhat familiar—

Professor Rob. It seemed they hadn’t seen each other in quite some time.

Without changing his posture, Fu Qian appraised the visitor.

Thick eyebrows, large eyes, shoulder-length hair, and a generally unkempt appearance. He truly fit the classic image of an Apocalypse Branch professor.

He still remembered the last time this man visited. It had been to deliver the Mushroom Sword after causing a disaster over at the Sword Pavilion.

And this time... he must have caused another disaster, right?

”Have a seat.”

Letting his thoughts wander without restraint, Fu Qian gestured to the spot in front of him.

On one hand, he had total faith in Professor Rob’s imagination and execution. On the other hand, the man was doing little to hide his anxiety.

The only two strange things were that the frequency of his trouble-making had gotten a bit high, and that since the news of Kasi’s glorious return had likely already spread, why hadn’t Rob gone to him first—

”It’s Ah Kai!”

True to the straightforward nature of a researcher, Rob hesitated only for a second before answering Professor Fu’s internal question with a single name.

...

So it wasn’t you who messed up, it was Professor Ah Kai?

Hearing that actually made things make a lot more sense.

”What exactly happened? What did you two do?”

An image of the Linghui Courtyard’s new generation surfaced in his mind. Fu Qian gave a slight nod, cutting straight to the point.

It was no secret that Professors Rob and Ah Kai shared quite a good relationship.

Way back when the Benevolent Curse Institute encountered that rain of Meteors, the two of them had pulled some suicidal stunt together.

So much so that, facing Professor Chang Mo’s wrath, they had ultimately found a blessing in disguise and participated in the incident’s investigation to a certain extent.

As for why two people who were clearly homebodies could share such a strong bond?

It wasn’t strange at all. What could possibly strengthen male friendship more than flirting with death together?

Including this time.

In Fu Qian’s judgment, Rob most likely hadn’t just stumbled upon Ah Kai’s trouble by chance, but had actively been involved in it.

That was why his very first question was what they had done together.

This point even explained why Rob had come running to him instead of seeking out Kasi.

He had cleaned up their mess for them last time. This was clearly forming a path dependency.

Moreover, this kind of inter-departmental collaboration was indeed something he had been heavily promoting during his time as the interim spokesperson.

”Actually, I’m not entirely sure, but Professor Ah Kai seems to have gone missing.”

The importance of a leader’s composure was perfectly demonstrated at this moment.

Facing Professor Fu, who was calmly leaning back yet instantly locked into the situation, Rob seemed to steady himself slightly. He organized his words and spoke softly.

”We’ve been working on a piece of research together recently. Specifically, Ah Kai came to me a couple of days ago, hoping I could help provide him with a special material.

”I was quite surprised at first. Since I’ve always known that for the Benevolent Curse Institute, consumed materials hold more symbolic meaning, it was hard to imagine how I could help... But then, after he explained further, I was even more surprised.”

Without needing any prodding, Rob rapidly explained the whole story.

Given Professor Fu’s miraculous performances over the past many days, Rob clearly wasn’t worried that the other man would have any trouble understanding.

Though when he reached that final sentence, Rob still paused, his expression turning odd.

”You gave him the results of your recent experiments?”

Seeing this reaction, Professor Fu instantly caught on.

His earlier praise of Professor Rob’s vivid imagination primarily stemmed from his mushroom cultivation.

Using the Insect Swarm as the target for the Divine Flesh’s corruption was indeed a rather creative idea.

Even when Master Yuhun caused that huge uproar at the Academy and signed that gambling agreement with him recently, Fu Qian had actually encountered a special character like the Fungal Emperor, making him feel even more strongly that this experiment had great potential to be tapped.

Did the situation right in front of him prove exactly that?

Were all the various projects he had been pushing for so long finally reaching their harvest season?

...

”Exactly. Mainly because it perfectly fit the requirements Ah Kai mentioned... But as for what exactly he wanted to do, he said he hadn’t fully confirmed it yet, so he couldn’t tell me for the time being.

”I felt that was very reasonable. After all, their entire institute has always been intensely secretive, so I just reminded him of the dangers and didn’t pry any further.”

Rob was clearly unsurprised that Professor Fu had instantly guessed the crux of the matter.

After all, he had been bailed out more than once just for this specific project alone.

And the Ah Kai he described undoubtedly fit the usual impression of him.

Keeping a secret didn’t equate to a lack of trust. For a profoundly mysterious and esoteric major like the Benevolent Curse Institute’s, having some special taboos was completely unsurprising.

”Very reasonable.”

Fu Qian casually expressed his agreement and made a gesture for him to continue.

”That was two days ago. But today, when I went to the Benevolent Curse Institute to check up on Ah Kai, I found that he was gone.”

Encouraged, Professor Rob finally got to the main point, his brows furrowed in undisguised worry.

”I can’t be sure that there’s definitely been an accident, but I just have a really bad feeling about it. After thinking it over, I came here.”