Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was like He was everywhere. Excellency Blazing Rainbow, wasn’t this mastermind persona a bit much?

Although he found no flaws in how he had reached this conclusion, it didn’t stop Fu Qian from sighing in that moment.

As mentioned earlier, Etched Intellect felt like a lump of fallacies kneaded together out of numerous elements.

Although the credibility of the specific details wasn’t high—such as whether someone in the research institute had truly lost their faith and turned to worship a certain higher entity—in Fu Qian’s view, it wasn’t necessarily false.

Judging by His current behavior, Excellency Blazing Rainbow clearly had no interest in things like the power of faith, much less any desire to cultivate believers.

It seemed more likely that the traces He had left behind were simply manifesting in this way.

To the point that the image of the sun had to be projected as an emergency measure.

Furthermore, given His strength, it wasn’t strange that He could accomplish this.

As early as his time in the Sacred Night Capital, it was apparent that Blazing Rainbow had even plotted against the Night Watchers.

Not only was a former high-ranking official directly His kin, but even the ancient-god-level collected item ”Levin” had been used to stall for time.Given that the Night Watchers were clearly involved in the aftermath of the Inverted Lake incident, it likely wasn’t a secret to Him at all.

Moreover, this place had already existed for so many years, and a group of fearless people had even conducted research here; it would be very difficult for such an ancient almighty being not to notice.

However, in that case, the sense that the Academy’s exploration accident back then had been a premeditated plot only grew heavier.

If he remembered correctly, Nepheli had explicitly mentioned that after a bitter search in Moore, the Academy team still couldn’t find any clues and had no choice but to bite the bullet and head straight into the Ash Sea.

Surprisingly, after arriving directly on the scene, they had actually managed to find it.

Regarding this stroke of luck, Nepheli’s tone when recounting it back then had actually been quite intriguing.

Was luck in the transcendent world really a good thing?

In fact, Fu Qian shared the exact same sentiment.

For some things, who knows if it brings misfortune or blessing; even if it was delivered right to your mouth, you shouldn’t eat it carelessly.

Not to mention, the Academy Exploration Team’s fate after taking the bait was already displayed right there in bloody detail.

Beyond even this, there was another piece of intelligence that most people didn’t know about—Goto Hi.

She had ambushed and devoured a natural Mythical Creature. In the end, although she had advanced to Tier 2 herself, she could never leave that Merfolk Breeding Base again, to the point that she had tried to possess his body after encountering him...

That pitiful Warehouse Senior had once mentioned that she, too, had received special guidance to discover that path to becoming a God.

And the specific manifestation of that guidance had been an indescribable mass of color.

When it came to luring people astray in the Ash Sea, Excellency Blazing Rainbow seemed to have quite the criminal record.

...

So if the guess was true, what was the goal this time?

Another shocking layer of conspiracy was added to the incident from back then: the reason the Academy Exploration Team had been able to find the place was likely because Blazing Rainbow had provided assistance.

Given the latter’s style, He definitely had an ulterior motive.

The Inverted Lake?

Aside from wanting to devour The Abyss, did that entity also want a few sips of lake water?

This seemed like a relatively easy possibility to think of, but shouldn’t such a thing be easier to execute with fewer people?

Luring an entire team in would only needlessly add variables.

Not to mention that it even alarmed the Night Watchers afterward.

Was it because there was danger inside, so they were lured in to act as cannon fodder first before slowly proceeding with the plan?

That seemed a bit more reasonable—if one didn’t ignore the situation right in front of them.

The Inverted Lake was still here, and just like The Abyss, it hadn’t been devoured either.

At the very least, Fu Qian didn’t quite believe that anything short of a world-pillar-level existence like The Abyss could harvest his SAN Value like mowing grass.

From this point alone, the devouring plan didn’t seem very successful—it couldn’t be that He was here on a scientific expedition like him, right?

After a series of rejections, a peculiar thought sprang into Fu Qian’s mind.

Logically speaking, such an ancient almighty being might not have much of a thirst for knowledge.

But not long ago, he had seen an example of exactly that—Patches.

Exhausting all clever schemes and willingly braving the risks to ultimately destroy the Solitary King and the Goddess of Sins’ wedding hall, all just to catch a glimpse of the blooming flower.

Even that thrill-seeker seemed to be searching for something.

Crystal?

Thinking of something, Fu Qian tapped a finger against his left eye.

The Real and Fake Eyes swiftly completed their swap. Surrounded by tentacles, the bizarre eyeball smoothly rotated clockwise once more.

Currently, the most incredible thing in this place was naturally still the crash site.

But the thing that had caused the greatest impact on the outside world seemed to be the Crystal Blessing that Claudora and the others had encountered.

A thing that had appeared in numerous places.

If one wanted to study the nature of that thing, tossing in a few guinea pigs seemed like a pretty good method.

It just so happened that the Academy possessed all sorts of transcendent pathways, providing a wealth of materials...

”You’re here.”

While evaluating the feasibility of the experiment, Fu Qian withdrew his gaze and casually spoke toward his front left.

...

He wasn’t talking to thin air; someone was actually there.

To describe it accurately, the moment the Prosthetic Eye in his socket began to rotate, someone crossed The Corridor and appeared in his line of sight.

It might have been sudden, but it was a living creature at the very least.

Moreover, speaking purely in terms of appearance, they matched this place quite well.

Dressed in rags, their flesh mangled and gruesome.

Fu Qian was absolutely certain this wasn’t due to the Prism in his eye.

The person before him could no longer be described as having an extraordinary bone structure. Metaphorically speaking, they could be called the personification of Etched Intellect.

Various structures and elements of the human body had been forcefully kneaded together in an inconceivable manner, barely maintaining the overall silhouette of four limbs.

One of their legs even looked crippled, dragging along continuously as they walked over.

But even so, the moment they turned around, Fu Qian confirmed that they were coming straight for him.

However, after walking all the way up to him, the other party’s mental state seemed somewhat bewildered, as if they didn’t know what to do next.

Seeing this, Fu Qian amiably took the initiative to speak, even using the exact same words as that receptionist from last time.

Given the circumstances, there shouldn’t be any problem with that, right?

He was even dressed more formally.

”Sorry... I think I’m late.”

Facts proved it was indeed effective. The newcomer reacted for a few seconds before responding in a voice like a rasping file.

Not bad, even getting the lines exactly right.

Back and forth, it was practically a reenactment of that past conversation. Seeing such a cooperative attitude, Fu Qian nodded in momentary satisfaction.

It seemed he really could play the role of a receptionist this time. Getting this outfit hadn’t been in vain.

”It’s fine. Don’t waste time, come with me.”

Even though the Scavenger looked to be in truly terrible shape.

Fu Qian called out, and as he stood up and walked ahead, the person in question remained bewildered for another moment before finally dragging their crippled leg to follow him.