The Eldritch Files

’One of the thirty-two most dangerous weapons in the world?’

Han Su glanced at the Copper Armor Statue in surprise. He felt an indescribable astonishment; things like this were everywhere in the Ancient Castle.

’If this is a Divine Weapon, then are the monsters in the Ancient Castle really...’

”Go. Get it. Be careful!”

While Han Su’s heart was filled with a complex mix of fear and dread, the Crystal Skull Organization had already begun to move. At the order of the group’s leader, known as the Professor, a member rolled up his sleeves and slowly reached for the Mechanical Fragment on the platform.

A bizarre scene unfolded. As his palm neared the Mechanical Fragment, the flesh and blood on his arm peeled away layer by layer, turning to ash.

Within just two seconds, his arm was corroded clean of all flesh, leaving only pure bone behind.

But his crystal-like bone could still move under his control. Inch by inch, it continued to reach forward. The moment it touched the Mechanical Fragment, even the bone began to melt. Still, he managed to grasp the fragment and pull it back just a little.

When he finally couldn’t take it anymore, a second person immediately stepped up, continuing the effort to retrieve the Mechanical Fragment.

’The people from the Crystal Skull Organization have undergone physical and spiritual mutations, but even they can only retrieve it in a relay?’

Han Su watched from behind a pillar, a chill running through him. He took out the low-sensitivity fiber gloves he’d received from the Disaster Management Bureau.

Holding his breath, he watched as they took turns—one person moving it two centimeters, the next moving it three. The cycle continued until one of them had lost the flesh from both arms, but they had finally gotten the Mechanical Fragment to the edge of the platform.

At that moment, someone who had been waiting behind them brought over a box. The Professor carefully picked up the Mechanical Fragment and placed it inside.

”Let’s go!”

The Professor ordered in a low voice, a hint of excitement seeping through.

’This won’t do. I need to create some chaos. I’ll have them clash with Dingxiang Mansion first...’

Han Su secretly made his decision.

’Showing off is a bad idea.’

’Without the Fishing Song, I’m just an Investigator who’s new to Mysterious Power. The odds of me snatching the Mechanical Fragment from six members of the Crystal Skull Organization are extremely low. The odds of getting ganged up on are extremely high.’

’Ultimately, without the Fishing Song, I wouldn’t have even been qualified to sneak in here with them.’

’But even with the Fishing Song, its burst power is strong, but its endurance is terrible. I still don’t have much of a chance fighting so many people from Crystal Skull.’

’Fishing in troubled waters is the best strategy for me!’

But just as he was thinking about how to stir things up, he suddenly heard a member of the Crystal Skull Organization say in a strange, panicked whisper, ”Professor, I don’t think... we can leave...”

”Hm?”

Not only the Professor, but even Han Su was taken aback.

He immediately turned to look. Where they had entered, the door at the end of the passage had vanished. In its place was just a smooth wall, seamless with its surroundings.

He looked around at the other walls; they were all perfectly smooth, without so much as a crack. It was as if the door they had just come through was merely an illusion.

The two members who had stayed behind at the entrance to watch the door rubbed their eyes hard and struggled to explain.

”We... we were watching the door the whole time to stop anyone from breaking in, but... but our vision suddenly blurred, like we were stung by a bright light. When we opened our eyes again, the door... the door was gone.”

”...”

”There’s no need to panic.”

The Professor spoke in a low voice. A blurry, crystalline light suddenly bloomed in his eyes, and his gaze seemed to gain a physical weight as he looked toward the original exit.

Han Su followed suit, pressing his palm over his left eye and focusing his Spiritual Power into his right. In his field of vision, everything developed double images, which then split apart. The scene before him seemed to be rapidly deconstructing, like layers in an image.

The ability in Han Su’s right eye seemed to be of a high order. After covering his left eye and concentrating with his right for about two seconds, he had already seen through the strange power pervading the secret room and located the vanished escape route.

The entrance was still there; it hadn’t moved.

It was just that patches of air had become distorted and refractive, as if they had been turned into mirrored glass, obscuring the door.

And in the middle of this space, which resembled a patchwork of mirrors, Han Su saw Wei Lan walk in.

She seemed to be walking through a world of mirrors. Her figure flickered in and out of sight, making the surrounding space an indiscernible mix of real and fake.

This time, not only was she wearing that cat-face mask again, but she had even intentionally put on baggy clothes.

As she walked forward with light steps, the members of Crystal Skull were radiating crystalline light from their eyes, apparently trying their hardest to find the door.

However, the crystalline light they released was instead distorted and refracted by the mirrors around her, which only served to confuse their vision further. Seizing this opportunity, Wei Lan calmly and gracefully approached the Professor, who was holding the box.

...

’How did she end up here again?’

’First the Ghost Truck scene, now the secret room in Dingxiang Mansion. Does she just love getting in on the action?’

Han Su watched her, a strange feeling rising in his heart. ’Seriously, someone with a figure that’s still so eye-catching even in oversized clothes shouldn’t even bother trying to disguise themselves, right?’

”You think you can block our sight with a trick like this?”

The Professor also seemed to have some sort of uncanny intuition. He suddenly took a step back and barked in a low voice, ”Since you also snuck in, you must not be the master of this place, right?”

As he spoke, his gaze, which had seemed to be looking into the distance, suddenly snapped back.

His eyes shifted slightly, focusing precisely on Wei Lan’s current position.

It wasn’t just him; all the surrounding members of the Crystal Skull Organization immediately turned their gazes to the same spot.

’Not good. Wei Lan’s in for it...’

From the sidelines, Han Su immediately saw the problem.

It seemed Wei Lan’s methods were brilliant, but the Professor had clearly relied on some kind of intuition to guess she was right in front of him. He pretended not to know, waited for her to get close, and then had everyone suddenly act at once, turning to look at her.

The members of the Crystal Skull Organization seemed to have the ability to transmit information telepathically.

Without speaking a word, he had already passed the command to everyone.

Now, their gazes converged. Layers of crystalline halos stacked upon each other, forming a cage within the secret room.

Right in the middle of that cage was Wei Lan.

But what was even more unexpected was that Wei Lan, facing all these gazes that had suddenly turned on her, didn’t panic. Instead, she calmly snapped her fingers, and the patchwork of glass-like space around her faded away.

It was as if countless blades and arrows were flying at her, and she had suddenly dropped her shield.

Thus, she was instantly exposed to everyone’s sight—and these were gazes enhanced by a crystalline power, as if they possessed some kind of Mysterious Power.

”Not good...”

The result was unexpected. The moment all their gazes fell on Wei Lan, a chorus of shattering crystal sounds followed.

Even Han Su, who was also looking at Wei Lan at that moment, felt a slight sting in his eyes.

He immediately understood: Wei Lan herself was dazzling. Her beauty had generated a bizarre form of attack. To suddenly see her was to be assaulted, like inadvertently stepping hard on a nail hidden under a paper bag.

The Crystal Skull members had focused all their attention on finding her, and as a result, they had overexerted themselves and injured their own eyes.

And this was while she was wearing a mask and oversized clothing.

He had only heard Secretary Cui Qiao’s description of how formidable the person who helped him at the Ghost Truck capture site was. Only now did he have a more concrete Understanding.

’Wei Lan’s level of Mysterious Power must be very high. And this is before she’s even earned the title of ”Empress”?’

...

As this thought flashed through his mind, the Professor also narrowed his eyes. He quickened his retreat until his back was near the platform and shouted in a low voice:

”It’s someone from the Queen’s Organization! Don’t try to look at her!”

”They all have a unique scent. If you discern it carefully, you can pinpoint her location...”

”...Seal the space!”

”...”

The first sentence was a warning, the second pointed out the key weakness, and the third was already a special command. The Professor’s reaction at this moment was far more impressive than expected.

”And you call yourself a professor? Is this how you teach your students, to sniff out women?”

At that same instant, with her figure exposed, Wei Lan simply laughed out loud.

It seemed her original plan was to walk right up to the Crystal Skull’s Professor and snatch the box, but his wariness and retreat had put it out of her reach. So she launched a kick with a slender, beautiful leg that seemed a section longer than anyone else’s, sending the box in the Professor’s hands flying into the air.

But immediately after, countless crystallized arm bones shot out from all around, grabbing for her from behind.

Their flesh was gone, but their arm bones were still usable, like swords or iron pincers.

The members of this Crystal Skull Organization were of surprisingly high caliber.

Even though their eyes were injured and they couldn’t open them for the moment, they attacked with their eyes closed, grabbing toward her position from memory.

But at that moment, Wei Lan nimbly flipped over, stepped on one of the outstretched Crystal Arm Bones, and leaped up lightly. She caught the box, hugging it to her chest, then gently tapped her toes forward.

CRACK.

A spiderweb of cracks appeared in the air, as if there was a pane of glass in front of her so clean it was almost invisible. She pushed off it for momentum, flipping backward.

She leaped right toward the entrance.

The others, however, couldn’t see where the door was. Even those who managed to force their eyes open saw her posture and assumed she was just leaping toward one of the side walls. With low shouts, they fanned out in an orderly fashion, beginning to encircle her as they closed in.

’There’s a chance!’

At this moment, Han Su was suddenly jolted into action. He immediately recited the Fishing Song in his mind.

’No matter what Wei Lan’s position is or why she’s trying to steal this Mechanical Fragment, I absolutely cannot let her have it. In terms of skill, I might not be her match. My only gamble now is the effect of the Spell granted by the Fishing Song!’

[The Gods have passed down their decree—]

[—I shall descend into the Abyssal!]