Eldritch Horror Theatre

This place was even bigger than he had imagined.

After simply packing his things, Fu Qian followed the two men out of his residence and found himself standing in a massive concrete and steel jungle.

Buildings of every shape and size lined the crooked streets in a completely chaotic layout.

In the dim morning light, there wasn’t a single tree in sight.

If everyone living here was a transcendent, there were certainly a lot of highly driven people in the world.

At the center of this chaotic human settlement, a towering building pierced the sky. It sprawled outward, looking down upon the masses in stark contrast to its surroundings.

To build such a behemoth in a place like this would require an incredibly powerful organization.

Fu Qian mused as he took in the sights.

This also explained the high-handed attitudes of the two men in front of him; their destination was that very building.

That raised a question: why would such an organization seek out a group of unaffiliated transcendents to help them explore?After thinking it over, any possibility other than them serving as cannon fodder seemed extremely slim.

This was likely why the two men had looked a bit surprised to see him alive and kicking.

They had probably fully expected something to go wrong with him.

Of course, that wasn’t the main issue. What Fu Qian truly cared about was their earlier mention of going ”down” to explore.

His objective for this mission was crystal clear: the Secret Angel Dungeon.

Leaving aside the ”secret” part, a dungeon should, by definition, be underground.

If the area they had been exploring before was the target zone, that would save him a lot of trouble.

...

With the two men escorting him front and back, Fu Qian soon arrived at the foot of the giant building.

Standing there and looking up, a massive Trident Emblem immediately caught his eye.

With its gold patterns on a black background, it closely matched the style of the entire building.

The Siren Group. Fu Qian recognized the logo.

It was one of the largest mega-corporations in this world, controlling vast resources with businesses spanning nearly the entire globe.

It made perfect sense for such a behemoth to have a presence in a place like the Wasteland.

Fu Qian thought for a moment, then pulled out his mask and put it on.

”What are you doing?”

His strange behavior instantly drew their attention, and the shorter man questioned him in high alert.

Not bad!

Fu Qian ignored him, instead using the glass curtain wall in front of him as a mirror

This place was even bigger than he had imagined.

After packing up his few things and following the two men out of his residence, Fu Qian found himself standing in a massive jungle of steel and concrete.

Buildings of all shapes and sizes lined the crooked streets; the city planning was a chaotic mess.

In the dim morning light, not a single tree was in sight.

If everyone living here was a transcendent, it just meant there were a lot of hard-working, ambitious people out there.

Rising above this chaotic human settlement was a towering building that pierced the sky. It stretched upward wildly, looking down upon the masses in stark contrast to its surroundings.

Building such a behemoth in a place like this would require a phenomenally powerful organization.

Fu Qian mused as he took in his surroundings.

This also explained why the two men in front of him were acting so arrogantly: their destination was that exact building.

But that raised a question. Why would such an organization recruit a bunch of idle transcendents to help them explore?

After thinking it over, any possibility other than serving as cannon fodder seemed extremely slim.

That was probably why the two of them had looked so surprised to see him alive and kicking.

They probably wouldn’t have been surprised at all if something had gone fatally wrong.

None of this was the main point, of course. What Fu Qian actually cared about was their earlier mention of going ”down” to explore.

His objective for this mission was crystal clear: the Secret Angel Dungeon.

Leaving aside the ”secret” part, a dungeon, by definition, should be underground.

If the area they were already exploring was his target zone, it would save him a lot of trouble.

...

Boxed in by his two escorts, Fu Qian soon arrived at the foot of the giant building.

Looking up from the street, a massive Trident Emblem immediately caught his eye.

Featuring gold patterns on a black background, it closely matched the style of the entire building.

The Siren Group. Fu Qian recognized the logo.

It was one of the largest mega-corporations in the world, controlling vast resources and businesses that spanned the globe.

It made perfect sense for such a behemoth to have a foothold in the Wasteland.

Fu Qian thought for a moment, then pulled out his mask and slipped it on.

”What are you doing?”

His sudden movement immediately drew their attention, and the shorter man demanded an answer, instantly on high alert.

Not bad!

Fu Qian ignored him, using the glass curtain wall in front of them as a mirror to check his reflection.

His heavy black trench coat paired perfectly with the Silver-White Mask and its wooden, expressionless features.

At the same time, upon donning the mask, he could feel his aura become indistinguishable from an ordinary person’s.

The two men in front of him lacked the strength to realize they were facing a Demigod anyway.

But given the Siren Group’s resources, there was no way they didn’t have powerful figures stationed here.

He was about to walk right into their base. If they discovered that the person they’d roped in to be cannon fodder was actually a Demigod, their reaction would be hard to predict.

”Keeping a low profile,” Fu Qian said casually. ”It’s for your own good.”

Fu Qian casually tossed out the excuse.

This was the truth. After all, if these two insisted on stopping him from going in like this, he would have to weigh the hassle and consider the necessity of knocking them out and walking away.

Unfortunately, the two men didn’t appreciate the sentiment. At his explanation, the veins on their foreheads noticeably bulged.

Clearly, they weren’t used to anyone taking that tone with them.

However, after a moment of visible fury, the shorter man—whom his colleague had called Gary—ultimately displayed decent self-control.

”Leave your weapons.”

Instead of starting a fight, he came at the problem from a different angle.

Despite their overflowing superiority complex, these two were obvious nobodies within the Siren Group and didn’t want to start a fight on the company’s doorstep.

Fu Qian naturally had no objections. He unholstered his pistol and handed it over.

Gary snatched the gun, glared at him, and stepped aside to make a report.

A moment later, he returned. Leaving his colleague outside, Gary verified their identities at the entrance and led Fu Qian inside.

...

If this place also followed the rule of ”the higher the floor, the higher the status,” then this incident was undoubtedly not important enough.

Fu Qian mused silently as he stepped out of the elevator.

They had gotten off at one of the middle floors. After passing through layer upon layer of security doors, they finally reached an office.

The room was quite spacious, yet there was only one person inside. He sat with his back to the door, leisurely gazing out the window, showing not the slightest reaction even as the two entered.

This level of posturing is right up there with Chief Yuan!

Fu Qian marveled silently, while simultaneously confirming he wouldn’t need to carve a bloody path out of here.

The man in front of him might be putting on a great act, but he was only at the Mid Tier. Even if Fu Qian took off his mask and reined in his aura slightly, this guy wouldn’t be able to notice a thing.

A few breaths later, the man finally turned around. After looking Fu Qian up and down, his gaze settled on his face.

”Thank you for coming. I’m Gerald. Your mask is very interesting; could you let me take a look?”

”No.”

Faced with Gerald’s polite request, Fu Qian delivered an exceedingly blunt refusal.

A second later, he pulled the mask off to reveal his face, then put it right back on.

The man had phrased it tactfully, but he merely wanted to confirm Fu Qian’s identity.

Fu Qian had no interest in actually handing the mask over for him to study.

”Very well. I understand that everyone has Items they are unwilling to share.”

Rejected so cleanly and decisively, Gerald was visibly taken aback.

”Could you describe what happened after you went back yesterday?”

Recovering his composure, Gerald changed the subject.

”I don’t know.”

Fu Qian shook his head.

Hmm?

At this, not only did Gary glare at him, but Gerald also narrowed his eyes.

”Mr. Fu, I hope you can appreciate our politeness.”

”I understand, but unfortunately, I really don’t know.”

Fu Qian pointed at his own head.

”I was clearly subjected to some kind of mental influence. The memory of what happened after I went back is completely missing.”

”To think it would be like this...”

Gerald furrowed his brows. However, before he could say anything else, Fu Qian fired back with his own question.

”In fact, that’s why I’m here. I want to confirm—how did the others die?”

”Suicide. Various forms of suicide.”

Gerald glanced at Gary as he spoke.

”Our initial assessment is that they were subjected to some sort of mental influence, so I’m actually not surprised by your condition.”

”You were lucky, of course, that you weren’t ultimately guided to take that final step.”

It seemed Gerald was willing to accept Fu Qian’s explanation for now.

”I hope you can bring that same luck into today’s exploration.”

The man even offered him an encouraging smile.

Unfortunately, Fu Qian—the recipient of these high hopes—simply waved a hand.

”Sorry, but I’m not planning to participate in the rest of the exploration.”

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