Eldritch Horror Theatre

Of course, the King of the Abandoned Prison told me.

Asking such a rhetorical question would surely help Excellency Serana retrace her entire mental journey from Shangjing to Moore.

After all, though Fu Qian had delivered the counter-question in a flat tone, his sheer disbelief was palpable.

”You seem to have forgotten my warning... Just answer the question.”

Sure enough, Excellency Serana clearly recalled the preceding events, cutting him off with a cold sneer and a blunt warning.

”Understood.”

Fu Qian offered no objections, though he displayed little fear.

”Who do you think would have told me?”

Serana completely bypassed their shared history in Shangjing, picking up right where Fu Qian left off to continue her interrogation.

”That is exactly what I find so unbelievable... In theory, even Gene shouldn’t know this honorific name.”Perfectly happy to see this development, Fu Qian took a deep breath.

”Serana” had clearly realized the situation was complex. Rather than rushing to expose her identity, she was playing coy to fish for more intelligence.

Not dwelling on the past in Shangjing was an outcome he was equally glad to see—it saved so much time.

”Isn’t there someone else?”

Serana’s voice betrayed no emotion.

”It’s the same for the others.”

Fu Qian continued to casually spout earth-shattering secrets.

”To be exact, I might be the only one who knows this secret. To Gene and the others, ’His’ honorific name has always been the King of the Abandoned Prison.”

...

With enough effort, even the truth could deceive.

For a moment, Serana didn’t rush to respond. Fu Qian was certain that one of the questions racing through her mind was how the mysterious Bookstore Owner knew about it.

”Why does this sound even more absurd? If it’s such a deep secret, why did you ask about it so directly and let me know?”

But she wasn’t that easy to deal with. After a brief pause for thought, the first thing Serana pointed out was a contradiction that seemed even harder to explain.

”Because I wanted to know if you knew.”

Unfortunately for her, difficulty was relative. Fu Qian didn’t even pause before firing back a direct answer.

...

For ”Serana,” that logic was a bit convoluted.

”Your Excellency should be a Demigod, right? Please don’t worry, we had no idea Your Excellency was coming.”

As she fell silent again, the ”prisoner” looked at her earnestly, attempting to gauge her reaction.

”I was simply verifying Your Excellency’s possible motives after realizing I was completely powerless, while also demonstrating my own value.

”The facts prove that things really aren’t simple. I believe we absolutely have the potential to cooperate.”

His reasoning was honestly a bit flimsy, but Fu Qian figured it would be enough.

”Oh? Cooperate on what?”

Just as expected, the new keyword instantly hooked ”Serana’s” interest. Her probing question completely ignored any mention of their past grudge in Shangjing.

”Stopping Gene.”

”Laurie” sounded as if he had prepared this long ago, instantly delivering his answer.

”As long as Your Excellency’s goal isn’t to slaughter all of us, then I think this is the first thing we need to do.

”Moore is too dangerous. I keep feeling like something big is about to happen—something small fry like us have no business getting involved in.”

Heh...

”Regrettably, that is your problem. Perhaps you should have stopped him before he came.”

Unfortunately, after listening quietly, the figure in the shadows merely let out a soft laugh.

”It is indeed our own problem...”

Securing angel investment was never that easy. Fu Qian sighed softly, though not a trace of dissatisfaction colored his voice.

”I have no desire to guess Your Excellency’s identity. I merely wanted to point out that if Your Excellency is interested in the Dominator of Death, then our goals do not conflict...

”If something happens to Gene, the rest of us might not completely go down with him, but the honorific name Dominator of Death will likely never have the chance to wield power again.”

...

Mutual deception—when running in the underworld, the atmosphere of conversation was always this thrilling.

Ultimately, the honorific name Dominator of Death carried enough weight. The moment he tossed it out, it not only practically verified Serana’s identity but also complicated her motives.

And under his careful nurturing, those ulterior motives were clearly flourishing right now, driving her to probe the secrets of the Dominator of Death—and perhaps even those of a certain Bookstore Owner surnamed Fang.

”So you are His familiars? Then why wouldn’t you know His true honorific name? And if no one else knows, how come you know?”

But as a dignified Demigod, she naturally wouldn’t be used so easily.

”Serana” remained noncommittal for the moment, casually probing for confirmation on his core secret—

It was only natural.

Chasing a target for thousands of miles wasn’t an act of charity. Knowing that Moore wasn’t simple, why take pointless risks?

”That’s right. Us insects have always been the Dominator of Death’s familiars, and we’ve even been trying to pass down His boon all this time. Unfortunately, things haven’t been going smoothly lately, forcing us to hide everywhere.”

You ask, I answer. Fu Qian strung the events together without batting an eye.

”You didn’t answer the most important question. Why do you know? And why don’t they know?”

”Serana” wasn’t going to let him off that easily, giving him no chance to dodge the heavy questions.

”Wei...”

At this, Fu Qian finally paused before spitting out a name.

...

”I’m not sure of his origins, or in what form he currently exists, but it’s obvious that for a long time, a will like his has been standing between us and the Dominator of Death.”

Recalling his old friend trapped in the Unseen Hill, along with his past smiles and voice, Fu Qian couldn’t help but sigh emotionally.

”So much so that for a very long time, we didn’t even know who ’He’ truly was. The honorific name King of the Abandoned Prison appeared for the first time in Shangjing. Everyone heard it, but I didn’t tell them that I heard more...

”Perhaps because I am at the very top of this chain, I learned the name Wei. I know he encountered some kind of anomaly, causing certain veils to disappear.”

Quietly, numerous clues were already linking together, and ”Laurie” appeared completely unbothered, wanting only to spill the hidden secrets in his heart.

”And during my exploration of that name, the honorific name Dominator of Death step-by-step replaced the one we had heard, until I became entirely convinced that this was the true essence pointed to by the Emblem.”

Oh?

The plot was full of twists and turns, clearly drawing ”Serana’s” attention.

In that moment, beneath the shadows, she could even be seen nodding slightly.

”It’s a good story... but are you taking me for a fool?”

But when she spoke again, her words were earth-shattering.

”Only you sensed it and no one else did? Are you trying to say that you guys had already severed your sensory connection back then?”

Casually pointing out the fatal flaw in his story, ”Serana” suddenly surged with killing intent—

”Sensory sharing is one-way, from the bottom up.”

Unfortunately, it came to an abrupt halt the very next moment.