Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was that too restrained? Did the God of Death not know the Warehouse existed?

After marveling at the profound mysteries of divine authority, Fu Qian immediately shifted to mocking it.

To be fair, this method of exploiting pawns was rather clever, especially regarding concealment.

No honorific name, no Emblem, and no image to worship. Laurie and the others hadn’t even known what they were serving.

At first glance, it was nothing more than a carrion bug born of greed. Who would have thought it would directly transform into a dragon once it grew large enough?

But with the Warehouse in the picture, that cleverness merely looked good on paper.

Unless the Warehouse had been beaten completely senseless, or had opened a backdoor specifically for the Dominator of Death, trying to pull a fast one like this was far too naive.

Any senior demigod guided here by a mission could shatter these Soul Chains with a single punch.

Or was there more than one of these chains?

For instance, were Greed Worms of varying lengths currently growing across different parts of the Bookstore World?They were bugs, after all. Their tenacious vitality manifested in sheer numbers and an utter lack of fear toward death.

Honestly, even if that were the case, it still wouldn’t be enough to slip past the Warehouse’s unreasonable surveillance.

In short, if the Dominator of Death knew about the Warehouse’s existence yet still chose to leave such a backup plan, it felt somewhat foolish and naive.

Thinking back to his mission at the time, he really had received a Fool’s Idol as a special reward.

”It’s been a pleasure working with you. We part ways here.”

Deeply amused by the situation, Fu Qian directly bid farewell to Serana.

...

He’s just leaving like this? It really isn’t some sort of summoning ritual?

Still pondering the various reasons behind the situation, Serana was caught off guard by the sudden shift.

Though thinking about it carefully, she realized there was actually nothing wrong with his departure.

Theirs was originally just a temporary alliance formed under violent coercion. It was only as the situation progressed that things had begun to appear slightly more harmonious on the surface.

Now that both of them were demigods, the fundamental basis for that alliance no longer existed. Whether or not to continue moving together rested solely on the prospect of mutual benefit.

Evidently, after weighing his options, he had concluded that the expected returns were too low or his current gains were already sufficient, prompting him to decisively pull out and walk away.

Very reasonable...

It was just that, putting herself in Excellency Serana’s current position, she felt completely bewildered.

What should I do next? How do I solve the problem with my body? If I want to force him to help, is there any other way?

”A pleasure working with you... but didn’t I just hear you say it doesn’t matter if you run into Solendil?”

Hesitating slightly before speaking, Serana seemingly fell back on the classic method of goading him into action.

”Yes. So even though he’ll arrive very soon, I still have no interest in waiting here. Do you?”

Fu Qian had already reached the doorway by this point, but seemingly out of consideration for their past cooperation, he opted to give her a response.

His reasoning was perfectly sound. Not only did he not care about running into the man, but he also wouldn’t feel any sense of loss from missing him. It was practically the highest realm of cold detachment.

Furthermore, Fu Qian’s parting question presented a difficult problem for Serana.

Clashing under these circumstances would undoubtedly lead to a volatile situation.

But if she didn’t follow this clue, what else could she do next?

She had indeed gained something here, learning some incredible secrets regarding the Dominator of Death, but she still lacked a clear path for escaping this place.

”Time seems to be running out. You’d better make a decision quickly.”

Fu Qian’s timely reminder undoubtedly exacerbated her anxiety.

”...What is that in your hand?”

At first, his remark sounded like malicious mockery, but Serana quickly realized it wasn’t that simple. As she spoke, her attention visibly shifted to Fu Qian’s hand.

She saw that the mysterious demigod had paused at the reception desk, idly rummaging through the area until he pulled out a document that he was now skimming.

”An incident report, though it seems they got the time wrong.”

Even though they were no longer partners, Fu Qian casually answered for old times’ sake.

...

The time is wrong? Isn’t it normal for reports to have these kinds of minor errors?

Serana fell silent once again, unable to understand why he would emphasize that point.

”Just looking at the unredacted content, it caused one casualty. The incident wasn’t that big...”

Meanwhile, Fu Qian continued muttering to himself as he flipped through it.

”How is it wrong?”

Finally losing her patience, Serana cut straight to the point.

”Because the time is marked as today, and it even mentions severe weather and a raging storm.”

Having finished skimming the report, Fu Qian casually tossed it aside and finally walked away, leaving behind only his voice and his retreating back.

”Based on the description inside, the storm should end within half an hour.”

...

Until he went downstairs and left, Excellency Serana made no further attempt to make him stay, nor did she follow him down.

His claim about time running out was indeed derived from the contents of the report.

The previous descriptions were all true; it seemed to be a report written in advance.

And this was exactly where the importance of information gathering came into play.

If Excellency Serana had the patience, she could have flipped through all the reports herself.

But because she lacked the experience of walking into this office in reality, she would never have guessed that the person originally sitting there was a different female receptionist.

Furthermore, she would never have imagined that the female receptionist had projected herself here in this manner, nor why she could predict the storm.

That’s right, the only casualty in that report was a woman.

And it seemed that the receptionist’s confidence back then hadn’t been blind. It was highly likely that having this projection within the Domain of the Dead gave her a certain ability to predict the weather.

Fascinating... No matter how strange a phenomenon was, there was always an explanation.

Furthermore, as long as Excellency Serana wasn’t stupid, she would quickly realize that this information would serve as an excellent bargaining chip when dealing with Solendil.

...

Excellency Solendil had indeed arrived very quickly.

Arriving once again at his former hidden spot and looking up, he could see that the three Biyi birds were still soaring in the sky.

However, an anomaly still occurred. The wind swirling around the entire building seemed to freeze in that instant—and so did the rain.

They didn’t fall freely as the wind stopped. The distinct raindrops simply hung suspended in mid-air.

Illuminated by the radiant glow of the birds, the visual spectacle was truly extraordinary, inevitably reminding him of the peculiar sunlight spears he had seen while hitching a ride on that boat.

In short, what followed would be the meeting of the century between the two demigods. He hoped that Excellency Serana would gain something from it.

As for himself, having abandoned that clue, where should he go in the next half hour?

In such a short amount of time, was there anything more worth looking into? Of course there was.

Quickly sketching the outline of all of Moore in his mind, Fu Qian’s figure drifted with the wind, rushing toward a direction he had never visited before.