Eldritch Horror Theatre

[Crystallization is the corruption of the Transcendent Tier, and machinery is the endpoint of crystallization.]

With this, the title of the fifth act finally took shape, and His Excellency the Fool did not seem to object.

Fu Qian had actually wondered if this thing would be like the Abyss Notes, where anything too outrageous simply couldn’t be written down.

Unfortunately, such a literary setting was clearly unsuitable for testing. In the end, he accurately wrote down the summarized chapter theme, keeping his handwriting as neat as possible.

As for the specific content, it could undoubtedly be called true apocalyptic fiction.

Perhaps it couldn’t be equated absolutely with reality just yet, but the thematic colors of this Etched Intellect were strikingly clear—crystallization was a curse upon the entire Transcendent Tier, ultimately forging paradoxical lies.

The storm that the Fool had sacrificed himself to withstand during the Long Night had ultimately ravaged the entire world nineteen years ago.

Even more fragile than the already vulnerable barrier, the thousand years of peace enjoyed by mortals were nothing more than the last withered leaf.

By this point, the world had completely fallen, and everything was maintained by ”lies.”

Even the high and mighty gods were intoxicated by it, leaving only a few ”mad” wills that still retained any concept of this.Of course, from a mortal’s perspective, there was something slightly comforting: among these few was one who came from the masses, someone who had not yet touched the throne of a Deity.

Would Excellency Nepheli, who burned away atop the Lighthouse, have seen this same scene at the very end?

Whether she had or not, it seemed she had ultimately missed out on the greatest spectacle.

Had she been just a little later, perhaps she could have seen something even more spectacular on him, another exploring member of the Academy?

Machinery is the ultimate form of crystallization...

Although no one had ever said this to him, a certain fellow calling himself the Serpent of Destiny had once offered him a rather exaggerated compliment: ”You have no idea what kind of blasphemous freak you play in destiny.”

Then there was the universally detested Blasphemy Monarch, who had displayed a rare moment of humility when facing him: ”I don’t deny the parasite comparison, but your form of existence is far more evil than mine.”

Just as the saying went, ”on first listen, one understands not the tune’s true meaning.” When he first heard these evaluations, it wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to understand them, but his focus had mainly been on his identity as the Warehouse Manager.

Thinking about it now, to this world, he, a ”latecomer,” truly seemed to live up to those titles.

Even those who had spoken those words might not have realized just how right they were.

The endpoint of crystallization...

To turn the world into various defined concepts, and then treat them as different parts—even casting and activating them...

Wasn’t that the very definition of machinery?

Honestly, it even held a certain sci-fi romance.

It was just that this world was different from the one where he had grown up, to the point that the endpoint of ”technology” could point all the way to beings known as a Deity.

And they had indeed cast the perfect body of a Deity.

Although this achievement itself brought proof of the apocalypse.

Speaking of which, his own title really was False God.

By comparison, it was almost a little too fitting.

All in all, Fu Qian felt his reading comprehension was quite apt.

And the script didn’t seem to reject it.

Still, nothing happened, even when Fu Qian took out the tiny Figurine of the Fool and placed it there.

The resonance of the Doomsday Ditty remained.

Additionally, this item, which theoretically came from the hands of the Warehouse, remained in its original state. It did not change easily, seemingly letting one feel the last trace of the Warehouse’s resolve.

Though theoretically, there was a downside to this resolve—he had been holding onto this thing for a bit too long.

If he didn’t return it soon, there was an increasingly high probability that it would help him end up washing his hands in a golden basin.

”Not bad.”

The next moment, Fu Qian reached up and actually took off the mask.

The brilliance instantly faded away, and before his eyes was once again the dim workplace.

...

Did this count as the most apt manifestation of how things remain while people change?

Unsurprised, Fu Qian sat in his seat and even casually set down the script and pen.

That’s right, it was still smooth. Not only did the Warehouse show no sign of revealing its ”crystalline essence,” but its connection with the Etched Intellect also remained stable.

The newly filled-in title of the fifth act on the script had not changed either; it had been approved.

But at the same time, the person who had filled in the script was still clear and translucent, emanating a thick aura of the apocalypse.

Excellent. It looked like only the final third act remained.

Nodding slightly, Fu Qian didn’t put too much pressure on the Warehouse. He didn’t even put down the Fool’s Idol; instead, he snatched up another item beside him.

Smooth, soft, and springy, shaped like a Pretzel, it was none other than the Entwined Umbilical Cord—one of the Warehouse’s least favorite items. Eating it would increase his SAN Value by 99 points.

Theoretically, he really should replenish a little now; after all, the consumption along the way had been quite substantial.

If there were any further fluctuations later, hitting zero wouldn’t be impossible.

But one had to keep up with the times, and he couldn’t forget that his persona had changed.

As an existence on par with a Doomsday Envoy, once he accepted this setting, did the threat of SAN Value even concern him anymore?

Gripping it in his hand without consuming it, Fu Qian put the mask right back on in the next second.

...

Held but uneaten, the apocalypse remained.

With no unexpected surprises, Fu Qian once again returned to the Inverted Lake, where the crystallization had unfurled.

Besides the script and the Fool’s Statue, he now had the Umbilical Cord in his hand as well.

Considering that the latter two carried their own timed execution effects, in a situation where he was essentially free from SAN Value worries, he had gone out of his way to stack two more countdowns on himself.

As for his purpose, it naturally wasn’t to seek thrills.

Even a faction swap wouldn’t hinder his academic spirit. The scientific research principles he had mentioned before weren’t just empty words.

Perception was no longer reliable; now was still a moment to rely on logic.

The addition of the Umbilical Cord was a new variable.

Compared to wastefully eating it, the attribute ”whoever holds this item is an Ancient Higher Being” was clearly much harder to come by.

This ultimately resulted in his attributes becoming even more complex as he gripped it: the new Tyrant, a Doomsday Envoy, the ultimate crystalline creation, the Mechanical Remastered King of the Abandoned Prison, and to top it off, an Ancient Higher Being.

If he casually bumped into some old-timer and threw out this pile of titles, they would probably be at least a little stunned.

However, it seemed that His Excellency the Fool was more tolerant after all. The introduction of this attribute didn’t cause any waves.

The specific manifestation of this was that the Etched Intellect remained stable, and the content on the script hadn’t been erased with a demand for a rewrite.

It seemed that in this kind of literary creation, because the angles of interpretation were far too rich, trying to brute-force it by creating logical contradictions was rather difficult.

Fortunately, Fu Qian hadn’t planned on doing that anyway.

The core purpose of this act was to confirm whether standing here with such a complex identity would cause any disturbances to the apocalypse before his eyes—and it actually did.