Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 33: Angel of Tranquility
[Identity verification complete. Today's work begins.]
After a pleasant gathering with his buddies, on Sunday morning, Fu Qian put on his Work Badge on time.
For him now, this was no longer just a job, but a rare source of fun.
At least, he couldn't think of any other job that would make him take the initiative to work overtime on a weekend.
[Warning: Containment Breach]
[Name: Angel of Tranquility, Codename: 1-003]
[Today's task has been updated: Enter the Containment Scene of 1-003 and complete its re-containment.]
Unsurprisingly, a new containment breach had occurred.
Fu Qian was already used to this, but upon seeing the serial number, he still felt a sense of vigilance.
This was the first time he had encountered a breached item with a number starting with 1.
Fu Qian had always been guessing what the numbers preceding these items actually represented.
According to basic logical deduction, the numbering should at least follow some kind of pattern—for instance, the smaller the number, the more dangerous it is.
If that was truly the case, the difficulty of this containment wouldn't be low. He needed to brace himself.
Besides the serial number, the anomaly caused by the item's breach in the Warehouse was also a bit strange.
The illusory image caused by the breach was a white sphere about two meters in diameter.
Fu Qian observed it repeatedly, confirming that there was nothing special about it. It was just a sphere, without even a single pattern on it.
[Entering Containment Scene 1-003]
[...1%...5%...10%...55%...75%...100%, Scene loading complete.]
[Eternity brings peace.
Beyonders like to explore various forbidden realms to temper themselves and seek advancement.
As a young Beyonder, during an outdoor expedition, you stepped into an unknown domain with many fellow travelers. This place is filled with thick fog and ancient architecture, brimming with a mysterious aura.
Unfortunately, what the explorers do not know is that not all paths have a way back.]
[Skills: Air Bullet, Visceral Critical Strike, School of the Cat]
[Weapon: Tyrant's Fist]
[Containment Completion Condition: Escape The Furnace]
[Current Sanity Value: 56, Current Inspiration: 16]
As rows of explanatory text flashed by, Fu Qian regained his perception.
"Strange, is this place on the map?"
Someone ahead was talking. Fu Qian looked toward the voice and found himself amidst the ruins of some buildings.
Overhead, it was foggy; the sun, moon, and stars couldn't be seen.
At this moment, there was a team inside the ruins. They looked very young, generally around their early twenties.
Although they were young, their strength was not weak at all—at least they were much stronger than Ye Yang and his group.
A few of them even possessed quite an extraordinary spirit. He estimated they had to be at least around Tier 7.
More importantly, these people were fully equipped with all sorts of gear and weapons, with swords or blades on them. They were armed to the teeth.
An expedition team, Fu Qian recalled the details from the introduction earlier.
The one who had just spoken was a young man walking at the very front of the team. Frowning, he signaled for the others to stop.
"It's a dead end again. The layout of this place is too chaotic."
He was right. The path the group had been following was broken off. A section of a ruined wall was wedged there diagonally. The mottled marks on the stone showed it had quite some age to it.
They could, of course, climb over the wall, but it was hard to say what lay behind it.
Not just the ruined wall—if one looked carefully into the distance, they would find that this place was simply a hodgepodge of architecture.
Spires, arches, stone pillars... all sorts of chaotic elements were crammed together. At a glance, the degree of chaos was enough to induce a physiological revulsion.
Right now, all these structures were shrouded in a grayish-white mist.
The mist wasn't exceptionally thick, but it inexplicably gave off an obscuring sensation, making it difficult for people to clearly see what lay behind it.
"Liushuang, should we stop?"
The young man looked around, then gazed at another person in the team, seemingly asking for her opinion.
The person he addressed as Liushuang was a girl of a similar age to him, walking right behind him.
This girl had beautiful features, as picturesque as a painting. Even though she was wearing clothes suited for mobility, it couldn't hide her devastating beauty. Compared to the Wen Li he had met before, she was not inferior in the slightest.
"It is indeed a bit strange."
The girl likewise knitted her brows slightly.
"I've never heard of such a place existing here, and there are no markings on the map. But judging from these architectural remnants, they are from quite a long time ago."
"There are too many branching paths here. We've indeed ventured too deep. Let's stop and rest. We don't need to rush right now."
"Although this is a free exploration, it's best we don't distance ourselves too much from the other teams, otherwise Vice Dean Li will have a hard time looking after us."
These two, the man and the woman, were clearly the core figures of the team. As soon as the words left her mouth, almost everyone responded in agreement. The group tacitly took off their gear to rest, quickly setting up a wilderness camp.
A group of well-guided young Beyonders on a prepared wilderness exploration mission.
Fu Qian quickly made a judgment.
Currently, this team not only had good individual strength but also excellent teamwork. They must have strayed into these ruins by mistake during a certain exploration operation.
His mission was to escape The Furnace. Is this architectural graveyard-like ruin "The Furnace"?
As long as I get out of here, I can complete the containment?
Fu Qian swept a glance around but didn't spot anything that might hinder him. However, moving in a place like this undoubtedly made it extremely easy to get lost.
Especially since those buildings, which could have originally served as landmarks, might very well create illusions due to their bizarre angles and stacking.
Young people are always full of energy. Soon, from the group's idle chatter, Fu Qian learned that Liushuang's full name was Ji Liushuang, and the man who had spoken first was named Yuan Xin. They were the two strongest members of this team.
The group all came from a place called "The Academy", an institution dedicated to cultivating Beyonders.
Besides this team, there were two other teams, making a total of thirty people. They were all elites of the Academy, and were even personally led by the Vice Dean, making it a luxurious exploration party.
It was a pity that this luxurious exploration party seemed completely unaware that they had already stepped onto a path of no return.
"Do you guys know what this is?"
At this moment, someone in the team took an object out of his backpack and held it up for everyone to identify.
"Along the way, there have been almost no living things in these ruins. Only this stuff grows directly on the stones. I collected some in passing, and the deeper we go, the more there is."
The man tried tearing it with his hands.
"It's as thin as a hair but incredibly tough. Feels like it would be a very good material."
Everyone shook their heads. One of them smiled and pointed at where Fu Qian was sitting.
"You can ask Fu Qian. He researches these kinds of weird things."
I somehow attracted attention out of nowhere.
Fu Qian had realized earlier that the role he was playing was a fringe member of this team, not very popular.
Not only did he walk at the very back of the line during the trek, but during their rest, no one had even spoken a word to him.
But right now, he undoubtedly drew everyone's gaze.
Seeing that the guy actually smiled and placed the object right in front of him,
Fu Qian took a glance.
"Hair."
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