Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 80: King of the White Tower (Part 2)
Does everyone have such a bad temper these days?
Fu Qian easily dodged the attack and looked down.
The object the brute threw was embedded deep in the sand, with only its tail sticking out.
Quite a bit of strength.
With that kind of force, even a low-tier Beyonder would suffer fatal injuries if hit in a vital spot.
Very well... then I don't need to hold back either.
Fu Qian executed a reverse flash-step, crossing the distance of over ten meters in the blink of an eye.
Before the furious bro could even form a terrified expression, Fu Qian reached out and clamped a hand around his throat.
The dread of death instantly gripped his heart.
"Stop!"
Just then, someone shouted to intervene, and two figures in special uniforms rushed over.
"Is fighting not allowed?"
Fu Qian didn't loosen his grip and blinked.
"Fighting is allowed, even killing is fine!"
The two uniformed men explained with stiff faces.
"But dirtying the beach is strictly prohibited. Violators will be fined."
Hm?
Fu Qian looked down.
A stream of warm liquid was flowing down the macho bro's pant leg, quickly being absorbed by the fine white sand beneath his feet.
No wonder he heard a sound just now.
Killing this guy was very simple; it only required a gentle squeeze.
But the human body is 70% water. Ensuring the beach wasn't dirtied at all was genuinely a bit difficult. Plus, if the guy died and they couldn't find anyone to take responsibility for the puddle on the ground, they might just make him pay the fine.
Thinking of this, he tossed the macho bro toward the two guards.
Whoever pollutes it cleans it up.
The two security personnel reacted swiftly, grabbing the man by his arms on both sides.
The macho bro's face was now ashen.
It seemed a massive fine awaited him.
Following the information on his key card, Fu Qian quickly found his room.
The room was quite luxurious and fully equipped with various devices and materials. Fu Qian rapidly reviewed the information on the Ring Archipelago.
This place truly was a lawless zone!
Judging from the documents, this was indeed a special location.
The entire Ring Archipelago was composed of seven islands arranged in a spiral ring, with the central spot being the island housing the White Tower.
It was said that originally, there were only a few rocks protruding from the surface of the sea here. One day, a financial group with more money than they knew what to do with took a liking to it and spent astronomical sums to reclaim land from the sea, forcibly creating this place out of nothing.
Because it was situated in a no man's land, it was almost entirely unrestrained by any local laws. All sorts of universally popular traditional industries flourished here.
In less than five years, the Ring Archipelago rose to fame, becoming a globally renowned hub of luxury and debauchery. The financial group even directly renamed itself the White Tower Company.
Of course, there was no shortage of such lawless places in the world. The reason the Ring Archipelago was special was because, after creating this island out of thin air, the White Tower Company had somehow managed to sign a special treaty with the Night Watchers.
Through this treaty, they gained a considerable degree of immunity in the realm of the supernatural, which was the true foundation of their prosperity.
Based on the information he currently possessed, the Night Watchers had a very low tolerance for sensitive activities involving supernatural powers.
It didn't matter what consortium or family you belonged to; touching the red line was useless, and messy research institutes were destroyed as soon as they were discovered.
As a result, the Ring Archipelago quickly became a gathering place for oddballs. All sorts of talents who couldn't be found outside or couldn't survive elsewhere flocked here, forming a beautiful landscape.
Of course, to avoid becoming a safe haven for criminal Beyonders, they still had to cooperate with the Night Watchers to hand over wanted fugitives according to the treaty.
Aside from that, various practices explicitly forbidden outside—human modification, taboo research—could all be found here.
Among them, the most famous was the renowned "Grafting."
As the name implied, it involved using special techniques to attach the limbs of supernatural creatures to human bodies, acting as a workaround to gain abilities they otherwise wouldn't have.
It sounded slightly twisted, but people still flocked to it like ducks to water, especially those who originally had no affinity for supernatural powers.
Naturally, the effects were somewhat discounted.
As for people like the succubus waitress who went overboard with cosplay purely for visual effects, quite a few could be found here as well.
Because of this very point, the Ring Archipelago was also known as the Grafting Archipelago.
Practically perverted!
Fu Qian sighed silently and continued reading.
To enter the Ring Archipelago, there were generally two methods: spend money or have an invitation.
Spending money went without saying; the prices were astronomical, and just counting the trailing zeroes would take quite a while.
As for invitations, one way to obtain them was to sign up for the legendary "King of the White Tower" tournament.
Anyone who registered not only received a free entry pass, but regardless of winning or losing—as long as they didn't forfeit or quit during the match—they would obtain a permanent access pass.
Those bros on the beach had undoubtedly all come via this method.
As for winning, the rewards were even more absurd. It was said that the top-ranked fighters would all receive a free Grafting opportunity.
Very generous, but there was a catch.
If you weren't allowed to forfeit or quit, that meant fighting to the death.
Considering how incredibly mixed the participants were and the vast disparities in power, a significant portion of them would probably die in the arena.
Indeed, free things were often the most expensive.
Of course, this didn't rule out some people coming here for one last wild fling to try their luck before they died.
From the documents, it seemed the White Tower Company had spent a considerable fortune creating this bizarre human paradise on the sea out of nothing.
But it was also thanks to the Grafting technology that they had grown into a highly influential consortium in just a few short decades.
Their founder, Bai Jinting, was very likely his target for this trip.
According to the files, he was over seventy years old and rarely left the archipelago nowadays. He spent almost all his time in his White Tower Nightwatcher Base.
This was good news for him.
The mission this time didn't seem to have a time limit, so he didn't need to rush and could plan things out slowly.
It just so happened that the people here were outstanding, and the scenery was beautiful.
He could just treat it as a vacation.
Of course, rushing wouldn't help anyway. Just looking at the public data, this place had attracted more than one Tier 4 Beyonder for retirement, and there was even a Demigod holding the fort.
High-Tier Beyonders were Demigods, meaning at least Tier 3 or above.
Having just leveled up, it was better for him to be humble.
Besides that, the various documents all eventually pointed to a file called the White Tower Codex.
It meticulously listed all kinds of prohibited behaviors, totaling nearly a thousand rules.
Having nothing better to do, and being a reading enthusiast, Fu Qian actually read it word for word without missing a single one.
And sure enough, he found the rule prohibiting dirtying the beach in there.
If someone thought nearly a thousand rules were too restrictive, they were thinking too much.
After reading it, Fu Qian came to a conclusion.
For the vast majority of these clauses, as long as you met the standards of human scum and were strong enough, it basically wouldn't be a big problem.
Of course, most importantly, Fu Qian flipped from start to finish and confirmed there was no rule stating "Do not kill Bai Jinting."
By the time he finished reading these clauses and roughly formulated an execution strategy, the sky was gradually darkening.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door to remind him that the tournament was about to begin.
"Bring your number plate and come with us."
Following behind the crowd, the towering White Tower soon appeared before his eyes.
As the large doors slowly opened, an earth-shattering roar rolled out from within.
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