Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Indeed!

Fu Qian wasn’t surprised at all as he looked at the revolver on the ground.

It was apparent that Nate had just tried to shoot himself, just as he had done to Herrom.

It’s just a pity that I am not like that man.

Fu Qian shook his head.

The finger on the trigger of the revolver was still trying to pull it.

Yet, it had already been so fragile that it broke into two pieces with the slightest effort, and continued to crumble into a pile of powder.

It wasn’t just the severed hand; Nate’s body was suffering the same fate.

The old fellow, who had just mentioned how warm it was, was now shedding skin and flesh from his body continuously.

The contamination from the Demigod’s remains was not something that would simply be fine once cleansed.

As a Mortal, his body had become a battlefield for the clash of two forces and could no longer bear the burden.

Now, unable to hold up, he was starting to collapse, and the severed arm on the ground was a result of that.

As for why he wanted to kill himself?

“Hmph, did you think I wouldn’t realize that you are Herrom’s accomplice?”

By this time, Nate hadn’t even noticed that his arm had fallen to the ground.

“You came to probe both last night and today; did you notice your accomplice missing and come to investigate the matter?”

“However, you are clearly more cunning than Herrom. To make you lower your guard, I don’t mind sharing some secrets with you. After all, you’re about to die… How does the taste of a bullet feel?”

Your bullets are still on the ground, old man.

Fu Qian was speechless, but considering the man’s condition, it was normal for his mind to be in disarray.

Clearly, the script in Nate’s mind this time didn’t involve a heart-to-heart talk with his friend, but rather turned him into Herrom’s accomplice.

And he, pretending to be unaware of his own background, was to put on a spectacular act, and then take him out with a surprise shot when his guard was down.

Unfortunately, the discipline of a professional operator is beyond your imagination.

To Fu Qian, Nate was always an Actor, and he had never let his guard down from start to finish.

No matter how secret, Nate’s sneaky act of picking up the gun would never escape his notice.

“You clearly went to great lengths, even knowing about the person impersonating Collins, but unfortunately, we won’t need you to pass on the message anymore.”

As his lips moved, Nate’s face had already begun to decompose and fall away, revealing a dark red gum.

“After dealing with you, I will attend tonight’s banquet on time and invite everyone to Sean’s funeral, where the tale of you two Clowns will become the joke of the evening…”

Crash!

When he said his final words, Nate’s broken body finally collapsed to the ground, and his voice sank into silence.

Is this what they call “getting trapped in one’s own act”?

Fu Qian shook his head and bent down to pick something up from the wreckage.

It was a transparent shard, curved and diamond-shaped, clear as water under the moonlight, nearly non-existent when held in the hand.

[Current mission updated: Clear the pollution of Brain Dance.]

At this moment, the prompt sounded by his ear, and the mission was finally updated.

Not elimination, but cleaning up contamination, huh?

Although he had anticipated it, Fu Qian still sighed.

When the last mission update happened, he realized that this time it seemed to focus on having him solve the underlying problems rather than directly targeting Brain Dance itself.

In other words, the theme of this mission was more about covering up the incidents at Byeluk so as not to expose the Iau.Groups, rather than eradicating this anomaly.

In fact, if you think about it, the state of Brain Dance after opening the brain holes was like turning these people into Actors, entering a coupled script.

Apart from a special attack on Transcendents, these people were essentially a group of mental patients.

Before Herrom’s accident, these people were entirely in a state of self-contentment and hadn’t caused any harm.

His death was an unforeseen factor that caused the state of one of the Actors to become chaotic, disrupting the entire system.

And Fu Qian’s task was to restore order amidst the chaos.

Playing with the transparent shard in his hand, he held it up above his head for comparison.

Obviously, this was the substitute for after a brain hole had been opened.

Thin as an eggshell, yet extremely strong—I don’t know what material it was made of.

Abandoning active observation, he retreated and dismantled the barrier.

Exposing the brain to the starry sky to be “seen” by an unknown mysterious existence, thereby passively establishing contact?

It was indeed a thought, and it proved to be effective in practice.

However, the current question was, what exactly was this contamination?

Nate had already been utterly destroyed; could there still be residual effects?

Was there any way to confirm this?

Fu Qian looked out the window and had a small idea.

The next moment, his hand was on his head.

Just like gentlemen tipping their hats in greeting, he gently removed a piece of his skull.

With his superior control over flesh, he even managed to keep its shape identical.

Holding this “hat” in his hand, Fu Qian pressed it against his chest and bowed to where Nate had been.

It truly was a strange sensation!

Fu Qian took a seat where Nate had previously been.

From the mirror next to him, he could see his brain exposed to daylight.

The first person to do this must have gotten the inspiration from somewhere.

Compared with what Nate and the others had done, his own action was undoubtedly more thorough; he hadn’t even left a window.

He wondered if that mysterious entity would allow him to become a member of the Witnesses.

Joining the Brain Dance would undoubtedly make it easier to find where the pollution was.

Unfortunately, sitting until the stars filled the sky, Fu Qian realized that his thoughts had not been affected at all.

The mysterious entity seemed not to favor his brain.

It seemed he would have to think of another method.

Fu Qian replaced his skull with some regret, then wiped his face with his hand.

His features quickly twisted, and in less than ten seconds, he had assumed Nate’s appearance.

Picking up the hat from the ground, Fu Qian left the room.

Nate had said that he would attend the party tonight; it wouldn’t hurt to take a look.

With some luck, he might even meet another Nate.

…

Familiar with the route, Fu Qian arrived at Collins’s home and headed straight for the banquet hall.

Immediately, he spotted Grace, dressed to the nines.

She still stood alone on the spacious balcony, warmly conversing with the air beside her.

Approaching soundlessly, Fu Qian listened to Grace’s words.

“Fine wine is the cure-all, and drinking in moderation is good for you.”

How familiar these lines were!

Fu Qian sighed to himself.

Indeed, Nate’s specter lingered on.

It seemed that although Nate was no more, he lived on in the minds of others.

That could indeed be considered contamination.

“Seeing you so full of life again is truly wonderful—”

Before Grace could finish, Fu Qian walked up to her and forcibly handed her a glass of wine.

Pain and disgust appeared on Grace’s face once more.

After a moment, she stared at the Fu Qian before her with an expression of shock.

“Everyone!”

Without waiting for her to speak, Fu Qian had already called out loudly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I’ve decided to hold a funeral for Sean!”