Chapter 3037 This Serpent, That Serpent

Drawn once more, the blade was shattered. The once-fine weapon could barely hold its shape.

Such a loss was a pity, but what struck Fu Qian more was Su Gao's reaction.

Not only had her weapon actually shattered, but Classmate Su Gao wasn't the least bit surprised by it.

She was entirely worthy of being his chosen candidate to blindside the Blasphemy Monarch. This Power of Echo was truly a bit unreasonable.

It clearly hadn't just helped her identify his abnormalities back in the Second Tier's Temporary Folder.

Even the Su Gao in reality seemed to retain a faint conceptual memory of that experience.

She hadn't drawn the blade to check on it a single time throughout the whole ordeal, and she had even already planned out where she would find the time to get a new one.

But the same question remained: what would the Night Watchers think of such an unreasonable ability?

"How long do you think Excellency Henry can hold on?"

Amid his thoughts, Fu Qian steered the topic back to the critical situation at hand and asked for Su Gao's opinion.

"Maybe not even twenty-four hours. Although the current rate of destabilization isn't exactly fast, I'm worried it will be an accelerating process."

Just as expected, she voiced her concerns without a single complaint.

"Makes sense. What do you think will happen if he really can't hold on?" Fu Qian asked.

Fu Qian nodded. He similarly held no blind optimism.

Most collapses didn't happen slowly; they usually reached a critical threshold before triggering a massive eruption.

"Excellency Henry might not lose his life over this, but the Birthday Party might suffer a rather massive impact, perhaps even a chain reaction."

Sure enough, Su Gao answered every query, offering a mix of good and bad news.

"Indeed. This place is giving me a more and more vibrant feeling right now. Have there been any similar accidents here before?"

Fu Qian agreed again, curious about the Birthday Party's medical history.

If Old Man Henry completely lost his balance and could no longer buffer the spread of The Abyss, a catastrophic mess was practically guaranteed.

However, considering the unique nature of a Covenanter, he wouldn't necessarily break down completely.

On the contrary, just the illusion of The Abyss leaking had been enough to stir up such chaos among the "Crowd."

If The Abyss truly descended, the resulting state of the Birthday Party's ecosystem would be deeply concerning.

"I'm not certain, but there shouldn't have been any since I joined the Night Watchers," Su Gao replied with considerable rigor, weighing her words carefully before answering.

'Since she joined?' That did sound rather stable.

'Also, when she came out of the Rotten Forest back then, was she actually brought straight to headquarters?'

Fu Qian stroked his chin at this, deep in thought.

...

Although she hadn't been promoted to High Tier for long, Su Gao had joined the Night Watchers over a decade ago.

And Fu Qian placed a fair amount of trust in her judgment that no accidents had occurred since then.

The reason was simple: aside from Su Gao's extraordinary sharpness, one couldn't forget that her daily hobby was taking walks through the Birthday Party.

However, beyond that point, he could seemingly detect other subtle implications.

Anyone who had worked in a large organization knew that maneuvering one's way into headquarters was no easy feat.

He had already been a bit curious earlier. After the incident in the Old City, Su Gao's Yama Enforcer Squad seemed to go wherever they pleased; her transfer had been far too smooth.

Hearing her now, it faintly sounded like even during her tenure over in the Old City, the frequency of her returns to headquarters hadn't been low. The Night Watchers paid a rather high degree of attention to this victim from the Rotten Forest.

As to whether this was due to Su Gao's special constitution or her "suspicious" past, it was hard to determine for the moment—

"If she says so, then there likely hasn't been a similar incident."

Amid his musings, someone suddenly interjected, taking the initiative to validate Executive Yama Su's judgment.

'Oh?'

It was undoubtedly a voice he hadn't heard on this trip.

Furthermore, although it didn't sound too old compared to Stoss and his bunch of geezers, it clearly didn't belong to an ordinary character.

For one, Professor Fu might be a blind man at the Transcendent Tier right now, his perception lacking its usual edge, but this time even Su Gao hadn't seemed to notice. She only turned her head after hearing the voice.

Furthermore, while this was the first time he had heard this voice during this Hongmen banquet, it didn't seem to be the first time in his professional career.

Fu Qian mirrored Su Gao's reaction, looking toward the figure slowly descending the stone steps.

Brown hair, gray eyes, average height, average looks... Excellency Serpent of Destiny?

Yes, Fu Qian was absolutely certain he had seen that face—now flickering with light and shadow under the candlelight—during a certain task related to the Nightmare Corridor. Even the voice that had just spoken matched.

...

'Things like this can actually happen? Are prison breaks really this silently nourishing all things these days?'

They were right at the feet of the Night Watchers, their pristine capital, yet he looked up only to see a prisoner who had been sentenced to maximum punishment and eternal exile.

In fact, this very prisoner's latest impulse to break out had been personally quashed by him not too long ago.

Such a stark contrast—how could the word "dramatic" even begin to describe it?

Of course, a certain earlier doubt received some answers because of this—why the Serpent of Destiny had specifically left behind a Death Rattle to remind him to check out the "Seedbed of the Palace."

As expected, a higher entity never did meaningless things, and the probability of the Birthday Party being the Seedbed of the Palace had just increased.

"To make it this far is truly not easy."

Meeting their gazes, the "Serpent of Destiny" walked right up to them before stopping.

He stopped perfectly at the spot where the young couple had committed their final double suicide, and as he looked Fu Qian up and down, he offered this high praise.

Though the content of the praise was slightly baffling, that charlatan-like demeanor triggered a profound sense of déjà vu. Yet even as elusive as the man was, Fu Qian still felt he could guess what the other party was going to say next—

"Professor Fu has arrived sooner than expected."

Sure enough, after exchanging a close-range look, Excellency "Serpent of Destiny" nodded and uttered the very exclamation Fu Qian had heard far too many times.

Delivered with that exact face, the phrase felt uniquely fitting.

"It was on a whim. I've caused everyone some trouble."

Naturally, Professor Fu didn't neglect his manners, replying with a smile of his own.

Moreover, the benefit of bringing an extra radar system was showing itself right now.

Upon close contact, he could finally discern certain subtle differences—

Although the Rank of the "Serpent of Destiny" before him was astonishing, the length of the Calamity accumulation bar under the Vision Radar wasn't nearly as exaggerated as the one in the Nightmare Corridor.

'It's not a prison break? This serpent isn't that serpent?'

If that were truly the case, it would no longer conflict with the claim that the prisoners could never hope to escape.

Even so, this identical appearance made things all the more intriguing.

"Things have indeed gotten much livelier since you arrived."

Hearing Fu Qian's remark, the other party didn't stand on ceremony. He swept his gaze over "The Abyss" and introduced himself.

"You may call me Corvos."