Chapter 2972: Fortune-Telling Diagnosis

"That really is Professor Fu's style."

Though her tone carried a hint of teasing, Aike didn't resist. She sighed and set down her work.

"Looking at it like this, there really doesn't seem to be anything wrong?"

Aike had indeed walked right up and allowed him to inspect her. Fu Qian looked her up and down, then turned to Stoss.

Though it could be suspected he was just comforting a patient, to be fair, Aike's confidence seemed justified.

Having just gone through a god-slaying battle, not only was she completely uninjured, but her complexion was strikingly rosy.

Even her readings under the Vision Radar weren't much different from usual.

"The thing she came into contact with this time focuses on intangible influences."

The on-site consultation immediately began. Old Man Stoss shook his head, still somewhat vague about the medical history.

"The White-Headed Sanctuary?"

Fu Qian didn't shy away from the topic, proactively bringing up the name and successfully plunging the room into silence.

Not only did he proactively broaden the scope of the conversation, he even brushed past Aike as he spoke, walking right behind the desk she had just been using.

"...That is classified information."

Caught off guard by the sudden swap in their positions, Aike stared blankly for a moment before her professional ethics prompted her to speak up and remind him.

"Just like the White-Headed Sanctuary?"

Fu Qian didn't flip through the files, but he didn't deliberately avoid looking at them either. After a casual glance, he successfully silenced the room once more with his rhetorical question.

...

"We have to thank Professor Fu for your earlier help. We found the owner of the Finger Orb and dealt with it, and Aike was affected during that process."

Though he hadn't volunteered the information, he never expected Professor Fu wouldn't figure it out.

Seeing that the man himself was willing to get so deeply involved, Old Man Stoss immediately dropped his reservations and spoke freely.

Sure enough, Excellency Father's Amnion had fallen victim to the Night Watchers' ruthless hands.

With the council president still toiling away on the outside and Excellency Half-Art temporarily holding down the fort, this style of doing things matched up perfectly.

"It was an effortless favor. I gained a lot from it, too."

As the initial instigator and the one who delivered the final blow, Professor Fu clearly didn't think it was a big deal. To him, it was just one of many key projects.

"Does Excellency Half-Art usually spend a lot of time in the Sacred Night Capital?"

He even immediately shifted to another topic.

He had spotted a few interesting details in the open files on the desk.

"Indeed, Excellency Half-Art spends most of his time over there."

As the one leaking classified files, Aike felt obligated to answer this time.

Her situation was obviously a bit awkward. She hadn't expected such a crude tactic for luring the tiger away from the mountain.

But rushing over to put the files away would seem a bit too flustered.

Fortunately, under her watchful gaze, Professor Fu merely glanced at them casually. He didn't even reach out to turn a page, so Aike ultimately decided to maintain her composure, standing where she was and answering softly.

'Hmm... so that person in the Sacred Night Capital last time was also Excellency Half-Art? I really did offend him quite a bit.'

Though he had asked casually, he already had his suspicions.

Hearing Aike's confirmation, Fu Qian let out a long sigh in his mind, acknowledging that Excellency Half-Art truly had no reason to be friendly toward him.

From the sound of it, not only had the man taken a hit from him back in Lanphilai—leaving him with an unhealed injury even now—but he was also the Tier 1 powerhouse Su Gao had mentioned, the one overseeing the entire situation during the battle in the Sacred Night Capital. Yet, thanks to the meddling of two outlaws, Half-Art had failed to catch a single thing on his own turf and hadn't even found a chance to strike.

If it were someone with a worse temper, they probably would have coughed up three liters of blood on the spot.

He could only say that being an administrator made managing social relations truly difficult. Without even meeting the man face-to-face, he had already offended one of the Night Watchers' titans twice.

"You do seem a bit restless."

Of course, Fu Qian hadn't forgotten what he came here to do. A moment after Aike answered, he looked up and exchanged a glance with Stoss.

...

"Did you do that on purpose to test my reaction? I don't feel any different from before."

It wasn't exactly a positive diagnosis. Aike's heart skipped a beat as she suddenly realized the alternative explanation for Fu Qian's behavior.

'Is he deliberately provoking me like this? He really doesn't trust a patient's own belief that they're fine, does he?'

Being scrutinized like this was undoubtedly unpleasant. She quickly offered another excuse for herself, stating that she wasn't usually very composed anyway.

"It really isn't obvious. How did you spot it?"

Professor Fu merely nodded, continuing to verify things with the old man.

"I can only call it a coincidence..."

Excellency Stoss's reaction clearly showed he trusted the outsider more, while Fu Qian went on to ask a strange question.

"You should have already gone to pick up the Playing Card?"

"Of course. Excellency Kelin is very efficient."

Fu Qian once again took out Guansi.

'Hmm...'

The specific name she mentioned made Old Man Stoss frown slightly.

"The meaning of that Playing Card, I believe you know now?"

Excellency Kelin indeed seemed to have received her without authorization, but Stoss ultimately continued the original topic without blowing up on the spot.

"I know—you didn't figure this out by fortune-telling for Aike, did you?"

Fu Qian naturally wouldn't dwell on the matter. He answered the old man's question, and in the next moment, a look of shock crossed his face.

...

"If you want to put it that way, there's actually no problem with it... Aike's destiny really has deflected."

Old Man Stoss nodded with a strange expression on his face.

Judging by his demeanor, he seemed a bit ashamed of using such a feudal, superstitious method of diagnosis.

"Right, I even calculated it myself."

Beside him, Aike spoke with a somewhat helpless tone, taking the initiative to fill in the details.

Just as he thought. A fiery, hot-tempered old man like Stoss didn't really fit the fortune-telling style.

As for Fu Qian, no matter how outrageous the information was, he wouldn't immediately deny it. Instead, he had the good habit of trying to integrate it into a logical framework.

Although Aike's claim made things seem even more outrageous, in his eyes, it still held some reason.

"So after the operation ended, despite being completely unharmed, you read your own fortune. Then, based on the results, the old man declared that there was a problem with your brain?"

Seeing that Old Man Stoss didn't refute this, Fu Qian summarized what he had just heard.

"It's a... habit of mine. Every time I return here, I first examine my destiny."

"But in reality, it's no big deal. It's inherently obscure and difficult to interpret anyway. In my opinion, Excellency Stoss is overreacting a bit."

She had clearly weighed her words carefully, avoiding terms like "obsession" or "quirk."

"That sounds reasonable."

Fu Qian gave a slight nod.

"But you don't believe me, do you?"

Unfortunately, Aike had clearly formed a deep impression of him over their few interactions. She knew he wasn't nearly that easy to convince.

"Who said that?"

Fu Qian shook his head and motioned for her to walk back over to her desk.

"Could you read my fortune too?"