There it was.
Not only had he answered loudly, but Black Doctor's face was even beaming with delight in that moment. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
It was as if the entire exchange leading up to this moment had been just for the sake of savoring the reaction of a self-important outsider upon hearing the news.
That callous disregard for life and death even reminded Fu Qian of another old acquaintance: the Clown.
The pity was that, strictly speaking, in actual history, the Clown had been killed by Fu Qian the instant he appeared. Their previous exchanges, and the way they had brought out the best in each other, had all been false.
"Heh... You can try to kill me as many times as you like.
"Though I'm not even sure whether dying in here would make me come back to life."
But Black Doctor seemed to have misunderstood Fu Qian's melancholy. He continued almost impatiently, even revealing a weakness.
"I'm actually curious how you connected that door to me. As a reward for your confidence, take a good look."
Perhaps not wanting to be dismissed as a bluffer, Black Doctor's borrowed body began changing rapidly the next moment.
The gray coating its surface seemed to turn into something tangible, moving swiftly.
It didn't disappear. On the contrary, it spread over a wider area, even drifting into the air like fog—the same fog as behind the door.
In almost the blink of an eye, Black Doctor was completely surrounded.
This was indeed a trick Fu Qian hadn't seen before. Combined with Black Doctor's explanation, it wasn't hard to understand what he meant—
"So the door itself doesn't matter. What matters is the fog behind it?"
Fu Qian didn't try to dodge. He reached out to touch it, but nothing