The next morning.
After cleaning up in the master bedroom bathroom, Franca walked into the living room and immediately saw plastic bags piled on the wooden dining table. Those semi-transparent white plastic bags contained various foods like fried dough sticks, sesame balls, steamed dumplings, xiaolongbao, and regular steamed buns. Next to them were cups of soy milk and bottles of milk.
The aroma permeating the air felt both familiar and tempting to Franca. She blurted out in surprise, "Who bought all this?"
Don't you need me as a guide to help with communication anymore?
Is this really a "foreigner" who's been here for less than 24 hours?
Lumian smiled and pointed to himself. "Of course it was me."
Franca looked him up and down. "You bought so much breakfast at once, didn't the shopkeeper find it strange?"
"It's not like I bought them all from one place," Lumian said, glancing at Ludwig who had bitten off half a sesame ball, revealing some of the red bean paste filling inside. He smiled and continued, "Later, one shopkeeper did ask when he saw me carrying so much food."
"How did you answer?" Franca asked vigilantly.
Lumian chuckled. "I said I was doing multi-level marketing."
"…" Franca's mouth gaped slightly, at a loss for words.
"The shopkeeper had the same reaction, then asked if I was joking." Lumian maintained his smile. "I said yes, I was actually preparing breakfast for a company team-building event."
"Where did you learn these terms?" Franca asked, looking slightly bewildered.
Lumian chuckled in response. "Aurore mentioned them before, and I asked about them, but I still didn't understand what they meant. Last night I finally figured it out online."
"Your learning ability is quite amazing…" Franca said, her lip twitching slightly.
He's already surfing the internet so quickly!
Good thing this guy hasn't learned to use food delivery apps to order breakfast directly yet, otherwise what use would I be as a guide?
Lumian said in an Aurore-like smug tone, "I've already applied for a QQ number and a backup WeChat account. Once we finish the observation phase of our work, I'll try adding Mr. Fool."
14:37
"…" Franca thought about how this guy was now essentially a genuine beauty who could switch to a beautiful female form at any time. She couldn't help but quip, "Mr. Fool will think you're selling tea leaves and won't add you at all."
Lumian said in an Aurore-like smug tone, "I've already applied for a QQ number and a backup WeChat account. Once we finish the observation phase of our work, I'll try adding Mr. Fool."
"…" Franca thought about how this guy was now essentially a genuine beauty who could switch to a beautiful female form at any time. She couldn't help but quip, "Mr. Fool will think you're selling tea leaves and won't add you at all."
"What?" Lumian was a bit confused.
Finally something you don't know! Franca pulled out a chair and sat down, then tore open the soy milk seal, broke off half a dough stick, and dropped it in to soak.
After doing this, she began "educating" Lumian and Anthony, who was silently eating breakfast, on some Internet common sense—Jenna had taken the second half of the night watch and was still catching up on sleep.
Towards the end, Franca pondered for a moment and said to Lumian, "Although you're adapting and integrating very well, I still don't think you should have made that kind of joke when buying breakfast. That kind of joke leaves a strong impression, and you're quite handsome now, so the breakfast shop owner has definitely remembered you. This isn't very conducive to our current plan of hiding our identities and observing quietly."
"If we weren't concerned about this, afraid of becoming too famous and attracting the Celestial Worthy's attention, we could even start a livestream to make money, and take Ludwig to eat at buffets!"
Lumian thought about it seriously, "Indeed, I'll be more careful. We'll have Anthony go buy things from now on."
At this point, Lumian sincerely praised Franca, "You're even more attentive than me when it comes to these things."
Franca used chopsticks to pick up a section of dough sticks soaked in sweet soy milk, stuffed it in her mouth, chewed and swallowed, then half-closed her eyes and sighed with both intoxication and satisfaction. "This is it…"
She paused, then said proudly, "Of course, I've seriously acted as an Assassin before. I'm definitely not the kind of assassin who thinks 'killing everyone who sees me equals successful stealth'!"
They chatted idly for a while, and Jenna also got up and started eating the breakfast Lumian had put in the Traveler's Bag earlier, which Ludwig hadn't discovered.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Lumian and Franca went to open the door one after the other, and saw two people in police uniforms standing outside. The leader had a receding hairline and gray eyes, while the one behind him had black hair and green eyes, looking very handsome but with a lazy, carefree air about him.
Franca's pupils suddenly dilated.
She recognized the young police officer with emerald eyes.
It was the Major Arcana card holder, Mr. Star!
Franca was about to greet him happily when she suddenly realized.
Mr. Star had been locked onto by the Celestial Worthy and would be kicked out shortly after entering the dream each time. The one before her should only be the dream image of Mr. Star woven by Mr. Fool's subconscious.
"Good morning, my name is Deng, I'm the police officer responsible for this area," the gray-eyed policeman smiled and asked. "You just moved in yesterday, right?"
"Yes," Lumian didn't hide it.
The police here even know we just arrived yesterday?
The police in Trier were never this efficient…
Officer Deng said amiably, "Do you have a temporary residence permit…"
"Captain, it's called a residence permit now," the young police officer behind him with black hair and green eyes, who was suspected to be the dream image of the Major Arcana card holder, Mr. Star, reminded him helplessly.
He seemed to have reminded him many times before.
"Haha, I forgot, I forgot." Officer Deng laughed self-deprecatingly.
"We haven't had time to get one yet," Franca quickly answered, afraid that Lumian wouldn't know what a residence permit was.
"Then when you have time, go to the police station across from New City Garden to get one. If you young lovers get married later and have children, you'll need this to enroll them in public kindergartens," Officer Deng reminded them in a casual manner.
Fast-forwarding to marriage and children already… Franca found it both amusing and helpless.
"Captain…" Mr. Star behind Officer Deng reminded him once again.
Officer Deng smiled."I almost forgot, we came to ask you something today. Call all your friends over."
When Jenna came to the entrance area holding Ludwig's hand, along with Anthony, Officer Deng took out a photo. "Have you seen this person?"
The man in the photo had dyed his hair and eyebrows a burnt yellow color, with unremarkable facial features. It was clearly Oracle Danitz.
"We've seen him," Lumian answered, pretending to think. "He handed out fliers to us last night. What was his name again?"
He turned his gaze to Jenna.
Jenna, holding Ludwig's hand, said, "His surname was Da, I don't remember his full name. He wanted to recommend a suitable tutoring class for children. I was planning to go check it out when I have time."
Seeing Lumian and Jenna speaking like an old married couple with a child, Officer Deng's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, and between Lumian and Franca.
Young people these days…
"Did something happen to him?" Lumian asked curiously, taking the initiative.
Officer Deng explained briefly, "He didn't return to his residence last night. His roommate reported him missing, and we're investigating everyone he had contact with last night."
Franca and Jenna resisted the urge to look at Lumian, while Lumian spoke the truest words, "He gave us fliers, chatted for a bit, then left."
Officer Deng and Mr. Star asked a few more details and made notes.
After they left and everyone sat back at the dining table, Franca looked at Lumian and asked with concern, "Is the Oracle's body still in that mirror?"
Lumian took out the corresponding mirror and checked. "It's still there."
There was still a mirror world here, and Lumian could still freely enter and exit, but he could now directly narrow the range of different mirrors to within 500 meters. For mirrors he had already mastered locating, the distance between them couldn't exceed ten kilometers when wanting to traverse, otherwise there was a risk of getting lost in the void tunnel.
Jenna nodded. "Then we can rule out the first guess from yesterday.
"Critical things that Mr. Fool's dream identity doesn't know about or hasn't heard of will also become real and evolve further."
The remaining two guesses were that all the NPCs in the dream had part of Mr. Fool's subconscious integrated into them, and that the Oracle's death was done by the Celestial Worthy's subordinates.
These two were not completely opposed and could both be true.
Lumian offered a curt acknowledgment. "If it was done by the Celestial Worthy's subordinates, the disappearance of the body would puzzle them as well. Besides the police, there should be people investigating the Oracle's whereabouts, we need to be careful."
After discussing this for a while, Lumian looked at the long-stopped wall clock, then at the sky outside.
"It seems to be getting late."
Franca took out her phone, lit up the screen, looked at it and said, "It's time to go out, Mr. Fool should be heading to the company soon."
Lumian thought for a moment and said to Franca, "I'm worried we'll encounter Amon again if we take a taxi. Last night I found out online that there's also the option of renting a car. Although it will cost more, it's safer and more discreet.
"Do you know how to drive?"
"I have a driver's license," Franca blinked and said, "The identity documents provided by Madam Justice also include a driver's license."
"I'm asking if you know how to drive," Lumian emphasized, amused.
Franca flew into a rage out of humiliation. "I got my license in college, but before I graduated, uh, I came to Intis. Where would I have had a car to drive?
"If you ask me if I know how to drive, I can only answer that I have a license."
She felt that Anthony, who was currently experiencing the dream world, should have already guessed that she came from a different world.
Before Lumian could ask again, she said confidently, "With a Beyonder's eyesight, hearing, reaction time, and physical coordination, plus my driving knowledge, I don't think driving will be a problem. Didn't you quickly master how to use chopsticks yesterday?"
"Then let's rent a car." Lumian made the decision.
Although Franca felt the pain of spending money, thinking that she could borrow more, she suppressed that feeling.
By the due date, we might have completed the mission and left the dream!
…
In a temporary parking spot across from a large building.
Sitting in a gray sedan, Lumian and the others intently observed the white-collar workers entering the building, some hurried and some leisurely, through the tinted car windows.
-x-X-x-
When it came to observation, although Lumian was already a demigod, all his abilities were suppressed to the Sequence 7 level. He felt he wasn't as professional as a Spectator, so he gave the back seat position closest to the target building to Anthony. Lumian relied on his eagle-like vision from the Demoness pathway and a Hunter's sensitivity to visual clues to observe from afar.
In the front seat, Franca had finally managed to complete her parallel parking. She rested her elbow on the car door, watching the target area while secretly feeling proud. Jenna turned around, leaning forward and squeezing her head above Franca's shoulder, also watching intently.
As time passed minute by minute, Franca suddenly smelled the aroma of meat stewed with spices until tender.
She turned her head and saw Ludwig quietly munching on a meat sandwich in the far corner of the back seat.
"It hasn't been two hours since breakfast, right?" Franca blurted out.
Why is he eating again?
Lumian simply replied, "No, it hasn't."
"I'm thinking, is this his eating frequency and portion size in reality too…" Franca muttered.
She didn't have a direct understanding of how much Ludwig could eat before, only a financial concept. But in the days before entering the dream, she often helped Jenna supervise Ludwig's homework and test papers. The two Demonesses got to witness what it meant to be a Glutton, leaving an extremely deep impression.
Franca continued, "In the dream, aren't all special abilities limited to Sequence 7 level? But he doesn't seem to be eating any less…"
Hearing this, Lumian, Jenna, and Anthony's gazes suddenly turned to Ludwig.
Ludwig quickly stuffed the entire meat sandwich in his mouth and mumbled, "Because it's delicious!"
"You'd rather be stuffed than not eat?" Lumian raised an eyebrow.
"Mmhmm." Ludwig nodded vigorously.
Seeing Ludwig like this, Jenna couldn't help but laugh.
"It is really delicious."
Lumian thought for a moment and decided to indulge Ludwig for a couple of days, as he himself was eating more than usual.
"It's really good, isn't it?" Franca became proud again, "What I can't figure out is how none of you got diarrhea. Jenna and Anthony were even clamoring that it was spicy while eating!"
"My digestive system has endured the burning of flames, and Ascetic has strong resistance to extreme environments." Lumian indicated that spiciness was no trouble for a Hunter who liked self-harm like him.
"Swallowing a ball of fire" was an exaggeration for others, but for him it was an occasional objective description.
Anthony continued observing the entrance and exit of the building, calmly saying, "The Mythical Creature form of Spectator is a mind dragon."
Although there wasn't much improvement in combat abilities, one's physical toughness would significantly increase.
Just as Jenna was about to describe her feelings, Anthony and Lumian said in unison, "Mr. Fool is here."
Jenna hurriedly returned to her previous posture, turning her gaze to the dark-tinted car window.
She saw a young man wearing a black short-sleeved polo shirt, light-colored casual pants, and a pair of brownish sneakers. He was holding a cup of soy milk and carrying a bag of steamed buns, taking a few steps up the stairs towards the building.
This man had short black hair that was simply styled, deep brown eyes behind a pair of non-prescription glasses. His face was much thinner compared to the portrait in their files, with soft contours, giving him a somewhat handsome appearance.
He was precisely Lumian and the others' target, the dream image of Mr. Fool, Zhou Mingrui!
After Zhou Mingrui's figure disappeared into the building lobby, Franca took a breath and said, "Compared to the original sketch, Mr. Fool has lost quite a bit of weight and become a little better looking…
"Could the Major Arcana card holders' speculation be correct, that he was somehow misled by the Celestial Worthy into drinking the Assassin potion?
"Is the Celestial Worthy trying to use gender change to cause cognitive issues for Mr. Fool and thereby achieve victory?"
The Major Arcana card holders mentioned in the files that one of the most important phase goals for Lumian's team was to prevent Zhou Mingrui, who was suspected to have drunk the Assassin potion, from truly becoming a Witch!
"Does the Assassin potion also improve appearance?" Lumian asked Franca and Jenna.
He had switched from the Hunter pathway to the Demoness pathway and hadn't experienced the Assassin sequence in detail.
"It mainly adjusts body shape to make the user more suitable as an assassin, which brings about a slight change in appearance, but very little," Franca recalled. "Mr. Fool, uh, Zhou Mingrui probably succeeded in passive weight loss, becoming better looking mainly due to slimming down, and secondarily due to the minor improvements from the Assassin potion."
She felt it was better to refer to the target as Zhou Mingrui for now. Constantly using "Mr. Fool" made her nervous and afraid to discuss.
Lumian nodded and asked Anthony, "Did you notice anything?"
Anthony said, "Mr. Fool's steps up the stairs were very light, consistent with the description of the Assassin potion…
"Mr. Fool is wearing non-prescription glasses to conceal eyes that are no longer nearsighted, indicating he doesn't want to change his life in the short term and will continue working…
"Mr. Fool's emotional state seems good, he probably hasn't encountered any major incidents yet…
"Can't tell if he's taken the Instigator potion yet…"
After hearing Anthony's observations, Lumian thoughtfully said, "Continue observing and recording the people mentioned in our files and those showing certain abnormalities…"
"Okay," Jenna responded first, then pointed across the street. "That's Rozanne, in reality she's a civilian staff member of the Church of Evernight, married with children. In the dream, she's Zhou Mingrui's colleague. Currently uncertain if there's anything abnormal…"
Franca followed up, "That one wearing a white tailcoat with a bowtie and long silver hair in 30-degree heat is Vice President Wu from the company next to Zhou Mingrui's, suspected to be…"
At this point, Franca glanced sideways at Lumian and saw that his expression remained calm, his gaze not changing much.
Only then did she continue, "Suspected to be Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate of the Aurora Order, a king from ancient times."
According to their files, the company next to Mr. Fool's should be a projection of the Aurora Order in the dream.
Until 10 a.m., Lumian and the others finished their first round of observation, matching many people with the information in their files, but not discovering any truly suspicious individuals.
"Roselle Emperor, uh, CEO Huang didn't come," Franca said with some disappointment.
Roselle Emperor's image in the dream was the CEO of the Intis Group where Mr. Fool worked, a business tycoon, a domineering boss.
Before Lumian could respond, Franca chuckled to herself. "He's probably still in bed with some actress, streamer, or singer."
Lumian was also a bit disappointed, but there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
He, who had never attended university, was already preparing to apply for a security guard position at the Intis Group.
"Now let's go buy clothes," Lumian said, looking down at his still normal shirt and trousers, then glancing at Jenna's blue waist-cinching long dress with classical charm.
At this point, Ludwig raised a question, "What's for lunch?"
Franca, currently responsible for the entire team's income, immediately said, "Who eats out every day?
"Later we'll go to a large supermarket and buy dozens of kilos of noodles and some side dishes. I'll cook noodles for you, all you can eat!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Franca saw the smile and anticipation disappear from Ludwig's face, replaced by a slightly aggrieved expression.
She felt no pity or guilt, but instead secretly patted her thigh.
Damn, I should have let Jenna say those two sentences! What a great opportunity to digest the Affliction potion!
After finalizing their itinerary, Franca carefully drove the car out onto the wide road.
…
Inside a large shopping mall.
Lumian and the others, with their appearance completely transformed, took the elevator from the underground parking lot to the first floor.
Franca looked at Jenna again, feeling that the simple combination of a white patterned T-shirt, light blue jeans, white sneakers, and ankle-length socks of the same color gave her a fresh and clean look. It retained a youthful, student-like air while adding a hint of natural allure in her glances, attracting the gaze of many passersby.
It's the type I used to like, no, still like! And Jenna with heavy makeup is another style altogether… Franca didn't hide her admiration.
Her tall stature and striking features made the ordinary black T-shirt and wide-leg pants look mature and confident, causing many people to only dare steal quick glances.
Lumian still wore a shirt with black pants, but with a more casual and relaxed feel. Walking together with the two Demonesses, they looked as beautiful as a painting.
Their clothes were all very cheap. Franca had given up on the bulk-priced ones and opted for the 10-yuan items, buying a lot.
Lumian's gaze swept every corner of the mall, feeling it was spacious, bright, and clean, even more impressive than the most luxurious department store in Trier.
Franca had no intention of letting Lumian, Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig wander around here. She headed straight for the escalator going down to the basement, planning to enter the supermarket.
Money needs to be saved!
As soon as Lumian, Jenna, and Anthony arrived at the entrance of the supermarket, they were dazzled by the wide array of goods inside, the artistic displays, and the soft yet bright lighting.
Franca suddenly paused, instinctively turning her head towards Ludwig. She found the little boy's gaze already fixed, his eyes filled with burning desire.
"Let's go back!" Franca blurted out. "I'll buy the stuff online and have it delivered!"
In a place like a supermarket, kids simply can't control themselves!
Hearing Franca's words, Ludwig's expression immediately fell.
After learning the reason, Lumian and Jenna both agreed with Franca's decision.
Turning around and walking a few steps, Lumian's peripheral vision suddenly caught a figure.
The figure had their head slightly lowered, black hair hanging down, faintly revealing small and delicate ears.
She quickly disappeared into the depths of the supermarket.
Lumian suddenly stopped and said in a low voice to Franca, Jenna, and Anthony, "I may have seen that reanimated female corpse."
-x-X-x-
Reanimated female corpse? Franca and the others were all startled.
Last night, Lumian had said he intuitively believed that before long, they would encounter that reanimated female corpse. As a result, they ran into her today?
"Where?" Jenna asked in a lowered voice.
Lumian looked towards the escalator without showing any outward sign of abnormality. "In the supermarket."
He didn't immediately turn around to track the reanimated female corpse, because Franca casually glanced at a corner of the ceiling, then carelessly looked around.
The first action was to remind Lumian that there were multiple cameras here, while the latter behavior implied that there were many people around, many phones, and if he were to cause any commotion, it would likely be filmed as a short video, uploaded online, and become a trending topic. If that happened, it would likely catch the Celestial Worthy's attention!
Although Lumian could use Mirror Maze and other illusions to affect cameras and phones, this wasn't a scenario he had preset. He would have to chase all the way, and couldn't use mirror magic every few steps.
It was only because they lived in a rather dilapidated area of the old town that there were quite a few cameras on the main roads and at the entrances of various residential areas. Once in quiet alleys that few people usually walked, there wasn't much surveillance. Otherwise, Lumian's act of moving Oracle Danitz's corpse would have been recorded long ago. Franca would certainly have stopped him first at that time, telling him to find a blind spot in the surveillance to take out the mirror, create a Mirror Maze step by step before approaching the corpse.
Hearing his godfather's answer that the reanimated female corpse was in the supermarket, Ludwig's eyes lit up, and he raised his short arm. "Let's go chase her!"
Kid, you have gotten a bit smarter, even knowing how to take advantage of this situation! I can't tell if you want to use this as an excuse to go into the supermarket to get food, or if you think that female corpse might be more delicious… Franca silently grumbled, turning her gaze to Jenna.
Jenna intuitively understood Franca's hint and said with a smile, "We can't track with so many people. Anthony and I will take Ludwig back to the car first. You and Lumian go into the supermarket to find her."
The expression of expectation and desire on Ludwig's face suddenly froze.
"Alright." Franca took out the car keys and tossed them to Jenna.
"I also want to contribute to the team…" Ludwig hadn't finished speaking before being dragged away by Jenna, disappointment and pain evident in his expression.
Franca quickly turned around, grabbed a shopping cart from nearby, and pushed it towards the supermarket. Lumian followed beside her, his gaze naturally sweeping over the displays and rows of shelves.
While searching for traces of the reanimated female corpse, Franca began picking out items.
"Grab that can of lard, and get some light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, MSG, chili oil…" She ordered Lumian around without hesitation, while also constantly putting some kitchen items into the shopping cart herself.
Although cooking at home wastes time, it saves a lot of money!
Later they could go to the frozen goods wholesale market to buy some cheap items. The only problem was that the refrigerator in the rental apartment was too small, unable to hold more than a few days' worth of food.
So you can buy things this way… Lumian experienced for the first time the joy of picking up goods himself without needing to find a salesperson. He interestedly placed a bottle of alcohol into the shopping cart.
"This is cooking wine! Well, we need it anyway." Franca glanced amusedly at this regular customer of Ol' Tavern.
The two chatted and laughed, moving through the supermarket in a harmonious atmosphere, no different from other families shopping around them.
Under this disguise, Lumian and Franca confirmed the situation in every corner of the supermarket, but found no trace of the reanimated female corpse.
"She may have already left. Let's check out first." Franca looked at the dozens of pounds of freshly made noodles and a ten-kilogram bag of rice on top of the shopping cart, genuinely delighted at how much money they could save on meals in the coming days.
Lumian nodded. "We'll take turns cooking later."
Franca patted Lumian's shoulder with a smile. "I'm looking forward to your culinary skills."
This trip, the two bought nearly 500 yuan worth of goods, most of which were inexpensive ingredients that could fill stomachs.
After leaving the supermarket exit, Lumian and Franca quickly scanned around but still didn't see any sign of the reanimated female corpse.
Almost simultaneously, Franca noticed a shop with the words "Lottery" written on it.
Her heart suddenly stirred, and she turned her head to look at Lumian, asking with full expectation, "Can you still use your abilities to Magnified Fate and Compelling Fate?"
"Of course." Lumian cast his gaze towards the shop Franca had just been looking at. "But only at the Sequence 7 level. I can't influence relatively crucial and important fates unless their probability of occurrence is already very high."
A smile gradually blossomed on Franca's face, attracting the gazes of several passersby, both men and women.
"Let's go buy some lottery tickets!" She said with a firm tone, concealing her joy.
Is she wanting me to magnify the fate stream of her winning, or forcibly compel fate in that direction? Lumian had long known what lottery meant. In the past, Aurore would occasionally give him gifts in the form of lottery tickets on major holidays, with a 100% win rate.
"Let's give it a try." Lumian's subtext was to buy a small amount first, and even if Compelling Fate was ineffective in Mr. Fool's dream, they wouldn't lose too much.
Franca rubbed her hands together and walked towards the lottery booth with a bright and clear smile.
Before transmigrating, she would buy ten to twenty yuan worth of lottery tickets every week or two, purely for entertainment, but never had returns exceeding the principal.
Now, I've come with good luck!
She didn't directly buy lottery tickets like the Double Color Ball, but instead spent fifty yuan on different versions of scratch cards.
As she paid and made her selections, Lumian's eyes took on a silver-white color with black.
He reached out to Franca, embracing her shoulders in a couple-like gesture, using this to complete his touch on the River of Fate.
The corresponding stream was magnified.
Franca instinctively twisted her body, not quite comfortable with such an embrace, especially in public.
But she quickly returned to a normal state, allowing Lumian to embrace her shoulders.
Her eyes had already lit up.
She scratched off the corresponding numbers!
This is worth 50 yuan!
While Lumian was paying attention to the various grand prize information being announced at the lottery booth, Franca finished scratching all the lottery tickets, winning a total of two thousand.
"Haha!" She laughed silently and smugly.
Finally made a profit!
Beyonder powers are great!
After cashing in the prizes, Franca said to Lumian in an exceptionally cheerful mood, "I'm going to buy a few Double Color Ball tickets."
At this point, she lowered her voice, "Don't worry about those fate streams for the grand prize, a third or second prize would be fine."
Lumian nodded gently.
Franca immediately thought of some numbers and bought 5 entries.
As they walked towards the nearest direct elevator, Lumian asked Franca with a smile, "Why don't you want to win the first prize? I see the first prize money is worth a lot, and you could even win dozens at once."
Franca wrinkled her nose and said, "Didn't you say that currently you can only influence fates that aren't too crucial or important? That kind of overnight wealth probably can't be achieved.
"Besides, even if you could really make me win, the final result might not be what I bought. 'Fate' has long been predetermined."
After complaining a bit, Franca asked with concern, "Did Magnified Fate just now succeed?"
Lumian chuckled. "No."
"…My money!" Franca blurted out, then immediately comforted herself, "Good thing it wasn't much."
Lumian explained simply, "I only realized this wasn't an instant-win lottery when you were buying. The results won't come out for several days. The corresponding fate streams are complex and intricate, with too many variables. I couldn't clearly see which one led to the winning fate, I could only magnify the one with special characteristics. What the final result will be, I don't know either.
"We can only pray for Mr. Fool's blessing." Franca expressed understanding.
Seeing that the direct elevator was about to arrive, Lumian looked left and right and asked thoughtfully,
"We're under surveillance, so that reanimated female corpse should be too.
"Is there any way to check the mall's surveillance footage to see what she came here to do?"
"We're not the police; we don't have that authority." Franca instinctively replied.
"Sneak in at night and look through it ourselves?" Lumian suggested.
Franca said with amusement, "The Major Arcana card holders told us to obey the law as much as possible. Why do you always want to dance on the edge of breaking the law?"
"It's fine if we don't get caught." Lumian said with a smile, "We can't just report it to the police and let them investigate, can we? Wouldn't that turn it back into a confrontation between Mr. Fool and the Celestial Worthy? We need to use the police, not rely on them."
Franca thought for a few seconds and said, "We'll see how it goes tonight."
…
In the rented apartment on the sixth floor.
Franca looked at Ludwig, his head buried in a large bowl, chopsticks constantly moving, and proudly boasted to Lumian and the others, "My cooking skills aren't bad, right?"
This child is quite easy to feed. Noodles, seasonings, and a topping with a bit of minced meat satisfied him. He doesn't have to go out to eat good food!
"It's quite good, but I hope you're not only capable of making noodles." Lumian took a sip of the noodle soup and put down his chopsticks.
"I also hope your culinary skills are as good as you say." Franca responded with a smile.
Just as Lumian was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed slightly.
He quickly took out a mirror from his pocket, the mirror that contained Oracle Danitz's corpse!
At this moment, a pale hand without luster was reflected on the surface of the mirror.
This hand was reaching out from the darkness towards the outside of the mirror.
Black flames restraining madness and violence immediately condensed on both sides of Lumian. They fell onto that mirror like meteors.
With a slight explosive sound, the mirror suddenly shattered into pieces, enveloped by the black flames, rapidly losing its limited spirituality.
Crackling sounds continued to ring out as the mirror fragments fell to the ground, breaking into even smaller pieces.
The pale hand was no longer visible on the surface of these fragments.
"Has the Oracle's corpse reanimated?" Jenna looked at this scene and asked in astonishment.
-x-X-x-
Lumian looked at the dull, dark mirror fragments on the ground, relying on his spiritual perception for a few seconds before saying, "There's a problem with the Oracle's corpse, but I don't know why."
Franca asked uncertainly, "Now that the mirror is broken, has the Oracle's corpse fallen into the depths of the mirror world, lost in its turbulent flows?"
Each mirror had a corresponding area behind it. They were connected by illusory, dark tunnels, forming the mirror world.
Once a mirror broke, the corresponding area behind it immediately disintegrated. If things placed there couldn't escape in time through the spider web-like tunnels, they would be swallowed by the turbulent flows of the mirror world and dragged into its depths. The environment and hidden dangers there were fatal to Beyonders without a complete Mythical Creature form.
When a mirror broke, it essentially formed more but smaller mirrors. However, from a mystical concept, it had been destroyed as a whole, completely losing its original symbolism and function. The new mirrors produced needed time to evolve their own areas behind them, connect with the vast mirror world, and become mirrors with complete concepts in mysticism.
In other words, for a period of time, these mirror fragments could not be used to reflect enemies, transmit curses, or traverse the mirror world, though this doesn't affect Wraiths using them for mirror jumps.
Of course, Lumian just destroyed the mirror with the Fire of Destruction, so the fragments formed had been completely destroyed in a mystical sense and could not evolve areas behind them. This prevented potential enemies from locating and pinpointing Lumian and the others' specific location.
Lumian carefully said, "The Oracle's corpse has indeed been carried away by the spatial turbulence of the mirror world. Even Angels would find it difficult to delve deep into the mirror world to find and bring it out, unless they're angels of the Door pathway like Madam Magician or Demoness Angels with deep mastery of the mirror world.
"But doesn't this mean the Oracle's corpse will drift in the depths of the mirror world forever until it's completely torn apart and annihilated by the dangers there. There's a chance that after some time, it could be thrown out of the mirror world by spatial turbulence, emerging from a random mirror."
"Mr. Fool's dream world is mainly this city. If the Oracle's corpse comes out of a mirror, do we have a way to find it and confirm what problem it had?" Jenna understood what Lumian wanted to express.
Lumian smiled. "Yes. Let's wait patiently for now, until spiritual intuition gives us a hint."
The corpse of Oracle Danitz was hidden by him and had a close mystical connection with him.
Franca nodded, took out her phone, and started browsing trending topics, sometimes laughing out loud and sharing the joy with Lumian, Jenna, and Anthony, sometimes discussing with them whether certain news items had symbolic meaning in the dream or were related to Mr. Fool's current state.
By the time Ludwig had finished his sixth bowl of noodles and was also looking at his phone, Lumian, who occasionally showed a smile, raised his head and said in a deep voice, "The Oracle's corpse should have left the mirror world."
"Hmm, quickly use Magic Mirror Divination to confirm its specific location." Franca took out a mirror.
Lumian shook his head and chuckled softly. "There's no need to go through so much trouble."
He turned his gaze towards Ludwig.
Ludwig put his right hand in his mouth, retched a few times, and vomited out a small clump of yellowish hair.
"We can directly determine the location using the Oracle's hair with follicles," Lumian explained.
"When did you take a clump of hair from the corpse and hide it in Ludwig's stomach?" Franca asked in astonishment.
Lumian responded with a smile, "Last night before bed, when Anthony was on night watch.
"The Oracle died so suddenly and bizarrely, of course I had to guard against his corpse reanimating. Hiding some of his hair in Ludwig's body can counter divination and prophecy."
Saying this, Lumian held the small clump of slightly damp yellowish hair and stood up, saying, "Let's go."
Almost simultaneously, he burned part of the hair and smeared the residue onto the surface of a mirror.
As the residue seeped in, the mirror emanated a dark, watery light, reflecting a scene.
There were oil-stained walls, a very spacious area, a floor covered in dust and rat droppings, quite dirty large glass windows, and Oracle Danitz's corpse lying on the ground in front of a glass pane.
"Looks like an abandoned factory, the machines have been moved away…" Franca commented after a glance.
"In the suburbs, less than ten kilometers from us," Lumian added more information.
"Teleport over?" Jenna asked.
Lumian could rely on Mirror Traversal to directly go to another mirror within ten kilometers that he had located, and he had now locked onto the glass window that had ejected the Oracle's corpse—even without knowing the position, he could sense mirrors within 500 meters and jump to them in segments.
Moreover, his Teleportation could still be used, but was restricted to positioning within one kilometer; beyond that, he needed to have been there before or have correct coordinates, with the farthest reach being the edge of the dream world.
Lumian nodded slightly, letting his teammates grab onto him, and took them into the mirror Franca had placed on the table.
Passing through a dark, illusory tunnel, they suddenly plunged into the depths of the mirror world, falling towards the glass window they had located.
Amidst Anthony's dizziness, the five figures simultaneously appeared on the dirty glass of the abandoned factory.
Lumian didn't linger, quickly sensing other mirrors within a 500-meter range and jumping over.
They appeared on the top floor of the office building beside the abandoned factory, left the glass window serving as a mirror, each hiding themselves, and gazed towards the target location.
From this angle, they could just see Oracle Danitz's corpse.
"Don't chew, just hold it in your mouth," Lumian handed a lollipop to Ludwig to keep him quiet.
Franca and Jenna were already carefully examining the Oracle's corpse, finding that because it had been hidden in the mirror world, there were no signs of decay yet. But whether it was the bloodless face, the eyes frozen in fear, or other details, all indicated that the Oracle had been dead for over ten hours.
"Nothing unusual…" Franca muttered silently.
Lumian remained motionless, patiently observing.
After nearly five minutes, in their line of sight, the Oracle's corpse's fingers suddenly twitched.
Dammit, amazing, back from the dead? Franca instinctively "admired" in her heart while being startled.
The corpse of Oracle Danitz first moved its fingers, then raised its arm.
Finally, it slowly stood up, its expression wooden, its deep blue eyes no longer overflowing with any emotion.
Really reanimated? Goosebumps rose on Jenna's arms.
The reanimated Danitz corpse walked towards the outside of the abandoned factory, neither fast nor slow.
It walked all the way out of the deserted factory area, towards the roadside, standing there blankly.
Before long, an empty green taxi passed by, and Danitz's corpse raised its right arm, hailing it.
When the taxi stopped in front of him, he slowly opened the door and sat in the back.
Franca rubbed her cheeks with both hands.
"How does this feel even more horrifying than the real world… Is the Death pathway manipulating the corpse?"
Lumian didn't immediately lead his team members to track the taxi, because the mirror infused with Danitz's hair residue was still showing the current state of the Oracle's corpse.
Franca and Jenna tried Magic Mirror Divination to determine what was going on with the Oracle's corpse reanimation.
"It's not working, those beings who know a lot and are relatively safe aren't responding; they're not in Mr. Fool's dream!" Franca found she could only do a simplified version, which was asking her own spirituality in Magic Mirror Divination.
Jenna confirmed her discovery. "Yes, my Magic Mirror Divination failed too."
Lumian took a moment to contemplate before responding,
"In Mr. Fool's dream world, the subjects of inquiry for Magic Mirror Divination, apart from one's own spirituality, should only be those true gods who can directly project Themselves in. But we must ensure that the corresponding projection exists at the time of divination, and that the recited honorific name is not wrong.
"Inquiring of other creatures existing in the local spirit world might be equivalent to asking Mr. Fool or that Celestial Worthy. We might get the best revelation, or we might be directly kicked out of the dream. Hmm, we also don't have the correct descriptions of those creatures."
"Who dares to inquire of true gods…" Franca said softly.
Lumian suddenly grinned. "There's still one choice, the one with the most accurate divination results. The Major Arcana card holders mentioned it in the information, it's a magic mirror belonging to Mr. Fool."
"It hasn't come to that point yet, has it…" Franca was quite resistant.
Lumian tersely responded, his gaze still fixed on the mirror showing the Oracle's corpse's situation.
After more than twenty minutes, the taxi stopped at the entrance of a hospital with excellent landscaping and a very well-designed building.
Lumian and the others immediately saw the hospital's sign: "Mushu Hospital."
"Mushu Hospital… Is the Oracle's death related to the Mother Tree of Desire?" Franca murmured in confusion.
Lumian didn't answer her, watching as the reanimated corpse of Oracle Danitz took out a phone with multiple missed calls from his pocket, scanned a code to pay the fare, and slowly walked towards the outpatient building of Mushu Hospital.
As soon as the corpse passed through the gate, Lumian's mirror rippled with waves, emanating darkness, and quickly returned to normal, no longer showing the Oracle's current position.
"I want to teleport near Mushu Hospital, go in and see where the Oracle's corpse will go," Lumian said, withdrawing his gaze.
Franca quietly commented, "Shouldn't a corpse go to the morgue?"
Jenna then said to Lumian, "You'd better change your appearance before going in. It might be easier to expose yourself inside Mushu Hospital, and we can't affect your current identity. Hmm, Lie alone might not be enough."
Lumian pondered briefly, not wasting any more time. "Okay."
As he answered, his black hair began to grow longer.
-x-X-x-
Seeing this, Anthony didn't try to test himself and proactively left the office.
In just about 10-20 seconds, he heard Lumian's feminized voice. "You can come in now."
Compared to before, this female voice wasn't as low and subdued, with a hint of clarity added.
Anthony pushed open the office door and saw that Lumian had changed into a slightly waist-cinching white shirt bought earlier for the female identity, paired with bluish jeans, accentuating a slender waist and long, straight legs. She also wore deep rose-colored sunglasses on the bridge of her nose. Though these were just cheap street goods, Lumian wore them with a beautiful, radiant, and sharp air.
Lumian slightly gathered the glossy black hair falling on both sides, covering most of her cheeks, and said to Anthony, "Let's go back to the rental apartment first."
Anthony carefully grabbed the sleeve of Lumian's shirt, while Franca and Jenna each took hold of an arm. Ludwig, still with a lollipop in his mouth, chose to tug at his godfather's clothes.
The group's figures soon faded and disappeared from this long-abandoned office building without cameras, reappearing in the rental apartment where dishes had not yet been washed.
Lumian said to Franca, "You drive to Mushu Hospital and wait for me outside. We may not have the chance to teleport to escape later."
This didn't mean he couldn't teleport, but rather that if he used teleport or Mirror Traversal in front of a large crowd of citizens, it would inevitably become a trending topic and might be directly locked onto by the Celestial Worthy.
"Okay," Franca tossed her lip balm and lipstick to Lumian. "Once inside the hospital, if you need to frequently look in the mirror, pretend you're touching up your makeup."
In this matter, a female appearance had a natural advantage, making it less likely for people in the dream to notice anything unusual.
Lumian caught the lipstick and lip balm, and based on the location he had obtained while monitoring the Oracle's corpse with the mirror earlier, he teleported to the plant-filled edge of Mushu Hospital. He walked out from behind several trees and turned into the crowd.
His supermodel-like height and the skin condition, contour details, and lip curve revealed between his black hair and sunglasses made passersby and patients, even without seeing his exact appearance, look twice. They seemed to want to use their brains to fill in the blanks and reconstruct the possibly world-class beauty hidden behind the sunglasses.
Some people accidentally bumped into others, some missed a step and nearly fell.
Their only regret was that this tall beauty wearing sunglasses didn't walk gracefully enough, striding fiercely like a man.
Lumian gradually slowed his pace, as if trying to recall how Aurore usually walked.
After passing through security and entering the outpatient building, he temporarily stopped, took out a makeup mirror and lip balm, and added some shine and moisture to his pale lips.
During this process, he found that the mirror that had once been smeared with the Oracle's hair residue could again reflect some scenes.
These included Danitz's back, the medicine collection window, passing patients, and family members caring for them.
Lumian discerned the direction and walked towards the medicine collection window.
He didn't walk fast, his gaze seemingly casually surveying the people around him and the layout of the hospital's first floor.
Everything seemed normal, without any scenes of desire outbursts.
Vaguely, Lumian had a sense of familiarity.
It wasn't that he had been to a similar place before, but it came from the depths of his soul.
Lumian pursed his lips, lost in thought, Is it Aurore's memory?
Did she frequent this kind of large hospital before her transmigration? Well, everyone gets sick sometimes…
Did her soul fragments become a bit more active after I changed into a female form? Hmm, it must also be because Mr. Fool's dream city is very similar to her hometown, stimulating her soul fragments…
Lumian quickly suppressed the emotions in his heart, remembering that he had entered Mushu Hospital to track the whereabouts of the Oracle's corpse and observe the situation here.
His gaze swept over faces, some wearing masks, some with hidden worry, feeling that this shouldn't be much different from the situation in a normal hospital.
Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure.
It was the male orderly who had mentally broken down last night due to the female corpse coming back to life.
This orderly was wearing a mask, pushing a transfer bed as he passed by, with no fear or worry in his eyes, almost identical to the expressions of his colleagues.
He still dares to work at this hospital? Lumian's eyebrows twitched slightly.
The orderly seemed to have forgotten about his desecration of the corpse, and had also forgotten the horror of the corpse suddenly waking up.
It was as if someone had told him that the female corpse wasn't actually dead, and his misconduct had actually helped her escape from a state of apparent death, avoiding cremation, so she had decided to forgive him.
Lumian slowly shook his head, took out the lip balm and makeup mirror, and once again tracked the whereabouts of the Oracle's corpse.
The scene presented in the mirror was an area with eight elevators. The back of Oracle Danitz had just passed through the elevator doors, with the outside button lit up with a downward arrow.
Is this going to B1? Is the destination really the morgue? Lumian passed by the front of the medicine collection window and turned towards the nearby stairwell.
There were patients and family members waiting here.
Lumian looked left and right, thinking that he should prepare some masks for him and the other Demonesses. This could more effectively conceal their faces without becoming the focus of others' attention.
The elevator came rather slowly. It took Lumian two to three minutes to wait for an elevator that was continuing downwards.
The people inside poured out, leaving only a patient sitting in a wheelchair and an orderly in green clothes pushing the wheelchair.
The orderly wore a mask, and the patient was quite elderly, with graying hair and beard.
Their gazes simultaneously turned to Lumian, with something unsettling hidden in the depths of their deep brown eyes.
Lumian, who was about to step in, suddenly stopped.
He felt that the elevator lacked light, as if it had become a giant mouth about to close.
The elevator's double doors slowly closed, the interior growing darker, as if falling into an abyss.
Lumian watched expressionlessly, abandoning his intention to enter.
He sensed intense danger.
And his spiritual intuition, coupled with the slight activity of Aurore's soul fragments, made him vaguely aware of what was hidden in the eyes of those two people in the elevator just now.
It was an intense desire.
It was the intense desire to tear off his clothes and vent their inner cravings!
The elevator doors finally closed, the downward arrow went out, and the numbers began to change.
Going to B1, to the morgue, would be extremely dangerous… Lumian watched for a few more seconds, silently musing to himself.
After some consideration, he gave up the impulse to go down the stairs to investigate, and had a new idea,
Should I call the police? Just say I saw the missing Danitz enter Mushu Hospital and go down to the basement…
Just as Lumian had this thought, his phone began to vibrate.
He took out his phone and saw it was from "Luo Fu".
On the ID card given by Madam Justice, Franca's name was "Luo Fu".
Lumian answered the phone somewhat awkwardly yet habitually, tentatively saying, "Hello?"
Franca, driving the vehicle and wearing earphones, looked ahead and said, "You'd better not delve deeper into Mushu Hospital now. Wait a bit longer, wait for the police to investigate."
"Why do you say that?" Lumian didn't think Franca had sensed his earlier thoughts.
Franca turned the steering wheel and said, "I was shocked by the Oracle's corpse coming back to life earlier and didn't notice some details. It only dawned on me after getting in the car.
"When the Oracle's corpse got off at Mushu Hospital's entrance, did it use a phone to scan and pay?"
"Yes." Lumian had a very deep impression of the scan-to-pay incident, as Franca had been telling them they could do this and had personally demonstrated several times.
Wearing earphones and driving the car, Franca showed a slightly proud smile.
"The Oracle has already been classified as missing by the police, and when a missing person's phone account suddenly makes a payment, don't you think it would attract the police's attention and allow them to track his movements?
"The police should be arriving at Mushu Hospital soon. If you sneak into places with secrets now, you might run into them."
"Can it work like that? The efficiency is really high…" Lumian muttered softly.
Now, he didn't need to find a way to call the police!
The police in this dream city were far more efficient than those in Trier, able to grasp key clues without his reminders.
Lumian held his phone, pretending to have received an urgent call, and left this stairwell.
He made his way back to the medicine collection area and hid among the waiting crowd.
Before long, he saw Officer Deng and the dream projection of Mr. Star leading a team of police rushing towards the previous stairwell.
Lumian played the role of a spectator watching the commotion, patiently waiting for nearly twenty minutes until the police team returned.
They were carrying a stretcher, with the person on it completely covered by a white cloth, only vaguely revealing yellowish hair.
The Oracle's corpse… Lumian made a definitive judgment using the makeup mirror in his hand.
He immediately became puzzled.
They found the reanimated corpse just like that?
Nothing happened?
…
Back in the car driven by Franca, Lumian recounted what had just happened.
Franca also had the same confusion.
"The people at Mushu Hospital didn't resist the police?
"Theoretically, Mushu Hospital should be a force formed by the infiltration of the great existence, Mother Tree of Desire, or at least operated by a Sequence 0 true god subordinate to Her…"
Lumian expressed his thoughts, "There are two possibilities:
"One, Mushu Hospital is not an external projection, but originates from Mr. Fool's impression of the Mother Tree of Desire and Her subordinates.
"Two, this is a symbol, representing an external projection. Even if it originates from great existences, it cannot directly confront the main consciousness of the dream. In this city, the official power, the police department, symbolizes the dream's main consciousness.
"In other words, individual police officers can be targeted and influenced, but confronting the entire police department is equivalent to confronting the dream itself, confronting Mr. Fool plus that Celestial Worthy."
-x-X-x-
After stating his two guesses, Lumian added, "I felt earlier that entering the basement of Mushu Hospital would be very dangerous. If the problem there was woven by the dream's subconscious, originating from Mr. Fool's impression of the Mother Tree of Desire and Her subordinates, it shouldn't have reached this level."
His meaning was that he was more inclined towards the inference that the dream's main consciousness symbol could not directly confront it.
Jenna, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at the gradually receding Mushu Hospital and said with a slightly furrowed brow, "But the police, represented by Mr. Star, only found the Oracle's corpse. They don't seem to have discovered any other anomalies existing in Mushu Hospital."
"This indicates that although the dream's main consciousness cannot confront directly, it has ways to conceal and deceive," Anthony expressed his opinion.
"There might also be a mole." Franca, who was driving, had read many novels and watched many movies about undercover agents and traitors, muttered. "Part of the dream's main consciousness must belong to the Celestial Worthy. He should be quite pleased to see the force infiltrated by the Mother Tree of Desire doing something, so He deliberately ignored some details."
"This also shows that regardless of whether it's Mr. Fool or that Celestial Worthy, they are actually in a state of slumber, their true consciousness blurred, only able to react to a certain extent when directly stimulated. Usually, they only occasionally provide some inspiration based on received prayers or spirituality warnings. Otherwise, we would have been discovered and kicked out long ago when interacting with ordinary people in the dream," Lumian concluded based on various events experienced over the past two days and many details mentioned in the materials provided by the Major Arcana card holders.
Franca took the opportunity to warn her teammates, "So don't think about live streaming, don't do anything in public that would become a trending topic. If we do that, as soon as the Celestial Worthy's dream identity scrolls to the corresponding video, He will immediately be stimulated and kick us out of the dream.
"Well, even if the Celestial Worthy doesn't scroll to it, His subordinates will notice it."
After a brief silence, Jenna asked, "What is live streaming?"
Anthony was equally confused.
"Will this be seen by many people?
"Similar to the front page headlines of a newspaper?"
You guys really haven't adapted as well as Lumian… Franca sighed, and while driving, she briefly explained,
"Open your phones, click on the app with the black background and white pattern I downloaded for you earlier…
"The hottest thing recently is 'True Death Metal'…"
Jenna and the others all became focused and serious, continuing to receive their Internet education.
…
Near midnight.
Lumian brought Franca through the mirror world to the Moon Plaza they had visited at noon, arriving behind a mirror in the surveillance room.
Hidden in the area behind the mirror, they saw through the mirror surface a large display screen split into multiple scenes, showing various areas of the mall, and two security guards sitting in front of the display screen for night duty.
At this time, Moon Plaza had long since closed for business, and many of the scenes shown on the surveillance were pitch black, with only parts covered by clear moonlight.
In this dream city, the moon was not crimson, but showed a faint silvery white, occasionally tinged with yellow.
Franca, both eager and cautious, stretched her right hand out of the mirror surface, grasping a slightly larger makeup mirror.
The makeup mirror immediately reflected the large screen, showing different scenes framed in individual squares.
Then, the surface of the makeup mirror rippled with illusory light invisible to the naked eye.
Mirror Maze!
The surveillance areas seen by the two security guards and the images captured by several cameras in the room were instantly replaced by mirrored illusions.
Franca had previously imagined being able to use her Beyonder powers after returning home, and now it felt like a rehearsal of her dream.
She walked out openly from behind the mirror object, put down the makeup mirror, adjusted its angle, and came to the surveillance console with Lumian.
The two security guards had no reaction to their actions, as if they hadn't seen them at all.
The scenes in their eyes were still the same as before when no outsiders had entered.
Lumian turned his gaze to Franca and said in a low voice, "Make haste."
He didn't know how to operate this surveillance system, otherwise he would have done it himself.
Franca adjusted the mirrored images to ensure they weren't completely static, while studying the mall's surveillance system.
Thanks to researching information online and making plans beforehand, it only took her two or three minutes to bring up the surveillance footage of the supermarket area from noon.
Soon, the image froze on the scene where she and Lumian and others were returning from the supermarket entrance.
In the distance of this image, where imported goods were stacked, a figure in a white dress was walking out of the frame.
This figure had beautiful features, small and delicate ears, a fair and slender neck, and an aura so clean it seemed untouched by dust. Her hair was loosely tied up, giving a somewhat languid feeling.
"It's indeed that reanimated female corpse," Franca took out the sketch completed with the help of Dream Divination and carefully compared it.
Before Lumian could respond, she added, "This appearance, temperament, and charm are more like a demigod-level Demoness rather than a Baby Cupid of the Scrooge pathway.
"How could a Demoness be resurrected in Mushu Hospital?"
Lumian nodded slightly, refraining from making conjectures for the moment, and instead asked Franca, "Can you find out the entire activity trajectory of this female corpse in the mall?"
"Yes," Franca busily operated the surveillance system.
Soon, each scene on the large screen showed the figure of that female corpse, corresponding to different scenarios.
While searching for the female corpse's traces based on the timeline and scene conditions, Franca had already browsed through these surveillances once. She glanced at Lumian, who was focusing on observing details, and pondered,
"It feels like she's wandering aimlessly, not buying anything, entering a store for a few minutes and then leaving. Hmm, it doesn't look like she's following anyone or searching for a specific item."
Lumian compared all the passersby in each surveillance image and didn't find anyone else appearing in all of them besides the female corpse.
"Is she experiencing and touring a city like this for the first time?" Lumian thought of himself and his companions.
"And then because she has no money, she doesn't dare to buy anything?" Franca joked with a smile.
Lumian immediately shook his head.
"It shouldn't be that simple.
"We almost encountered this female corpse at noon, and after lunch, the Oracle's corpse showed anomalies. The resurrected Oracle corpse went to Mushu Hospital, which is where this female corpse was reanimated.
"If it's not arranged by that individual, not His script, such a coincidence is enough to indicate a close connection between the two."
Franca pondered for a moment and said, "If this female corpse is really a Demoness, then I've had similar situations before.
"When I first became a Witch, I received effective revelations from divination about something, but it was only revelations about time and place. So, I aimlessly wandered back and forth in an arcade street in Trier for a day, and finally encountered the thing I wanted to encounter."
Lumian, who had just become a Demoness for a short time and hadn't had similar experiences, nodded slowly and said, "You mean the reanimated female corpse received revelations through divination and came to wander in this mall?"
At this point, Lumian's eyes became dark.
"Her gain was getting closer to us, discovering clues about which mirror the Oracle's corpse was hidden behind, so that's why the Oracle's corpse showed anomalies right after lunch ended?
"Is she a subordinate of that Celestial Worthy, searching for the Oracle's corpse?
"Are the Celestial Worthy and the Mother Tree of Desire cooperating, using Mushu Hospital to obtain subordinates they can command, to harm certain dream characters?"
Franca concurred succinctly, "The fact that she could indirectly come into contact with us, on the surface it's inspiration from divination, but in reality, it should be the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence at work.
"Only High-Sequence Beyonders of the Demoness and Door pathways could possibly influence the mirror world from a distance, causing the Oracle's corpse hidden in the mirror area to show anomalies.
"That female corpse might fit both situations."
Franca meant that the female corpse might be a demigod-level Demoness who had received boons from the Door pathway.
Lumian acknowledged Franca's statement and pondered for a few seconds before saying,
"But the reanimation of this female corpse was definitely not for finding the Oracle's corpse. From what that orderly confessed, she had already been resurrected before the Oracle was killed.
"She must have a more important role, carrying out a key task?"
Franca hissed and said, "In the next few days, besides observing the people and events around Mr. Fool, we need to find a way to locate this female corpse, see if we can eliminate her covertly without the Celestial Worthy noticing."
If this were in the real world, Franca definitely wouldn't say this, because she wouldn't be sure whether that reanimated female corpse was Sequence 4, Sequence 3, or even higher. She would only suggest asking the Major Arcana card holders for help. But in the dream city, everyone was currently suppressed to the Sequence 7 level. A demigod-level Demoness would only have some more special abilities than her, with no essential difference in strength. Lumian was also a demigod-level Demoness, and their team had the number advantage, capable of ganging up.
Lumian thought for a moment and said, "There should be surveillance on the streets outside too, right? Can we find out where this female corpse ultimately went from the surveillance?"
"We could, but that would require infiltrating government departments. If discovered, it would be equivalent to confronting the dream's main consciousness." Franca didn't agree with taking such a risk now. There was still so much information they hadn't gathered!
Lumian suppressed the impulse in his heart and worked with Franca to restore the surveillance footage, erase their own traces, and retreat back into the mirror object. Then, Franca ended the Mirror Maze and took away that makeup mirror.
The two security guards only felt that the surveillance screens flickered briefly, but they quickly returned to normal.
Franca and Lumian returned to the car parked on the adjacent street, meeting up with Jenna and others who were responsible for backup.
As the vehicle drove towards the old town, Lumian and Franca, who was driving, told their teammates about the findings from watching the surveillance and their own conjectures.
As they were talking, Lumian suddenly fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Jenna asked.
Lumian said in a deep voice, "We thought of going to the mall to check the surveillance to find that female corpse. Would that female corpse also think of checking the surveillance to see if any women with outstanding appearances had passed by?"
Those who could hide a corpse behind a mirror were likely to be Demonesses too!
Franca's expression changed, and she blurted out, "The surveillance room!"
-x-X-x-
Times
Moon Plaza, inside the surveillance room.
Lumian brought Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig back behind that mirror-like object, gazing through the mirror surface at the two security guards and the large screen.
Compared to when they left earlier, nothing had changed here. Everything looked normal.
Franca pondered for two seconds and said, "Has she not come yet, or has she already been here, ahead of us?"
If that female corpse had already checked the surveillance earlier, she would likely have discovered Lumian and the others. After all, the characteristics of Demonesses were quite distinctive, and beautiful women plus a handsome man were even more eye-catching. As long as the reanimated female corpse was willing to spend enough time checking segment by segment, frame by frame, with the reminders of spiritual intuition, she shouldn't miss the corresponding footage.
In that case, Lumian and the others would have to consider changing identities, modifying appearances, and changing residences.
For an already impoverished family, this could truly be an exacerbation.
Franca could only pray to Mr. Fool, hoping that the female corpse would come only at midnight. After all, unlike them, she didn't have a specific time and corresponding location, and couldn't purposefully check the surveillance in just a few minutes or even tens of seconds to lock onto the people she wanted to find. She would have to check all the surveillance videos covering the entire mall for ten to fifteen minutes before and after. If unlucky, the time spent could be measured in hours.
The spiritual intuition of Demonesses was also suppressed to the Sequence 7 level. That female corpse obviously couldn't rely on this for very precise screening.
"Both are possible," Lumian stared outside the mirror.
Separated by a layer of mirror surface and in different spaces, he couldn't directly see whether there was a Mirror Maze in the surveillance room at this moment.
And the reanimated female corpse indeed seemed very much like a demigod of the Demoness pathway, likely possessing anti-divination abilities.
Jenna was also observing the situation in the surveillance room and asked puzzledly, "Does the reanimated female corpse also know about things like surveillance, and understand how to operate surveillance systems?"
She felt that the reanimated female corpse was a projection of some external force, probably similar to themselves, just with a different method of entry. She and Lumian and the others only learned what surveillance was, what it was used for, and how to avoid it after Franca's reminders and explanations. And except for Franca, none of them knew how to operate a surveillance system!
If we can't do it, how can a newly reanimated female corpse?
Franca pondered and answered,
"Perhaps the reanimated female corpse is also part of the dream, a Demoness that one of Mr. Fool's avatars once encountered. And the Celestial Worthy, using Mushu Hospital, made this Demoness go through a process of death and resurrection, turning her into a completely obedient subordinate, or rather, puppet."
As part of the dream, except for those set as children, fools, lunatics, or illiterates, everyone "innately" knew the concept and existence of surveillance.
"Even if she's part of the dream, she wouldn't naturally master how to manipulate surveillance systems, unless she was previously engaged in this industry, or had studied it in advance like you," Jenna objected.
"That's true," Franca suddenly had a flash of inspiration and took out her phone, intending to search on apps like Weibo, Zhihu, and various circles to see if there were any similar questions recently. Perhaps the reanimated female corpse was looking at her phone while using "currently waiting online" rhetoric to urge netizens to answer how to operate a certain company's surveillance system, while trying to bring up the desired video based on the netizens' suggestions.
To Franca's disappointment, there was no signal in the mirror world, and she couldn't get online!
Lumian then said, "There's another possibility. That female corpse also has a guide, a guide like Franca."
"Uh…" Franca stuffed her phone back into her pants pocket.
She understood what Lumian was saying: A member of April Fool's, the not-yet-dead Loki!
Wasn't it said that Loki could have been reborn through possession by an Angel of the Seer pathway?
Well, whether it was Loki or that Angel of the Seer pathway, they were both subordinates of the Celestial Worthy!
"When we checked the surveillance earlier, we didn't find anyone like Loki around the reanimated female corpse," Franca recalled.
"The Faceless ability at Sequence 7 level," Lumian had already considered this issue. "And this is inside a mall, he could change outfits from time to time."
Franca nodded slowly and continued to observe the surveillance room outside the mirror, hoping to wait for the reanimated female corpse and the possible existence of Loki.
After watching for a few seconds, she suddenly asked out of curiosity, "Does this kind of screen, this kind of surveillance scenario, count as a mirror world?"
"From a mystical concept, I don't think so. It's not a reflection or inversion of the current scene," Lumian answered instinctively.
Jenna and Anthony were somewhat confused by Franca's question.
"Mystical concepts also need to keep up with the times to match the social scenarios of the new era," Franca muttered before saying, "Although surveillance is not a reflection or inversion of the current scene, it belongs to the reflection of scenes elsewhere. It has some of the functions and characteristics of mirrors, just with the reflection and display separated in different places."
Lumian didn't know how to refute for a moment and could only directly express his view, "I think it's closer to the world within paintings, perhaps even incorporating the informatized characteristics of the Mystery Pryer pathway at high levels."
"Then it's a hybrid product of the mirror world, the world within paintings, and the information world!" Franca's main energy was on observing the situation in the surveillance room, and she was unwilling to delve deeper into issues that couldn't yield accurate answers at the moment, so she quickly made a guess.
Lumian half-closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and said, "Indeed, it has a bit of the qualities of the mirror world. We can traverse through it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Anthony, who had been silent all along, said in a deep voice, "Don't you think those two security guards outside are a bit strange?
"It's been two or three minutes, and they haven't moved at all, like they've turned into statues…"
Statues? Franca's heart stirred, and she took out a mirror, carefully extending it beyond the current mirror surface.
She quickly adjusted the angle, and using the reflection of light and the most basic function of the mirror, she saw the side profile of one of the security guards.
On the slightly dark makeup mirror, only illuminated by the reflection of the screen's light, that half-face had no expression, partly hidden in the dim environment, partly slightly illuminated, the two intertwining and sometimes changing.
His eyes were constantly fixed on the surveillance screen, with a hint of cold gray seemingly hidden in the depths of his pupils.
He looked alive, still with spirituality, but that was all—just alive, just with spirituality.
"Partial petrification of organs?" Franca frowned and whispered.
Lumian didn't answer, but looked around.
"The reanimated female corpse has indeed been here, after Franca and I finished watching the surveillance and left.
"I'll go out and search to see if there are any clues left. You guard against unexpected situations."
Jenna and the others nodded, without objection.
Lumian pressed his hand against the mirror surface and walked out as if passing through a layer of water curtain.
In his male form, he circled to the front of the two security guards and found that they had both turned into warmth-carrying statues, expressionlessly looking ahead, motionless, which seemed exceptionally eerie in the surveillance room where only the screen's light flickered.
Lumian's gaze moved away from the gray-white hidden in the eyes of the two security guards and turned to the large screen displaying dozens or hundreds of scenes simultaneously.
There was nothing unusual about that, but the human-machine interface below was frozen on a certain operation.
And Lumian remembered that Franca had restored it to its initial state before leaving.
Fleeing in a hurry?
Did that female corpse sense the disturbance in the mirror world and urgently traverse away through the large screen itself?
Will she circle back to see who infiltrated the surveillance room?
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lumian suddenly turned sideways, looking towards the mirror object he had come out from.
Almost simultaneously, on the surveillance footage, in a dark corner, a pale but alluring hand stretched out, extending beyond the screen.
In the area behind the mirror, while Lumian was investigating the surveillance system, Franca suddenly heard Ludwig making smacking sounds.
What is he eating now? Franca instinctively turned to look at the little boy.
She saw Ludwig opening his mouth, constantly sucking in air, chewing and swallowing.
Uh… Franca suddenly felt a bit guilty.
"Why are you eating air?" she asked.
Ludwig answered with a satisfied expression, "Delicious, there are many things with spirituality."
Many things with spirituality in the air? Franca was stunned for a moment, then suddenly had a strong sense of danger.
The mystical pathogen of Demonesses?
"Mirror Substitution!" she called out directly, actively triggering her own Mirror Substitution.
After hearing Ludwig's answer, Jenna's spiritual intuition also received a dangerous signal.
Without Franca's reminder, she followed and triggered her Mirror Substitution.
Anthony was a second slower than the two of them.
At this moment, at the edge of the spider web-like illusory tunnel, a figure was quickly outlined. She wore a white dress, had a loose bun, with beautiful features and a clean aura—clearly the reanimated female corpse.
This female corpse held a mirror in her hand, which had already reflected Franca's figure. Her other hand was burning with quiet black flames, quickly covering the mirror surface.
Silently, Franca's figure, which had just degenerated into a mirror, burst into eerie black flames from the inside out, quickly losing spirituality, falling to the ground, and shattering into pieces.
Seeing that the assassination attempt had failed and that there were four enemies, the reanimated female corpse immediately stepped back and disappeared at the edge of the illusory dark tunnel.
This caused the seven Demoness black flames created by Jenna and the Frenzy used by Anthony to all miss their target.
Inside the surveillance room, Lumian suddenly turned around, with a straight sword already condensed from frost in his hand.
He swung this crystal-clear straight sword towards the hand reaching out from inside the surveillance screen.
That hand suddenly retracted, and Lumian's frost straight sword consequently fell onto the surface of the screen.
It bizarrely dematerialized, bringing Lumian along as it melted into the large screen, diving in.
-x-X-x-
After the reanimated female corpse retreated into the dark tunnel, Franca's first reaction as her figure was just being outlined was to use the Ice Amulet that Lumian had remade, bringing Jenna and Anthony to chase after the enemy before she completely left this mirror world.
She gripped the crystal-clear charm that she had already taken out of the Traveler's Bag, but her spiritual intuition made her pause.
The destination of the reanimated female corpse's Mirror Traversal was unknown, and there might be her companions waiting. Rashly chasing after her could likely lead them into a trap!
Moreover, chasing after her meant separating from Lumian, making it easy for them to be defeated one by one.
Franca gazed for two seconds, then immediately said to Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig, who was still eating "air" in big gulps, "Leave here, go to the surveillance room!"
Who knew how long the reanimated female corpse had been hiding at the edge of the tunnel, producing how many mystical pathogens. Staying in this area would lead to increasingly severe infection, until they fell ill!
And relying solely on Ludwig eating like this, mouthful by mouthful, who knew how long it would take to clear out the mystical pathogens that could continuously reproduce. More importantly, this sealed Angel's physical condition had also been lowered to the Sequence 7 level. The mystical pathogens he ate wouldn't affect him, but those that invaded his skin, eyes, and respiratory tract could definitely infect him.
At that point, it would be a race to see whether Ludwig finished eating the mystical pathogens first, or the mystical pathogens defeated him first.
Additionally, Franca and Jenna's Demoness black flames were also restricted by the dream, only able to be produced a few at a time—cluster after cluster—unable to burn large areas of surrounding mystical pathogens to create a sufficiently safe environment.
However, the dream's restrictions had both disadvantages and advantages. The Plague ability of the reanimated female corpse was also suppressed to the Sequence 7 level, preventing Franca and the others from becoming infected and falling ill too quickly.
Jenna and Anthony didn't question Franca's decision, only Ludwig was reluctant to leave.
He wanted to eat even if he got sick!
He wanted to eat even if he died!
Jenna grabbed the little boy, forcibly dragging him out of the area behind the mirror, as his physical qualities had been comprehensively reduced to Sequence 7.
At such an urgent moment, Jenna actually felt another digestion of the Affliction potion.
"Let me go! Let go…" Before Ludwig could finish speaking, he had already passed through the mirror surface and arrived in the surveillance room.
But they didn't see Lumian.
"Was Lumian also attacked?" Franca quickly looked around with a solemn expression.
Or had he gone chasing after an enemy?
Just as Franca finished speaking, she saw that every surveillance scene on the large screen had changed.
They once again displayed the scenes from noon when the reanimated female corpse had appeared.
In those scenes arranged in a crisscrossing matrix, the reanimated female corpses that originally belonged to the surveillance footage either raised their heads or half-turned their bodies, all staring uniformly towards the outside of the screen.
Wearing white dresses and loose buns, they instantly had the same expression change, their fair and delicate hands reaching towards the camera one after another, extending out of the surveillance screen, reaching for Franca, Jenna, and the others outside.
They crawled out of the screen one by one, their faces dark, with occasional flashes of light.
Seeing this scene, Franca, relying only on spiritual intuition and Demoness vision, briefly couldn't distinguish which of these many reanimated female corpses were real and which were fake.
For a moment, she even doubted whether they were all real, or all fake.
She took out the Cannon Gun that had become the Inevitable Gun, aiming at the surveillance footage, intending to shatter that screen, so that the reanimated female corpses that hadn't fully crawled out would be thrown into the depths of the "surveillance world" with the shattering of the area behind the screen, making it difficult to reach reality.
Franca's finger was on the trigger, but she didn't pull it.
She felt that Lumian's disappearance might be because he had entered the "surveillance world", and if she shattered the screen, and the "surveillance world" truly had some characteristics of the mirror world, Lumian would also be swallowed by the turbulent flow, which would be very dangerous.
Although Franca couldn't respond in time, she still had companions.
Anthony stepped forward, his eyes vertical, tinged with a pale golden color.
He immediately emanated a terrifying aura as if standing at the top of the food chain.
Awe!
He used a range-type Awe targeting that surveillance screen!
The reanimated female corpses crawling out of the surveillance footage one after another froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.
It was as if they hadn't been resurrected, still corpses, naturally not afraid or panicked due to the awe!
Jenna quickly turned her head, pointing at those reanimated female corpses, and asked Ludwig, "Which one tastes the best?"
The one that tastes the best should be the real body!
And judging whether food tasted good or not was Ludwig's specialty!
Ludwig swallowed his saliva and pointed to the surveillance footage in the bottom right corner.
"I want that one!
"That one tastes the best!"
Before Ludwig could answer, Franca had already concealed her figure. When he pointed out the food he wanted most, Franca's figure, wearing a black T-shirt and women's pantaloons, quickly outlined at the side of the reanimated female corpse in the bottom right corner.
She held the Inevitable Gun in one hand and the nearly invisible Wintry Blade in the other, stabbing the latter towards the target that hadn't fully crawled out of the screen, towards the temple next to the delicate ear.
Crack, that reanimated female corpse shattered like a mirror, along with the figures of other female corpses becoming illusory, disappearing simultaneously in front of the surveillance screen.
The next second, beside the mirror decorative item that Franca and the others had crawled out from, the reanimated female corpse with beautiful features, a slender neck, wearing a white dress and a loose bun, silently emerged.
She gripped an ice crystal dagger covered in black flames in one hand, suddenly stabbing towards Anthony's chest.
…
After passing through the surveillance screen, Lumian appeared in a dark and silent empty mall.
At this time, the escalators had stopped running, and all the shops had pulled down their shutters.
Lumian quickly scanned around and saw a figure in a white dress flash past the passage leading to the men's and women's restrooms.
The black mark on Lumian's right shoulder lit up, allowing him to directly teleport over.
As his figure was just being outlined at the entrance of the passage, his left palm had already taken out his phone.
Lumian quickly glanced at the phone screen that had lit up and found no signal.
This was exactly what he wanted to confirm.
Is this an alternate space formed by surveillance footage, an illusory world? It's very similar to the mirror world, and also very similar to the world within paintings… As thoughts flashed through Lumian's mind, he stuffed the phone into the Traveler's Bag instead of his pants pocket.
He was worried that the upcoming battle might damage the phone.
For an already impoverished family, this would be a major loss!
In Lumian's blue eyes, that female figure in a white dress had already run to the corner.
Seeing was believing. Almost simultaneously, Lumian blinked behind the target, thrusting the ice crystal straight sword.
Just as the ice sword touched that female figure, the target suddenly wavered like water ripples and disappeared without a trace.
An illusion—just an illusion.
An illusion created using the mirror of the sink outside the men's and women's restrooms!
At this moment, in the dark corner at the entrance of the men's restroom, a vague figure quickly emerged, holding a medium-sized mirror, reflecting Lumian's male form wearing a shirt and trousers.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when Lumian's attention was completely on the illusion, this vague figure pressed its hand covered in Demoness black flames towards the mirror surface.
Black flames suddenly erupted from Lumian's eyes, nose, mouth, and other places, but his figure began to fade inch by inch, gradually dissipating.
This was also an illusion!
Behind the vague figure in the dark corner at the entrance of the restroom, Lumian's body outlined, his eyes iron-black, his right hand clenched into a fist, in a posture of muscles swelling and enlarging, suddenly striking towards the junction of the enemy's neck and back.
Cull plus Mighty Blow!
You can use mirrors to create illusions, so can I!
Bang!
This punch shattered the vague figure into pieces, scattering around like glass shards.
Immediately after, Lumian felt invisible spider silk wrapping around him from all directions, trying to bind his hands, feet, and torso, and intending to interfere with his movements in different ways.
Lumian immediately grunted, and bursts of black flames binding madness and danger spontaneously appeared, falling onto several invisible spider silks.
The Flames of Destruction ignited those spider silks instantly, just like real Hunter flames, then quickly spread, devouring all the combustibles around, and burning the mystical pathogens permeating the air.
In just the blink of an eye, Lumian had rid himself of the influence of the Demoness spider web and the hidden Plague.
And at the entrance of this passage, a female figure clearly appeared in the light of the burning spider web.
She wore a white dress, had a loose bun, beautiful features, delicate ears, and a slender neck—it was the reanimated female corpse.
…
Inside the surveillance room.
As Franca's strike failed to succeed, the experienced Jenna and Anthony changed their positions.
The latter thus avoided the ice crystal dagger assassination of the reanimated female corpse.
But this also gathered the three of them in a small area within the not-so-large surveillance room.
The reanimated female corpse's gaze then turned to the two security guards sitting motionlessly in their positions.
One of the security guards immediately broke free from his statue-like state and suddenly stood up.
The next second, his body was like it had been filled with a large amount of gas, rapidly swelling into a ball.
During this process, the gray-white in the depths of his eyes was tinged with a yellow-green light.
Boom!
This security guard exploded like a balloon stretched to its limit. His flesh and internal organs were torn into pieces, carrying yellow-green pus, enveloped in the impact storm, sweeping towards every corner of the surveillance room, covering Franca, Jenna, and the others.
A virus bomb? Franca's pupils suddenly dilated.
That reanimated female corpse was also within the range of the exploding body, but she was prepared, taking a step back and hiding in the mirror decorative item.