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nChapter 991 Proactive Small Talk

nAfter suspecting that Zaratulstra had replaced the teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes and Star Tutoring Classes to target the image of Gehrman Sparrow, who didn’t actually exist in the dream city, Lumian and the others discussed this for quite a while, but still couldn’t figure out the significance and purpose of doing so.

nThey decided to write a letter, which Franca and Jenna would take to Star Dream Provisions Store tomorrow to mail out, to see what opinions the Major Arcana card holders would give.

nAs they stood up, preparing to leave the rented apartment in Xinhong District, Franca remembered something and curiously looked at Lumian. “You said earlier that Li Keji’s pregnancy was because Grimm’s cognition, the Omebella bloodline in you, and the Celestial Worthy’s subconscious taking dominance because of Mushu Hospital’s environment, equating you with the Child of God Omebella in the dream, making your casual comment ‘he’s already pregnant’ become reality. So, as the Child of God Omebella, can you now use the Beyonder powers of a Planter, Apothecary, and Heretic Spellmaster pathways?”

nFranca’s eyes gleamed, feeling this had a bit of a “I guess that went well” flavor to it.

nOf course, this “I” referred to the dream subconscious.

nAs long as the dream subconscious believed it, anything could happen!

nLumian tried to see if he could use the abilities related to Vampire, Harvest Priest, and Heretic Spellmaster, but all attempts failed.

n“It doesn’t work.” He shook his head.

nBefore Franca could respond, he added thoughtfully, “Maybe it’s possible in Mushu Hospital.”

nAs Franca nodded in agreement, Jenna reminded Lumian, “If that’s really the case, frequent visits to Mushu Hospital might cause you to become more and more like Omebella, until you’re completely equivalent.”

nLumian pondered for a few seconds, then said gravely, “It’s a possibility.”

nFranca immediately hissed. “How sinister is the Great Mother’s style, always making people fall into traps unknowingly? Sometimes, being vigilant seems useless…”

nAt this point, Franca answered her own question, “Judging by the name, perhaps the Great Mother symbolizes the ‘yin’—’darkness’ in the term ‘yin-yang’…”

n…

nThe next day, which was Sunday, Lumian again brought Ludwig to Dream Tutoring Classes.

nWhile sending the child into the classroom, he discreetly observed the front desk, every teacher he encountered, and Anderson Hood with his Eye of Calamity.

nExcept for the latter, the mercury-colored river of fate corresponding to the others all showed a black color representing death at some point in the past. Some of these black patches had become blurred, while others were still relatively clear, flowing forward with the illusory river, getting further and further behind, becoming harder to see.

nThey are indeed reborn people… Lumian didn’t engage in conversation with Anderson Hood, but stepped back and sat in his usual spot.

nJust as he was about to contemplate how to handle this situation, he suddenly saw Zhou Mingrui, wearing a loose sky-blue T-shirt, walking towards him.

nHow dedicated, to still remember to come for Business English class after witnessing Zaratulstra being shot and observing Mr. Cui… Lumian mused, standing up to greet Zhou Mingrui.

nAs fellow employees of Intis Group who had met more than once, this was expected courtesy.

nSeeing this, Zhou Mingrui returned the greeting.

nJust when Lumian thought he would smoothly turn into the classroom, Zhou Mingrui stopped, right in front of him.

nZhou Mingrui looked around and asked, “Has Mr. Da resigned? I haven’t seen him every time I’ve come recently.

n“You know Mr. Da, right?”

n“Yes, Da Nizi. I brought my child here to enroll after seeing the flier he handed out,” Lumian answered simply.

nHe hadn’t expected Zhou Mingrui to initiate casual conversation with him, and even ask about the Oracle Danitz.

nStimulated by the Zaratulstra incident, has Zhou Mingrui started to more actively explore the hidden anomalies around him, more boldly engaging with us problematic people, and thus discovered that Teacher Da from Dream Tutoring Classes hasn’t appeared recently? This is good news! Hmm, there’s also a downside, if he keeps investigating like this, who knows when my team and I might be kicked out of the dream without warning, just like Mr. Cui… Lumian’s thoughts raced, forming a rough judgment.

nBefore Zhou Mingrui could ask further, he sighed and said, “Mr. Da didn’t resign, he passed away.”

n“Ah?” Zhou Mingrui’s gaze suddenly froze.

nHis shock and surprise showed on his face.

nThis was also the expected reaction of a normal person hearing such news.

n“When did this happen? What happened?” Zhou Mingrui didn’t hide his astonishment.

nLumian glanced towards the front desk.

n“I heard Ms. Ai say that he seemed to have encountered a psychopathic killer and was strangled to death.

n“At first, Ms. Ai and Mr. Anderson thought he was just missing, and because they didn’t have much confidence in Mr. Da’s ability to survive alone, they quickly reported it to the police. Later, after searching, the police found Mr. Da in the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital, in the form of a corpse.”

nLumian’s words were all information that Ms. Ai Nana had previously mentioned and could be found online, so he wasn’t worried about being kicked out of the dream again because of this—after re-entering the dream, he planned to behave for two or three days in front of Zhou Mingrui.

n“Killed…” Zhou Mingrui’s eyes flickered as he fell into deep thought.

n“Yes, the body was discovered in the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital,” Lumian deliberately emphasized.

nHe was trying to guide Zhou Mingrui to notice that there might be problems with Mushu Hospital through normal conversation.

n“The killer deliberately sent Mr. Da’s body to the underground morgue?” Zhou Mingrui expressed his confusion.

nLumian shook his head. “It might not have been the killer, it could have been a passerby who discovered the body and sent it there.”

n“How is that possible? A passerby who sees a body would call the police directly.” Zhou Mingrui increasingly felt that there was something fishy about this matter.

n“But why would the killer have to send Mr. Da’s body to the underground morgue of Mushu Hospital? Did he think it wouldn’t be discovered if hidden there? What made him think that…” Lumian was responsible for raising questions, emphasizing Mushu Hospital, but not providing answers.

nFor him now, providing answers was too dangerous.

nZhou Mingrui nodded thoughtfully, then pointed to the Business English classroom. “I’m going to class now.”

n“Alright,” Lumian sat down accordingly.

nHe leaned against the classroom wall, his thoughts gradually spreading:

nThe secret replacement of teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes and Star Tutoring Classes is really difficult to resolve…

nIf this were in the real world, I would find an opportunity to blow up the underground part of Mushu Hospital, completely eliminating the hidden danger. But in the dream city, with the underground part of Mushu Hospital being the psychological trauma of a great existence and an infiltration point for the power of other great existences, I’m afraid even the owner of Star Dream Provisions Store and Stianos wouldn’t dare to venture there easily, even if they weren’t restricted…

nUsing the Eye of Calamity to distinguish whether the target is a reborn person, should we kill all those who have been replaced, like Huang Jiajia, Ai Nana, and others, to eliminate them?

nI’m confident I could cover up the traces and not be discovered if I kill one, but killing so many? Do they think the dream city’s police department and Chief Yagates are dead? This would be openly challenging the dream’s main consciousness, and I might be identified the next day…

nMoreover, with Huang Jiajia and others being related to the identity of Gehrman Sparrow, if they all exit the stage of the dream city, it might bring about unfavorable changes, or cause the subsequent awakening plan to be doomed to failure from the start…

nReport it? Without sufficient clues, it might end up like the previous report about Zaratulstra, with no response at all…

nWhat clues could make the police investigate deeply and discover the abnormalities?

nI hope the Major Arcana card holders can provide good ideas…

nHmm…

nAs Lumian’s thoughts became more and more scattered, he caught sight of Zhou Mingrui coming out of the classroom with his phone, walking towards the restroom.

nLumian tilted his head, using his Hunter ears to eavesdrop on what Zhou Mingrui was saying from a distance.

nHe heard Zhou Mingrui ask in surprise, “Weren’t you scheduled to come on Monday? Why has it been postponed to Wednesday?”

nFrom the other end of the phone, a female voice faintly reached Lumian’s ears.

n“I thought about it, you have to work during the week and can’t take me out, so I might as well just go directly to report in.”

nZhou Mingrui was silent for a moment, then said, “I have annual leave.”

n“It’s fine, you can take me out on the weekend.” The female voice on the phone said cheerfully.

nZhou Mingrui sighed and said, “Alright then, what time is your train on Wednesday?”

nHearing this, Lumian roughly understood what was going on.

nAccording to the information provided by the Major Arcana, Zhou Mingrui’s sister Zhou Shasha had been admitted to a university in Yangdu and was about to come here to study.

nZhou Shasha will arrive in Yangdu next Wednesday? As one of the dream manifestations closest to Zhou Mingrui, what changes will her arrival bring? Lumian raised his right hand to rub his temples, feeling that one wave of events was following another without pause.

n…

nStar Dream Provisions Store.

nFranca and Jenna, who had taken a taxi, walked into the dimly lit interior of the shop.

nThe former politely asked the shop owner if they could mail a letter, while the latter lingered in the entrance area, both examining the antiques on the shelves and observing the situation outside.

nAfter getting the shop owner’s permission, Franca turned to the shelf and dropped the letter in her hand into the silver-inlaid black mailbox.

nAs her gaze swept across, she noticed that the Pride Armor that once belonged to her was standing quietly on the edge of the inner side of the right shelf.

nThe surface of this silver-white full-body armor was somehow stained with patches and spots of dark red blood. Just seeing it gave Franca a feeling of rapidly weakening, as if her serious illness had returned.

nIt’s become even more sinister… Franca didn’t dare ask the shop owner what had happened to the Pride Armor, and quickly averted her gaze, walking towards the door.

nAt this moment, Jenna raised her hand slightly, discreetly pointing to the diagonal opposite side of the street.

nThere, perched on the branch of a street tree, was a white pigeon.

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