Chapter 991: Proactive Small Talk

After 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. They 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.

As 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?"

Franca's eyes gleamed, feeling this had a bit of a "I guess that went well" flavor to it.

Of course, this "I" referred to the dream subconscious.

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

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

"It doesn't work." He shook his head.

Before Franca could respond, he added thoughtfully, "Maybe it's possible in Mushu Hospital."

As 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."

Lumian pondered for a few seconds, then said gravely, "It's a possibility."

Franca immediately hissed. "How sinister is the Great Mother's style, always making people fall into traps unknowingly? Sometimes, being vigilant seems useless…"

At this point, Franca answered her own question, "Judging by the name, perhaps the Great Mother symbolizes the 'yin'—'darkness' in the term 'yin-yang'…"

…

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

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

Except 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.

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

Just 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.

How 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.

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

Seeing this, Zhou Mingrui returned the greeting.

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

Zhou Mingrui looked around and asked, "Has Mr. Da resigned? I haven't seen him every time I've come recently.

"You know Mr. Da, right?"

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

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

Stimulated 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.

Before Zhou Mingrui could ask further, he sighed and said, "Mr. Da didn't resign, he passed away."

"Ah?" Zhou Mingrui's gaze suddenly froze.

His shock and surprise showed on his face.

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

"When did this happen? What happened?" Zhou Mingrui didn't hide his astonishment.

Lumian glanced towards the front desk.

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

"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."

Lumian'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.

"Killed…" Zhou Mingrui's eyes flickered as he fell into deep thought.

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

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

"The killer deliberately sent Mr. Da's body to the underground morgue?" Zhou Mingrui expressed his confusion.

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

"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.

"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.

For him now, providing answers was too dangerous.

Zhou Mingrui nodded thoughtfully, then pointed to the Business English classroom. "I'm going to class now."

"Alright," Lumian sat down accordingly.

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

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

If 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…

Using 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?

I'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…

Moreover, 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… Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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

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

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

Hmm…

As 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.

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

He heard Zhou Mingrui ask in surprise, "Weren't you scheduled to come on Monday? Why has it been postponed to Wednesday?"

From the other end of the phone, a female voice faintly reached Lumian's ears.

"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."

Zhou Mingrui was silent for a moment, then said, "I have annual leave."

"It's fine, you can take me out on the weekend." The female voice on the phone said cheerfully.

Zhou Mingrui sighed and said, "Alright then, what time is your train on Wednesday?"

Hearing this, Lumian roughly understood what was going on.

According 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.

Zhou 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.

…

Star Dream Provisions Store.

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

The 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.

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

As 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.

The 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.

It'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.

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

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