Circle of Inevitability - Chapter 949: Action Outline
Lumian waited until the Dream Tutoring Classes opened before sending a WeChat voice message to Anderson Hood: “Mr. Anderson, does your tutoring school have painting classes? A friend of mine wants to know.”
Late last night, after receiving Jenna’s message, Lumian had been thinking about how to probe Anderson Hood. Based on the premise that Luo Shan had been controlled and her personality alteration had been initially resolved, he felt this matter was not urgent. There was no need to screenshot the legal representative and shareholder information of “Colorful Hostel” and send it directly to Anderson, “teasing” him about having other businesses on the side, then observe the subsequent reactions and wait for any unexpected developments that might result.
He planned to start with the painting issue, making initial probes, preferably without alerting Anderson.
Anderson didn’t immediately reply to Lumian, and Lumian didn’t linger in the bathroom. After putting his phone in his pants pocket, he walked back to the surveillance room.
Looking at the large screens in front, his mind flashed through some “experiments” he had done and needed to do:
1. Observe Mr. Fool’s dream manifestation Zhou Mingrui and the people around him;
2. First contact with Zhou Mingrui during the day, leaving a certain impression;
3. Contact people close to Zhou Mingrui, divided into multiple stages, eliminating the suspicion of one target before contacting the second, and so on;
4. Contact Zhou Mingrui again during the day, leaving a deeper impression;
5. Establish a relationship with Zhou Mingrui during the day where they can chat, hinting at the existence of Beyonder powers and his goodwill;
6. First contact with Zhou Mingrui at night;
7. Hint at the existence of Beyonder powers and his goodwill to Zhou Mingrui at night;
8. Based on the results of previous experiments and information gathered, formulate an official awakening plan.
This was the action outline for Lumian’s team. Currently, the first four parts had been completed, without any members being kicked out of the dream or restricted—the third part was spread throughout all subsequent steps, and team members responsible for contact had to self-isolate for a day and night before continuing to advance.
The danger gradually increased in the later parts. Lumian didn’t think about avoiding it, because determining the degree and source of danger was one of the purposes of the experiment.
Only by knowing what could be done, what couldn’t be done, what would lead to immediate expulsion, and what would take time to explode, could their team officially enter the eighth part of the action outline and formulate a targeted awakening plan.
At this stage, Lumian wasn’t worried or afraid of failure; he was worried and afraid of not being able to find the reasons for failure.
With this mindset, he approached many things with a “testing” attitude, including whether the Information Shredder worked, whether Stiano was trustworthy, what relationship Anderson Hood had with the Painter pathway, whether Grimm had become one of the Great Mother’s tools to influence the dream, and so on.
After obtaining the “test” results, they would contact the Major Arcana card holders to compare accounts, which might reveal some interesting and useful details.
If they had consulted the Major Arcana card holders from the beginning, forming preconceived notions and fixed thinking patterns, they might not have “tested” some things, and thus wouldn’t have obtained their own results. Their minds would only have the conclusions given by the Major Arcana card holders, which might cause them to miss key information.
As Lumian was pondering what to do next, he noticed an extra person in one of the surveillance footage on the tenth floor.
The camera was aimed at the entrance of Aurora Company, and a person wearing a black robe with a wide, deep hood, completely out of place among the nearby white-collar workers, walked out.
Suddenly, a bunch of things fell out from inside the person’s robe, landing on the floor.
The person quickly crouched down, the hem of the robe covering the fallen objects.
When he stood up, the ground was clean again, without any items.
After watching this person walk out of the surveillance frame and seeing him enter the elevator through the elevator surveillance, Lumian silently said to himself, The corresponding image of a certain Aurora Order mister in the dream city?
The security guard sitting next to him followed his gaze and laughed. “It’s fine; those clowns from Aurora Company are like that, it’s nothing, it’s nothing.”
“I thought it was some kind of performance art,” Lumian said as he saw Luo Shan walk out of the elevator and enter Intis Group.
…
In the Administrative Department, large office.
Luo Shan stood confused next to her position, seeing her desk with fewer items.
“I helped you throw away all those paintings,” Franca walked up to Luo Shan and explained with a smile.
Luo Shan suddenly realized. “I had forgotten about that, I’ll draw some new ones later…”
She paused, looked around, and asked in a lowered voice, “Can I, can I still paint later?”
“Yes, it doesn’t affect your ability to use your power,” Franca comforted her quietly, then raised her volume, “Director Zhang asked you to familiarize me with the work process.”
Zhang Qing’s full title was Deputy Director of the Administrative Department of Intis Group.
“Alright,” Luo Shan pulled Franca over and openly chatted about various rumors within the company.
Finally, Luo Shan said, “I forgot to tell you last night, there’s a very fierce young security guard recently, he even dares to confront those MCN company people. He’s really handsome, but don’t tell anyone, he already has a 7-year-old son, and he’s only 22!”
Theoretically speaking, I am the child’s mother, one of them… Franca’s mouth twitched slightly as she echoed with emotion, “Doesn’t that mean he had a child in middle school?”
After chatting about this for a while, Franca returned to her seat and entered work mode according to Luo Shan’s guidance.
After familiarizing herself with the office system, she rotated her chair and stood up, wanting to help Luo Shan share some work.
She saw Luo Shan holding a pencil, focused on drawing on a white paper.
What is she drawing? Franca softened her steps and silently walked to Luo Shan’s side.
She found that Luo Shan was sketching her own portrait, with the Luo Shan in the drawing having hollow eyes, a cold expression, and a curled mouth.
Wh— Franca’s eyes focused, and she immediately reached out her right hand and patted Luo Shan’s shoulder. “What are you drawing?”
Luo Shan was startled and quickly stopped drawing.
She turned her body, and seeing it was Franca, she visibly relaxed and pressed her chest saying, “You scared me! I thought Old Zhang had caught me slacking off.”
As she spoke, Luo Shan glanced at the sketch on the table, and her expression quickly became terrified. “W-why would I draw this?”
Franca pondered for two seconds and showed a smile that made Luo Shan extremely reassured. “Don’t worry, you can finish the last few strokes, I’ll handle it.”
Luo Shan, uncertain and frightened, leaned forward again and added the last few strokes, making the portrait more lifelike.
As soon as she finished drawing, the Luo Shan in the sketch presented a state as if about to come alive.
Franca grabbed the drawing, and black flames burned discreetly in her palm.
The expression of Luo Shan in the drawing immediately became painful, full of resentment and hatred, as if she was being burned by flames.
In the blink of an eye, the drawing curled up, showed signs of spontaneous combustion, quickly turned to ashes, and fell into the trash can.
While completing this, Franca used the Mirror Maze through the transparent screen on the side of the desk, Luo Shan’s phone screen, and the mirror being used by a nearby colleague for makeup touch-ups, to deal with the camera surveillance, not leaving traces of Beyonder powers in the corresponding footage.
Luo Shan stared blankly as Franca dealt with the portrait, and after a few seconds said, “I feel like my whole being is much lighter again; my mood is better…”
Franca nodded and said, “You can treat it as another release of negative emotions and desires.”
She considered for two seconds and added, “Currently, we can only treat your symptoms, not solve the root cause of the problem. Simply put, we can only treat the symptoms, not cure the disease.
“So, you need to be vigilant about your own state, do self-examination from time to time, and if you find something wrong, immediately come to us for a new round of treatment. Don’t delay, otherwise, behavior like just now will happen again, and the consequences are unpredictable.
“Power is a double-edged sword, it can harm others and also harm oneself, this will accompany us for life.”
Luo Shan listened quietly, remained silent for a moment, then lowered her head and smiled. “I understand what you mean. I hope, hope I can hold on for a few more years, preferably until I retire, no, let me enjoy life for five more years after retirement.”
Seeing Luo Shan’s smile, Franca suddenly felt it was a bit dazzling, making her eyes ache.
She comforted in a gentle voice, “If you can hold on, you must hold on. It’s like some diseases that were terminal in earlier years, but if you actively cooperate with treatment and try to prolong life as much as possible, with the development of technology, they can now be cured or better controlled.
“In the future, we might become stronger, or we might meet stronger people who have ways to solve the problem of power corruption.”
Luo Shan nodded slowly and smiled at Franca. “I’ll try hard, and you should work hard too, let’s all work hard!”
Franca remained silent for a moment, deactivated the Mirror Maze, and returned to her own seat.
She picked up her phone and found that Jenna, with the nickname “Nana and Lily”, had sent her a message describing the dangers encountered on the way to deliver the painting to Star Dream Provisions Store, the help received, and the final result.
Franca felt a wave of fear reading it, quite regretful that she hadn’t accompanied Jenna.
She had anticipated great danger but thought that Jenna, who could actively exit the dream, would at most waste one opportunity. She didn’t expect that the power representing the Fantasy Association’s evil god could prevent them from returning to reality.
Jenna had almost really died.
Fortunately, Amon and His father are on our side… Jenna’s experience also provided us with important intelligence. In the future, when encountering people and objects of the Painter pathway, we need to be careful about not being able to exit the dream… Franca, thinking of Lumian about to or already probing Anderson Hood, quickly forwarded Jenna’s message to him and reminded him to remember to delete it using the Information Shredder.
After confirming that Lumian was currently fine and had received the warning, Franca glanced sideways at Luo Shan, roughly understanding why her condition had suddenly relapsed earlier.
It coincided with the time when that painting appeared abnormal and Jenna nearly died.
…
Inside the surveillance room.
After deleting the messages from Franca and Jenna using the Information Shredder, Lumian pinged Anthony.
He continued to watch the surveillance, looking for potentially abnormal people and events.
At this time, Xu Xinyang, the leader of Security Team 2, entered the surveillance room and patted the shoulders of his two subordinates. “After work this afternoon, let’s go visit Old Wang and Old Ding together, they’re out of danger now.
“After visiting the hospital, let’s gather with all the folks who aren’t on shifts. It’s also to welcome Little Li to our team.”
“Old Wang and Old Ding?” Lumian could guess who the team leader was talking about, but still had to put on a confused expression.
Xu Xinyang, with his burly build, square face, and very tanned skin, said with both amusement and helplessness, “Didn’t you see the news? Several of our folks were struck by lightning. Fortunately, it wasn’t people from our Team 2 who died. Damn, how did they get struck by lightning?”
“Oh, I remember now,” Lumian then asked, “Which hospital are Old Wang and Old Ding in?”
Xu Xinyang answered simply, “Mushu Hospital.”
