Circle of Inevitability

Anthony hadn't drawn the curtains in his room, as he still needed to observe the situation outside.

This was to compare with his own condition.

After sitting for a while, he stood up and walked to the window, admiring the city scene that was still glittering even in the deep night.

At this moment, he felt a strong dizziness.

He immediately realized that the air around him had been suddenly drained. No, a more accurate description was that he had been "thrown" out of the world, separated from the air.

At the same time, his thoughts began to become confused and sluggish. His hands involuntarily reached for his throat, wanting to pull out his trachea and plug it back into the original world.

This is very similar to… Franca's… description…

Contact with… Peng Deng… also leads to… being kicked out… of the dream…

More importantly… I contacted… the target… during the day… and didn't hint at… the existence of… supernatural powers… or hidden… bizarre events…

Is Peng Deng… more special than… Zhou Mingrui?

Anthony calmly examined his own state, thinking about the process of this experiment.

When he felt he could no longer resist the tendency to become a marionette, he used that force trying to kick him out to actively exit the dream.

He opened his eyes and saw the dark ceiling and the crimson moonlight shining through the thick curtains.

This scene was not present in the dream city.

Anthony had heard from Franca about the situation in reality. After briefly confirming the things he was carrying and the state of his body, he got out of bed and walked towards the bathroom.

He had also planned to go to the bathroom in the dream city.

After a while, Anthony heard a knocking sound on the door.

Without needing to ask, he naturally knew that Madam Justice and Madam Susie were outside.

Anthony opened the door and, as expected, saw the Major Arcana card holder and the gentle, intelligent golden retriever.

Before he could greet them, Madam Justice asked in a soft voice, "Why did you suddenly leave the dream?"

"I was kicked out," Anthony replied, slightly confused.

Madam Justice shook her head. "Although I can no longer influence Mr. Fool's dream, I have been monitoring the changes in the dream.

"I didn't notice any signs of you being rejected by the dream."

"But…" Anthony didn't question Madam Justice's statement. He recounted in full detail how he had contacted Peng Deng, how he had self-isolated, and what he had just experienced.

Madam Justice didn't interrupt Anthony's words, listening patiently and attentively to his statement. Then, she nodded gently and said, "I believe what you felt was inner fear. Your fear turned the description from Two of Cups into reality, making you mistakenly believe you were being kicked out of the dream, so you chose to actively leave.

"As a Psychiatrist, both you and I know very well that this level of fear, fear without warning, is not normal at all. This is the anomaly brought about by your first contact with Peng Deng during the day."

"Fear… the contact with Peng Deng triggered my fear of being kicked out of the dream, and let it reach its peak in the early hours, evolving into an almost tangible hallucination?" Anthony recalled the previous events and agreed with Madam Justice's speculation. He muttered thoughtfully, "Is this also a manifestation of being watched by that Celestial Worthy, a symbol of one of His abilities? Or is Peng Deng's uniqueness not directly related to that Celestial Worthy, but has another source?"

"We're not sure either, because Peng Deng's role and position in the dream city are too special. We put him in the last few steps when it comes to confirming the situation. Unfortunately, we couldn't influence the dream anymore before we got to that part of the process. This time can be considered our Tarot Club's first real contact with Peng Deng…" At this point, Madam Justice's emerald-like eyes moved slightly, her mouth half-open, stopping her subsequent words.

After two seconds, she said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the fact that 'we put Peng Deng at the end to probe' itself has some problems, but there are too many possible reasons. Fooling can certainly achieve this…

"We also don't know if that Celestial Worthy can unconsciously trigger the fear in your heart and let it burst at a specific moment. We know very little about the authority and corresponding existence symbols of Sequence 0 of the Seer pathway, especially the latter."

Although Madam Justice didn't finish all her speculations, Anthony roughly knew what her possible thoughts might be. He said carefully, "We need to design a more detailed experimental plan specifically for Peng Deng in the future to determine the source of the problem.

"What we can be sure of now is that there is a certain difference between him and Zhou Mingrui. The anomalies that appear due to contact with them under the same conditions are different."

Madam Justice smiled and said, "Your contact with Peng Deng this time has been very informative for me.

"Hmm… don't rush back to the dream, stay outside for three hours first, walk around the villa, eat something.

"This doesn't mean there will be a problem if you go back now, you weren't kicked out, we don't have that concern. This is just a simple adjustment to your psychological state: after staying in the dream city for a long time, it's easy to confuse reality and dreams. Since you've already left, it's best to re-experience reality and deepen the corresponding psychological cognition."

"Yes, Madam Justice." As a Psychiatrist, Anthony naturally understood the meaning of these words.

To use a new term he learned in the dream city: prevention is better than cure.

…

After returning to the Tech Building, Lumian continued the task of patrolling the floors with Old Xia until they got off work at 12:30 a.m.

He directly teleported to the vicinity of Crimson Moon Hospital, then used the mirror world to reach outside Li Keji's ward, waiting for possible attacks.

Of course, he didn't stay in the same position all the time, nor did he always remain at Crimson Moon Hospital.

He picked out three time periods he thought were most suitable for assassination, only ambushing during these three periods, and being normal the rest of the time such as sleeping at home or being on his phone.

During those three time periods, he would randomly choose one of six hiding spots each time, with no two consecutive times being the same.

This was to guard against Zaratulstra and the Celestial Worthy's other subordinates thinking that someone might be using Li Keji as bait to ambush them, and launching targeted attacks in return.

At daybreak, Lumian went out to buy breakfast.

On the way, he deliberately turned into a quiet alley and met Jenna.

This was arranged by both parties.

Jenna handed Ludwig over to Lumian, as she had an interview at Hall Film Company today and couldn't watch over the child.

Lumian looked around and told Jenna about what happened last night, asking her to share it with Franca.

Lumian finally said, "At present, it seems that contacting Zhou Mingrui during the day and hinting at the existence of supernatural powers also carries risks, but won't receive precise strikes. However, after being remembered by Zhou Mingrui and knowing the corresponding danger, one will encounter rapid marionettization at night, which can possibly be avoided. Currently, we can't determine if it's an isolated attack. I'll observe Zaratulstra's situation again tonight.

"Get Luo Shan to find Zhou Mingrui and remind him about the Zaratulstra issue again, see if he has forgotten the corresponding things. Don't worry, after I directly mentioned Zaratulstra yesterday, Zhou Mingrui should have guessed that I'm on the same side as Franca and Luo Shan. He doesn't know about your and Anthony's existence for now."

Jenna had just tersely acknowledged when both of them almost simultaneously received a friend request from "An Ruide".

After exchanging glances, Lumian gestured to Jenna not to add him yet, and accepted the request himself.

After An Ruide talked about last night's situation and Madam Justice's guesses, he confirmed the other's identity and sent a voice message with a smile: "Let's talk in detail when we get back to the rental house. I've made some significant discoveries on my end too."

"It seems Peng Deng is even more special than we imagined…" Lumian then told Jenna about Anthony's experience.

Jenna listened carefully, added Anthony back, and waved goodbye to Lumian and Ludwig.

…

In the administrative department of the Tech Building.

When Franca and Luo Shan went to the bathroom together, taking advantage of the moment when no one else was there, she told the other about the request relayed by Jenna.

Luo Shan asked nervously yet excitedly, "How should I hint?"

Franca used her Instigator expertise to help come up with a set of talking points.

After about half an hour, Zhou Mingrui, wearing a gray shirt, came to the administrative department again, asking Luo Shan if there was anything going on in the company recently, saying they needed to work overtime if there was something, and even if there wasn't, they still needed to work a bit extra.

Great question! Luo Shan praised Zhou Mingrui in her heart, and said with a smile, "The merger negotiations between the group and a large company have entered the formal process.

"The boss of that company is Zaratulstra, who has visited twice."

When saying the name "Zaratulstra", Luo Shan looked at Zhou Mingrui, trying to read the changes in his expression.

Zhou Mingrui said in realization, "Previously, Mr. Huang even grabbed me to pick him up at the airport, to be an interpreter and guide, but unfortunately, I didn't get to."

"When he came to visit the company, you weren't here either. Seems like you were on sick leave? Yesterday he came again but stayed on the 16th floor the whole time and didn't visit other departments, so you haven't met him at all." Luo Shan said deliberately.

This was the script Franca had prepared for her.

Zhou Mingrui paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Maybe there's some force in the universe preventing me from meeting him."

After chatting for a few more sentences, Zhou Mingrui left Luo Shan's workstation and walked towards the door.

As he passed by Franca's desk, Franca suddenly spoke. "Watch out!"

Zhou Mingrui quickly turned sideways, looking at Franca.

Franca pointed at the wet marks on the ground and said, "I just spilled some water on the ground, it's a bit slippery, be careful."

"Oh, oh, you scared me," Zhou Mingrui responded with a smile.

He walked around the wet area and left the administrative department. The smile on his face gradually faded.

Luo Fu told me to be careful? Luo Shan just mentioned Zaratulstra…

Are they together telling me to be careful of Zaratulstra?

Hmm, they are indeed on the same side as Li Ming…

In the administrative department, Luo Shan sent a message to Franca: "He has some vigilance towards that enemy, he probably hasn't forgotten your warning."

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