Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Lumian's initial feeling was that Li Keji had noticed the difference between Queen of Stars Cattleya and Huang Jiajia, but after careful consideration, he overturned this guess.

This was because Li Keji said his other colleagues also seemed to have become different people, and it was unlikely that they had all been occupied and used by external consciousnesses.

"Why do you feel this way?" he asked Li Keji.

Li Keji stroked his belly and said, "The previous ones ate the mushrooms I sent, but the current ones haven't!"

The current ones haven't? Does this mean they've been replaced? Lumian's thoughts raced as he carefully asked, "What about Bernie Huang? Have you seen her recently, and is she different from before?"

"I've seen her, but I don't know if there's been any change. She never ate the mushrooms I sent before," Li Keji answered honestly.

In other words, Li Keji can't distinguish the difference between external consciousnesses and dream manifestations, nor does he have the observational ability to do so. However, he can determine whether the person in front of him has eaten the mushrooms he created… Taken together, did he mean that Huang Jiajia and others at Star Tutoring Classes had eaten them before, leaving corresponding traces, but recently they hadn't? Had Huang Jiajia and the others been replaced? Lumian had already been surprised when he heard Li Keji say that Huang Jiajia and the others seemed to have become different people, but now he felt more confused and alert.

He was currently inclined to believe Li Keji's statement, thinking that the Mushroom King, who was confined to the psychiatric ward and hadn't yet given birth, had not been completely corrupted and wouldn't be experiencing hallucinations or have his personality twisted to enjoy lying. Moreover, in the dream city, based on Mr. Fool's subconscious cognition, Li Keji had a certain uniqueness and could indeed possibly discover anomalies.

Who replaced Huang Jiajia and the others? Why replace them? Lumian pondered these questions.

Suddenly, he thought of one person: Zaratulstra!

When Lumian first discovered that Zaratulstra had visited Star Tutoring Classes, his initial reaction was that this Angel wanted to do something to the dream manifestation of Ma'am Hermit. But later, as events unfolded with Li Keji being arrested and sent to the psychiatric ward, this led him to overturn his original suspicions and stop thinking in that direction.

Now, the new discovery made him reconsider his earliest guess.

Zaratulstra likes to exert force on both overt and covert lines simultaneously. On the surface, he was helping the Great Mother control Li Keji and eliminating the hidden dangers brought by mushrooms, while secretly taking advantage of opportunities like visits to target Huang Jiajia and other teachers at Star Tutoring Classes, replacing these dream manifestations? The benefit of doing this would be that the attention of covert saboteurs would be focused on Li Keji's matter, overlooking the key point that Star Tutoring Classes itself was also a target… Lumian only now realized that Zaratulstra's plan was far more extensive than what he and his team had previously analyzed.

Based on this, he believed that Zaratulstra should have chosen the Conspirer pathway rather than being a Seer.

His experience, knowledge, intellect, and style are truly worthy of a real Angel… Lumian inwardly sighed, continuing to question Li Keji, wanting to understand more details.

But apart from knowing whether those colleagues had eaten the mushrooms he gave them, Li Keji shook his head in ignorance to all other questions.

Finally, Lumian could only caution, "You must come up with a plan in these two days, otherwise the minions of the evil god will take action against you again, causing the child to be born in the near future."

This referred to his and Grimm's previous agreement to take action again in a week to help the fetus in Li Keji's body develop rapidly.

"Alright," Li Keji answered, touching his belly.

Lumian looked at him deeply, forming a new idea: After Grimm confirms that Li Keji is truly pregnant and helps the fetus gain growth "momentum" with the help of Mushu Hospital's obstetrics department, I'll secretly return and complete the abortion!

…

At Xinhong District, in the rented apartment.

Lumian's team gathered again to hear him talk about Li Keji's pregnancy and the suspected replacement of Huang Jiajia and others.

"If we assume the culprit is Zaratulstra or his accomplices, then we can't just look at Star Tutoring Classes for the replacements," Jenna expressed her thoughts. "Doesn't this remind you of anything?"

Franca had a sudden realization. "The death of the Oracle?"

"Yes," Lumian had already connected this incident with the replacement of Huang Jiajia and other Star Tutoring Classes members. "If Anderson hadn't interfered, if we hadn't discovered the Oracle's body in time, he would have definitely been sent to the morgue in Mushu Hospital B1, gaining a 'rebirth'. After that, wouldn't it count as the 'reborn' him replacing the original him?"

"Did Huang Jiajia and the others experience something similar? Was Zaratulstra targeting not just Star Tutoring Classes, but also Dream Tutoring Classes?" The more Franca spoke, the more shocked she became. "On the surface, he was seeking opportunities to contact Zhou Mingrui through visits to Dream Tutoring Classes but secretly he was replacing the teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes? How damn insidious!"

21:51

"Did Huang Jiajia and the others experience something similar? Was Zaratulstra targeting not just Star Tutoring Classes, but also Dream Tutoring Classes?" The more Franca spoke, the more shocked she became. "On the surface, he was seeking opportunities to contact Zhou Mingrui through visits to Dream Tutoring Classes but secretly he was replacing the teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes? How damn insidious!"

At this point, Franca sincerely sighed.

"Who knows what else Zaratulstra has done in secret, it's probably not just this one thing… Fortunately, we chose to eliminate the hidden danger in advance, kicking Zaratulstra out of the dream and killing His dream manifestation. Otherwise, if His overt stratagem and covert scheme were to be launched simultaneously, both reaching the brink of success, the situation would be unimaginable!

"Perhaps the whole affair would have ended there, with our complete failure as the conclusion."

"Now without the leadership of Zaratulstra and Mr. Cui, their subordinates will find it difficult to consider the overall situation. We can take this opportunity to dismantle the bombs one by one and eliminate the hidden problems," Anthony agreed with Franca's sentiments.

Lumian nodded slightly and solemnly reminded, "This is both good news and bad news.

"I believe you can all see that a Seer is more suited to hiding in the shadows, directing the play, rather than directly stepping onto the stage and exposing themselves to the audience's view.

"Zaratulstra previously needed to advance overt matters to obtain money and resources, to openly contact Zhou Mingrui, so He couldn't hide His identity and stay in the shadows. The same goes for Mr. Cui. This gave us the opportunity to set traps and make good use of the dream rules.

"Once Zaratulstra and Mr. Cui obtain new identities and return, they will surely hide behind the scenes, covertly advancing their own agendas. At that time, the roles of hunter and prey will be reversed. Even if we show just a slight flaw, we will immediately be discovered and face deadly assassination. Once attacked, the best outcome would be the person being kicked out of the dream, with the dream manifestation most likely destroyed."

"Yes, at that time the enemy will be in the dark and I'm in the light, with the danger level skyrocketing," Franca nodded in agreement.

Because of her close relationship with Luo Shan, once Zaratulstra returned and focused the investigation on why Zhou Mingrui went to Shujin Hot Pot Restaurant that day, she could easily be discovered. That's why she said "I'm in the light."

Lumian chuckled in response.

"Of course, this is also an opportunity. You continue working in the administrative department of Intis Group for now. When Zaratulstra returns, see if you can use this to set a trap for Him. If not, you can quickly resign, change your identity, and also hide in the shadows.

"At the same time, we need to make good use of this period before Zaratulstra's return."

As he spoke, Lumian picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message to "A name that leaves a deep impression on you": "How have you been lately? Are you enjoying classes?"

Soon, "A name that leaves a deep impression on you" replied: "Do you want to check what time it is now?

"If you have nothing better to do, I suggest you go out for a run."

Lumian calmly replied: "Do you still feel that the world is fake lately, that there are terrifying fake details in the people around you?"

After about ten seconds, Anderson Hood replied: "It's even more fake than before."

"Such as?" Lumian pressed.

Anderson Hood sent a ? emoji:

"For example, Ai Nana, Iron Skin, Flowery Bow Tie, and other tutoring center teachers all seem more fake now, different from before."

As expected… Lumian confirmed his team's speculation.

He asked with a ? emoji: "What about you, have you become more fake?"

Anderson Hood sent "a dog biting its own tail": "I might be next.

"But I recently saw news about a foreign guest being shot dead."

A good Hunter should know how to obtain information from public reports… Lumian put down his phone and said to Franca, Jenna, and the others:

"Most of the teachers at Dream Tutoring Classes have also been replaced."

"What's the significance of this replacement? To make all dream manifestations dominated by the Celestial Worthy, thus gaining victory in the consciousness battle?" Franca raised a question.

Lumian didn't answer, instead using frost to create a white board and sticking notes on it.

Each note had the name of a dream manifestation currently suspected of being replaced, as well as their corresponding real-world person.

Lumian stood in front of the white board, studying it intently for a while before asking Franca, Jenna, and Anthony, "See anything in common?"

"They are or were all pirates?" Jenna tentatively answered.

Lumian shook his head.

"That's the surface commonality.

"There's another common point hidden beneath the surface."

Saying this, he turned to his companions and said, "These are all characters that have appeared in 'The Great Adventurer' series of novels.

"In other words, they are all participants and witnesses of Gehrman Sparrow's life!"

Hearing this conclusion, Franca suddenly thought of the movie "The Great Pirate 3", of Jia Yu who was poached by Zaratulstra for playing Gehrman Sparrow, and of An Xiaotian, the original actor for Gehrman Sparrow who was now in a vegetative state.

"Is the focus of the contest the identity of Gehrman Sparrow? This also fits the prophecy 'The awakening of The World spells The Fool's return'," Franca muttered to herself.

With a nod, Lumian replied, "It seems so for now, which is why these people related to Gehrman Sparrow have all been replaced.

"The Oracle's death was the beginning, not the end."