Facing It Head-on

Yangdu High-Speed Rail Station is half collapsed, plunging into deep darkness, as if swallowed by Abyss. Although the other half has been restored to stability and normalcy, the lights are not yet on, and the whole place is dim. Only a few roads leading to the outside world have a glow gathering, forming a bright and clear Light Gate.

In this environment, with his back to the deep darkness, Zhou Mingrui looked at Lumian and asked in a calm voice, "You know?"

Lumian nodded slightly and said, "Yes."

"Theoretically, I should wait for Anthony and Ludwig to wake An Xiaotian up, to hear words like 'Beware of Zhou Mingrui ' from him, and then after being kicked out of the Dream, to be indirectly influenced by the Major Arcana and receive the corresponding information in order to know the truth. But Peng Deng's real hint has already given me the answer."

"On the surface, he is implying that he is the childhood friend of Mr. ' The Fool ' and the Celestial Worthy, but the reverse is also true. Zhou Mingrui is not only the childhood friend of Peng Deng, but also the childhood friend of That One Primordial Witch God. The two identities are unified and integrated."

"In other words, Zhou Mingrui is both Mr. ' The Fool ' and you, Celestial Worthy!"

Zhou Mingrui smiled faintly, slightly raised his chin, and adopted a listening posture.

Lumian further stated, "This also aligns with the warning from the Magic Mirror Arrodes: ' Beware of the Night.' During the day, Mr. The Fool's power prevails, and Zhou Mingrui is equivalent to Mr. The Fool. At night, you, Celestial Worthy, become more active, and Zhou Mingrui will get closer to you. Therefore, even just getting close, without any hints, will be risky."

"Based on this judgment, any hints, assistance, or awakening given to Zhou Mingrui will benefit both Mr. ' The Fool ' and you, Celestial Worthy."

"Peng Deng, as the symbol of That One Primordial Witch God, does not meet with Zhou Mingrui at night because if you were to run into him, there is a high probability that something very bad or unexpected would happen."

Zhou Mingrui nodded and said, "He is formed from the power left over from the Magic Mirror and a portion of Grisha's spirit and consciousness brought into the Dream. He can't compare to me here. If we meet at night, it will be advantageous for me, but a problem for Him."

Zhou Mingrui did not deny that he was now the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth.

Lumian revealed a knowing expression:

"That One real Grisha?"

Before Zhou Mingrui could respond, he continued, "Considering Peng Deng's true hints, the condition of Director Ya, and the root cause of the Dream's limitations, when I entered the Dream for the third time, I actually roughly guessed what had happened before and your current situation."

"A few years ago, not long after Mr. ' The Fool ' fell into Slumber, he must have used himself as bait to lure you out and seal you into the body of Zhou Mingrui, which was formed from his spirit and consciousness."

"From Mysticism, this symbolizes your fusion and conflict. In reality, you are indeed within him, indeed restricted by him, and this is reflected in Dream with similar symbolism!"

At this point, Lumian paused, as if observing Zhou Mingrui's reaction.

Zhou Mingrui said with an unchanged smile, "Continue, I'm listening."

Lumian smiled and said, "This also explains why Zhou Mingrui's original relationships only included Peng Deng and Zhang Yujia, while the others came from the identities of Klein Moretti, Gehrman Sparrow, and others."

"He doesn't want you to exploit the Depths, most tender feelings buried in his heart. Of course, since you already know about them, there's nothing that can be done."

Zhou Mingrui nodded slightly and said, "Peng Deng and Zhang Yujia didn't originally exist. They were created by Grisha using his ' Dreamweaver ' abilities and Zhou Mingrui's subconscious perception."

"I see. No wonder Zhou Mingrui suddenly froze when he mentioned the other hairpin. That might be the real reflection of Peng Deng." Lumian suddenly realized.

He continued, "Afterwards, Mr. ' The Fool ' may have made Wish with the Book or used some other ability to remove the Extraordinary Ability from Dream City, allowing Zhou Mingrui to live as Ordinary Person. During this process, he may have been Fooling by you, forgetting who he really is and forgetting many things."

"Overall, the state of being Ordinary Person is very advantageous to Mr. The Fool, because he has become Great Ones step by step from Ordinary Person. Even though he has inevitably been influenced and eroded by Divinity, he still retains a part of Humanity, that part of Humanity that is strong and ardent for him. But you, Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth, are naturally great and do not have that kind of Humanity at all."

"When the battlefield is fixed on Ordinary Person with only Humanity and in an urban environment without Extraordinary Ability, you are naturally suppressed, restricted, and weakened, and Humanity temporarily triumphs over Divinity."

"This can also be interpreted symbolically. The fact that Zhou Mingrui, who embodies both Mr. The Fool and the Celestial Worthy, is an Ordinary Person symbolizes that Humanity has prevailed, while Divinity has been suppressed to a corner and can be temporarily ignored."

"Yes, I was affected by that drop of River Water at the time, and I couldn't do anything more. I could only accept the Change." Zhou Mingrui admitted this frankly.

Lumian glanced at the Dream Image running out of the high-speed rail station and said, "Once you recover, you will begin to influence this Dream City, either with the help of other beings or by summoning your original followers, allowing items involving the supernatural, such as Fully Automatic Vending Machine, to take center stage."

"One of their important purposes is to gradually guide Mr. The Fool to realize that this is a world with Extraordinary Ability, from Sequence 9 to Sequence 0. As this understanding and Sequence level change, Divinity will gradually grow stronger and suppress Humanity step by step."

"According to this plan, the longer we linger in the Dream City and the more we do with our Extraordinary Ability, the more advantageous it will be for you. This is something you haven't told Zarathustra and the other believers, because you're worried that it will attract interference from other beings."

"Similarly, you didn't want to wait that long, so you induced Zhou Mingrui to take the ' Assassin ' Potion, allowing the Emperor Roselle in the mirror to enter here."

"You want to create a stable ' Person in the Mirror ' to split Zhou Mingrui, which is equivalent to opening a gap in the seal that Mr. The Fool built himself. Once you gradually control the ' Person in the Mirror,' you can step out of the Mirror, replace the 'original body,' and turn the real into the fake, and the fake into the real. As for the impact of gender reassignment on cognition, these are just smoke and mirrors."

"But unfortunately, That One Primordial Witch God foresaw this scene before his fall, leaving behind an arrangement that spanned several eras, and the Magic Mirror Arrodes."

"One of the Great Terror Depths within the Special Mirror World is prepared specifically for you!"

Zhou Mingrui said with a smile, "When I first woke up and saw that magic mirror, I had a rough idea of what was going to happen."

Lumian nodded in agreement:

Yes, you should have made extra preparations for this.

"But..."

At this point, he smiled and said, "Of all the things Amon has said, the one I agree with the most is:

"Strip away the distractions of complex information and see the most fundamental facts."

"So, what is the most fundamental fact now?"

Lumian stared into Zhou Mingrui Mingrui's Deep Brown eyes, which were framed by non-prescription glasses, and said, "The most fundamental fact is that I'm standing right in front of you, saying so many things about your true situation, yet I haven't been kicked out of this Dream, nor have I felt myself being turned into Marionette-ization!"

Lumian smiled again:

"You sent Zhou Shasha to Yangdu ahead of time not only to disrupt our rhythm and prevent That One Primordial Witch God's arrangement from becoming a reality, but also to prevent interference from other entities. You wanted to ensure that Zhou Mingrui would have a stable and long-term ' Person in the Mirror ' before they were ready."

"This shows that you value and look forward to this matter very much. You will try to avoid making extra preparations if possible, as they are not that convenient."

"I watched helplessly as things deteriorated step by step, watched you finally find a chance to awaken, and had Anthony and Ludwig do the pointless task of waking An Xiaotian. I asked the ' Queen of Mysteries ' to help shift the focus of the Dream's Main Consciousness, and asked the Deity like Stiano to help create chaos in the Information World and restrain other places, all to attract your attention, to make you think you can win, and to make you invest more power and resources in this matter."

"In this way, when That One Primordial Witch God's plan is unleashed through the medium of the Magic Mirror Arrodes, you will be weakened to the greatest extent."

"So, the third time I entered the Dream, I stood before you and told you the truth, and I still wasn't kicked out on the spot."

You don't have that ability right now!

Zhou Mingrui laughed:

Don't you think you're acting like bait right now?

Lumian sighed and said, "I know you're waiting for your extra preparations to arrive; otherwise, how would I have had this opportunity to speak with you?"

"But I'm waiting too."

At this point, a bright smile appeared on Lumian's face:

Didn't you notice that one of my companions is missing?

"All those things happening at once were meant to distract you and make you overlook her actions!"

Seeing Zhou Mingrui staring at her, Lumian slightly raised her chin and said firmly, "The Major Arcana ' guesses were correct, and their attempts were not wrong!"

Inside a movie theater in Dream City.

Franca was sitting in the second row, looking at the screen in front of her, where "Great Pirate 3" was playing.

At this moment, her body was indistinct, as if a sketch had been erased. The few Spectator around her had become blurred, but slowly they fixed themselves and gradually became clearer.

Franca had checked beforehand and found that since "Great Pirate 3" was about to be taken off the screens, there were only two cinemas showing it at noon, so she specifically took a taxi to the one furthest from Yangdu High-Speed Rail Station.

Her search results have been lost in the current chaos and disorder of the internet.

As the thunder in the sky quickly subsided, and Franca saw Gehrman Sparrow standing on the bow of the pirate ship on the screen, Franca suddenly stood up.

She walked quickly to the front of the screening room, and before the few Spectator could protest, she took a breath, extended her right palm, and placed it on the screen.

Her figure blurred rapidly, tilted forward, and entered the screen.