Adding friends

Upon hearing Stiano offer his help, Lumian raced, and he smiled, saying, "Thank you so much!"

Stiano took off his backpack and, as if by magic, pulled out one car repair tool after another, opening the hood of the Gray Car.

Seeing this, Franca couldn't help but let out a silent lament:

No!

"Originally, the compensation was only one or two thousand, but after you finish repairing it, you'll probably have to pay several thousand!"

She could guess why Lumian was willing to ask Stiano for help. The information provided by the Major Arcana didn't include a projection of this high-ranking member of the Steam Church in the Dream City. He seemed unimportant and unrelated to Mr. The Fool's awakening, yet he had encountered the team twice. This suggested either Destiny or that he possessed something special. Observing him more at this stage might provide helpful Guidance at a crucial moment in the future.

For the "Witch," this is both a conclusion reached through logical reasoning and a hint from their spiritual intuition.

"Never mind, this is just a dream, not reality. As long as Mr. ' The Fool ' believes that the higher-ups of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery are skilled at repairing machinery, then Stiano will be able to fix the car..." Franca comforted herself, quietly creating ice blocks to dispel the high temperature that had seeped into the car.

A moment later, Stiano raised his face, which was covered by a light yellow beard, avoided his greasy hands, adjusted his non-prescription glasses with the back of his hand, and said to Franca inside the car and Lumian outside, "It's fixed."

Really? Don't lie to me... Franca tried it at hetushu. com and found that the vehicle could indeed restart, very smoothly.

Lumian took out a bottle of mineral water filled with "Hunter Witch" brand cooled boiled water and used it to provide Stiano with water to wash his hands and tools through the Sewer by the roadside.

After the other person wiped their hands clean and put away their tools, Lumian thanked them again, then took out her phone, unlocked the screen, and said with a smile, "Let's add each other on WeChat. If you ever need any help, feel free to contact us, hehe, as long as it's within our capabilities."

Stiano looked at Lumian carefully, then smiled and said, "Okay."

He then took out his phone and asked Lumian to add him as WeChat friend by scanning a QR code.

After scanning the QR code, Lumian discovered that the other party's nickname was "Electric Power, Energy and Information Technology".

A strange feeling... Lumian waved goodbye to Stiano, returned to the Gray Car, and showed the man's WeChat to Jenna and the others.

Franca glanced at it and said with amusement, "This nickname sounds like a university course."

Check out his WeChat Moments!

This was the first non-squad member friend Lumian added on WeChat, completely forgetting that Franca had mentioned being able to gather information from Moments.

He quickly tapped on Stiano's profile picture, then went to his WeChat Moments:

Today: The professor's understanding of the concept of information is somewhat biased. Information is also energy, and energy also contains information. One of the essential aspects of every existence is Aggregation of corresponding information.

Yesterday: I found an old car, and its mechanical beauty captivated me.

August 13: I built a wonderful Machine.

"--Friends only show posts from the last three days--"

"A marvelous Machine?" Lumian muttered to himself in confusion. "How marvelous can it be? As a native of the Dream City, no matter how marvelous the Machine I create, it shouldn't be able to transcend the limitations of the Dream itself."

"He certainly seems like a high-ranking member of the Steam Church, and he also demonstrates a state of striving to learn and think after coming into contact with a more advanced Civilization. This should be the underlying logic behind Mr. ' The Fool's ' subconscious creation of this image," Franca said casually as she drove the car back onto the road.

In the following period, they observed key targets such as Peng Deng's girlfriend Nie Zhen, Peng Deng's roommate Grisha, and Zhou Mingrui's roommate Mobet.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, they returned to the building where Peng Deng worked and patiently waited for him to finish his busy day.

Peng Deng appeared around 6 p. m. and chose to take the Metro back to his rented Herun Residential Community.

Franca drove Jenna and Ludwig to their destination ahead of time to wait for them, while Lumian and Anthony followed them into the Metro station.

Along the way, many Women turned their attention to Lumian, seemingly captivated by his handsomeness, while Lumian himself had made himself look less attractive before leaving home.

Of course, a small number of Men were also secretly watching.

Peng Deng was focused on his phone and didn't care at all whether there were beautiful women around him, let alone that they were just Charm men.

"Normal-level handsomeness isn't enough to attract attention or get hit on. Unless there's a gimmick, it won't become a trending topic or headline..." Lumian felt a little relieved.

Anthony, standing beside him, was naturally overlooked by those around him.

Thanks to the "Hunter's" tracking skills and the "Witch's " ability to hide in the shadows at any time, Lumian easily followed Peng Deng to the vicinity of Herun Residential Community.

Instead of going home immediately, the latter turned onto Ankang North Road, walked to the vicinity of Xindu Garden, and entered a restaurant called "Yuzhou Stir-Fry".

Lumian glanced around and saw Franca roll down her window and wave to them.

Once they were in the car, Franca asked with concern, "Did you find anything?"

Lumian first shook his head, then muttered to himself in confusion, "Now I'm more curious about what's on his phone. How can he keep looking and looking?"

I watch it while Metro, I watch it while riding the escalator, and I watch it while walking.

"You don't understand," Franca exclaimed.

Jenna looked at the "Yuzhou Stir-Fry" restaurant, thought for a moment, and said, "This is the Restaurant Mr. ' The Fool ' and Peng Deng often eat at. If we wait a little longer, Mr. ' The Fool ' might come too."

Should we observe their interactions?

Lumian glanced at the sky outside:

"Can."

In this Dream City, it doesn't get dark until after 8 PM in the summer.

Jenna hummed in agreement.

"Then I'll buy Ludwig a roast duck, so he won't keep complaining about being hungry."

She had just found dinner for Ludwig; the "Fruitwood Roast Duck" restaurant on the same side of the vehicle had Paper that read "Thirty yuan a duck".

Lumian glanced at Ludwig, whose mouth was dripping with a suspicious liquid, and said with a smile, "Two of them, let's try some too."

Time ticked by, Lumian and the others had tasted roast duck and eaten steamed buns, but they still hadn't seen Zhou Mingrui, the incarnation of "The Fool," in his Dream. Meanwhile, Peng Deng had finished his meal and was heading back towards Herun Residential Community.

"Mr. The Fool, would you like something different tonight?" Franca dipped the last piece of dough wrapped around duck meat in sweet bean sauce and brought it to her mouth.

Glug!

She heard a distinct sound of someone swallowing.

Franca glanced at Ludwig's pleading face, said "Hey," Handle Past food.

Lumian turned his gaze away from the window:

"He might have gone to do something else; I didn't see him return to Xindu Garden."

"Should we continue tracking him?" Jenna pointed to Peng Deng's retreating figure.

Lumian shook his head:

"It's getting dark; following us any further could lead to an accident."

Franca agreed, "The Major Arcana have also mentioned that one of the most likely signs of a problem with Peng Deng is that he has never met with Mr. The Fool, that is, Zhou Mingrui, after dark."

"They've been childhood friends, so it's normal for them to get together for a late-night snack and a movie. Mr. ' The Fool ' has extended invitations many times, and Peng Deng himself has also invited Mr. ' The Fool,' but they've never been able to get together. Every time, Peng Deng has something on his mind—either his girlfriend won't allow it, or she suddenly gets sick, or his roommate breaks the lock, and they have to wait for a locksmith to open the door..."

"And when they chose to have meals and outings during the day, That One succeeded; the girlfriend who was always getting in Peng Deng's way would occasionally join them."

"Combined with the magic mirror's warning of ' Beware of the Night,' these details seem quite eerie," Lumian hummed in agreement.

Back in the Rented Apartment.

Seeing Lumian lost in thought, gazing at the darkening sky outside, Franca asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'd like to go out tonight, to act like Ordinary Person, and see if I encounter any more anomalies or problems," Lumian said cautiously.

He wanted to probe the boundaries of the "nighttime issue" before formally meeting with Zhou Mingrui tomorrow afternoon.

They didn't go out last night, everything was normal.

"Just like Ordinary Person..." Franca's Eyes flickered slightly as she smiled at Lumian and Jenna, "Let's go see a movie!"

Lumian and the others were already familiar with the concept of film and were curious about it, so Franca's proposal was unanimously approved.

Franca immediately smiled like a fox who had stolen a hen:

"Let's go to another mall, maybe we can win some lottery tickets, and then we'll have enough for tonight's movie tickets and popcorn, right?"

You can't go to the same place twice, or they'll notice!

Upon hearing the word "popcorn," Ludwig's eyes lit up immediately, even though he had initially shown little interest.

Inside another shopping mall.

Franca, satisfied with winning over two thousand in prize money, led her teammates to the movie theater on the Fourth Floor.

As they passed the Third Floor, they saw a long queue outside a bookstore with a sophisticated, bourgeois atmosphere.

"A book signing?" Franca, who had come to the Dream City, was curious and interested in everything. She pulled Jenna Past, wanting to see which author it was.

"Queen of Romance Novels... Dreamless Salted Fish... Author of the Great Pirate series novels..." Franca read out the keywords on the banner.

"That pen name is so strange," Jenna remarked.

Franca laughed, "That's just ordinary weirdness. I'll download an app for you later and show you; the pen names of those online novel authors are all incredibly strange!"

As they spoke, Fran (www. hetushu. com. com) stood on tiptoe, peering at the author signing books. Lumian walked over to her and also turned his gaze to the bookstore.

A few seconds later, as That One writer raised his head, Lumian and Franca's expressions froze simultaneously.

"What's wrong?" Jenna noticed their unusual behavior.

Franca replied with a strange look, "I shouldn't be seeing things..."

"How could she be the queen of romance novels...?"

"Who?" Jenna asked, puzzled.

"' Magician ' Lady," came Lumian's low voice as she answered Jenna's question.