Different treatment

As time ticked by, Lumian saw office workers leaving the Technology Building one after another, while carts appeared inconspicuously along the roadside, selling fried noodles, braised dishes, fried skewers, barbecue, and other foods.

Cars with their lights on passed by, still busy as ever.

Everything's fine for now... Lumian had long since lost sight of Zhou Mingrui, but he didn't sense anything unusual.

At this moment, Old Xia walked in:

"Let's go take another look around, lest Captain Xu accuse us of slacking off in the office."

"Okay." Lumian nodded.

Then, he saw Old Xia turn his body around somewhat awkwardly.

"What's wrong? Did you hurt your back?" Lumian stopped in her tracks, still standing close to the window.

Old Xia turned his head to the side, his expression normal, and said, "I didn't... anything... ah..."

During his speech, his lips would sometimes stop moving, and his accent would change.

Without waiting for Lumian's response, Old Xia looked away and continued walking towards the door.

His knees, his ankles, his arms, his shoulders felt heavy and stiff, as if they were filled with lead, with a sluggish sensation.

Lumian suddenly recalled the Puppet show he had seen in the Basement the "Alone" Bar in Trier, and felt as if Old Xia's joints were all tied with an invisible thread.

"Old Xia is more like Puppet than a human being now..."

He was... Marionette-ization?

My thoughts seem to have gotten stuck...

"Am I also being Marionette-ization?"

Lumian was startled, lowered his head, and tried to raise his right arm.

In his field of vision, his arm would rise and stop, then rise again and stop again, like encountering slow internet speed while watching a video.

Sure enough... Lumian's first reaction was that the Celestial Worthy was using Marionette-ization himself, but he didn't feel the Pain and uncomfortable feeling that Franca described, like a fish leaving the water or a person being cut off from the air.

He immediately thought of another possibility:

Zarathustra or one of the Celestial Worthy' other Subordinate are lurking in the shadows, plotting against me!

Lumian slightly moved his neck and turned his gaze to the window.

He noticed that all the vehicles on the road paused briefly at the same time, but there was no instance of them lurching forward uncontrollably due to sudden braking.

After a brief freeze, the vehicles continued moving.

Two seconds later, they stopped again.

This made Lumian feel as if he were watching surveillance footage, frame by frame!

Not only vehicles, but also vendors selling fried noodles and their customers exhibited similar, abnormal lag.

" In Dream, within a city, such a vast and Marionette-ization could only be accomplished by the Celestial Worthy, or Mr. ' The Fool '..."

"An anomaly has occurred..."

Lumian focused his mind, preparing himself to actively exit the Dream.

Although he didn't understand why his experience was different from Franca's, the current situation and the Change around him made him feel that this was something he couldn't escape or fight against on his own.

The only solution is to actively exit the Dream before becoming Marionette.

Of course, Lumian didn't put it into practice immediately, because he didn't need to use the "Information Shredder" to delete important contacts on his phone, which he had already done in advance. He still had some time to experience the current Change and see if he could observe any hidden information.

A dozen seconds later, Lumian's thoughts suddenly became clear, and the feeling of his head being filled with mush was gone.

"All done? The Marionette-ization is over?" Lumian was looking outside when he noticed that the vehicles on the road were no longer making strange stops.

The vendors and pedestrians returned to normal.

"Why aren't you moving? What are you thinking about?" Old Xia turned to the side again, urging Lumian.

Lumian's Eyes flickered slightly, and she said with a grin, "Ouch, my stomach hurts, I'm going to the toilet."

After saying that, he started running, past Old Xia, and into the Public Restroom on this floor.

Old Xia watched his retreating figure and chuckled as he muttered a curse:

"Lazy oxen and lazy horses produce a lot of excrement and urine!"

Lumian entered a cubicle, locked the door, and quickly used "Spirit World Traversal".

He was "Teleportation" to another Public Restroom, appearing in mid-air on the Men's side.

Seeing that the cubicle below was empty, Lumian floated down and locked the door behind her.

This is the Hotel where Zarathustra. Before Lumian went to "wait" outside Li Keji's ward at Crimson Moon Hospital, he came here to scout the area. Although his plan to take the initiative and assassinate Zarathustra has been temporarily shelved, and he has instead used Li Keji to ambush potential enemies, he still wants to make more preparations if he has enough time, in case Zarathustra chooses to eliminate Li Keji indirectly. In that case, the alternative plan might become the official one.

Lumian took out a Mirror and placed it on top of the water tank.

Then, he placed his right hand on it.

His figure suddenly leaned forward, quickly blurred, and entered the glass mirror.

Using the Mirror World, he traveled through the Glass Window of Zarathustra's Suite.

Under the cover of night, this is undoubtedly a true Mirror.

Lumian didn't bring his face close to the glass mirror, but instead peered into the room from a distance.

He wasn't sure Zarathustra had returned to the Hotel yet; he might still be out socializing. He also dared not use Divination to find out the other's current location, fearing it would alert a true "Seer."

The next second, he saw Daoist dressed in a black suit, with slightly disheveled white hair, hanging from the main light, swaying gently, like the Corpse of a hanged person.

Zarathustra!

This... Lumian was a little shocked:

"Zarathustra was hanged by Mr. The Fool, just as he Death God?"

Did my explicit suggestion to Zhou Mingrui this afternoon really work?

"My original intention was simply to get Zarathustra kicked out of the Dream, and I was even prepared to sacrifice one of my own opportunities to enter the Dream..."

As Lumian raced, he saw Distortion, wriggling, transparent Maggots falling from Zarathustra's body.

As soon as these Insects landed on the bed and the ground, they quickly faded and disappeared, as if they were just Phantom.

Lumian then saw Daoist emerge from the void.

The figure was dressed in a black suit, with completely white hair, a rather thick beard, and deep blue eyes that were almost completely black.

Zarathustra!

Another Zarathustra!

Zarathustra is still alive!

Zarathustra raised his head and stared expressionlessly at "himself" hanging from the chandelier.

The suspended figure quickly faded and became transparent, just like the Maggots that had fallen earlier, until it disappeared.

"Was that Zarathustra's Historical Void Images just hoisted up?"

"Zarathustra sensed the danger in advance and summoned a historical image to replace itself? Otherwise, at the Sequence 7 level, a historical image wouldn't last long..." Lumian withdrew his gaze, no longer looking at Zarathustra, lest the other party notice.

The information provided by the Major Arcana describes the abilities of the "Seer" Pathway up to Sequence 3 "Ancient Scholar" in considerable detail. However, for Sequence 2 "Miracle Invoker," it only briefly explains what Wish is and what Miracle is. Beyond that, the Major Arcana hardly mention anything. The terms "Grafting" and "Fooling" are only briefly mentioned later to explain specific matters.

Standing in the pitch- Pitch-Black void Mirror-Behind Region, Lumian, considering his own and Zarathustra's different experiences, made some deductions about what had just happened:

"The initial assessment is that the anomaly was caused by my warning to Zhou Mingrui during the day."

"On my end, pedestrians and cars within the area were all affected by the Marionette-ization, not just myself... This shows that my warning to Zhou Mingrui did indeed attract the attention of the Celestial Worthy, but because it was given during the day, the Celestial Worthy couldn't pinpoint me Precision, only roughly define a range?"

"In this collective Marionette-ization, if I use my Beyond Ability to resist or struggle, I will be quickly locked onto by the Celestial Worthy. But if I choose to exit the Dream to avoid danger, the Celestial Worthy's goal is also achieved, making me waste one of my chances to enter and exit the Dream... How cunning..."

"My warning to Zhou Mingrui was also perceived by Mr. ' The Fool,' Zarathustra. As a result, Zarathustra underwent targeted and rapid Marionette-ization, but this was absorbed by the images within the Historical Pore..."

Why Zarathustra so calm now? Is this the ' Faceless '? Or is He certain that Mr. The Fool's gaze will only come once, before any new Change occur, and once He has dodged it, He has truly escaped it?

"Tomorrow, have Rosanne test Zhou Mingrui to see if he still remembers Zarathustra's threat. If he does, and Zarathustra hasn't been turned into Marionette-ization or kicked out of the Dream again, then it must be that the Celestial Worthy provided help, resolving this incident with a death Historical Projection..."

"Could we use a similar method to avoid being kicked out of the Dream?"

"Or perhaps the threat spoken of by others is different from the provocation faced directly, which is why Franca and Zarathustra's experiences are not quite the same..."

Thinking of this, Lumian glanced quietly out of the Mirror again.

He saw Zarathustra walk to the door as if nothing had happened, open the door, let in several attendants, and discuss the business negotiations for the next day with them.

Lumian felt a pang of regret.

He had just been thinking about whether to take advantage of the Zarathustra's Historical Projection was suspended and his true form appeared to carry out a surprise assassination!

His Curse still retains the characteristic of not being transferred by the "Paper Figurine Substitute," as long as it truly affects the original body.

After glancing at his entourage and assessing the possibility of any Beyonder among them, Lumian silently left the Glass Window that served as Mirror and slipped back into the toilet.

He had only been gone for two seconds Zarathustra and his retinue, some turning halfway around and others tilting their heads, all turned their gaze toward the Glass Window at the edge of the living room, reflecting the night sky.

Inside a budget Hotel.

Anthony, who was self-isolating after coming into contact with Peng Deng, sat on the edge of his Bed, waiting for the possible abnormality to come.