Chapter Summaries

Franca and Jenna fought off Rosanne’s probe but could not find her, while Rosanne remained in their dream and went to work as usual. Lumian received their report, urged further investigation, and then discovered that Green had recognized him as the Divine Child.

• Franca and Jenna destroyed Mo'erna, then split up to search for Rosanne and defend the barrier from invaders.
• Franca found Rosanne missing and suspected she had escaped through a painting of a bridge, while Jenna repelled the monsters until dawn.
• Franca and Jenna realized they had not been expelled from the dream, and Franca sent Lumian a report using WeChat.
• Lumian read Franca’s messages, replied with instructions to continue probing, and deleted their chat history with the Information Shredder.
• Green tested Lumian’s fighting skills at the Security Department, then told him he had recognized him as the Divine Child.

Lumian began his new job as a security guard at Intis Group, where he used Fascination to stop two employees from posting photos and video of him. Zhou Mingrui noticed Lumian and then grew suspicious that Rosanne might have become a Painter.

• Green praised Lumian's fighting skills and told Xu Xinyang to familiarize him with the security department's procedures.
• Xu Xinyang assigned Lumian to guard the building's main entrance, where Lumian stopped two employees from filming him and used Fascination to make them delete their recordings.
• Zhou Mingrui saw Lumian in his security uniform and wondered whether the young man had come to investigate him, but decided to observe before quitting or moving.
• Zhou Mingrui noticed Painter imagery and an empty Painter beverage bottle at Rosanne's desk, then asked her about Lumian.
• Rosanne told Zhou Mingrui that the new guard was named Li Ming, was twenty-two, and already had a seven-year-old child; Zhou Mingrui left suspecting Rosanne might be a Painter.

Lumian and the others continued investigating the Intis Group and Zhou Mingrui while preparing to approach Rosanne in the dream. Rosanne revealed that a mysterious voice had asked her to give Zhou Mingrui an Instigator beverage, leaving the witches uncertain whether he had drunk it.

• Lumian finished his first day guarding the Intis Group entrance, told Franca he would stay away from Xinhong Community overnight, and warned her to delete their chat history with the Information Shredder.
• Franca and Jenna prepared Franca’s clothes for her new job and discussed President Huang’s romantic scandals and the Intis Group’s problems.
• That night, Franca and Jenna encountered Rosanne at the barrier in the frozen dream space, and Franca claimed they had come from the future to protect a Savior from disguised monsters.
• Rosanne guessed that the Savior was Zhou Mingrui and said a voice had told her to give him an Instigator beverage in exchange for a Painter beverage.
• Rosanne said she did not know whether Zhou Mingrui had drunk it, and Jenna asked how many times Rosanne had received such beverages.

Jenna and Franca learned how Rosanne’s drinks and Shaman powers connected her to the monsters threatening Dechuang Garden, but Rosanne’s corrupted personality turned on Jenna. Franca revealed that she had already returned to Room 1502 and subdued Rosanne’s body, then called Anthony for help.

• Jenna questioned Rosanne about the Shaman drink, learning that its territory-based powers helped her guard a barrier while making her mind a target for invading monsters.
• Rosanne described drinking Reporter and hearing a voice that fueled her hatred and desire to reshape the world, then blamed herself for creating stronger monsters.
• As Jenna comforted Rosanne, a monstrous flower painted on Rosanne’s chest enveloped Jenna, and Rosanne revealed that she had been deceiving her.
• Franca had already left the illusory space and stabbed the sleeping Rosanne with the Chilling Blade, while her apparent presence there had been created by Jenna’s Mirror Magic.
• Franca called Anthony to treat Rosanne’s corruption, then bound her with spider silk and used her lengthening hair to stiffen her body.

Anthony treated Rosanne’s corruption-related mental problems, and she woke feeling like herself again. Rosanne then revealed that a voice had urged her to help fund a hotel tied to Anderson Hood, while the dangerous painting remained unresolved.

• Jenna told Franca that Rosanne’s Shaman powers had attracted invading creatures, and Anthony arrived to treat her.
• Ludwig ate Rosanne’s paintings, while Anthony used a candle and Hydrosol to treat Rosanne’s Mental Body.
• Rosanne woke with her personality restored and told Franca and Jenna that a voice had urged her to help open a guesthouse hotel.
• Rosanne said Anderson owned the hotel, and Franca and Jenna recognized his name on the Colorful Painting Hotel’s shareholder listing.
• Rosanne explained that the remaining painting had appeared after she drank the Reporter potion and could not be photographed or discarded, and Franca asked to take it for them to deal with in daylight.

Jenna took the anomalous painting to the Star Dream General Store, but the trip became a deadly ordeal as the painting trapped her in a vision of falling to her death. Sunlight broke the vision and she reached the store, only to see the driver put on a crystal monocle.

• Franca advised Jenna to ask the Star Dream General Store owner to buy the painting or accept it on consignment, with contacting Stiano or leaving it at Police Headquarters as backup plans.
• Franca and Jenna spoke with Rosanne in the strange space and learned more about Zhou Mingrui and the Intis Group, then prepared for the day's danger.
• After the morning rush hour, Jenna took the painting by car to the Star Dream General Store to avoid exposing more people to its anomaly.
• Jenna experienced a drowning attack and became trapped in a vision where Rosanne and a bewitching version of herself waited across a bridge that broke beneath her.
• A ray of sunlight shattered the vision, and Jenna found herself at the Star Dream General Store, where the driver asked her to leave a good review and revealed a crystal monocle.

Jenna escaped the Cliff Painting’s lethal influence with Amon’s help and sold it to the Star Dream General Store for thirty thousand. At the Technology Building, Lumian tested what Security Director Green knew about the Divine Child and began transforming his appearance.

• Amon drove Jenna to the Star Dream General Store after helping her escape the Cliff Painting’s hallucination.
• The shopkeeper bought the painting from Jenna for thirty thousand, and Jenna realized the transaction might follow Dream City’s rules of equivalent exchange.
• Franca arrived at the Technology Building in disguise while Lumian watched the surveillance feeds and recognized her.
• Green warned Lumian to be careful of Huang Tao, explaining that he had betrayed Mother and was no longer her child.
• Lumian reasoned that changes in reality could affect the dream and tested whether Green knew the Divine Child’s identity by asking why he was male.
• Lumian told Green that he thought Mother had revealed his true identity, then began changing his hair and facial features.

Lumian began his new job in security and made contact with director Green, while Franca started work in Administration and encountered Zhou Mingrui after clearing away Rosanne’s drawings. The chapter ended with Lumian checking his empty chat with Anderson Hood.

• Green praised Lumian’s background and added him on WeChat before posting pictures of his children.
• Franca met deputy supervisor Zhang Qing, who introduced her to the Administration Department and assigned her a desk near Rosanne’s.
• Franca noticed drawings at Rosanne’s desk and threw them away, then told Zhou Mingrui that Rosanne had asked her to do it.
• Zhou Mingrui asked Franca about her new job and whether Rosanne had referred her, and Franca said she had earned the position herself.
• Lumian opened his conversation with Anderson Hood during a restroom break and found only their initial greeting.

Lumian continued testing the dream’s dangers and received Franca’s warning about the Painter Pathway after Jenna narrowly escaped being trapped. Franca treated Rosanne’s renewed corruption, while Lumian learned that two security guards injured by lightning were recovering at Mushu Hospital.

• Lumian reviewed the team’s action outline and watched a hooded figure from Aurora Company drop and conceal a pile of objects on the surveillance feeds.
• Franca found Rosanne sketching a sinister self-portrait, burned the drawing with her abilities, and warned Rosanne that her corruption could return.
• Franca read Jenna’s account of the danger at the Star Dream General Store and forwarded Lumian a warning about the Painter Pathway’s power to prevent people from leaving the dream.
• Lumian deleted Franca and Jenna’s messages with the Information Shredder and warned Anthony about the danger.
• Xu Xinyang told Lumian that Old Wang and Old Ding were out of danger after being struck by lightning and were recovering at Mushu Hospital.

Lumian visited Mushu Hospital with Xu Xinyang and the security team, while Franca learned that Rosanne had arranged a dinner with Zhou Mingrui. The chapter ended with Lumian seeing the heavily bandaged patients and thinking of Mummy and the Mother Tree of Desire.

• Lumian agreed to investigate Mushu Hospital during the day and arranged to meet Anderson Hood at an art studio the following evening.
• Rosanne invited Franca to dinner with Zhou Mingrui, who agreed to meet them the next day.
• Xu Xinyang took Lumian, Old Xia, and Young Zhao to visit the injured Old Wang and Old Ding at Mushu Hospital.
• Xu Xinyang assured the patients’ family members that the company would cover compensation, medical expenses, and wages during recovery.
• Lumian saw Old Wang and Old Ding wrapped in bandages and thought of Mummy and the Mother Tree of Desire.

Lumian investigated suspicious details at Mushu Hospital, including Mother Superior Roland’s dream persona and Old Wang’s strange appearance at a window, then joined Xu Xinyang’s team for a welcome dinner. The chapter ended with Lumian drinking heavily while most of the team was incapacitated.

• Lumian visited Old Ding and Old Wang in the hospital ward, then noticed Mother Superior Roland listed as the hospital’s deputy director.
• Lumian asked Xu Xinyang about the hospital director and learned that President Huang had donated heavily to help establish Mushu Hospital.
• As the group descended in the elevator, Lumian sensed a supernatural chill and smelled blood, then saw Old Wang struggling behind a window on the twelfth floor.
• Lumian chose not to return to the hospital and went with Xu Xinyang’s team to a welcome dinner at a hot pot restaurant.
• Lumian outdrank Xu Xinyang and the other team members, leaving Xu pale and the rest of the group drunk or asleep.

Lumian and his companions prepared for Franca’s planned dinner with Zhou Mingrui and tested which mystical items the Star Dream General Store would buy. The chapter ended with Lumian meeting Anderson early outside Splendid Eastern Community and following him inside.

• Lumian returned to the rented apartment, where Franca and Jenna joined him to plan how Franca would hint at the truth to Zhou Mingrui during their dinner.
• Jenna recounted selling a painting at the Star Dream General Store, and the group chose several mystical items to offer there.
• Jenna tried to sell Panatiya’s Beyonder characteristic and the Corpse Oil Candle, but the shopkeeper refused both and offered thirty thousand for the Pride Armor after it tried to escape.
• Lumian arrived early at Splendid Eastern Community to survey the area and encountered Anderson Hood, who led him inside to begin the visit.

Lumian visited Anderson’s Mute Art Studio, where its paintings came alive and attacked him; he destroyed the painted Anderson and escaped. He later met Anderson Hood outside the community and headed to dinner with Anthony, while Franca and Rosanne waited for him at a hot pot restaurant.

• Lumian followed Anderson to Mute Art Studio and saw paintings depicting scenes that reminded him of Great Adventurer.
• Anderson revealed that the studio’s rules required everyone to act mute, then showed Lumian a painting of his female appearance.
• A sea monster emerged from a painting and attacked Lumian, who fought back as seawater from another painting extinguished his flames.
• Lumian punched the mute Anderson, turning him into a burning portrait; the monsters and seawater vanished, leaving the studio empty.
• Lumian encountered Anderson Hood outside the community, exchanged pointed remarks, and left with Anthony for Workers' Road.
• Franca and Rosanne waited at Yizhou Roast Chicken, where Zhou Mingrui arrived and greeted Franca as someone he had met before.

Franca, Rosanne, and Zhou Mingrui discussed the mysterious drink vending machine over hot pot, and Franca warned Zhou about the drinks that followed Assassin. After dinner, Franca was abruptly expelled from the dream while Lumian watched, concluding that her supernatural hints to Zhou had caused it.

• Franca and Rosanne ate hot pot with Zhou Mingrui, who mentioned a childhood friend who had returned to a hometown hospital after changing careers.
• Rosanne said she had bought a Shaman drink from the mysterious vending machine, and Zhou recalled that an Instigator drink she received had vanished after he left it with soaked mushrooms.
• Franca claimed she had drunk an Assassin drink and warned that the drinks after Assassin and Instigator could lead to serious trouble.
• After dinner, Zhou suspected Franca and Rosanne had been warning him and decided to observe them before speaking with them directly.
• As Franca walked with Rosanne toward a mall, she began suffocating and collapsed while trying to use her phone; her small black pouch vanished.
• Lumian watched Franca rise with vacant eyes and concluded that hinting to Zhou about supernatural powers had quickly kicked her out of the dream.

Franca voluntarily left Dream City after hinting to Zhou Mingrui about supernatural powers and the dangers of the Assassin potion, then woke in Trier with her belongings intact and several days passed in reality. Jenna and Lumian warned Rosanne to limit contact with Franca, and Jenna reported that Rosanne retained her memories while Franca remembered only her assigned background.

• Franca discovered that Panatiya’s Beyonder Characteristic and body part had returned with her from the dream, while her Pride Armor was gone, and realized that dream events had affected her hunger and bodily needs in reality.
• Franca reasoned that opposing forces had tried to eject her and turn her into a marionette, then met Madam Magician and Madam Judgement, who told her to wait a full day and night before reentering the dream.
• In Dream City, Franca recovered after collapsing and told Rosanne she had an old condition; Lumian told Jenna to minimize contact with Franca and avoid sleeping at Dechuang Garden.
• Jenna warned Rosanne not to discuss supernatural powers with Luo Fu, explaining that interference with past history had limits and a cost.
• Jenna left to visit Li Lu and messaged Lumian that Rosanne still remembered their story and help, while Franca remembered only her background and nominal relationships.

Jenna and Lumian investigated the dream’s changing characters while Lumian considered why the Celestial Worthy had pushed Zhou Mingrui toward the Witch pathway. Lumian suspected the goal involved creating Mr. Fool’s Person in the Mirror, and Anderson Hood’s message arrived before he could pursue the idea.

• Jenna returned to Dechuang Garden and confirmed that the current Luo Fu still behaved like Franca’s earlier, conservative persona.
• Zhou Mingrui noticed Luo Fu’s unusual distance, then received Rosanne’s warning not to speak with Luo Fu until the next day.
• Lumian realized Rosanne retained her memories of Franca and Jenna, suggesting dream characters could carry on their work after outsiders were expelled.
• Green told Lumian that the Great Mother’s children were monitoring Zhou Mingrui and trying to prevent him from resigning from the Intis Group.
• Lumian reasoned that the Celestial Worthy might want Mr. Fool to develop a Person in the Mirror, then received a message from Anderson Hood.

Lumian met Anderson at the mall, where Anderson explained how his special trait let him become lucid in dreams and described his split dream selves. Their conversation ended with Anderson revealing that another outsider, Zarathustra, had visited the Tutoring Class.

• Lumian arranged to meet Anderson at six and later encountered Zhou Mingrui while patrolling the mall without revealing anything unusual.
• Lumian and Anderson discussed whether their world was a dream and whether its people were being guided by the dream owner.
• Anderson said that a dangerous encounter in the Divine War Ruins had given him the ability to become lucid in sufficiently special dreams.
• Anderson explained that his mute painter self existed within the dream and that he had lured Lumian into the Art Studio as a joke.
• Lumian said he had come to help the dream owner wake in the best possible state, and Anderson revealed that a visitor named Zarathustra had come to the Tutoring Class.

Lumian learned that Anderson had interfered with Zarathustra’s attempt to use Danitz’s corpse and heard Anderson hint at the Fantasy Society’s ambitions for painted worlds. Outside the dream, Franca checked Niseya’s progress in the Emperor Party and prepared to return to the dream while watching for signs that the Celestial Worthy had marked her.

• Lumian questioned Anderson, who confirmed that Zarathustra wanted to influence someone and eliminate people, and suggested he and the mute Anderson had killed Danitz.
• Anderson explained that he had accepted the Colorful Painting Hotel and hinted that the Fantasy Society sought to make painted worlds into nearly real realms with established order.
• Franca visited Niseya, who revealed that she had become the mistress of Grue, an aide to Louis Gustav, and reported that Louis could not contact an important person.
• Franca ordered Niseya to identify that person and monitor the Emperor Party’s movements, suspecting Louis had lost contact with Emperor Roselle in the mirror.
• Madam Judgement warned Franca that the Celestial Worthy might mark dream visitors and advised her to watch for changes and avoid aggressive probes.
• Franca returned to her room with the Lucky Gold Coin and closed her eyes to enter the dream again.

Franca returned to reality and discovered that the money in her phone wallets had disappeared, while the group discussed the Information Shredder and divided their assets. Lumian planned to assassinate Zarathustra, but when he encountered him at Ludwig’s tutoring class, he prepared to disrupt his actions and protect Zhou Mingrui.

• Franca confirmed that her WeChat wallet was empty and found that most of the money missing from her Alipay had also been spent or vanished.
• Franca and Jenna discussed how the Information Shredder might erase online data, then Franca split the group’s money between herself, Jenna, Lumian, and Anthony.
• Lumian told Anthony he intended to find Zarathustra’s location and kill him, while acknowledging the dangers posed by Zarathustra’s abilities and possible allies.
• Lumian took Ludwig to tutoring and recognized Zarathustra when Ai Nana brought him into the center.
• Lumian moved near the fire alarm and surveillance camera, ready to cause a commotion and obstruct Zarathustra if he approached Zhou Mingrui.

Lumian watched Zarathustra visit the tutoring classes and suspected the Celestial Worthy's side was acting cautiously under Mr. Fool's influence. After Frank Lee's dream persona was arrested, Green brought Lumian to the Psychiatry Department, where he revealed that Li Keji was inside.

• Lumian arranged for Rosanne to warn Zhou Mingrui not to drink the water he had brought, and Zhou followed the advice.
• Lumian saw Zarathustra leave with Huang Jiajia, the dream persona of Cattleya, and later watched police take Li Keji away in an ambulance.
• Lumian concluded that Zarathustra's side had arranged Li Keji's arrest and told Jenna what had happened.
• After finishing his tutoring-class duties, Lumian met Green at Mushu Hospital and followed him to the Psychiatry Department.
• Lumian heard a patient claim he had fought supreme beings and recognized him as the Marionettist who had gone mad; Green then said Li Keji was in the ward.