Chapter 1020 Preparation
Hearing Madam Magician's sigh, everyone turned their gaze towards Lumian.
Smiling, Lumian replied, "Well, it's not just the Great Mother using us. When the time comes, let Them decide the victor first."
This was his usual attitude towards issues that couldn't be immediately resolved but weren't life-threatening. Otherwise, his mental state and emotions would have exploded long ago.
"But we should still be vigilant and try to stay away from the Great Mother's followers," Madam Judgment specifically reminded him.
Lumian smiled wryly. "Sometimes, it's not a matter of whether I want to avoid them or not."
His spiritual intuition told him that even if he didn't return to Mushu Hospital, even if Madame Pualis and baby Omebella were forced to leave the dream due to Chief Yagates' attention, he would encounter them again in the real world in the near future.
This seemed to be a predestined fate, ever since he ate the remnants of Omebella's umbilical cord and truly came into contact with that bird egg in the depths of the Underworld and the Sealed Artifact—Gift of the Land.
…
Dream city, at the entrance of the Police Department.
Two imposing lawyers had secured bail for the pitiful Lumina.
On one of the floors of the Police Department's main building, Deng stood behind a window, watching Lumina bow and get into a car. He frowned and said to Chief Yagates, "Chief, why didn't we refuse her bail request?"
Yagates, also standing by the window, smiled helplessly and said, "I wanted to refuse too, but she really didn't kill Zaratulstra. There's both witness and physical evidence. At the time, she and that child were still in the face changer's line of sight.
"As for her possible accomplices, haven't you tried already? You couldn't get anything out of her. She seems to have truly lost her memory, with no corresponding memories even in her subconscious.
"After this, start from her social relationships and conduct a thorough investigation."
"Yes, Chief," Deng agreed with this investigative direction.
Yagates thought for two seconds, then said slowly, "Secretly list Mushu Hospital as a key investigation target as well."
"What happened?" Deng asked vigilantly.
Yagates turned his gaze back to the street below.
"After Li Keji was transferred back to Mushu Hospital, he turned into a monster. I cleaned it up. His transformation into a monster is closely related to the new dean at Mushu Hospital.
"Before long, Mushu Hospital will probably report Li Keji as missing."
"Yes, and last time, that corpse walked to Mushu Hospital's morgue." Deng nodded with a grave expression.
…
Trier, inside a luxurious villa.
Jenna pushed open the door to the top floor sunroom and saw Lumian sitting on the spacious balcony, intently gazing at the quietly flowing Srenzo River not far away.
At this time, the sun was setting, draping the classical buildings on the opposite bank in a golden-red coat, making bright, scattered spots of light race away along the dim water surface.
The whistles of steam ships returning to port sounded occasionally.
"What are you thinking about?" Jenna asked curiously as she walked towards the balcony.
Lumian's initially unfocused gaze gradually sharpened. He said thoughtfully, "I'm thinking about two things Amon said."
"Which two?" Jenna stood at the edge of the balcony, leaning on the railing, also admiring the Srenzo River under the setting sun.
Lumian recalled and said, "One was that what Peng Deng really wanted to hint at was something else.
"The other was that we need to learn how to filter out the interference of complex information and see the most fundamental facts."
At this point, Lumian murmured to himself, "The most fundamental facts…"
Jenna half-turned her body, about to discuss whether such words from Amon, a top-tier con artist, could be trusted and to what extent, when she saw Lumian suddenly stand up and walk out of the solarium.
She was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed.
Lumian came to the living room on the first floor and said to Madam Magician, who was reading a book, "I have some guesses and ideas. When I return to the dream, I plan to organize an action soon to weaken the Celestial Worthy and awaken Mr. Fool. At that time, please fully cooperate with me."
Madam Magician stood up abruptly, not bothering to ask Lumian what new guesses and ideas he had, and directly confirmed, "How confident are you that the direction is correct?"
Lumian chuckled. "Not very, it's more to verify the guesses.
"We've already collected a lot of information and obtained some resources, and Zhou Sasa is about to arrive in Yangdu. This symbolizes that the situation in the dream has developed to a turning point. It's time for us to take initiative and do something, we can't always be passive.
"When the time comes, if we succeed, everyone can rejoice. Even if we can't fully awaken Mr. Fool, it shows that we've found the right path, and we can continue to push in this direction afterwards. If we fail, we can eliminate some incorrect guesses and wrong directions, and we won't need to waste time on these aspects in the future. Hehe, I only have one last chance to enter the dream, if we do encounter failure, it's just right to pass on the lucky coin, and not hinder the efforts of those who come after."
Jenna was about to ask about an important detail when Madam Magician had already asked for her, "What about Two of Cups? She hasn't fully digested her Despair potion yet."
Lumian chuckled in response.
"She won't directly participate. If the attempt fails, the dream will continue to exist, not affecting her subsequent digestion of the potion. If it succeeds, her Despair potion should be directly digested, as will mine.
"Well, to be safe, please ask Mr. Sun to stand by Franca's bedside in advance, ready to help her extract the Demoness of Despair Beyonder characteristic."
"Alright," Madam Magician agreed to Lumian's request.
She then asked, "What are your new guesses and new ideas?"
"I can't tell you for now." Lumian smiled.
He then explained, "All of you are closely connected to Mr. Fool, which also means all of you are closely connected to the Celestial Worthy. Although most of you won't be influenced by this, you might be secretly watched by the Celestial Worthy, allowing Him to grasp some information.
"I'll tell you my thoughts when the operation officially begins."
Madam Magician felt this most deeply. She nodded slightly and said, "The problems for me and Mr. Pallez mainly come from our own pathways and status, but others do frequently enter and exit above the gray fog, occasionally praying to Mr. Fool.
"Alright, you guys are the ones in the dream city now, and you're the captain, so you lead."
…
Dream city, late at night.
Jenna, who had returned, left Room 2303 of Building 5 in Dechuang Garden with Ludwig, while Franca stayed behind to take care of Lumina.
Although Franca had observed Mushu Hospital in the afternoon and found that there were many people around who seemed to be plainclothes police, believing that the cultists inside would behave for a while, she still thought it necessary to guard against the possibility of Lumina being drawn by Omebella's bloodline and sneaking over there.
She hadn't seen any news about changing the dean on Mushu Hospital's website, official account, or video channel.
In a hidden place not far from Crimson Moon Hospital.
Jenna took out the Ice Amulet that Franca had given her from the Traveler's Bag—Franca, who had become a Demoness of Despair, no longer needed external help to directly enter the area behind mirrors and travel through the mirror world, so she had given all the corresponding charms to Jenna.
After setting up a makeup mirror, Jenna held Ludwig's hand with one hand and gripped the Ice Amulet with the other, activating the latter.
In the flickering light of the glass, the two instantly dove into the mirror hidden in the corner, traversing to behind the mirror-like object outside Li Keji's original hospital room.
After observing for a few seconds, Jenna led Ludwig out of the mirror-like object and nimbly leapt into the corridor.
Because the room was empty with no patients staying temporarily, the iron door wasn't locked. Jenna opened a small gap and slipped inside.
Then, she said to Ludwig, "See if there's anything edible here?"
Ludwig quickly pointed to the blanket on the bed.
"It can be eaten."
A second later, he pointed at the bed itself and said, "This can be eaten too."
"…" Jenna was speechless for a moment, then after a few seconds said, "I mean better food, like mushrooms."
Ludwig looked around, not neglecting the ceiling and gaps between floor tiles.
19:50
"There isn't."
There isn't any… Jenna, taking advantage of the remaining effects of the Ice Amulet, left the place with Ludwig.
Before long, she repeated the process, appearing with Ludwig in Li Keji's room in the psychiatric ward of Mushu Hospital.
"Is there any better food here, similar to mushrooms?" Jenna looked at Ludwig again.
Ludwig searched carefully, sniffing around, and said, "There isn't."
Li Keji's final product isn't in either place… What to do now? Jenna didn't dare stay in the Mushu Hospital room for too long, quickly leaving the psychiatric ward and coming to the tree-lined road outside, planning to circle to the front of the main building to catch a car home by the roadside.
The power of the Ice Amulet to traverse the mirror world had completely faded, and Jenna didn't want to unnecessarily use another corresponding charm.
Walking neither fast nor slow while holding Ludwig's hand, Jenna pondered the possible whereabouts of that therapeutic mushroom.
Did it fuse with Li Keji and vanish into thin air under Chief Yagates' gaze?
Or did Li Keji throw it into some corner of Mushu Hospital's basement before receiving 'treatment'?
The basement of Mushu Hospital doesn't welcome unrelated personnel… How to search?
Use the 'Leodero' spell to split it open, but that would destroy the mushroom too…
As Jenna thought about this, she suddenly had a spiritual premonition.
She abruptly turned her body halfway, raising her head to look at the main building of Mushu Hospital close by, towards a room high up.
A face suddenly appeared behind the glass sleeping in darkness, a face wrapped in white bandages with only the eyes and nostrils exposed.
In Jenna's moment of terror, something passed through the glass, falling down lightly.
The bandaged face retreated from the window.
With her Night Vision and eagle-like eyesight, Jenna quickly identified what was floating down.
It was a dried, shriveled, lifeless jellyfish-like mushroom.
This mushroom corpse fell much faster than leaves, and in just a few seconds, Ludwig reached out and caught it.
Seeing this, Jenna had a thought and blurted out a question to Ludwig, "Can it be eaten?"
