Chapter 982 Exploiting Loopholes
Lumina looked at Jenna with her now fully recovered eye and asked in confusion, "What do you mean by transforming into a male?"
Her previously blinded eye, limited by the effects of the healing agent, was still suppressed at Sequence 7 and recovering more slowly, with vision still blurry.
As expected, she can't do it, or doesn't know how… Jenna's thoughts raced as she quickly fabricated an excuse. "Don't you remember that you like to dress up as a man and wear men's clothes?"
Lumina looked down at her clothes and accepted Jenna's explanation. "Yes, I still like that."
She believed it… She's accepted this character setting? Jenna vaguely grasped the current loophole and probed further, "You seem a bit shaken and confused. Don't tell me you've forgotten that we're a couple raising Li Lu together?"
"Uh…" Lumina was stunned for a moment. "No wonder he calls me mother and you mom. I remember now, that's right!"
She just "remembered" like that? The corner of Jenna's mouth twitched slightly.
Lumina's reaction and changes also confirmed her theory: Due to the conflict between Lumina's true gender and background identity, a loophole had appeared in the dream. Before this loophole was patched, whatever character background story was fed to Lumina, she would become that person!
Of course, this couldn't involve the supernatural or conflict with actual character relationships—Lumina clearly remembered the people around her.
Recalling that she had brought Lumina and Ludwig back through the mirror world, Jenna felt a headache coming on, unsure what kind of changes such details might bring.
After a few seconds of thought, she decided not to mention the mirror world or why Lumina was injured for now, waiting for Lumina to bring it up herself before coming up with an explanation.
She pointed to the bedroom and said, "You look exhausted, and you're not fully recovered. Let me help you to bed to rest."
Lumina nodded slightly.
Jenna then helped her up and said to Ludwig, "You did well today. You can rest for a while before studying. There's food in the bag."
"Okay." Ludwig had been waiting for these words.
He quickly reached out and grabbed Jenna's Traveler's Bag.
After settling Ludwig and tucking Lumina into bed under the air-conditioned blanket, Jenna went to the bathroom to wet a towel to wipe Lumina's face, which still had traces of blood.
Just as she wet the towel, she saw Anthony's figure appear in the vanity mirror.
Jenna immediately felt relieved and turned off the faucet, saying, "I was just about to look for you after settling Lumina and the others. Are you all right?"
She used the name Lumina to quickly inform Anthony of what had happened afterwards.
Anthony asked a follow-up question as if to confirm, "What about Zaratulstra?"
"The third part of the plan was successfully executed," Jenna replied concisely.
Only then did Anthony describe his own experience, "I was transferred to a prison that clearly had defenses against Mirror Traversal. I Hypnotized my 'cellmate' to feel unwell and call for help loudly. Then, using Psychological Invisibility, I slipped out of the cell and made it to the guards' office area, where I finally managed to escape using the mirror I had on me and the Ice Mirror Charm.
"When I returned to the mirror world corresponding to the hot pot restaurant, I found you had already left, so I came here to confirm the situation. There are already police there, and the area behind the mirror might not be safe."
"You can clean off your makeup and return to your original appearance now," Jenna said as she tossed the Lie earring into the mirror. "I've already done anti-divination using mirror magic, and Queen Mystic will help with the aftermath. Don't worry, go home and rest. I'll keep Ludwig here for now."
"Alright." While the power of the Ice Mirror Charm was still active, Anthony took the Lie earring and traversed back to the rented apartment in Xinhong District.
He could only use his Ice Mirror Charm one more time as well.
Jenna let out a sigh, wrung out the towel, left the bathroom, entered the bedroom, and began wiping Lumina's face.
Along the way, she also checked how much Ludwig had eaten.
…
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In the hot pot restaurant, the police had set up a cordon, isolating the corpse and the surrounding area.
Franca, looking shocked, was being questioned along with Luo Shan and Zhou Mingrui by a police officer named Li En.
She said fearfully, "We weren't eating quickly, waiting for the later performance. Then I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, I found someone had died!"
"So you weren't in the dining hall when it happened?" Li En probed.
"Yes, I was in the bathroom," Franca explained.
Li En made a note of this, deciding to check with his colleague monitoring the surveillance footage later to confirm if this woman named Luo Fu had indeed entered the women's restroom and how long she had stayed there.
He then turned to Zhou Mingrui.
"You saw the deceased and a woman walk out from the screen?"
"Yes." Zhou Mingrui glanced at Luo Fu.
After listening and observing for a while, he increasingly felt that Luo Fu didn't seem to be the culprit.
Or is her acting so superb that I can't detect any flaws? Zhou Mingrui mused as he added, "At the time, I thought it was a magic show. Thinking back now, there was something off—that woman had blood on her face…"
Li En asked a few more questions, then walked over to Officer Deng, summarizing the key points from his inquiries.
Deng held a pipe but didn't smoke it in public, only sniffing it to stimulate his nerves and make them more alert.
"Captain, we've found something," another police officer approached and said to Deng.
He was responsible for searching for the beautiful woman who had come out of the screen.
Deng nodded and followed this officer to the back of the hot pot restaurant, entering the resting room for the face-changing performers.
The performers were all a bit scared, huddled in corners, watching the police come and go.
"This is where the suspect was last seen," the officer who led Deng in pulled back a curtain, pointing to the changing area.
Deng scanned the area, his gaze falling on the shattered mirror on the ground.
…
In Trier, inside that luxurious villa.
Lumian opened his eyes to find one eye unable to sense light, while the other was tinged with a faint bloodiness.
Every joint in his body ached, his thoughts occasionally stuttering. His emotions were clearly off—despite achieving his goal, he felt a sinking depression as if trapped in inescapable darkness, along with an impulse to explode and tear everything apart.
This was the corruption from Zaratulstra's Mythical Creature form, which would affect reality, and the resulting damage was real too.
Lumian slowly stood up, confirming the presence of the Traveler's Bag and Beyonder items, then stumbled out of the room and down the stairs.
He hadn't immediately drunk the healing agent because he was mainly corrupted, not injured.
When Lumian reached the ground floor living room, Madam Magician, dressed in a yellow and white gown, was already waiting there.
Starlight flashed in Madam Magician's eyes, condensing into an illusory book that instantly flipped to a certain page.
Accompanied by an ethereal, illusory voice, drops of sweet dew fell, sprinkling onto Lumian, washing away his blood stains without wetting his clothes.
Lumian's blinded eye gradually regained sight, and the discomfort in his body quickly dissipated.
"The best way to deal with your current condition would actually be to have Mr. Sun come and purify you," Madam Magician said with a smile, "but you have too many things that need purification, and the rank is too high. That might be even more detrimental to you. Now, your spirit and mind certainly still have residual corruption. Later, Madam Justice will come to give you a targeted treatment. Fortunately, the corruption from the dream has also been suppressed to Sequence 7. As long as you don't encounter the Celestial Worthy, it shouldn't be a major problem."
Lumian tucked his falling black hair behind his ear and briefly recounted the actions he and the others had taken against Zaratulstra, as well as the assistance provided by Queen Mystic.
During this, Madam Magician gestured for him to sit in an armchair.
"I don't know if Franca ultimately killed Zaratulstra's dream image, but it shouldn't be a big issue. At the time, Zaratulstra's bodyguards were all in the private room upstairs, and the other demigod of the Seer pathway was stationed at the hotel. Even if Mr. Fool subconsciously believed that Zaratulstra also possessed Beyonder powers, he would just be an ordinary Sequence 7, without special abilities or an Angel's rank," Lumian said finally.
Madam Magician replied, "Divination on Mr. Fool's dream situation is very restricted and dangerous. I'm not sure yet if Two of Cups was successful. Well, we can ask Miss Justice when she arrives. She can glimpse some details of the dream using her Dreamweaver ability.
"What we need to pay attention to now is that your actions were a strong stimulus to Zhou Mingrui. No one knows what changes might occur in the dream next."
Lumian nodded, saying thoughtfully, "This time, our biggest gain wasn't kicking Zaratulstra out of the dream and likely being able to eliminate His corresponding dream manifestation. It was verifying one thing."
As Madam Magician turned her gaze to him, Lumian spoke slowly, "As long as we perform actions deeply involving Beyonders in front of Zhou Mingrui and make him feel danger, whether it's the subordinates of the Celestial Worthy or us, we'll all be kicked out of the dream and quickly marionettized.
"On this point, no matter what stance people take, they receive the same treatment."
…
Affected by the shooting incident, Zhou Mingrui, Franca, and Luo Shan couldn't continue eating hot pot.
Since many dishes hadn't been touched, Luo Shan was hesitant about how to pay the bill and how much to give.
At this moment, the hot pot restaurant manager came over and proactively said to them,
"No need to pay, no need to pay. Mr. Huang from Intis Group said he's covering everything. He said it was their client's issue that prevented everyone from enjoying their meal, so he'll foot the bill."
"Mr. Huang is as generous as ever," Zhou Mingrui remarked.
Luo Shan strongly agreed.
Seeing that Luo Fu wasn't feeling well, Zhou Mingrui didn't suggest finding another place to eat. He politely saw the two ladies off in a ride-hailing car.
Franca had been holding up, but upon returning to Dechuang Garden and entering the elevator, she suddenly went weak and leaned against Luo Shan.
"What's wrong?" Luo Shan asked in surprise.
"I seem to be… falling ill… How sudden…" Franca herself was puzzled.
Luo Shan didn't get off at the 15th floor but supported Franca to the 23rd floor.
Upon seeing the door of Room 2303, Franca suddenly "woke up".
The illness was due to using the Certain Death effect of the Inevitable Gun!
I really killed Zaratulstra…
