Chapter 949: Equivalent Exchange

Amon? Standing by the car, Jianna froze for a moment.

She vaguely understood why she was able to arrive at the Star Dream Grocery Store ahead of time and escape that fatal "hallucination" at the most critical moment.

In this matter, Amon had provided help; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

She and Franca had estimated the risks to the greatest extent, but they still hadn't expected the real situation to be so terrifying that she didn't even have a chance to withdraw from the dream!

And this was under the premise that she was a "Witch," whose survival ability and life-saving level were among the top tier of Beyonders of the same sequence.

Sure enough, Amon and His father were in the same camp as us regarding the matter of waking up Mr. Fool, just with different hopes for the progress. That's why He only gave help until now. Mm, this help was aimed at that evil god from the "Fantasy Association." If I had failed the mission today and died, and the painting had returned to Luo Shan's hands on its own, would there have been a development that Amon and His father didn't want to see? In an instant, Jianna thought of many, many things, not even having time to feel lingering fear.

"Help me close the car door." Amon, with the monocle clamped in His right eye socket, reminded Jianna with a smile, just like a real ride-hailing driver.

Jianna then returned to normal and closed the car door.

Watching the white sedan drive steadily away from the street, Jianna, hugging the cliff painting, hurried into the Star Dream Grocery Store without caring about her image.

Feeling the light dim significantly, Jianna immediately relaxed.

Only then did feelings of doubt well up:

Why was Amon able to accurately pick up my order?

How did He know we had obtained this painting and were going to send it to the Star Dream Grocery Store today?

With everyone suppressed to Sequence 7, relying on prophecy or divination wouldn't be able to be so precise...

Could it be that true gods are more special when they arrive in the dream city, and the restrictions they receive are different from ours?

So, was Amon able to "coincidentally" save me with the help of His father?

This could also explain why this painting made it difficult for me to resist, to the point where I couldn't even find a chance to save myself. If we were all at the Sequence 7 level, it shouldn't have been like this. Or, perhaps I actually had a chance to shake off its influence, but having encountered this type of attack for the first time, I made a mistake in my response and failed to discover the details I could have utilized in time? Jianna looked at the oil painting in her arms, collected her thoughts, and walked to the checkout counter at the very back of the Star Dream Grocery Store.

"Do you accept items with occult elements?" Jianna asked the shopkeeper who was playing with a mobile phone politely.

The shopkeeper slowly raised her head, and the scorching sunlight outside suddenly appeared to be covered by clouds.

"We do." She revealed a slight smile to Jianna.

They really would accept it? Jianna felt a joy in her heart and hurriedly placed the oil painting in her arms onto the checkout counter:

"Take a look and see if it meets your requirements. How much is it worth?"

The shopkeeper reached out a hand, lifted the oil painting in front of herself, looked at it for a few seconds, and said:

"Thirty thousand."

How much? Jianna instinctively doubted her own ears.

This wasn't to say she thought this eerie oil painting had no occult value or wasn't worth thirty thousand, but for her and Franca, this painting was a burden, a danger, something they would pay to get rid of.

If the shopkeeper had said she would have to pay thirty thousand for Him to accept this painting, Jianna felt that after discussing it with Franca, they would grit their teeth and pay it.

As thoughts raced through her mind, Jianna thought of a possibility:

This person at the Star Dream Grocery Store was clearly an ally, and the current action was to provide more funds for their team!

And money had a very important symbolic meaning in the dream city.

Not giving it directly, but using this opportunity, in the form of acquiring occult items... Was this because certain rules of the dream city had to be met, rules that even gods couldn't violate? Equivalent exchange? If that were really the case, the Major Arcana card holders being able to provide two thousand in startup capital per person was already quite difficult... While Jianna was lost in thought, she subconsciously wondered whether she should bargain and raise the price a bit.

Since they were allies, they should be very happy to see such behavior, as it meant they could provide more help.

After a brief weighing, Jianna gave up this idea.

Opposite her was an avatar or projection of a true god. The price He reported was definitely the most appropriate, most suitable, and least likely to cause anomalies after deliberation.

As far as the dream consciousness was concerned, every item had an estimated price. If the premium was too high, the transaction would be problematic, possibly involving illegal activities, which would inevitably lead to reactive changes later? Thinking of this, Jianna responded to the shopkeeper:

"Okay."

After the shopkeeper really transferred thirty thousand to her, she suddenly regretted letting Ludwig eat the other paintings.

Those might have been able to be exchanged for some money too!

However, those were only painted by Luo Shan and shouldn't be worth much. Perhaps they were only equivalent to Ludwig's late-night snack expenses...

"Thank you." Jianna thanked the shopkeeper once again and turned to walk out of the Star Dream Grocery Store.

The bright and brilliant sunlight from high above fell upon her, finally giving her the feeling that the danger had completely receded.

Only then did she begin to feel lingering fear.

She still had many things she wanted to do, and there were still a few people she couldn't bear to part with.

…………

Entrance of the Technology Building.

Franca, stepping in low heels, carefully walked up the steps.

Her current attire was something she had never worn before, instinctively making her feel a bit more insecure and ashamed.

This also made her more sensitive to the gazes and scrutiny around her. She felt that the appreciative ones were still acceptable, but the kind she used to think were impolite and a bit disgusting seemed to have increased, or were more noticed by her. Some people hurried past her, and after walking a few steps, they thought they were being subtle as they turned their heads to glance, revealing expressions of slight disappointment.

This seemed to be because her makeup, attire, and appearance were not what they had imagined after seeing her figure and clothing.

"Disappointed your head!" Franca quietly raised her middle finger and cursed inwardly.

She finished walking up the steps and looked at the security guard at the entrance, not seeing Lu Mian.

I thought I could exchange glances at the entrance, while pretending not to know each other on the surface, just like in some spy dramas... Franca muttered silently, entered the lobby, and walked toward the elevator area.

Inside the monitoring room.

Lu Mian sat in front of several large screens divided into multiple scenes, carefully scrutinizing every frame from a not-insignificant distance—yesterday's minor incident had given the security director, Green, an excuse to arrange for him to monitor surveillance and rotate through patrolling floors, so he no longer had to guard the main entrance.

Lu Mian quickly noticed Franca in the elevator area.

Although she had deliberately made herself look a bit uglier, put on old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses, and wore clothes she had never worn before, he still recognized her all the same.

"It's a pity that 'Lie' is currently only equivalent to top-tier makeup and can't adjust height and figure within a certain range, otherwise the disguise effect would be better. Being like this is still too eye-catching..." Lu Mian evaluated in his heart.

Another security guard sitting next to him saw that he was watching very carefully, rolled his eyes, clutched his stomach, and said:

"Little Li, my stomach hurts. I'm going to take a dump. You keep an eye on things."

Is this what they call taking a dump while on the clock on the internet? Lu Mian laughed inwardly and said:

"Okay."

This couldn't be better. Maybe I'll have a chance to flip through yesterday's monitoring and see what reaction Zhou Mingrui had in private regarding my joining the job, and what things he did!

After his colleague really went to the restroom outside the monitoring room, Lu Mian found that Franca had finally succeeded after failing to squeeze into the elevator twice in a row.

Suddenly, on the large screen, the several frames showing the situation inside the monitoring room went black.

This... Lu Mian didn't move.

Just two or three seconds later, there was one more person beside him.

It was Security Director Green, wearing a thin blue suit.

Green looked at the large screen and said in a seemingly normal tone:

"Be careful of Huang Tao."

Be careful of Huang Tao? What could Director Huang have to do with me, a male security guard? Lu Mian was puzzled and asked plainly:

"Why?"

Green maintained his posture of watching the monitor and explained simply:

"He betrayed the Mother and is no longer the Mother's child."

No longer... used to be, but now isn't? Ms. Magician mentioned that in the vortex incident, although Emperor Roselle fell, he also severely damaged the strongest "Broker," got rid of the "Great Mother's" pollution, and retained the hope of resurrection... This is the same thing as Amon obtaining Mr. Fool's consent to borrow power from His past self, just different components... So, Mr. Fool knew about Emperor Roselle's state, and His subconscious cognition changed accordingly, causing Huang Tao in the dream city to no longer harbor the "Great Mother's" pollution? Lu Mian sorted out the logic preliminarily.

This also made him discover a problem.

Previously, he only knew that accidents and encounters in the dream might be reflected in reality, bringing about real death or promotion with hidden dangers. But at this moment, he believed that changes in reality might also affect the dream, provided that Mr. Fool truly perceived it.

The dream and reality are not one-way; they can interact... Lu Mian remembered this discovery and turned to smile at Green:

"Would you be surprised why I, as a Son of God, am not a woman?"

Green revealed a puzzled expression:

"The Mother's children can be of any gender, or even have no gender, or multiple genders.

"These are not important. What's important is being able to breed offspring and bring about new life.

"Son of God, why do you ask such a question?"

Green's brows furrowed slightly.

Of course, it's to test you! Lu Mian laughed inwardly and replied.

He was testing whether Green only sensed that he was a Son of God, or knew further that the current Son of God was Omebella, like that brother with the severed hand.

If Green knew that he "was" Omebella, he would be puzzled that the gender was wrong. Conversely, it showed that he indeed didn't possess the necessary wisdom and was more like an NPC as Franca said, but had been influenced by the "Great Mother."

And this also proved from another angle that there was a big problem with that brother with the severed hand being able to shout the name Omebella.

Lu Mian laughed and said to Green:

"I thought the Mother had already let you know my true identity."

As he spoke, his hair grew longer bit by bit, and the lines of his face softened rapidly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 950 =====