Chapter 951: Action Outline

Lu Mian waited until the opening time of the Dream Tutoring Class before sending a WeChat message to Anderson Hu De using voice input:

"Teacher Anderson, do you have painting courses in your tutoring class? I have a friend who wants to learn about it."

Late last night, after receiving Jianna's message, Lu Mian was thinking about how to test Anderson Hu De. Based on the premise that Luo Shan had been controlled and the situation of personality alienation had been initially resolved, he felt that this matter was not urgent. There was no need to screenshot the legal person and shareholder information of the "Colored Painting Hotel" and send it directly to Anderson to "tease" the other party for having other businesses in private, then observe the subsequent reaction and wait for the accidents that might come as a result.

He planned to start from the matter of painting to make a preliminary test, preferably without alerting Anderson.

Anderson didn't reply to Lu Mian immediately, and Lu Mian didn't linger in the restroom. After stuffing his phone into his pants pocket, he walked back to the monitoring room.

He looked at the large screens in front of him, and some "experiments" he had done and needed to do later flashed through his mind:

1. Observe Mr. Fool's dream image Zhou Mingrui and the people around him;

2. Contact Zhou Mingrui during the day for the first time and leave a certain impression;

3. Contact people close to Zhou Mingrui. This is divided into multiple links, excluding the suspicion of one target before contacting the second, and so on;

4. Contact Zhou Mingrui again during the day to let him have a deeper impression;

5. Establish a chat relationship with Zhou Mingrui during the day and hint at the existence of supernatural power and his own kindness;

6. Contact Zhou Mingrui for the first time at night;

7. Hint at the existence of supernatural power and his own kindness to Zhou Mingrui at night;

8. Formulate a formal awakening plan based on the previous experimental results and the information collected thereby.

This is the action outline of Lu Mian's team. Currently, the first four parts have been completed, and no member has been kicked out of the dream or restricted—the third part is scattered throughout all subsequent steps, and the team members responsible for contact must self-isolate for a day and a night after contact before they can continue to advance.

And for the subsequent parts, the danger is gradually increasing. Lu Mian didn't think about avoiding it, because determining the degree of danger and the source of danger itself is one of the purposes of the experiment.

Only by knowing what can be done and what cannot be done, what will lead to being kicked out immediately, and what needs to wait for a period of time before erupting, can their team formally enter the eighth part of the action outline and formulate an awakening plan with a target in mind.

At the current stage, Lu Mian is not worried or afraid of failure; what he is worried about and afraid of is not finding the cause of failure.

It is precisely with such thoughts that in many things, he is holding a "test" mentality. This includes whether the "Information Shredder" is useful, whether Cristiano is worth trusting, what the relationship between Anderson Hu De and the "Painter" pathway is, whether Green has become one of the handles for the "Great Mother" to influence the dream, etc., etc.

After obtaining the results of the "test," and then contacting the Major Arcana card holders to reconcile the accounts, maybe they will be able to discover some interesting and useful details.

If they had sought confirmation from the Major Arcana card holders from the beginning, having preconceived notions and forming a fixed way of thinking, they might not have "tested" some things, and thus wouldn't have obtained their own results, only having the conclusions given by the Major Arcana card holders in their minds. This might have caused them to miss key information.

While Lu Mian was thinking about what to do next, he found that there was one more person in a monitoring frame on the tenth floor.

That camera was aimed at the entrance of the Aurora Company. A person wearing a black robe and a wide, deep hood, completely out of style with the white-collar workers nearby, walked out from inside.

A pile of things suddenly fell out from inside that person's robe and landed on the floor.

That person squatted down abruptly, and the hem of the robe covered the fallen items.

When he stood up, the ground had returned to cleanliness, without a single piece of debris.

Watching this person walk out of the monitoring frame and seeing him enter from the elevator monitor, Lu Mian muttered to himself silently:

"The corresponding image of a certain gentleman from the 'Aurora Order' in the dream city?"

The security guard sitting next to him looked in the direction of his gaze and laughed out loud:

"Don't be afraid, that bunch of clowns at the Aurora Company are like this. It's nothing, it's nothing."

"I thought it was performance art." While Lu Mian was speaking, he saw Luo Shan walk out of the elevator and enter the Intis Group.

…………

Administrative Department, inside the large office.

Luo Shan looked at the desk that had fewer things and froze beside her position in confusion.

"I helped you throw all those paintings away." Franca walked up to Luo Shan and explained with a smile.

Luo Shan suddenly realized:

"I forgot about this. I'll paint some new ones later..."

She paused, looked left and right, and asked in a lowered voice:

"Can, can I still paint later?"

"You can, it won't affect your ability to use your power." Franca comforted her in a low voice, then raised her volume, "Director Zhang asked you to bring me to familiarize myself with the work process."

The full name of Zhang Qing's position is Deputy Director of the Administrative Department of the Intis Group.

"Okay." Luo Shan pulled Franca over and chatted with her openly about the various rumors inside the company.

Luo Shan finally said:

"Forgot to tell you last night, a very fierce young security guard came recently. He even dared to confront those people from MCN companies. He is really quite handsome, but don't tell anyone else. He already has a 7-year-old son, and he is only 22!"

Theoretically speaking, I am one of the child's mothers... Franca's mouth twitched, and she echoed with emotion:

"Doesn't this mean he had a child in middle school?"

After chatting about this for a while, Franca sat back in her position and, under Luo Shan's guidance, entered a working state.

After familiarizing herself with the office system, she turned her chair and stood up, wanting to help Luo Shan share some things.

She saw Luo Shan holding a pencil, drawing brush-brush on a piece of white paper with a focused expression.

What is she drawing? Franca lightened her footsteps and walked to Luo Shan's side completely silently.

She discovered that Luo Shan was using a sketch method to draw her own portrait. The Luo Shan in the painting had hollow eyes, a cold expression, and the corners of her mouth were curled up.

This... Franca's pupils solidified, and she immediately reached out her right hand and patted Luo Shan's shoulder:

"What are you drawing?"

Luo Shan was startled and hurriedly stopped drawing.

She turned her body and saw that it was Franca, and she was obviously relieved, pressing her chest and saying:

"Scared me to death! I thought I was caught slacking off by Old Zhang."

While speaking, Luo Shan glanced at the sketch on the table, and the expression on her face quickly became terrified:

"How, how could I draw this?"

Franca pondered for two seconds and revealed a smile that made Luo Shan exceptionally at ease:

"Don't worry, you can finish the last few strokes. I'll handle it."

Luo Shan leaned forward again with suspicion and fear, brush-brush adding the last few strokes, making the portrait even more lifelike.

Just as she finished drawing, the Luo Shan in the sketch presented a state of being about to come alive.

Franca grabbed this painting, and black flames burned covertly in her palm.

The Luo Shan in the painting immediately had an expression that became painful, and her expression was full of resentment and hatred, just like she was suffering from being burned by fire.

In just the blink of an eye, this painting curled up, showed signs of spontaneous combustion, quickly turned into ashes, and fell into the trash can.

While completing this matter, Franca used the transparent baffle on the side of the office desk, Luo Shan's phone screen, and a mirror being used by a nearby colleague for touch-ups to use "Mirror Maze" to deal with the camera's monitoring, leaving no traces of extraordinary ability in the corresponding frame.

Luo Shan stared blankly at Franca handling the portrait, and it took a few seconds before she said:

"I feel like my whole person has relaxed quite a bit, and my mood is better..."

Franca nodded and said:

"You can take it as another vent for negative emotions and desires."

She pondered for two seconds and added:

"Currently, we can only cure your symptoms and cannot solve the root cause of the problem. Simply put, we can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

"Therefore, you must be vigilant about your own state and do a self-examination from time to time. If you find something wrong, come to us immediately for a new round of treatment. Don't delay, otherwise, the behavior just now will happen again, and the consequences will be unpredictable.

"Power is a double-edged sword; it can hurt others and also hurt yourself. This will accompany us for a lifetime."

Luo Shan listened quietly and was silent for a while, then lowered her head and smiled:

"I understand what you mean. I hope, I hope to hold on for a few more years, preferably until I retire. No, let me enjoy life for five years after I retire."

Seeing Luo Shan's smile, Franca suddenly felt it was a bit stinging, stinging her eyes until they were sore.

She comforted her in a soft voice:

"If you can hold on, you must hold on. Just like some diseases, they were terminal illnesses in the early years, but if you actively cooperate with treatment and extend your life as much as possible, with the development of technology, the condition can now be cured or better controlled.

"In the future, we might be able to become stronger, or we might encounter stronger people who have ways to solve the problem of power pollution."

Luo Shan nodded slowly and smiled at Franca:

"I'll try my best. Mm, you also have to cheer up. Let's all cheer up!"

Franca was silent for a while, lifted the "Mirror Maze," and returned to her position.

She picked up her phone and found that Jianna, with the nickname "Nana and Lily," had sent her a message, which recounted the danger she experienced on the way to send the painting to the Star Dream Grocery Store, the help she received, and the final result.

Franca felt lingering fear for a while and was quite annoyed that she hadn't accompanied Jianna.

She had anticipated that there would be great danger, but she felt that Jianna, who could actively withdraw from the dream, would at most waste one chance. She hadn't expected that the power represented by that evil god from the "Fantasy Association" could actually prevent them from returning to reality.

Jianna almost really died.

"Fortunately, Amon and His dad are on our side... Jianna's encounter can also be considered to have brought back important intelligence. In the future, if we encounter people and items from the 'Painter' pathway, we must be careful about the point of not being able to withdraw from the dream..." Franca thought of Lu Mian who was about to or had already gone to test Anderson Hu De, and hurriedly forwarded Jianna's message, urging the other party to remember to delete it with the "Information Shredder."

Confirming that Lu Mian was currently fine and had already been reminded, Franca turned to look at Luo Shan, roughly understanding why the other party's condition had suddenly relapsed just now.

That was consistent with the time point when the painting became abnormal and Jianna almost died.

…………

Inside the monitoring room.

Lu Mian used the "Information Shredder" to delete the messages Franca and Jianna sent him and reminded Anthony.

He continued to watch the monitors, looking for people and things that might be abnormal.

At this time, the captain of the Second Security Team, Xu Xinyang, walked into the monitoring room and patted the shoulders of the two subordinates:

"After getting off work this afternoon, let's go see Old Wang and Old Ding together. They are out of the danger period.

"After visiting the patients, the brothers who don't have to be on duty will gather together. It can also be considered welcoming Little Li to join our team."

"Old Wang and Old Ding?" Lu Mian could guess which two people Captain Xu was talking about, but he still had to pretend to have a blank expression.

Xu Xinyang, who was burly, had a square face, and had skin tanned very dark, said helplessly and amusedly:

"Didn't you see the news? Several of our brothers were struck by lightning. Fortunately, the ones who died weren't from our Second Team. Damn, how did they get struck by lightning?"

"Oh, I remember now." Lu Mian turned to ask, "Which hospital are Old Wang and Old Ding in?"

Xu Xinyang answered simply:

"Dawn Hospital."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 952 =====