Chapter 956: Reminder (Seeking monthly tickets for the last two days)

Because Franca and Luo Shan had already ordered chicken and taro in advance and requested them to be made immediately, the three of them soon ate the steaming hot delicacies.

Franca asked the waiter to add a medium-spicy soup base to the dipping sauce bowl, added some minced garlic, chopped green onions, and cilantro herself, and finally poured in oyster sauce. This had both saltiness and freshness, and carried a faint sweetness, which could enrich the spicy and fragrant taste very well. Franca especially liked to put it this way when eating hot pot.

She glanced at Zhou Mingrui and found that his choice was similar to her own.

Great minds think alike... Franca first picked up taro instead of chicken. It had been stewed until soft and rotten in the pressure cooker in advance. After rolling in the dipping sauce bowl and blowing for ten or twenty seconds, one bite was full of the fragrance of starch and the taste of the taro itself. They also absorbed the spicy fragrance of the soup base and the deliciousness of the oil, combined with the salty freshness and faint sweetness of the oyster sauce, making saliva secrete rapidly, effectively reducing the residual heat.

Franca ate three pieces of taro in a row before thinking of a piece of chicken.

She was willing to rate this as the top 3 vegetable dishes in the hot pot world. The other two were potato slices and lettuce with leaves.

The three of them ate quietly for a while, and after filling their stomachs, Luo Shan took the initiative to open various topics, so that the scene wouldn't be too awkward.

With her livening up the atmosphere, the three of them chatted quite happily, from the rumors and scandals of the company to the recent employment environment and the current situation of former colleagues.

That handsome security guard naturally also became a part of the topic. Luo Shan was very regretful that the other party hadn't guarded the main entrance recently, making her unable to see for herself.

Suddenly, Zhou Mingrui asked about Franca's professional situation, curious why she changed careers after graduation.

Franca spoke of her true feelings when studying:

"Working like an ox and a horse, earning little, and there's a danger to life. I had to grind until I was thirty or forty to barely count as having a decent income. I felt I couldn't bear that hardship, so I changed careers. How many twenty-something years can a person have?"

Zhou Mingrui expressed understanding:

"There are sayings everywhere on the internet that persuading people to study medicine will be struck by lightning. However, a doctor is a late-stage profession; the older you are, the more popular you are. I have a childhood friend who also changed careers after graduation, but after doing two other jobs and not making anything of himself..."

Speaking of this, Zhou Mingrui suddenly paused, frowned subconsciously, and then continued:

"He used connections to return to his hometown hospital to be an intern doctor."

There's such a childhood friend? It wasn't mentioned in the data... It's clearly not Peng Deng, nor that female childhood friend who likes to travel... Franca was puzzled, and Zhou Mingrui chatted about medical matters.

Franca perfectly played the role of a former medical student who had changed careers for three years. She could still talk about basic things, but she had forgotten most of the deeper things.

She wasn't a "Savant"!

—This identity was almost a replica of her own state, and she played it like a duck to water. The only difference was that she hadn't actually graduated, and she had changed careers for six or seven years.

Zhou Mingrui nodded imperceptibly. Luo Shan glanced at Franca and said with a smile:

"Have you drunk that new beverage? The design is very good, and the name is very unique."

Franca returned a smile and asked instead of answering:

"Have you drunk it?"

Before Zhou Mingrui and Luo Shan could answer, Franca lowered her voice:

"I recently heard an urban legend that a mysterious vending machine will randomly appear in different places, selling blind boxes of that kind of beverage. Some of those beverages in the blind boxes have special effects, allowing those who drink them to obtain the ability corresponding to the beverage name, while the ones bought in supermarkets and convenience stores are all ordinary, normal beverages."

After saying this in one breath, and without any anomalies appearing in herself, Franca relaxed slightly.

Zhou Mingrui looked at Franca, who had gone home to change into a white T-shirt, loose trousers, a pair of white sneakers, and tied her hair into a ponytail, and smiled:

"I've also seen rumors about this on the internet."

Franca's gaze fell on Luo Shan's face.

Luo Shan bit her lip and said in the tone of deliberately telling a ghost story:

"Actually, I have encountered that mysterious vending machine."

With a "shu," Zhou Mingrui also looked at her.

Luo Shan laughed:

"I bought a blind box, and the beverage inside was 'Shaman,' but after drinking it, nothing happened, and I didn't obtain any ability.

"Seriously, when I went to look for that vending machine the second time, it really disappeared and wasn't in its original position..."

Luo Shan's voice became exceptionally low at the last sentence, making the bubbles rolling in the hot pot seem to solidify for a second.

Zhou Mingrui looked at her without speaking, seemingly evaluating whether this was telling a ghost story or telling the truth.

Luo Shan then giggled and said to him:

"Didn't you drink it too? I saw a similar vending machine in the company lobby later, drew a bunch, and shared a bottle with you, a bottle, 'Instigator' beverage, right?"

"I didn't drink it." Zhou Mingrui laughed, "Someone gave me a bag of dried mushrooms before, saying that soaking them in beverages or tea is especially great. I thought I'd try it, so I poured the 'Instigator' beverage into my cup and soaked the dried mushrooms in it. Later, I went to handle something else. When I returned to my seat, the cup was already empty.

"At that time, I was still thinking that there shouldn't be anyone in the office so disgusting as to drink what was in someone else's cup. Could it be that the cleaning aunt saw the dried mushrooms soaking and felt it was very disgusting, feeling that this cup of water was no longer needed, and handled it for me?

"Now that I think about it, this matter is a bit strange."

He and Luo Shan sang in harmony, making the urban ghost story sound more and more real.

Franca didn't look scared at all. She looked around and lowered her voice:

"Since you are so frank, then I'll tell the truth too. To tell you the truth, I have also encountered that vending machine."

Luo Shan asked very cooperatively:

"What did you draw?"

Franca looked at Zhou Mingrui, pushed the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, and revealed an obvious smile:

"'Assassin'."

Zhou Mingrui looked at her quietly, waiting for her to continue.

Franca added with a smile:

"I'm a fan of 'Assassin's Creed.' Look, my WeChat name is even 'True Sleeve Sword'."

As she spoke, she picked up her phone, showed the WeChat name to Zhou Mingrui, and continued:

"I was very satisfied with the name of that beverage, imagining myself becoming an assassin, being able to complete a 'Leap of Faith' like a real one, and being able to hide in the shadows without being discovered..."

Franca deliberately described all the changes and abilities brought by the "Assassin" potion, wanting to make Zhou Mingrui believe that she had really drunk the "Assassin" beverage or knew a lot about "Assassin"-related matters.

While she was describing, her heart beat faster uncontrollably, and she felt nervous, having a feeling that she was about to be kicked out of the dream.

Zhou Mingrui tactically drank a mouthful of iced soy milk and ate a piece of taro.

After putting down his chopsticks, he smiled at Franca and Luo Shan:

"That's also my dream."

Franca took the opportunity to remind:

"Then you have to be careful. I saw a line in the relevant rumors mentioning that the subsequent beverages of 'Assassin' have big problems. Mm, it's like leveling up in a game. After drinking the beverage to a certain level, terrible things will happen."

"What terrible things?" Luo Shan asked curiously.

Franca shook her head:

"I don't know either.

"I only heard that after the 'Assassin' beverage is the 'Instigator' beverage. The problematic one is after the 'Instigator' beverage..."

Her voice became lower and lower.

Zhou Mingrui ended the topic:

"Alright, alright, if we keep making this up, it will sooner or later become a complete urban ghost story."

"Yeah." Franca smiled, indicating that the content before was all made up by her on the spot.

Luo Shan was the same.

The three chatted about other things, chatting until the sky was completely dark, and each was very satisfied.

Waving goodbye to Luo Shan and Franca, Zhou Mingrui walked toward the other end of the street.

The smile on his face gradually settled, and one idea after another emerged in his mind:

"They don't look like they are testing me, but more like they are hinting, suggesting, reminding me...

"Do the 'Assassin' beverages really have big problems later?

"It could also be because I specifically chose a crowded and lively occasion, and they didn't find a chance to use their abilities to exert influence...

"Observe for a while, see if there are any accidents or attacks...

"If I can confirm their purpose or kindness, I can find a chance to really chat later...

"If avoidance can't solve the problem, then go face it..."

As thoughts raced, he turned into a small path and walked into the shadows.

On the other side, Franca took Luo Shan and walked toward the nearest shopping mall.

For the next hour, she wanted to stay in a place that was more crowded and brighter.

Just after leaving the storefront of the "Yizhou Chicken" restaurant and walking ten or twenty steps on the roadside, Franca suddenly felt dizzy.

The next second, she felt as if she were a deep-sea fish caught out of the sea, trying her best to breathe but unable to inhale even a trace of air, and her head and body were expanding strangely, like a fragile balloon being constantly inflated.

She grabbed her neck painfully, wanting to pull her trachea out of her flesh and connect it directly to the air.

Her legs began to weaken, her body fell toward the ground, her thoughts stuttered, and her mirror substitute lost contact with her.

Is this the Celestial Worthy noticing me? Franca had such a thought.

Inside the gray sedan parked on the opposite side of the road, Lu Mian watched quietly as Franca's face flushed to the extreme, watched her lips turn blue-black, and watched her grab her slender neck, scratching bloody marks on the surface of her fair skin.

Luo Shan stood by, looking blank and helpless.

Lu Mian in the passenger seat didn't move, still watching quietly.

He saw Franca half-fall to the ground, saw Franca struggle to open her handbag, take out the phone with difficulty, and unlock the screen.

On the screen was an interface prepared in advance, and together with the phone were cosmetics, multiple mirrors, and a small black bag.

In Lu Mian's vision, Franca's eyes bulged, and she tapped the phone screen with her thumb with a painful and ferocious expression.

Then, she collapsed completely, dropping the handbag to the ground.

The items in the handbag rolled out, and that small black bag disappeared strangely.

After a few seconds, Lu Mian, looking at Franca who stood up slowly with hollow eyes, said calmly to himself and Anthony:

"Contacting Zhou Mingrui at night and hinting at the existence of supernatural power will cause oneself to be kicked out of the dream quickly."

ps: Seeking monthly tickets for the last two days~

ps2: Recommend a book, "Eve of Ascension," a new book by the author who wrote "Ember of Gun," leaning toward sci-fi, leaning toward cyberpunk.

Introduction: Assassin incarnation, feathering technology, shepherd plan, longevity scheme... Are all these blessings? Or traps?

This city always tempts you with a glimmer of hope. Whether it's a dream woven by lies or a utopia built by hallucinations, they are all close at hand, within reach, making people willing to fly into the fire and risk their lives.

Now, the great node of human history has arrived, and the dawn of group ascension has appeared.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 957 =====