Chapter 957: Aftermath (Final Day and a Half—Requesting Monthly Votes)

Trier, inside a luxurious villa.

Francia suddenly opened her eyes and sat up.

Her first reaction was to reach for her waist, her fingers closing around the coin-pouch-sized “Traveler’s Satchel.”

Phew… Francia exhaled without restraint.

At the last moment, she voluntarily withdrew before being fully kicked out of the dream, fearing that her belongings might be lost if forcibly ejected—and lost in the dream city, they’d vanish from reality too.

In such a situation, she couldn’t rely on Rosal to pick them up, keep them safe, or on Lu Mi or Jianna secretly observing and retrieving them—doing so might drag them into danger and attract the Archon’s gaze.

According to the data provided by the Major Arcana cards, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, once her consciousness left the dream, the dream persona she’d woven with the help of the Lucky Coin and Lady Justice would not vanish; next time she entered, she’d still be that same person.

Of course, the current “Roufu” would now regress into an NPC, following the subconscious manipulation of Mr. Fool or the Archon, living out her life according to the background setting and current social relationships, outwardly normal.

Whether this NPC “Roufu” secretly harbored issues, contacted allies, or risked dragging them into being kicked out—the Major Arcana cards weren’t sure, since their previous entries had all been conducted separately.

Out of this concern, before voluntarily exiting the dream, Francia struggled to pull out her phone and unlock the screen.

At that moment, her screen was frozen on the “Info Shredder” mini-program; she’d selected the “Erase All Information on This Phone” button.

—This was part of the contingency plan: during dinner with Zhou Mingrui, apart from the brief Shiji seconds when she showed him her WeChat name, Francia’s phone screen displayed the running “Info Shredder” for the rest of the time—in her own words, ever since stepping out tonight, she’d prepared to delete everything and flee at any moment, fearing the Archon might scan her contacts, flag suspicious entries, and act against them.

Francia reached into the “Traveler’s Satchel,” unsurprised yet still delighted to find the supernatural traits and corresponding body parts extracted from the resurrected corpse Pan Na were all inside—tangible, real, within reach.

In turn, the “Armor of Pride” was gone, vanished without a trace.

“Damn, the boundary between dream and reality really has been fooled—I’m almost unable to tell which is which anymore…” Francia wasn’t surprised by this, but she was still stunned.

Is this the terror of a Great Existence?

If Mr. Fool wished to maintain it, and received sufficient aid, the dream city could become real—so long as one didn’t voluntarily exit!

From this perspective, perhaps the real world is also the dream of the Original One… Thank goodness, thank goodness—he’s awakened, and split apart…

Francia, who’d read many foreign myths before her crossing, naturally made the connection.

She rolled out of bed, heading for the bathroom to empty herself.

This was the first thing she did every morning upon waking.

After a few steps, Francia suddenly froze.

She felt no urge to urinate, and was full with a sense of satiety—as if she’d just eaten a good meal.

Francia immediately pulled out a mirror and used divination to confirm the current date:

Several days had passed in reality too, nearly matching the dream, though there seemed to be a slight time lag—the bedroom’s tightly drawn curtains let in a faint twilight glow; outside, it wasn’t yet fully dark.

“Does the dream city use Beckland time?”

“We’ve spent over a week in the dream city—reality can’t possibly be unfed, or not needing to urinate or defecate… Damn, eating full in the dream means you’re full in reality, gaining actual nutrition? Using the toilet in the dream means you’ve used it in reality?”

“But… I don’t smell bad, and my pants are normal…”

“Did they graft the waste at the exit into the toilet or sewer?”

“Or did they just open a door and send it to another dimension?”

“Right, Ludwig once said some food in the dream city was real… How could it be real?”

“Jesus, I’m really losing track of dream and reality…”

Francia was bewildered, baffled, and oddly amused.

After a dozen seconds, her mind calmed, and she began reflecting on tonight’s Shitan gains:

“Suggesting Zhou Mingrui’s supernatural power at night, warning him of the risks of the ‘Assassin’ elixir, triggered expulsion from the dream… but not immediately—there was a reaction window, nearly an hour…”

“Perhaps we can use this hour to do something—like directly tell Zhou Mingrui about the ‘Witch’s’ transformation…”

“But I might get kicked the moment I say ‘Witch’—we’ll need experiments to confirm…”

“Also, don’t assume the Archon’s expulsion delay is always an hour—it might be that if Zhou Mingrui is watching, nothing abnormal happens, and we’re kicked the moment we part ways and distance ourselves…”

“At the time, there were two effects: one was attempting to kick me out of the dream, the other was trying to turn me into a puppet—but the puppet transformation was slower than the Major Arcana cards’ description of high-level ‘Fortune Teller’ path users, as if interfered with, locked in a struggle… Was this Mr. Fool’s resistance against the Archon?”

“If I’d managed to hold on longer before being kicked, I’d likely already be a puppet—better to exit voluntarily and reduce the risk…”

Just as Francia reached this thought, she suddenly heard a knock—knock-knock-knock.

“Who is it?” she tensed instinctively, though her spirituality gave no warning.

“It’s me.” Two voices came from outside—one from Lady Magician, the other from Lady Judgment.

Francia relaxed.

If only Lady Magician had come alone, she’d still have harbored concern, since the woman was a high-level “Apprentice” path user who might be influenced or misled by the Archon—but now, Lady Judgment was here too.

I could ask for autographs… Hmm, can’t ask why Lady Magician’s dream city pen name is “A Fish Without Dreams”… Francia happily pulled out paper and pen, opened the door, and saw the two Major Arcana cards, now dressed in new clothes.

Lady Magician warned:

“You must wait a full day and night before re-entering the dream.”

“Yes, I know.” Francia nodded.

This was mentioned in the data.

…………

Dream City, Worker’s Road.

Some passersby saw Francia collapse and moved to help, but Francia had already risen, touched her neck, and bent to pick up the scattered items.

Rosal finally snapped back to awareness and helped return some cosmetics and the mirror to her handbag.

“What just happened?” she asked, confused, wary, yet concerned.

Francia looked at Rosal and smiled reassuringly:

“Don’t worry, it’s an old problem—I’ll recover in a moment.”

You never mentioned having such a condition… Rosal fell silent.

Francia continued:

“Let’s not go shopping anymore—I want to rest early.”

You weren’t saying that before… Rosal murmured, “Mm.”

Once the two entered the ride-hailing car, Lu Mi loosened his right hand’s grip and nodded to Anthony.

Anthony started the car, then stopped at the intersection.

From the shadows, Jianna emerged, walking toward the gray sedan as if finally arriving at her own ride.

Lu Mi rolled down his window, staring straight ahead:

“Try to minimize contact with her tonight—ideally, find an excuse not to sleep at Dechu Garden.”

Without waiting for Jianna’s reply, he rolled up the window; Anthony promptly drove into the middle lane.

Jianna’s lips bore tooth marks; only now did her clenched fists relax.

Seeing Francia’s anomaly, she knew she shouldn’t intervene—risking her own involvement—but reason was one thing, emotion another, especially as Francia’s struggle carried the feeling of imminent death.

It took Jianna great willpower to restrain herself, discern Francia’s state, and wait until she voluntarily withdrew.

Dechu Garden, Building 5.

Rosal bid farewell to Francia on the 15th floor and returned home.

After a while, she heard the doorbell ring.

Outside was Jianna, whose dream city name was Jianna.

The moment she saw Jianna, Rosal opened her mouth to speak—but closed it again, remaining silent.

Jianna glanced around and whispered:

“Reduce contact with Roufu over the next two days. Don’t discuss anything related to supernatural power.”

Rosal’s expression instantly eased; she blurted out, as if holding it in for ages:

“I told you—Fufu seemed off. After dinner with Zhou Mingrui, she suddenly changed—first had a sudden illness, then seemed like a different person…”

“What’s going on?”

Jianna paused for several seconds, then said:

“Think of it this way: interfering with past history has limits and costs—if not, why didn’t we just go to Zhou Mingrui’s house, control him, tell him everything, demonstrate our abilities, present evidence, and make him believe?”

“I understand,” Rosal realized. “Fufu hinted at supernatural power and the Assassin elixir’s risks tonight—so the historical self-correction force triggered the problem, her old illness flared up?”

“So now she’s like another version of herself, similar to my earlier situation?”

“You can think of it that way.” Jianna nodded, offering no further explanation.

She returned to the 23rd floor and saw Francia sitting on the sofa, playing with her phone. After a moment’s thought, she said:

“I’m going to visit Li Lu tonight—I won’t be back.”

In the identity records, Li Lu’s father was Li Ming, mother was Jianna.

Francia looked up and smiled:

“When will you bring Li Lu over to play? I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“We’ll see what his father says.” Jianna smiled, packed her toiletries, and left the apartment.

Taking the elevator to the first floor, she pulled out her phone and sent Lu Mi a message:

“Rosal still remembers the story we told her, remembers our help—no changes detected.”

“Francia only recalls the background data and nominal social relationships.”

PS: Last day and a half—please vote for monthly tickets~

(End of Chapter)