Chapter 967: Repeating the Experiment

Lu Mi hid behind a mirror-like object on the corridor wall, gazing through the solid barrier at Li Keji’s ward.

He had held this posture for many hours, occasionally shifting slightly to relax.

He waited all night but neither Zarathustra nor any other Celestial’s emissary came to eliminate Li Keji.

After an indeterminate time, sunlight from the far end of the corridor streamed in, and the psychiatric ward gradually grew noisy: someone sang loudly, someone banged on doors, someone tapped on an unknown object as if calling for breakfast.

At that moment, Lu Mi saw a large amount of milky-white liquid seeping from the gap between Li Keji’s door and the floor.

Milk? Lu Mi’s gaze momentarily froze.

The next second, he noticed the milky liquid receding like a tide back into Li Keji’s ward; the floor became dry again, leaving only patches of varying dampness.

Lu Mi watched in silence.

A few minutes later, with his hawk-like vision, he sensed something indescribable had appeared near the door of the ward.

He carefully pressed his face against the mirror’s surface, extending slightly through it.

The scene before him instantly lost its mirrored quality and became far clearer.

He saw distinct white specks and streaks, then noticed finer, less visible white filaments surrounding them.

Collectively, they resembled thin, overlapping snowflakes, or countless white fibers tangled together.

Unlike the witch’s silk threads, they were opaque, colored, and still discernible upon close inspection.

“Hyphae?” Lu Mi speculated.

He reached this conclusion based on Li Keji’s own peculiarities.

A few seconds later, all the hyphae retracted in unison, slipping through the door crack and vanishing into the corridor.

An image spontaneously formed in Lu Mi’s mind:

A grotesquely shaped giant mushroom-person—no, a giant mushroom—stepping behind the door, carefully extending its own hyphae outward, as if attempting something.

Lu Mi fell silent again.

He seriously pondered a question:

Was it a bad thing or a good thing to let Zarathustra and other Celestials’ emissaries eliminate Li Keji…?

As long as they didn’t take Li Keji’s corpse to the basement of Mushi Hospital and use the Mother Goddess’s power to revive him, the whole matter didn’t seem entirely unacceptable…

Hmm, Frank Li’s mushrooms in the Dream City seem to have overlapped with the Fool’s idealistic perception, becoming more terrifying and bizarre than reality; if they ever lost control, it was unclear which side would benefit…

No, no, fire is dangerous too, but fire can also be harnessed…

This guy belongs locked in a psychiatric ward—released only when needed, or perhaps borrow a few mushrooms with unique functions…

Can a psychiatric ward truly contain him? Should I help him get transferred to prison, under the control of the official consciousness representing the Dream?

But then it would be inconvenient for us to use him, and he doesn’t seem mentally ill at all—Fu Lan Ka explained that in the Dream City, such patients don’t go to jail; they only receive prolonged treatment in psychiatric hospitals…

Lu Mi pulled his face back, distancing himself from the mirror.

At ten a.m., he saw Huang Jiajia and Huang Beibei, accompanied by a lawyer, entering the ward with Officer Deng En and a doctor in a white coat.

Only then did he relax, slipping to a rearview mirror inside a car in the underground parking lot, stepping out, and directly “teleporting” back to his rented room in Xinhong Community.

At this moment, Anthony was in self-isolation, Ludwig had been taken away by Jianna, so Lu Mi ate some bread and prepared to lie down for a nap.

He had just lain down when his phone vibrated.

The message came from “True Sleeve Sword”:

“Zarathustra is visiting the corporation again—he’s on the 16th floor and hasn’t come down yet.”

Zarathustra wasn’t affected by the tip-off letter? Tip-offs require evidence; otherwise, the police must investigate for a while to gather enough proof before arresting a foreigner? Zarathustra is still cautious… and his foreigner status is conveniently advantageous… Lu Mi sat on the bed, pondering for a while, then replied to Fu Lan Ka:

“Don’t interfere with Zarathustra’s tour, but have Luo Shan remind Zhou Mingrui to be cautious.”

…………

Intis Corporation, Administrative Department.

Fu Lan Ka sent a message to Luo Shan:

“If that guy comes to tour the Technical Department, remember to remind Zhou Mingrui to stay alert.”

“Not yet—what if the enemy chooses another department or subsidiary for the tour? Alerting Zhou Mingrui prematurely will plunge him into endless suspicion, making him wary of everyone around him; over time, it will severely damage his mental state.”

Luo Shan replied with a “cat nodding” emoji.

To their surprise, Huang Zong did not bring Zarathustra downstairs; the two remained on the 16th floor until noon, when they departed via a private elevator.

“Alert lifted. Enemy did not contact target. Luo Shan did not warn.” Fu Lan Ka reported to Lu Mi during her lunch break.

Lu Mi replied quickly:

“This afternoon, I’ll carry out the step of subtly hinting to Zhou Mingrui about the existence of transcendent power—and I’ll be slightly more aggressive. You, Jianna, and Anthony, stop contacting me from now on. Delete chat logs, even my WeChat and QQ accounts. Re-add me tomorrow afternoon.”

“Will this mix with Anthony’s test on Peng Deng? If he gets kicked out, we won’t be able to tell whether it’s Peng Deng’s issue or yours.” Fu Lan Ka raised a detail concern.

“No, I isolated myself from him last night—our experimental results won’t affect each other.” Lu Mi had prepared this the day before.

From the moment Fu Lan Ka’s consciousness returned to the body of “Luo Fu,” he began preparing.

At four p.m., Lu Mi arrived early at Intis Corporation and had an early dinner.

Then, he and Lao Xia took over a colleague’s patrol route.

After completing that, they replaced a colleague eager to rush to the cafeteria and took over surveillance duty.

Lu Mi appeared to be observing conditions on various floors, but his full attention was fixed on Intis Corporation’s interior—specifically the tenth floor.

Finally, he saw Zhou Mingrui leave his workstation, exit the Technical Department, and head toward the public restroom in the middle of the corridor.

Lu Mi stood up abruptly, clutching his stomach and saying to Lao Xia:

“That food was too spicy—I need to use the restroom.”

Without waiting for Lao Xia’s reply, he left the surveillance room directly.

Lao Xia watched his back, murmuring almost silently:

“Only been on the job a week and already learning to fake a bowel emergency?”

In the corridor, Lu Mi avoided two security guards emerging from the elevator, turned into the stairwell, merged into the shadows, and hurried downward.

Less than thirty seconds later, he reached the tenth floor.

Then, pretending he was checking a problem he’d noticed during his earlier patrol, he openly entered the corridor between the Administrative and Technical Departments and arrived outside the restroom.

He glanced left and right, then stepped quickly into the men’s restroom.

At that moment, Zhou Mingrui was washing his hands at the sink.

Lu Mi glanced inside the restroom, confirming no one stood at the urinals and that one of the four stalls appeared locked.

Zhou Mingrui turned around and saw him.

Lu Mi pulled out a lighter and smiled.

His thumb hovered above the lighter without touching it, yet a string of crimson flames erupted from it.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingrui—already suspicious—tensed instantly.

Was this transcendent power or some kind of magic?

Lu Mi stepped back two paces, pressed his other hand against the edge of the men’s restroom doorframe, and quietly activated a black mark on his body.

“Illusory Vessel!”

He isolated the sink area, the restroom’s interior, and the space beyond from the rest of reality.

Lu Mi looked at Zhou Mingrui, who seemed ready to strike at any moment, and smiled faintly:

“I’ve drunk a beverage called ‘Hunter.’”

You really are problematic… Zhou Mingrui’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly; his long-held suspicions and fears had finally become reality.

Lu Mi glanced toward the urinals:

“I’m warning you—be careful of the foreign guest named Zarathustra.”

Zarathustra… Zhou Mingrui remembered this long name vividly.

He had once been assigned by Huang Zong as a technician to meet Zarathustra and serve as interpreter and guide, but the man’s flight kept being delayed—mechanical failure, storms, thunderstorms—so he never succeeded.

Later, he fell ill after listening to a song, took leave, and missed Zarathustra’s first visit to the company.

Afterwards, he saw corporate promotional videos and photos and learned what Zarathustra looked like.

Now, Lu Mi’s warning triggered a sudden memory: yesterday, just before Luo Shan warned him, the elderly man standing by the Business English class door had been Zarathustra.

“Was Luo Shan’s warning also pointing to Zarathustra?”

“How did she know Zarathustra was visiting Dream Tutoring?”

“Right, Li Ming was yesterday…”

“Are Li Ming and Luo Shan in the same group?”

“Luo Fu joined only one day after Li Ming…”

As Zhou Mingrui’s mind flashed through these thoughts, Lu Mi said nothing, deactivated the “Illusory Vessel,” and walked out of the men’s restroom.

Zhou Mingrui watched his back and suddenly felt the hidden currents around him were far more violent and exaggerated than he’d imagined.

…………

After another round of patrol, Lu Mi stood by the office window, watching the last golden-red glow of sunset swallowed by darkness.

Night had officially arrived.

At this moment, Luo Shan, Luo Fu, and Zhou Mingrui had all left work—the latter just departed minutes ago.

Lu Mi gazed at the brightly lit buildings, lifted his chin slightly, and curled his lips, waiting for the possible “banishment.”

This time, if he was kicked out of the Dream, Zarathustra wouldn’t escape either.

A fair trade!

(End of Chapter)