Chapter 974: The Witch

“Use Lu Mi to find an Emissary of the ‘Great Mother’ to treat An Xiaotian?” Franca’s thoughts spiraled, drifting into nonsense, “If that still doesn’t work, have An Xiaotian get pregnant and give birth—replace the father with the son, make the son the father—and help that child grow rapidly, one day equaling ten years for others...”

Jianna fell silent for several seconds before saying:

“Under the suppression of Sequence 7, even an Emissary of the ‘Great Mother’ couldn’t make an embryo form quickly or a child grow at lightning speed. They’re still counting on the divinity of the Divine Child to make Li Keji complete the entire pregnancy and childbirth process within a month.”

“Moreover, if the ‘Great Mother’ takes the chance to corrupt An Xiaotian or his child, symbolically speaking, the severity might not be less than the awakening of the Heavenly Sovereign.”

Franca sighed and said:

“Yes, but we have no other options. If we could wake An Xiaotian and reshoot ‘The Great Pirate 3,’ it might produce unexpected results.”

Jianna hummed in agreement:

“The Lady of Justice said that since An Xiaotian became a vegetable, the film’s lead changed, and production returned to normal. She suspects that from that moment on, the true purpose of this film was doomed to fail.”

“Unfortunately, there’s currently no sign An Xiaotian will wake up, and we’ve found no one better suited to play Geerman · Sipaluo .”

Franca opened her mouth, her expression thoughtful:

“Actually, there’s a better candidate—someone even more suitable to play Geerman · Sipaluo than An Xiaotian.”

“Who?” Jianna asked in shock.

Had the Major Arcana cards not noticed this person?

Franca’s eyes curved into a smile:

“Zhou Mingrui.”

“...” Jianna felt like she’d gone dumb.

Could you even do that?

What is this? It’s having Zhou Mingrui play Zhou Mingrui, having Zhou Mingrui awaken Zhou Mingrui!

Franca said seriously:

“If Zhou Mingrui plays Geerman · Sipaluo , he could relive his forgotten life during filming—perhaps he’ll remember something, fully immerse himself in the role, merge with it, and that would be equivalent to the ‘World’ waking up.”

Here, Franca clicked her tongue:

“But the difficulty is too high. We don’t have the money to reshoot ‘The Great Pirate 3,’ and we can’t convince Holm Film Company—they’d only make ‘The Great Pirate 4,’ not another story of Geerman · Sipaluo ’s sea adventures.”

“Even if you became the queen of the entertainment industry and personally proposed a reshoot with investors, getting Zhou Mingrui to agree would be extremely difficult—not just because of his personal willingness, but I suspect that as soon as the invitation is sent, the person receiving it gets kicked out of the dream. Anyone who dares mention this gets expelled.”

“This could serve as a backup plan for future awakening efforts...” Jianna winced at the complications Franca had outlined.

Franca nodded thoughtfully:

“Correspondingly, Zhou Mingrui’s memories don’t seem to be erased. As long as he learns about the offer to film ‘The Great Pirate 3’ and feels moved, willing to try, the Heavenly Sovereign shouldn’t be able to directly stop it. For this, we could sacrifice multiple members’ chances to enter the dream multiple times...”

Here, Franca suddenly laughed:

“What’s this called? It’s ‘To save the world, invite Mr. The Fool to debut!’”

“The Heavenly Sovereign can’t directly interfere, but later there might be director car accidents, set fires, lead actress scandals—anything to prevent ‘The Great Pirate 3’ from ever entering production,” Jianna calmly reminded.

Franca sighed: “I know. I’m just throwing out an idea first—see if it’s feasible later.”

I know, I'm just throwing out an idea first; we'll see if it's feasible later.

The next afternoon, in the Administrative Department of the Tech Tower.

Franca was busily making spreadsheets when she noticed Rosan returning, looking lost and dejected after being called to Personnel.

“What happened?” Franca stopped typing.

Rosan spoke like a sleepwalker: “They’re firing me.”

“Personnel said Huang Zong passed by earlier, saw me slacking off, got furious, and plans to fire me outright...”

“I—I still haven’t paid off my mortgage...”

What kind of excuse is this? There are at least seventeen or eighteen people in Admin who slack off more than Rosan—why fire only her? Franca’s first instinct was to help Rosan fight for justice.

Her second thought was:

Shit—is Huang Zong cleaning up Zhou Mingrui’s friends?

Has Luo Saier in the mirror already gained preliminary control over Huang Zong?

Is Rosan being targeted by Zarathustra because she warned Zhou Mingrui?

If Rosan doesn’t commute with me, the ‘Mirror Double’ won’t function—unless Jianna follows her constantly, but Jianna might soon receive a contract from Holm Film Company...

Then Rosan is in danger...

Before Franca could comfort Rosan or devise a plan, her phone vibrated.

She picked it up—it was a WeChat friend request.

Franca hadn't yet had time to comfort Rosan and think of a strategy when she heard her phone vibrate.

“Bernadette.”

“The Mystical Queen” has arrived? Perfect timing! Franca immediately tapped accept, then told Rosan:

“Don’t worry. There aren’t many people in Admin. When General Ai arrives, go cry to him—he can still persuade Huang Zong.”

“If all else fails, negotiate for a higher severance.”

And I’ll get Huang Jiajia to stand up for you!

“Mm-hmm.” Rosan returned to her desk, sinking into gloom as she waited for General Ai.

Franca received a message from “Bernadette”:

“Go to Room 101 on the 8th floor.”

The 8th floor? That doesn’t belong to any company under the Indus Group... But according to Lu Mi’s interpretation, those floors represent different secret societies and demon cults’ infiltration and influence over Indus—“The Dawn of Elements” of the Mystical Queen counts as one... Franca stood up, didn’t bother informing Deputy Director Zhang Qing, and left Admin under the pretense of going to the restroom, taking the elevator down to the 8th floor.

Half of the 8th floor belonged to “Dawn Children’s Publishing.” The receptionist didn’t even glance at Franca, letting her pass freely.

Franca noticed the facial recognition door lock was inactive, and no employees appeared along the way—she reached Room 101 without hindrance.

Huang Beibei sat in the lounge area wearing a fringe-trimmed tank top and denim jeans, radiating youthful energy.

This was the college-student version of the “Mystical Queen”... Franca walked over, greeted her, and sat down.

“What happened?” Huang Beibei’s demeanor and posture were nothing like a college student’s.

Franca recounted how Huang Zong seemed to sense surveillance through the mirror, how Luo Saier in the mirror appeared to have vanished, and how Zarathustra had spent hours daily with Huang Zong lately.

She ended by mentioning Rosan’s trouble.

Huang Beibei listened quietly, then nodded slightly:

“I’ll observe and probe my father’s side—it will take time, maybe a few days, maybe one or two weeks.”

“As for Rosan’s problem, you’ll have to solve it yourselves. If I plead for Rosan, I risk exposing my connection to you.”

“If you can resolve Rosan’s issue—keep her out of the handover process for at least a week—I’ll pay you a reward.”

Isn’t this our problem? Why are you paying me? I came to you for help, not the other way around... Franca instantly recalled the Star Dream Convenience Store incident and understood: the Mystical Queen was looking for excuses to give them money.

“Fine.” Franca agreed immediately.

As she left Room 101 and headed upstairs, she seriously considered how to prevent Rosan’s dismissal:

“‘Influence’ General Ai to plead? Only a moderate chance of success...”

“I can’t erase Huang Zong’s decision to fire Rosan, but I can delay it a few days—that’s possible...”

“Pursue both approaches simultaneously...”

Franca’s mind always ranged wide. She pulled out her phone and sent her ideas and follow-up plans to Lu Mi.

Soon, she received a reply from “Dummy”:

Franca's mind was always open; she took out her phone and told Lumian her idea and the follow-up issues.

Franca immediately deleted the chat history using the “Information Shredder,” then returned to Admin.

When General Ai entered his office, she stood up and accompanied Rosan to plead their case, spreading a mystical pathogen along the way.

Yes—she intended to spread disease.

She chose a mystical pathogen that caused illness granting sick leave, but allowed full recovery at home!

A gastrointestinal flu mystical pathogen!

After nearly ten minutes, Franca subtly influenced General Ai, securing his promise to plead for Rosan.

As they exited the Director’s office, they saw many colleagues pale-faced, vomiting into nearby trash bins, others rushing to restrooms on different floors.

“What’s going on?” Rosan asked a colleague anxiously.

The male colleague clutched his stomach: “Dunno. Everyone’s vomiting and diarrhea all at once.”

“Could it be food poisoning?”

Seeing this, Franca urgently called the police and dialed Red Moon Hospital’s emergency line.

While Admin staff waited for the ambulance and other departments came to help, Franca clutched her mouth and gagged.

“I’m affected too...” she told Rosan.

Rosan checked her own condition: “I feel a little, but it’s fine.”

Soon, Red Moon Hospital’s ambulance arrived and carted off the Admin staff.

The entire Admin department was now down to four people—one of whom was Rosan.

General Ai glanced at Rosan, his expression grave: “Hold things down for now. Forget about the firing.”

“Mm.” Rosan looked confused and bewildered.

Since then, Lu Mi, as a security guard, had been running up and down, helping Admin staff get to Red Moon Hospital.

The entire administrative department was now down to four people, one of whom was Luo Shan.

Director Ai glanced at Luo Shan and said solemnly:

“For now, hold the fort—don’t worry about the layoffs.”

“Mm.” Luo Shan was confused and lost.

Since earlier, Lu Mi had been running up and down as a security guard, helping administrative staff get to Red Moon Hospital.

During the process, he found an opportunity to draw near to Fulanka , and they exchanged a glance.

As agreed, Lu Mi sent Fulanka a mystical pathogen causing gastrointestinal illness, so she wouldn’t end up at the hospital with no findings and become a suspect.

“How’d you get food poisoning, An?” Old Xia asked, watching the departing vehicle. “We all ate in the cafeteria—did they order dirty takeout?”

“Who knows?” Lu Mi turned back, then received a message from Fulanka .

The message read:

“You should pay a visit to the Administrative Department. Those still healthy enough to work are likely Non-Ordinaries—like Rosanne.”

(End of Chapter)