[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-ring-of-fate":3,"chapter-the-ring-of-fate-the-ring-of-fate-chapter-983":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Ring of Fate",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2298952,4496,"Chapter 983: The Final Phase","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-983",983,"\u003Cp>By the table near the stage, Zhou Mingrui watched as Zarathustra and an unnamed beauty stepped out from the screen, and he kept observing them closely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While most people were drawn to the woman with blood on her face, a dazed expression, and an eerie beauty, he focused instead on Zarathustra’s condition and movements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, during this time, he still occasionally glanced at the woman with the corner of his eye, checking her state and what she might do next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only seconds passed before he noticed a strange child emerging from behind Zarathustra, holding the woman with blood on her face, descending the stage toward the performers’ rest area, while Zarathustra’s expression was equally dazed and his steps slow as he followed offstage, nearing the stairs to the second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Mingrui noticed Zarathustra walking faster and faster, his expression gradually relaxing, revealing a hint of joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, he heard a “bang,” and saw Zarathustra’s head explode like a watermelon dropped from a height.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As red and white matter sprayed outward, the applause, cheers, and chatter inside the hotpot restaurant vanished as if silenced by a mute button.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything froze or solidified in place, save for Zarathustra’s shattered skull, spewing red and white fluids like a blooming firework.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zarathustra’s corpse collapsed not far from the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zarathustra is dead… shot dead…” In that instant, Zhou Mingrui was utterly confused and dazed, feeling as if a movie special effect had intruded into everyday life—utterly unreal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In all his life, this was the first time he had witnessed someone being shot dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He usually felt confident in public safety, secure and at ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next second, Zhou Mingrui thought of Li Ming, Luo Fu, and the Luo Shan gang who had repeatedly warned him to be cautious around Zarathustra, and of Luo Fu, who had been eating hotpot here just minutes ago before going to the restroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What a coincidence—she was exactly not in the dining hall…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could it have been her?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment this thought flashed through Zhou Mingrui’s mind, he heard screams, and felt the entire hotpot restaurant erupt in chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People finally reacted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bloody armed murder had just occurred right before their eyes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone immediately called the police, others tried to flee the restaurant fearing further gunfight, while some wiped blood and stains from their faces, nauseated and terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happened?” Zhou Mingrui suddenly heard Luo Fu’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beautiful woman in a sequined black T-shirt and black-rimmed glasses returned to her original seat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Shan leapt to her feet, pointing at where Zarathustra had fallen, trembling and stammering:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dead! Dead person!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zarathustra was shot!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Luo Shan’s reaction, Zhou Mingrui began to doubt his earlier judgment:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Shan seemed completely unprepared for Zarathustra’s shooting…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah?” Franca, taller than the others, tiptoed to look toward the dead body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After seeing the corpse with its exploded head, her face paled, and she hastily looked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that really Zarathustra?” she asked Luo Shan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Shan now suspected Luo Fu, since it was Luo Fu who had instructed her to invite Zhou Mingrui to this hotpot restaurant and to sit near the stage, and since Luo Fu had gone to the restroom just minutes before Zarathustra was shot, leaving her seat empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Luo Fu’s reaction and the change in her complexion left her uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Shan nodded gravely:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had indeed been frightened—since becoming an extraordinary person, the most she’d done was kill monsters in the Shaman’s world and subtly influence a few people through her paintings, never truly fighting a human, let alone killing one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew the goal of Luo Fu and the others, but never imagined they would use such extreme methods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she spoke, Luo Shan edged closer to Franca, trying to mimic what she’d seen on TV—sniffing for traces of gunpowder—but all she smelled was a pleasant, intoxicating fragrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Franca’s face seemed to whiten further as she murmured to herself:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why did he have to die…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the chaos of the entire hotpot restaurant, Zhou Mingrui’s gaze returned from Luo Shan and Luo Fu’s faces to the performers’ rest area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had not forgotten that another beautiful yet dangerous woman had stepped out from the screen alongside Zarathustra.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the restaurant’s rest room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mianan was led by Ludwig to a corner, where a curtain was drawn, as if to change clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the face-changing performers were captivated by Lu Mianan’s appearance, demeanor, and dazed eyes, none questioning why she had entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once shielded from surrounding gazes, Ludwig pulled a mirror from his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the mirror, Jianna was already waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna reached out both hands, seized Lu Mianan and Ludwig, and dragged them into the mirror world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mianan did not resist—she remembered this was Li Lu’s mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What puzzled her was that she herself was Li Lu’s mother, yet Li Lu had another mother, and her own memories and consciousness insisted this was true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snap!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the mirror fell toward the floor, quiet, sinister black flames ignited, then shattered into pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna, now having traversed to a mirror near Dechuang Garden, began cleaning the makeup from her and Ludwig’s faces, and removed the “Lie” earclip from Lu Mianan’s ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their operation plan had three phases:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first was an attempted assassination;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second, if the assassination failed, an immediate shift to a direct assault;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third, if the assault still failed, to “bring” the target before Zhou Mingrui in a manner involving the occult and extraordinary powers—this would most likely cause Zarathustra and the person carrying Him to be instantly ejected from the dream, after which Franca, who had remained hidden and uninvolved in the battle, would seize the opportunity to covertly assassinate Zarathustra’s dream image, which lacked angelic rank and temporary bodyguards, and was merely ordinary—thus removing the character from the stage, preventing the real Zarathustra from using it to approach Huang Tao and gain money and resources through corporate mergers and reorganizations!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this might even force Zarathustra to wait a long time before gaining a new identity to re-enter the dream metropolis, giving Lu Mian and the others a window to make further attempts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since there was a chance of exposure to the audience or failure with Zarathustra escaping, apart from Lu Mianan—who could transform into a woman—and Franca, who only carried out the final covert assassination, Jianna, Anthony, and Ludwig had all used “Lie” earclips to subtly adjust their appearances, achieving near-perfect makeup, and, with Lu Mianan’s “Secret-Viewing Glasses,” they had infused their disguises with suggestive power, ensuring every observer believed this was their true form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—The “Secret-Viewing Glasses” themselves were no higher than Sequence 7, so the occult effects they produced remained undiminished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the hotpot restaurant, Huang Zong, speaking with his daughter, heard the gunshot and commotion in the main hall, and deliberately walked to the stairwell to look down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face still bearing a faint smile, he saw Zarathustra’s nearly headless corpse—and his expression instantly darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved his phone from his ear to his eyes, staring at the call screen displaying “Beibei.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a few seconds, Huang Zong brought the phone back to his ear and spoke in a soft voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something happened on-site—I need to handle it. I’ll call you back later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had just hung up when Zarathustra’s attendants rushed down in fear, panic, and rage, surrounding the corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Edward, vice president of Indus Group, followed them, approaching Huang Zong and speaking in a low voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides Zarathustra, one bodyguard and one negotiator are missing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Zong slowly nodded, watching the chaos in the hall, and sighed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Call the police. Let them handle it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as she regained her ordinary appearance in the dream metropolis, Jianna brought Lu Mianan and Ludwig back to Room 2303 of Dechuang Garden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had used her “Ice Mirror Charm” again—now only one use remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She immediately placed Franca’s “Traveler’s Satchel” on the coffee table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Franca had entered the women’s restroom under surveillance, slipped through a mirror placed atop the toilet tank into a blind spot, shot Zarathustra, then immediately swallowed the “Tarot Society”-provided healing potion to delay the negative effects of the “Gun of Necessity,” ensuring her illness would only erupt after police questioning—though her complexion would still show some change beforehand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After completing this, she swiftly handed over the “Traveler’s Satchel” and all extraordinary items to Jianna, so Jianna could remove them from the scene and avoid police detection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jianna pulled out a healing potion and handed it to Lu Mianan, whose face was blank with confusion, speaking gently:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, treat your injury.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mianan took the potion, opened the cap with full trust, tilted her head slightly, and drank it down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching this scene, Jianna felt deeply uneasy inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She realized a problem she had not anticipated:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Mian had exited the dream in a female form, leaving behind Lu Mianan, while the identity “Justice” had woven was Li Ming—a male.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, when an outsider was ejected from the dream, their lingering image would maintain daily life based on the woven identity and non-supernatural memories, like “Luo Fu,” but now Lu Mianan and Li Ming’s identities were clearly different—even in gender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This would cause a conflict between Lu Mianan’s self-perception and her real-world identity!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this an active creation of a dream loophole? Seeing Lu Mianan recover rapidly, Jianna hesitated and asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can you… turn back into a man?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1575,"2026-06-20T06:22:37.987Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1731a02829025e3fdfd07dabc67618a672adb3417e248cfeba31680f04b1033f","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-984","the-ring-of-fate-chapter-982",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-ring-of-fate-cover.jpg"]