Chapter 992: The True Commonality

Lu Mi’s initial impression was that Li Keji had noticed the difference between “Star Queen” Jia Deliya and Huang Jiajia, but after careful thought, he dismissed this hypothesis.

Because Li Keji said his other colleagues had also changed as if they were different people, and it was unlikely all of them had ever been possessed or used by foreign consciousnesses.

“Why do you feel that way?” he asked Li Keji.

Li Keji stroked his belly and said:

“They used to eat the mushrooms I gave them—now they don’t!”

They don’t now? So they’ve been replaced? Lu Mi’s thoughts flashed rapidly as he asked cautiously:

“What about Huang Beibei? Have you seen her recently? Has she changed too?”

“I’ve seen her, but I don’t know if she’s changed—she never ate the mushrooms I gave her,” Li Keji replied honestly.

In other words, Li Keji couldn’t distinguish between foreign consciousnesses and dream images, nor did he have the observational capacity—but he could determine whether the person before him had eaten the mushrooms he created… Taken together, his point was that Huang Jiajia and the others in the Star Tutoring Class had eaten them before, leaving residual traces, but no longer recently? Had Huang Jiajia and the others been replaced? Lu Mi had already been startled when Li Keji said Huang Jiajia and the others seemed changed; now he felt only confusion and wariness.

He currently leaned toward believing Li Keji’s account: the Mushroom King, confined in a psychiatric ward and not yet truly given birth, had not yet been fully corrupted and was unlikely to be experiencing hallucinations or a twisted, deceitful personality shift. Moreover, Li Keji’s perceptions within the Dream City, shaped by the “Fool”’s subconscious cognition, held a certain uniqueness—he might genuinely have detected anomalies.

Who replaced Huang Jiajia and the others? Why? Lu Mi pondered this question.

Suddenly, he thought of one person:

Zarathustra!

When Lu Mi first discovered Zarathustra visiting the Star Tutoring Class, his initial reaction had been that this angel intended to do something to the Dream Image of the “Hermit” Lady—but later, events unfolded with Li Keji being arrested and sent to the psychiatric ward, causing him to abandon his original suspicion and stop considering that direction.

Now, this new discovery forced him to reexamine that earliest hypothesis.

Zarathustra favored striking on both light and dark fronts simultaneously: publicly aiding the “Great Mother” in controlling Li Keji and eliminating the mushroom threat, while secretly using visits and other opportunities to target Huang Jiajia and the other Star Tutoring Class teachers, replacing these dream images? The advantage was that the secret saboteur’s attention would be fixed on Li Keji’s case, overlooking the critical fact that the Star Tutoring Class itself was also a target… Lu Mi now realized Zarathustra’s scheme extended far beyond what he and the others had previously analyzed.

He concluded the opponent was better suited to the “Conspirator” path than the “Fortune Teller.”

Experience, insight, intellect, style—all worthy of a true angel… Lu Mi sighed inwardly, then continued questioning Li Keji to gather more details.

But Li Keji knew nothing beyond whether his colleagues had eaten the mushrooms he gave them—he shook his head to every other question.

In the end, Lu Mi could only warn:

You must devise a plan within these two days, or the followers of the evil god will strike against you again, forcing the child to be born prematurely.

This referred to the plan he and Green had agreed upon: to act again in a week to accelerate the fetus’s development inside Li Keji.

“Alright,” Li Keji replied, stroking his belly.

Lu Mi gave him a long, deep look, and a new idea formed:

Once Green confirmed Li Keji had truly conceived and used Mu Shu Hospital’s obstetrics department to grant the fetus “motivation” for growth, he would quietly return and perform the abortion.

…………

In the Xinhong Community, in a rented apartment.

Lu Mi’s team gathered again to hear him recount Li Keji’s pregnancy and the suspected replacement of Huang Jiajia and others.

“If we assume the culprit is Zarathustra or his accomplices, then the replacements can’t be limited to the Star Tutoring Class,” Jian Na said, voicing her thought. “Hasn’t this triggered any connection for you?”

Fu Lanca’s heart stirred:

“The Death of the Divine Messenger?”

“Yes,” Lu Mi had already linked this event with the replacements of Huang Jiajia and the Star Tutoring Class members. “If Anderson hadn’t interfered, and if we hadn’t discovered the Divine Messenger’s corpse in time, he would have been sent to the basement morgue of Mu Shu Hospital and regained ‘rebirth.’ After that—wouldn’t that ‘reborn’ version have replaced the original?”

“Did Huang Jiajia and the others suffer something similar? Is Zarathustra targeting not just the Star Tutoring Class, but the Dream Tutoring Class too?” Fu Lanca grew increasingly astonished. “He pretends to visit the Dream Tutoring Class to find a chance to approach Zhou Mingrui, but secretly replaces its teachers? That’s so damn sinister!”

At this, Fu Lanca sighed deeply:

“I can’t imagine what else Zarathustra has done in secret—it surely isn’t just this one thing… Thank goodness we chose to eliminate the threat early, expelling Zarathustra from the dream and destroying his dream image. Otherwise, when his overt schemes and covert plots both reached their success thresholds simultaneously, the outcome would be unthinkable!”

“We might have ended it all—defeated utterly.”

“Now that Zarathustra and Mr. Cui are gone, their followers can’t manage everything. We can dismantle their bombs one by one and eliminate hidden problems,” Anthony agreed with Fu Lanca’s reflection.

Lu Mi nodded solemnly and warned:

“This is good—but also bad.

“You’ve all noticed: the ‘Fortune Teller’ is better suited to lurking in shadows, directing dramas, not stepping onto the stage and exposing himself to the audience’s gaze.

“Zarathustra needed to advance his overt agenda to gain money and resources, to openly approach Zhou Mingrui—so he couldn’t hide his identity or stay in the shadows. Mr. Cui was the same. That’s why we had the chance to set traps and exploit dream rules.

“Once Zarathustra and Mr. Cui acquire new identities and return, they will surely retreat behind the scenes, advancing their goals covertly. Then, hunter and prey will swap roles. Even the slightest slip from us will be detected immediately, leading to fatal assassination. And if attacked, the best outcome is that we’re expelled from the dream, and our dream images are almost certainly destroyed.”

“Yes, then the enemy is in the dark and we’re in the light—the danger level skyrockets,” Fu Lanca murmured.

Because of her close ties with Luo Shan, when Zarathustra returned and focused his investigation on why Zhou Mingrui had gone to Shujin Renjia Hotpot that day, she would easily be exposed—hence her saying, “I’m in the light.”

Lu Mi smiled:

“Of course, it’s also an opportunity. Stay at the Intis Group’s administrative department for now. When Zarathustra returns, see if you can set a trap for Him. If not, quit quickly, change your identity, and vanish into the shadows.”

“Meanwhile, we must make full use of the time before Zarathustra returns.”

As he spoke, Lu Mi picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message to “a name that left a deep impression”:

“How have you been lately? Are you enjoying your classes?”

Soon, “a name that left a deep impression” replied:

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“If you’re bored, I suggest you go for a run.”

Lu Mi replied calmly:

“Do you still feel the world is false? Do you still sense terrifyingly false details in everyone around you?”

After more than ten seconds, Anderson Hu replied:

“Even more false than before.”

“For example?” Lu Mi pressed.

Anderson Hu sent an “indifferent” emoji:

“For example, teachers like Ai Nana, Ironskin, and Flower Bowtie are even more false now—different from before.”

As expected… Lu Mi confirmed his team’s hypothesis.

He asked with a “laughing” emoji:

“What about you? Have you become more false?”

Anderson Hu sent a “dog biting its own tail” emoji:

“I might be next.”

“But I just saw the news—some foreign dignitary was shot.”

A good “hunter” knows how to extract information from public reports… Lu Mi put down his phone and told Fu Lanca and Jian Na and others:

“Most of the Dream Tutoring Class teachers have also been replaced.”

“What’s the point of these replacements? To have all dream images dominated by the Celestial Sovereign, securing victory in the consciousness struggle?” Fu Lanca asked.

Lu Mi didn’t answer. He conjured a whiteboard of frost and began sticking up notes.

Each note listed a currently suspected replaced dream image and their corresponding real-world person.

Lu Mi stood before the board, studying it intently, then said to Fu Lanca, Jian Na, and Anthony:

“Do you see any commonality?”

“All of them were or once were pirates?” Jian Na ventured.

Lu Mi shook his head:

“That’s the surface commonality.

“There’s another hidden beneath the surface.”

He turned to his companions and said:

“They’re all characters who appeared in the ‘Great Adventurer’ novel series.”

“Meaning—they’re all participants and witnesses in Gelmans Sparrow’s life!”

Upon hearing this conclusion, Fu Lanca instantly recalled the movie “The Great Pirate 3,” Jia Yu, who had been recruited by Zarathustra for portraying Gelmans Sparrow, and the original actor for Gelmans Sparrow, now a vegetable, An Xiaotian.

“Is the real target the identity of Gelmans Sparrow? That fits the prophecy: ‘When the World awakens, the Fool returns,’” Fu Lanca murmured.

Lu Mi nodded slightly:

“So far, it appears so—these individuals connected to Gelmans Sparrow have all been replaced.

“The Death of the Divine Messenger was the beginning, not the end.”

(End of Chapter)