Circle of Inevitability

The pale-faced ghostly figure of the female corpse replied in a wavering voice, “To forge a good identity, pass the Intis Group’s interview, and become an employee of the company and a colleague of Zhou Mingrui.

“Interacting with Zhou Mingrui daily, starting off polite and distant, then gradually getting familiar, subtly seducing him in our daily interactions until he falls in love with me.

“I will become his girlfriend, and in the future, enter the marital hall with him. Through prosperity or adversity, wealth or poverty, health or sickness, whether he is male or female, I will always accompany him, never leaving, forever and ever.”

Listening with a slightly agape mouth, the sickly Franca gradually felt bewildered.

Isn’t this character script a bit off?

This is neither an urban fantasy nor a suspense-horror, it’s turned into a pure romance novel…

Is this intended to immerse Mr. Fool in a blissful, sweet love life and a peaceful, warm urban environment, unwilling to wake up?

Is the Celestial Worthy being this down-to-earth?

Is this a large-scale Truman Show for Mr. Fool, isolating him from reality?

When she heard the part about “whether he is male or female”, Franca suddenly snapped awake.

There is a conspiracy here!

There are sinister plots hidden within, with another purpose!

Lumian and Franca had similar thoughts, but Franca’s mind was more active. Lumian was more concerned about another aspect.

The task of the reanimated female corpse did not include inducing Mr. Fool to drink the Witch potion. Does this mean someone else is responsible for turning Mr. Fool into a Demoness?

At this point, Franca quietly said, “The method in the script does seem feasible… To influence Mr. Fool, or Zhou Mingrui, a person so cautious and careful, the only way is to work on ‘falling in love over time’, only through the calm, genuine, day-by-day interaction can connections and trust be built.

“And for this kind of task, the most suitable executor is indeed a Demoness, secondly a Baby Cupid. No wonder they need to revive or awaken this female corpse, Charm can blend into many little details of daily life without being detected…”

“Indeed, following Madam Susie’s reminder, we also seem to be able to only gain Mr. Fool’s trust through similar means, only we don’t need to use Charm, but then the risk of exposure would be too great.” Jenna weighed her words in agreement.

Prolonged, repeated contact with Mr. Fool would easily be noticed by the Celestial Worthy.

Lumian did not respond to Franca and Jenna. He needed to hurry up with the spirit channeling.

Looking at the floating female corpse illusion, he carefully asked, “Are you a marionette?”

Lumian had not experienced the battle with the female corpse’s physical body, the two disease bombs’ explosions, or the discussion about a Marionettist with Franca and the others, so at the time he did not search the 30-40 meter area around the surveillance room to see if there were any Beyonders hiding, until on the way back in the car, after exchanging details of the battle with his teammates, did he consider the possibility of a marionette.

However, not actively searching the 30-40 meter area around the surveillance room did not mean he was not wary of other enemies lurking nearby—that was a basic quality of a Hunter. At the time, he simply did not detect anyone hiding in the vicinity.

This made him uncertain about Franca and the others’ suspicions. Their doubts might not be true, just as the reanimated female corpse did not have powers granted by the Door pathway.

The ghostly female corpse with its sinister black hair replied in a hollow voice, “Yes.”

Yes? She’s really a marionette? Lumian was stunned for a moment, then urgently asked, “Who is your manipulator, and where are they?”

This time, the female corpse illusion did not respond, but slowly raised her head, gazing towards the vast, dark “sky” of the mirror realm.

Lumian and the others may have been influenced by the remnant spirit of the corpse, or perhaps stimulated by the change in the mystical environment caused by this action, and they actually experienced a slight hallucination.

Vaguely, they seemed to see ethereal, dense threads emerging from the corpse’s body, extending upwards towards the heights, and similar illusory threads floating from their own bodies too, also drifting up into the dark, cloud-shrouded night sky.

They also seemed to see the individuals in the city, each of them sprouting numerous, dense illusory threads, connecting to somewhere in the night sky where the moon and stars were obscured by clouds.

Lumian was greatly shocked in both mind and spirit by this scene, but his observational abilities as a Hunter still allowed him to notice one detail.

The illusory threads emerging from themselves and the female corpse had a fairly obvious difference: theirs floated and swayed, as if only attracted and drawn towards some unseen thing high above, without actually deeply integrating into the darkness, while the female corpse’s threads were taut, seeming to merge into the unfathomable blackness.

As for the threads of the other people in the city, Lumian could only vaguely sense them, unable to see them clearly.

Combining the currently available information on The Fool pathway provided by the Major Arcana card holders, Lumian, Franca, Jenna, and Anthony immediately came to the same judgment: the heights represented Mr. Fool, as well as the Celestial Worthy, and the resurrected female corpse was the Celestial Worthy’s marionette!

“No wonder we couldn’t find the Marionettist controlling her in the vicinity…” Jenna had just had this thought when she quickly realized a problem. “No, that can’t be right! If it were like that, we would have already been locked on to by the Celestial Worthy and kicked out of the dream, and even if we weren’t kicked out, we would definitely be under restrictions…”

Shifting gears, Jenna came up with a possibility, “The Celestial Worthy is also in a slumbering state, largely in a dazed, unconscious condition, controlling the marionette, only becoming aware of the corresponding situation when stimulated or when the marionette actively reports back.

“But can an unconsciously controlled marionette exhibit the kind of behavior we saw earlier? Apart from being a bit extreme, obsessed with dealing with us, not leaving in advance, the reanimated female corpse is no different from the real person…”

At this moment, the female corpse illusion began to fade, about to disappear.

The spirit channeling was almost over.

Grasping the last bit of time, Lumian asked in an urgent tone, “Who gave you humanity?”

Jenna immediately understood that Lumian had the same thoughts as her.

He was also very curious about the humanized behavior of the reanimated female corpse or marionette!

The pale-faced female corpse illusion grew fainter and fainter, only the empty voice echoing, “It was Mr. Fool and the Great Mother…”

“Ah?” In her weakened state, Franca’s self-control slipped, the exclamation escaping her lips.

This sounded as if Mr. Fool and the ‘Great Mother had given birth to her, like she was their child…

Lumian ended the spirit channeling and turned to his teammates, saying thoughtfully, “I think I can understand the meaning of that last sentence.

“She should have previously made contact with Mr. Fool or one of his incarnations, a Demoness of Despair. Mr. Fool’s subconscious would instinctively weave an identity, appearance and personality for her based on the image in his memory, and with the Great Mother’s awakening, or rather, giving her new life, she naturally acquired humanity and became a unique marionette capable of autonomous action according to the mission assignment.

“The Oracle’s corpse being sent to the Mushu Hospital morgue is also to create a similar marionette?

“Does Mushu Hospital not only have the Mother Tree of Desire, but also the presence of the Great Mother?”

“I knew it!” Franca had wanted to clap her hands, but after raising them, she had no strength left. “Mushu Hospital may also have the power of the Order of All Extinction.”

Turning his gaze to the tattered yet enchanting female corpse, Lumian observed for a few seconds and said, “No powers from the Door pathway dissipating, nor any decay boons dissipating…”

“I don’t know how they did it… She didn’t show any corresponding abilities in the battle, were those two disease bombs pre-made with some kind of tool? Too bad we didn’t get to ask about the marionette transformation of one of the disease bombs…” Franca grew increasingly fearful of Mushu Hospital.

She didn’t even dare imagine what Lumian would have encountered if he had gone down to the B1 of Mushu Hospital!

Searching the body, Lumian found no other items, then stood up and said to Ludwig, “If you promise to listen to Jenna’s orders from now on, I’ll reward you with this corpse!”

“Okay, I promise!” Ludwig had a completely carefree expression, not caring at all about the future.

Lumian’s true purpose was actually to destroy the body and eliminate any trace, as this was the Celestial Worthy’s marionette. It had to be completely destroyed before the Celestial Worthy’s intermittent awakening, leaving no evidence to avoid drawing attention and anomalies.

Seeing Ludwig rush towards the female corpse, Jenna supported the sickly Franca, and along with Anthony, quickly exited the mirror realm and returned to the rental unit.

Standing beside Ludwig, Lumian asked in a flat tone, “If this corpse is real, would you be able to restore to Sequence 4 after eating it?”

“No, unless you give me the other one too.” Ludwig looked at Lumian with longing.

He was referring to Voisin Sanson’s body. A few days ago, he had received an arm as a reward for his good performance in studying, exams, and homework, so he had fully recovered to the Sequence 5 Depriver level before entering the dream.

Ignoring Ludwig’s plea, Lumian asked instead, “What is your Sequence 4 called?”

Ludwig began gnawing on an arm, answering in a muffled voice, “Sea Monster.”

…

The next morning, Franca found that her severe illness had not yet recovered. Her forehead still felt feverish; her body weak, and she almost couldn’t get out of bed.

Lumian used the simplest Magic Mirror Divination method to confirm that this was just the lingering effect of the negative effect, and she would be ill for about half a day, not because the healing agent had not worked as it should. He then told Jenna, “We’ll take turns. You take care of her and Ludwig in the morning, I’ll do it in the afternoon.

“Now I’ll drive with Anthony to contact the Major Arcana card holders.”

“Okay.” Jenna had also been somewhat corrupted the night before and needed more rest as well.

Downstairs, getting into the car, Lumian, mimicking Franca, placed his phone on a specially bought holder and opened the navigation app.

Then, under Anthony’s gaze, he used voice input to enter the destination: “Star Dream Provisions Store.”