Chapter 914: Surveillance |
After discussing his two speculations, Lumian added:
"I just felt that entering the basement of Woodlands Hospital would be extremely dangerous. If the problem there is a subconscious dreamscape interwoven from the impressions of Mr. 'Fool' on 'Mother Tree of Desire' and “Her” subordinates, it wouldn't be this severe."
He meant that he leaned more towards the theory that the primary consciousness of the dreamscape couldn’t be confronted head-on.
Sitting in the front passenger seat, Jenna looked at the Woodlands Hospital gradually fading away and frowned slightly:
"But Mr. Star and the police he represents only found the Oracle's corpse. They didn't seem to notice anything unusual about Woodlands Hospital."
"This implies that even though the main consciousness of the dreamscape cannot be confronted directly, it has ways to conceal and deceive," Anthony shared his perspective.
"There could also be an insider." Franca, who had read many novels and watched movies about espionage, muttered, "The main consciousness of the dreamscape must have a part belonging to the Celestial Worthy. He might be pleased to see the power of the Mother Tree of Desire seeping through and causing some trouble. Therefore, He deliberately ignored certain details."
"This also indicates that whether it’s Mr. 'Fool' or the Celestial Worthy, both are actually in a dormant state with their true consciousness hazy, only reacting to direct stimuli. Usually, they might just give some hints based on prayers or intuitive predictions. Otherwise, we would have been discovered and kicked out of the dreamscape when we first interacted with ordinary people in it," Lumian concluded, based on the various events over the past two days and the details mentioned in the Major Arcana cards.
Franca warned the team members:
"Even if the Celestial Worthy doesn't see it, His subordinates will."
After a brief silence, Jenna asked, "What does direct confrontation mean?" Anthony was equally puzzled:
"Would that attract a lot of attention, like being on the front page of a newspaper?"
You guys really aren’t as adaptable as Lumian... Franca thought to herself. While driving, she explained simply:
"Open your phones and access the black-and-white cloud app I gave you before...
"The hottest topic recently is 'True Death Metal.'"
Jenna and the others became serious and focused, continuing to educate themselves online.
As dawn approached, Lumian, accompanied by Franca, entered the store from noon through the mirror world, arriving behind some mirrored objects in the observation room.
Hiding behind the mirror objects, they peered through the mirrors and saw a large screen divided into multiple panels, each showing different scenes corresponding to different areas of the store, and two security guards sitting in front of the screen on night duty.
At this point, the store had long since closed. The surveillance showed many dark scenes, with only a few areas illuminated by bright moonlight.
— In this dreamscape city, the moon wasn’t tinged red but appeared pale silver with occasional golden hues.
Franca, excited but cautious, extended her right hand towards a slightly larger makeup mirror.
The makeup mirror immediately reflected the large screen, showing the different scenes in each panel.
Soon after, the surface of the makeup mirror emitted an ethereal light, invisible to the naked eye.
"Mirror Maze!"
The two security guards immediately had their perceptions replaced by illusions reflected from the monitored areas and cameras.
Franca had once imagined returning to her hometown and still being able to use extraordinary abilities. Now, it was as if she was living her dream.
Boldly, she stepped out from behind the mirrored objects, carefully adjusted the makeup mirror, and approached the surveillance system with Lumian.
The two guards showed no reaction to their actions, as if they didn’t exist.
In their eyes, the scenes remained the same as before, with no outsiders entering.
Lumian glanced at Franca and whispered:
"Make it quick."
He didn’t know how to operate this surveillance system, or he would’ve done it himself.
Franca adjusted the reflected images to avoid any sudden light changes, while also figuring out the store’s surveillance system.
Thanks to prior research and preparation, she quickly retrieved the footage from the supermarket area at noon.
Soon, the screen displayed the moment when she and Lumian had entered the supermarket entrance.
In the background of the footage, at the spot where goods were stacked, a figure in a white dress was moving away from the camera.
This figure had a beautiful face, delicate and exquisite ears, a fair and slender neck, a clean and untainted aura, and slightly messy hair tied up lazily.
"It’s the resurrected female corpse," Franca confirmed, comparing it with the sketch she had completed using "Dream Divination."
Before Lumian could respond, she added:
"This appearance, aura, and charm are more like a Demi-God level 'Demoness' than a 'Spirit of Lust, Baby Cupid.' (Seq 5 - Scrooge pathway)
"How could the 'Demoness' resurrect at Woodlands Hospital?"
Lumian nodded gently, refraining from speculating and instead asking Franca:
"Can you trace her movements throughout the store?"
"Yes," Franca replied, busy operating the surveillance system.
Soon, the large screen showed the female corpse's figure in every panel, corresponding to different scenes in the store.
Franca, while at the base examining the surveillance footage, was looking for the whereabouts of the female corpse during the process. She watched these several times, her eyes focused intently on observing the details of Lumian, and thoughtfully said:
"It seems she was wandering aimlessly, didn't buy anything, entered a shop, looked around for a few minutes, and then left. It doesn't look like she was stalking anyone, nor was she looking for any particular item."
Lumian compared every image of the passersby in the surveillance footage and didn't find anyone who stood out as the female corpse.
"Is she experiencing the city for the first time, wandering and exploring?" Lumian thought of his own group.
"Then, because she had no money, she didn't dare to buy anything?" Franca joked.
Lumian shook his head: "It shouldn't be that simple.
"We almost accidentally encountered this female corpse during lunch, and after lunch, the Oracle's corpse began to show strange changes. The hospital where the Oracle's corpse was revived was also where this female corpse came back to life.
"If it wasn't arranged by someone, if it wasn't part of a script, such a coincidence would be enough to prove a close connection between them both."
Franca pondered for a moment and said:
"If this female corpse is truly a 'Demoness', then I have encountered similar situations before:
"When I first became a female diviner, I received useful hints from divination, but it was only about time and place. So, I wandered aimlessly back and forth on a street in Trier for a day and finally encountered what I was supposed to."
Upon hearing this, Lumian slowly nodded and said:
"You mean, the resurrected female corpse got hints through divination and came to wander around this shop?"
At this point, Lumian's eyes darkened:
"Her gain was to close the distance between us, to discover clues about where the Oracle's corpse was hidden behind some mirror, and thus after lunch, the Oracle's corpse showed strange changes?
"She is a subordinate of the Celestial Worthy, searching for the Oracle's corpse?
"Celestial Worthy and the 'Tree of Desire' are cooperating, using the hospital to control subordinates and harm some dream characters?"
Franca nodded and said:
"She could have accidentally encountered us, seemingly due to divination hints, but in fact, it should be the extraordinary convergence property of the laws at work.
"Only 'Demonesses' and high-ranked extraordinary beings of the 'Door' pathway can influence the world within the mirror, causing the Oracle's corpse hidden behind the mirror to mutate.
"That female corpse might fit both scenarios."
Franca meant that the female corpse might be granted Semi-God level 'Demoness' powers from the 'Door' pathway.
Lumian agreed with Franca's explanation, thinking for a few seconds and said:
"But the resurrection of this female corpse is definitely not just for finding the Oracle's corpse. From the situation handed over by that nurse, she came back to life before the Oracle was killed.
"She must have a more significant role, carrying out some crucial task?"
Franca sighed:
"In the coming days, apart from observing The 'Fool' and the people around him, we must find a way to locate this female corpse, see if we can deceive Celestial Worthy, and secretly eliminate her."
If this were in the real world, Franca would definitely not say such a thing, because she wouldn't be sure if the resurrected female corpse was rank 4, rank 3, or even higher. She would suggest inviting Major Arcana cards for help. But in the dream city, everyone was forced to rank 7 in terms of strength. A Semi-God level 'Demoness' only had slightly more special abilities, with no fundamental difference in strength. And Lumian was also a Semi-God level 'Demoness' their team was strong in numbers and could fight in a group.
Lumian thought for a moment and said:
"Shouldn't there be surveillance on the street as well? Can we find the last direction of this female corpse from the surveillance?"
"It's possible, but that would require hacking into the government department. If discovered, it would mean opposing the dream master's consciousness." Franca disagreed with taking such a risk now, as many pieces of information were still not collected!
Lumian suppressed his inner urge, returned to the original surveillance footage with Franca, erased their traces, and retreated into the mirror items. Franca then ended the 'Mirror Maze' and took the makeup mirror.
The two security guards only felt that the surveillance screen flickered for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.
Franca and Lumian returned to the car parked on the roadside, meeting with Jenna and the others responsible for the cover.
The car drove towards the old city area. Lumian and the driver Franca told their teammates about the surveillance findings and their own speculations.
While talking, Lumian suddenly fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Jenna asked.
Lumian said in a deep voice:
"We thought of going to the shop to retrieve surveillance footage to find that female corpse. Wouldn't that female corpse also think of retrieving surveillance to see if any prominent women had passed by?"
Being able to hide the corpse behind the mirror, there was a high probability she was also a 'Demoness'!
Franca's expression changed and she exclaimed: "Observation Room!"
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