Circle of Inevitability

Jenna, holding Ludwig's hand, deliberately fixed her gaze on Anderson's face. "I heard that Mr. Da who gave us the flier has gone missing. Is there any news?"

Principal Ai, whose English name was Edwina, suddenly looked gloomy. "He was killed."

"Oh my goodness, did something really happen to him?" Jenna had already rehearsed how she should react when inquiring about such matters, and even used the catchphrases popular among ordinary people in the dream city.

Before leaving home, she had deliberately applied makeup to make herself less attractive, to avoid becoming the focus of passersby.

The dark-skinned receptionist nodded gravely.

"We went to the police station to identify the body. Although he liked to show off, was a bit impulsive, and loved attention, he was truly a very, very good person. Why would someone murder him?"

"Robbery?" Jenna offered a guess.

"His phone and valuable belongings were still on him." Principal Ai denied this possibility. "Let's wait for the police investigation results. Hopefully, the murderer will be brought to justice soon."

Her expression was a bit sorrowful, obviously not wanting to discuss this matter further.

The foreign teacher, Anderson, then said, "The night before last, before he went out, he told me he'd ask me how to pursue girls when he got back. I waited for him until dawn, sent him messages but he didn't reply, called him but he didn't answer. I thought at the time, he shouldn't have had a romantic encounter, unless he paid for it, but he was very stingy and saved all his money, saying he wanted to buy a house…"

"You felt something was wrong, so you called the police?" Jenna showed a look of sudden realization.

At the same time, she couldn't help but grumble inwardly, Even though you're talking about a sad event, why do I feel like you're mocking the deceased? Is this really Anderson Hood, once the strongest Hunter of the Fog Sea?

The information provided by the Major Arcana cards mentioned that the principal of Dream Tutoring Classes, Ai Nana, corresponded to the Pirate Admiral Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina from a few years ago, and the foreign teacher Anderson Hood corresponded to Anderson Hood, the strongest Hunter of the Fog Sea in reality. Of course, this title was now disputed, with Louis Berry having quite a few supporters.

Anderson nodded. "Yes, reporting to the police must be timely. If he really encountered problems, the police might have been able to save him in time. If he was indeed just fooling around with paid women, the police could have caught him in bed. Who knew… sigh…"

Are you really concerned about the Oracle, or do you have a grudge against him… Jenna couldn't tell for a moment whether Anderson was joking or not.

Moreover, it's not appropriate to joke about such a tragedy!

Jenna asked a few more questions indirectly, roughly confirming that Anderson had reported to the police less than an hour after the Oracle's death, and the police had taken it seriously, not dismissing it with the usual "adult males must be out of contact for 48 hours" excuse. They had started searching near the late-night food stalls just after midnight.

This is close to what we speculated. Mr. Fool's subconscious probably considered this matter very important, or in his subconscious, the Oracle was quite important, so the police acted unusually and started the investigation immediately… Jenna didn't dwell on the Oracle's death, and began paying and filling out forms to enroll Ludwig in the weekend Beginner English class.

She knew that in such scenarios, one should avoid touching on or asking about others' sorrowful matters, especially those involving death, unless the other person was willing to talk about it.

After leaving Dream Tutoring Classes, on the way to the bus stop, Jenna looked at Anthony, who hadn't said much and seemed to have gone unnoticed by Principal Ai, Anderson Hood, and others. "Did you observe any unusual details?"

"The key figures at Dream Tutoring Classes basically match the descriptions in the file, and their attitudes towards the Oracle's death are normal." Anthony had prepared his thoughts. "But I felt that some of Anderson Hood's words just now were a bit over the top, hiding some subtext, as if he wanted to tell us something…"

Before Anthony could finish, a voice suddenly sounded from behind. "I heard you mention my name."

Jenna and Anthony turned around simultaneously to find that Anderson Hood had somehow also left Dream Tutoring Classes and was only four or five meters away from them.

Jenna thought for two seconds and deliberately said, "We were discussing how you don't seem to be very sad about Mr. Da's death, and even seem to be mocking him."

Anderson smiled and looked around before saying, "Because I feel that the people around me have been acting a bit strange lately."

"Strange?" Jenna asked puzzledly.

Anderson lowered his voice. "Don't you suddenly have this feeling at some point?

"The people around seem to be acting out different scripts to cooperate with you, but occasionally they overdo it or are not meticulous enough, making you notice something is off, making you feel terrified, like it's not real enough.

"Before, they all performed very well, but recently, the flaws have increased significantly."

Wh— Has Anderson Hood perceived the essence of this dream city? But he's just a dream image, not a real person's projection. The Major Arcana card holders said that the real Anderson Hood doesn't have any special items or connections, so he can't enter Mr. Fool's dream…

He now seems like a character in a book who discovers that he's just a character in a story… Jenna was shocked and found it incredible.

Seeing Jenna stunned, Anderson laughed. "You believed it? Looks like the story I made up isn't bad, and my acting isn't bad either…"

After saying this, Anderson waved his hand and walked towards the nearby convenience store.

Behind him, a group of students who had finished class poured out of Dream Tutoring Classes.

Jenna and Anthony exchanged glances, neither angered by Anderson's prank, but rather feeling that he really had something unsaid.

This person, who should only be a dream image, seemed a bit special.

Looking at the students leaving the building where Dream Tutoring Classes was located, Jenna withdrew her gaze and continued walking towards the bus stop.

While waiting for the bus, she curiously asked Ludwig, "You seemed a bit scared when you saw Principal Ai?"

Ludwig mumbled, "She was one of my former teachers."

Ah, Ludwig's teacher from the Church of Knowledge, no wonder… Jenna suddenly understood.

…

In the rental apartment.

After listening to Jenna and Anthony's account, Lumian considered for a moment and said, "Currently, we're still in the observation stage of key figures. Don't further contact Anderson for now. After we finish the observation phase, we'll find an opportunity when there are no other teachers or students from Dream Tutoring Classes around him to probe him."

Franca, who had recovered her health, also regained her normal thinking ability.

"You suspect that Mr. Fool enrolling in Dream Tutoring Classes caused problems for some of the teachers and students there, and the Oracle's death is a continuation of these problems rather than the beginning? And Anderson also became suspicious because he noticed some small inconsistencies?"

"This possibility is quite high." Lumian stood up and said, "I'm going to cook now."

He walked towards the kitchen, and Jenna naturally followed to assist.

Lumian had already steamed a pot of rice in the rice cooker. Now, he put the rice into several large bowls and added spicy sauces like Lao Gan Ma.

"After Ludwig finishes these, he'll be about 70-80% full, and then he can eat dinner normally with us," Lumian casually said to Jenna.

Jenna helped carry two bowls of rice, nodding seriously. "Yes, the food for Ludwig should be divided into two types: one for filling his stomach and one for tasting delicious flavors. It can't just be for filling his stomach."

"You seem quite concerned about him?" Lumian picked up the remaining bowls and chuckled.

Jenna laughed self-mockingly. "I feel a bit guilty, I guess."

After delivering these bowls of rice to Ludwig, Lumian washed the rice cooker clean and steamed another pot for himself and the others, using the quick mode.

"When we have money, we should buy another rice cooker…" Lumian muttered as he took out vegetables and meat from the refrigerator.

Jenna took them over, washed the vegetables under the tap, and used her Demoness powers to control frost to defrost the meat.

She washed one item and passed it to Lumian, who used knives formed from frost to chop and slice.

The two chatted casually, occasionally falling silent to listen to how Franca was teaching Ludwig to watch cartoons in the living room, without slowing down their food preparation.

Jenna glanced at the sky outside, tinged with golden-red afterglow, and said, "We probably won't go out at night for now. What's the plan for tomorrow?"

During the observation phase, they had to be extremely careful. Since the magic mirror Arrodes had hinted that there were problems at night, they wouldn't go out after dark for now.

While quickly slicing with his ice knife, Lumian looked down at the increasing pile of shredded meat and said without hesitation, "In the morning, we'll go to Star Dream Provisions Store to get the reply from the Major Arcana card holders, and observe the police station nearby while we're at it.

"In the afternoon, we'll observe one of the most important targets."

"Mr. Fool's friend Peng Deng?" Jenna knew who Lumian was referring to.

Peng Deng was a very special person in the dream city. He was a good friend of Mr. Fool, that is, Zhou Mingrui, but there was no corresponding person for him in reality.

Following the logic that characters closer to Mr. Fool should be more important, Peng Deng should have a high status and position in the real world. However, the Major Arcana card holders and other coin holders had never found out who he represented or symbolized.

At the same time, they hadn't found any problems with Peng Deng in the dream.

Lumian nodded and continued, "Based on my experience, a character in such a position must have a strong symbolic meaning. We just haven't found the approach or method to interpret it yet.

"One reason why Mr. Star became a key focus and was kicked out of the dream by the Celestial Worthy might be his strong connection to Mr. Fool's Angel of Time—a decryption expert. If He truly came into contact with Peng Deng, He might see something."

"Right." Jenna finished washing all the vegetables, shook her hands, and let the water droplets turn into frost and float down.

…

The next morning, at the entrance of Star Dream Provisions Store.

Franca, feeling a bit fearful yet somewhat expectant, followed Lumian inside.

The magic mirror Arrodes had indeed left some psychological trauma on her, but she was also quite curious about the brass book, which was much more expensive than the mirror, and the true identity of the shop owner.

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