Circle of Inevitability

After returning to Room 2303 with that painting, Jenna asked Franca, "Should we have Lumian contact Stiano? He should be very interested in how to deal with this kind of painting."

The previous self-portrait sketch of Luo Shan could be photographed but not deleted, while this precipice bridge painting couldn't be photographed at all.

Franca pondered for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "That's one of the backup plans, but not the first choice.

"We currently only know that Stiano is interested in mystical photos that can spread online and can't be deleted. We're not sure if he has the desire to research paintings that can't be uploaded to the Internet. Besides, always owing favors to someone or owing too many may not be a good thing. It will have to be repaid eventually. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

"It's similar to taking out micro loans. Do it appropriately and moderately, and be prepared to repay from the beginning."

With the analogy of micro loans, Jenna immediately accepted Franca's reasoning.

"Then how do we deal with it?" she asked.

Franca's smile widened.

"Wait until dawn, then take this painting to the Star Dream Provisions Store after the morning rush hour."

Franca, who had read extensively before her transmigration, always had a broad perspective. She chuckled softly.

"When you get to the Star Dream Provisions Store, ask the shopkeeper if She'd buy items with mystical elements, and how much She would offer.

"If She's willing to buy it, this painting probably won't be able to come back on its own."

Can it be done like this? Jenna thought carefully and found it quite feasible.

Based on the premise that only true gods could enter Mr. Fool's dream besides those who possessed medium items or had special connections, as well as details like contacting the Major Arcana card holders by sending letters to the Church of the Evernight Goddess's high-ranking deacons through the Star Dream Provisions Store, and the dim environment of the store itself, Lumian's team could actually guess the shopkeeper's identity in reality, but they tacitly agreed not to mention it.

If the shopkeeper agreed to buy this strange painting, it meant She definitely had a way to control the corresponding anomalies and truly transfer ownership to Her hands.

Moreover, wasn't it normal for a provisions store focusing on mystical elements to purchase items with mystical elements?

After pondering for a few seconds, Jenna asked, "What if the shopkeeper doesn't want to buy it?"

"Then ask if we can put this painting in Her store for consignment. We'll pay a storage fee and give Her a cut of the final sale. It's equivalent to paying Her to handle the anomaly," Franca said with a smile. "If She still doesn't agree, we'll contact Stiano through Lumian. If Stiano doesn't accept, you can take advantage of the daytime to find an opportunity to throw this painting at the police station. Remember to hide your identity well."

At this point, Franca's expression suddenly turned serious. "My spiritual intuition and mystical experience tell me that your process of dealing with this painting won't be very smooth. There will be dangers. If the danger is too great, you should actively exit the dream. We still have two more chances later, there's no need to risk your life now."

"Understood." Jenna nodded solemnly.

Afterwards, she and Franca entered that strange space again and found Luo Shan once more guarding by the semi-transparent barrier, in quite good condition.

Franca revealed her identity as a colleague and started chatting casually with Luo Shan, learning more details about Zhou Mingrui's situation and which employees in various departments of the Intis Group were worth noting.

The results of the conversation left Franca and Jenna very satisfied, feeling that saving Luo Shan was not only a choice of emotion and stance but also a very correct decision in the course of completing their mission.

The information obtained from Luo Shan might have taken Franca and Lumian one or two months to slowly collect on their own.

"Later on, we'll need your help to convince Zhou Mingrui that he is the future messiah," Franca said to Luo Shan with a flattering smile. "We can't directly tell him the truth; he definitely wouldn't believe it."

"He absolutely wouldn't believe it. No normal person would. They would just think it's a prank or a scam," Luo Shan nodded, then added in a small voice, "I don't fully believe it myself now…"

Franca pretended not to hear Luo Shan's mumbling and changed the subject.

When dawn broke and they automatically left that strange space, Franca got out of bed and took out the clothes she was going to wear today from the wardrobe, with a heavy expression.

Before Jenna could speak, she took the initiative to say,

"There's a good chance you'll encounter danger and anomalies today, so it's better to dress in a way that allows for easier movement."

Jenna nodded lightly, not refusing.

Franca quickly finished washing up, took off her pajamas, and while slowly changing her clothes, she muttered, "After I became a Witch and adapted, sometimes when walking on the street, I would feel pleased and happy with people's gazes, thinking how charming I am. This might be a manifestation of a Demoness's narcissism.

"But there's a difference between enjoying it yourself and being forced by others. And if you're not used to it yourself, you definitely won't like it. It's like when I was in school, they always required us to wear uniforms on Mondays, and there would always be some rebellious kids in each class who didn't want to, preferring to accept punishment instead…"

Franca rambled on, as if trying to distract herself and reduce the sense of embarrassment.

She bent over, clumsily putting on the most conservative flesh-colored stockings, stepped into brand new low-heeled shoes, then stood up and, using the full-length mirror embedded in the wardrobe, adjusted her blouse and light gray skirt that reached just above her knees.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Franca pursed her lips, feeling quite complex.

Jenna watched the whole time without saying a word.

After applying makeup that made her look a bit less attractive, tying up her long hair, putting on glasses, and picking up a high-quality branded replica handbag, Franca walked steadily towards the door.

Just before leaving, she turned back and smiled at Jenna.

"Thank you for not saying 'you look beautiful in this outfit' or 'this really suits you'. However, you seemed a little bit amazed just now. Hmm, that made me feel a bit better."

"Yes," Jenna returned with an affirming smile.

Franca waved and walked out the door.

She really is someone who's good at self-regulating her emotions and staying optimistic… Jenna sighed inwardly, turning her gaze away and patiently waiting for the morning rush hour to pass.

Close to 9 o'clock, she carried the painting and left Building 5, coming to the residential district's lobby.

She chose to take a ride-hailing car to the Star Dream Provisions Store instead of taking the subway and then switching to a bus. She was afraid that the painting's anomalies might affect more people. If that happened, the latent dangers might not do much to her, but the widespread commotion could bring about more serious problems.

After a while, Jenna walked out of the lobby and came to the roadside, seeing a white sedan already waiting for her.

After opening the car door with one hand, she glanced towards the driver's seat, confirming that the driver wasn't wearing a monocle and had no other obvious features. It was someone she didn't recognize and didn't trigger her spiritual intuition.

Jenna sat in the back, placing the painting on her lap and holding it to her chest.

After verifying the last digits of her phone number, the driver started the vehicle.

Jenna was highly focused, vigilantly guarding against possible accidents.

Suddenly, she felt her breathing become difficult, while there was no anomaly around her.

It was as if another her was being pushed into the sea, and the feeling of drowning was transmitted through a mystical connection.

Without hesitation, Jenna took out a mirror, plucked two strands of hair, trying to stick them to the mirror's surface and burn them with a Demoness's black flames.

She was attempting to cast a black magic related to the Mirror Substitution, actively trying to transfer that mystical connection to the mirror.

At this moment, Jenna had a hallucination. She saw gently swaying emerald-green waves and her own hands flailing uncontrollably, as if struggling to swim to the surface.

However, there was a force pulling at her legs, trying to drag her to the bottom of the sea.

Almost simultaneously, a pale, swollen hand reached out from nowhere and covered her mouth.

"Mmph, mmph, mmph…

"Glug, glug, glug…"

Jenna showed obvious signs of drowning, her nose, respiratory tract, and lungs becoming extremely uncomfortable.

She wanted to use her substitutes but couldn't sense those mirrors. She seemed to be separated from them in different worlds—even the mystical connection cut off.

Suddenly, silent black flames flowed out from Jenna's eyeballs, nostrils, mouth, ears, and other places. These black flames burned her body from the inside out, burning all the invisible things trying to influence her.

Outside the black flames, frost condensed, encasing Jenna in a thick ball of ice and snow.

On the surface of the sphere, countless invisible spider silk retracted, wrapping layer by layer, forming a huge "cocoon".

Jenna finally no longer felt the agony of nearly drowning, but she still couldn't sense her body or substitutes.

The next second, she found herself walking on a bridge.

On the other side of the bridge was a steep cliff and a dark forest at the far end of the cliff.

Have I entered that painting? Jenna tried to turn around and return to the starting point of the bridge, to escape the world inside the painting from the entrance, but she couldn't control her body and watched helplessly as "she" continued forward along the bridge.

At this time, two people walked out of the dark forest.

One was Luo Shan with a malicious face, and the other was Jenna herself.

A Jenna with a seductive smile!

Crack!

The bridge suddenly broke, and Jenna fell towards the dark abyss whose bottom couldn't be seen.

Great fear and despair invaded Jenna's mind, her consciousness rapidly blurring, unable to save herself.

She seemed to already see the image of herself smashed into bloody pieces.

Taking advantage of her consciousness not yet completely falling into darkness, before the unimaginable pain arrived, she mustered her last clarity, about to actively exit the dream.

But it didn't work.

It didn't work!

Useless… Jenna's gaze suddenly froze.

She didn't give up; she was still trying to save herself, gritting her teeth, struggling to regain control of her body to use the Demoness's feather-fall technique.

At this moment, a ray of sunlight shone into the dark abyss, illuminating the cliff high above.

All the scenes before Jenna's eyes instantly shattered and fragmented in the brilliant sunlight.

She suddenly opened her eyes and found herself still sitting in the car, hugging that painting.

"We've arrived," the driver turned halfway, reminding Jenna.

I arrived so quickly? Jenna felt as if she had been walking for an entire morning in a stuffy environment, her clothes soaked with sweat.

She looked out the window somewhat bewilderedly and saw the Star Dream Provisions Store.

Jenna instinctively pushed open the door and got out of the car, wanting to rush into that shop to avoid other possible anomalies that might come later.

"Remember to give me a five-star rating!" the driver called out to her retreating figure.

Jenna unconsciously turned her body sideways, looking back at the driver.

The driver had a smile at the corner of his mouth and somehow produced a crystal monocle, putting it on his right eye.

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