Chapter 266 Choice Lumian had always believed that the other self in his dreams represented his own dark side, an alienated personality caused by the contamination of fate. But now it seems that there is more to it. There is nothing wrong with the interpretation of "his" nature, but does the sneaky behavior of "him" and the owl hiding in the wizard's tomb have corresponding symbols? Representing the manipulator behind the scenes, representing the owner of the lizard-like creature, representing the real planner of the great sacrifice in Koldu Village? And now, he is hiding in the dark, trying to cooperate with Thermipolos to escape the seal? But Thermopylae's attitude towards lizard-like creatures doesn't seem to be like that... Lumian was silent for several seconds, but without hiding his guess, he told the "Magician" lady in detail. The Magician listened carefully, thought for a while and said: “I originally thought that as long as you receive psychological treatment in stages and gradually recall the things you have forgotten, the truth about Koldu Village will appear clearly before your eyes, and it should be no different from what I have learned. "But after hearing what you said, I suspect that some of the symbols and metaphors presented in your dream hide other secrets, deeper secrets." “But no matter what, those symbols and metaphors are the projection of my real experiences in my dreams. It’s impossible that I can’t interpret them after I recover my memory, right?” Lumian objected. The "Magician" lady smiled slightly and said: "That's not necessarily the case."

Seeing that Lumian was puzzled, she simply explained: “On the one hand, you may not have experienced it in reality, but your spirit or subconscious mind detected the danger and abnormality and projected them into the dream in the form of symbolic elements. "On the other hand, Thermiporos is sealed in your body. Your fate is linked to His. Your subconscious may have discovered something abnormal from Him." Lumian probably understood what the "Magician" meant, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "Once I have completed all the stages of psychotherapy, can Ms. Susie directly arouse my subconscious mind and ask it about the meaning of different symbols?" "This is very dangerous. We will have to decide whether to try it based on the combined opinions of the two 'psychologists'." The Magician said thoughtfully, "This will have to wait a long time. Before that, I can help you find a Beyonder who is good at deciphering symbolic meanings to see if they can make a sufficiently accurate interpretation without going through your subconscious mind. Do you need it?" "Okay." Lumian agreed eagerly. Then, he asked with a little concern: "Regardless of any Thermopylae helpers that might be lurking around?" The Magician said calmly: "Now that we are aware of this possibility, I don't think he will risk staying around you. Of course, I will continue to observe." She then asked: "Are you going to continue the mission given to you by the Aurora Society? Many people must have seen you rushing towards the Shadow Tree just now, which would make Gardner Martin suspicious. "If you don't want to take risks, tell Mr. K about this. He will probably be very pleased that you killed a 'fallen tree spirit' and destroyed the plan of the 'Supreme Bliss Society', and then assign you a new task. "If you wish to continue, I will ask someone to blur the memories of those witnesses. It is normal that they did not see your specific appearance and physical features clearly under the circumstances at that time." Lumian barely hesitated: "I want to continue." Gardner Martin himself is a Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 of the "Hunter" pathway, and there are a large number of "Hunters" around him. If you continue to contact him and join the organization called "Iron Cross", you will have a great chance of obtaining the subsequent potion formula and main ingredients of "Arsonist". After all these things happened, Lumian had a better understanding of the levels of the sequence, the fear of the strong and his own level, and had an urgent desire to improve his own strength. This was completely different from when he first arrived in Trier, when he didn't care about anything and was pursuing hope in a slightly confused state. Only if you are strong enough can you fight against misfortune, find the truth about the disaster in the dangerous world of occultism, and distinguish whether various proposals using "resurrection" as bait contain malicious intent! The "Magician" lady nodded slightly and agreed to Lumian's request. Because of the topic just now, Lumian asked with a little curiosity: "Has the 'Shadow Tree' been resolved?" "How is that possible?" The "Magician" lady sneered. "Even if the two major churches ask God to descend, the 'Shadow Tree' cannot be solved. Haha, it's not that there is no way, but the price is so high that no one is willing to pay it." "What price?" Lumian asked.

The “Magician” lady took two steps toward the side of the hillside as if taking a walk: "After more than a thousand years of nourishment and influence, the 'Shadow Tree' has long since merged with Trier, becoming its dark side and its shadow. Unless the metropolis is destroyed directly and everyone here is killed, the true God cannot completely destroy it. "Of course, we can also move Trier to another place and relocate all the people. Then, after five or six years, when the Shadow Tree becomes weak enough without nourishment, we can uproot it. But if we do that, the other dangers under Trier will be out of control." “Are there any other dangers?” Lumian frowned. Isn’t the underground of Trier too exaggerated? He then asked doubtfully: "Why not destroy the Shadow Tree when it was first planted?" Ms. Magician laughed: "Aren't you in such a hurry to build a city to fight against some underground dangers? Didn't you notice that someone secretly planted a 'Shadow Tree'?" She didn't specify what other dangers there were, as if she didn't think it was something Lumian should know by now. Lumian noticed this and shut his mouth. The "Magician" lady looked at him and said with a self-deprecating smile: "Are you unhappy because I sent you directly to Trier, involving you in a series of dangerous things, and did not provide corresponding help?" “No.” Lumian didn’t understand why the “Magician” lady asked this question. In his opinion, accepting the task, completing the commission and getting the reward was fair enough, and during this process, the "magician" lady would also provide guidance through letters. Except for the first few years after being adopted, Lumian had long been accustomed to not relying entirely on others and making full use of the various resources at hand to achieve his goals. The "Magician" lady smiled: "Didn't you see the Two of Cups summoning her Major Arcana? That's because we happened to be in Trier, otherwise it wouldn't be so easy and effective." She paused and said: "If I had treated you as an extension of my eyes, an extension of my hands, as a true subordinate without self-will, I could have provided you with enough help and guaranteed your safety most of the time by reciting my name. However, you chose the 'Hunter' path, which is a path that requires fighting and a strong self-will. "A flower raised in a greenhouse cannot become a qualified 'hunter'. A 'hunter' who always relies on having a protector and fights in his comfort zone will find it difficult to gain divinity and become a saint. By then, he will have to spend more time and pay a greater price to make up for his current shortcomings. “What kind of person do you want to be?” Lumian was silent for two seconds and said: "I want to be the one that makes those assholes tremble." The answer is self-evident. The “Magician” lady nodded with satisfaction: "Of course, this doesn't mean I will ignore you. I will still reply to your letters, give you advice, and even provide direct help upon your request, but I don't want you to feel that you are being protected all the time." Lumian nodded to show that he understood. He recalled Susanna Mathis's rapid recitation of certain words in prayer for help from a higher being, and combined with the key words that the Magician had just mentioned, he spoke as if he was thinking: "Can chanting the name of a certain being gain His attention and pray for His corresponding help?" “Yes.” The Magician nodded gently, “But that requires the other party to have enough goodwill. When you reach a certain stage, I will also tell you my name. Well, you hold the honorific name of Mr. Fool, but if you don’t hold a ceremony, it will be difficult to get an effective response just by reciting it, and you may even encounter bad effects. This is because Mr. Fool is fighting against a certain ancient god, which is related to the fate of all of us and whether this world can survive the end of the world.” Mr. Fool? The abbreviation of that great being is "The Fool"? Sure enough, it is a secret organization codenamed after tarot cards... When Lumian heard "The Fool" before, he automatically thought of the tarot cards that appear in daily life, rather than the "Fool" in the honorific name, which is more like a description.

The Magician stopped talking and glanced at the tree trunk in Lumian's hand. “This is a good thing. No attack that does not possess divinity can damage it. After hitting the target, it may even trigger some desires in him. "If you harvest another extraordinary property that matches it, you can find a way to ask a saint-level craftsman to combine them together and make a magical item. "You can't carry it with you all the time, otherwise your desires will gradually get out of control. This is very dangerous for a Beyonder who takes the potion." As soon as she finished speaking, the Magician tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something, and then said to Lumian: "That's it for today." The next second, Lumian saw a mixture of rich colors and indescribable transparent creatures. Another second later, he saw a chaotic street full of cracks. The "Magician" lady had disappeared from his sight. Lumian was stunned for a moment, then quickly put on the clothes and pants in his hands. Then he saw Franca not far away. They both smiled at the same time. Before they had time to exchange their feelings about being in the same secret organization, they saw Janna in a gray-blue dress jumping out from the shadows in the alley. Lumian and Franka became alert reflexively and raised their defenses. Janna covered the wound on her ribs and shouted happily: "Fuck! You guys are fine!" "It seems to be true..." Franca muttered, walked over, and asked with concern, "How did you get hurt?" Janna looked around nervously and said in a low voice: "I assassinated Hugues Artois and was wounded by a gun." "Fuck! You succeeded? And you escaped?" Franca was shocked. She felt that she couldn't do it. What is this called? This is called a real assassin! Seeing that there were only a few people walking on the street, Lumian interrupted Janna's words: "We'll talk when we get to the Golden Rooster Inn, and then I'll remove the bullet from you and treat your wounds." "I still have half a bottle of healing potion." Franca added happily. She held onto Janna and followed the shadows along the roadside back to the Golden Rooster Hotel. When they were almost at their destination, they met the intelligence dealer Anthony Reid. Lumian laughed and said in a mocking tone: "I thought you ran away." "I have some unfinished business in the market area," Anthony Reid answered vaguely. The four of them walked a few more steps and saw the beige five-story building. The Golden Rooster Inn was a little tilted than before, and there were some cracks on the surface of the wall, with vines and branches that were beginning to wither. Because the remaining tenants had not returned, it exuded an indescribable sense of dilapidation and deathly silence.

………… It has been some time since that disaster. A young man in plain clothes, carrying an old suitcase, followed the crowd off the steam train, walked out of the platform, and walked all the way to the chaotic street. He saw the beige five-story building with a dozen bright red streaks painted on its surface. "Golden Rooster Hotel." He read out the name of the building, touched the bills and coins in his pocket, and felt that he should be able to afford it. The Golden Rooster Hotel was much cleaner than he had imagined. Although many places were covered with outdated newspapers and cheap pink paper, there were no bedbugs, sticky and disgusting phlegm, or all kinds of garbage everywhere. After spending 15 fils to rent room 302, the young man walked up the stairs with his suitcase, thinking happily: "It's cheaper than I thought. Such a clean hotel is only 15 Filkins a month..." After putting his suitcase in the cramped room, he decided to use the money he saved to go have a drink. When you come to the City of Joy, you have to act like the City of Joy! He made his way to the underground bar, and as soon as he walked in, he felt the hustle and bustle. A guy in a shirt and bow tie was standing at a small round table, holding a beer and waving his short arms. He was preaching something enthusiastically to the people around him. Some of the others were drinking, some were singing, and some were dancing, and none of them were willing to be quiet. There were a few drinkers sitting at the bar, where there was a strange machine. The young man came closer, looked at the rubber hose and glass tank of the machine, and asked curiously: "what is this?" A handsome man with blond hair and black features turned his body and answered with a bright smile: "It's called the Fool Tester. It can test a person's intelligence index, or stupidity index." (End of Part 2) (End of this chapter)