Dean used Marco's home phone to call Tribeca in Las Vegas.
"Dean, I forgot to tell you before." The gentle voice of the old woman came from the phone, "That old guy Marco has a bad temper and is still sick. If he says anything offensive to you, please be more tolerant of him. For a moment, don’t make him mad.”
"Don't worry, we get along very happily." Dean turned to look at the old man next to him, "Let's get down to business, I encountered a problem and I want to ask you for advice."
Dean recounted his findings and the resulting speculations.
"Your intuition is still as sharp as ever," Tribeca praised. "No one else would have thought of this possibility."
"Will the story in the book happen in reality?" Dean asked,
"I have no personal experience, nor have I heard anyone who has experienced it, so I can't give you an exact answer. I can only tell a legendary story as a reference."
Dean cheered up;
The woman continued, "A noble ancient king had a dream. He dreamed of a stunningly beautiful woman. Her dress and temperament were similar to the harvest goddess who was respected and loved by the people."
"The king fell in love with her at first sight and sought out the best painters in the world to depict the appearance of the goddess in his dream, but unfortunately none of them satisfied him."
"So he taught himself painting, honed his painting skills day and night, devoted himself to it, and even didn't bother to take care of state affairs. After more than ten years, he finally restored the alluring appearance of the goddess in his dream with his own hands."
"On that night, the goddess jumped out of the picture frame, came to reality, and married the king."
…
"This legend is a typical example of fantasy turning into reality. Although it is just a story in my book, I can help you analyze some information," Tribeca concluded in a deep voice. "If you want to turn fantasy into reality, It’s absolutely impossible for an average person to do that under normal circumstances.”
"It has at least three key elements."
"Tell me about it?" Dean held his breath.
"First of all, the king's status is noble, and his bloodline and background are not ordinary people."
"Secondly, the king had a strong obsession, which made him willing to endure boredom and devoutly hone his painting skills for more than ten years."
"Thirdly, the object painted by the king is not a mortal object, but the goddess of harvest. The goddess embodies the beliefs and spirits of many people."
…
Dean kept nodding. Based on this analysis, if the plot in Lu's book can become a reality, these three conditions must be met.
Is Lu Ben obsessed with it?
I have been passionate about writing since I was a child and have persisted in writing for more than 30 years. I have lived in a simple apartment and devoted myself to writing. I have been hit by publishing houses many times, but I still don’t give up. This kind of will is not weak.
Second, although the people in Luben are characters he created based on his mother.
But the story takes place on the Virginia Street Bridge, a vital artifact in the history of Reno divorce.
In the past, countless divorced couples left their wedding rings on the bridge. This bridge entrusted them with their blessings and expectations to bid farewell to the past and embrace new life, which contains the strong spiritual will of mankind.
Dean believes that even nihilistic spiritual will can achieve qualitative change if accumulated.
As Taime once said - human emotions contain the power to create miracles.
…
Two of the three premises are nearly consistent.
The investigation progress jumped to 50%!
Dean felt certain that Luben, that crappy writer, might have actually created a miracle!
Only one last condition remains.
He held the phone and asked,
"Tribeca, how much do you know about Marco's family?"
The woman on the other end of the phone was strangely silent.
Behind him, Marco couldn't help but speak,
"Do you treat me like air? Why ask her? In my impression, our family has been ordinary people for generations, including my father. I have never seen them show any supernatural abilities, but they like to collect some weird things. Scrap metal, antiques related to the occult, but most of them have been sold or lost, and there are only three pieces left."
Dean was slightly disappointed, but then he thought, maybe there is some kind of magical item in these collections?
"Can you take me to see these collections?"
"Let me tell you the truth, the remaining three collections were taken away by Luben in search of inspiration, and then disappeared with him." Marco regretted, "You have to find the person first."
Marco spoke and took the microphone from Dean's hand, "It's me, cough, tell me the truth, is the detective you recommended reliable?"
"..."
Dean's face stiffened when he was questioned face to face, and then he comforted himself that geniuses and capable people would inevitably be misunderstood by ordinary people.
…
After hanging up the phone, Marco returned to the sofa in the living room and looked at Dean with complicated eyes, "So, do you think the dream goddess in the book came to the real world and took him away on the Virginia Street Bridge?"
"Yes, can you please stop looking at me with that outrageous look..."
"Okay. But as Ruben's father, I have no idea that what he wrote can become reality, otherwise he would have written himself as a billionaire." Marco shook his head.
"You didn't hear Tribeca's explanation. It doesn't just come to you as you write. This ability to turn fiction into reality has strict conditions. And the bridge with profound historical background and the goddess in the dream in Luben's autobiography, plus The special plot he composed himself just meets the conditions." Dean replied without changing his expression,
"Your words remind me of my experience of going to a mental hospital to communicate with delusional patients." Marco said with concern on his face.
"As long as we can find Lu Ben, it doesn't matter if I'm crazy?" Dean didn't want to argue anymore, "And you've asked the police and other detectives to conduct a lot of investigations using conventional methods. Is it useful?"
Marco's face darkened.
"Don't you dare to try my method? If we delay it any longer, Lu Ben may not be able to survive."
"A sharp-tongued boy." Marco suppressed the sense of absurdity and sighed, "Then if the plot in the book has become reality, how should we find him?"
"Luben's destination after his disappearance should be written in the second half of his autobiography." Dean analyzed calmly,
Marco shook his head,
"Unfortunately, I do not have the book, and no one else can have it because it has fallen into the Truckee River."
Here comes the problem.
The two knew nothing about the plot of the second half and could not find Lu Ben's whereabouts based on this.
What should we do at this time?
…
The hall was suddenly so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Marco went to get two cups of hot tea and waited quietly for the young man opposite.
Dean held his chin with his hands clasped together, his eyes flashing with thought.
Thump thump thump…
A steady heartbeat is like the swinging hands of a clock.
Time passes by second by second.
At a certain moment, Dean got up from the sofa and walked around the living room several times, mumbling something,
"I'm not Lu Ben, and I will never be able to guess what plot he wrote in the second half."
"I'm not him, so I can't guess."
"Then what if I were him?" A light flashed in Dean's eyes, as if lightning tore through the fog in his mind, "If I take Lu Ben's place, I become Lu Ben..."
"Louder, what did you find?" Marco rubbed his ears,
Dean placed "Ruben Van Helsing" on the coffee table and turned to one of the plots.
"The plot of the hero Luben saving the beauty happened at midnight. Have you checked the Virginia Street Bridge at that time?"
"In half a year, if not ten times, there were seven or eight times where I stayed up all night guarding the bridge without closing my eyes," Marco regretted. "But I am 100% sure that there is no woman in red who wants to jump off the bridge. Except for the bats, there wasn’t even a ghost.”
…
Dean nodded.
Going to the Virginia Street Bridge so unprepared must not have been discovered, because this does not fit in with the storyline in the book.
But Dean has the ability to imitate and can perfectly reproduce the storyline of the first half.
"I first changed my shape, then put on Luben's face, skin, and body shape, then put on the black trench coat, black straight jeans, and black leather shoes described in the book. I got drunk at the lover's bar and ended up at midnight. If we arrive at the Virginia Street Bridge at two o'clock, will we be able to see the lady in red and continue the development of the story in the book?"
"Find the whereabouts of the real Luben!"
Just do it!
Dean's eyes flashed with fire, he had no other choice!
…
But then, a new problem appeared.
In order for Dean to transform into Luben, he first needs to analyze Luben's blood samples. But Luben has been missing for half a year, where can he get blood?
He looked at Marco with a faint hope. The old man was looking at him with pity, like a doctor looking at a terminally ill patient.
"Do you have Ruben's blood on hand?" Dean asked,
"What do you want to use it for?" Marco looked confused, unable to follow the other person's thinking.
"I have my own uses. Anyway, if you want to find your son, you'd better help me."
The old man looked at Dean with that weird look again, and was silent for a long time.
"Well, you're lucky. Luben often drinks too much. I'm worried about his health problems, and I can't persuade him to go to the hospital for a physical examination. So every once in a while, I will personally draw his blood for a test... In my clinic, there are about There are still some unused samples frozen, but they may have deteriorated for a long time." Dean was surprised and happy.
"When it goes bad, it goes bad. But aren't you a veterinarian?"
"The medical technology for humans and animals is partly the same."
"Let's go, take me to see it!"
(End of chapter)
