Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Before Lin Yi could even examine the compass's direction, a semi-transparent light screen unfolded before him without warning.

That's the interface of the Void Tree.

A dense mass of text appeared on the light screen, all of it a brief introduction to the world of the Viking Sea. Lin Yi's gaze swept across it quickly, taking in the key information one by one.

[Hint: The hunters have arrived at the Viking Sea.]

The hunter must reach the center of the world, Losh Island, also known as Terror Island or Ghost Reef Island, within 15 natural days.

This world cannot obtain the Source of the World.

Treasure chests can be found in this world.

[The participants have arrived at the third battlefield: the Viking Sea.]

[The following is a brief introduction to the world background of Viking Seas. Please read carefully.]

Oceans cover 85.73% of the world's total surface area. Several continents are scattered across these vast seas, with kingdoms dotting the landscape and civilizations spanning millennia. However, those who truly dominate the surface of this world are not the kings and knights on land, but the pirates who fly black flags at sea.

Piracy is rampant, and this is the most prominent feature of this world.

In the Viking Seas, pirates never chased after gold and silver treasures. Their purpose in setting sail was to find special items known as "Relics." These Relics were said to be relics from ancient times, containing power beyond the ordinary. Once a pirate found a Relic and established a connection with it, they could gain various extraordinary abilities or use the Relic itself as extraordinary weapons or armor.

Besides relics, giant monsters roaming the oceans are also a major target for pirates. Hunting these monsters yields valuable extraordinary materials, which, after being processed by the kingdom's techniques, can be used to create relatively ordinary relics.

The various kingdoms on the continent are not powerful enough to completely eradicate the pirates. The pirates are too numerous, too widely distributed, and most possess extraordinary abilities. If a war were to be waged, the kingdoms would pay a heavy price. More importantly, the pirates cannot truly unite. They believe in strength and freedom, and are constantly at odds with each other over secret artifacts, territory, and fame, leading to numerous internal conflicts. Without these external threats, the pirates would likely carnage each other.

The kingdom possesses the technology to process relics. The monster materials pirates hunt at sea must be transported to kingdom-controlled port cities for processing before they can be crafted into truly usable relics. Furthermore, pirates need supplies, ship repairs, and opportunities to rest ashore. Without these kingdoms, pirates would be like rootless duckweed at sea, unable to effectively utilize even the largest quantities of relics they plunder.

Thus, a delicate symbiotic relationship was formed between the two sides.

The kingdoms wouldn't provoke pirates, because angering these madmen would lead to bloodshed in coastal towns. The pirates, too, wouldn't easily challenge the kingdoms' bottom line, because without supply ports and processing routes, they would be lambs to the slaughter at sea. Ultimately, the decision rested with the kings of each kingdom. They had absolute power to decide whether to open ports, accept materials, and cooperate with any pirate group. However, they wisely chose coexistence rather than confrontation.

Please don't imagine pirates as sweaty, uncouth outlaws. In the Viking Seas, piracy was a profession, a way of life in pursuit of power and freedom. Many pirate captains even maintained close ties with royal nobles, and their fleets were one of the most important sources of income for coastal cities.

Besides these, the ocean is also home to many mysterious things: curses, shipwrecks, deep-sea monsters, relics of lost civilizations, and legendary gods slumbering in the depths of the sea. Some of these things are real, while others are merely rumors, but without exception, they all attract countless pirates.

Curses are among the most eerie forces in this ocean. Some relics are inherently cursed, and their users pay various prices. Some shipwrecks retain ancient curses, and those who recklessly trespass may never leave. There are even rumors that certain pirate crews, having violated sea taboos, were cursed into becoming ghost ships forever adrift at sea.

Extraordinary abilities are the ultimate goal pursued by pirates. By establishing a connection with artifacts, pirates can gain various abilities: control over storms, summon sea monsters, enhance their bodies, and foresee danger. The strength of these abilities depends on the quality of the artifact and its compatibility with the user. Some pirates only achieve the most basic enhancements throughout their lives, while others achieve qualitative leaps through continuous exploration.

Some say a powerful artifact capable of granting any wish lies hidden on a deserted island, but no one has been able to find it for centuries. Others say that if one could collect a certain item possessed by three legendary pirate crews, one could open the gate to the abode of the gods.

No one can answer these questions, but every pirate who sets sail finds the answers in his own way.

This is the Viking Sea.

Here, the weak can become rich overnight, while the strong can fall at any moment. Every ship that sets sail is gambling—gambling to return alive, gambling to find the secret artifact that will change their fate, gambling to become the next legend.

Good luck, fellow fighter.

[Note: All factions within the Viking Sea maintain a neutral stance. Participants can establish cooperative relationships with port cities by providing relics, monster materials, and intelligence to obtain supplies and information. They can also directly negotiate with pirate crews, joining or challenging them. All choices are entirely up to the participants.]

fifteen days.

Arrive at the center of the world.

The inability to obtain the Source of the World means that killing itself is no longer the primary objective; survival and travel are.

The Viking Sea covers 85.73% of the world's total area.

Pirates roam freely, the kingdom is weak, and the two sides maintain a delicate coexistence.

The pirates were primarily searching for something called a secret relic.

Once found, it can grant extraordinary abilities or be used as a supernatural weapon.

Besides searching for secret relics, pirates were also keen on hunting sea monsters, which could also yield extraordinary materials.

Sea creatures rarely roam on land; they mostly deal with pirates.

Three legendary pirate crews, countless first- and second-rate pirate crews, curses, supernatural abilities, monsters, treasure legends, and gods whose existence is unknown.

This is the Viking Sea.

After Lin Yi finished reading the last word, the light screen slowly dissipated.

He raised his head, his gaze falling on the tide compass in his hand.

The pointer is pointing steadily in a certain direction, without any further movement.

That direction should be the direction where Losh Island is located.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose on the sea below.

Lin Yi looked down.

The combatants who had just fallen into the water all wore expressions of surprise and uncertainty.

Some people covered their ears, some looked around, and some had already begun to swim desperately into the distance.

"Did you hear anything?"

"The tide, it's the sound of the tide, but there's nothing here."

"No, something's about to come out!"

Those who reacted the fastest began swimming desperately to other sea areas.

They didn't even bother to conserve their energy, using all four limbs to create streaks of white water.

Upon seeing this, the other participants immediately began to move away from the area.

In the battle for supremacy, those participants who are slow to think have long been eliminated.

Those who are still alive may be a little slow-witted, but they are definitely not stupid.

Lin Yi looked down at the figures desperately fleeing below, then at the slightly warm tide compass in his hand.

The effect of this stuff was even more pronounced than he had expected.

Half a minute passed quickly.

A huge shadow suddenly appeared on the sea beneath Lin Yi's feet.

The shadow was initially just a light layer, but as it rose upwards, the color became darker and the area expanded.

It expanded from tens of meters to hundreds of meters, and from a blurry outline to a clear and distinct one.

When the thing finally surfaced, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

It was a giant marine creature that was over a hundred meters long.

Its shape resembles some kind of ancient giant whale, but it is larger than any whale.

Its back was covered with thick, dark blue scales, the edges of which were covered with barnacles and parasitic shellfish, making it look like a moving reef.

Its head is flat and broad, with two eyes on either side, which are now turning around blankly, as if searching for something.

The most striking feature is its back, where thick layers of mud, sand, and coral fragments have accumulated, and even a few low-lying marine plants have taken root there.

From a distance, it looks like a small island.

A prompt from the Paradise of Reincarnation appeared before Lin Yi's eyes.

【Moldrac】

Location: Viking Sea - Shipwreck Area

Health: 100%
Mana: 9800/9800
Strength: 145 (True Attribute)
Agility: 131
Stamina: 152 (True Attribute)
Intelligence: 98
Charisma: 19
Skill 1: Island Mimicry (Passive LV.53): Ships entering its 500-meter range must pass a perception check of level 40 or lower; otherwise, it will be mistakenly identified as a landable island and will actively move towards it.

Skill 2: False Harbor (Active LV.48): Mordrak releases a trapping wave, interfering with the navigation equipment of all ships within 1000 meters. Affected ships have their speed reduced by 40% and their turning ability reduced by 60% for 30 seconds. Note: This effect lasts for half the duration on extraordinary ships, but they are not completely immune.

Skill 3: Heavy Armor Defense (Passive LV.58): When attacked, reduces physical damage by 40% and energy damage by 15%.

After reviewing these attributes, Lin Yi had a general idea of ​​what this giant beast was like.

It is not a purely combative creature, but an ambush predator that uses mimicry and entrapment to hunt and kill.

Ships that mistake it for an island will be disturbed by its trapping waves as they approach, their speed will decrease, their steering will fail, and they will eventually become its prey.

Those who attempt to attack it will find its defenses to be ridiculously high.

With 40% physical damage reduction and 15% energy damage reduction, combined with its massive size and high health, it was enough to make most attackers despair. At this moment, Mordrak was floating on the sea, its flat head turning from side to side, emitting strange mournful cries.

It clearly heard something calling to it, but why couldn't it see anything?

Lin Yi looked down at the giant beast, then at the tidal compass in his hand.

The mount summoned by this thing was far more extravagant than he had expected.

Just as Mordrak was searching aimlessly for the summoner, the surrounding sea began to stir again.

One by one, figures emerged from beneath the sea.

They have human-like upper bodies and fish-like lower bodies, with skin that is dark blue or dark green and has a moist sheen in the sunlight.

These creatures held weapons made of coral and seashells, their eyes warily fixed on Lin Yi and Shang Yue in mid-air.

Sea people.

Lin Yi's gaze swept over them, quickly assessing them in his mind.

There were about twenty or thirty of these sea creatures, with varying levels of strength, but judging from the way they held their weapons, they were probably a patrol team for this area.

After the sea creatures surfaced, their gazes quickly locked onto the two people in mid-air.

The wariness on their faces was gradually replaced by confusion, and they slowly lowered their weapons.

Lin Yi noticed that the hostility in their gazes was rapidly fading, replaced by goodwill.

The tide compass is working.

This item not only allows you to summon marine creatures as mounts, but also significantly increases the friendliness of the user in the eyes of these creatures.

Combined with Lin Yi's own high charisma and the favorability bonus brought by the title, these sea creatures now regard him as friendly.

The sea creatures put away their weapons and began to communicate in their sea language.

Lin Yi couldn't understand these languages.

It was a complex system of bubbling sounds, friction sounds, and low-frequency vibrations, completely different from any known Void Common Language.

This time, the Paradise of Reincarnation didn't provide a translation function, so Lin Yi had to find a way to communicate with these guys himself.

Just as Lin Yi was pondering how to communicate with these sea creatures, Shang Yue made a move.

She raised her right hand, her index and middle fingers together, and gently wiped her pale throat.

A beam of white light emanated from her fingertips, covering the skin of her throat and quickly penetrating it.

Shangyue opened her mouth and made a series of sounds.

The sound was exactly the same as the sound made by the sea creatures below.

The sounds of bubbles bursting, scales rubbing together, and low-frequency vibrations blended perfectly to create an eerie sound.

Lin Yi watched this scene with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Shangyue noticed his gaze, turned her head and explained softly, "It's a minor ability of the Feather Clan. Most races in the void possess one or two of these skills that allow them to communicate with other races. Otherwise, if they can't even communicate, how can they cooperate?"

Lin Yi nodded without asking any further questions.

After finishing her speech, Shangyue continued to communicate with the sea creatures below.

Upon hearing Shangyue's words, the sea creatures' expressions became even more friendly.

They began to respond enthusiastically, expressing something with gestures and that unique language.

The conversation lasted about two minutes.

Shangyue ended the conversation and turned to Lin Yi.

“I told them we were going to the central island. They knew it, even though it wasn’t called Terror Island, but the location was right.”

Lin Yi nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"But they say Mordrak has a big appetite. We need to find food for it on the way to Terror Island. If we don't feed it, it might stop halfway to find food on its own, which would waste a lot of time."

Lin Yi looked down at the giant beast at his feet, which was still turning its head in a daze.

With a body length of over 100 meters and a true stamina attribute of 152, a creature of this level certainly requires a considerable amount of food.

How much food do you need?

Shangyue exchanged a few more words with the sea creatures, then replied, "They said there's no need to worry too much. Mordrak is an omnivorous creature and can eat a lot of things. If we encounter other marine life along the way, we can hunt them. If all else fails, seaweed and plankton will do."

Lin Yi nodded.

After the sea creatures finished their exchange, several of them swam over to Mordrak.

They reached out and patted the giant beast's thick scales, making a rhythmic tapping sound.

Upon hearing that voice, Mordrac's head, which had been turning around in a daze, finally stopped.

It let out a low cry, the sound reverberating in the air, and even Lin Yi could feel the low-frequency vibration.

The sea creatures pointed at Lin Yi and Shang Yue, and then gestured in a certain direction a few times.

Mordrac's enormous eyes darted around, looking at the two people in mid-air.

Its gaze lingered on Lin Yi for a long time before it finally let out a cry of understanding.

After completing their communication, the sea creatures turned and waved to Lin Yi and Shang Yue, then one by one they dived into the sea and disappeared beneath the azure surface.

Lin Yi looked down at the giant beast beneath his feet.

The spine of Mordrac is very broad, and the accumulated silt and coral debris form a relatively flat area.

In some places, even low-lying marine plants grow, which are soft and springy to the touch.

He put away the tide compass and gestured to Shangyue.

"Go down."

The two fell from mid-air and landed steadily on Mordrac's back.

The sensation underfoot was quite peculiar.

The mud and sand felt soft underfoot, but it was supported by thick scales underneath, making it relatively stable overall.

Several marine plants were trampled down by Lin Yi, emitting a faint fishy smell.

Mordrac felt two weights on its head and let out a soft chirp, but showed no resistance.

Following the directions given by the sea creatures, it began to swim forward.

Its body, hundreds of meters long, moves through the sea, creating huge currents.

The water flowed to both sides, forming white streaks.

Lin Yi stood on Moldlach's back, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding sea.

As far as the eye could see, there was only the vast expanse of sea. Occasionally, a few seabirds could be seen flying overhead, emitting sharp cries.

Those who had originally landed in this sea area have now completely disappeared.

Some swam away into the distance, some sank into the sea, and some disappeared without a trace.

Lin Yi withdrew his gaze and looked in the direction Mordrac had gone.

Loche Island.

Terror Island.

The place that must be reached within fifteen days.

Mordrac swam much faster than Lin Yi had expected.

Despite its enormous size, it moves with remarkable fluidity in the sea, its thick scales cutting through the massive currents with almost no resistance.

Lin Yi estimated that at this speed, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should be able to reach Losh Island within fifteen days. (End of Chapter)