Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

After hearing Lin Yi's words, Dorothea straightened up from the door frame, nodded, turned around, and walked to Youying's bedside to keep an eye on him, preventing any further problems.

Lin Yi put all the remaining instruments on the operating table into the disinfection box and put them back into his space. Then he folded up the folding chair and placed it against the wall. He walked to the door and glanced in the direction of the square.

The light from the shadowless lamp shone out from the stone doorway behind him, cutting a neat rectangular patch of light on the stone pavement of the square. In the shadows at the edge of the patch, Karen was still leaning against the support pillar, her head wrapped in a headscarf drooping over her chest, and she looked asleep.

There was no movement deep inside the doorway of the bell tower, and the doorway of the town of Teld was also silent. The embers of the hearth fire in the square still glowed with a dark red light in the stone furnace, and occasionally a small piece of burnt-out firewood would fall down, making a soft cracking sound.

Lin Yi turned around and went back into the room to check on Youying's condition one last time. She was curled up on the blue sheets, sleeping soundly with steady, deep breathing. Her new skin had a uniform pinkish hue under the light.

He reached out and touched her forehead to confirm that her temperature was normal, then turned off the operating light completely, plunging the stone house into darkness, with only the faint light from the firelight coming through the doorway illuminating a small patch of ground.

He stepped out of the stone house, gently closed the door, and walked across the square to the main hall.

The main hall is the largest space in the entire underground mission site. It was probably used for collective worship or gatherings. It is almost half the size of the square. Some traces of murals can still be seen on the stone walls. The faded paint outlines blurry human figures and curling vine patterns.

A row of ventilation openings is embedded in the arched dome of the hall, and a weak airflow seeps in through those narrow gaps, barely maintaining air circulation in this underground space.

The hall floor is paved with large bluestone slabs, which have not been maintained for many years. Some slabs are cracked and warped, and some places are covered with a thick layer of dust.

Lin Yi took out a broom from his spatial storage and cleaned up a small, relatively flat area near the base of the wall. The dust rose up as the broom pushed it, then slowly settled down, which he covered with a damp cloth and pressed down.

The cleared ground was about two meters square. Although the stone slabs were polished to a shine, they were flat overall, without large cracks or bumps.

He took out a sleeping bag from his storage space, unfolded it, and laid it on the floor. The sleeping bag was dark gray, with an outer layer of moisture-proof and wear-resistant synthetic fiber fabric and an inner layer of soft fleece. It felt thick and warm to the touch.

After spreading out his sleeping bag, he sat on it to test its firmness. The coolness of the stone floor was blocked by the bottom moisture-proof layer, and the feedback was a balanced sense of support.

Just as he was about to unzip his sleeping bag and lie down, footsteps came from the entrance of the hall.

Lin Yi looked up and saw the little beetle standing at the door. Her body, wrapped in gray strips of cloth, almost blended into the stone wall in the darkness. If it weren't for the eyes peeking out from the gaps in the cloth, reflecting a bit of the firelight, Lin Yi would have almost not noticed that she had walked so close to him.

The little beetle stood still, staring at Lin Yi's sleeping bag on the ground for a while. Then she slowly moved closer, squatted down about a step away from the sleeping bag, and carefully poked the surface of the sleeping bag with a finger wrapped in a strip of cloth.

She poked it once and withdrew her hand. After a few seconds, she found that the thing did not bite or make any noise, so she reached out and poked it again, this time with more force, her fingertip pressing into the soft fleece surface and leaving a small indentation.

She tilted her head and peered through the gap in the cloth strip at the process of the dent slowly springing back to its original shape, then poked it again, this time pressing it for a while longer.

Seeing that she kept poking around without stopping, Lin Yi took out a brand new sleeping bag from his space and placed it on the small table next to him.

The sleeping bag was bright orange, standing out against the dark stone buildings.

The little beetle's gaze immediately shifted from the dark gray sleeping bag to the bright orange one. She stood up, walked to the low table, looked up at the brightly colored bag, reached out to touch it, then pulled her hand back, and touched it again. Her actions gradually changed from cautious to tentative curiosity.

Lin Yi picked up the bright orange sleeping bag from the low table, unfolded it, and laid it on the ground near the little beetle's feet, pointing to the sleeping bag at the beetle.

The little beetle's gaze darted back and forth between Lin Yi and the bright orange sleeping bag on the ground several times. She pointed to herself with one finger, her eyes peeking through the gaps in the fabric with a hint of uncertain anticipation.

Lin Yi nodded.

The little beetle hopped lightly on the spot, her movements full of joy. Her body, wrapped in cloth, wobbled slightly upon landing, but she quickly crouched down to steady herself. Then she reached out and touched the bright orange sleeping bag on the ground.

After touching him, she looked up at Lin Yi again, as if making a final confirmation.

Lin Yi waved his hand at her, meaning she could take it.

The little beetle scooped up the bright orange sleeping bag, which was much larger than her own body and almost covered her entire upper body. She stumbled as she ran out, and when she turned onto the circular steps from the entrance of the hall, her head was blocked by the sleeping bag and she couldn't see the way. She tripped and almost hit the edge of the steps.

But just as she was about to lose her balance, she leaned against the wall to regain her center of gravity, and then continued to run towards the doorway, clutching the sleeping bag that was bigger than her.

She ran to the doorway, squatted down, and carefully stuffed the sleeping bag deep into the doorway before crawling in herself. In the darkness, there was a rustling sound of fabric rubbing together; she was probably trying to unfold and flatten the sleeping bag. Interspersed among these sounds were a few soft gasps and the rustling of fabric being pulled.

Not long after, the rustling sounds from the fourth doorway stopped, replaced by extremely faint and even breathing sounds. She had fallen asleep in the bright orange sleeping bag.

Lin Yi withdrew his gaze, walked back to his dark gray sleeping bag, sat down, took off his boots, and was about to lie down when he heard a noise coming from the side door on the other side of the hall.

Bubuwang trotted out of the corridor, ran up to Lin Yi, squatted down, poked his big head forward, and rubbed his nose against the back of Lin Yi's hand.

Lin Yi reached out and patted Bubuwang's head, rubbing his palm against the thick, soft fur. Bubuwang squinted his eyes comfortably and swept his tail on the ground twice.

What is Su Xiao doing?

Bubuwang opened its mouth and barked twice, its voice very low, probably because the quiet environment around it was deliberately keeping the volume down.

It nudged the corridor with its nose and scratched the ground with its front paws, indicating that Su Xiao had entered a research state and was sitting in front of the table like a stone statue, fiddling with the potions and equipment. Bubuwang had been squatting inside for half an hour and found that Su Xiao was completely ignoring him and hadn't even raised his head once. He got so bored that he ran out to find Lin Yi.

Lin Yi rubbed Bubuwang's ears a couple more times: "Let him study it, anyway, there's no point in leaving Wang Xin lying around."

Bubuwang wagged its tail twice, then walked straight to the sleeping bag that Lin Yi had laid out, circled around it once, found a suitable angle, curled up into a ball, lay down, rested its chin on the fleece fabric of the edge of the sleeping bag, and half-closed its eyes, looking like it was going to stay here tonight.

Lin Yi didn't chase him away. He lay down in the sleeping bag, zipped it up to his chest, and rested his head on one end of the folded pillow. Through the gap in the ventilation opening at the top of the hall, he could see a very faint ray of light seeping down from the ground. It was cold and white, with the unique crispness of the pre-dawn period.

After the hall quieted down, the embers of the distant furnace emitted a very faint cracking sound, and occasionally a stream of air would flow in through the vents, brushing against the stone walls with a low hum, as if something was slowly breathing deep underground.

Lin Yi closed his eyes, and his senses spread out, covering the entire mission ground.

After confirming that everyone was safe, Lin Yi released the string of perception, shrinking the range of his perception to within a few meters around him, and then closed his eyes to truly enter a state of rest.

In this place, Lin Yi slept very lightly, remaining in a light sleep stage that could be triggered at any time.

Three or four hours later, the notification sound of the Reincarnation Paradise suddenly rang in Lin Yi's ears, startling him awake. The moment the notification sound rang, Lin Yi opened his eyes, zipped up his sleeping bag from bottom to top with one hand, and sat up.

Lin Yi remained seated in his sleeping bag, not standing up immediately, but instead brought up the control panel to view the details of the announcement.

The notice box, glowing with a pale blue light, floated in the center of his field of vision. The handwriting was clear and distinct, and each clause was arranged neatly.

[Announcement: War Mission 1: Condensation of Spacetime Power (Completed).]

The rewards for this mission will be distributed after this global battle concludes.

[A total of 13 Spacetime Force Condensations were obtained, exceeding the requirement of 4 for the war mission.]

[Permanent spatial coordinates being generated...]

[Checking the number of survivors on our side...]

[Check complete. Since the obtained spacetime power condensate exceeds the mission requirement of 9, all our contractors may make the following choices.]

[1. Immediately return to the Paradise of Reincarnation. Merit points will be calculated at 85%, and war mission rewards at 100%.]

[2. Contend for the World Core; if successful, the merit reward will be increased by an additional 50%.]...

After reading the announcement, Lin Yi did not rush to make a decision. He first opened the war channel.

The channel was overflowing with messages. The text was refreshing so fast that it was almost impossible to keep up with the reading pace. Nicknames and various titles kept scrolling and updating at the edge of the field of vision, with new messages pushing out the old ones every second.

Most people were discussing the contents of the announcement, but almost no one expressed a desire to go back.

Lin Yi saw a message that read, "With those big shots backing us up this time, we might as well take the free merits." More than a dozen people immediately chimed in with agreement. Then someone posted, "After being blocked and beaten by aliens for so many days, I can't swallow this insult until I twist off a few of their dog heads." The number of likes following this message quickly exceeded three digits.

The atmosphere throughout the war channel exudes an extremely consistent decisiveness. The contractors of the Samsara Paradise are generally the kind of people who won't attack you unless you attack them, but if you do attack them, they will definitely beat you until you learn your lesson.

In the early stages of this global war, the losses caused by the alien siege of their bases had left many people seething with anger. Now that permanent spatial coordinates have been generated, it means that the main base is about to take off and movement restrictions have been completely lifted. Under these circumstances, choosing to give up the remaining window of opportunity to return to the Paradise of Reincarnation is, in their view, tantamount to spitting out meat that was already in their mouths.

Moreover, with Lin Yi's highly capable squad leading the way, the merits and resources they can acquire in this war-torn world will only increase.

After reviewing the information on the war channel, Lin Yi exited the interface. The countdown for the two options still had plenty of time left, so there was no need to make a decision immediately. However, judging from the attitudes of others, it was highly likely that everyone would choose to stay and no one would choose to return.

A new notification line has been added to the bottom of the announcement box, which is about the activation of War Mission 2.

[Note: Permanent spatial coordinates have been generated. Your base camp is about to transform and is expected to launch in 3 hours.]

[War Mission 2: The Core of the World, now activated.]

……

War Mission 2: The Core of the World

Difficulty level: Lv.61
Mission Summary: Obtain the Core of the World.

Task Information: You must obtain the Creepy Spirit before you can perform this task.

Mission duration: 12 calendar days. Mission reward: will be determined based on combat contribution, with a minimum reward of 1 Gold Skill Point.

Mission penalty: Forced execution.

Note: If your side does not obtain the Creeper Spirit, the hunters must compete for it within this world.

Note: If your side fails to obtain the Creeping Spirit, resulting in mission failure, the penalty for mission failure will be changed to only 20% of the merit settlement reward.

Note: After the exploration team obtains the Creeper Spirit based on a comprehensive assessment of war contributions, combat strength, and merits earned, the Creeper Spirit will be transferred to the person ranked first in contribution.

War Channel.

Widow West: "It seems the Creeper Spirit will be in the healer's hands."

King Kong: "Healer, add me to King Gan Yi's team."

Dorothy: "Me too."

Heartstrings: +1

Below is a long string of likes, showing that everyone wants to participate in this hunt for the Otherworldly King.

Lin Yi didn't rush to reply, but instead prepared to ask others for their opinions.

Su Xiao was still soaking in the stone room that he had temporarily requisitioned. Lin Yi walked to the end of the corridor and glanced inside. Su Xiao was sitting in front of a simple wooden table with several tubes of medicine and an open notebook on it. He was drawing something on the paper with a thin pen.

Lin Yi didn't go in to disturb him, and turned around to walk back to the hall.

The dean was sitting on an old-fashioned wooden chair on the other side of the hall. The chair had four legs of different lengths and was barely balanced by two stone slabs underneath.

The dean held a palm-sized leather-bound notebook in his hands. The cover was worn so badly that its original color was no longer visible, and the edges of the pages were curled and yellowed. The notebook was filled with the latest analytical notes written in fine handwriting.

He appeared to be sitting there in a daze, his gaze fixed on the faded outline of the mural on the opposite wall, but in reality, his mind was racing, cross-referencing all the new intelligence he had obtained from Karen with existing information, attempting to piece together a more complete map of the alien defense line layout. (End of Chapter)