Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Tian Lei skipped and hopped toward the bar entrance, and just as she was about to touch the doorknob, the bar's wooden door was pushed open from the outside.

A tall, muscular man with prominent muscles appeared at the door.

The newcomer had a angular face with stubble on his chin, giving him a rugged, masculine look.

At this moment, however, there was no hint of strength on his face; instead, a persistent gloom shrouded it.

His eyes, sunken deep in their sockets, looked extremely tired, with a lingering trace of fear deep within.

The man froze instantly when his gaze swept over Tian Lei, who was about to leave.

The gloom on his face was instantly replaced by an expression that mixed astonishment, anger, and extremely obvious physical discomfort.

But Tian Lei inside the gate reacted even faster than him.

In the fraction of a second it took to see the face at the door, the joy that had lingered in Tian Lei's large, azure eyes just a moment before was instantly frozen.

Instead, there is a fierceness and extreme vigilance that comes from the bone.

Tianlei's body responded even faster than her mind.

The cane was swung in a powerful arc, precisely targeting the man's lower body groin.

The air in the bar seemed to freeze for a moment. Behind the bar, the witch stopped wiping the crystal glasses. She turned her head slightly, her gaze, full of interest, across the bar and landing on the two people facing each other at the door.

The second-tier girl next to Gu Lao, who had been keeping her head down, also subconsciously raised her small face, revealing half of her face filled with astonishment.

Yan Quan felt a chilling coldness instantly sweep through his spine and up to the top of his head.

A sharp pain that I had just experienced not long ago suddenly struck my heart.

He could even clearly "feel" the twitching in a certain part of his body. A fear stemming from his life instinct made all his muscles tense up instantly. Almost reflexively, he took a half step back, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed a defensive posture.

Just as the staff was about to be swung down, Tian Lei suddenly stopped.

Her blue eyes, which had been filled with fierce killing intent just seconds before, blinked rapidly twice, as if she had suddenly awakened from some kind of stress response.

She glanced around—dim lighting, soothing music, a languid witch behind the bar, and a faint aroma of alcohol in the air.

"Ah..." A soft exclamation, tinged with confusion and embarrassment, escaped from Tian Lei's soft lips.

She quickly retrieved the staff, hugging it to her chest like a large toy. The fierce look on her face receded like the tide, replaced by a harmless, sweet smile, even tinged with a bit of shy embarrassment, as if the little devil who had almost used the staff as a meteor hammer to smash someone's vitals was just an illusion.

"I'm so sorry, Smoke Ring." Tian Lei's voice was soft and sweet, and she even playfully stuck out her little tongue. "Just now... it was a conditioned reflex. I'm safe in the park, so I won't hit you. Don't worry."

Smoke ring: "..."

Looking at Tian Lei's innocent appearance that changed instantly like a Sichuan opera face-changing act, he felt a surge of frustration stuck in his throat, neither rising nor falling, making his vision blur.

That girl is definitely doing it on purpose; she's reminding him of that unbearable experience.

Yan Quan's face went from being pale with shock to turning a furious red, and then turned ashen with extreme frustration and humiliation.

He felt his male dignity being trampled underfoot and crushed to pieces once again by this little devil in the guise of an angel.

"Hmph!" In the end, Yan Quan just let out a heavy snort through his nose, forcibly suppressing his surging anger and embarrassment, and stepped aside to make way for the doorway.

He just wanted to get away from this danger immediately; every second he spent with this guy was torture.

Old Gu was clearly aware of the feud between the two. He shook his head helplessly, nodded slightly to Yan Quan as a greeting, and then, with Tian Lei, who had a sweet smile on her face, and the second-tier girl who was still pretending to be an ostrich with her head down, he quickly walked out of the bar.

Only after the gate blocked Tian Lei's view did Yan Quan take a long breath and exhale heavily, as if to expel the pent-up frustration and some kind of phantom pain from his chest.

The tension on his rugged face crumbled at a visible speed.

He strode to the bar, his heavy combat boots pounding on the old floor with a dull thud, carrying a sense of cathartic force.

He plopped down on the high stool next to Lin Yi, his body slamming onto the leather seat with a dull thud, and the entire bar seemed to vibrate slightly.

"Phew... damn it..." Yan Quan cursed under his breath.

Without even glancing at Lin Yi, he spoke directly to the witch behind the bar in an almost exhausted tone, "Give me the strongest one, the kind that burns through your throat! Quick! To calm me down!"

The witch turned around and took a roughly shaped metal flask from the top shelf of the wine cabinet. She pulled out the cork, and a strong, pungent smell of alcohol instantly filled the air.

She poured a small glass of dark amber liquid into the smoke ring.

"Lava Fire Wine." The witch's voice remained languid as she pushed the glass towards the smoke ring. "Drink slowly, lest you actually set yourself on fire."

Without even glancing at the strangely colored liquid, Yan Quan grabbed it with his calloused hand, as if it were not a glass of wine but a life-saving antidote.

He had no intention of tasting it; he tilted his head back, his Adam's apple bobbing violently, and gulped down the cup of "lava" in one go.

"Gulp... Cough cough! Cough! Cough—!" The thick, scalding liquid, like real volcanic lava, with a destructive burning sensation, roughly rolled down his throat, rushed into his esophagus, and finally exploded in his stomach.

An overwhelming feeling of suffocation and intense burning pain caused him to arch his back instantly, bursting into a heart-wrenching cough. Tears and snot flowed uncontrollably, and his entire face turned a deep liver color.

He gripped the edge of the bar tightly with one hand, his knuckles turning white, while his other hand clenched into a fist and pounded on his chest, trying to suppress the fire that was about to burst through his throat.

But the intense stimulation seemed to have worked. After catching his breath, the fear in Smoke Ring's eyes was finally replaced by the heat ignited by the strong liquor.

He exhaled a long breath of hot air, feeling the burning sensation spread throughout his body, and even the phantom pain in a certain area seemed to lessen considerably.

"Damn!" Smoke Ring slammed his hand on the solid wood countertop, making a dull thud that made Lin Yi's glass next to him jump slightly.

As if he had finally found a floodgate to vent, the urge to confide that Tian Lei had forcibly suppressed burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam. His voice suddenly rose, filled with the accusation of someone who had survived a catastrophe: "You don't know! That little girl, she's a wolf in sheep's clothing... no, a ferocious beast in sugar-coated clothing! More terrifying than a ferocious beast. A ferocious beast might at most tear you apart and chew you up, but she... she specializes in the lower body! She's aiming to make you infertile!"

He was like a drowning man finally grasping at a straw, or perhaps the violent aftereffects of that drink had completely breached his dam of reason. His speech was as fast as a machine gun that had gone out of control, spittle flying from his violent gestures: "In the last world, I was at the very front, taking the direct hit of three abyssal behemoths, without even blinking! My shield was deformed from being pounded, but I didn't even flinch!" He pounded his chest hard, making dull "thump-thump" sounds, trying to emphasize his bravery.

"With the mission almost over, we bumped into this little devil in a narrow passage in the ruins that could only allow two people to pass side by side! She had gotten separated from her team and was standing there all alone, hugging her big stick."

Smoke Ring's face showed a mixture of lingering fear and excitement. "When I first saw her, I thought, 'Hey! A lone little mage? And a skinny little girl at that?' Although you can't underestimate anyone in the park, the mission was almost over, and I figured there was no need to fight a lone mage to the death. I just wanted to hurry over and yell at her: 'Little brat, get out of the way! Don't block my way!'" Smoke Ring excitedly waved his fist, leaning forward almost to the bar, his eyes wide like saucers, staring at Lin Yi and the witch as if trying to make them feel the scene: "And then! Guess what happened?"

He paused deliberately, trying to create suspense, but before the audience could react, he shouted impatiently, "She gave me that same sweet smile! It was such an innocent and pure smile! I was fucking... I was stunned for a moment! I even wondered if the girl was scared out of her wits?"

"In that split second of hesitation! She! She! She!" Smoke Ring's voice became shrill and distorted with extreme excitement. "She was holding that crystal staff that was taller than her! She charged at me in a flash, as fast as a ghost, faster than a berserker with 'Berserk Charge' activated. I was completely stunned, my mind went blank, and I only had one thought: Why is she charging at me with that staff? To give me a blessing? Or is she trying to poke my toes with it for fun?"

"Bang—!!!" Smoke Ring lost control of his emotions and slammed his hand hard on the bar counter again. The force was so great that several empty bottles on the shelf behind the bar made a dangerous clanging sound.

The witch frowned slightly and subtly moved a delicate glass away from her.

"Just one moment! Just one fucking moment!" Smoke Ring's voice suddenly dropped, carrying a deep-seated pain and unspeakable humiliation. He subconsciously squeezed his legs together, his body curled up slightly, his face turned ashen again, and the cold sweat that had just been forced back by the strong liquor reappeared on his forehead.

"I felt like my soul had been shattered by that damn stick. It felt like my whole body was empty, from the soles of my feet to the top of my head."

"I immediately knelt down, collapsing like a lump of mud on the cold stone floor of the passage. My vision went black, my ears were ringing, and I couldn't even scream!"

"That girl was something else; she knocked and ran away, as fast as she could. Like a startled rabbit, she didn't even look back."

"She ran more than ten steps, and didn't forget to turn back and make a face at me. I writhed like a maggot on the cold, wet mud for a full ten minutes before I could barely hold onto the wall and shiver like an eighty-year-old man as I got up. If it weren't for the return time approaching and the park forcibly pulling me up, I would have really died in that godforsaken place."

He was heartbroken, “After returning to Paradise, things were restored, but that feeling… that feeling is etched into my soul! Do you understand? It’s etched into the deepest part of my soul!”

In the time that followed, Smoke Ring completely transformed into a deeply hurt accuser.

He spoke at length, spitting as he went, starting with his own unbearable experiences, denouncing Tian Lei's "insidious and cunning," "violent nature," "split personality," and "angelic face with a devil's heart." He then lamented the injustice of fate, wondering why he had encountered such a bizarre situation. Finally, he even began to doubt life, questioning whether his choice of the tank profession—a path of taking hits and being beaten—was a huge mistake from the beginning. He wondered if he should make a painful decision, sell everything he owned, and switch careers to become a ranged attacker hiding in the back and firing snipers.

Lin Yi held his wine glass, wanting to speak several times, perhaps asking about the equipment, or expressing his condolences.

But Yanquan's words were like an impenetrable wall, spoken at an astonishing speed with almost no pauses between sentences. Lin Yi had just opened his mouth, but before he could utter a sound, he was drowned out by Yanquan's next, even more turbulent wave of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of online commentary/criticism).

Lin Yi was forced to maintain his raised glass posture, silently watching the burly man in front of him who was full of passion. He felt his ears ringing and his mind was filled with keywords such as "staff," "crush," "pain," and "dignity" spinning wildly.

The witch behind the bar was clearly used to the "post-traumatic stress disorder" state of the smoke rings.

She slowly wiped away the spittle that had been splashed onto the bar by the smoke rings, all the while watching Lin Yi's subtle, hesitant expression with great interest. Her smile grew wider and wider, revealing a kind of gleeful enjoyment in watching the drama unfold.

Finally, when Smoke Ring began to vividly describe some details of how he found those two low-level contractors to "regain his confidence," the witch felt that the time was right. If she listened any longer, it might become inappropriate for children, and the peace and quiet of her bar would be completely ruined.

She leaned slightly forward and pulled out an antique-looking cork stopper from a hidden drawer under the bar. The size seemed just right.

"Hmm...and then that girl...uh?!" Smoke Ring was getting into the swing of things, spittle flying everywhere, when the witch suddenly struck like lightning.

The witch shoved the cork directly into the wide-open mouth of the smoke ring.

"Pfft!" The sound of the smoke rings stopped abruptly, leaving only a strange sound like a duck being choked.

His eyes widened instantly as he stared at the witch in disbelief, then tried to push the plug out with his tongue, making "mmmmm" sounds as he struggled.

The world became quiet in an instant.

The only sounds in the bar were the still-soothing saxophone melody in the background music and the protesting sounds coming from the smoke rings in the throat.

The source of the noise, which was like a demonic chant, was finally physically isolated.

Lin Yi felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders and let out a long sigh of relief.

The incessant noise bombardment finally stopped, and my ears were instantly given a blissful peace.

He even felt that the witch's movements were full of indescribable beauty.

The witch clapped her hands as if she had done something insignificant, shrugged at Lin Yi, and smiled charmingly: "You flatter me. Once this guy starts talking, especially after being 'stimulated,' he can't stop for at least an hour. Physical silence is the most effective."

The smoke ring was still protesting with "whoosh whoosh whoosh," its face flushed red, gesturing wildly as if trying to express something.

Lin Yi looked at Yan Quan's disheveled and comical appearance, and then at the witch's self-righteous "doing a good deed for the people" expression, and shook his head helplessly.

He decided to end this farce immediately, finish his business, and leave. Heaven knows when that thing in that smoke ring guy's mouth will fall out.

"Equipment." Lin Yi said succinctly, taking out the [Gift of the Abyss].

Although his mouth was blocked by the smoke ring, his professionalism as a high-level contractor allowed him to quickly compose himself and focus his attention on the attributes of the equipment in front of him.

After a moment, he looked up, nodded at Lin Yi to indicate that he had finished watching, and then began to gesture.

Lin Yi understood. The smoke ring meant that the effect of this equipment was to increase the "maximum health", not the "base maximum health".

In the power system of the Paradise of Reincarnation, the increase in "base maximum health" is a fundamental enhancement that directly affects the contractor's life essence. The resulting numerical increase will be perfectly amplified by all percentage-based health bonuses.

The increase in "maximum health" is a percentage increase after calculating all base values, growth values, talent bonuses, skill bonuses, etc. It is an additional benefit, and its effect is far less significant and valuable than increasing the base value.

For high-tier tanks like the Smoke Ring, improving base stats is the real bargaining chip.

After gesturing this key point with the smoke ring, he started offering 180 Soul Coins.

The fact that he offered 180 Soul Coins is indeed a fairly fair price, as its main value lies in the triggered group shield, [Tidal Barrier].

"make a deal."

When Yan Quan heard the word "deal," a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

Although her mouth was still blocked, the tense lines of her shoulders and neck had clearly relaxed.

"Pfft!" Smoke Ring gasped for breath, not even bothering to complain about the witch's simple and brutal "silencing" method, and immediately sent a trade request to Lin Yi.

"Great! Brother!" Smoke Ring's voice returned to normal, a little hoarse, but his tone was noticeably lighter, as if making this deal had lessened some of his previous psychological trauma.

He rubbed his slightly numb cheek as he added, "If you find anything good in the future, especially hard-core stuff for tanks, remember to come to me! I may be a little... well, I might talk a bit too much, but my reputation and my wallet are reliable."

Clearly, he felt a little embarrassed about his earlier outburst of accusation. (End of Chapter)