Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

The wailing of sirens finally tore through the chaotic air, and several police cars screeched to a halt on the outskirts of the messy scene.

The car doors swung open, and heavily armed police officers filed out. They were immediately stunned by the scene before them, which looked like a battlefield ravaged by heavy artillery fire, and their breath caught in their throats.

They instinctively raised their weapons, pointing them at the center of the still-smoking ruins, and were all stunned.

"Listen up, people inside! Put down your weapons! Come out with your hands behind your heads!" The loudspeaker's voice rang out amidst the chaos.

Inside the jewelry shop, in a relatively "safe" area.

Lin Yi remained seated in his armchair, barely moving an inch.

He slowly blew on the tea leaves floating in the teacup and took a small sip.

The tea had long since cooled, its refreshing warmth gone, leaving only the lingering aroma of the tea leaves on the tip of the tongue.

He put down his cup, looked up at Su Xiao, who was standing on the edge of a pile of ruins, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, and said with a hint of barely perceptible sarcasm, "Bai Ye, the aftermath of your 'gas stove exploded' incident is quite lively."

Looking at her shop, which was almost half demolished, and the chaotic scene outside, Su Xiao took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to suppress the throbbing veins on her forehead.

In the end, he said nothing.

He silently walked behind the counter, and amidst the mess, found a relatively clean rag. Ignoring the police shouts and the chaotic scene outside, he began to wipe Tang Hong clean, trying to calm himself down.

The movements were slow and meticulous.

But his tightly pursed lips and the cold, oppressive aura emanating from him silently spoke of the storm raging within this hunter's heart.

Lin Yi watched him wipe the knife handle, then picked up the now-cold teacup and took a sip, his gaze sweeping over the police officers outside the door who looked like they were facing a formidable enemy.

It seems that Su Xiao's rare real-world vacation is only just beginning to be "exciting".

An hour passed.

The cup of tea in Lin Yi's hand had long since gone cold, and the water droplets that had condensed on the cup slid down, leaving a few meandering water marks on the coffee table.

Lin Yi squinted slightly, his gaze passing through the half-open window of the jewelry shop, which was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and landing on the street outside, which looked like a post-war ruin.

Apart from the armchair under Lin Yi's buttocks, the small table in front of him that was still relatively intact, and the few square meters of ground around him that could barely be used as a foothold, the rest of Su Xiao's shop was completely unrecognizable.

Everywhere you look, there are broken walls and ruins. The counter that once displayed exquisite jade artifacts was torn apart by a tremendous force, and the twisted metal frame protruded from it like grotesque bone spurs.

Those heavy glass display cases that once protected expensive jewels are now just sharp shards scattered all over the floor, reflecting fragmented light in the dim light.

If Su Xiao hadn't never expected this shop to make a living, the value of those high-grade jade materials buried deep under the rubble and long since turned to dust would have been enough to make any jeweler's heart stop on the spot.

As for why Lin Yi was able to remain unharmed in the eye of the destructive storm, without even a speck of dust getting on his clothes?

The reason is simple: his luck stat is no joke.

More importantly, he had Su Xiao, a "human source of natural disaster," standing right next to him.

The extreme "negative" luck and Lin Yi's normal "positive" luck created a huge, indescribable difference in potential.

This potential difference, like an invisible force field, subtly distorted the space around Lin Yi, coating that small area with an insulating layer called "luck," cleverly eliminating most of the direct impact from Su Xiao's terrifying bad luck.

Just ten minutes ago, a meteorite, seemingly dragged off its orbit by Su Xiao's bad luck from some unknown corner, hurtled towards this neighborhood with a blinding tail of fire. The devastating shockwave was about to completely obliterate this last piece of pure land.

At the critical moment, not far in front of Lin Yi, a rusty underground cast iron water pipe burst open without warning.

A column of murky water, imbued with immense pressure, shot skyward, colliding head-on with the vanguard of the destructive energy shockwave.

"laugh--!"

Amidst the violent explosion of water and fire clashing, the high-pressure water jet was instantly evaporated, turning into a thick, billowing white mist. In that instant, however, it also dispersed most of the destructive energy of the meteorite shockwave.

When the dust settled, all that remained was a charred, smoking crater and a mess of water stains.

Bubuwang was clinging tightly to Lin Yi's calves, its massive body almost curled into a ball of fur, its charred, matted fur trembling slightly.

Those large, wet eyes were filled with the terror of surviving a catastrophe and a sense of disbelief in the world.

It had seen through it all; now, under the shadow of its master's unprecedented bad luck, there wasn't a single safe place to be found in the entire Bright City.

Only in the small space around Lin Yi did a trace of "safety" remain.

And Su Xiao, at the eye of the storm...

He was standing on a pile of broken glass and twisted metal debris.

Beneath their feet lay pools of blood that had not yet completely dried.

Just ten minutes ago, on this pile of ruins, an extremely absurd and bloody "accident" occurred.

"Boom!"

A heavy, hard leather suitcase landed squarely on the pool of blood at Su Xiao's feet, splattering a few drops of viscous blood, some even landing on his black trouser leg.

Su Xiao stopped moving, straightened up, and looked down at the box with a blank expression.

Almost at the same second the box hit the ground, accompanied by the rough roar of engines and the screeching of brakes, several modified off-road vehicles painted with exaggerated graffiti, like sharks smelling blood, ruthlessly smashed through the roadblocks that had just been set up at the street corner. Their tires rolled over the gravel and rubble, and they roared to the gap in front of the jewelry shop, which could no longer be called a "door".

The car door was violently kicked open, and a group of thugs armed with machetes, steel pipes, and even homemade shotguns jumped out.

Their eyes were fierce, and they carried a strong sense of malevolence and the marks of bloody street battles.

The leader was a bald, burly man with a hideous, centipede-like scar across his face, his eyes fixed on the black box at Su Xiao's feet.

"Damn! The thing really is here!" Scarface spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, ignoring the hellish scene around him that looked like it had been bombed, and completely disregarding the police officers who were on high alert not far away.

"Damn it, you dare to double-cross me? Hand over the box! Or I'll chop you into pieces..."

The word "dog" hadn't even been uttered yet.

Om-!
A terrifying killing intent, like an invisible tsunami, erupted instantly centered on Su Xiao.

The anger that had been suppressed for a whole hour, and the frustration and resentment in the face of this endless bad luck, were completely ignited at this moment by this group of fools who didn't know what they were doing and just walked right into our lives.

The shouts of Scarface and the group of desperados behind him were abruptly cut off as if by a sharp blade.

The fierce expressions on everyone's faces froze instantly, then transformed into a fear stemming from their biological instincts.

The feeling was like being stared at by a ferocious beast from the primordial era with its cold, vertical pupils, its invisible claws already gripping their throats, and the shadow of death instantly enveloping every inch of their soul.

“Wait…” Scarface’s pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints, and he managed to squeeze out a broken syllable from his throat.

It was too late. Su Xiao made her move.

There were no words, only an extremely fast flash of light.

Sword Name—Tang Hong!
Swish!Swish!Swish!
The blade flashed like lightning, like a shadow, swiftly and deadly weaving and flashing through the crowd.

The screams were shattered into fragments by the sharp blade.

Scarface was the first to be hit. He tried to raise his heavy machete to block, but the blade easily grazed his neck.

He didn't even feel pain; he only saw his perspective suddenly rise and rotate, and then he saw his headless body... His consciousness then sank into eternal darkness.

The blade flashed without pause, as if it had a life of its own, refracting wildly within the narrow space.

Each flash inevitably brings forth a splash of tragically beautiful blood, leaving behind a corpse.

A guy who tried to raise a shotgun had just pulled the trigger when his wrist and the barrel were cleanly severed by a sharp blade.

Another person who tried to ambush from the side had just peeked out from behind the car when he was sliced ​​in half by a horizontal blade of light. His upper and lower body were separated instantly, and his internal organs mixed with blood were splattered all over the ground.

The killings were precise, efficient, and brutally suffocating.

In less than ten seconds.

The clamor subsided into deathly silence.

The SUV engine continued its futile roar, its headlights piercing through the billowing smoke and blood mist, illuminating the small slaughterhouse.

On the ground, there were more than a dozen mutilated corpses in various shapes and sizes.

Severed arms, shattered bones, a tumbled head, a disemboweled torso... Thick, unyielding blood flowed freely, turning the already ravaged ground a dark red, pooling into a small, chilling pool of blood.

Su Xiao stood in the center of the pool of blood, her head slightly lowered. The Tang Hong knife in her hand was still crimson and dripping with blood. Thick drops of blood slowly slid down the sharp blade and dripped onto the dark red ground, making a soft "tap...tap..." sound.

The murderous aura swirling around him had not completely dissipated, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet.

Su Xiao took out a fairly clean white cloth from his pocket—it was something he habitually kept on hand to wipe the blades.

Lin Yi landed on Su Xiao's back as she wiped the blade, then put down the already cold teacup, making a slight clinking sound.

Then he took out his phone and dialed a number.

The call was connected almost instantly.

"Hello. Peacock? This is the doctor. Bright City, Old Street, near White Night's Jewelry Shop."

He paused, as if organizing the most concise and effective language.

"The situation is complicated. Su Xiao triggered the negative effect of an item, causing his temporary luck value to plummet by 15 points. As a result... it's getting a bit out of control."

A few seconds later, a woman's voice, clearly tense, came through. It was Peacock, the Cleaner's head in Bright City: "Your luck value has turned negative?...Understood! Doctor, please make sure Bai Ye stays where he is! Don't go anywhere! We'll immediately implement the highest level of area lockdown and cleanup!"

Clearly, the keyword "negative luck value" instantly triggered an extremely sensitive alarm within the Scavengers, the severity of which far exceeded ordinary combat damage.

Lin Yi glanced at Su Xiao, who was still focused on wiping Tang Hong with her back to him, and calmly said into the phone, "He doesn't plan to do anything for now. However, you'd better hurry up, the 'accident' here doesn't seem to be over yet." After saying that, he hung up the phone decisively.

This time, the cleaners demonstrated astonishing efficiency, living up to their name.

In less than three minutes, the piercing sound of police sirens grew louder as they approached, far exceeding the number of police cars that had been there before.

Specialized explosion-proof vehicles, and even several heavy-duty command vans painted with special black emblems, surged into this already unrecognizable neighborhood like a steel torrent.

"All unauthorized personnel must evacuate immediately! Repeat! Evacuate immediately! Personnel within the cordoned-off area, please remain in place and submit to inspection!"

Fully armed scavengers spread out swiftly like a black tide.

They had a clear division of labor: some people set up several cordons around the ruins of the jewelry shop and physically blocked it off with heavy alloy roadblocks.

The other team began cleaning up the scene, spraying disinfectant with a special neutralizing agent. The smell of gunpowder and strong blood in the air was quickly covered by a slightly pungent chemical odor.

A figure in a black trench coat, surrounded by several team members, strode through the cordon and headed straight for the entrance to the jewelry shop's ruins.

“Mr. Bai Ye.” Peacock’s voice remained calm and professional, but his tone was noticeably more serious than usual. “Regarding the negative luck value, the Cleaners have a specific emergency response plan. From now on, the area within a 500-meter radius of you will be designated as a high-risk restricted zone, under our full control. We will immediately activate physical isolation barriers and energy shielding fields to implement a double lockdown; no one other than a Cleaner member is allowed to enter or leave. This status will remain in effect until the negative effect is lifted.”

She turned her head slightly and ordered a man who appeared to be a technician beside her: "Activate the 'Dark Zone' protocol, increase the energy shield power to maximum! Notify the city's defense system to temporarily impose a no-fly zone and project energy barriers in this area! Any unidentified life signals approaching the core of this area, if warnings are ineffective, are permitted to be driven away by lethal force!"

"Yes!" The technician immediately began operating the instruments in his hands.

Peacock's gaze returned to Su Xiao, carrying a hint of barely perceptible complexity: "Negative 6 points... Although the situation is serious, it is still within the controllable range of the contingency plan. Please stay here. We will handle all external interference sources and minimize variables as much as possible."

Su Xiao finally stopped wiping the blade. He didn't say anything, but just nodded very slightly.

On the tip of Tang Hong's knife, a drop of viscous, dark red blood finally succumbed to gravity and dripped silently, leaving a deeper mark on the dark red ground.

Lin Yi picked up the glass of iced tea, took another sip, and looked at Kong Que: "Judging from how smoothly you handle these situations, it seems... you have a lot of experience with this kind of thing?"

Peacock took a deep breath, a heavy shadow passing through the depths of her eyes, as if a very unpleasant memory had been stirred up.

Her voice lowered: "Negative luck is rare among contractors, but it's not an isolated case. Especially... when the value drops below a certain critical point."

She paused, seemingly considering her words, but ultimately decided to explain the seriousness of the situation in the most direct way.

“About two years ago, we handled a case. A sixth-tier contractor, codenamed ‘Viper’.” Peacock’s voice had a cold, metallic quality. “He suffered a crushing defeat while on a mission in a high-risk world. In an attempt to turn the tide, he took a desperate gamble and used an item with extremely severe side effects. As a result… his luck stat was permanently reduced to negative thirty points by that item.”

"Negative thirty points?" Lin Yi's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Even Su Xiao, who had been engrossed in wiping his knife, paused for a fleeting moment, almost imperceptibly.

Bubuwang whimpered in fright, revealing only its trembling bottom.

“Yes, negative thirty points.” Peacock’s tone carried a weariness of having witnessed hell. “A sixth-tier contractor, in the real world, can theoretically walk sideways. But on his first day back in the real world, the moment he stepped out of his house… he stomped to death a passing pet lizard.”

"The lizard's owner happened to be a low-level contractor with mediocre strength, only at the second-tier level, but with an extremely obsessive and possessive personality. He witnessed his beloved pet's tragic death and went berserk, launching a suicidal attack on the 'Viper' without regard for anything else, only to be crushed to death on the spot. The trouble is that our subsequent investigation revealed that this low-level contractor was the illegitimate son of a core member of a large adventure group who was extremely protective of his own and vindictive."

"Because of this incident, that big shot was furious and launched a relentless hunt for 'Viper'."

"His first ambush occurred near the city's sewer hub. In the heat of battle, a main sewage pipe beneath his feet, which had been in disrepair for years, suddenly burst on a massive scale. As he tried to retaliate, his weapon inexplicably overloaded and exploded at a critical moment while charging, severely injuring him. He fought his way out despite his serious injuries and reached the edge of the city to rest. However, the abandoned building where he was hiding collapsed due to illegal demolition by a construction site next door, burying him alive."

She paused for a few seconds before slowly saying, "When our scavengers arrived and dug through the rubble, the scene was... extremely horrific. The body was torn into countless pieces by twisted steel bars. Our most professional mortuary team spent a full day and night, using detection equipment and a large number of people, just to barely collect most of the tissue fragments and piece together an outline that was barely recognizable as a human. Many small parts were lost forever. The negative thirty points of luck were like a kind of malice at the level of rules, crushing him bit by bit in the most bizarre way."

Peacock's gaze refocused on Su Xiao, her tone becoming extremely serious: "Therefore, while a luck value of -6 points is far less than 'Viper's' thirty points, it is still extremely dangerous. The intensity and strangeness of the 'accidents' it triggers will continuously escalate and intensify over time and with changes in the environment. Our lockdown and isolation are not fundamentally aimed at restricting your freedom, but at protecting the outside world from the impact of this out-of-control misfortune, and at the same time, at isolating external variables as much as possible to reduce new trigger points for 'accidents'." (End of Chapter)