Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

“The dream-eating tapir specifically warns us to be wary of ‘those who are unaware of their own or the world’s nightmares.’”

Gulu's expression froze for a moment. She wasn't stupid; after being pointed out by Lin Yi, she immediately understood the meaning behind those words.

"You mean..." Gulu's voice trailed off.

"What do you think that 'Sleeping City' we entered before is?" Lin Yi asked, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of dream echoes to see the seemingly orderly city.

Gulu's pupils contracted slightly: "They believe they live in the real world, fighting against a catastrophe called the 'Nightmare Realm.' But..."

"But don't forget."

Lin Yi interrupted her, saying each word clearly, "You were sent into this world by the Paradise of Reincarnation in the form of a spiritual body. In essence, we have entered a large dream world! According to the Paradise of Reincarnation's judgment, everything here, including the City of Slumber, belongs to the category of 'dream'!"

Previously, because the City of Sleeping had acted too "normally," possessing near-perfect physical rules and a rigorous social structure, Lin Yi subconsciously regarded it as a safe "surface world" base, a real area where he could rest, gather intelligence, or even catch his breath.

The realism was so deceptive.

But the Dream Eater's words were like a wake-up call, instantly enlightening Lin Yi.

Where is there any distinction between the inner and outer worlds? This is all the "inner world," all "echoes"! They are merely fragments of dreams in different forms and of different natures!

The City of Slumber is one such extremely unique and dangerous form of existence—a vast collective nightmare.

The inhabitants inside are those "who are unaware of their own or the world's nightmares" as described by the Baku.

They firmly believe they are real, living in reality, and view real echo visions as a disaster that needs to be combated.

This collective misconception can be a terrifying force in itself, even distorting some of the rules and creating a relatively stable region.

But all of this is built on a fragile balance and a colossal lie.

"The reason we were able to get in and out safely before was perhaps because we subconsciously 'believed' in their rules, or at least we didn't actively break them."

Lin Yi analyzed quickly, his expression growing increasingly grim: "But things are different now."

"Once we leave this realm and return to the City of Slumber, we will not be greeted with a welcoming ceremony."

The two exchanged a glance and both saw a strong sense of crisis in each other's eyes.

"Let's go!" Gulu grabbed Lin Yi's arm without hesitation.

Her figure blurred as she led Lin Yi away from the Nightmare Realm and back to their hotel room.

The surrounding colors distorted and stretched again, then froze.

The familiar hotel room scene came into view again.

The soft carpet, the neat bed, the vintage lamp... everything seemed exactly the same as when they left.

Almost the instant the two stood up, Lin Yi and Gulu's senses were frantically alarming. The sense of danger did not come from a specific point, but rather permeated the entire environment.

Lin Yi carefully lifted a corner of the heavy curtain and looked down.

There seemed to be fewer pedestrians on the street than usual, but there were still a few people walking around, and vehicles occasionally drove by. It seemed... to be normal.
But the pedestrians, the vehicles parked on the street, and even the seemingly casual windows... all exude malice.

This malice was undisguised, like countless unseen eyes, fixed intently on the room they were in.

Just as Lin Yi's gaze swept across a seemingly empty window of a building across the street—

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh——!
A piercing whistling sound suddenly tore through the city's silence!
At least dozens of rockets, trailing plumes of flame, shot out like a swarm from windows and rooftops of several surrounding buildings, their target being the high-floor rooms of the hotel where they were located!

"Damn it!" Lin Yi only managed to squeeze out a curse through gritted teeth before all the muscles in his body tensed up instantly.

Almost instinctively, he and Gulu simultaneously retreated toward the door.

But the moment they set off—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom——!!

Violent explosions rang out one after another outside the window behind them!

Under such a direct impact, the glass was like paper, instantly shattered into dust.

The scorching heatwave and terrifying shockwave, mixed with deadly metal jets, shattered building materials, and instantly vaporized furniture and decorations, swept in like a whip lashed by the god of destruction, with the force to crush everything.

The entire exterior wall was blown open, and the furniture and decorations inside the room were torn to shreds in an instant.

The exterior of the hotel building trembled violently, and smoke filled the air.

If the two hadn't retreated quickly, that first wave of saturation fire would have been enough to severely injure or even kill them.

"Let's take the stairs." Gulu opened the door and tried to rush out.

The moment the door opened, both of their hearts sank.

Outside, the hotel corridor was already packed with people.

The hotel staff, security guards, cleaners, and even some guests in their pajamas... they crowded the corridor, stretching from the doorway all the way to the stairwell.

Their faces were expressionless, their eyes empty and dull, like puppets controlled by invisible threads, yet they exuded a chilling malice.

They carried all sorts of "weapons"—kitchen cleavers, fire axes, and even a few old-fashioned pistols and shotguns.

Standing at the very front was none other than the sweet and charming receptionist who had previously flirted with Lin Yi.

Her face was devoid of any allure, displaying only a stiff, programmed expression. She held a well-maintained revolver in her hand, the muzzle pointed directly at Lin Yi.

Her lips moved mechanically, emitting indistinct, distorted, and bizarre sounds, like a dream: "Sir...would you...require...room...service?"

Before he finished speaking——

boom!
Sparks flew from the muzzle! The bullet struck Lin Yi's face without mercy!

hum!
A thin, semi-transparent shield instantly unfolded in front of Lin Yi, easily blocking the bullet.

The bullet twisted and deformed, then clattered onto the carpet.

An attack is the best response; there is no need for further communication.

The residents of these slumbering cities, or rather the cities themselves, have come to regard them as a virus that must be eradicated.

"Charge out!" Lin Yi's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he no longer hesitated.

Clang——!
The longsword was drawn, its light flashing like a bolt of lightning, instantly sweeping past.

puff!puff!
The residents at the front had no time to react; their bodies were torn apart instantly, like paper, by the blade.

Blood and fragments of internal organs splattered out, staining the corridor walls a shocking red.

The narrow corridor limited the attackers' numerical advantage, but it greatly brought out the strength of Lin Yi and Gulu, high-level contractors, in individual combat.

Lin Yi's sword was as fast as lightning, each strike clearing a small area, with severed limbs and remains flying everywhere.

Although these controlled residents were fearless and fought bravely, most of them were not physically strong. Even the few slightly stronger individuals were far from posing a real threat to the two.

The battle was almost entirely a one-sided massacre.

Just a dozen seconds later, there wasn't a single living person left in the corridor.

The air was thick with a nauseating stench of blood. Underfoot lay viscous blood plasma and piles of corpses, and the walls were covered with splattered blood and bits of flesh.

Lin Yi stood with his sword in hand. The hem of his black robe was soaked with blood. Dark red blood flowed down the cold blade and gathered at the tip, dripping onto the carpet with soft "tap...tap..." sounds.

Gulu stood at the other end of the pile of corpses, gently flicking the blood off his dagger: "What do we do now? Where do we look for clues? Everyone in this godforsaken place seems to have gone mad!"

Lin Yi wiped the blood off his sword, his gaze sweeping over the messy corridor and the ongoing commotion outside the window. It seemed that residents from other floors and the city's armed forces were on their way.

"The Research Institute," Lin Yi said in a deep voice, "If there's one place most likely to hold the clues to how this city turned out this way, that's the most probable place!"

Gulu's eyes lit up, but then he looked at the doorway. "How do we get down? The stairs and elevator must be full of these weird things."

"I'm not going to take the usual path." After saying that, Lin Yi suddenly raised his foot and stomped it heavily on the floor.

Boom!

The floor, already severely damaged by the rocket attack, could not withstand his stomp and collapsed, creating a huge hole that revealed the empty guest room floor below.

Without hesitation, Lin Yi jumped down, with Gulu following closely behind.

Using this incredibly violent method of vertical demolition, the two quickly broke down floor by floor, perfectly avoiding all enemies who might be lurking in stairwells, elevator shafts, and corridors.

Heavy stomping sounds and the rumbling of breaking floorboards echoed one after another.

Occasionally, residents who rushed out of the rooms below after hearing the loud noise above would be easily dealt with by Lin Yi with a single sword strike.

Ten minutes later, with another heavy stomp, Lin Yi and Gulu shattered the magnificent floor of the hotel's first-floor lobby, landing amidst flying pebbles and dust in the center of the hotel's resplendent but empty lobby—the reason it was empty was probably because anyone who could move had already run upstairs or outside to surround them.

Their eyes immediately fell on the revolving glass doors of the hotel.

Outside, the street was already packed with an unknown number of people, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Men, women, young and old, from all walks of life, all maintained that eerie stiffness and emptiness, holding all sorts of weapons they could find: kitchen knives, steel pipes, wrenches, guns... Their eyes were all focused on the two people who had just emerged from the ground.

Behind the two, more residents were pouring out from the stairwell and the broken floorboards, silently forming a circle around them.

"Tsk, how hospitable." Gulu licked his lips, gripped the dagger in his hand, and spoke with a hint of bloodthirsty excitement.

Lin Yi remained expressionless, slowly raising the longsword in his hand, its tip pointing towards the dark mass of people ahead.

A bloody battle, a war between two men and a city, is now inevitable.

Lin Yi took a deep breath, the strong smell of blood and gunpowder in the air stimulating his nerves.

"Get out."

The moment Lin Yi finished speaking, he and Gulu shot through the hotel's revolving glass doors like two cannonballs, rushing into the street surrounded by a dense crowd!
Crash-!
Glass shards scattered like ice crystals.

What awaited them was a moment of deathly silence followed by a complete and utter madness!
The crowd, which had been standing stiffly, suddenly erupted into a riot the moment the two appeared, as if a switch had been flipped.

They brandished all sorts of weapons and surged in from all directions like a tide.

The scene was like a zombie apocalypse.

"Stop entanglement! Charge out!" Lin Yi shouted, drawing an arc with his longsword.

laugh--!
As the sword flashed, the five or six people at the forefront were instantly cut in half at the waist.

Blood and entrails splattered everywhere, instantly clearing out a small area.

But the people behind immediately surged forward, expressionless, stepping on the mangled limbs of their own men to fill the gap.

Gunfire began sporadically, then became more frequent, bullets whistling past the two men, striking the surrounding walls and ground, sending up sparks and debris.

The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, managed to tear a gap in the dense crowd and break through in one direction of the street.

However, the "welcome ceremony" in the City of Sleep clearly goes beyond that.

Just as they rushed forward less than fifty meters and were about to break through the first wave of people—

Rumble!
A heavy roar of engines came from the end of the street! The ground trembled slightly!

Lin Yi's pupils contracted as he saw an armored personnel carrier bearing the insignia of the City of Sleeping Security Forces violently smash through several abandoned cars at the street corner, its massive body charging out with brute force.

The heavy armor, the large tires, and the heavy machine gun gleaming coldly on the roof all exuded a sense of oppression.

What's even more alarming is that behind the armored vehicles were several modified pickup trucks with steel plates and ramming corners, and the trucks were filled with armed personnel holding automatic rifles.

Upon seeing this, Gulu cursed, "Am I playing a real-life version of GTA?!"

Her complaints hadn't even faded away—

Da da da da da—! ! !
The terrifying roar of the heavy machine gun on the top of the armored vehicle suddenly drowned out all the noise!
The massive bullets swept in like a violent storm of metal, instantly shattering the paving stones on the street and leaving behind terrifying craters the size of bowls!
Several out-of-control residents who couldn't dodge in time were instantly torn to shreds by the indiscriminate firepower, turning into bursts of blood mist.

Lin Yi and Gulu had already taken evasive action the moment the machine gun started spinning.

Lin Yi lunged to the side and crashed into the window of a shop on the side of the road.

Gulu, like a gecko, skimmed along the ground, narrowly avoiding the fatal trajectory.

The heavy machine gun fire poured down relentlessly, suppressing the two men so much that they could barely peek out.

The ordinary residents on the street seemed oblivious, continuing to rush into the shops and behind the bunker where Gulu was.

"We can't be trapped here!" Lin Yi's eyes turned cold.

The appearance of armored vehicles signifies that the enemy's military strength has reached a new level, and further delays will only make things more dangerous.

In the brief moment when the machine gun fire paused due to the reloading of ammunition belts—

Lin Yi made a move!
He burst out from behind the broken shop window like a cheetah, not moving in a straight line, but rushing forward in a zigzag pattern at an extremely fast speed!

At the same time, he flicked his left hand forward, and several top-grade alchemical bombs he had obtained from Su Xiao flew precisely towards the modified pickup trucks on both sides of the armored vehicle and the dense crowd.

boom! boom! boom!
Violent explosions erupted on both sides and in front of the convoy!

Flames shot into the sky, and the two pickup trucks were blown off course, the gunmen inside screaming as they were thrown into the air.

The dense crowd was cleared out, and severed limbs were scattered everywhere.

The smoke and chaos from the explosion instantly obscured visibility.

"Now!" Gulu understood immediately. Taking advantage of the cover of the explosion, he quickly moved close to the wall of a building on the side of the street and circled around to the side and rear of the armored vehicle.

The machine gunner on the armored vehicle seemed to be momentarily distracted by the explosion, firing wildly at the smoke-filled area.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Yi increased his speed to the maximum and rushed straight towards the armored vehicle.

"Roar—!" Several burly men wearing heavy bulletproof vests jumped out from behind the armored vehicle, raising their shotguns and assault rifles and aiming them at Lin Yi.

Clang! Pfft!
Most of the bullets were deflected by the sword barrage, and the few that slipped through hit his shield, but were also blocked.

His sword flashed like the scythe of death, instantly slicing across the necks of these burly men.

Blood gushed out, and the head rolled off.

Lin Yi stepped onto the hood of the armored vehicle, used the momentum to leap high into the air, and landed precisely on the top of the armored vehicle.

The machine gunner on the roof then realized what was happening and turned his gun to try and aim at Lin Yi, who was standing right in front of him.

But it was too late.

Lin Yi channeled immense force into his right foot and stomped down hard.

Click——! !

The heavy machine gun shield, along with its rotating mechanism, was twisted, deformed, and shattered by his terrifyingly powerful stomp.

The machine gunner inside didn't even have time to scream before his internal organs were shattered, and he collapsed, spitting blood from his mouth and nose.

Having eliminated the biggest threat, Lin Yi plunged his sword into the gap in the hatch on top of the armored vehicle.

A creaking sound—a tooth-grinding metallic tearing sound—rang out as he forcefully pried open the sturdy hatch!

Without even looking, he threw two high-explosive grenades inside, then jumped down.

boom! boom!
A muffled explosion came from inside the armored vehicle, followed by a short, chaotic sound. The entire armored vehicle jolted violently, billowing black smoke and completely paralyzed in the middle of the street, becoming a huge roadblock and hindering the following vehicles from getting ahead.

"Go!" Lin Yi shouted to Gulu, who had just taken care of a few gunmen on the flank, the moment he landed.

The two reunited and, taking advantage of the momentary chaos caused by the destruction of the armored vehicle, dashed like two hurricanes along the streets ravaged by explosions and bloodshed towards the research institute. (End of Chapter)