Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Upon returning to the violators' trading market, Lin Yi did not delay and immediately sold the ten [Tree Life] and some [Active Power Source] he had brought back in batches, according to the prices Sara had previously set.

The trading was extremely popular, with the entire operation being snapped up by various ringleaders of illegal activities almost as soon as the news was released.

When the final settlement was made, Lin Yi had more than five hundred soul coins that shimmered with a pure luster in his hand.

However, Soul Coins are hard currency after all, and most low- to mid-level violators have limited reserves.

In order not to lose this huge potential customer base by making the transaction threshold too high, Lin Yi "thoughtfully" accepted the exchange of high-quality equipment, rare materials, and even some strange and rare props as a form of trade.

The discount he offered was naturally extremely low, almost equivalent to outright robbery.

However, this almost ruthless pricing and trading method did not arouse the resentment of the violators. On the contrary, they felt that Lin Yi was "reasonable" and "fair in the transaction".

After all, compared to the intangible ancient god's grace from the Sphinx, which requires the exchange of freedom, loyalty, and even one's soul, Lin Yi's offerings are straightforward: money for goods, no deception.

Having these potions means a real, immediate boost to one's strength, the most direct capital for surviving in this cruel world.

When Su Xiao, far away in Heru City, learned through the temporary team channel that these violators had been sold out and were even helping to count the money, and were even grateful to Lin Yi, even with his extensive experience, he was speechless.

It's not entirely fair to blame these violators for being "stupid"; the options they faced were far too harsh.

To improve one's strength, one must either fight for survival in the dangerous native world or secret realm, or join forces with the Sphinx, gambling on a vague future and paying a price that is almost like selling oneself.

In comparison, the clearly priced potions offered by Lin Yi were like a spring of life in the desert.

This is similar to how, during World War II, some capitalists in certain countries would rather obediently pay the Roosevelt government's progressive tax of up to 97%, because another option might be to report to Hitler's concentration camps or to go to the Siberian ice fields of polar bears to reclaim land.

Compared to the even more desperate options, the originally extremely harsh conditions suddenly became more appealing and acceptable.

Lin Yi originally thought that he was already being unscrupulous enough by using information asymmetry and his monopoly position to set prices, but he didn't expect that Sphinx's usual practices were even more serious.

Without comparison, there is no harm, which explains why Lin Yi was able to gather such a large number of people's support in a short period of time.

At night, in the room of Sara's team's stone house, Lin Yi sorted out the various supplies he had obtained from the day's transactions, putting the valuable ones into his personal space and temporarily piling up the less useful ones in a corner.

Just as he finished counting his soul coins and was about to rest, the shadow on the wall behind him began to ripple gently like water.

Lin Yi's eyes sharpened. He drew his longsword with a backhand motion, the tip pointing precisely at the center of the shadow's fluctuations, and he hissed, "Who?"

As the shadows gathered, a slender figure emerged from them—it was Phantom, the female assassin he had met briefly at the Sphinx Villa and who had followed him afterward.

She was still wearing that form-fitting leather armor, a hint of helplessness on her face.

"It's you?" Lin Yi frowned slightly, his sword tip still raised. "What do you want with me?"

He recognized the woman; she was from the Sphinx.

Mei Huan raised her hands to indicate that she meant no harm, her tone tinged with weariness: "Let's make a deal, Doctor. The deal concerns your life."

Lin Yi's eyes flickered slightly, and he revealed a perfectly timed look of surprise and contemplation on his face. He slowly lowered his longsword, but remained alert: "Oh? Tell me about it."

He was curious to hear what tricks the Sphinx would pull this time.

Seeing that Lin Yi seemed willing to talk, Mei Huan breathed a sigh of relief and stopped beating around the bush: "Sphinx has lost his patience. His two sharpest knives have received clear orders to eliminate you at all costs in the shortest possible time."

She paused, then added, "This isn't a test; it's a decisive blow."

Lin Yi sneered inwardly, "They've come, just as I expected."

He remained outwardly calm: "Why are you telling me this? I remember you're one of Sphinx's men."

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Meihuan's face: "Just a temporary worker. I do the dirtiest, hardest, and most dangerous jobs, but I never get any of the benefits. Sphinx's promises are indeed tempting, but they're unattainable. I didn't have a choice before, but now..."

She looked intently at Lin Yi, "You have real benefits to offer. I just want to use this information to exchange for priority in purchasing potions in the future, and a fair trade opportunity."

Lin Yi stared at her for a few seconds, seemingly trying to determine the truthfulness of her words.

A moment later, he flipped his wrist, took out a potion that emitted a soft white light, and threw it over.

"【Radiant Elixir】can slightly improve nerve reaction speed. You should know what this means. Consider this a deposit. Let me know as soon as you have any information about Sphinx."

Mei Huan took the potion, quickly checked its properties, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on her face.

This potion, which enhances rare attributes, is practically the same as a treasure in Eisenra.

Without hesitation, she put the medicine into her personal space and nodded to Lin Yi: "The message has been delivered. Be careful."

After saying that, her figure disappeared back into the shadows.

After Mei Huan left, the ease on Lin Yi's face vanished instantly.

He immediately informed Sarah of the information brought by the Enchanted One through the team's internal channel.

"Sphinx hasn't given up! He's resorting to desperate measures!"

Lin Yi was maintaining the persona of "a precious but limited healer who needs protection" at this moment, so he naturally couldn't act recklessly.

He spoke with appropriate concern: "Captain, what should I do now? The enemy's target is clearly me. If they force their way in, it could endanger the entire squad."

“Don’t worry, he can’t touch you.” Sarah sneered, her tone full of determination. “I’ll contact ‘Sunglasses’ right away and have him find some ‘friends.’ Sphinx wants to play hardball, so we’ll play along! Let’s see whose fist is harder here in Eisenla!”

The man in sunglasses was already quite dissatisfied with Sphinx's autocratic ways. After Sarah contacted him, he agreed to Sarah's request almost without hesitation and agreed to come forward and gather manpower.

As for Lin Yi's safety, Sarah immediately made the safest arrangement: "Bai Su, Bei Si, you two protect the doctor and immediately use the one-time directional teleportation scroll we have in reserve to go to our safe point number three outside the city. Only a few of us in the core know about it, it's absolutely hidden. Don't come back until we've dealt with the trouble, keep quiet."

"Understood!" Bai Su and Bei Si responded immediately.

Soon, under the protection of Bai Su and Bei Si, Lin Yi activated a scroll that emitted faint spatial fluctuations.

With a flash of light, the three figures disappeared from the stone house.

The so-called "Safe Point No. 3" is actually a hidden underground bunker located deep in the outer ruins of Eisenla. The entrance is concealed by both illusions and physical mechanisms. The interior space is not large, but it stores some emergency supplies.

Lin Yi stayed in the safe zone, monitoring the situation at the camp through the public communication platform.

Sure enough, not long after, a commotion began to break out in the channel.

"Enemy attack! West District entrance!"

"Stop them!"

Angered shouts, alarms, and the roar of colliding energy filled the channel with text and sporadic voice messages.

Clearly, Sarah's pre-arranged personnel, along with the "friends" the man in sunglasses had promptly summoned, had successfully intercepted the elite assassins sent by Sphinx and engaged in a firefight.

Judging from the chaotic information within the channel, the ambush seems to have had some effect, temporarily halting the enemy's attack.

Lin Yi had initially thought that with Sarah's pre-arranged ambush and the men the man in sunglasses had brought, even if they couldn't leave behind the sugar pills and the Iron Curtain, they would at least make them leave empty-handed, or even pay a price. However, an unexpected turn of events occurred in the next second!
On the public channel, the intense battle information was suddenly drowned out by terrified screams and chaotic noise.

"What the hell is that?!"

"White...tentacles! They're popping out of the ground!"

"Ah—! Help me! It's wrapped around my leg!"

"No! Don't come any closer! Get away!"

"It's the White Goat! The Sphinx summoned the White Goat!"

"Sphinx, you'll die a horrible death!!"

Lin Yi peered through the narrow ventilation shaft of the safe point towards the violators' camp.

Even from a great distance, he could see that the night sky over that area was shrouded in an ominous, pale light.

Countless pale, wriggling tentacles, like wildly proliferating fungi or viruses, emerged without warning from the void, the ground, and the cracks in the buildings in that area!

These tentacles seemed to possess life, frantically splitting, spreading, and intertwining at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a white tide that rapidly submerged the battle zone and continued to expand outwards.

Wherever the tentacles passed, whether it was the ruins of buildings or living violators, they were all entangled, wrapped, and devoured... The shrill screams rose and fell, only to quickly cease.

The public communication channel was in chaos, filled with angry shouts and curses directed at the Sphinx and the white goat.

But soon, these voices seemed to be choked by an invisible hand, quickly weakening and disappearing—Sphinx used his high-level privileges on the platform to forcibly lock the public channel, prohibiting most people from speaking!

Lin Yi looked at the scene in the distance, which resembled a painting of hell, and felt a chill run down his spine.

He didn't expect Sphinx to be so ruthless and decisive, directly enlisting the "White Goat" to carry out an indiscriminate clearing of the area!
They didn't care whether other violators would be accidentally harmed; their only goal was to ensure the complete elimination of Lin Yi!

If it weren't for the Phantom's advance warning, and if Sarah hadn't decisively moved him, he would be the one trapped in that sea of ​​white tentacles right now!
Even if he has a trump card, facing this power originating from an ancient god will definitely be very troublesome.

About a minute later, the teleportation light inside the safe point lit up again.

As the light faded, Sarah's figure appeared, but she was in extremely poor condition. Her left side, from her shoulder to her arm, and even part of her cheek, was covered with a layer of writhing white tentacle tissue.

These tentacles were still trying to spread to her intact right side, emanating a twisted aura.

Sarah was pale and breathing rapidly, clearly having paid a heavy price to escape that tentacle domain.

"Captain!" Bai Su and Bei Si exclaimed and stepped forward, their faces filled with horror.

"Where's the mud?" Bei Si asked urgently.

"I'm dead! Stay away from me, don't touch me!" Sarah whispered weakly. She endured the pain to stop them from touching, then looked at Lin Yi with a questioning gaze.

Lin Yi didn't waste any words and immediately stepped forward.

He, the "professional doctor," was quite adept at handling symptoms such as flesh and blood mutation and the forced absorption and transformation of life force caused by the erosion of ancient god power.

He carefully placed his hands on Sarah's eroded areas, and as the power of the abyss enveloped them, the tentacles writhed violently, emitting a burnt stench.

The whole process lasted about ten minutes. When Lin Yi withdrew his hands, the uncomfortable tentacles on Sarah's body had completely fallen off and dried up, eventually turning into fine black ash and dissipating into the air.

Under the effect of Lin Yi's subsequent refined healing techniques, her damaged flesh began to slowly twitch. Although her face was still pale and her breath was weak, she was much better than before, when she was on the verge of being mutated.

"Thank you." Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, glancing back at the camp with lingering fear. "The White Goat personally intervened... Sphinx has gone mad!"

Lin Yi nodded solemnly: "With the White Goat around, there's nowhere safe in Eisenla anymore. We can't stay here any longer."

Sarah wholeheartedly agreed: "That's right. Let's set off immediately for Hru City! Sphinx's influence in Hru City is relatively weak, and... White Night is there too."

She glanced at Lin Yi, her meaning clear: only by arriving in Heru City could she better reunite with Su Xiao and plan their next steps.

Without delay, the group immediately left the safe zone, bypassed the main battlefield, and quietly headed towards the teleportation array leading to Heru City.

Fortunately, Sphinx and the White Goat seemed to be focused on quelling the "rebellion" inside the camp and did not shut down the teleportation array.

Using the teleportation array, Lin Yi, Sarah, Bai Su, Bei Si, and their group successfully arrived in Heru City.

The familiar gloom and oppressive atmosphere is overwhelming, but at this moment it gives people a strange sense of "security".

Upon arriving in Heru City, the first thing Lin Yi did was contact Caesar.

This greedy but strangely capable guy always has ingenious tricks up his sleeve when it comes to cracking access permissions.

After paying a "reasonable" commission, Caesar chuckled and somehow managed to bypass Sphinx's blockade, temporarily restoring Lin Yi's speaking privileges on the public communication platform and even briefly opening a temporary encrypted channel that was not under Sphinx's control.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yi immediately used this channel to issue a strongly worded and indignant statement to all violators still in Eisenla or scattered in other areas.

He described in detail how Sphinx sent out assassins, and how, after the ambush was exposed, he ruthlessly incited the White Goat to carry out an indiscriminate massacre of the violators' camp.

He accused Sphinx of treating all his companions as pawns to be sacrificed at will in order to maintain his personal authority, which completely deviated from the original intention of violators banding together for survival.

"...Eisenra is no longer our sanctuary, but a slaughterhouse for the Sphinx and the White Goats! A grave that buries our freedom and lives!" Lin Yi's words were transmitted through the channel to every violator. "Those who are willing to continue believing in the Sphinx's empty promises and entrust their fate to the whims of the Ancient Gods, I have nothing to say. But to all brothers and sisters who are willing to seek a safer, more autonomous, and more dignified path to becoming stronger, I, the Doctor, welcome you to Heru City!"

He solemnly promised that once he arrived in Heru City, he would guarantee a stable supply of [Active Power Source] and [Tree Life], and that they could be traded at a relatively fair price.

At the same time, he also subtly mentioned that the city of Hru had enough strength to deal with the threat from the Sphinx.

As if pre-arranged, Su Xiao's words also appeared in this temporary channel, concise yet weighty: "I am Bai Ye. My goal in coming here is to find the stolen supplies and kill the ringleader. As for those of you who are not involved, as long as you do not actively become enemies or protect Sphinx, I will not pursue you."

One of them plays the good guy and the other plays the bad guy.

Lin Yi offered tangible benefits and hope, while Su Xiao demonstrated formidable military strength and drew clear lines, while also promising "no punishment except for the ringleader."

This combination of moves had an immediate and noticeable effect!
The violators, who were already in a state of panic due to the indiscriminate attacks by the white goat, had their last remaining illusions about Sphinx completely shattered after hearing Lin Yi's accusations and Su Xiao's statement.

Staying in Eisenra means not only facing the harsh rule of the Sphinx and the ever-present possibility of a "purge," but also the risk of being killed by the hunter, White Night.

While heading to Heru City offers a harsher environment, it provides a stable opportunity to obtain potions to enhance one's strength and allows one to temporarily avoid the hunters' attacks.

Choosing a method doesn't seem difficult.

Soon, groups of violators who had originally been affiliated with Sphinx or remained neutral began to quietly leave Eisenra through various means and converge on Heru City.

The harsh environment of Heru City? It's nothing to these outlaws who struggle to survive in countless dangerous worlds.

Sphinx's hard-earned alliance of violators, built up over many years, finally began to crumble from within under the precise and fatal blows of Lin Yi and Su Xiao.

The scales of power are tipping toward Heru City at an unprecedented speed.

At this moment, Sphinx stood at the villa window, gazing in the direction of Eisenra. His grip on the wine glass tightened, his usual composure gone, replaced by a chilling killing intent and a hint of… desperate madness. (End of Chapter)