Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Three days passed quietly, like sand in an hourglass.

In this vast city of Kivotes, divided by academies, high walls, and rules, undercurrents far exceeding those on the surface are brewing during this brief interval.

Abydos High School, Countermeasures Committee.

The screen in front of Ayane Okusora displayed a continuously scrolling stream of data and intelligence summaries.

The core documents and shady accounts of Caesar Corporation that Lin Yi brought back were transformed into invisible blades in Ayane's hands.

Following Lin Yi's instructions, the information was leaked.

What ended up in the hands of Ayako Tenyu, a member of the Gohena Disciplinary Committee, was evidence involving certain factions within Gohena engaging in corrupt dealings with the Caesar Corporation, and even secretly supporting the chaos in the black market for profit.

Yako is no ordinary person. After receiving these anonymous "gifts," a purge led by her has quietly begun within Gohena.

The portion delivered to Saintia of Lily Garden focuses on how the Kaiser Company used economic leverage and political infiltration to attempt to erode some of the interests of Trinity and other neutral schools, as well as records of some Trinity internal personnel being dragged into the scheme.

Saintia clearly saw the value of these "gifts" and the hidden message from the person who gave them.

Although Trinity is riddled with internal factions, it has its own efficient way of operating when facing external threats.

As for the "dirt on Caesars Corporation" circulating in the black market, among tabloid reporters, and even among some mercenaries, it was like a drop of water thrown into a pot of oil, quickly triggering a chain reaction.

Having lost a large amount of liquid funds and important documents, Kaiser Permanente is now struggling to cope with pressure from all sides: creditors, opportunists, those who want to take advantage of its misfortune, and various forces trying to seize its assets.

Early morning of the fourth day, in the activity room of the Abydos Countermeasures Committee.

Ayane Okusora was organizing the file classification index brought back from Caesar's Vault, Shiroko Sarou was quietly wiping her submachine gun, and Hoshino Takanashi was taking a nap on the table.

Last night, she, along with Celery and some members of the Chiu Chiu group, secretly "stored" a batch of relatively sensitive documents in anonymous lockers frequented by black market intelligence dealers.

Everything is going according to plan.

Just then, Lin Yi heard the notification sound from the Paradise of Reincarnation.

[Hint: The second part of the main quest, 'Destroy the Caesars Corporation,' has been completed.]

[The task is being settled...]

[Detection indicates that the entire top management of the Kaiser Corporation, the mission objective, has been killed. Determination method: External interference.]

Task Completion Assessment: 100%

[Reward: You have received 1 Soul Crystal (Complete).]

Main Quest: Beatrice (Third Ring)

Difficulty level: Lv.49
Mission Information: Find Beatrice.

Task period: 20 days.

Quest Reward: 1 Epic Gem.

Mission punishment: forced execution.

Lin Yi paused for a moment.

finished?
His current plan has just begun, and the threat posed by the Kaiser Company has only been temporarily suppressed, far from being eradicated.

The dirt and evidence are probably still accumulating, but it will take at least a few more rounds of negotiation and pressure to completely collapse Kaiser Permanente.

Who was it that managed to take down all of Caesars' top executives in such a short time?
Just as Lin Yi was beginning to have doubts, the low hum of an engine came from outside the activity room window.

The sound grew louder as it approached, eventually stopping in front of the dilapidated school gate of Abydos.

Nomiya walked to the window, lifted the faded curtains and looked down, then took a soft breath.

“It’s a Trinity car,” she whispered. “And…it’s a very high-spec one.”

Lin Yi got up and walked to the window.

A long limousine, over eight meters in length, was parked on the sand outside the school gate.

The car's paint job, in Trinity's signature pure white and gold, stands out starkly against the surrounding desolate desert landscape.

At the front of the car, the emblem of Trinity College gleamed with a cold luster in the morning light.

The car door opens.

First to disembark were four girls dressed in Trinity uniforms. They moved in unison and quickly took their positions on both sides of the vehicle.

Their uniforms were more elaborate, with special patterns on their armbands, clearly indicating that they were elite guards.

Then, three girls got out of the car.

The woman on the left has long, smooth pink hair tied in a high ponytail at the back of her head, the ends of which sway gently with her movements.

The girl on the right has long, light flaxen hair and wears a white headband.

She stood ramrod straight, her uniform impeccable, and she was holding something that looked like a file folder in her hands.

Kirito Nagisa.

The chief of the Trinity College "Tea Party," and theoretically one of the highest leaders at the Trinity student level.

The last person was an old acquaintance, Saintia from Lily Garden; it seemed she had come to see him this time.

Lin Yi's gaze fell on the three of them. Almost at the same moment, Mika Seien suddenly hugged her arm and shivered uncontrollably.

It wasn't because of the cold, but rather an instinctive tremor that surged from the depths of a creature's genes when facing a top predator.

Her smile froze on her face, and a hint of horror flashed deep in her eyes.

In Kivotos, Sacred Garden Unflower has not been unaware of dangerous presences.

She had encountered and even fought with those battle maniacs from Gohena, those madmen tinkering with dangerous technologies at the Millennium Science Park, and even some deeply hidden figures within Trinity.

But no one had ever made her feel such a clear sense of dread from the depths of her soul the moment their eyes met.

It's like standing naked on an ice field, being stared at by some enormous creature in the shadows.

"Mihana?" Kirito Nagisa keenly noticed her companion's unusual behavior, turned her head slightly, and asked in a steady voice, "Are you feeling unwell? Did you catch a cold last night?"

Mika Seien shook her head vigorously, her lips pressed tightly together. Her gaze was fixed on the blurry figure behind the third-floor window, her fingers unconsciously curling.

(Shall we take action? Now? Here?)
(No... no way. The distance is too far, the environment is unfamiliar, and the other party's condition is unknown...)
(But this feeling...)
Her mind raced, and every possible scenario, when analyzed to the end, pointed to danger.

Just as Mika Seien's fighting instincts and reason were fiercely clashing, a voice came through the communicator in her ear.

"Weihua, calm down."

It was the voice of Saintia from Lily Garden.

“If you make a move here, none of the three of us, plus all the guards outside, will leave Abydos alive today.”

Saint Garden Mika's body stiffened.

Kirito Nagisa's hand holding the file bag tightened slightly; she had naturally heard what Yurien Seiya said.

The other four guards seemed to have sensed something as well. Their hands silently moved closer to the weapon straps at their waists, but none of them dared to actually draw their guns—Lord Weihua's reaction was too abnormal.

Mika Seien's lips moved, as if she wanted to say something.

The next second, Kirito Nagisa pulled out a perfectly packaged Swiss roll from somewhere with his free left hand.

Just as Mika Seien was about to open her mouth, he precisely stuffed the Swiss roll into her mouth.

"Well--!"

Mika Seien's eyes widened, and her pink ponytail even stood up for a moment in shock.

As Mika Seizo's childhood best friend and "guardian," Nagisa Kirito knows her all too well.

When Wei Hua displays that complex expression of "eager to try yet forcibly restrained," she usually can't come up with anything appropriate for the occasion; more likely, she'll say something dangerous that could escalate the situation.

Therefore, the most effective way to handle this is to keep her "quiet" for the time being.

Mika Seizono protested indistinctly with her mouth stuffed with a Swiss roll, gesturing with her hands, but neither Nagisa Kirito nor Seiya Yurizono, who had already walked over slowly, paid any attention to her.

Saintia's face was paler than when they last met, with obvious shadows under her eyes, and she needed to gently support Kirito Nagisa's arm as she walked.

But her eyes remained clear, even more so than before, showing a do-or-die determination.

She looked up, her gaze meeting Lin Yi's from behind the third-floor window for a second, then nodded gently.

The two ignored Mika Seien, who was still "fighting" with the Swiss roll, and walked towards the main entrance of the Abydos building.

The guards remained beside the car, an order given by Kirito Nagisa when she got out of the car.

Arriving at the rusty metal door of the main building, even though there was no one at the door, Kirito Nagisa still stopped.

She raised her hand and pressed the call bell that looked like it had long since stopped working. Surprisingly, a slight static noise came from the doorbell's speaker, followed by a calm male voice: "Come in."

Kirito Nagisa nodded slightly and pushed open the door.

The hallway was dimly lit, and the air was filled with the unique atmosphere of age characteristic of old buildings.

The terrazzo flooring on the steps was severely worn, and the paint on the walls had peeled off, revealing the gray cement underneath.

At the entrance, Mika finally managed to swallow the Swiss roll in her mouth with difficulty. She rubbed her cheek and looked around curiously.

At Trinity, even the most ordinary meeting is arranged in advance with a venue set up to meet the required standards, and refreshments are prepared. Every detail must conform to etiquette and tradition.

She had only seen such a "primitive" living environment as Abydos in movies and certain documentary films.

There were no servants, no guides, no tedious but necessary procedures, only empty corridors and the sounds of daily life leaking from the cracks in some room doors.

(This is... the school life of "ordinary people"?)
A strange sense of wonder arose in her heart.

The three of them went up to the third floor, walked along the corridor to the end, and stopped in front of a half-open door.

The sign on the door was blurred, but the words "Countermeasures Committee" could still be barely made out.

Kirito Nagisa gently knocked on the door, then pushed it open.

The scene inside the activity room came into view.

The room was small and the furnishings were so simple they were almost rudimentary.

A few old tables and chairs were pieced together to form a conference table, on which were piled some documents and miscellaneous items.

Yellowed maps and sticky notes were pasted on the walls, and there were several storage boxes in the corner, which seemed to contain repair tools and some daily necessities.

Lin Yi sat in a chair by the window, holding a handheld game console in his hand, the light from the screen reflecting on his face.

Hoshino Takanashi lay on the other side of the table, her face buried in her arms, seemingly taking a nap, emitting even, soft snores.

Ayane Okusora sat at the table with a laptop and several paper reports spread out in front of her. She had a focused expression on her face, her fingers tapping lightly on the keyboard, occasionally pausing to jot something down on the paper.

The sand wolf, Shiroko, lay on the back of the chair where Lin Yi was sitting, its chin resting on Lin Yi's shoulder. Its blue eyes were fixed on the game console screen, its expression serious as if it were observing some important battle, and its tail was unconsciously swaying gently behind it.

Nomiya Izayoi and Serika Kuromi sat on an old sofa against the wall.

Serika lay on her side, her head resting on Nomiya's lap, her eyes comfortably half-closed.

Nomiya was holding a long, thin ear pick and was carefully cleaning Serika's ears.

The entire activity room was filled with a relaxed, even somewhat lazy, atmosphere.

There was no wariness, no tension, just like an ordinary afternoon at any ordinary school.

Mika Seien opened her eyes wide, forgetting to even move her long pink hair.

This almost "casual" way of getting along is a stark contrast to the Trinity atmosphere she is familiar with, where everyone maintains a proper demeanor and their words are full of probing and calculation.

Kirito Nagisa's gaze swept across the room, finally settling on Lin Yi.

She stepped forward, placed her hands together in front of her, bowed slightly, and performed an impeccable Trinity noble etiquette.

"I apologize for disturbing you." Her voice was clear and steady, with just the right amount of respect. "It is very impolite of me to visit without permission. Please forgive me."

Hoshino, who was sitting at the table, was startled awake by the noise. She rubbed her eyes, sat up groggily, looked at the three people in the doorway, and yawned: "Ah...we have guests?"

Lin Yi did not put down the game console in his hand.

His fingers completed the final operation on the button, and the character on the screen executed a precise combo, causing the enemy to vanish as pixelated light.

Then, he slowly put the game console down, raised his head, and calmly looked at the three people at the door.

"sit."

There weren't many empty chairs in the activity room.

Hoshino lazily shifted his position, making room for a chair next to the table.

Nomiya stopped what he was doing, gently patted Serika, and the two of them got up from the sofa and made room for her.

Kirito Nagisa bowed slightly in thanks again, then walked to the chair by the table and sat down properly.

She sat upright, her hands naturally folded on her lap, every detail conforming to the strictest etiquette teachings.

With the help of Shengyuan Weihua, Baiheyuan Shengya sat down on the sofa.

Mika Seien finally sat down, choosing the other side of the sofa.

After sitting down, her gaze couldn't help but wander around the activity room, from the map on the wall to the box in the corner, from Hoshino's sleepy face to the still-running game console in Shirako's hand, everything felt new and exciting to her.

Lin Yi patted Bai Zi's head, who was still resting on his shoulder.

Bai Zi raised his head, his blue eyes looking at him.

"I'll leave this to you for now. Get to the next save point."

Shirako nodded, took the game console, slid off the back of the chair, and jogged back to Nomiya and Serika. The three of them huddled together and continued playing the game.

Lin Yi's gaze then returned to the three of them, finally settling on the face of Yurien Seiya.

"Did you do the Kaiser Company thing?"

Saintia coughed lightly twice, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, then lowered her hand and met Lin Yi's gaze.

"Yes." Her answer was concise and certain, without any hesitation or concealment. "It was my initiative."

She paused, seemingly organizing her thoughts, or rather, considering which parts she could explain.

"After I got back, I contacted President Hina Sorasaki."

"We have reached a temporary consensus and submitted a formal inquiry and action application to the 'United Students' Association' regarding Kaiser Permanente's recent series of illegal activities, including but not limited to unauthorized weapons development, violent debt collection, student kidnapping, and the threat to the overall order of Kiwatos."

“If it were the student council of the past, there might have been some wrangling and delays. But now the ‘Holy Tower’ is almost at a standstill, the president is missing, and the remaining management is too busy to take care of themselves.”

"Faced with the combined pressure from Trinity and Gohena, the Joint Student Council's final response was: the relevant schools should handle this matter 'according to regulations,' and the Student Council will not interfere or assume any subsequent responsibility."

Her words were tactful, but the meaning was clear: the student council tacitly approved, or rather, was powerless to stop it.

“Kaiser Corporation’s recent actions have indeed gone too far, making countless enemies,” Kirito Nagisa continued, her voice calm and objective. “Even without our intervention, its collapse was inevitable. We simply… accelerated the process and ensured it was relatively ‘clean’.”

Lin Yi tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest of the chair: "How did you do it?"

This time, the answer is from Seien Mika.

She had recovered from her initial discomfort, and her lively, slightly unrestrained smile returned to her face.

"It's simple. Gohena and I found out the schedules and security arrangements for several key executives of Caesar Corporation that day. Then..."

She made a chop motion with her hand.

"They wiped it all out. The resistance at the main strongholds was slightly stronger, but it wasn't much."

She spoke casually, but everyone present understood that behind this "one-size-fits-all" approach lay absolute overwhelming power.

Mika Seizono, this seemingly lively and even somewhat eccentric pink-haired girl, is one of the strongest "swords" of Trinity.

"The reason," Lin Yi's gaze returned to Sheng Ya's face, "is that because you acted ahead of time, and it's not just because Caesar Corporation overstepped its bounds, is it?"

Saintia remained silent for a moment.

“Because of the ‘future’,” Saintia finally spoke, her voice softer. “In the fragments I’ve seen… no matter how many variables or branches there are, after you intervene in the Abydos incident, you will ultimately choose to completely destroy the Caesar Corporation. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, the methods may differ, but the outcome points in the same direction.”

She looked up, her eyes reflecting the sunlight streaming through the window, and also a somber scene.

"Since this is something that is bound to happen, and since the demise of the Caesars Company is unavoidable, then I will take the lead in pushing it forward, at the most opportune time, and in the most controllable way, so that at least the worst possibilities can be avoided."

"The worst-case scenario?" Lin Yi asked.

"For example, in a fit of rage, you wipe the Caesars headquarters, along with all its employees and even several surrounding blocks, off the map."

Saintia calmly uttered chilling words: "For example, the radicals of Gohena seized the opportunity to launch an attack, triggering a full-scale conflict. For example, certain forces hidden deeper within took advantage of the chaos to seize the 'legacy' left by the Caesar Company, creating even greater chaos... In some fragments of the future I have seen, these things have all happened."

She pressed her hand gently to her chest, where a familiar dull ache throbbed.

"Kaiser Corporation is not innocent. Its demise was inevitable from the moment it began to covet what it shouldn't have and use methods it shouldn't have used. In that case, having me act as this 'cleaner' will at least control the costs and redirect your attention to something more worthwhile."

Lin Yi looked at her: "A direction that deserves more attention?"

“‘Color’.” Saintia uttered these two words, and the temperature in the activity room seemed to drop several degrees. “Kaiser Corporation is just a festering sore on the surface. Squeezing it out will lessen the pain, but the lesion is still deep inside.”

Her words revealed a deeper intention: to use the downfall of Caesar Corporation in exchange for Lin Yi's cooperation. (End of Chapter)