Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

silence.

Whether it was Trinity, Gohena, Valkyrie, or Arius, everyone stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on the pile of scrap metal and the black figure in front of it.

This goes beyond their understanding of "power".

Dismantling a mech with bare hands? No, there wasn't even a "dismantling" process; simply raising your hand and making a grasping motion turned a complete combat vehicle into scrap metal.

What ability is this?
Kirito Nagisa's lips trembled slightly as she finally understood the meaning of Yurien Seiya's words, "He is more dangerous than we imagined."

This is not "strong", this is "abnormal".

Saori struggled to her feet from the rock face; at least two of her ribs were broken, and each breath brought excruciating pain.

But at this moment, she disregarded her injuries, her eyes fixed on Lin Yi, and for the first time, an emotion called "fear" appeared deep in her pupils.

"Retreat..." she hoarsely ordered, "Everyone, retreat to the second line of defense!"

The order was transmitted via an encrypted channel, and Arius's soldiers began an orderly retreat.

They did not panic or flee; even when faced with an extraordinary figure like Lin Yi, they maintained military discipline.

But this retreat itself already speaks volumes.

Trinity did not pursue them.

Kirito Nagisa raised her hand, stopping the Justice Realization Department members who wanted to press their advantage.

She knew very well that although the enemy had retreated, there were still countless traps and ambushes hidden deep within the passage.

Blindly pursuing them will only lead to unnecessary casualties.

"Take stock of casualties, treat the wounded, and reinforce the defenses." Kirito Nagisa issued a series of orders. "Sappers, inspect that pile of scrap metal to confirm there are no suicide bombs. Medical teams, prioritize the treatment of the seriously wounded."

The command was executed swiftly.

The students of Trinity Church began to busy themselves, carrying away their unconscious companions, bandaging the lightly injured, and reorganizing the scattered ranks.

Meanwhile, on Gohena's side, Hina Sorasaki was doing the same thing.

She glanced at Lin Yi, her expression complex, but said nothing.

The feud between the two is not over yet, but now is not the time.

The flower of the sacred garden was dug out of the rubble.

Her right arm was severely burned, with charred skin, but the aura was slowly healing the wound.

"Cough cough..." Mika coughed up a mouthful of bloody saliva, but still had a smile on her face, "Nagisa, I'm fine... I'm just a little hungry..."

Kirito Nagisa walked over to her, squatted down, and took out a... chocolate energy bar from her small bag.

"After you finish this, go to the medical station immediately." Her voice was cold, but her movements were gentle. She tore open the packaging and handed the energy bar to Weihua's lips.

Mika blinked, obediently opened her mouth and bit down, chewing as she mumbled, "Nagisa is the best..."

Kirito Nagisa ignored her, stood up, and walked towards Lin Yi.

"Thank you," she said formally. "If you hadn't intervened, Weihua might have been seriously injured."

Lin Yi glanced at her but did not respond to her thanks.

“There are at least three hundred enemies deep inside the tunnel,” he said, his gaze fixed on the darkness, “as well as at least three mechs of the same model, five firing positions, and two trap zones. Their commander is in an underground command center four hundred meters from here.”

Kirito Nagisa was stunned.

"how do you know?"

"Sensed"

Kirito Nagisa opened her mouth, wanting to say "That's impossible," but swallowed the words back.

It seems that nothing is impossible for this man.

"So, what suggestions do you have?" she asked.

“Two paths.” Lin Yi held up two fingers. “First, a direct assault. I’ll lead the way, and you’ll follow behind to clear the way. Expect casualties to be 20-30%, but it will take very little time. Second, a detour. This passage isn’t the only entrance; there’s an abandoned drainage pipe 300 meters to the east that leads directly to the area below the command center. The downside is that there might be an ambush there, and the space is narrow, making it unsuitable for a large-scale deployment.”

Kirito Nagisa did not hesitate at all.

"Secondly, casualties must be kept below 10%."

This is not mercy, this is reality.

Trinity cannot afford a 30% casualty offensive, as that would lead to an imbalance in the internal power structure and could even trigger a new round of factional struggles.

If the casualties are too great, then other factions of the Holy Trinity will definitely use this as an excuse to launch an attack on Kirito Nagisa.

Lin Yi nodded, offering no comment on her choice.

"Alright, get ready. We'll be leaving in twenty minutes."

He turned and walked toward the location of the Abydos group of five.

Hoshino and the others are helping the medics move the wounded.

Seeing Lin Yi walk over, Xingye straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Teacher, what should we do next?"

"Follow me," Lin Yi said. "The road ahead will be narrower."

Hoshino grinned: "It's better if it's narrower, so those young ladies won't get in the way."

She spoke softly, but Kirito Nagisa, who was not far away, still heard her.

The latter glanced at Hoshino, said nothing, and turned to arrange preparations for the detour.

Twenty minutes later.

Three hundred meters to the east is the entrance to an abandoned drainage pipe.

This place is even more hidden than the main passage. The entrance is covered by vines and weeds. If Lin Yi hadn't pointed out the location, probably no one would have noticed that there was another passage here.

The pipe was about two meters in diameter, filled with shallow water, and emitted a musty and rusty smell.

The beam of the flashlight could only illuminate a dozen meters ahead; beyond that, it was complete darkness.

The air in the underground passage was mixed with mold and the sweet, fishy smell left by the decay of some kind of organism.

The water was ankle-deep and icy cold; every step you took splashed tiny droplets of water.

Besides the footsteps and breathing of the crowd, one could also faintly hear the sounds of some creatures moving in the darkness—not the soft rustling of rats, but the slow dragging sounds.

Lin Yi walked at the front, his flashlight beam steadily cutting through the darkness.

Just as the beam of light swept across a pipe joint, several dark figures descended from the sky.

They were several rats, almost the size of a human head, with sickly grayish-brown fur and eyes that reflected a greedy red light under the beam of light.

They burst out from the ventilation grilles in the ceiling, opening their mouths filled with yellowish-brown sharp teeth, and lunged straight at Lin Yi's face.

But Hoshino was faster than these rats.

The moment the rat pounced, Hoshino's shotgun fired.

She didn't aim—at this distance, there's no need to aim.

The gun muzzle spewed out scorching flames, and the lead bullets formed a deadly fan-shaped barrage in the confined space.

The two rats at the front were blasted to pieces in mid-air, their mangled bodies crashing against the pipe wall with a dull thud.

Almost at the same moment the gunshot rang out, countless green lights lit up deep within the passage.

Densely packed, layer upon layer.

It wasn't just a few dozen, nor a few hundred—it was a swarm of thousands of rats, their eyes flashing like will-o'-the-wisps in the darkness, filling the entire passage ahead.

When Celery saw this scene, her expression changed.

Although she was a working-class woman who had seen all sorts of things, she still felt a physical aversion to the sheer number of rats the size of human heads.

She gripped the submachine gun tightly, her fingers pressed against the trigger guard, her knuckles turning white from the force.

"T-Teacher..." Celery's voice was a little dry, "These rats...aren't there too many of them?"

She subconsciously looked at the line behind her.

In order not to affect the operation, the group that went into the sewers with Lin Yi this time was all elite troops - four elites from the Trinity Justice Realization Department, three veterans from the Gohena Disciplinary Committee, plus the Abydos five-man group.

Although the total number of people is less than twenty, their combat power is enough to crush a small academy.

Hina Sorasaki stepped out of the group and came to Lin Yi's side.

The complex, multi-layered halo above her head began to spin faster, and the dark red core at its center emitted an even brighter light.

Under the aura, her purple eyes appeared exceptionally clear in the darkness.

The next second, the barrel of the heavy machine gun in her hand began to spin.

The purple patterns on the gun's surface lit up one by one, in sync with the pulsation of the halo.

Then, fire.

There was no deafening explosion, only a hissing sound like tearing cloth.

Countless bullets glowing with a pale purple light poured out from the muzzle, tracing dense streaks of light in the air like a meteor shower flowing backwards.

The moment the first bullet touched the water, it burst into a blinding purple flash.

Then came the second, the third, the hundredth...

The water evaporated instantly, turning into scalding steam.

The purple light formed a large net covering the entire cross-section of the passage. The moment the rats came into contact with the net, they emitted a shrill screech that almost tore their eardrums.

The rats in the front row retreated frantically, knocking over their brethren behind them.

The once-mountainous swarm of rats began to collapse. They trampled each other and scattered in all directions, leaving behind only a mess of feces and hundreds of corpses torn apart by bullets.

The entire process lasted only five seconds.

Five seconds later, the gunfire ceased, and the purple light dissipated. The passage ahead was empty, save for rising steam and the lingering smell of burning flesh.

Hina Sorasaki put down the heavy machine gun. The barrel was slightly red from the high-speed firing and emitted a special smell of heated metal.

Her breathing was a little faster than usual, but her expression remained calm.

"keep going."

The team continued deeper into the area.

As they approached the fork in the main sewer road, Lin Yi stopped.

He raised his right hand, palm up, fingers slightly spread.

Three layers of pale yellow, semi-transparent shields lit up on each person.

The shield is so thin that it is almost invisible; only careful observation can reveal the subtle refraction of air around the body.

The sniper from the Justice Realization Department curiously reached out and touched the shield on his body. His fingertips felt a cold sensation, as if he had touched some kind of tough gel.

She nodded, not showing much surprise—shield-type abilities were not uncommon in Kivotos, and each academy had more or less people who mastered similar techniques. Although the principles were different, the effects were similar.

However, the team member still glanced at Lin Yi a few more times.

The ability to simultaneously apply three layers of shields to nearly twenty people, seemingly effortlessly, is beyond the scope of a typical student's control.

The procession entered the main road.

The space here is much more spacious than the previous pipes, enough for three people to walk side by side.

The walls on both sides are covered with thick pipes and rusted valves. There is an emergency light every ten meters overhead, but most of them are broken, and only a few are still stubbornly emitting a dim yellow light.

A rustling sound came from deep inside the pipe.

This time it wasn't the soft, rat-like sound, but rather the sound of countless claws scraping across a metal surface.

"It's those things." Bai Zi lowered his voice, the safety on his submachine gun already off.

Her ears twitched slightly, capturing every detail in the darkness.

Ayane Okusora quickly retrieved the data from her personal terminal, the cold light from the screen illuminating her pale face.

“According to the Trinity database, Arios conducted biological modification experiments before the split.” She spoke quickly, but every word was clear. “They created combat units without self-awareness, only obeying commands. Their official codename was ‘Scavenger,’ and their characteristics included high vitality, strong aggression, and…”

She didn't finish her words.

The first sob came from the darkness.

That wasn't a human voice, nor an animal voice—it was a strange sound somewhere between crying and howling, produced by air being forced through damaged vocal cords after a throat has been torn.

Then came the second sound, the third sound...

The sobbing sounds came from all directions, echoing and overlapping in the empty pipes, forming a chilling harmony.

"Be on guard!" Hoshino shouted, pointing his shotgun in the direction where the sound was most concentrated.

Outlines began to emerge from the darkness.

At first they were just blurry shadows, but as they gradually approached the range of the emergency lights, the details became clear.

The thing roughly retained the shape of a human, but all the proportions were wrong—the limbs were excessively long and thin, the joints were bent backwards, and the ends of the fingers and toes extended with bone spurs twenty centimeters long.

The skin was a deathly grayish-white, covered with worm-like protruding blood vessels.

The most horrifying part is the head: the facial features are just a few sunken black holes, and the mouth is a slit that runs across the entire face, inside which are three layers of interlocking sharp teeth.

Their movement methods are also extremely bizarre—some crawl on the ceiling like spiders, some are on all fours like wild beasts, and some directly insert bone spikes into the walls to hang themselves in mid-air.

The quantity should be at least thirty.

And it's still increasing.

"Fire!"

The deafening roar of the shotgun filled the narrow space, blasting away the monsters at the front.

Nomiya and Serika fired back-to-back, their bullets tearing through the monster horde.

Bai Zi's submachine gun accurately fired three bursts to eliminate individuals attempting to flank from the side.

Ayane operates a small drone, throwing flashbangs and stun grenades to disrupt the monster's senses.

The battle in the narrow pipes turned into a bloody meat grinder.

Almost simultaneously, fire erupted from the gun barrels of the Justice Fulfillment Department, the Disciplinary Committee, and all of Abydos.

Bullets tore through the air, exploding into bursts of blood amidst the horde of monsters.

But these "cleaners" are indeed as Ayane said—terribly tenacious.

A monster was hit in the chest by three rifle bullets, and its entire upper body was almost destroyed, but it still used its remaining arms to claw at the ground and drag its broken body forward.

The other one was blasted away by a shotgun and crashed into the wall, its spine clearly broken. But it twisted its body, biting the ground with its teeth, and moved little by little.

They have no fear, no pain, only the instinct to carry out commands.

Just as the battle reached a stalemate, Lin Yi made a move.

Ripples spread outwards from his landing point.

The already dim light in the pipes began to flicker and sway. It wasn't a circuit malfunction, but rather that the light itself was being "absorbed" by something.

Darkness enveloped the entire passage.

But the darkness lasted only a moment.

The next second, countless scarlet eyes lit up in the darkness.

A scavenger tried to pounce from the ceiling, but was pierced through by three shadowy longswords while still in mid-air and pinned to the wall.

Another attacked from the side, and just as it extended its bone spikes, its head was severed by the shadowy blade.

What's even more terrifying is that the "death" of the shadowy soldiers is meaningless to them.

A shadowy soldier was pierced through the chest by the Scavenger's bone spikes, and his body turned into black mist and dissipated.

But two seconds later, the same shadowy soldiers re-emerged from another shadow and continued fighting.

They have no physical form, no vital points, and no fear.

They are an extension of darkness itself, a manifestation of shadow.

The Scavengers' numerical advantage is meaningless against the Shadow Legion—because the Shadow Legion's numbers are "infinite."

As long as there is shadow, they can regenerate indefinitely.

The battle ended within thirty seconds.

The last scavenger was pinned to the ground by four shadowy soldiers, their shadowy blades severing its spine and limb joints.

It was still whimpering and struggling, but it had lost its threat.

Lin Yi waved his hand.

The shadowy soldiers all took a step back in unison, turning into black mist and merging into the surrounding shadows, as if they had never existed.

The dim emergency lights in the passageway were turned on again.

The ground was littered with the remains of the scavengers.

The foul bodily fluids pooled on the ground, forming small puddles that emitted a pungent, fishy stench.

Some of the corpses were still twitching slightly, but they were no longer able to stand up.

The team continued deeper into the area.

With the Shadow Legion clearing the way, the rest of the journey was unsettlingly smooth.

They encountered three more waves of scavengers along the way, but each time the Shadow Legion resolved the battle within seconds, and the monsters couldn't even get within twenty meters of the group.

Ten minutes later, a heavy iron gate appeared at the front of the passage.

The door is an ancient mechanical structure, its surface covered in rust, and its edges are secured with rivets.

There was a huge gear-shaped lock in the center of the door, but the lock cylinder had been destroyed, and several thick iron chains hung loosely on the ground.

Lin Yi walked to the door but did not try to unlock it.

He raised his right foot and kicked the door right in the middle.

"boom--!!!"

The loud noise echoed through the passageway.

It wasn't the sound of the door being kicked open—it was the sound of the entire door being kicked off the door frame.

The two-ton metal door flew inward like a light piece of paper, tumbled several times in the air, and crashed heavily onto the ground thirty meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The scene behind the door was revealed to everyone.

It was a complex of buildings.

It wasn't the rudimentary hideout or military base one might imagine, but rather a small town with streets and buildings.

The street is a smooth cement road, with three-story brick and stone buildings lined up on both sides.

The building's exterior walls were painted grayish-white, the windows were fitted with glass, and some windowsills even had withered potted plants on them.

There were streetlights on the street—although most of them were off, a few still stubbornly emitted a dim yellow light.

The strangest thing is the ceiling.

Instead of a rock wall, there was a "sky" overhead.

It was a sky simulated using some kind of luminescent material, appearing as a deep blue night sky, with faint specks of light simulating stars.

However, the power supply system was clearly malfunctioning, resulting in severely insufficient light throughout the sky, giving it a sickly gray and gloomy tone. Instead of creating a sense of openness, it made people feel even more depressed.

The entire underground space was roughly the size of two Holy Trinity churches. If it weren't for the artificial sky overhead and the stale smell permeating the air, it could almost be mistaken for the surface portion of some remote town. (End of Chapter)