Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

When Harold heard the news, his expression did not change, but his right hand involuntarily clenched a little.

The reason why demons have not become a major threat to the continent like ghosts is precisely because their numbers are small and it is difficult for them to form a large scale.

Once the Shadow Council's plan succeeds, the number of demons will spread like a plague, the entire continent will become their hunting ground, and human civilization will be reduced to ashes in this catastrophe.

Harold turned his gaze to Reinhardt: "Reinhardt, immediately block the central station and check all suspicious persons. No matter what the cost, we must not let the Shadow Council's conspiracy succeed."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I have already dispatched elite personnel and are investigating with all their strength. We will not let go of any clues."

Harold frowned slightly, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.

Obviously, he was not satisfied with this answer.

At this moment, Senator Johnson suddenly spoke up with a hint of doubt in his tone: "Your Majesty, Commander Reinhardt, I have a question. Since Nightmare is a member of the Shadow Council, how can we be sure that it is not deliberately providing false information to lure us into a trap?"

"Senator Johnson, Nightmare has signed the True Sight Contract. Its every word is bound by the contract. If it lies, the contract will immediately backfire and turn it into ashes."

Johnson's expression changed slightly, replaced by a hint of embarrassment and uneasiness. Obviously, he did not expect this.

He lowered his head, with a hint of embarrassment in his tone: "So that's it, I was worrying too much."

The radical and conservative lawmakers looked at each other. Although there was still some wariness in their eyes, they tacitly put aside their prejudices and began to discuss in a low voice how to cooperate with the actions of the execution agency.

"Everyone, return to your respective posts immediately."

After Harold gave the order, the members of parliament stood up and quickly left the arbitration hall.

Johnson walked last with a complicated expression on his face.

Just as he was about to step out of the Arbitration Hall, he suddenly stopped and looked back at Reinhardt and Nightmare standing next to the podium.

His gaze lingered on Nightmare for a moment, and an elusive haze flashed in his eyes, as if he was doubting, as if he was weighing the options.

But soon, he withdrew his gaze, his expression returned to calm, and he quickly left the hall.

As the congressmen left, the arbitration hall fell silent again, leaving only Harold, Lin Yi and Reinhardt.

As for Nightmare, he had been taken away by the executioners.

"Your Majesty, it looks like someone is getting restless." Lin Yi lazily sat in the seat of a Conservative MP, about two body lengths away from Harold.

"It's okay. At this moment, there are many people around. If you dare to make trouble at this time, don't blame me for being rude. The safety of the empire is above all else. Anyone who hinders this goal will be eliminated."

To Harold, he was just a member of parliament, and it was not impossible to kill him.

If Johnson really had a problem, Harold had plenty of ways to make him disappear quietly.

During this period, the Zul Empire was in turmoil, and all the evil spirits that usually hid in the shadows jumped out one after another, trying to gain benefits from this chaos.

Even a shrewd ruler like Harold couldn't help feeling a little tired.

"Bernard has already talked about the manpower issue. I have mobilized 100,000 troops from the border." Hearing Harold's words, Reinhard looked at Harold in disbelief.

"Your Majesty, mobilize troops from the border? Isn't this... too risky?"

Although there is only one country on the continent, the Zul Empire, it does not mean that other places are safe.

On the contrary, the Zul Empire only occupies less than one-third of the continent, and the rest of the area is full of unknown dangers and threats.

The complex terrain and the strange beasts lurking in the wilderness blocked the expansion of the Zul Empire and made border defense particularly important.

As less intelligent creatures, the strange beasts have deep-seated hostility towards the Zul Empire.

Although their intelligence is limited, they have formed a simple tribal culture in the external wilderness, with their own territory and survival rules.

Although these strange beasts are in a state of internal fighting against each other most of the time, once the soldiers of the Zul Empire step into their territory, they will immediately put aside their hatred for each other and unite to launch a frenzied attack on the imperial army.

Harold's predecessor had attempted to expand the territory, spending an army of 300,000 men but failing to gain even an inch of land on the border.

Those strange beasts, with their familiarity with the terrain and their fearless fighting style, made the imperial army pay a heavy price.

Ultimately, this expansion plan ended in failure and became a heavy lesson in the history of the Zul Empire.

After Harold came to power, he learned from the lessons of his predecessor and decisively gave up the idea of ​​expanding territory.

He knew very well that instead of wasting precious resources in a war of attrition with strange beasts, it would be better to prioritize solving the problems within the empire.

His philosophy of governing the country is very simple - to resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country.

Only by completely eliminating the hidden dangers within the empire can a solid foundation be laid for future expansion.

Mobilizing 100,000 troops from the border to defend the city was no small matter for Harold.

Border defense has always been a top priority for the empire. Once the military force is depleted, strange beasts are likely to take the opportunity to invade and cause immeasurable losses to the empire.

But Harold had no choice. The Shadow Council's plan had already threatened the core of the empire. If it was not stopped in time, the entire empire would fall into chaos and destruction.

When Reinhardt and Lin Yi walked out of the Parliament Palace, they saw Bonnie and Winnie standing outside chatting leisurely.

Winnie was holding shopping bags of various sizes in her hands with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Is it over?" Winnie raised her head, saw Reinhardt and Lin Yi, and asked with a smile.

Lin Yi glanced at the shopping bag in her hand, and said with a hint of helplessness: "You guys are so leisurely."

Winnie shrugged. "It's as noisy as a vegetable market in there. I can't stand it. Besides, with you guys here, it's not my turn to worry about those troubles, right?"

"But what about these shopping bags? Are you planning to bring the entire shopping street home?"

Upon hearing this, Winnie's eyes lit up, and she raised the shopping bag in her hand, with a hint of pride in her tone: "These are all the spoils of today! Although personal space is very convenient, I prefer this kind of tangible feeling. Only when it is heavy can you feel the satisfaction of shopping!"

Bonnie couldn't help laughing and whispered, "Sister Winnie, you can hardly carry all the things you bought."

Winnie smiled nonchalantly: "It's okay, since you guys are here, it's not a problem to help me get it, right?"

"You know how to find laborers."

"Reinhardt, I'll take my people back first, and I'll leave the rest to you."

"understood."

When Lin Yi returned to the sanatorium, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines through the office window, casting a light golden glow on the room.

Lin Yi slumped in the chair, closed his eyes and rested, with a hint of fatigue on his face.

He had just sent back the "patients" who had been taken out of the sanatorium one by one. Although the whole process went smoothly, the mental tension made him feel a little exhausted.

Each of these "patients" is a dangerous person among dangerous people. Even if they are restricted by shackles, once someone gets out of control, the consequences will be disastrous.

While carefully applying oil to the parts of the sniper cannon, Winnie looked up with a hint of curiosity in her eyes: "By the way, how many merit points did you get in the initial battle? You actually got enough to exchange for this level of status."

When they first entered the Phantom Continent, all contractors were thrown into a brutal killing zone, fighting each other to gain merit points to purchase status and resources.

Winnie herself killed eighteen people in that battle, and only then did she manage to gain a somewhat famous identity as an underground killer.

And the fact that Lin Yi was able to become the vice president of the Imperial Sanatorium made her wonder what earth-shattering things Lin Yi had done in that battle.

“It didn’t cost much.”

Seeing this, Winnie curled her lips and said, "Forget it."

She lowered her head and continued to concentrate on maintaining the parts of the sniper cannon.

After a moment of silence, she asked again: "Is there really something wrong with the Congressman Johnson who jumped out today?"

"Johnson's jump was too abrupt," Lin Yi said, "His behavior was too obvious, which makes people wonder if it was deliberately arranged by someone."

"You mean, he might have been pushed out as a shield?"

"We can't rule out this possibility. The Shadow Council has always been secretive in their style of doing things. They won't easily expose a pawn so obviously. Johnson's behavior is more like diverting our attention."

"These politicians all like to play this kind of trick."

"Maybe. But in any case, Johnson's actions at least show that the Shadow Council's actions have begun."

"Who do you think it is? The radicals? The conservatives? Or...some other forces?"

Although Winnie is unwilling to use her brain, it does not mean that Winnie has no brains. She can become a fifth-level contractor. People with low IQ would have been eliminated long ago.

"It's hard to say. The other party hasn't revealed their true colors yet. The Shadow Council's infiltration capabilities are far beyond our imagination. No party can be easily ruled out."

There was a hint of impatience in Winnie's tone: "These guys are really troublesome. Why not just pull them all out and interrogate them one by one? We should always be able to find some clues."

Lin Yi chuckled: “If things were really that simple, we wouldn’t have so much headache. The most important thing now is to stay vigilant and wait for the other party to reveal a flaw.” Winnie curled her lips, obviously not satisfied with this passive strategy, but didn’t say anything more.

After resting for about an hour, Lin Yi took Winnie through the third underground floor of the sanatorium and came to the elevator leading to the fourth underground floor.

The elevator door opened, revealing a dark and narrow space.

Lin Yi entered a complex password, and the elevator started and slowly sank.

Unlike the special isolation area on the third underground floor, only a few senior members of the sanatorium have access to the fourth underground floor. The patients held here are completely different from those above, and the degree of danger is even more different.

The patients detained in this place have different identities.

Some of them were once powerful men in the empire, but lost control for some reason; some were experimental subjects transformed by the sanatorium, whose bodies and minds were distorted to the extreme; and some... were beings that even the sanatorium could not fully understand.

If any one of them loses control, it will be a devastating blow to the entire city of Zul.

The reason why they were not permanently imprisoned in the underground prison of the execution agency was precisely because the Zul Empire was still reluctant to part with their value.

Whether it is their power, knowledge, or the secrets they contain, the Empire cannot give up easily.

Thus, the sanatorium became their cage, and Lin Yi was the guard of this cage.

Until the number stopped at "-4", the elevator door slowly opened, and what came into view was a long corridor with dim lights on the walls.

Lin Yi walked to a metal door and pressed his palm on the identifier next to the door.

There was a sound of gears, and a small window opened on the door, revealing a dim room.

In the center of the room, a figure was bound by countless chains.

He was a boy who looked only in his teens. His hair was messy, his eyes were empty, and his skin was so pale that it was almost transparent. He looked fragile and harmless.

Winnie instinctively felt that there was some terrible power hidden in this young man's body.

Her body tensed up, and her right hand unconsciously pressed the pistol at her waist: "Who is this?"

"His name is 'Zero', and his ability... is 'Prophecy'."

"Prophecy? Is there really such a power?"

A hint of curiosity appeared on Winnie's face. In the low-level derivative world, it was rare to encounter opponents who followed the fate system. This was the first time she met someone with the ability to predict.

Ling raised his head, his gaze passed Lin Yi and fell behind him.

After a moment, he closed his eyes, lowered his head, and muttered to himself: "You...are not right, you...are not him."

"Right now, during this period of time, I am him."

Winnie and Lin Yi both understood the meaning of Ling's words—he had discovered that Lin Yi had replaced the original vice president of the sanatorium.

After hearing Lin Yi's answer, Ling did not refute, but just continued to lower his head.

"Edmund von Klein... the eldest son of the Klein family. Remember to have someone send down two roast chickens later. When you do, tell the person to walk slowly down the stairs so as not to drop my roast chickens."

Ling seemed to have already known Lin Yi's intention of coming here, and directly told Lin Yi who he wanted to find.

"Two roast chickens, no problem, I'll have someone send them down."

Ling still lowered his head: "Remember... walk slowly. If you fall... I will be unhappy."

Suddenly, Zero's knuckles hit the ground, making a short buzzing sound.

Winnie's eyes suddenly became empty. She slowly raised the pistol with her right hand and pointed the muzzle at her head.

Her finger was already on the trigger, ready to pull the trigger in the next second.

Lin Yi reacted very quickly. He held Winnie's shoulder with one hand and quickly performed the purification technique with the other hand.

A soft light flashed, and Winnie's eyes instantly regained clarity.

She dropped the pistol abruptly, her face pale and a layer of cold sweat on her forehead.

"What...what did I just do?" There was a slight tremor in Winnie's voice, and it was obvious that she had not fully recovered from the shock just now.

Zero grinned, revealing his canine teeth: "You're more playable than the last person who delivered the meal."

Winnie stood aside, with a hint of vigilance in her eyes.

She didn't even know when she was attacked just now, and the feeling of being controlled left her with lingering fears.

She whispered, "Who is this guy...?"

Lin Yi glanced at Winnie, with a hint of warning in his tone: "Don't underestimate him. If he really only had the ability to predict the future, he wouldn't be locked up here."

Zero's identity is very special. He was not captured in the sanatorium, but was sent here by Harold himself.

The top brass at the sanatorium knew very little about his origins. The only thing that was clear was that Zero's existence was both a threat and a resource that could not be discarded to the empire.

Zero's abilities are too special, and the Empire can neither completely control him nor be willing to destroy him.

So, Harold sent him here, both to imprison him and to study him.

In addition to the ability to predict, Zero's strongest point is actually mind control.

He can control the thoughts and actions of others without them realizing it. This ability is silent, but enough to make people his puppets without them realizing it.

At the beginning, many staff members of the sanatorium, including some senior executives, were almost in danger of causing disaster under his manipulation.

Some of them even behaved as usual after being controlled.

Fortunately, Herbert discovered the abnormality at that time and decisively ordered Zero to be detained on the fourth underground floor and took a series of extreme measures.

All employees who were under Zero's mental control, regardless of their position, were ordered to be executed by Herbert.

Although this decision was cruel, it was particularly necessary under the circumstances at the time.

The reason is simple - no one can be sure whether Zero's abilities are permanent.

If these controlled employees were suddenly controlled by Zero again one day in the future, the nursing home would face an unbearable second blow.

Just in case, Herbert chose the most thorough way to completely cut off Zero's contact with the outside world.

Lin Yi's predecessor died under such circumstances.

He was manipulated by Zero without any warning and was eventually executed by Herbert himself in the chaos.

This incident directly led to a major reshuffle of the sanatorium's senior management, and also gave Lin Yi's predecessor the opportunity to take office.

After returning to the office, Lin Yi immediately sent someone to investigate Edmund von Klein mentioned by Zero.

The Klein family is one of the ancient noble families of the Zur Empire. They control the economic lifeline of the empire, and their power is deeply rooted, penetrating almost every corner of the empire.

This family has existed since the early days of the Zul Empire and has produced a total of 8 members of parliament to date, making it one of the oldest families even among the aristocratic circles.

Their influence is so great that even Harold has to be extra careful when facing the Klein family, let alone Lin Yi.

About ten minutes later, the secretary brought all the documents that Lin Yi needed.

The document is densely packed with records of Edmund von Klein's life, family background, and recent movements.

Edmund von Klein, the eldest son of the Klein family, received elite education since childhood. After he became an adult, he quickly entered the core management of the family and became an important representative of the family in both political and business circles.

His record was perfect, without any blemish, and even in the public eye, he was a model of a humble, polite and talented aristocrat.

Lin Yi's intuition told him that things were not that simple.

He continued to flip through the files, his eyes resting on the record of Edmund's recent movements.

In recent months, Edmund has frequently attended some secret social occasions and had contact with some unidentified people.

Although these contacts did not seem unusual, in Lin Yi's eyes, there was a strange aura.

Winnie came over to take a look and said, "He looks like a standard nobleman, nothing special. Where do you plan to start investigating?"

"Edmund has recently been frequently seen at a high-end club in the city center. That is his private base."

Winnie's eyes flashed with excitement: "A high-end club? It looks interesting. However, that kind of place is not something you can just sneak into."

Lin Yi didn't say much, but took out an exquisite card from the back of the document and handed it to Winnie.

The name of the club was printed on the card, and Lin Yi's forged identity information was on the back. (End of this chapter)