Seed of the Mind

This was Lin Ye's first time dancing.

Just as Xiao Ye had said, in the atmosphere of revelry, whether he knew how to dance did not matter all that much.

The world gradually collapsed amid the revelry. The surviving creatures left the city through the system's teleportation, and the other seats fell apart after their occupants left.

In the end, only a theater remained of the entire world.

Vast amounts of free-floating mental strength flowed into the theater, and Lin Ye could feel his own mental strength steadily growing.

"So this is a mental world?"

Lin Ye curiously sensed the changes around him, deepening his understanding of the Collapse Rune.

"This is the boundary between fantasy and reality. Of course, the mind and matter aren't actually all that clearly divided."

Xiao Ye pulled Lin Ye into a spin on the stage. The theater began to collapse as well, until only the illuminated stage remained in the darkness.

After the theater began to collapse, vast amounts of mental strength gathered on the stage, eventually forming a colorless, transparent crystal that fell into Xiao Ye's hand.

Xiao Ye studied Lin Ye carefully for a while, then broke a small piece off the crystal and handed it to him.

Lin Ye tried to take the crystal, but it melted into his hand.

At the same time, a speck of light shone in Lin Ye's mind. His mental strength flowed into it, and he felt much more clearheaded. Using his mental strength became a little smoother, too.

"What is this?"

Lin Ye asked.

"A seed of the mind. It's the foundation of an individual's mind. It can grow on its own and increase your mental fortitude, and it can also purify mental strength. You're too weak right now to withstand more than a small piece. It's only this easy to get something like this during a system event. The true form of that thing we just robbed is pretty terrifying, so be careful when you visit a mental world in the future."

Xiao Ye spoke with a mischievous grin.

"Will you show up when I visit a mental world in the future?"

Lin Ye was not particularly concerned. That thing had been about to eat him anyway, so what if they had robbed it? He could hardly admit defeat and wait to die.

"Hard to say. This time, it was because of the Feast of Revelry's special nature. Anyone who meets the conditions can join the revelry. There's a certain mental connection between us, which is why I could enter this place."

Xiao Ye put away the transparent crystal and spoke.

The lights went out, and the stage began to collapse as well. Lin Ye gave Xiao Ye one last look and said:

"Goodbye, then."

"See you."

Xiao Ye waved goodbye.

[The Feast of Revelry has ended]

[The loot space will disappear in one day. Please empty its contents as soon as possible]

[Obtained Carnival Day Invitation ×1]

[Please draw your daily card]

Lin Ye climbed out of bed in the Shelter. The Crimson Nun had already left, and a door leading to the loot space had appeared on the Shelter's wall.

"My turn! Draw!"

Putting aside the corpses in the loot space for now, Lin Ye decided to draw his daily card first.

This time, the card depicted a blood-red owl.

The card dissipated, and an owl with blood-red feathers appeared in the center of the Shelter.

It swiveled its head, staring straight at Lin Ye with eyes that were yellow around the outside and black in the center.

Lin Ye could see his own reflection in its eyes.

This one's not for eating... It's pretty cute, too.

Lin Ye tried stroking its head. Not only did it offer no resistance, it leaned its head toward him.

"Hoot."

"Huh? You're saying you can help me sort out the loot?"

"Hoot."

"That's great. I'll leave the loot space to you, then."

"Hoot."

"You need my help? You can't handle anything too heavy? Of course, I'll help."

After talking with the owl for a while, Lin Ye discovered that it seemed to be under some kind of restriction, only able to communicate with him about certain matters related to helping.

The man and the owl began sorting through the loot. Under the owl's guidance, Lin Ye's Shelter became much tidier, with the various items sorted into categories.

They extracted the mutation organs from the corpses and the impure crystals from the organs.

While he was at it, Lin Ye submitted the Tier 1 mutation organ portions of the two blueprint quests.

This completed the Tier 1 Psionic Energy Crystal Maker Blueprint quest outright.

The system installed the Tier 1 Psionic Energy Crystal Maker in the Shelter's wall. It was a square metal box that required no raw materials and could automatically produce two Tier 1 psionic energy crystals each day.

Aside from mutation organs, Lin Ye also obtained a large number of psionic energy items that were not particularly useful, such as black robes and psionic energy greatswords. Items of this quality could not replace his current equipment and could only be used as materials.

Under the owl's direction, Lin Ye also harvested many body parts from the corpses that could serve as materials for making psionic energy items.

The remaining corpses did not go to waste either. Apart from replenishing ammunition for the CL0 Pistol, Lin Ye cut most of the corpses into chunks and listed them in the trading area at ten Red Coins apiece.

[Chunk of a Tier-1 Mutated Creature's corpse]

[Rich in nutrients. Edible]

[Note: Best not eaten raw]

Lin Ye planned to use the remaining corpses to practice the Splicing Rune.

After clearing out the loot space, Lin Ye checked the system notifications.

[Carnival Day Invitation]

[Use to participate in the next Carnival Day]

[Note: Only issued to the survivors who lasted the longest in the Feast of Revelry]

Lin Ye put away the invitation. He had no intention of participating for now. Without Xiao Ye, he might not have survived to the end this time. Carnival Day was bound to be even more dangerous, and he was not yet qualified to participate.

"Do you eat?"

"Hoot."

"Never mind, then."

Lin Ye began making himself breakfast and poured a little hot water over the Abyssal Egg and the Xenomorph Egg.

"Hoot."

"Why am I watering them? Water is the source of life. I want to try hatching them, and I'm using hot water to simulate a warm environment. Do you know how to hatch eggs?"

"Hoot."

"You're saying they need the flesh and blood of mutated creatures? That works. I got plenty this time anyway. Does it need heating?"

"Hoot."

"All right, I'll give it a try."

Lin Ye took some flesh and blood out of the loot space and poured it over the Abyssal Egg and the Xenomorph Egg... then added a little more hot water while he was at it.

"That should do it, right? I hope something cute hatches. Don't actually give me a xenomorph."

Once he had finished making breakfast, Lin Ye opened the group chat and began eating.

(708775/1000000)

"That's terrifying. So many people died. Good thing I didn't go."

"Actually, it wasn't so bad if you didn't drink that Revelry Potion. As long as you hid somewhere out of the way, no one would go out of their way to find you."

"They'd all lost their minds. Of course they wouldn't go looking for anyone."

"Didn't the system give a warning? Someone actually dared to drink that stuff?"

"Huh? You got a system notification for the Revelry Potion? Why didn't I?"

"Confirmed: the person above is a big shot."

"You survived even after drinking the potion? Impressive."

"Impressive, my ass. I didn't dare drink a potion when all I knew was its name."