165: Chapter 165 [Team Upgrade Quest] Settlement Rewards and the Impact of [Dream System 2.1]

In the pure white [Dream Task Settlement Space], there was no distinction between up, down, left, or right, no difference between light and shadow, only an endless expanse of pure white radiance.

Suddenly, twenty dazzling, pure white beams of light descended from the void, like pillars of light cast down by a Heavenly God.

The moment the beams dissipated, twenty figures were revealed—these were the four teams that had completed the [Doomsday Highway] task.

The next second, four invisible air walls suddenly rose, separating everyone into four independent areas: on the left were the five members of [Dream Society], including Li Mubai and Zhang Hao, who were still lingering in the motion of waving goodbye to the [Phoenix of Redemption]; on the right, the five members of the [Road Overlord] team were filled with the aura of hardened bandits, with Walker hands on his hips, his arm muscles not relaxing despite the end of the task; in front, the five girls from [Fairytale Town] were huddled together, Sugar still being supported by Gummy; in the rear, Sha Luoluo of the [Most Journey to the West] team was standing on the roof of the [hundred-refined dragon steed], maintaining his signature chuunibyou stance.

"Buzz—" Ripples suddenly appeared in the void at the center of the space, and a giant screen projection covering nearly half the sky slowly unfolded.

Soft white light flowed across the screen, and it began to replay clips of the four teams in the task.

As soon as the screen lit up, Zhao Hu of [Dream Society] slapped his thigh and shouted: "Look! It's when we first entered the [Doomsday Highway]!"

On the screen, the [dream chaser]'s [Flamethrower] spewed raging flames, and the special firelight of burning zombie oil illuminated the zombie zone in a bright red.

Zhang Hao gripped the steering wheel to control the [dream chaser] to dodge the incoming mutants, while Li Mubai was in the passenger seat with [Star Rail] detecting the surrounding zombies and reporting their positions in real-time through the projection screen—Zhao Hu watched with boiling blood, but Chen Rui frowned: "At that time, the [Flamethrower] pipeline was so hot it was about to explode; luckily Haozi calculated the burn time accurately."

The camera shifted to the battlefield of the [Road Overlord] team.

Walker drove the [hurricane motorcycle] and shattered the head of a giant mutant with a spiral air cannon, his wild laughter causing the screen to tremble slightly.

His teammates cheered in unison, while Walker himself pursed his lips at the projection: "This part wasn't filmed well; it didn't capture how cool I looked blasting the mutant."

Immediately after, the scene became soft and warm.

The girls of [Fairytale Town] were sitting in the cloud tent, and as Sun Miaomiao waved her fingers, the [wishing star lamp] floated out piece after piece of dessert, with strawberry cakes and cream puffs landing on exquisite porcelain plates.

Sugar looked at herself on the screen with puffed cheeks eating cake, her cheeks turning slightly red, and she tugged on Gummy's sleeve: "Gummy, you should have reminded me about my eating manners back then."

"Hmph, this is the true demeanor of a king!" Sha Luoluo of [Most Journey to the West] suddenly shouted loudly.

On the screen, he stood on the roof of the monster truck-style [hundred-refined dragon steed], lightly patting the Dream Spirit [sandstorm gourd] with one hand, and as soon as his chuunibyou statement fell, he drove the giant sand hand to crush a group of zombies.

Beside him, Sun Miaomiao still cooperatively shouted, "King Sha Luoluo is mighty."

All the relaxed scenes suddenly converged, and the screen focused on Zhang Hao.

When he used the [soul redemption vaccine] modified by the [soul gourd] to make countless golden Soul light spots float out of the zombies' bodies, the scene looked like a sky full of stars, making the entire settlement space quiet down.

Lin Wan of [Dream Society] looked at those light spots and whispered: "Those are the Souls that have been [Redemption]ed; Haozi really achieved 'winning without killing'."

The footage continued: The four teams gathered at the four-way junction, the [dream chaser], [hundred-refined dragon steed], [Seven-Colored Cloud] and five motorcycle-style Dream Spirits driving side by side on the floating road above the Magma Sea; when [Herrscher of the Honkai — Klaps] officially appeared, the four teams quickly retreated into the defensive circle created by Lin Wan and the three other girls, everyone's attacks landing continuously on the giant snake condensed from massive amounts of black Soul light spots and the reinforced [Collapse Sparrow] swarm; the golden sound waves of the [Phoenix of Redemption] collided with the black breath of the [Honkai Phoenix], the light almost shattering the screen; finally, the screen froze on the eyes of the [Honkai Phoenix] in the transparent crystal, as She watched the four teams being teleported away by the pure white beam of light.

"Beep—" An electronic prompt suddenly sounded, and unlike the coldness of the past, this voice carried a hint of imperceptible curiosity, as if it were observing these Hosts who had created miracles.

[Welcome to the exclusive Dream Task Settlement Space]

[Team Upgrade Task reward settlement in progress...]

As soon as the words fell, four translucent light screens floated in front of the four teams, and light blue light patterns flowed, clearly presenting the reward items before everyone's eyes.

The five members of [Dream Society] immediately huddled together, their eyes locked tightly on the light screen.

Team Upgrade Task Rewards:

[Team Rank] LV2 → Lv3

[Team Size Limit] 20 people → 40 people

[Exclusive Dream Space]: Obtained 200W [Public Dream Power]

[Team Title]: [Dream Society] can be materialized into a physical badge.

[Team Function]: [dream coins conversion] permission, [Leisure Entertainment/Knowledge Learning Dream Task World] permission

Additional Task Rewards (including compensation):

Obtained item [Crystal Fragment of the Phoenix of Redemption] * 5: Can freely enter the Dream World managed by the world will [Phoenix of Redemption] ([Phoenix of Redemption] is sleeping, can be used after She wakes up).

Obtained one-time item [Gift from Redeemed Souls] * 5: After use, can increase Talent potential, assist in Talent development, and has a probability of entering the [Soul Gaze] state.

Chen Rui stared at the [dream coins conversion] permission and pushed his glasses: "With this, we can freely convert [Dream Power] and [dream coins] within the team. Do you think [Public Dream Power] can also be converted into [dream coins]?"

Lin Wan carefully noted the 200W [Public Dream Power] in the [Exclusive Dream Space]: "These energies can be used to upgrade our base."

Li Mubai nodded and said: "It just so happens that opening the [Team Dream Stronghold] requires 100W."

Zhao Hu's gaze fell on the [Crystal Fragment of the Phoenix of Redemption]: "Does this item mean we have to wait for the [Phoenix of Redemption] to wake up before we can go see Her again?"

Only Zhang Hao frowned slightly, his eyes on the introduction of the [Gift from Redeemed Souls], and he thought silently: "The System's compensation is very targeted; this item is paving the way for Hosts who haven't completed [Soul Gaze]... It seems [Humanity] is eager for more Hosts to connect with the [Root]."

Just as everyone was calculating their own things, a golden light, more dazzling than all the previous light screens, suddenly erupted from the void.

Golden panels floated in front of everyone, and the content of the [Dream System 2.1] update announcement instantly caught everyone's eyes—even Walker, who was complaining that the rewards weren't "violent" enough, subconsciously stopped talking.

Below the title [Dream System - Updated - Current Version 2.1], items such as "Non-Human Host recruitment," "3 standard task opportunities for minors," and "Secondary recruitment function" were clearly listed, and every word was like a thunderclap, exploding in the hearts of the twenty Hosts.

Among them, what everyone was most concerned about was the introduction of the [Dreamworld Humanity Mission]. Was the [Root] mentioned inside the existence that Zhang Hao had promised to explain to them after the task ended?

And one of the [Root Cognition]s, [Soul Gaze], was exactly the state that had a chance to be triggered by using the one-time item [Gift from Redeemed Souls]!

Zhang Hao broke the shock of the crowd first and said: "If nothing goes wrong, everyone should have guessed it. The [Dreamworld Humanity Mission] in the System update announcement is the key for us Hosts to connect with the [Root]. Currently, the level of connection between Hosts and the [Root] that I know is [Root Cognition] (Insight Talent / Soul Gaze) → [Root Resonance] → [Root Contact] → [Root Link] as mentioned in the announcement, and I happen to have reached the level of [Root Contact]. As for what the [Root] is? I can only say that according to my analysis, the [Root] is a power belonging exclusively to one of the higher existences of the [Dream World], [Humanity], and the types are extremely rich. As of now, there are 5 known types of [Root], and it is not certain how many there are in total. As we deepen our connection with the [Root], our Talents will be recast and evolved. This is all I can tell you for now."

Zhang Hao also had some other thoughts in his heart: "Even if there are many and rich types of [Root], when the number of Hosts connected to the [Root] increases to a certain amount, it may happen that multiple Hosts are associated with the same [Root], and then we won't know if we are companions or enemies."

While everyone was still digesting the information provided by Zhang Hao, Sugar stared blankly at the words [Non-Human Host] on the golden panel, her eyes wide: "Can animals and plants also be Hosts? Will my little daisy at home also receive a System recruitment?"

Sun Miaomiao was interested in the description of "temporary humanoid body" and faint transformation energy appeared on her fingertips: "I wonder if the bodies of plant-type Hosts can transform freely."

The light of the golden panel was still flowing, and the discussion among the four teams grew louder.

They had not yet realized that this System update announcement brought not only a change in rules, but also a change of era for the entire [Dream World] and [Real World]—and they, these Hosts who were naturally close to the [Root], would become the core of this transformation.