"Girl, looks like you need power."
Hearing Rios's words, Mu Yang's eyes lit up instantly.
From his gaming experience, the Pyro Archon was definitely about to send a prop.
"This is the super Phlogiston missile Xilonen just forged—not only is its power 61 times that of an ordinary Phlogiston missile, but it can also hit anywhere in Natlan."
A picture of the missile appeared on the screen.
"As expected of a nation of war..."
After experiencing Natlan people's machine guns, sniper rifles, and mortars, Mu Yang wasn't shocked at all anymore when seeing missiles.
Even if one day the Natlan people pulled out laser weapons, he probably wouldn't be surprised.
Looking at the clothes Natlan people wore, you'd think their tech was pretty backward, but actually, their technology was scarily advanced.
If suddenly some aliens wanted to invade Teyvat, who knows if they'd get told something like "space hicks," not knowing Teyvat was guarded by valiant Natlan warriors.
They'd probably get wiped out without a single piece of armor left.
"Can the Abyss really win this?" Mu Yang expressed doubt about this. "Looking at this setup, if the Abyss comes, it'd be nine deaths and one life."
No wonder the story said Abyss monsters had been appearing rarely lately—who wouldn't be dazed seeing missiles around?
They'd probably get one-shot the moment they poked their heads out.
Mu Yang clicked to receive the missile, then aimed at the Hydro Dragon Sovereign.
Boom!
The scene before his eyes shook violently, as if the screen itself was vibrating.
The Abyss monster's illusion of the Hydro Dragon Sovereign turned to black char, taken out just like that, simply.
"Wow, this super Phlogiston missile is so awesome!" Paimon's surprised voice rang out. "With this missile, no matter what Abyss monsters come, we don't have to be afraid."
"You bet." Mu Yang, who was playing the game, laughed.
All fear comes from insufficient firepower.
As long as the damage is enough, forget weekly boss team-building—even if the Heavenly Principles showed up, it'd get pinned down and beaten.
"But that's not how it works," Rios said. "Power isn't the only measure of strength. Even if we're stronger than the Abyss in power, the Abyss can still find your most vulnerable spot to attack."
"Let's do the next round."
With the super Phlogiston missile in hand, the weekly bosses coming for team-building were eliminated in an instant.
Mu Yang also proceeded to the next stage.
And this time, the enemies they encountered were still the Abyss.
But this time's Abyss didn't shapeshift into monsters' appearances, but into the appearances of characters from the game.
The Traveler's sibling, little Paimon, and characters from the gacha banners...
[An Amber sighting!]
[From Mondstadt to Natlan characters all here—really going all out.]
[Teacher, teacher, why no sign of my Gorou? I didn't pull him in-game, and now not even in the mini-game.]
[I have Gorou here.]
[Got it—this event doesn't just throw all characters in brainlessly, but puts in the characters the player owns.]
[Some characters appear repeatedly; it's not purely random, but higher favorability means higher appearance frequency.]
[Paimon's the most numerous—not surprising, best partner.]
[Doesn't that mean Paimon gets killed the most in this game?]
Paimon: "Hey, why are all these Abyss monsters this time shapeshifted into people we know?"
Paimon: "And the ones shapeshifted into me are the most."
Lumine: "And brother..."
For players who chose the female Traveler, many of this time's Abyss monsters had shapeshifted into the male Traveler's appearance.
Rios: "Abyss monsters are extremely cunning. If they can't beat us in power, they'll try to break us mentally."
Mavuika: "I can vouch for that. Back when we were subjugating Abyss monsters, they turned into my family members' appearances before."
Mavuika: "If you're not mentally prepared, even if we get stronger, there'll still be many who fall to the Abyss monsters' schemes."
Paimon: "Oh... hearing it like this, it really does seem necessary to practice in advance."
Rios: "Paimon, don't be so scared."
Rios: "From another angle, the Abyss monsters shapeshifting into you the most—doesn't that mean in the Traveler's heart, you're the most important?"
Paimon: "Eh, that does seem right when you put it that way."
Lumine: "Silly Paimon, that also means from here on out, you'll be the one killed the most times."
Paimon: "Ah? Don't kill me!"
[Don't—Paimon's so cute, how could you hurt her (presses missile launch button)]
[These characters are all my darlings, pulled bit by bit with my Primogems—how could I bear to hurt them (also presses missile launch button)]
[Paimon's spot on—this Pyro Archon's got some wicked fun, the higher the favorability, the more times you kill them.]
[The Pyro Archon has no choice—who made the Abyss so sly, able to turn into the people you care about most?]
[He's doing this in advance to give Natlan's warriors a heads-up, isn't he?]
[Sure, but having to strike at your favorite characters still feels off.]
[Can already imagine what the game's public opinion will be like these next few days.]
[Really? But why am I having a blast playing?]
[You're not human anymore.jpg (confirmed)]
The players talked a big game about reluctance, but when it came to actually doing it, they didn't hold back at all.
Even Mu Yang closed his eyes, then sneakily opened one, constantly clicking the mouse to fire super Phlogiston missiles, bombing the monsters shapeshifted into characters to death.
For the players, these were ultimately just data, and it'd been explained upfront that they were Abyss monsters in disguise, so naturally, they wouldn't go easy.
But for Lumine in the Genshin world, striking at existences that looked exactly like her sibling wasn't something easy to resolve.
"Put a defense tower here, then another trap; up in the sky, arrange... this way, brother has nowhere to escape."
After finishing her setup, Lumine slightly raised the corners of her mouth, showing a smug smile.
Her arrangement was airtight—as soon as the monster came in, it'd definitely die miserably.
"Traveler, isn't this your brother?" Seeing the girl's setup so ruthless, Paimon beside her said in surprise. "This is way too harsh."
"It's exactly because the monster shapeshifted into my brother that I should take them out even more." Lumine said with a matter-of-fact smile.
Daring to impersonate her brother—they'd truly forsaken the path to survival.
Kill them!
Plus, after all this time, she still harbored some resentment toward her brother.
Riddle man, huh? Waiting for me at the journey's end, huh?
You think my normal attack multiplier being higher than yours is a joke?
Kill!
Kill them all!