The Abyss Order…
Aether asking Lumine for enchanted weapons?
Hearing this, everyone exchanged puzzled looks.
Ryen lowered his head slightly, falling into thought.
He was not surprised at all that Aether would approach Lumine for enchanted weapons.
Likewise, no one present felt any real tension about the Abyss Order's plans.
Just as Lumine had explained earlier to Alhaitham and the others,
At this point, Liyue alone was already far beyond what the Abyss Order could contend with.
Bottom-tier combat power: completely crushed.
Top-tier combat power: utterly overwhelming.
If Liyue truly wished it, it could suppress the entire Abyss Order by itself.
No matter what schemes the Abyss Order might harbor, the confidence born from sheer strength meant that Ningguang and the others simply did not take it seriously.
What puzzled them was something else entirely.
Enchanted weapons, items that were already considered obsolete and barely used anymore, why had the Abyss Order only now realized their value?
Ryen's confusion lay in roughly the same place.
Logically speaking, the Abyss Order's influence spanned all of Teyvat.
Liyue's changes had not happened overnight.
Were the Abyss Order blind?
Why were they only now thinking to ask Lumine for enchanted weapons?
Ryen, however, had no doubts about why Aether wanted them.
At most, he had discovered that these weapons contained laws, artifacts originating from another world.
Naturally, he wanted to see whether they could be used to oppose Heavenly Principles.
Whenever Aether was involved, it was always safe to assume the goal ultimately pointed in that direction.
Lumine looked at everyone seriously.
Meanwhile, Ryen casually reached out and rubbed Ningguang's head, joking lightly:
"Looks like Liyue's suppression of the Abyss Order has been pretty thorough.
Otherwise, how would Aether only realize now that he needed enchanted weapons?"
Ningguang smiled faintly, offering no reply.
In truth, Liyue treated Abyss Mages and the Fatui with the same attitude,
standard enemy handling, nothing special.
The difference was simply this:
In the past, the Millelith might not have been able to stop them completely, allowing some to escape and pass on information.
Now?
Even without the heavy-weapons corps, heavy cavalry and light infantry alone were enough to wipe out Abyss Mages before they could retreat.
Messages couldn't be delivered.
And with Aether still immersed in his own grand plans, it was no wonder he only noticed something was wrong so late.
"Huh?"
Lumine looked confused by everyone's calm reaction. She scratched her cheek.
"Ryen… you're really not concerned?
That was the Abyss Order. Aether took an enchanted weapon from me."
"So?" Ryen replied, equally confused.
"Am I supposed to react somehow?"
"It's just an enchanted weapon. The light infantry has one each, there are over two thousand enchanted iron swords already."
"It's mass-produced. Even if you threw one away, why would I care?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
By now, they had long since passed the stage where even a single enchanted weapon needed to be carefully hoarded.
Lumine pouted.
"When I was in the desert, I used a bucket of water and a few wooden blocks to build a water source that never runs dry and never gets polluted."
"At first, I also thought it was worthless, just another useless thing."
"But Candace told me… that water is the future of the desert people."
"Water is their life."
"That's when I realized… I'd become someone who doesn't understand hunger because I've never lacked food."
Zhongli pressed his lips together, visibly uncomfortable with her phrasing.
"By common rational standards, your idiom usage is… questionable.
It would be more appropriate to say: what is honey to one may be dregs to another."
"Mind your own business! You talk too much!"
Lumine puffed her cheeks and glared at him.
After a moment, she steadied herself and continued:
"So yes, enchanted weapons might not matter to us anymore.
But in Teyvat, they're still incredibly valuable."
"Aren't you worried they might research something dangerous out of them?"
Ryen chuckled softly and shook his head.
"If even Albedo can't figure anything out, what makes you think they can?"
"We know very well how valuable enchanted weapons are."
"But in Teyvat, they're just condensed manifestations of laws.
What ability does the Abyss Order have to analyze laws from another world?"
"Give them ten thousand years, they still won't get anywhere."
"And if they do somehow manage to figure something out, I'll personally go have a chat with your brother."
Lumine nodded thoughtfully.
"In that case… I won't worry about it."
"I wasn't planning on letting you worry in the first place."
Lumine grinned and stuck out her tongue. After a brief pause, she added:
"Oh, right. I also made a deal with them."
"From now on, the Abyss Order will completely withdraw its forces from Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma."
"I wanted them to leave Snezhnaya too, but they said they have cooperation with the Fatui."
She turned toward the Cryo Archon.
"Sister Tsaritsa, did you know about this?"
The Cryo Archon's expression darkened slightly as she shook her head.
"Then my guess was right," Lumine said casually.
"I tested him a bit, asked if it was Pierro. He didn't answer."
"So I'm pretty sure it is."
"Most Abyss Order members are Khaenri'ah survivors anyway.
And Pierro was a Khaenri'ahn court mage, wasn't he?
My brother probably knows him."
The Cryo Archon fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly:
"Thank you for this information."
Lumine waved her hand dismissively, then proudly turned to Ningguang and the others.
"Sister Ningguang, Acting Grand Master Jean, Sister Makoto, how did I do?
Pretty amazing, right? Don't you want to praise me a little?"
A trace of amusement flashed in Ningguang's eyes as she gently rubbed Lumine's head.
"Well done, Lumine. You've made a great contribution."
"Are you short on Mora lately? If so, go see Baishi later and take another ten billion."
"No need! I still have plenty of Mora. This was just my duty!"
Lumine lifted her chin proudly, completely missing the playful teasing in their tone.
In reality, the Abyss Order withdrawing from three nations might have some impact on Inazuma.
But for Liyue and Mondstadt?
It made little difference, if anything, it was a loss.
Liyue and Mondstadt had already grown extremely strong.
Ordinary monsters were no longer a match for the Millelith or the Knights of Favonius.
As for hilichurls…
To be honest, once their true origins were known, exterminating them still carried a certain psychological burden.
But once that exception was accounted for, the remaining monsters were simply not enough to serve as proper training targets.
Elemental lifeforms, elite monsters, Ruin Guards,
all of them had already been swept clean by the armies.
By contrast, Abyss Mages were perfect opponents.
They were strong enough, numerous enough, and, most importantly, could be fought without moral pressure.
They were ideal for live-combat drills.
In the past, Liyue and Mondstadt had both used the Fatui and the Abyss Order as practical experience generators.
Now, however, the Fatui had withdrawn.
The Tsaritsa still needed manpower, so indiscriminate killing was no longer an option.
And with the Abyss Order also pulling back, everyone had suddenly lost a large portion of their sparring targets.
It was not exactly a good thing, but it could not be called bad either.
At worst, there was still Ningguang's MC-world training grounds spread across Liyue's territory.
Still, Lumine was, in the end, a little too innocent.
Why had the Abyss Order suffered such heavy losses in Liyue and Mondstadt, only to go out of their way to request enchanted weapons from her?
Wasn't it simply because they couldn't defeat the Millelith and the Knights of Favonius anymore?
They had likely realized that continuing to station forces in those two nations only served to provide free combat experience for local armies.
So they cut their losses and withdrew entirely.
And with Inazuma joining the alliance as well, another place where Abyss forces would inevitably be used for training, the decision made even more sense.
In other words…
That brother of hers, Aether, had calculated even his own sister into the deal.
Getting something for nothing, what kind of brother was that?
Of course, no one felt the need to say this aloud and damage the relationship between the siblings.
Besides, as Ryen had already said,
the Abyss Order simply wasn't worth this much strategic attention.
Unless all Abyss forces beneath the depths mobilized at once, dealing with them would be trivial.
"Don't worry about the enchanted weapons," Ryen said casually, closing the topic.
"Let them tinker. If they manage to make something impressive, that's their skill."
He then looked at Lumine with curiosity.
"You mentioned earlier, you placed a bucket of water in the desert?"
Lumine nodded.
"More precisely, a bucket of water plus a block of land from this world."
Ryen laughed, teasing lightly.
"So this time, you got to show off, didn't you?"
Lumine lifted her chin, a little shy yet undeniably proud.
"Why is it fine for officials to set fires, but not for commoners to light lamps?"
Hearing this, Zhongli nodded in satisfaction.
"It sounds strange, but at least this time, you used the idiom correctly."
Lumine rolled her eyes at him, then added:
"Relax. I signed contracts with all of them.
Oh, and this one too."
She gestured to the man beside her.
"He's Alhaitham, the Scribe of the Akademiya."
Diluc frowned instantly.
"The Akademiya's Scribe?"
"Hey! I brought him here, are you seriously doubting me?" Lumine snapped, hands on her hips.
Diluc realized his reaction, nodded slightly, and said nothing more.
Ryen smiled faintly at Alhaitham.
"I didn't expect to see you here, to be honest."
Alhaitham inclined his head.
"It has been some time, Mr. Ryen."
Ryen turned back to Lumine with interest.
"Since you brought him here, that means Sumeru's situation is moving. What's the plan?"
Lumine rubbed her cheek, grinning.
"You guessed it. I'm here to ask for help, specifically, Jean."
Jean straightened at once, looking at Lumine seriously.
"Have you found Il Dottore?"
"Nope." Lumine shook her head.
"We didn't stay long in the rainforest.
Alhaitham and Cyno were secretly wanted by Azar, and only Tighnari still had freedom of movement."
"We'll need Tighnari to confirm Dottore's exact whereabouts."
"But the rainforest is full of Dottore's people."
Jean nodded in understanding.
"So you want us to help deal with the Fatui."
As she spoke, Jean glanced toward the Tsaritsa.
The Cryo Archon did not object. After a brief silence, she said calmly:
"Dottore commands many Fatui.
But if I am not mistaken, most of them are already under his direct control."
"Many are mindless modified soldiers."
"If you eliminate them, it will only weaken Dottore's power."
"As for Scaramouche…"
She shook her head and did not continue.
That matter was not for her to address, it belonged to Ei and Makoto.
Given that their conflict already stemmed from the Shogun and Scaramouche, she had no intention of worsening the situation.
Seeing that even the Tsaritsa had agreed, Jean did not hesitate. She turned back to Lumine.
"In that case, leave it to us."
"National grudges and personal hatred, this time, we'll settle them together."
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