One had to admit that if Ryen ever chose to run an illicit sales syndicate, not a single person alive would escape his silver tongue.
Originally, the assembly held little genuine affection for Gnoses. Zhongli viewed his own Geo Gnosis with the same quiet disgust he reserved for seafood, while Venti and the others treated theirs like scorching coals.
Having observed the Archons for so long, everyone had assumed that unless Ryen crafted something entirely new, those divine chess pieces were effectively useless.
Yet the rules had changed completely.
A pure Gnosis carrying zero side effects, designed purely to break through mortal strength limits, and capable of being farmed and manufactured on an industrial scale was another matter entirely.
What possible reason remained to refuse?
Could anyone honestly claim they wanted their own strength to plateau?
Nonsense!
With standard military divisions about to be armed with Visions from head to toe, the allied leaders needed to secure their own Gnoses just to maintain their overwhelming lead at the summit of the hierarchy.
Consider the tactical implications: when the final war against Celestia ignited and the Heavenly Principles looked across the field, only to find dozens of sovereign allogenes wielding the full authority of the Seven Elements standing in formation, would the heavenly throne not freeze in sheer bewilderment?
On that prospect alone, everyone looked upon the Gnosis system with burning enthusiasm.
Setting aside broader politics, the raw attribute bonuses provided by a pure Gnosis required no domestic governance or prayer to accumulate divine energy.
The moment it was equipped, the wielder's life tier underwent an immediate ascension into genuine godhood.
It was nothing less than a windfall dropping directly from the heavens.
What was there left to deliberate?
Even Scaramouche felt his buried obsession with Gnoses flare back to life.
In the past, his entire existence had been consumed by the pursuit of the Electro Gnosis. Yet after arriving in this boundless realm and witnessing miraculous relics far beyond mortal comprehension, his desire had steadily waned.
A traditional Gnosis could hardly match the versatility of an Advanced casting staff.
Moreover, the dismissive attitude shown by Zhongli and Venti had influenced his view.
Now, however, an uncorrupted Gnosis with zero celestial anchors was within reach.
Scaramouche could not find a single reason to turn his back on it.
After a few moments of contemplative silence, Zhongli was the first to speak.
"Applying universal principles, if our standing armies are to be universally equipped with Visions, then as the vanguard commanders, we ought to possess Gnoses of our own."
"An uncorrupted Gnosis carrying zero negative burdens is undeniably a formidable instrument for ascending our combat ceiling."
"I see no rational basis to decline."
"Therefore..."
Zhongli paused, preparing to voice his next inquiry. Yet the moment the words formed in his mind, an inexplicable sense of unease flared fiercely in his chest.
He could not pinpoint the origin of the feeling.
It did not resemble the mortal danger one felt before a battlefield catastrophe. Rather, it felt suspiciously like a devious prank, an impending wave of sheer public embarrassment waiting to swallow him whole.
Pushing the strange sensation aside, Zhongli proceeded with his question.
"As you explained earlier, raw ores and flora can be gathered through our established networks."
"Artifacts generate within subterranean ore veins and monster drops, while crafting basic Visions carries virtually no material barrier."
"Yet, forging legendary armaments and manifesting Gnoses must surely demand specialized catalysts, correct?"
"Much like the three Master staves of the Twilight Forest, which can only be wrested from the defeated hands of the Twilight Lich."
"Those critical core reagents must drop from specific high-tier adversaries. You have yet to outline the monsters introduced by the Genshin Impact module."
The corners of Ryen's lips twitched upward in a grin he could no longer suppress, while Yae Miko, trembling with silent laughter behind his shoulder, shook so hard she nearly slipped from her seat.
Ryen looked at Zhongli with profound, unspoken admiration.
In all his days, he had never seen anyone step so willingly onto the center of a stage to set up their own trap.
Zhongli was truly magnificent!
Taking a slow breath to steady his voice, Ryen prepared himself.
The foundation was laid; the moment of ultimate humiliation had arrived.
"Indeed, I have yet to detail the monster roster," Ryen began, clearing his throat lightly.
At that moment, the warning bells in Zhongli's intuition shattered their normal thresholds, screaming with unprecedented urgency.
"Standard creatures are straightforward enough. Whatever fauna, slimes, and monsters inhabit Teyvat will generate naturally within this module."
The leaders nodded thoughtfully.
While many native creatures across Teyvat were formidable, allied soldiers equipped with modern firearms and enchanted steel would handle them with minimal difficulty.
"However..."
Ryen's tone dropped, his gaze turning deep and deliberate as he locked eyes with Zhongli, before slowly sweeping across Venti, the Raiden Shogun, the Tsaritsa, and Scaramouche.
"The Genshin Impact module introduces several premier entities that none of you anticipated."
"These specific targets drop the finest masterwork materials in existence: the forging cores for five-star weapons, pure sovereign Gnoses..."
"Even specialized materials of unknown metaphysical utility and immense rarity drop exclusively from these entities."
"In simple terms, these creatures are classified as World Bosses!"
"They function like the Twilight Lich, formidable apex encounters that must be hunted, farmed, and systematically cleared on repeated weekly rotations."
The warning bells in Zhongli's mind abruptly fell silent. Yet the sudden quiet brought no comfort.
It felt precisely like the suffocating calm preceding a devastating hurricane.
Rubbing his twitching right eyelid, Zhongli maintained a steady cadence as he asked softly, "And the designation of these bosses is..."
"Morax."
"Pardon? Why do you address me by my divine name? I have stated before that calling me Zhongli is sufficient."
"No, you misunderstand," Ryen said, shaking his head with a profoundly meaningful look.
"I mean to say that the official title of the World Boss is Morax."
The air in the grand hall froze solid.
Every leader sat paralyzed, trading wide-eyed, disbelieving glances before turning their heads in unison to stare directly at Zhongli.
In that singular instant, Zhongli finally understood where his overwhelming sense of dread had come from.
Stoic and unshakeable as he had been for six thousand years, his expression shattered completely.
Disaster had struck.
He had become a farmable mob boss.
Zhongli stared at Ryen, his golden eyes filled with profound, complex turmoil.
"You mean..."
"Precisely. The boss entity is officially named Morax."
Zhongli's dignified composure disintegrated into dust. He sat frozen in his chair, staring blankly ahead without uttering a single syllable.
Azhdaha snapped back to reality, letting out an awkward, nervous cough as he attempted to salvage the situation.
"Mr. Ryen, could this simply be a nominal coincidence? That boss... ahem... that creature merely shares a common title, surely?"
Ryen made no further effort to conceal his broad, triumphant grin, using one arm to support Yae Miko, who had completely collapsed against him in helpless, gasping laughter. Had he not held her steady, the fox envoy would have been rolling across the carpet.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Ryen confirmed the recording crystal on the side table was running smoothly. Zhongli's historic expression of existential defeat had been captured in flawless detail.
This single recording would serve as an endless fountain of joy for decades to come.
Ryen cleared his throat, adopting an innocent, airy tone.
"How could I possibly know? Regardless of its nature, the boss is officially titled Morax, with the alias of Rex Lapis. I am merely reciting system data; I harbor no personal intentions of mocking anyone present."
"Incidentally, this boss drops a remarkable bounty: pure Geo Gnoses, as well as an extraordinary relic titled Zhongli's Infinite Mora Pouch."
"My goodness, Zhongli! What an incredible coincidence that this monster shares your name as well!"
Ryen widened his eyes with exaggerated astonishment.
Zhongli's face had turned as dark as compressed obsidian.
"Surely... this is... a mere coincidence, correct?" Azhdaha offered a weak, strained chuckle, wilting under the suffocating wave of resentment radiating from the Lord of Geo.
Ryen shrugged casually.
"I cannot say for certain. Coincidence or not, its name remains Morax. Furthermore..."
"There is another designated boss titled Azhdaha, the Dragon King. Defeating it yields Dragon Lord's Crowns, Bloodjade Branches, and Gilded Scales. What an extraordinary coincidence, Azhdaha, you seem to have matched names as well!"
Azhdaha, who had just been fighting for Zhongli's last shred of dignity, froze instantly, his jaw hanging open as his face drained of all color.
"Ahahahahaha!"
Venti lost all semblance of restraint, slamming his palms repeatedly against the wooden table as tears of pure, unadulterated hilarity streamed down his cheeks.
"This is priceless! Azhdaha, you were just trying to defend the old man, and now you have been drafted into the boss lineup yourself!"
"Old man, I apologize! Truly, I am a trained bard capable of maintaining utmost solemnity, but unless something is utterly hysterical, I never lose my composure!"
"Yet... World Boss Morax, dropping Zhongli's Infinite Mora Pouch..."
"Ahahaha! I will laugh about this for the next ten centuries! Tell me, old man, since when did you possess a bottomless bag of Mora?"
Zhongli sat rigid as stone, his face black as coal, his golden eyes boring directly into the howling bard.
Venti was well aware that Zhongli's meticulous nature meant a severe reckoning would follow later.
Yet he simply could not stop.
The future consequences could wait.
Right now, laughing was an absolute biological necessity! Holding it in would cause irreversible internal damage.
With Venti leading the charge, the rest of the room could no longer maintain their discipline.
The more reserved figures, such as Diluc and Baizhu, turned their heads away, their shoulders shaking violently as they fought to suppress their mirth.
Tartaglia and the younger combatants had no such restraint. Jumping up from their seats, they paced around the room with breathless cackles, chanting the names of Boss Morax and Boss Azhdaha with unbridled joy.
Miko was entirely drained of strength, burying her face against Ryen's shoulder while making muffled, gasping sounds of pure delight.
Ningguang, Jean, and the women covered their lips, their eyes crinkling with amusement even as they cast fond, scolding glances toward Ryen.
This troublesome man had spent the entire morning laying out elaborate tactical treatises purely to orchestrate this glorious moment of public embarrassment.
He was incorrigible.
And they loved him for it.
With a wide, sparkling smile, Ryen swept his gaze across the room, letting his eyes linger over Venti's tear-streaked face before speaking in a soft, melodic drawl.
"If my memory serves me correctly..."
"There is another world boss that drops pure Anemo Gnoses and the Skyward series of divine armaments, carrying the official designation of Barbatos."
"Among its exclusive drops, it also yields an item titled Venti's Wooden Lyre."
Venti's uproarious laughter died instantly, his jaw dropping as his eyes locked onto Ryen in wide, horrified shock.
In that singular heartbeat, the bard achieved complete, profound empathy with Zhongli's existential ruin.
Ryen continued smoothly, his eyes ticking down the roster like an executioner reading a ledger.
"The Genshin Impact module introduces a comprehensive roster of bosses."
"The Raiden Shogun, Tartaglia, Scaramouche, Rosalyne, Barnabas, Dvalin, Andrius, the Abyss Prince..."
"What a magnificent coincidence, every single one of you seems to share a namesake!"
Ryen's roll call functioned like an armor-piercing projectile, cleanly devastating the dignity of every person he named.
The figures who had been roaring with laughter moments ago fell into the exact same gloomy, suffocating silence that had claimed Zhongli and Venti.
Yet, according to the universal conservation of joy, laughter never vanished, it merely transferred to different faces.
While Miko remained curled against Ryen's chest, Lumine had no time to seek his embrace.
She collapsed directly onto the floor, rolling across the carpet while howling with unhinged, breathless glee.
"Boss Abyss Prince?! Ahahaha! That has to be the most pathetic, bottom-tier joke of a boss in the entire module!"
"What could that garbage mob possibly drop? Damaged hilichurl masks?!"
"Ahahaha!"
Aether's face turned iron-black, shooting his twin a look of pure, murderous indignation.
Today, Redstone Tech City had become the grand epicenter of mutual, universal embarrassment.
Every individual singled out by Ryen sat slumped in their chairs, surrounded by heavy clouds of melancholy, while the remaining spectators wiped tears of joy from their eyes.
After what felt like an eternity, the room gradually regained a fragile semblance of composure, forcing their laughter down into tight coughs.
Diluc cleared his throat, adopting an impeccably solemn, upright posture as he looked across the table.
"Considering that slaying these bosses yields an abundant harvest of divine armaments, for the sake of advancing the combat baseline of our coalition..."
"I hereby declare that defeating Boss Barbatos is my solemn, non-negotiable duty."
Venti's expression crumpled, shooting Diluc a look of profound, poetic grief.
Just as the bard opened his mouth to protest, Ryen cut in casually.
"I agree entirely. Boss Barbatos yields exceptional treasures."
"Among them are numerous wondrous curiosities, including an artifact titled the Bard's Bottomless Flask."
Venti froze.
In the very next instant, an unprecedented surge of radiant, manic energy exploded across the bard's face.
"A bottomless... bottomless flask?! What does that mean?!"
Ryen spread his hands with a warm, innocent grin.
"Presumably, it means the wine within never runs dry."
Venti swallowed hard, his eyes blazing with an unholy, burning zeal.
In a fraction of a second, all embarrassment, ruined dignity, and wounded pride vanished like morning mist beneath the midday sun.
Venti's mind was consumed entirely by the glorious concept of an endless flask of wine.
Straightening his spine, the Anemo Archon rose to his feet with an air of absolute, unshakeable righteousness.
"To purge Boss Barbatos and restore crystalline purity to the skies of this block world!"
"I, Venti, shall lead the charge without a shred of hesitation!"
Dignity was a fleeting illusion, and he had discarded most of his long ago.
Measured against an infinite reservoir of vintage wine, what was a little public shame?