Just as Ryen had expected,
by the time they set out again toward the next cluster of bosses,
Lumine and Alhaitham were already riding a dragon through the skies near Mt. Tianheng.
Along the way, Alhaitham asked quite a few questions about the MC world.
Perhaps Lumine found the journey a bit dull, so she patiently answered him.
Still, the mysteries of the MC world were not something that could be understood in a few sentences.
Just the question of why blocks possessed such special properties was enough to stump Alhaitham completely, no matter how hard he thought about it.
As for things like building an entire city in a single month, the pace alone was beyond imagination.
Lumine did not go into too much detail.
In any case, once he saw it with his own eyes, he would be questioning reality for a long time anyway.
Mt. Tianheng was already close at hand.
Lumine guided the dragon down and landed, then stored it away in her Serenitea Pot.
She turned to Alhaitham.
"Let's go. We can't fly the rest of the way."
Alhaitham nodded.
Before he could reply, a thunderous roar suddenly came from ahead.
In the blink of an eye, a fully armed heavy cavalry unit, over a hundred riders strong, charged toward them.
Lumine froze for a moment, then planted her hands on her hips in annoyance.
"Hey! I wasn't flying over Liyue Harbor, you know. There's no need to be this tense!"
"And I was riding a dragon, besides us, who else can even do that?"
The captain of the heavy cavalry was an old acquaintance, Fengyan.
Hearing Lumine's complaint, he looked a little embarrassed.
"My apologies. It's our duty… anything landing near Mt. Tianheng has to be investigated."
Lumine rolled her eyes.
"You just wanted to come take a look at the dragon!"
Fengyan scratched his head sheepishly and didn't bother to deny it.
"By the way, Fengyan, you're still not part of the Dragon Rider Corps yet?
I already mentioned you to Sister Ningguang last time."
At this, Fengyan spread his hands helplessly and glanced at Alhaitham, answering vaguely:
"The assessment's too strict. I haven't passed yet…"
After Lumine mentioned it to Ningguang previously, Ningguang had indeed arranged for Fengyan to enter the MC world.
Only then did Fengyan finally understand why the Dragon Rider Corps' assessments were never publicly discussed.
Because the assessment didn't even take place in Teyvat.
It was based entirely on one's exploration and development contributions in the MC world.
After all, a dragon rider's true strength lay with the dragon itself,
dragons were powerful and relatively easy to control, so the requirements for the rider weren't especially harsh.
Simply put, any Millelith soldier could potentially become a dragon rider.
Which meant the competition was extremely fierce.
Fengyan had once been a Millelith drill instructor.
Considering that Liyue still needed him to hold the line, Ningguang and the others had never pushed him to join.
Since he was now voluntarily entering the assessment as an ordinary Millelith, there was nothing more to say.
At present, nearly six thousand Millelith were active in the MC world,
and only the top one thousand could be selected for the Dragon Rider Corps.
Fengyan had joined late and was just getting started.
He was still a long way off from qualifying.
But to him, that didn't really matter.
Exploring a new world and expanding territory had always been the Millelith's lifelong pursuit.
Even if he never became a dragon rider,
being a Millelith who pioneered new lands in that world was already something to take pride in.
Lumine didn't think too deeply about it. She waved her hand.
"Have Sister Ningguang and the others come back yet?"
"Probably not," Fengyan replied softly.
"There hasn't been any sign of Lady Ningguang these past few days."
He added,
"But the gate's still open. I just came back from a shift change today."
Lumine scratched her head.
"I see… then who's guarding the entrance?"
Fengyan answered immediately,
"General Menogias is on guard!"
"Menogias? Got it."
Lumine nodded and waved.
"You all keep patrolling. I'll go take a look."
Just as she was about to move, Fengyan hesitated.
"Miss Lumine, there's no problem with you going in, but he, "
Lumine glanced at Alhaitham and said casually,
"It's fine. He's from Sumeru, one of Nahida's people. He's signed the contract.
I specifically brought him here to see things."
Feng Yan understood at once and guessed that Sumeru was about to join the alliance as well.
After taking a look at the contract Lumine produced, he waved his hand, signaling the heavy cavalry to clear a path.
"Then we'll continue with monster suppression."
With that, Fengyan led the cavalry off in a thunderous charge.
The ground trembled as they left.
Alhaitham glanced at the deep hoofprints left behind and felt a quiet shock.
Judging from the vibrations and the imprints alone,
each of those heavy cavalry units must have weighed over twenty tons.
That horses could even carry such weight was already absurd,
that they could still charge at such speed was outright unbelievable.
Ten such cavalrymen would be enough to surround and eliminate him without him having any chance to fight back.
He sighed inwardly.
Just as Lumine had said, Liyue's true strength was impossible to fathom.
"Tch… 'monster suppression.' Couldn't they come up with a better excuse?"
Lumine rolled her eyes and continued inward with Alhaitham.
"Miss Lumine, are you saying they weren't actually going to clear monsters?"
Alhaitham asked in confusion.
Lumine nodded decisively.
"When would Liyue even have that many monsters left to clear?"
"The stationed Millelith have all been enhanced."
"Besides, what kind of monster would need over a hundred heavy cavalry?
Even a Stonehide Lawachurl would only need five."
"Since Liyue's reforms began, monsters across the region have been disappearing at a rapid pace."
"The Fatui don't dare show themselves, the Abyss Order doesn't dare poke its head out,
and what's left are just hilichurls and mindless elemental creatures."
"At most places, sending out a dozen Millelith a day is more than enough to clean things up."
"These guys are just itching for a fight. Their strength has nowhere to go,
so they ride out hoping to run into something powerful."
"You don't know them yet, these days, the Millelith are downright battle-hungry."
"To them, monsters have become a scarce resource."
"Even a small hilichurl camp will have a crowd fighting over who gets to deal with it.
To avoid infighting, it's basically 'whoever finds it, handles it.'"
"Any Millelith unit without assigned duties just finds excuses to head out and search for monsters."
Alhaitham let out a quiet sigh, filled with emotion.
"So that's how it is… Truly formidable…"
When he thought about Sumeru,
the Fatui running rampant, the Abyss Order everywhere,
all kinds of monsters appearing constantly, to the point where even Vision bearers had to be cautious when traveling,
How could that compare to Liyue,
where monsters had practically vanished,
and soldiers were instead worrying about where to find monsters to fight?
"Liyue joined the alliance the earliest, after all."
Lumine waved her hand dismissively and didn't elaborate further.
She led Alhaitham through layer after layer of strict defenses.
At last, they arrived at Ryen's courtyard.
A towering, bizarre gate stood before them, making Alhaitham's heart tighten unconsciously.
Lumine, however, paid it no mind and shouted loudly:
"Menogias! Menogias! I'm back!
Stop carving your stupid rocks and come out already!"
As soon as her voice fell, streaks of golden light gathered within the courtyard.
A tall, slender figure quietly appeared.
Long, fragmented golden hair fell loosely over his shoulders.
He wore an ancient robe similar in style to Zhongli's.
His features were gentle and refined, but his constant half-smile made him hard to read.
Seeing Lumine, Menogias said helplessly,
"I sensed you the moment you arrived. If you had business, you could've just gone inside."
"And for the record, it's Stoneheart Jade Carving, not 'stupid rocks.'"
Lumine waved her hand carelessly.
"What's the difference? Cloud Retainer always says your carved Cor Lapis disgraces how precious it is!"
Menogias didn't get angry, he just chuckled.
"Cloud Retainer doesn't know how to appreciate art. Don't tell me you don't understand either? Back then, the Lord of Geo, "
"Yeah, yeah, I know! Zhongli once carved Azhdaha from ley-line life itself.
But you're carving Cor Lapis, what kind of masterpiece can that turn into?"
Menogias answered seriously,
"Of course it can! Want Glaze Lilies or Qingxin? I can carve one for you.
And besides, my carved Cor Lapis sells extremely well in Liyue Harbor!"
"Xiao and the others' daily expenses are basically paid for with the Mora I earn!"
Seeing the faint pride on Menogias's face made Lumine feel oddly conflicted.
She had originally assumed that this Geo Yaksha was a calm, reliable type.
After all, before meeting Arataki Itto, Lumine believed that all Geo characters were steady and dependable,
Zhongli.
Ningguang.
Noelle.
She would understand the truth once she eventually met Itto.
Turns out Geo alignment was distributed by hair color.
Ninety percent white-haired.
After Menogias's revival, Lumine finally understood why Xiao and the others always looked awkward whenever his name came up.
Menogias was,
A total mom.
Every day, he either worried about whether Xiao and others were eating and drinking properly,
telling them to dress warmly so they wouldn't catch a cold,
Or, when bored, he would imitate Zhongli's stone carving,
talking about "recreating the grand epic of the Lord of Geo carving Azhdaha."
In plain terms:
making handicrafts and selling them to support the household.
And then there was the eldest of the Five Yakshas, Bosacius.
Hm.
A reckless dad
and a gentle, doting mom.
The dynamics lined up perfectly.
Ship confirmed.
Thinking this way, Lumine suddenly found Menogias much more agreeable.
She looked him up and down, pursed her lips, and finally said,
"Can you talk to me with your eyes open a bit?
It always feels like you're looking down on me!"
Menogias looked awkward.
"It's a habit! Please understand!"
"That's exactly why squinty eyes are the worst!"
Lumine pouted and complained.
"Anyway, down to business. I'm going to Ryen's world.
They haven't come out yet, right?"
Menogias shook his head lightly.
"Ryen and the others only entered a few days ago.
They should still be in the Twilight Forest. You can go find them directly."
He paused, then glanced lightly at Alhaitham.
Unlike Lumine, who was long used to being around gods and adepti,
Alhaitham rarely interacted with such beings.
The restrained pressure and life-aspected aura radiating from Menogias,
even without being directed at him,
made Alhaitham feel subtly stifled.
He had heard that Liyue had many adepti,
but he never imagined there would be this many.
Even the gatekeeper was an adeptus?
"He's signed a contract. Honestly, don't you trust me at all?
I wouldn't bring trouble to everyone."
Lumine rolled her eyes and handed the contract to Menogias.
"Hold onto it. I still need to go back to Sumeru later.
When everyone comes out, just give it to Zhongli."
Menogias examined it carefully and murmured,
"Alhaitham…"
"I understand. Go in."
Lumine waved her hand and was just about to step through the gate when Menogias suddenly remembered something.
He hurriedly pulled out a pile of clothes and food.
"Oh, right, please bring these to Xiao and the others."
"They've been going to the Twilight Swamp, then hunting the Snow Queen…
The weather keeps changing, what if they catch a cold?"
"And the food over there isn't very diverse. Xiao is still growing, make sure he eats properly."
"And also, "
Watching Menogias's full mother-mode activate, Lumine sighed.
She quietly shot Alhaitham a look.
The two of them immediately slipped into the portal like thieves, disappearing in an instant.
~~----------------------
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