"That giant teapot was right there. I'm not blind."
Back at World Serpent's base, Raven toyed with the yellowish-brown teapot in her hands.
It had a delicate texture. The craftsmanship suggested something from Liyue Chamber of Commerce.
But as for anything truly unique… Raven couldn't spot a thing.
She had simply snatched it because it stuck out like a sore thumb in that alley.
In her grip, it felt no different from a hundred-credit teapot from Liyue Chamber.
Raven had even pried open the lid for a peek—empty as could be.
[Natasha Cioara requests entry to your Serenitea Pot]
"?"
Liu Bai froze mid-feed as he shoved another weed toward Firefly.
What the hell? How did my perfectly fine Serenitea Pot connect to Natasha?
Reject!
Situation unclear—letting a "stranger" in was out of the question.
Raven held the pot close, nearly shoving her eyes inside, before finally concluding: it was just an ordinary teapot.
Damn it.
No one would really toss a brand-new teapot into a grimy alley like that, right?
Wouldn't that make both her and Rita look like utter fools?
Step… step…
"Ah, good afternoon, Gray Serpent."
A thousand curses swirled in her mind, but Raven forced a nonchalant facade as she turned to the newcomer.
World Serpent's intelligence head: Gray Serpent.
"Mission results, Raven?" His raspy, grating voice cut through.
"As you see: failure." Raven spread her arms wide, no intent to hide it. "Schicksal didn't succeed either. Targets vanished. Only gain: this teapot."
Gray Serpent paused, then fixed his mechanical eye—whirring as it zoomed and contracted—on the pot. "Given the targets are extraterrestrials, failure was foreseeable. I'll keep tracking intel… As for the pot, it appears to be Liyue Chamber craftsmanship."
"Craftsmanship? Valuable?"
A ripple finally stirred in Raven's tone.
"…Exquisite work. Thousands in value, no issue." Gray Serpent had zero interest in haggling details with her. "Bring the pot. The Herrscher has questions for you."
"…I really don't want to see the Herrscher."
At the word "Herrscher," Raven's mouth twitched visibly.
She worked for World Serpent, sure—but whether she meshed with that Herrscher was another story.
Parting from Gray Serpent, Raven walked the corridor with tangled thoughts.
That Herrscher… even from her perspective, far too dangerous.
Knock knock.
Heart heavy, Raven rapped on the Herrscher's door.
The Herrscher.
True to her title: World Serpent's sovereign.
Gray Serpent's creator. The woman who had indirectly birthed the organization.
"The door's unlocked. Come in."
Her name—Möbius.
The tall woman in a black dress, green hair cascading like a waterfall, toyed with a vial of unknown liquid in one hand while her serpentine pupils fixed on the entering Raven.
Ah… the pressure…
Hood shadowing her face, locking eyes with those snake-like slits always gave Raven the guilty twinge of a slacking employee caught by the boss.
"Mission results?"
Seated at the head, Möbius's stunning features curved into an enigmatic smile.
"My deepest apologies, Herrscher. Mission failed."
Raven dropped to one knee, repeating her report to Gray Serpent verbatim.
Möbius's smile faded as she listened, then she nodded faintly. "No matter. You handled it well enough."
Though the Herrscher always pressured her, on pure merit: as long as no cardinal errors, she treated her own with remarkable leniency.
"Keep the teapot. Dispose of it as you see fit."
An ordinary teapot held no interest for Möbius.
"Yes."
Raven bowed her head respectfully.
Decision made! Sell the damn thing!
Then treat Little Kong and the others to a feast!
"I-I really can't eat any more, Liu Bai sir."
After downing over a pound of roasted weeds in succession, Firefly finally raised the white flag, hands up in surrender.
Her face twisted on the verge of tears.
Liu Bai eyed her expression and quietly set aside the fresh batch he'd just finished.
Fair enough. Who kept force-feeding a beautiful girl grass nonstop?
He checked Firefly's status once more.
[Firefly]
[Current Health: Entropic Decay (Mild), Minor Internal Bleeding]
[No Immediate Life Threat]
Recovered to this point—no need to keep going.
"Then rest here a bit. I'll figure out water."
Liu Bai eased her back onto the bedding.
Water was their most pressing lack right now.
Fetch from outside?
Raven's entry request had just popped up!
Meant the pot was in Raven's hands.
Someone had trailed them, as expected.
The killer flaw of the Extraterrestrial Visitor start: "Any faction's attitude toward you is unpredictable."
As aliens, anyone might see him and Firefly as enemies.
Of course, he wasn't without edges. Innate max Charisma gave him leverage to negotiate.
Plus, water shortages now—food would tighten later.
Water could transform the Serenitea Pot map to Verdant Peaks, yielding spring water. But food?
Neither Qingque Isle nor Verdant Peaks held a single fish in their waters.
Couldn't rely on roasted weeds and weed soup to sustain two people forever.
A brief silence fell. Then Liu Bai saw it: an opportunity.
A chance for a faction join, a fresh start.
All in!
But preparations first.
Liu Bai pulled a stack of gacha coins from the chest.
Ten coins—the so-called beginner ten-pull.
Clutching them, he approached the gacha machine.
Equipment Pool, Character Pool.
[Equipment Pool Current UP Items: Time-Stop Pocket Watch, Hypnosis Ring, Cursed Armor, Skyfire Greatsword…]
[Character Pool Designated UP Characters: Black Swan, Sparkle, Ruan Mei, Kafka…]
A long list of names. After a moment's thought, Liu Bai selected the Character Pool.
—Ten-pulls never guaranteed hits; maximize returns instead.
For him, most powerhouse gear was unusable. Skyfire Greatsword? He couldn't even lift it—though pocket watches or rings were another story.
Character Pool ten-pull had no must-hit mechanic, but what if a "four-star" dropped?
Mixed poison pools aside, betting on a "four-star character" beat gambling for a "four-star item" any day.
Companions came with innate favor bonuses too—shared enemies wouldn't be an issue…
Right—Firefly's favor toward him?
Curiosity piqued, Liu Bai opened the companions tab for a look.
[Companion: Firefly (Favor: 81)]