In a realm that had known only tranquil expansion and wide, silent avenues, Redstone Tech City suddenly erupted into life like a pot of boiling water.
The colossal metropolis, engineered to house over a hundred thousand souls, became packed as tens of thousands of soldiers mobilized through the streets.
Along every grand boulevard and narrow alleyway, disciplined detachments marched with purposeful haste.
Every soldier was clad in fully enchanted plate. Iron armor gleamed alongside the blue radiance of full diamond gear, while logistics officers rushed to distribute fresh diamond sets to front-line vanguards.
Alchemical breweries roared to life at full capacity, and master craftsmen took their stations across every production facility.
Potions, gunpowder, TNT blocks, and modern firearms rolled off assembly lines in continuous streams.
Even the vast outer plazas on the edge of the city were temporarily repurposed into agricultural sectors, where farm hands worked without rest, accelerating crops with bone meal to secure ample rations.
A siege lasting forty-nine continuous days would test their combat doctrines and drain their supply reserves.
Though starvation was virtually impossible with their stockpiles, feeding an army of tens of thousands demanded absolute caution.
Da Shi and Rahman stood atop the stone plaza before the City Lord Manor. Overhead, tamed dragons swept across the sky at regular intervals, banking toward the landing platforms of the Dragon Knight base.
"Pick up the pace! We are running out of daylight!"
"Draw on our diamond reserves! Every last ingot! Do not hold back materials! If we burn through our stockpile, we can quarry more later, but these walls must not fall!"
"Ensure every melee unit is outfitted in enchanted diamond armor! As for the ranged corps, clear your inventories of all unnecessary baggage!"
"Enchanted bows, spectral arrows, firearms, and ammunition! Ranged combatants are permitted to carry nothing else!"
"Engineering corps, prioritize replacing the outer ramparts with obsidian! The moment infantry units finish rearming, deploy them to assist the masonry crews!"
"Before noon tomorrow, the entire perimeter must stand twenty meters tall and five meters thick in solid obsidian!"
"Construct reinforced bunkers every fifty meters along the battlements! Stock them with ammunition and ordnance for immediate access!"
"Explosives! Manufacture more ordnance! Grenades, redstone TNT cannons, RPGs! The more, the better!"
"We hold the fortress! No sallies outside the gates! Our ranged suppression must remain overwhelming and unbroken!"
"Is the Second Engineering Corps ready? Begin subterranean excavation immediately! You have twenty-four hours to flood the sub-levels with lava!"
"Leader Rahman, flooding the entire subterranean level with lava within a single day is a massive undertaking!"
"Then flood as much as you can! Prioritize the vital foundations: beneath the City Lord Manor, beneath administrative hubs, beneath the primary avenues... saturate every critical sector!"
"Third Engineering Corps, begin spawning Iron Golems throughout the interior! Our quota is ten thousand! Ensure every district has heavy golems on patrol!"
Orders cascaded across the square without pause. Divisions formed up, received their assignments, and marched out in crisp formation.
This was the first time they had mobilized for an open campaign of this scale within this realm, conducted under the direct gaze of Ryen and the Archons.
None among them were willing to falter or bring shame upon their homelands. Otherwise, what purpose had their months of training and growth served?
As thousands of allied troops organized into defensive grids, the detachment of Khaenri'ahns tasked with colonization on the New Continent arrived through the portal.
Stepping into the roaring, tense atmosphere of the city, they looked around in dazed confusion.
"You there! Khaenri'ahn unit! Form up over here!" Da Shi called out, his brow furrowing as he caught sight of their hesitation.
The Khaenri'ahn soldiers blinked, quickly jogging over to the staging area.
"War is at our doorstep! What are you standing around for? Move! Re-equip with standard defensive plate! Those trained in marksmanship, report to the firearms division!"
"Those unaccustomed to ranged weaponry, assist the engineering squads with wall reinforcement and trench traps!"
"We have no time to waste!"
The Khaenri'ahns scrambled to comply, their minds spinning. Only hours ago, they had been laying foundation stones on the coastal plains of the New Continent.
How had the situation shifted toward total war in the blink of an eye?
Whom were they fighting?
Seeing thousands of elite allied troops marshaled alongside the Archons, had the hour to strike Celestia arrived?
Just then, Diluc, Aether, and their commanders approached the main square.
Noticing the bewildered look on his people's faces, Aether frowned and spoke in a firm, authoritative tone.
"Snap out of your daze! A massive zombie siege descends upon us tomorrow night! This is no time to idle!"
"Endis, brief them immediately and integrate them into the work rotations!"
Endis saluted crisply, quickly gathering the Khaenri'ahn soldiers to outline the crisis and direct them toward the armory.
"Milords," Da Shi and Rahman said, stepping toward Diluc and the commanders. "The Fourth Engineering Corps is assembled, and the logistical departments are operating around the clock. Materials can be drawn at will. Are you ready to deploy to the outer kill zones?"
Kamisato Ayato nodded, looking toward the others. "Four cardinal directions. Choose your sectors."
Alhaitham shook his head slightly. "An oversight. There is also the vertical axis."
Looking upward into the open sky, Alhaitham continued calmly, "For maximum security, we should construct elevated floating platforms. They will provide downward firing angles and allow us to monitor whether mutant hostiles take flight."
Diluc gave an approving nod. "Agreed. I will take the eastern perimeter."
"Western front for me," Tartaglia shrugged with a sharp grin, waving for Scaramouche and a detachment of engineers to follow him toward the western battlements.
There was no leisure for idle chatter. The perimeter of Redstone Tech City was colossal, stretching their defensive lines across vast kilometers. Crafting layered trenches and subterranean kill zones demanded every second they had.
Had they lacked an army of tens of thousands, completing such vast fortifications within twenty-four hours would have been impossible.
As the strike leaders dispersed to their respective posts, Zhongli stepped out from the manor, followed closely by Venti, Xiao, and the adepti.
Zhongli raised his hand, signaling for Da Shi to approach.
"Lord Morax," Da Shi bowed respectfully, awaiting instruction.
"What is our exact count of fully trained ranged combatants, counting both archers and modern firearms operators?" Zhongli asked softly.
Da Shi calculated for a moment before replying, "Within this realm, we field roughly fifteen thousand dedicated ranged soldiers. However, our melee divisions are also trained in firearm handling, though their accuracy under rapid fire is somewhat lower."
"Fifteen thousand..." Zhongli murmured, his brow furrowing slightly as he glanced toward Venti.
The bard had shed his usual carefree demeanor, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That is a modest number against a horde numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions. If fifteen thousand troops are stretched thin across the entire outer wall, our density of fire will be too dispersed to maintain absolute suppression."
Da Shi interjected quickly, "We have installed heavy redstone TNT cannons along the ramparts, and every bunker houses machine gun emplacements and RPG launchers. With small crews operating the heavy ordnance, our firepower should hold."
Zhongli shook his head. "Still insufficient. What is the grand total of all combat-capable personnel currently within the city?"
After a brief pause, Da Shi answered, "Approximately thirty thousand."
"Re-equip every single soldier with ranged armaments," Zhongli ordered decisively. "Do not fret over pinpoint accuracy. Blanket saturation fire across the kill zones is what matters. Melee engagements must be avoided at all costs."
"Have the Dragon Knights remain airborne on rotating patrols, maintaining vertical suppression and standing ready to reinforce threatened sectors at a moment's notice."
"Furthermore, notify our garrisons stationed at Mt. Tianheng in Liyue to stand on high alert. Should our front lines buckle, they must be prepared to reinforce the battlements immediately."
"A campaign of forty-nine consecutive days will place immense psychological strain upon the men. Establish rigid shift rotations to allow soldiers to rest and decompress."
"Most critically, ensure every soldier gets regular sleep. If prolonged exhaustion sets in, Phantoms will spawn from the sky, and we cannot afford to divert fire toward aerial pests."
"Our doctrine remains purely defensive: hold the fortress, avoid close combat, and launch no offensive sallies."
Da Shi saluted firmly, turning on his heel to distribute the directives across the battlements.
Zhongli reviewed the defensive framework in his mind, satisfied that the baseline structure was sound. Finer tactical adjustments could wait until after the opening assault tomorrow night.
Letting out a quiet breath, Venti smiled warmly. "The Prime Adeptus remains magnificent as ever. After so many centuries of peace, your battlefield command is as sharp as steel."
Beside them, Xiao stood with his chest high and his spear gripped firmly, his golden eyes filled with pride. "Lord Morax is the God of War. Command over the field is a divine mastery that will never fade!"
Venti rolled his eyes with an amused sigh. Traveling with Zhongli nowadays meant having Xiao nearby to sing his praises at every turn.
"Let us inspect the ramparts and ensure no structural gaps remain," Zhongli said, leading his group toward the outer walls.
Shortly after, Ningguang, Jean, Ei, and the other leaders emerged from the manor, stepping through the Ley Line portal to return to Teyvat.
The coming weeks would be a relentless war of attrition. While quiet daylight hours would allow brief visits home, active fighting would consume the nights. Settling domestic governance across their homelands was essential to ensure they could fight without distraction.
Moreover, while mundane goods from Teyvat could not match the reality-bending tools of this realm, material support remained vital.
Opening the grand grain reserves across the Guili Plains would ensure boundless provisions for the war effort.
The air throughout the block world grew thick with the scent of impending war.
With the leaders returning to Teyvat, that same heightened tension rippled across the Five Nations.
Emergency decrees were dispatched across the continent. While the other nations required time to mobilize, Liyue sprang into action immediately.
Agricultural production hubs in the Guili Plains were brought to full output, processing livestock and grains for immediate shipment through the Mt. Tianheng gate.
It was the first time resources from Teyvat flowed backward to sustain operations within the block realm.
Learning of the shipments, Ryen felt a quiet sense of pride. Previously, the block world had showered Teyvat with miracles; now, Teyvat was stepping forward to support the reality that had nurtured it.
Meanwhile, the Tsaritsa and Rosalyne stepped into the Ministry of Civil Affairs' dedicated foreign mission office in Liyue Harbor to contact Arlecchino.
With battle imminent, they did not expect Arlecchino's marching column to turn the tide, but reaching the city would allow them to assist with secondary defense while acclimating to the world's mechanics.
Redstone Tech City's apocalyptic trial was merely a preview of the trials their own national capitals would face when ascending in the future. Experiencing the siege now would grant Snezhnaya invaluable tactical data.
With Arlecchino having crossed into Sumeru's borders, establishing contact was far simpler.
Securing permission from Nahida to channel a thread of Sumeru's ley line authority, the Tsaritsa focused her divine cryo energy to establish a long-range resonance link.
"Arlecchino, what is your current position?"
Marching across the desert frontier, Arlecchino froze in her tracks, her crimson eyes widening in surprise as she answered softly.
"Your Majesty?"