"Lu Chen, what are you and Miko doing over there?"
Ei's voice called from afar.
Even though he knew the other side couldn't hear them, Lu Chen instinctively lowered his voice.
"Shh!"
"We'll talk later, Ei! Keep them busy for now!"
"Remember—just stall them! Don't kill them too fast, or they might stop sending monsters!"
Ei looked puzzled. She glanced at Lu Chen and Miko crouching like they were up to no good, but despite her confusion, she followed instructions.
"Stall them, not too fast?" Venti frowned.
Since Lu Chen said so, he stopped the violent Stormeye he'd summoned. The remaining monsters in front of the rift dropped to the ground with a thud.
Then, Venti raised a gentle wind field, lifting himself lightly into the air.
"Move fast. A big group's approaching—including the Special Task Force for Anomalous Phenomena."
"Got it!"
Lu Chen was confident in leaving things to Venti and Ei. With the two of them, holding back the horde of corrupted monsters was no issue.
So he stayed crouched with Miko, continuing to eavesdrop.
"Hold on..." Miko rubbed her ankle, sore from squatting.
"Didn't you say they can't see us from the other side? Why are we sneaking around?"
"Uh..." Lu Chen froze. Good point.
"Maybe it's just the vibe?" he said offhandedly. They were eavesdropping, after all—it just felt natural to hide.
On the other side of the veil, the Abyss Order's ritual was still underway.
The terrain appeared to be deep underground, given the grand, ancient-style palace structures. Members of the Abyss Order were gathered around a large device, working together to operate it. Lu Chen guessed this was the source of the disturbance—a weapon designed to manipulate Archon remnants.
They could faintly hear the voices of the Abyss Order members speaking among themselves.
Words like:
"Great..."
"Plan..."
"And the prince... His Highness..."
"For... Khaenri'ah..."
"A new world..."
Lu Chen and Miko exchanged a glance. Miko looked confused—she wasn't as familiar with this as Lu Chen was.
But he immediately connected the dots.
"Abyss Order," "strange device," "Archon," and "plan"—put together, it reminded him of something: the Loom of Fate project. Their plan to reforge mechanical Archons and mount a large-scale counteroffensive against Celestia.
So what they were doing now might be tied to that plan, but unexpectedly, it involved the Gate of Teyvat as well.
Too many questions. Lu Chen wanted to dig deeper. But the Abyss Heralds suddenly looked like they'd noticed something. They approached the corrupted monsters near the rift and stared toward the crack.
Then, they stopped operating the device. On this side of the rift, no new monsters emerged.
"What's going on?" Lu Chen frowned. Could the Abyss Order somehow be aware of what's happening on this side?
Is that why they halted the summoning?
"Lu Chen, time to go!" Venti's voice came from beside him.
Lu Chen turned to see him and Ei walking over, with the parking lot behind them reduced to rubble, like a post-earthquake disaster zone.
"Let's go!" Lu Chen knew they couldn't linger. He called for Xiao.
With the opening of a [Time-Space Fissure], the group vanished into thin air.
...
Half an hour later, everyone was gathered in Lu Chen's RV.
Qiqi held ice cream in one hand and coconut milk in the other, uncertain which to eat first—but even more confused by the heavy atmosphere on everyone's faces.
Barbara, still in her idol outfit, had just finished her red carpet appearance. After hearing what happened, she couldn't help but worry.
Her bright blue eyes looked at Lu Chen with concern.
"I thought it was a car accident. I didn't realize something this serious happened so close to the venue... Why didn't you tell me?"
Lu Chen smiled and shook his head. Barbara had worked so hard to stand on stage as an idol—it was finally her moment to shine. How could he interrupt that?
Besides, with so many top-tier fighters on their side, the battle had wrapped up in a flash. They didn't need Barbara to get involved.
Venti was fiddling with a stone stained black with corruption. He levitated it in the air, wrapping it in Anemo to isolate its aura.
After the secret realm collapsed, all Archon remnants were pulled back to Teyvat by the system. Thankfully, Venti was quick enough to snag a sample.
"Xiao, are you familiar with this Archon?" he asked.
Xiao shook his head. "Not really. Maybe ask Lord Zhongli."
Hearing that, Lu Chen pulled out his phone, opened the chat with Zhongli (who still used a profile pic of lotus leaves), and sent a picture of the stone.
[Teyvat's Most Handsome: @Zhongli, old man, quit fussing over your plants and help me ID this thing!]
[Teyvat's Most Handsome: [Image]]
[Hu Tao: What happened?? That stone... is it Archon remnants?!]
[Teyvat's Most Handsome: Nice eye, Master Hu!]
[Master Hu: In Liyue, plenty of plagues and miasma came from that stuff. Wangsheng Funeral Parlor knows all about it.]
[Master Hu: But wait—did I miss something fun?? How could you leave me out? Hold on, I'm coming out of the woods right now!]
They chatted for a bit before Zhongli finally replied.
[Zhongli: This stone carries a taint of malevolence. It is indeed Archon remnants. Where did you find it, young friend Lu Chen?]
[Teyvat's Most Handsome: Can you identify which Archon it came from?]
[Zhongli: Not just from the surface. Bring the stone to me, and I'll analyze it.]
[Teyvat's Most Handsome: Fine...]
Lu Chen turned off his phone. He'd like to fly over and get answers in person, but he couldn't shake the feeling that danger was still looming here.
...
After the mission ended, the system entered update mode.
[Cleanup Mission: Enter the secret realm, investigate and eliminate the spread of Archon remnants into the real world]
[Mission Complete]
[Achievement Unlocked: Plane Guardian]
[Reward: 10,000 Primogems + 10 million real-world currency]
[Archon Quest: Reopen the Gate of Teyvat – Progress: 60%]
[Routine system maintenance underway]
[New version features expanded "Gate of Teyvat" access, allowing user to assist in patching and maintaining dimensional rifts]
[Estimated update duration: 24 hours. System will undergo downtime during this period. Please check back after update completion]
[Use your time wisely. Beware of scams. Take care of yourself and live a healthy life]
...
After the string of messages, the system panel went completely dark, displaying: "System Updating..."
Lu Chen remembered the last update had brought new content—like secret realms and skill vouchers. But this time, it directly involved Gate of Teyvat permissions.
Thinking back to the Abyss Order's sabotage, it was clear: if the system was like a network, then they'd just hacked the Gate of Teyvat.
No wonder he got the "Plane Guardian" title after completing the task.
In that case... wasn't he basically the antivirus software?
When everything settled, it was already late. Lu Chen gently urged Barbara to rest—she had an idol performance tomorrow.
The others, however, still looked uneasy, especially Xiao.
Lu Chen stared him down, eyes wide.
"Don't you dare sneak off and go slay demons behind our backs!"
He didn't want Xiao accumulating any more karma.
Ever since those Archon remnants showed up, Lu Chen had been feeling uneasy.
"Your mission now is: slack off, slack off, and slack off! Learn from Venti!"
"Slack... off?" Xiao's blank face turned to Venti.
"Oh, I'm an expert at that!"
Venti beamed and threw an arm around Xiao's shoulders like they were best buds, dragging him off for drinks.