After a round of discussion, the six left the Lambad Tavern.
"So what do we do now?" Venti shrugged. "How's someone supposed to wake themselves up from their own dream? Any bright ideas?"
Lu Chen looked at him and half-joked, "Last time, when you fell asleep on the sofa, I just shouted 'the wine's gone,' and you woke up instantly."
"That's completely different..." Venti muttered helplessly. "Besides, where are we supposed to find someone outside to shout at me?"
Seeing everyone looking troubled, he waved his hand casually. "If you ask me, since this is a dream, why not just sleep until we wake up naturally? Dreams always end eventually, right?"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple..." Lu Chen shook his head slightly. "Since the Akademiya has decided to drain the people's dreams, there's no way they'd leave such a glaring loophole."
He suspected that unless the Akademiya themselves halted the plan, or someone from the outside intervened, it would be nearly impossible to wake from this dream on their own.
"We still need to try," Scaramouche crossed his arms. "Otherwise, what—just sit here and wait to rot? Keep sleeping until our brains fry?"
"Of course we need to try." Lu Chen glanced at the lively market around them. The dream was astonishingly realistic, every detail of the city painstakingly reproduced. But he didn't believe it was truly flawless.
Suddenly, he remembered a programmer's old joke.
A test engineer walked into a bar and ordered a beer.
A test engineer walked into a bar and ordered a coffee.
A test engineer walked into a bar and ordered 0.25 of a beer.
A test engineer walked into a bar and ordered -1 beer.
Then...
He ordered "asdfQwer@24dg!&*(@."
He ordered nothing at all.
He walked out, climbed in through the window, went out the back door, then crawled in through the sewer.
He ordered 500 terabytes of beer, coffee, foot wash, stray cats, spiked clubs, and milk tea.
Finally, he ordered a plate of fried rice.
And then—the bar exploded.
"Since this is a system running in order, it must have flaws," Lu Chen said, voicing his thoughts.
"In theory, that makes sense." Nahida nodded in agreement.
"So that's how it is." Scaramouche's eyes lit up. "If we keep trying, maybe we'll find some kind of loophole that makes the system crash?"
He was a man of action. Without another word, he strode into the street—then with one slash, sent a fruit stand flying.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Panic erupted all around as civilians screamed in terror.
"What are you doing?" Nahida frowned and rushed forward to stop Scaramouche from causing more chaos.
"I'm testing it!" Scaramouche said carelessly. "It's just a dream. In my dream, I can do whatever I want!"
Then he unleashed his elemental power. Purple lightning burst across the street, throwing the once-bustling marketplace into chaos.
The commotion quickly drew The Eremites, rushing in to maintain order. Scaramouche sneered, ready to fight them head-on.
"Hold it." Lu Chen flashed in front of him, blocking his path.
"What?" Scaramouche narrowed his eyes. "Even if they're just dream-people, you can't bring yourself to hurt them? How hypocritical can you get?"
"This isn't about hypocrisy." Lu Chen smirked at him. "Did you forget our agreement?"
"Agreement?" Scaramouche froze.
"As one of Teyvat's three model youths, this kind of thing doesn't need you. Sit tight." Lu Chen turned toward Zhongli.
Zhongli understood. With a wave, a golden stone shield materialized in front of the guards. No matter how they struck it, it didn't budge an inch.
"Beating up small fry is boring. If we're going to hit something, let's make it big!" Lu Chen's gaze shifted upward to the highest point of Sumeru City.
"Nahida, how about we teach the Great Sage a lesson?"
"What?" Nahida's eyes widened. She hadn't expected things to escalate this way.
"It's just a dream, so think of it as a rehearsal for when you take care of him later."
With that, Lu Chen soared into the air, heading straight for the Akademiya nestled in the middle of the Irminsul.
Light Realm energy surged into the Lion's Roar in his hand. He channeled the immense power and aimed it directly at the Akademiya's magnificent structure.
In an instant, the skies above Sumeru blazed with dazzling white light, so bright it looked like a second sun.
The radiance lasted about two seconds.
When it faded, countless citizens looked skyward in horror—and saw a nightmare unfold.
The sacred tree's massive trunk splintered and fell, leaves cascaded like rain, and birds and beasts scattered in panic.
The Akademiya itself was obliterated, reduced to nothing but scorched earth.
Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction at the display of Light Realm power. Even so, it hadn't been his full strength—Lion's Roar couldn't withstand that level of force. For a true full-power strike, he would need a stronger weapon.
Wind rushed behind him as Venti and Ei flew up to join him.
Venti grinned. "I've been sick of those Akademiya fools for a long time. Count me in!"
Ei's eyes locked onto the top of the Irminsul. "That must be the Sanctuary of Surasthana—the place where the sages imprisoned Nahida."
Lu Chen glanced over. "That's right. It's there."
"Good." Ei wasted no more words. She drew her blade—Unmoving Nation: Musou no Hitotachi.
A sweeping slash of pure might cleaved through the ornate cage that had confined Nahida for five hundred years.
The ground shook violently. When the tremors ended, the Sanctuary of Surasthana lay in ruins.
"You..." Nahida had followed and now stood frozen, staring at the devastation. She didn't know what to say.
She knew they were avenging her, but seeing Sumeru City torn apart left her uneasy.
"Thank you all for remembering me..." Nahida gave a bitter smile and looked at Lu Chen. "But if this is what a 'rehearsal' looks like... I'd rather the real thing never happens."
"Hahaha!" Lu Chen laughed. "Of course. We only dared because this is a dream."
Even so, he had limited his strikes to the middle and upper sections of the Irminsul. He hadn't wanted Nahida to witness the suffering of the people.
From high above, Lu Chen looked down. Citizens—tiny as ants—panicked and fled toward the city gates.
As his perception spread, two familiar figures appeared.
It was Lumine and Paimon. They were forcing their way in from the main gate, desperate to see what had happened.
Lu Chen's figure flickered, and in an instant, he reappeared on the ground before them.
"Ah! It's Lu Chen!!" Paimon cried, overjoyed.
Lumine's surprise was no less, though there was no time for reunion.
"How are you here? Did you see what just happened? Has Sumeru City been invaded? What's going on?"
"Uh..." Lu Chen shook his head with a wry smile. "The 'enemy' you're talking about is me..."
"You destroyed the Akademiya!?" another voice cut in.
Lu Chen turned. A tall, striking woman in desert garb stood there, gripping a greatsword, tension clear in her stance.
Noticing his unfamiliar look, Lumine quickly introduced her. "This is Dehya, a mercenary of the Eremites—and my friend. She's been traveling with us lately."
"Oh?" Lu Chen studied Dehya, sensing the faint trace of Pyro around her. She was a character he hadn't encountered before.
His knowledge only went as far as the Inazuma arc. Since the day he rescued Thoma before the Thousand-Armed Statue, the story had diverged drastically. What lay ahead, he no longer knew.
"Traveler? And a new companion?" Venti's cheerful voice came from behind.
The others pushed through the crowd, regrouping with Lu Chen.
"Venti? And... you all?" Lumine's eyes widened as she recognized the familiar faces.
She quickly turned back to Lu Chen. "What's going on? How are you here? Were you really the ones who caused all this?"
"That's right." Lu Chen nodded, scanning the surroundings. "We were testing for loopholes in the dream... so things got a little out of hand."
"A little!?" Paimon gawked at the sky. "Anyone watching would think Celestia itself was coming down to destroy the world! You guys are way too much..."
"Wait..." Lumine's eyes narrowed. "Dream? You know this is a dream too?"
"Looks like you do as well." Lu Chen swept the area with his gaze. Still nothing—the dream hadn't collapsed yet.
"We were planning to look for you," Venti said with a grin. "But it looks like you got lured out instead. From the way you came, you've been living outside the city these days?"
"Yeah." Lumine sighed helplessly. "We've been trying to find a way to escape the dream. Just now we thought leaving Sumeru City might work..."
Lu Chen shook his head. "The fact you're here now proves it didn't."
Lumine and Paimon both sighed heavily.
Lu Chen withdrew his gaze from the crowd. "Then tell us what you've been through so far."