Fatui camp.
Looking at the arrows streaking across the sky, the Fatui Harbinger "Captain" fell into contemplation.
"Sir, the Traveler has arrived in Natlan."
The intelligence officer walked over to report, breaking the silence.
"...Has his blood relative come?"
Hearing news about the Traveler, the Captain's gaze shifted from the flames streaking across the sky to the intelligence officer who came to report.
"Based on the information we've obtained, the Traveler's first stop upon arriving in Natlan is the Children of Echoes." The intelligence officer continued reporting. "She is now heading to the Stadium of the Sacred Flame with the warriors there, probably wanting to meet the Pyro Archon there."
The matter of the Traveler was no longer unfamiliar to the people of Teyvat; everyone knew she was searching for her blood relative, even going so far as to inquire about her relative's whereabouts from the gods themselves.
"Continue monitoring the Traveler's situation." The Captain instructed.
His attention to the Traveler wasn't just because she was the blood relative of the Prince of Khaenri'ah; there was also the fact that in the plan to protect Natlan, the Traveler's power would very likely be needed.
He planned to steal the Gnosis from the Pyro Archon after the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame ended.
Originally, he had planned to contend for it after the Night Warden Wars concluded.
After all, if there were casualties, the Pyro Archon would still need to bring people back from the Night Kingdom.
But according to Fatui intelligence, in this rescheduled Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame, the subsequent Night Warden Wars would not proceed as per convention.
In that case, there was no need to wait any longer; the theft could be carried out right after the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame ended.
In the Captain's plan, once he seized the Gnosis from the Pyro Archon, he would use its power to weave the souls and memories of the Night Kingdom into a net, obstructing the Abyss monsters' corrosion.
In this way, Natlan would not be destroyed due to the Night Kingdom's abyssalization.
But such a method would be equivalent to killing the already deceased Natlan people a second time.
Previous generations of Pyro Archons all knew of this plan, but almost none were willing to carry out such a cruel act.
The Captain also knew the cost of doing so, but having witnessed his homeland's destruction, he hoped more that the people of Natlan could survive.
If the Pyro Archons were unwilling to do it, then he would bear it all.
"Rios is indeed different from previous Pyro Archons, not placing hope in Mavuika's plan."
"However, his choice to lead Natlan in direct confrontation with the Abyss is equally likely to lead to Natlan's destruction."
The Captain had experienced the terror of the Abyss; it was a battlefield where even gods could not preserve lives.
In his view, even if Rios strengthened Natlan's power, it was still far from enough against the Abyss invasion.
As for whether Rios would choose to activate the plan to weave souls and memories into a net after resistance failed...
The Captain believed the other absolutely would not do so.
In recent times, Rios had used some special method to allow Natlan people to communicate with the souls or memories of their deceased loved ones in the Night Kingdom.
Many people had thereby satisfied the gaps in their hearts and were even more willing to follow Rios.
In the Captain's view, this was Rios's means to unite the Natlan people, while also informing them that these souls and memories in the Night Kingdom were crucial and not objects that could be discarded.
A person like that, how could he possibly do something like sacrificing souls?
The one who could do such a thing, who could steel their heart to do such a thing, could only be the Captain from Khaenri'ah.
"Continue excavating the Ancient Key; the others, follow me to the Stadium of the Sacred Flame."
"Yes!"
===
Meanwhile.
The council chamber.
Seeing the netizens' complaints, Rios thought that it was indeed possible to do one thing: "When players are exploring Natlan and encounter monsters, I can help shoot them down."
Of course, not all monster animations would be handled this way.
Just as Genshin isn't only about the Abyss, and the open world isn't only about exploration, the experience of fighting monsters is equally important.
If players just encountered monsters and saw them get solved with one arrow, it would feel novel at first, but over time, it would feel like the game experience was ruined.
He had to selectively pick which monsters to kill.
For example, when the player's controlled character gets defeated, Rios would send a big rocket to the enemy monsters.
Or, when the player encounters a very tough strong enemy and hasn't defeated the opponent after a minute and a half, Rios would similarly send a rocket.
Moreover, not all enemies would get a rocket; if the players encountered Natlan warriors, Rios wouldn't lend a hand.
In simple terms, Rios's strategy for intervening was...
If it's not Natlan warriors, just eliminate them directly.
Just as Rios finalized what he was going to do next, the door to the council chamber was knocked on with vigorous force.
"Come in."
As Rios's words fell, the door to the council chamber was pushed open, and a woman with red long hair strode in with a dashing air.
"Mavuika, aren't you going to test the new weapons?" Seeing that the visitor was Mavuika, Rios lightly raised his brows.
"All tested; those Pyro element machine guns and Pyro element cannons of yours are pretty interesting, greatly enhancing our ranged attack capabilities."
One of Mavuika's talents was learning quickly.
Although she had always wielded greatswords before and never used guns or cannons, after a period of contact, she was already skilled enough to teach others.
Besides handing out "mass-produced Visions" to the Natlan warriors, Rios also insisted on searching the system's shop for weapons that current Natlan technology could replicate.
Pyro-driven firearms were among them.
After all, Natlan already had people using cannons to launch Hydro element as shells, so Rios just came up with some machine guns, which didn't cause too much shock.
Besides, Snezhnaya and Fontaine could already mass-produce firearms, so Natlan being able to manufacture firearms was actually a very normal thing.
It was just that for the players, when fighting side by side with Natlan warriors, seeing their own characters still using cold weapons while the Natlan people were using rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers, they might not be able to keep a straight face.
"Besides that, you should have something else to tell me, right?" Rios asked.
"Oh?" Mavuika raised one eyebrow, hand on her hip. "What makes you say that?"
"You came in looking very happy; that's not the expression you should have after completing work." Rios said with a smile.
"You got me."
Mavuika chuckled lightly: "On my way back, I discovered that the Stadium of the Sacred Flame has an added damage tester, and many warriors who had already arrived at the stadium were testing their power there."
"I joined in too, and even got the highest score." Mavuika said with a smile.
"Oh, that thing." Upon the red-haired woman's mention, Rios finally remembered the damage tester he had made not long ago.
On the surface, it was for Natlan warriors to test their power.
In reality, it was left for players to test damage and team rotations.
The world had suffered under Masanori for far too long.
That guy with high damage, who could block and even dodge, wasn't very suitable as a sandbag.
So Rios specially created a damage tester that couldn't dodge, to help players properly practice on dummies.