Chapter 784: 784: 784: Khaenri'ah: The Rebirth of a Realm

The night passed with absolute tranquility. The adventurers gathered around the campfires, exchanging data on the various anomalous features of the MC world, analyzing everything from basic soil properties and timber matrices to complex mod interactions and dimensional layers. Perhaps it was this specific wilderness deployment that allowed the veterans to recall the early days of their pioneering, back when their physiology had not yet been reinforced by high-tier equipment grids.

During those initial cycles, every exploratory run required meticulous logistical preparation, an exhaustive inventory of survival blocks, and continuous strategic calculation regarding how the world's unique physics could be leveraged for baseline survival.

Now, however, their modern firearms mod was fully integrated, and their personal arsenals contained top-tier legendary blades from the slash blade expansion. Even the elemental staves carried by their secondary lines matched the strict parameters of the Intermediate tier.

With their collective offensive output scaling into an absolute threshold, many characters had adapted to Ryen's signature operational style, simply driving through any hostile encounter with overwhelming force. Consequently, they had grown loose with their tactical calculations, allowing their knowledge of basic world mechanics to gather dust.

The brief foray into the Ocean Monument earlier that afternoon had served as a sharp reminder for the vanguard. No matter how heavily armored or elementally advanced their squads became, the underlying mechanics of this dimension remained unyielding. If an administration neglected those parameters, the MC world was fully capable of delivering a rapid, cataclysmic correction to their front lines.

Revisiting these fundamental environmental laws around the fire served as an essential operational refresher for the veteran pioneers. The Khaenri'ahn engineers and Baizhu, having never been systematically briefed on these advanced mechanics, listened to the analysis with intense focus. Whenever a critical variable was mapped out by the senior staff, they immediately recorded the data in their notebooks.

The dialogue flowed smoothly, the atmosphere warm and collaborative. However, out of respect for the upcoming march into uncharted forest coordinates, the administrative leaders withheld any alcohol rations.

Naturally, that restriction applied primarily to the official military cadres; certain notorious drinkers within the Favonius ranks, specifically a particular Anemo Archon and a senior cavalry captain, still managed to secure a private vintage for a quiet indulgence.

Deep within the midnight hour, the group sat enveloped by the warm glow of the firewood, sharing historical data logs from their previous campaigns. Beyond the perimeter fences they had placed, the muffled, hollow groans of spawning zombies and the dry, rhythmic rattle of archer skeletons echoed through the darkness.

In a structural sense, this juxtaposition generated a strange, almost comforting feeling of security, a bubble of structured civilization carved directly out of a hostile wasteland.

Aether watched the distant zombie blocks tracking along the barrier, his eyes narrowing in silent calculation. For a nation preparing for a full-scale institutional migration to this dimension, the hardcoded law dictating that hostile entities manifest dynamically within any unlit coordinate grid represented a significant logistical challenge.

However, it was far from an insurmountable obstacle. The variable could be entirely managed through proper architectural design and city planning.

When their old empire had occupied the deep subterranean caverns of Teyvat, the builders of Khaenri'ah had been forced to fortify their walls against an endless tide of abyssal monsters. This was merely a return to their ancestral traditions, structuring systematic guard rotations and maintaining continuous defensive walls.

In terms of actual material destruction, if these entities were unleashed upon the fragile infrastructure of Teyvat, their non-traditional physics would cause catastrophic damage. But contained within the logic of the MC world, the structural threat posed by standard hostiles was remarkably fragile.

It was only when the stars began to tilt toward the early morning hours that the council finally adjourned, the delegates returning to their respective stone and timber cabins.

Ryen had constructed the largest residential block in the center of the camp, anchoring Klee, Qiqi, and the other little ones alongside their aerial companion within the adjacent bedroom. He then retired to the primary chamber with Ganyu and Lumine to rest for the night.

The evening passed quietly, though it was not entirely devoid of movement. Within a household of that scale, certain complex personalities refused to remain passive.

While Ryen was resting peacefully between Lumine and Ganyu, he noted a sudden, silent shift in the room's geometry. To execute a covert maneuver under the surveillance of the entire administrative cadre required a level of audacity possessed by only one pink-haired kitsune.

Ryen opened his eyes, delivering a silent, stern glare toward Yae Miko through the gloom, but within moments, his focus dissolved into the masterfully gentle care she applied to his recovery.

There was an undeniable sense of accomplishment in the exchange; after all, the flawless, supernatural fluidity of the kitsune's techniques had been systematically cultivated under his own personal guidance during their private sessions on the Main Continent.

As the hour deepened, while maintaining his embrace around Ganyu and Lumine, Ryen allowed the Shrine Maiden to guide the rhythm of her own private celebration. The distant, flickering pulse of the wall torches caught the elegant curves of her form.

With every rise and fall of her movements, the residual tension from the day's march was systematically dissolved. Yae Miko maintained absolute control over her breathing, ensuring her movements remained silent, until her appetite was thoroughly sated and she cleansed herself before resettling into a comfortable position to sleep.

Whether Ganyu and Lumine had tracked the baseline vibrations in the room remained unverified, though Ryen noted a distinct, warm flush spreading across their cheeks as the dawn approached. It was simply a matter of extreme modesty; certain intimate displays remained difficult for their traditional sensibilities to openly acknowledge.

The first full night on the New Continent concluded without any anomalous breaches.

The next morning, Xiao and the elite vanguard rose before the sun, executing their duties with absolute military precision. They checked their armaments, tightened their tactical webbing, and stepped beyond the camp gates into the morning fog.

This was the mandatory clearing phase, systematically neutralizing any hostile entities that had generated during the night. Their primary targets were Creepers and Spiders, entities whose code exempted them from burning under direct sunlight. Even though the Adepti had not participated in an active exploration run in weeks, the operational sequence was ingrained in their muscle memory.

However, as they cleared the perimeter, they found their standard tasks had already been claimed by another division.

The Khaenri'ahn pioneers had taken the field long before the dawn. In fact, observing the intense, manic energy driving their labor, it was highly probable the pioneers hadn't slept a single second since the tents were pitched.

They stood pinned against the outer edge of the oak fences, methodically neutralizing every hostile block that drifted into range. The majority of the entities were basic zombies and skeleton units, interspersed with a standard volume of Creepers.

Yet, of the high-spec wizard entities they had encountered during their initial landfall the previous afternoon, not a single specimen manifested within the sector. It was clear that the system's generation tables treated advanced spellcasters as elite entities, limiting their spontaneous appearance in the wild wilderness. Their previous encounter had been an absolute stroke of geographic fortune.

Still, the absence of wandering wizards was excellent news for Khaenri'ah's long-term planning. If their future civilian populations migrated to these plains and the nighttime generation tables only spawned low-tier hostiles like zombies, the administrative burden on their domestic garrisons would be minimal.

If elite wizards were coded to spawn on a large scale across open plains, the logistical risk would skyrocket. Aether would have been forced to permanently station heavy kinetic units around every civilian farming grid. A single rogue spellcaster possessed an offensive payload outscaling a dozen standard zombies, and more importantly, their fire-based scripts could easily ignite timber architecture.

During the initial phases of their restoration, Khaenri'ah lacked the reinforced concrete reserves to build entirely fireproof urban sectors.

Observing that the Khaenri'ahn units were systematically harvesting even the burning skeleton bones, Xiao walked over to their section leader, his voice calm and measured.

"During the morning clearing phase, prioritize your targets. Focus entirely on entities whose physiology does not combust under open sunlight."

"Basic zombies and standard skeletons do not warrant an expenditure of your raw durability blocks. Once the sun clears the horizon, the world code will handle their termination automatically."

"Do not waste your sharpness blocks on entities that are already slated for systemic erasure."

Endis, who had been actively swinging his Intermediate wand to calibrate his new utility spells against the targets, paused and offered a respectful bow. "My thanks for the tactical correction, Conqueror of Demons."

Given the sheer size of the exploration party, their temporary camp perimeter covered an extensive coordinate grid, resulting in an astronomical volume of nighttime entity spawns. Xiao and his trackers joined the line, and by the time the administrative staff and Ryen emerged from the main cabin with the children, the surrounding fields had been completely cleared of hostiles. Every useful item drop had been systematically cataloged and stored.

Ryen did not press for details, directing the group to consume a rapid morning meal before packing their personal gear to resume the straight-line trajectory they had mapped the previous day.

As for the buildings they had constructed, neither Ryen nor Aether harbored any intention of dismantling them. Leaving the structures intact was the most logical choice; with minor structural reinforcement later, this outpost could easily function as a secure countryside estate or a primary military logistics base for their territorial expansion.

If nothing else, it would serve as an irreplaceable cultural monument, the historic site marking the first foothold of Khaenri'ah's exploration of the New Continent. The symbolic value alone was immense.

The party mounted their horses, continuing their linear advance across the grass. As the morning progressed, the uniform features of the open plains began to thin, the vast expanses of grass slowly giving way to isolated clusters of timber.

The density of the trees increased continuously until, near the arrival of noon, the horizon was completely replaced by a mature forest biome. The flora here matched the specifications of the Main Continent, dominated almost entirely by standard oak trees.

Aether scanned the dense canopy, his mind comparing the terrain against the construction data logs he had studied from the other five nations. He let out a weary sigh, turning toward Alhaitham. "My sensors have not logged a single generated village structure in this sector. This is highly problematic; without a native villager population, our civil planners cannot establish automated trading loops or mass-produce advanced industrial components."

"The developmental curve of our kingdom will experience a significant timeline drag."

Venti walked nearby, his hands clasped behind his head as he offered a bright, dismissive chuckle. "There is no reason for your department to treat that as an structural crisis, Prince!"

"Every major alliance base on the Main Continent currently operates a mature, automated villager breeding facility. If this entire continent proves to be devoid of native settlements, our logistics teams can easily transport an initial pool of villagers across the ocean channel via our transport ships."

"Once we deliver a baseline population to your coordinates, your engineers can leverage the standard food mechanics to scale their numbers dynamically."

Aether gave a slow nod, keeping his thoughts confidential. In his heart, he preferred to minimize Khaenri'ah's reliance on foreign strategic assets, but if the local mapping proved entirely barren, or if the nearest native village sat behind an impractical coordinate distance, importing a foundational labor pool from Liyue was the only logical alternative.

"Ganyu, it's time to activate your specialty," Ryen said, completely ignoring Aether's geopolitical anxieties as he gave Ganyu a playful pat.

Her cheeks flushed with a soft pink as she closed her eyes, allowing her anomalous environmental intuition to guide her senses before pointing firmly toward the left quadrant.

The party did not hesitate, driving their horses into the thick brush at maximum speed. Roughly thirty minutes later, pushing through a dense wall of foliage, the lens of their vanguards finally resolved a prominent architectural silhouette looming through the branches.

A dark red, pointed spire rose above the tree line, its foundational mass constructed entirely from polished cobblestone. Through the narrow slit windows of the tower, the faint, flickering amber particle trail of standard torches was visible.

It lacked complex Gothic ornamentation, presenting itself as a functional, utilitarian tower block.

Ryen and his officers exchanged a brief look, tightening their formation as they approached the structure. While the Main Continent contained numerous generated Wizard Towers, the alliance command had never systematically engaged them for trade, prioritizing other developmental sectors. A Wizard Tower was rarely treated as a critical strategic asset in their early planning.

But this was the New Continent. Since their explicit operational mandate was the thorough mapping of the Witchery mod, investigating this initial structure was non-negotiable.

As they cleared the immediate tree line, the geography opened into a structured clearing. The space directly surrounding the tower base was entirely devoid of trees, replaced instead by a vibrant, dense carpet of generated red and yellow flowers.

At the baseline coordinates of the tower sat a single, closed spruce door, blocking any immediate visual mapping of the interior.

"It would be highly lucrative for our inventory if the resident entity maps as an Evil Witch," Ningguang murmured, her fingers brushing the hilt of her blade. "We could immediately expand our baseline material reserves."

Ryen let out a soft laugh, amused by her focus.

During their initial days within the MC world, Ningguang and her administrative aides had insisted on approaching any native entities with a strict philosophy of diplomatic negotiation and equal communication. They had initially shown significant hesitation regarding the cold, clinical efficiency of their automated villager exploitation systems.

Now, after half a year of continuous operational experience, her departments managed villager mechanics with terrifying efficiency, implementing harvesting loops that outscaled his own initial designs. In fact, her immediate instinct upon encountering a native intelligent life-form was to evaluate its value for raw resource reclamation.

Ryen found himself completely satisfied with this developmental curve. The systematic mapping and colonization of an unchartered dimension was, by its very nature, an enterprise built on absolute resource extraction. Maintaining a cold, analytical focus was the sole vector for securing long-term dominance.

As for the philosophical question of whether this world belonged to him and whether raw extraction was ethically sound, Ryen, as the absolute Sovereign of this dimension, cared nothing for the minor redistribution of individual blocks. Like the central will of a mythical cosmos, so long as the grand calculus of the world ascended to a higher tier, the Sovereign did not concern himself with which specific faction claimed the title of regional protagonist.

"We shall investigate the interior," Ryen commanded, his voice firm. "Prepare your trade goods. If the entity registers as a neutral wizard, ensure your units withhold all offensive inputs and preserve the architectural integrity of the tower."

The vanguard organized their inventories, keeping their staves and high-tier blades accessible within their primary slots. Lisa tilted her head, a elegant, predatory smile playing across her lips. "And assuming the entity registers as an Evil Witch?"

Ryen raised an eyebrow, his response immediate and flat. "Launch an immediate RPG salvo to clear the threshold, and authorize Ganyu to execute long-range sniper suppression. While our quantitative mass ensures zero tactical risk, completing the objective with maximum efficiency is our standard operating protocol."

The council let out a collective laugh. Ryen's signature methodology remained precisely as it had been since the opening of the portals, unyielding, meticulous, and completely risk-averse. Even when fielding an armada capable of flattening the geography, he demanded absolute security before committing his units to the field.

"Then I shall personally pray that the entity inside proves to be an Evil Witch," Ningguang laughed softly, her stride lengthening as the party closed the distance and entered the threshold of the tower.