books44 Chapter 173 The Abyss Arrives
Chapter 173 The Abyss Arrives
"But I've also heard that you broke the contract due to wear and tear. I have serious doubts about whether you can still be trusted by us now."
One sentence was enough to turn the previously cheerful Dragon King Ruotu's expression cold. However, he did not lash out, after all, what the captain said was true, he had indeed broken the contract first, otherwise he would not have voluntarily been sealed by Zhongli.
At the same time, he sensed righteousness emanating from the man before him, and the man didn't seem like the type to use any means to achieve his goals. This certainly earned King Ruoduo a lot of points, but he was still displeased!
These words, which were clearly not sarcastic or sarcastic, but rather expressed concern that something unexpected might happen to him, dealt him a huge blow.
So Naga King Ruoduo took a deep breath to calm himself down and assured him, "Now that my wear and tear has been resolved, at least for the time being, I will not be unable to distinguish friend from foe, so you can rest assured, human."
"Since you have given such assurances, I retract my previous statement and offer my sincerest apologies."
As he spoke, the captain bowed deeply to the Dragon King Ruoduo and apologized loudly. Even the foolish soldiers he brought did not expect their commander to be so decisive.
After doing all this, the captain stood up and began to introduce himself.
"Time is of the essence, so I won't say anything more. I am the executor codenamed Captain of the Fools, and I'm here to help Nata overcome this crisis. For that reason, Vulcan Mavica, I hope you can abandon your plan and execute mine instead. At least for the current situation, this is the best solution."
"...What are your plans?"
Mavica didn't agree immediately. Instead, she inquired about the captain's plan. She even stopped Kong, who was about to make a move, because she knew the captain's character. Since he said he was only here to help Nata, then he was here to help. It was better to have one more ally than one more enemy.
Nata no longer had the energy to create an unnecessary enemy. Perhaps thinking the same thing, Sora put away his weapons and decided to wait and see.
"My plan is simple: use the device that the Fatui found in the ruins to reshape the ley lines. This will temporarily suppress the Abyss and reduce the intensity of this attack."
"If that's all there is to it, please allow me to decline."
"Why? You know the current situation no longer allows you to proceed with your plan at a leisurely pace!"
"Because someone else has already done the ley lines, I think you Fatui should be able to find out about that person's matter quickly with your intelligence capabilities. What I want to say is that the ley lines have been strengthened by that person, but this attack is still not optimistic. The situation has become so serious that it cannot be solved simply by reshaping the ley lines. This is the information that the Smoke Lords learned from Yagami after talking with Yagami."
“From Night God…” the captain pondered for a moment, “I understand. Let’s go with your overall plan. Until then, the Fools will do everything they can to help Nata defend against the Abyss’s attack.”
His subordinates behind him wanted to say something, but the captain stopped them.
"As for the friend next to me, I personally trust him quite a bit, both in terms of the information about the Fatui and the development of parallel worlds in the group chat. I just didn't expect that the traveler in another world would be your blood relative, and that you would become the prince of the Abyss Order."
"Do you know my sister?" Kong asked.
"Of course, as a Kanriyan, your blood relative is naturally acquainted. But now, even if I stood in front of her, she probably wouldn't recognize me."
"why?"
"Because of the curse of Sky Island, although I have retained a human body and sanity, my body still decays, and my appearance is no longer presentable. Well, let's not dwell on these old stories. If there are no further questions, let's adjourn this meeting. I think Lord Vulcan won't mind, will he?"
"Haha, of course! Why would I mind? There's a banquet waiting for everyone later, so please come with me if you don't mind!"
Led by Mavica, the group arrived at the hotel where the banquet was being held. At the banquet, they met many Nata warriors and learned about Mavica's plan through her explanation.
In short, five hundred years ago, Mavka, who had just become the God of Fire, devised a plan that transcended time.
Using Nata's unique ancient name system, the names of Nata's six heroes have been passed down. As long as the person who awakens the ancient names of these six heroes is gathered, Mavica can use the power inside the throne. Currently, three of the six heroes have been gathered, and three remain to be awakened.
But as Kiana became the embodiment of the universe and stabilized the existence of Teyvat, the Abyss became somewhat anxious.
Just before, Nata had suffered an invasion from the Abyss, and several members of the Flowing Springs were injured as a result.
This single battle, coupled with Kiana's telepathic message, made Mavica realize that the Abyss was about to launch a full-scale attack. Just as Mavica was worrying about how to withstand this invasion, Kiana sent another message saying that reinforcements were on their way and that Mavica could rest assured.
The captain then came looking for her. At first, Mavica thought the captain was the reinforcements Kiana had sent. Although she found it strange that Kiana would have any connection with the Fatui, she still received the captain.
Through their conversation, Mavica learned that the captain was not Kiana's reinforcement. Instead, the captain had sensed something during the last unusual invasion of the Abyss and had sought out Mavica to discuss ways to deal with it.
However, after learning that the captain was not Kiana's reinforcement, Mavica first summoned Kinich and asked him to convey her orders to the Echo Children tribe to keep a close watch on whether any outsiders were entering Nata from the desert.
Just now, because the captain's arrival was so timely, Mavica subconsciously overlooked Kiana's statement that the reinforcements came from Sumeru. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, Mavica naturally needs to prepare to welcome them.
If she weren't currently tied up, Mavica would have actually wanted to go and greet them herself. After all, the ones coming to support them are the Elemental Dragon Kings, beings that only Kiana could likely command.
Of course, what Mavica didn't know was that Kiana's reinforcements weren't limited to the Elemental Dragon King; Mei, Bronya, and Fu Hua were also on their way.
To express their gratitude to Kiana for her contributions to Liyue, Zhongli and Fu Hua even traveled together to Nata.
The two groups first met in Fontainebleau and headed to Sumeru to meet up with Navelette. Then, under Navelette's guidance, the group arrived in Nata.
They then temporarily settled in the Echo Children's village, but because Zhongli spent money too extravagantly, the group ended up owing a lot of Mora. Since they couldn't send the bills to Liyue, they had no choice but to follow Zhongli to a mine.
With Zhongli's help, the group successfully paid off their Mora debt by using high-quality raw ore, and even earned a considerable amount of Mora.
So the group found an inn in the Echo Child tribe to stay temporarily. After spending the night there, the next day, led by a messenger from the Suspended Wood tribe who had delivered Mavika's instructions, they arrived at the Holy Fire Arena and successfully reunited with Kong and the others.
Several days passed peacefully, and the entire Nata took this opportunity to prepare for war. Because Mavika's plan was not yet fully completed, the Resurrection Poem could only be used for the Holy Night of the Returning Fire. Therefore, they could only do their best to make full preparations before the Abyss officially invaded.
This is one of the reasons why Zhongli came here. In addition to repaying Kiana's kindness, Zhongli also brought a contract personally drafted by the Seven Stars of Liyue.
The terms are that Liyue can provide Nata with all the resources needed for this Abyss invasion, but in return, Nata must reduce tariffs on Liyue for the next five years and agree to allow Liyue to open some factories within Nata's territory.
Considering that if Nata couldn't survive this, he would most likely become history, Mavica had no choice but to agree to the contract.
Fortunately, Ningguang had no interest in interfering with the Nata regime, and opening factories was merely a way to transfer some mining-related industries to Nata.
This actually created more employment opportunities for the Echoing Children, who made their living from mining. After all, the warriors who retreated from the front lines against the Abyss were not only those who had suffered from deep corruption, but also some who were too exhausted to face high-intensity battles after a long fight.
Although most of these soldiers are old, they are among the best at working in the mines.
Considering this, she had no choice but to sign the contract for the sake of immediate benefits. Anyway, with the God of Contracts as witness, Mavica wasn't worried about the other party making any underhanded moves, especially since she had already blocked all possible loopholes in the contract before signing it. Ningguang, who had already obtained the contract, must be having quite a show on her face now.
Of course, just as Mavica had guessed, Ningguang's expression after retrieving the contract was, in Beidou's words, that she had never imagined Ningguang would have such a talent for changing her expression.
When faced with the abyss, Ningguang naturally knew right from wrong. Although the contract had many loopholes that she could exploit, it was merely a matter of instinct. Merchants are profit-driven; if a contract offers no benefit, it's likely not the work of a merchant but rather a saint.
Ningguang might consider how to draft the contract from the perspective of the nation, but regardless of her status, she could not possibly draft a contract without any benefit to herself when facing the leader of a country.
Ningguang hadn't expected that the other party would plug all the loopholes she had left behind. Mr. Zhongli was just an intermediary responsible for ensuring the smooth drafting of the contract. Moreover, before leaving, she had specifically instructed him that as long as the other party could sign the contract, he could agree to any demands as long as they weren't too unreasonable.
The result was that his own words completely destroyed any additional benefits from the contract, but the terms of the contract were sufficient. Liyue's mineral resources had already declined due to over-exploitation of the Laminariat. Although there were other mining areas within Liyue, the largest mine was already experiencing a decrease in production.
Ningguang had to consider whether other mining areas would experience similar situations, which is why it considered transferring some of its mineral production to Nata to ensure a normal supply of ore in the country.
Meanwhile, the supplies provided above can also consume some of the older equipment within the Liyue army, although these pieces of equipment are still usable.
Even with careful maintenance, most of the equipment looks brand new, just like it came from the factory. But in the end, this equipment is just piled up in the warehouse without any chance of being used. Not to mention that the Thousand Rock Army recently updated its equipment, so these old equipment are even less used. This opportunity can also give these pieces of equipment that are not easy to scrap a chance to put to good use.
Over the past few days, a considerable amount of weapons and armor from Liyue have been distributed to the warriors of Nata, in order to help them master the use of these weapons on the battlefield. The Sacred Fire Arena has been bustling with activity day and night, with people practicing everywhere.
If you take a liking to someone, they will enthusiastically invite you to the arena for a thrilling martial arts sparring match. After these few days of sparring, Kong has become proficient in cooperating with warriors from various tribes in Nata, but the price is that Kong hasn't had much rest time these past few days.
Although Kong in this world didn't have as many achievements as in the original story, the warriors of Nata had some understanding of Kong's strength through group chat. Naturally, they were very happy to have such a strong person join them, so they dragged Kong around to find people to spar with every day. Kong wasn't good at refusing people (Ding! Primogems +20), so he ended up sparring with elite warriors from various tribes.
Mei and her friends weren't much better off. Whether it was information obtained from a group chat or elsewhere, Mavica was very interested in Mei's ability to stand up to General Raiden.
So he warmly invited Mei to spar with him, and Mei, unable to refuse his kind invitation, had no choice but to agree. From then on, Mei became the object of everyone's desire, while Bronya, after accidentally revealing her strength, was also warmly welcomed.
As for Fu Hua, she took the initiative to serve as the head coach for everyone. Although it was only for a few days, Fu Hua still taught everyone some basic martial arts skills and, together with Zhong Li, provided everyone with a visual feast.
Of course, these days weren't just filled with various training sessions. In her spare time, Mavica would also host banquets to reward the warriors who trained from morning till night, and she would also pay for all the expenses incurred at the Holy Fire Arena.
Upon hearing this, Zhongli's eyes lit up. To be honest, he had been craving some of the items for a long time, but he simply didn't have enough Mora. In addition, it was not allowed to send bills to the Northern Bank or the Hall of Rebirth here. Whenever Mora was mentioned in the group chat, Hu Tao would always avoid him. As a result, Zhongli had been in Nata for many days, and apart from the large purchase at the beginning, he had not made any other purchases.
Now that Mavica has said she'll pay for everything, Zhongli immediately went to the shop where he had been before, packed up all the items he wanted, and asked the Thousand Rock Army to escort his goods back to Liyue while they were transporting supplies.
Faced with Zhongli's request, Qianyanjun readily agreed.
Several more days passed, and apart from a few sporadic Abyss invasions in individual areas, the Abyss did not launch any significant attacks.
They even managed to awaken the ancient names of Marani of the Flowing Springs and Ororen of the Smoke Lord. As long as this pace continued, it was only a matter of time before the last holder of the ancient name was awakened. Thus, everyone's anxiety gradually subsided.
However, just as people lowered their guard, the abyss began its attack.