With Mondstadt's current strength, dealing with Il Dottore was hardly difficult at all.
After all, they were not avoiding the deployment of top-tier Archon-level combat power.
The only real inconvenience was that this "Doctor" was merely one of his segments.
Eliminating a single one did not amount to much in the grand scheme of things.
That said, Diluc rather liked it that way.
He intended to bring despair to the Doctor slowly.
Just as Ryen had reduced Azar to a madman who devoured people, Diluc believed that killing someone outright was not always the best form of revenge.
For people like Azar and the Doctor, dreams and ambitions were more important than life itself.
True revenge meant destroying everything they cherished.
Such as the god-creation project.
Such as all of the Doctor's research.
"With Grand Master Jean helping out, dealing with the Fatui will be much easier!"
Lumine giggled, then asked,
"By the way, Grand Master Jean, how many people are you planning to take to Sumeru this time?"
Jean looked at Lumine warmly and replied softly,
"Eula and I, Diluc, and Venti.
Lisa will remain behind to manage the rear."
"In that case," Lumine said decisively, glancing at Venti, "someone can handle both the Doctor and Scaramouche."
She promptly assigned Scaramouche to Venti as well.
Scaramouche was weaker than the Doctor and did not even rank among the top three Harbingers.
Lumine could deal with him herself, but since Venti was going anyway, not making full use of available combat power would be a waste.
Venti understood the implication, rolled his eyes, and for once refrained from complaining.
"Grand Master Jean," Lumine continued, "how many troops are you bringing?
Someone still has to deal with the Fatui soldiers."
Jean smiled and winked at her.
"Two hundred. Will that be enough?"
"Two hundred? But, "
Lumine was about to suggest bringing more.
Two hundred was strong, but the Fatui were spread out, and conservatively speaking, the Doctor had likely brought one to two thousand modified soldiers with him.
Even for heavy cavalry, two hundred versus over a thousand enhanced Fatui troops would be feasible, but costly.
Then Lumine noticed the smile in Jean's eyes.
Two hundred people…
It depended on who those two hundred were.
Two hundred heavy-weapons troops would already be sufficient.
And judging by Jean's expression, these were clearly not ordinary heavy-weapons soldiers.
Which meant,
Two hundred dragon knights.
At that point, not only the Doctor, flattening all of Sumeru would be effortless.
Lumine relaxed, then looked at Jean with open anticipation.
"In that case, I'll be waiting for you, Grand Master Jean!"
Jean nodded gently and asked,
"When are you planning to act? I'll need to calculate the timing."
Lumine glanced at Alhaitham.
Detailed planning was never her strong suit.
Alhaitham lowered his gaze, thought for a moment, then said quietly,
"Three days after Miss Lumine and I return from Liyue to Sumeru. How does that sound?"
"Three days…"
Ryen pondered briefly.
"Come to think of it, Nahida's birthday should be about a week from now, right?"
Alhaitham nodded.
"We plan to resolve Sumeru's issues ahead of time so as not to delay the Flower-God Festival.
A week should also be enough to prepare properly."
Ryen nodded with satisfaction.
"Then three days it is.
By then, we should also have finished the Twilight Forest."
He turned to Lumine and asked calmly,
"What are your plans? Are you staying with us for a speedrun, or heading back to Sumeru first?"
Lumine thought for a moment and shook her head.
"I've already cleared the Twilight Forest once, so I'll pass this time."
"My schedule's tight. I came back mainly to get Grand Master Jean ready to deploy.
I'll take her to Liyue Harbor later, then we'll head straight back to Sumeru."
Ryen nodded and waved his hand.
"In that case, we're done here. You should get going, don't slow us down while we continue exploring the Twilight Forest."
"Hey! You're seriously lacking in romance," Lumine snapped, glaring at him.
"Can't you at least pretend I came all this way just to see you?"
Ryen raised an eyebrow and laughed.
"Then I'm truly touched. Did you bring me a gift?"
Lumine stood up angrily, snorted, and stormed out of the Snow Monster Cave.
Alhaitham felt a twinge of regret, he had wanted to see more of this world.
But since Lumine was leaving, he had no reason to stay. After saying his goodbyes, he hurried after her.
Ningguang shot Ryen a reproachful look.
"Honestly, you're something else. Lumine just came back and barely said a few words before you rushed her off."
Ryen spread his hands helplessly.
"She's not exploring with us anyway. Staying here would just be boring, and it'd slow us down."
"Don't forget, even though we've reached the Snow Monster Cave, the real challenges are still ahead."
"The Snow Queen, the Sky Giant Warriors, each one will be a hard fight and take time."
"And then there's the Final Castle. Just exploring that place will take an entire day."
"We're on a tight schedule. Jean leaves in three days, we can't exactly still be fighting goblins when she departs, can we?"
"And we need to give her time to rest and adjust as well."
Hearing this, Jean was quietly moved by Ryen's thoughtfulness.
Her cheeks flushed slightly as she said softly,
"Actually… it wouldn't be too exhausting. With the dragon knights, dealing with the Doctor will be easy."
"Still," Ryen said, stretching lazily as he stood up, "better to be prepared."
"Alright, let's move. Pick up the pace, the new mod is calling us."
Everyone had rested enough. They rose and followed Ryen out of the Snow Monster Cave.
As before, Zhongli and the others led the way, while Ningguang and the rest chatted quietly among themselves in the middle of the group.
Ryen, however, lingered at the back of the team, with Guizhong walking silently beside him.
From time to time, when she noticed that no one ahead was paying attention, she would quietly rise onto her toes and lean close to Ryen for a moment.
Whenever someone glanced back, the two of them immediately put on the act of good brothers, arms slung over each other's shoulders, laughing and chatting as if nothing were amiss.
The moment that person turned away again, they leaned close once more, whispering at each other's ears.
It had to be said: this kind of sneaking around was genuinely thrilling for both Ryen and Guizhong.
After less than an hour of walking, Ryen had already memorized Guizhong's body data with alarming precision.
...
Not far away, Lisa curled her lips into a smile, nudged Ningguang with her elbow, and lowered her voice.
"I win. Just as I said, those two got together before the Twilight Forest ended. You owe me one hundred million Mora."
Ningguang rolled her eyes helplessly.
"I know, I know. I'll give it to you when we get back…"
She then deliberately turned around and took a calm look.
Ryen and Guizhong were chatting cheerfully, arms around each other, the very picture of sworn brothers.
Suppressing a laugh, Ningguang said softly,
"I really underestimated Ryen's self-control. I thought he'd last until the next mod opened."
The two of them had made a bet.
Lisa wagered that Ryen and Guizhong would cross the line before the Twilight Forest ended, while Ningguang insisted it wouldn't happen until the next mod.
As for the idea that Ryen and Guizhong would forever maintain a perfectly pure brotherly bond…
No one, not even a ghost, would believe that.
They knew Ryen's charm all too well.
Guizhong might be an ancient god who had lived for countless years, but when it came to matters of the heart, she was still an innocent girl. There was no way she could hold out forever.
It was only a matter of time.
And now, the result was clear: Ningguang had narrowly lost.
"I don't think this is really Ryen's fault," Lisa said with a knowing smile as she walked beside Ningguang.
"You know him well enough. Dear has always lived by the principle of never refusing, never initiating."
"Guizhong herself is a beautiful young woman, completely his type. Once she made the first move, how could he possibly push her away?"
Ningguang nodded in agreement.
"That's true… Come to think of it, weren't you the one who made the first move back then as well?"
"And if you think about it carefully, Ganyu, Hu Tao, and I were all the same."
Realizing this, Ningguang couldn't help but chuckle.
"He really has taken that 'don't refuse, don't initiate' philosophy to heart."
"Still," she added quietly, "how long are we supposed to let him keep sneaking around like this?"
Lisa shrugged casually.
"It's rare for dear to indulge in a little playful excitement. If he and Guizhong want to keep things secret, then we'll just… never notice."
"Changing the rules of the game might even make him happier."
Ningguang sighed softly, a trace of helplessness in her voice.
"So this is what people mean when they say the flowers outside are more fragrant than the ones at home?"
Lisa laughed lightly.
"If Ryen heard you say that, he'd lecture you for ages. Guizhong isn't some 'wild flower,' and you're not about to fall out of favor either. He's always loved us."
At that, Ningguang's gaze softened.
"That much I won't deny. Maybe… this really is every man's dream."
"The red flag at home never falls, while the colorful banners outside keep fluttering."
The journey was long, and Ningguang and Lisa gradually drifted into more private conversation, mostly about the different ways Ryen liked to play around with each of them.
For the most part, though, it was Ningguang who found herself quietly envying Lisa.
Lisa had qualities Ningguang simply couldn't match, things that allowed her to offer Ryen a wider range of experiences.
Coupled with how uninhibited she was, Lisa had become, after Ganyu, the one Ryen favored most in certain respects.
As for why Ganyu continued to reign unchallenged at the very top…
Even knowing the reason, Ningguang and the others could do nothing about it.
After all, Ganyu firmly held onto Ryen's most beloved morning milk.
On that point alone, Ganyu was the eternal, uncrowned queen.
Thus, the group moved on together.
At the front, Zhongli and the others reminisced about ancient times, thousands of years' worth of memories, enough to fill endless conversations.
In the middle, Ningguang and the rest exchanged whispered confidences about Ryen.
At the rear, Ryen and Guizhong were busy stealing moments of intimacy.
Different thoughts, the same road.
What could have been a dull journey became unexpectedly lively.
Meanwhile, Lumine and Alhaitham finally left the Twilight Forest. They had planned to greet Cloud Retainer, only to discover that she had taken the off-duty Millelith to play parkour instead.
Still annoyed at Ryen, Lumine immediately marked Cloud Retainer as her outlet for frustration.
She quietly sent a message to Zhongli.
Lumine had many ways of curing a bad mood.
The most direct were either picking a fight, or making someone else miserable.
With that done, she smugly led Alhaitham out of the MC world.
As for whether Cloud Retainer would be punished by Zhongli with the Planet Befall…
What did that have to do with her?
Leaving the foot of Mt. Tianheng, Lumine patted Alhaitham on the shoulder.
"Let's go. I'll show you around Liyue, pick up some local specialties. No, wait… specialties from that world? No, that's not right either!"
"In any case, just follow me!"