Fake.
Fake.
All of it is fake.
Mualani didn't get downgraded to 4-star.
Kinich didn't change from Dendro to Pyro.
The Pyro Traveler doesn't even have [Super-Nightsoul], that skill mechanism that seems like it ran over from next door.
Leon really wanted to deceive himself like this, but he couldn't do it; he could only accept this fact.
"This issue can't roast Mihoyo anymore."
Leon was very helpless; the characters coming next version had no major flaws worth ranting about. They had power level where needed, handfeel where needed—what was there to roast?
He could only wait until Genshin releases new characters later.
At the end of the preview livestream, the official Genshin account released Natlan's teaser video.
The first to appear were Mualani, Kachina, and other characters set to release next version.
They seemed to be busy preparing for some event, and from them, it slowly extended to other Natlan characters.
Then, the scene shifted to an arena, where a red-haired woman dressed in something resembling a black motorcycle suit was giving a speech in the center of the arena.
After the speech ended, the red-haired woman raised her head, looked toward the youth seated high in the arena, and asked in a powerful voice: "Pyro Archon, are you willing to participate in this grand event?"
The camera shifted upward, revealing the Natlan Pyro Archon's image to everyone.
"Whoa... pretty handsome."
Natlan's Pyro Archon was a red-haired, golden-eyed youth, handsome to an unbelievable degree. Even Leon, a guy, had to admit it—he really was a bit handsome.
With this face value alone, when he enters the gacha pool later, the revenue won't be low.
As a cold-blooded strength chaser, Leon, upon seeing the Pyro Archon's looks, simply thought he was handsome.
But for the other players who particularly love eating up face value, it was a different story.
[Plan changed, not pulling Kinich anymore; I'm saving Primogems to pull the Pyro Archon!]
[Pyro Archon, we adore you!]
[Pyro Archon, Pyro Archon, Pyro Archon, Pyro Archon...]
Many players, upon seeing the Pyro Archon Rios appear, started spamming the screen, making the official livestream lag one stutter at a time.
They had all made up their minds: they absolutely had to pull the Pyro Archon, even if it meant sacrificing a few 648s.
Of course.
There were also people discussing speculations about Natlan's plot.
Like in Mu Yang's livestream room, for example.
"Holy crap, the Pyro Archon is really handsome."
Mu Yang scratched his hair, but he didn't say anything like must-pull.
He 6+5s every character; with such an amazing Pyro Archon, would he not pull him to full constellations?
[The red-haired woman before the Pyro Archon appeared—could she be the previous generation's Pyro Archon?]
Someone asked in the barrage.
[Very possible; the Pyro Archon in the Statues of The Seven also looks a lot like the red-haired woman, and combined with the official art's statement that the current Pyro Archon just took office, the red-haired woman might really be the previous Pyro Archon]
Another barrage explained.
"Oh?"
Mu Yang furrowed his brows, forcefully joining the discussion: "So that means Natlan has two Pyro Archons now?"
[From the teaser video, it can be seen that basically all of Natlan's characters are participating in an event similar to the Olympics; the current Pyro Archon looks completely uninterested, while the previous Pyro Archon is standing opposite him, questioning him]
[Combined with what the official art previously revealed, the current Pyro Archon suspended an event very meaningful to Natlan shortly after taking office—very possibly this sports festival]
[The current Pyro Archon isn't interested in this project, so he wants to cancel the event, but the Natlan people led by the previous Pyro Archon don't agree, leading to an irreconcilable relationship]
[Natlan might have two factions now; after we enter Natlan, we'll join the previous Pyro Archon's faction and fight the current Pyro Archon]
[Fight the Pyro Archon? Us?]
[We can't even beat the Harbinger; running into the Pyro Archon would get us one-shot, right?]
Seeing the barrage content, Mu Yang furrowed his brows.
This theory—he seemed to have heard it somewhere before.
Right, it was around this time last year, hearing leaker spoilers about Fontaine.
Saying that Fontaine also split into two factions because of the current Hydro Archon and previous Hydro Archon: Navia was the previous Hydro Archon, Furina was the current one, and players had to enter Navia's faction to defeat the evil Furina.
Wasn't this just a reskinned version?
"Nonsense."
"Say it again and you're banned."
Mu Yang didn't believe the Pyro Archon would have a bad relationship with the red-haired woman.
The Pyro Archon, like Mualani, had a youthful build, while the red-haired woman was a big-sister type.
A little boy running into a big sister—obviously, he'd be toyed with in the palm of her hand, right?
======
Some time had passed since Rios finished the character designs and teaser video; in the player world, people were discussing it fiercely—some focused on next version's character skills, some purely eating up Natlan characters' looks, and others speculating on Natlan's future plot.
Among them, most believed Mavuika was the previous generation's Pyro Archon, while Rios was the current one.
The current Pyro Archon Rios was unpopular, so Mavuika would lead the Natlan people to fight Rios.
This was the nation of war, after all.
"Guessed pretty accurately; don't guess anymore next time."
Mavuika was indeed a previous Pyro Archon, but she was the one from 500 years ago—a Pyro Archon from many generations back.
As for Natlan's war, it was actually a war against Abyss monsters; the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame was just a selection process.
"Whatever, as long as it helps earn sentiment points."
At the Oratory, Rios prepared to go out for a good meal to celebrate the large amount of sentiment points provided by the player world.
At that moment, someone arrived at the Oratory.
"Aunt Atea, why are you here?"
Seeing the woman at the door, Rios was a bit surprised.
"What, seeing me makes you unhappy?" Atea gently curved her lips, joking.
"How could that be." Rios said, "If I offend Aunt Atea, I'm afraid I won't be able to soak in hot springs for the rest of my life."
Atea was a renowned warrior among the People of the Springs; after getting injured in battles against Abyss monsters, she switched to logistics, often supervising whether the children of the People of the Springs and other guests were properly soaking in the hot springs.
"Look at you saying that." Atea couldn't help but chuckle, "You offending me? I'm the one afraid of offending the great Pyro Archon."
"And speaking of which, wasn't it you who had me called over?"
Reminded by Atea, Rios then remembered that yes, there was such a thing.
Not long ago, the system shop refreshed, and Rios discovered a potion for sale that repaired the body and cleared internal Abyss pollution.
Natlan had many warriors who couldn't continue fighting due to injuries; if their wounds could be healed and the residual Abyss energy in their bodies cleared, their combat power wouldn't be inferior to current warriors.
After buying the potion, the first person Rios thought of was to treat Atea's injuries, so he had someone call her over.
It was just that things had been very busy lately, so he temporarily forgot about it.
"Atea, do you still want to soak in hot springs?"
In front of her, Rios took out the potion.