On the grassy field near Liyue Harbor, several children were playing with a balloon.
The boys kicked the ball around on the ground, while a few little girls sat under a tree nearby, playing cat's cradle and cheering for the boys.
"Brother! Go!"
Yixian and Yizhu were among them.
The season had just entered early summer, the weather wasn't too hot, and the sea-scented air was carried by the sea breeze, which was gentle and cool.
The sun rose halfway into the sky, its rays shining on the verdant grass, dazzlingly bright.
The wind continued to blow, and out at sea, a huge cloud was being pushed over, moving very slowly, neither fast nor hurried.
"Can I join you?"
Suddenly, a voice came. The children turned around to see a boy about 1.45 meters tall, with slightly curly light blue hair and a pair of eyes as clear and red as blood jade.
"I want to join you too. How about you let me play with you?"
The wind blew the cloud over, and the cloud obscured the sun.
A huge shadow enveloped the boy from behind, and the verdant grass no longer reflected light.
Only the boy's eyes, even in the shadow, remained clear and red.
.
.
.
Upon restarting, Huayan quickly understood the situation around her. Zandik had done something to her, then shut her down.
But why was she starting up again now? Had Zandik repaired her? But why?
She tried to twist her neck bearings to observe her surroundings, only to find that her body structure was different from before.
Her eyes widened, and she immediately began a self-check program, but the result was.
"Oh? Regained consciousness?" Zandik's voice, still calm as an ancient well, reached her. Huayan looked in the direction of the voice, lacking the immunity to resist the urge to look down to see him.
So tall, her perspective, so high.
She turned her body to look at the glass beside her, and sure enough, her face had been installed in the very center of a Ruin Hunter's chest.
"I also helped you restore the bionic skin on your face, you know? The manufacturing process is indeed different from Teyvat's, which is truly curious. Where exactly was your technology manufactured?"
Zandik showed no emotional fluctuations, merely stating his thoughts plainly.
Huayan no longer looked at herself, but asked directly: "Where are the children? What did you do to them?"
"They're fine." Zandik paced the room with his hands behind his back: "I've been reverse-engineering your constituent technology. It's astonishing, truly cross-era technology! Some of these technologies, I believe, could even allow humans on Teyvat to leave the planet and venture into the starry sky."
He turned around and smiled at Huayan: "So I thank you. Although it took a bit of time, I have finally fully mastered your technology."
He extended his right hand and snapped his fingers. The wall beside them opened left and right, revealing more than a dozen children guarded by Fatui soldiers, all of whom were in a deep sleep.
Huayan was startled and quickly turned to look around. Indeed, not far behind her, there were three operating tables, on which lay three children's... In the distance, there were three Ruin Guards with brains floating in their chests, and more than a dozen unassembled Ruin Guards behind them.
This was not the previous room, but Zandik's "operating room."
Huayan already had a bad premonition.
As if in response to her thoughts, Zandik continued: "Because of this. Next, my experiment will continue, and to thank you, I will also reunite you three, mother and children. You will be, for a short time, the only 'New Human' with one intelligent core and two human brains."
Facing the bewildered and dazed Huayan, he slowly raised his hands to both sides: "And now, I will also share the technology I obtained from you with all my segments! Your dedication will propel Teyvat's technological level into a new era!!!!"
Zandik's mouth stretched into an exaggerated arc, and data streams flashed in his eyes: "Come! Let's share this great — share, shar... hmm?"
He frowned and held his temple: "Information sharing with other segments was intercepted? Why? When?"
Before he could figure out the key, the entire underground base suddenly vibrated violently.
The Fatui soldiers quickly tried to steady themselves, or grabbed onto something nearby to remain stable.
"What's going on? An earthquake?" asked an Electro Cicin Mage.
In the distance, an experimenter in front of the monitoring screen denied her question: "No... no, it's a person! Someone has appeared directly above the base!"
Zandik immediately cast a grave look. He commanded: "Project, display the ground surveillance footage on the screen above."
"Yes!"
A blue light screen appeared, and the scene from the ground was displayed before everyone's eyes.
It was a person, a young man with white-yellowish hair, long pointed ears, orange-red eyes, dressed in a black priest's robe. He was pulling his fist out of the ground.
Seeing this, everyone had an ominous thought.
The previous tremor couldn't have been caused by this person's fist
Soon, the question was answered.
[The feel is wrong.]
The young man on the screen said.
[It seems a bit off, it should be... this direction.]
Saying that, he raised his right fist again. Unlike before, this time it wasn't pure physical strength, but a localized explosion that condensed a certain high-temperature, high-brightness reaction.
His fist, imbued with flames, struck the ground with a roar at a speed the camera couldn't capture!
Five hundred degrees, the surrounding plants were ignited by the Anemo element.
One thousand five hundred degrees, the rock layers were scorched red, showing signs of liquefaction.
Two thousand degrees, the surface rock began to Vaporize.
Five thousand degrees, the flames on his fist were no longer flames; the temperature began to gradually fade and lighten.
Twenty thousand degrees, the flames transformed from a gaseous mixture into a plasma state, and incandescent light burst forth from the tip of his fist.
——————Four million degrees
The ground instantly vaporized.
The Four million degrees directional plasma cannon, from the moment of the punch to the fire, to the launch, and then to the cessation of output, lasted for a full ten seconds!
"Report! High energy reaction detected at the hostile unit's limb extremity!"
"Original ground rock layer, ten meters, instantly vaporized!"
"All automatic defense mechanisms silenced! High temperatures rendered all gun barrels and automatic mechs useless. There are no longer any defensive systems capable of approaching!"
"Underground first-layer armor, breakthrough! Second layer, breakthrough! Third layer, breakthrough!... The impact is spreading vertically downwards at an astonishing speed. All protective armor from the first to the twelfth layer has vaporized!"
"Tsk!" Zandik quickly recovered. He roared in a deep voice: "Don't panic, first report the enemy individual's current location!"
However, no one responded.
Zandik frowned deeply: "What's wrong? Where is the enemy?"
The Inspectors remained silent, merely turning around, sweat sliding down his pale face. He slowly raised his hand and pointed upwards.
On the metal ceiling, a high-bright red dot appeared, then began to spread outwards. The red dot turned orange-yellow, then yellow, and an unpleasant odor began to diffuse.
Finally, the liquid metal in the middle could no longer withstand the pull of gravity and dripped downwards, a void slowly expanding. Dazzling white sunlight shone through, but cast a humanoid shadow on the ground.
They looked up, and through the Tyndall effect, a man silhouetted against the light descended from the air.
The air was scorching hot, and electric arcs continuously leaped within the plasma-ionized atmosphere, making it difficult for people to see clearly.
Only the man's amber-like eyes remained bright in the shadow.
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