The Twilight Forest.
Standing before the Final Castle, Ryen gazed up at its tower, which seemed to pierce straight into the clouds. For a moment, he felt a quiet sense of emotion.
"This is the last stop. Once we clear this place, the new mod pack will officially unlock. Come to think of it, it really feels like we spent a long time exploring the Twilight Forest this time."
Ganyu looped her arm through Ryen's and replied softly,
"Not even two months yet, so it's not that long. Still, it's true that a lot has happened during these two months."
"Once the new mod opens, we can hand the remaining exploration of the Twilight Forest over to the army."
"And when we throw ourselves into the new mod, we'll probably see several more explosive leaps in progress."
Ryen nodded slightly and asked in a low voice,
"What day is it now?"
Zhongli contacted Cloud Retainer for confirmation and answered,
"The third day, early morning."
"So Lumine and the others have already set out today?"
Ryen smiled faintly.
"Looks like we just missed it. Jean, you might not get much rest after this."
Jean pressed her lips together in a small smile.
"With full hunger bars, my mental state is always good. And considering that we'll soon be going to deal with the Doctor, my mood is even better."
"Then after we finish off the goblins, we'll head out and rest for a bit. It'll also give you time to see what's happened back home during these days."
Ryen chuckled lightly.
"We've been away for a full week this time. I imagine Baiwen and the others are completely swamped."
"And I also need to integrate the new mod. Once you're back, I'll explain everything to you."
Jean nodded in agreement.
Ryen waved his hand.
"Time is tight. No need to overthink it. Load the machine-gun ammo to the max, RPGs ready."
"The moment we enter, start the bombardment. Don't worry about anything else."
"Once that's done, we head straight up to deal with the goblin king. No need to speculate about his staff abilities."
"I'll trigger the Zombie Apocalypse, then lock him down with time stasis. You just bombard him."
"Let's clear the Twilight Forest within two hours."
Everyone straightened, exchanging looks as the final surge of battle spirit ignited.
"I'll stay back and watch over Klee and the others. You go fight, there won't be much danger."
Ryen gave the instruction casually. No one objected.
As long as it wasn't the goblin king himself, there was nothing to worry about.
There might be plenty of giant warriors inside, but as the saying went, under an RPG, all beings are equal.
It was just a matter of how many rockets they could take.
Ganyu quietly pinched Ryen's arm before following the others inside.
Ryen was slightly puzzled. He didn't quite understand what that pinch meant, and it never crossed his mind that they might already have noticed something between him and Guizhong.
He thought he'd hidden it well.
Klee and Nahida had already started playing nearby. Ryen watched them with a warm smile, while Guizhong's eyes were filled with gentle affection.
It looked like a perfect family scene,
If one ignored the constant thunder of gunfire echoing from inside.
Seeing that Klee and Nahida were completely engrossed and paying no attention to this side, Ryen felt a stir in his heart and casually wrapped an arm around Guizhong's waist.
Guizhong froze for a moment and whispered,
"Klee and the others are still here."
"It's fine. They're not paying attention. We haven't even been sneaky much today, and I really missed you."
Guizhong lifted her chin slightly, a hint of pride in her eyes.
"You were pretending so well just now, dragging me into a discussion about new skill effects. Looks like even you can't hold back when facing a youthful, invincible beauty like me!"
Ryen laughed and played along.
"Yeah, yeah, I can't hold back. Come here, let me have a taste."
Guizhong rolled her eyes at him, glanced again at Klee and Nahida, then rose onto her toes and offered herself up.
Newly in love, Guizhong didn't need Ryen to coax her, she couldn't resist either.
Using the cover of a towering sky-tree, Ryen boldly pressed Guizhong against the trunk and explored further.
At first, he'd only thought that keeping things secret was mildly interesting. But after these past few days, he understood.
It wasn't just mildly interesting.
It was extremely interesting.
Sneaking around was far sweeter than being open and obvious.
After an unknown amount of time, the gunfire finally stopped. Guizhong hurriedly patted Ryen.
He released her at once.
Guizhong quickly stepped aside to straighten her clothes. Seeing this, Ryen couldn't help but laugh.
"It's not like they haven't seen it before. What are you scared of?"
"Nonsense! Of course I'm scared you won't be able to stop yourself!" Guizhong huffed.
"I'm this charming, what if your inner wolf comes out?"
She snorted softly, rubbing her chest, which still ached slightly, and shot Ryen a somewhat resentful look.
She'd really thought that kissing was just kissing. Who could have imagined that Ryen would completely shatter her expectations over these past few days?
Ryen gently rubbed her head and teased,
"If my inner wolf comes out, you wouldn't refuse me anyway."
Even though it was true, Guizhong still shot him an annoyed glare.
Judging the timing, the two immediately reverted to their usual "good comrades" act.
Arms slung over each other's shoulders, they called Klee and the others to head inside together.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryen leaned close to Guizhong's ear and whispered,
"When we get back and everything's settled… should I sneak over to see you tonight?"
"No!"
Guizhong refused immediately.
"I'm staying with Ping'er and the others. They'll hear something!"
"Then what do you suggest? Don't you want our pure brotherhood to ascend to a higher level again?"
Guizhong's face flushed. She lowered her head and muttered weakly,
"After… after a few days, I'll say I'm going with you to Guili Plains to practice new skills. Then…"
"Then what?" Ryen teased.
Guizhong mumbled,
"Then I'll give myself to you! Do you really need me to spell it out? I'm still a proper maiden, you know!"
"Not for much longer."
Ryen patted Guizhong on the shoulder, then quickened his pace, grabbing Klee and Nahida by the hands and pushing the door open as he went inside.
Ganyu and the others were already cleaning up the battlefield.
Strictly speaking, there wasn't much to clean, just picking up the drops was enough.
Makoto skillfully began constructing an obsidian house. This time, she was definitely staying behind to look after the children.
After all, she hadn't fought the goblin before and didn't want to become a burden to everyone.
Lisa lifted her gaze and glanced at Ryen and Guizhong. On the surface, the two still looked perfectly normal.
But Lisa was hardly inexperienced, one glance was enough for her to notice that Guizhong's lips were a little swollen.
Rolling her eyes, she stepped forward and looped her arm around Ryen's.
"Leaving now?"
"Yeah. This is the final push, let's cut straight through and stop dragging it out."
Ryen took out his Blade and a Master-tier Staff, then equipped the Frost Armor Set.
The others began reloading ammunition and checking their staffs for issues.
After exchanging a glance, they left Makoto and Guizhong behind. The group moved with practiced ease, starting their ascent of the Final Castle.
With experience from last time, there were no surprises, nor was any extra time wasted.
The monsters in the side towers didn't even stir. The gates didn't open.
They headed straight for the goblin.
Before long, they reached the very top of the Final Castle.
The moment they stepped onto the summit, a wave of scorching heat surged toward them.
Ryen raised an eyebrow and looked at the goblin slowly emerging from the darkness, chuckling softly.
"Fire-element Master-tier staff this time? You really are a walking treasure chest."
Hu Tao immediately perked up, tugging excitedly at Ryen.
"Darling!"
Ryen rubbed her head helplessly.
"Relax. This one's yours."
"Hehe… I knew Ryen was the best!"
Ryen couldn't help but laugh.
"You only call me 'darling' when there's loot involved, and switch back to my name once the job's done. That's cold."
Without wasting any more time, Ryen planted the Master-tier staff into the ground.
With a thunderous boom, a massive gate burst open.
A dense horde of zombies poured out, followed by a towering Frost Giant.
"Let's end this fast. No more probing."
Before his words had fully fallen, a sharp, resonant cry rang out.
A blazing Divine Phoenix, wreathed in flames, ignited the darkness and circled above the goblin, wings beating.
"Summoning a phoenix… that's a pretty flashy skill."
"Mm-hmm! This Director likes it!"
Even as she said that, Hu Tao kept her eyes firmly on Ryen.
She was terrified he'd fall in love with the staff and claim it for himself.
Both summoning the Phoenix and summoning the Frost Giant were Master-tier spells, but clearly, the Phoenix was far cooler.
And Hu Tao knew Ryen all too well.
He loved flashy things.
Seeing through her thoughts, Ryen pinched her cheek with mild annoyance.
"Do you really think I'm that unreliable? I said it's yours, so it's yours. Don't worry."
"Besides… you're mine anyway. What's yours isn't mine too?"
Hu Tao froze, then scratched her head stupidly.
"That's true… Then after I get it, I can lend it to you for a bit!"
"Lend it to me for a few days? Deal."
"???"
Before Hu Tao could react, Ryen drew his blade and vanished in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared right beside the goblin.
As the goblin raised its staff to cast, Ryen activated Time Stasis.
Everything froze, the battlefield, the phoenix in the sky, all of it locked in place.
"The phoenix is cool… but compared to Time Stasis, it's nothing."
Ryen chuckled, poking the goblin lightly.
"And a Fox Moon Blade too, White Fox? That's a full gift package."
He slashed the goblin once with his blade, then casually shoved an RPG rocket right into its face.
In an instant, he blinked back to the group and waved his hand.
"Light it up."
At his command, a storm of bullets and rockets roared forward.
Though frozen midair by Time Stasis, it was obvious the goblin had nowhere to escape.
Even if, hypothetically, it had spatial abilities from the White Fox blade or blink from the staff, in that moment its raised weapon had been the staff.
That meant an offensive spell.
There was no escape.
Bullets piled up endlessly, surrounding the goblin from every direction before Time Stasis ended.
The moment the stasis field collapsed, the goblin was engulfed in explosive firepower.
Even with 1024 HP, it didn't die instantly.
Ryen waved again, and the group kept firing.
The Zombie Apocalypse and Frost Giant surged forward, tangling with the blazing Phoenix.
Repeat this four or five times, and even 2048 HP wouldn't save it.
The new mod pack was right within reach.
As Ryen mentally planned the future of the new mod, he suddenly felt his arm sink into something soft.
He turned his head to see Yae Miko blinking at him playfully.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Honestly… even without turning into a fox, you're still very tempting."
Yae Miko looked pleased, then spoke with deliberate implication.
"I heard you say earlier that blade is called the White Fox Blade, right?"
"So?"
"So… a pink fox and a white fox make the perfect pair, don't you think?"
Ryen raised an eyebrow, considering it.
"That does sound right, but, "
Yae Miko tightened her hold on his arm, her voice languid.
"I'll let you pet me for a whole day. Fox form or like this, your choice."
Ryen froze, then nodded solemnly.
"You're absolutely right. White fox and pink fox are the perfect match."