The forums and social media exploded over several newly uploaded photos.
The eight members of Yanyu Pavilion, who had just cleared the ultimate raid, stood inside the Bloodrain Arena beneath a sky where storm clouds were breaking apart. Golden raindrops fell around them like shimmering confetti. Facing the camera, each of them posed differently, joy and pride overflowing in their smiles. Yanfei even shot a playful finger-gun gesture toward the lens.
The moment those pictures went live, the professional scene, hardcore community, and strategy groups were thrown into chaos.
New players didn't recognize what they were looking at — but veterans understood immediately.
Wait… they actually cleared it?
The second set of photos showed the group again, but this time their weapons had changed.
Standing in the front, Yanfei held a sleek revolver crackling with electric arcs — oozing style and prestige. Beside her, Xi Yiye wielded a futuristic mechanical longsword that pulsed with lightning when drawn. Defender player 955's shield looked like something straight out of a sci-fi blockbuster, seemingly designed to disperse electrical impacts and keep melee attackers at bay.
"Holy crap, what is that equipment?!"
"Is that the loot from the ultimate raid? Weren't we all guessing it was just glamour?"
"Forget glamour — those visual effects are insane! I want one right now!"
Players bickered heatedly across the forums while, in reality, Coach Baimi of Yanyu Pavilion could barely stop grinning. Their victory didn't just make him happy — it sent the team's owner and investors into celebration as well.
Yanfei's value as a female pro player was already astonishing; a single batch of training photos or a fashion sponsorship could pull in staggering profits. Now, with the title of "First Ultimate Clear" attached to her career, Yanyu Pavilion's commercial value had skyrocketed yet again.
"Yanfei," Baimi called, "when you log back in later, meet with the others at the Tomorrow's Development Tower in Lungmen. Reporters from MMOTODAY want to interview you."
"Got it~"
MMOTODAY was a well-known media outlet specializing in MMORPG content — with its own website and massive following. Yanyu Pavilion had worked with them more than once.
Xi Yiye felt her phone vibrate. She looked down.
It was a message from Huangtian Houtu.
Huangtian Houtu: An honorable loss.
Xi Yiye: Relax — aren't you guys the eternal second place anyway?
Huangtian Houtu: Just you wait till I'm online.
Xi Yiye chuckled and pocketed her phone.
She'd just hide behind Yanfei if anything happened.
Back in-game, Yanfei and the squad made their way toward the Tomorrow's Development Tower, admiring their weapons along the way — occasionally equipping them just to admire the visual effects.
Honestly, what could possibly entice players more than stylish weapons?
"Looks like the attacks apply electric damage too… Blue rarity. This thing might shine in the next Masters Tournament," Xi Yiye noted.
"Mhm," Yanfei replied absently.
"Captain, what are you thinking about?" someone asked.
"I'm imagining how great it would be if the Pioneer congratulated me in person."
The squad burst into laughter. Yanfei rolled her eyes in response. After turning a street corner, they noticed crowds gathering near the entrance of the Tomorrow's Development Tower — as if some urgent event was underway.
Still scrolling the forums, 955 suddenly yelped,
"Ah—Right! Tomorrow's Development added the Faction Rank System earlier. Everyone's grinding ranks now!"
"The reporters are inside. Let's wrap this up quickly."
Yanfei slapped her cheeks lightly to get focused, then hurried up the stairs.
On the forums, players continued discussing the difficulty and process of clearing the ultimate raid. Strategy group players occasionally shared bits of progress, but professional teams had remained silent — completely focused on the race. It made sense. Every team dreamed of finishing first.
Yang Yan XF wrote:
"We're currently transitioning into Phase 4. Professionally confirmed there are 5 major phases. As expected of pro players — congrats to Yanyu Pavilion! Incredible feat!"
Xiaolang commented:
"This performance will definitely catch the attention of Western esports teams. They've just gained a terrifying new rival for the World Championship."
Magic ZX added:
"The ultimate arena fight demands perfect team coordination. Yanyu Pavilion will absolutely place higher in tournaments after this."
The veteran theorycrafters and high-tier raiders began posting one after another, unanimously declaring the "Desperate Battle" to be the most brutal raid ever designed. Their testimonies successfully intimidated an entire wave of new players who had never even touched a Zero-Series raid.
Three days after the MMOTODAY interview with Yanyu Pavilion, Europe's Sunflower squad finally cleared the instance. Not long after, Japan's Samurai, Korea's T1, and the CN's Dynasty team all followed with successful clears.
In the weeks that followed, nearly every top-tier team managed to beat the raid. From there, they began guiding their remaining players through it. But as the very first team to conquer the Desperate Battle, Yanyu Pavilion earned the largest wave of publicity and momentum. Yanfei's featured interview alone was viewed by tens of millions, spreading awareness of the team's exhausting practice schedules and disciplined routines. Their popularity climbed sharply.
By February, Terra server time, when the strategy community finally finished their own clears, Yanyu Pavilion uploaded a joint video produced alongside the top theorycrafting teams. With Yanyu Pavilion's members starring as the runners, combined with the strategy group's professional narration and phase breakdowns, the video's live viewership shattered previous records. Numerous foreign players turned on automatic translation just to watch, hoping it would help them clear sooner.
Yet even with a published guide, the Desperate Battle remained far from simple. Every player's stats and gear varied wildly, forcing subtle adjustments to strategy. It was the kind of raid where a single mistake meant a total reset—every misstep punished with merciless failure. Plenty of players found themselves lost even after studying the guide. Where am I? What am I supposed to be doing again?
More still suffered from a classic syndrome: the brain understands, but the hands do not. They would know exactly when to dodge—only to be skewered through the chest by a giant blade moments later.
Well… such is the eternal cycle of gaming.
As Yanfei's fame continued to spread, she became widely known as the "Goddess of Arknights" to countless players. When asked about her personal life, she firmly declared she wouldn't date—unless it was with her beloved "Pioneer-onii-chan."
Such is the branding power of a successful female pro gamer. Already famous, she soon received a flood of sponsorships and commercial deals. Both she and the club profited handsomely. When the offline All-Star event arrived shortly after, she stole the show—shouldering a massive anti-materiel rifle on her back, dual-wielding a revolver as her primary weapon, she swept the Solo All-Star Championship and led Yanyu Pavilion to take the All-Star team victory as well.
For a time, Yanyu Pavilion basked in unanimous praise from across the player base. Even their guild enjoyed a surge of new applicants.
---
Felix sneezed, stepping out of the spa treatment room and thanking Muelsyse, who promptly returned to her kettle. His body felt relaxed, but somehow his mind felt even more worn out. The sensation of experiencing Muelsyse's water clone was… undeniably peculiar.
He had noticed that many pro teams—along with the strategy community—had already cleared the raid, and faster than he'd expected. In his previous life, he had never attempted such content himself, but after watching the videos Yanyu Pavilion and the analysts produced… yes, it did look challenging. The eight-man composition lacked any pure support slots during progression, after all. Compared to other roles, supports simply weren't as useful for certain mechanics.
Upon returning from Kazdel, he once again met with a Lich envoy in the reception chamber—Ermengarde, a young female lich. Floating beside her was a strange cubic device, not unlike the cube Felix currently held.
"The one in your hand is the vessel," Ermengarde said with a gentle smile. "And this one is the key."
She bowed slightly.
"My clan thanks you for understanding the traditions of the Liches. I just visited some former colleagues at the Science Institute—they're all quite satisfied with their current living conditions."
"As long as you provide them a library," Felix mused, "they're content with everything else. Liches truly do feed on knowledge."
The two cubes floated toward one another and locked into place. A faint pulse rippled across the chamber.
Azure motes of light formed a sphere outside the now-unified cube, which itself functioned like some kind of projection device.
Felix understood immediately: this was Terra—the planet.
"Hm… let's see. There isn't much data stored inside," Ermengarde murmured, tapping at a terminal to extract the contents. "But we can confirm this is indeed a relic of the Precursor Civilization… ah, here we are."
"Knowledge from before the fall. Incomplete, but usable. We have:
[Ion Thruster], [Sky-City Project Proposal], [Artificial Intelligence Transmutation]…"
She smiled faintly.
"These documents were once catalogued in the Lich archives. Ten project briefs and blueprints in total—this storage module contains only those."
"The majority of Precursor data modules fell into the ocean and were recovered by the Aegir civilization, who currently possess the most advanced precursor technology on Terra."
Ermengarde returned the cube to Felix.
"Kazdel is ancient land. Our ancestors discovered many, many things buried beneath it…"
"Why not use them?" he asked.
"We did. Once."
Her tone softened into that of a storyteller.
"We believed we could make the name Kazdel echo across the continent. But we were defeated by a multinational coalition."
She sighed softly.
"Kazdel's soil, and the lifestyle of the Sarkaz, were not suited for such technology. Eventually, some documents were sealed away. The rest were entrusted to the Liches—to be carried out of Kazdel."
Felix studied the advanced technology resting in his palm.
[Eureka!]
…Alright, maybe not that dramatic, but even a cursory glance told him these ten sets of blueprints and proposals contained staggering amounts of work and knowledge. Some of them were so dense with formulas that even with a PhD, he couldn't decipher them at all.
Acquisition was one thing.
Figuring out how to use them was another.
"Please convey my gratitude to the King of the Liches."
Felix rose with a smile. After shaking hands with Ermengarde, she expressed her desire to stay a bit longer at the Science Institute. He had no objections and instructed Loughshinny to continue escorting her there. If she wished to stay permanently, that was fine as well.
Obtaining these project documents allowed Felix to finally relax. At the very least, the knowledge was now in his hands. Translating these proposals into reality would be a completely different challenge.
He opened his status panel for a quick look. To continue producing higher-grade gear, he would need to level up. On a related note, after consulting with Nian, he had unlocked a rare production class: [Blacksmith]. He'd invested enough points to raise it to level 10, gaining +5 Dexterity and +2 Intelligence.
It was time to start upgrading [Mechanic], too. He checked the promotion requirement.
[Craft 5 pieces of Purple-quality mechanical equipment within the time limit (0/5) (24:00)]
Five pieces in one day? Hardly an issue. With his new Blacksmith class, he could now forge gear with embedded Additional Ability Slots. After that, all he'd need was a bit of luck.
He glanced over the Gunsmith promotion requirement as well:
[Forge one Purple-quality Plasma SMG (0/1)]
Plasma, huh… He'd read about that tech before. These weapons resembled the blasters carried by clone troopers in Star Wars—compressing magical energy into its limit, then firing it as a concentrated light projectile.
And with their introduction came the second category of defensive armor.
Normally, players suffered two types of damage:
• Physical damage, countered with mechanical armor
• Arts damage, mitigated by accessories that boosted mental resistance
But once plasma weapons entered the game, a third defense type appeared:
Shield-type protection, capable of projecting barriers that blocked energy bolts.
In his previous life, he remembered that Columbia's military had been the first to adopt plasma weaponry, though they eventually ditched them due to poor lethality and vulnerability to shield defenses. Those discarded prototypes trickled into player hands, and players ended up loving them. After all, mobs didn't have shields, making plasma snipers extremely efficient for hunting and farming.
Before beginning his seclusion, a Sarkaz courier had visited him, delivering a letter from the Windermere territory.
Previously, Felix and Duke Kent of Windermere had reached an agreement: to establish a small Tomorrow's Development outpost within Windermere lands, conducting a series of activities in the surrounding region. The letter, handwritten by the Duke Kent himself, contained updates regarding the outpost—and one additional piece of news concerning central Victoria.
The Kazdel Military Committee had entered Londinium to mediate disputes among the dukes. One duke rebelled in panic, and two others had been killed.
Afterward, with assistance from Londinium's city defense forces and tacit approval from multiple sides, the Kazdel Military Committee seized control of Londinium.
Upon reading this, Felix picked up his pen and immediately began writing a reply.
He warned Duchess Windermere and Duke Kent not to step into this muddy waters.