With a single slash from Diluc, the gate of the Abyss Order stronghold was instantly destroyed.
Blazing flames, spread by the wind, swept through the entire base.
The only Hydro Abyss Mage had just formed his Hydro shield, but it was instantly shattered.
Before he could form a second shield, Diluc's greatsword had already struck him.
With one strike, Diluc killed the Abyss Mage. The remaining Hilichurls posed no threat to him at all.
In a matter of moments, Diluc cut them all down.
After pocketing the Primogems he earned, Diluc turned and headed to the next base.
Since learning the Wind Spirit Art, breaking the shields of Abyss Mages had become much easier for him.
This was especially true for Pyro Abyss Mages, who used to require strike after strike to break through—very inefficient.
Now, with the infusion of Anemo, he could break them quickly.
Without their shields, Abyss Mages were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter before Diluc.
That night, a large number of Abyss Order strongholds within Mondstadt were eradicated. Each time a base was wiped out, a brilliant blaze lit up the night sky.
In the blink of an eye, dawn arrived.
At Ye Yun's shop, he got up and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
"Ye Yun, the porridge is already cooking. Is there anything else that needs to be done, Pom?" Pom-Pom looked up at Ye Yun and asked if he needed help.
Ye Yun smiled and shook his head."No need, Pom-Pom. Go take a rest."
Pom-Pom wiped his hands dry.
"I'll go check if Klee and Hook are awake, Pom."
With that, Pom-Pom pitter-pattered off toward March 7th's room.
Since March 7th hadn't returned last night, her room had been lent to Klee and Hook for the night.
Ye Yun opened the fridge, took out a carton of eggs, and grabbed a pan to fry a few for breakfast.
Just as he was frying eggs, the shop's portal door was pushed open. This special portal connected to all the other shop portals.
The door swung open, and Stelle rushed in, hugging a small flaming monkey.
Following close behind were March 7th and Dan Heng.
As soon as Stelle got in, she dashed to the bar and poured herself a cup of hot water.
"Ahh~ that feels good. Belobog's getting colder by the day."
Ye Yun's eyes, however, landed on the little fire monkey Stelle had placed on the bar.
He hadn't expected Stelle to hatch a Fire Monkey. Its combat strength was not to be underestimated.
If it later evolved into a Flamegorilla, it could learn a bug-tier skill: Fatal Flame.
That skill alone—with just a 1% instant-kill chance—was enough to show how broken it was.
Though this was the real world, the system had said the skill only worked against enemies below the "Emanator" level, and only a fully mature Flamegorilla could learn it.
After drinking the hot water, Stelle felt much better.
Wiping her mouth, she carried the Fire Monkey over to Ye Yun.
"Ye Yun, what do you think of my Fire Monkey?"
Ye Yun said, "Not bad. Among Pokémon, its combat power ranks above average. If you're lucky enough to evolve it into a Flamegorilla, you won't have to fear anything below Emanator level."
Hearing this, Stelle's face lit up.
"Whoa-ho-ho! That strong? Invincible below Emanator level?"
Ye Yun thought for a moment. "Can't say invincible. But the Flamegorilla's Fatal Flame has a 1% chance to instantly kill an enemy—though only those below the Emanator level."
Hearing this, Dan Heng and March 7th were both stunned.
March 7th exclaimed, "That's insane! This little monkey can become that powerful?"
Stelle hugged the Fire Monkey. "Of course! It's the familiar of your galactic baseballer—me! Of course it's awesome! Hahaha!"
Ye Yun added, "But only a mature Flamegorilla can learn that skill. Your Fire Monkey has a long way to go."
March 7th hugged her own Bub Seed. "Ye Yun, what about my Bub Seed? What's its potential?"
Ye Yun replied, "It's got good potential. Later on, it can merge with Sproutbean into a Lisa Bub. Lisa Bub has strong defense and a healing skill for allies."
March 7th was thrilled—her Bub Seed was amazing too~
As for how long it would take to train, neither girl cared. They were willing to spend the time.
At that moment…
Grumble grumble~
Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng's stomachs all growled in unison.
Ye Yun chuckled and looked around the kitchen. He set out a plate of pickled vegetables in front of them.
"The porridge should be ready. Grab a stool and eat a little first."
Dan Heng dutifully went to fetch some stools.
Stelle and March 7th headed to the kitchen—one washed bowls while the other scooped porridge.
The Bub Seed sat quietly on the bar watching Ye Yun cook.
The Fire Monkey, on the other hand, was mischievous—trying to reach for the frying eggs, only to be grabbed by the scruff of its neck and pulled away by Ye Yun.
With the porridge ready, the three sat by the kitchen counter and began eating slowly, spooning the porridge with pickled veggies.
Before long, Pom-Pom led Klee and Hook into the shop.
"Good morning, Brother Ye Yun! Sister Stelle! Sister March 7th! Brother Dan Heng!" Klee greeted everyone energetically.
Hook also waved hello.
Ye Yun looked at the two little ones.
"Did you wash your face and brush your teeth?"
Klee nodded seriously. "Yup! Captain Bunny Train Pam helped me wash up!"
Hook added, "Me too! The great Hook is a clean and tidy lady!"
Ye Yun nodded in approval and ladled out a bowl of porridge for each of them.
"Here, have some porridge first. The other dishes will take a while."
Once the porridge was on the table, the two little ones began eating obediently.
Stelle quickly finished her porridge and ran back to the kitchen to get a second bowl.
Then Ye Yun suddenly asked, "Did you guys find any leads on the Stellaron?"
Stelle shrugged helplessly. "Nope. Natasha and the others don't even know what a Stellaron is."
March 7th sighed. "This time's gonna be tricky… No leads at all in the Underworld, and the Overworld's still hunting us. Ugh…"
Ye Yun chuckled. "Alright, since you're so pitiful, I'll give you a hint—go find the oldest person in the Underworld. There's your clue."
The trio's interest was immediately piqued.
March 7th pondered the clue. "The oldest person…? Oh! The older someone is, the more they know! We never thought about that!"
Dan Heng also brightened. "Got it. We'll go right after breakfast. Thanks, Ye Yun."
After that, the three quickly finished eating, each took two freshly steamed buns, and dashed through the portal.
***
Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng returned to the Underworld.
As soon as they stepped out of the teleportation gate, they saw Clara approaching from the opposite direction.
Since the teleportation gate was inside Clara's house, and she had returned home to rest the previous night, she wasn't on the train.
Clara was holding a thick textbook as she walked toward the gate.
"Good morning, Brother Dan Heng, Sister March 7th, and Sister Stelle~"
March 7th waved at her.
"Good morning, Clara. Where are you headed?"
Clara shook the book in her arms.
"I'm going to study with Mr. Welt. He lent me this book, but there are a few parts I don't understand, so I want to ask him about them."
March 7th couldn't help but admire Clara. If she had to read such a thick book, her brain would definitely explode.
"You might be a bit early—when we came over just now, Uncle Yang didn't seem to be up yet."
Clara looked a little disappointed but quickly perked up again.
"Then I'll go ahead and wait. Goodbye, big brothers and sisters!"
Clara waved goodbye and stepped into the teleportation gate, heading to the shop.
As the three of them walked out of the house, they saw Svarog leading a large group of robots heading out.
March 7th was a little confused.
"What's Svarog up to?"
Dan Heng said,
"Let's go ask. Judging by this, it must be something serious."
The three of them quickly caught up to Svarog.
Stelle slapped Svarog's leg firmly.
"Svarog, where are you going?"
After Stelle slapped him, the little Fire Monkey on her head also mimicked the gesture and slapped Svarog's leg, making a few noises.
"Roar~ Roar~"
Svarog lowered his head to look at Stelle.
"Outsiders? There's a riot in Boulder Town. I'm leading a team to suppress it."
Stelle was surprised.
"A riot? What happened?"
Svarog explained:
"I received a distress call from the leader of Wildfire in Boulder Town, Natasha. A large number of vagrants are attacking the town."
Hearing that Rock Town was in trouble, March 7th became very anxious.
"What? Boulder Town is under attack? Quick, let's go help!"
Dan Heng and Stelle both nodded and followed Svarog's robot troops toward Boulder Town.
At that moment, near the entrance to the mining area in Boulder Town, a large number of vagrants were furiously attacking the Wildfire defenses.
Seele wielded her scythe and darted through the battlefield, each swing of her blade claiming another vagrant's life.
Bronya, who had just been saved by Seele, also joined the battle.
Her rifle fired rapidly, each shot taking down a vagrant.
At this point, Bronya displayed her commanding presence as a battlefield general, directing several Wildfire squads to hold the line.
"Everyone, work together! Don't panic! Hold the line!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Under Bronya's powerful influence, the Wildfire members cooperated smoothly.
Mainly because Bronya was strong—people were willing to listen to her.
Natasha and Oleg stood at the rear, guarding the final line of defense.
Natasha frowned as she looked at the intense battlefield.
The vagrants had learned that Boulder Town held a large amount of supplies, so they orchestrated this attack.
From the looks of it, there were at least several thousand well-armed vagrants involved.
Fortunately, Wildfire wasn't to be underestimated. After receiving a substantial supply of food over the past two days, their members were in excellent physical condition.
More importantly, everyone cherished the hard-won food.
Now that someone was trying to take it from them, of course they wouldn't back down.
The fighting spirit of Wildfire was high. Even though they were outnumbered nearly two to one, they were holding their ground.
However, their numbers were still too few, and the vagrants were attacking like madmen, relentlessly charging the defenses.
Oleg noticed a breach in the front lines where some vagrants had broken through.
"Natasha! Hold things here! I'll take a team and patch that hole!"
With that, Oleg led a small Wildfire squad into the fray.
Though Oleg wasn't a Pathstriders, he had once been an elite in the Silvermane Guards, and these vagrants were no match for him.
Wielding a spear, Oleg struck down enemies one after another. Under his lead, the defense line was stabilized.
Still, if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before the defenses collapsed.
Just then, a familiar voice rang in Natasha's ear.
"Boss, don't worry, reinforcements are on the way."
Natasha turned to the speaker.
"Sampo? You called for reinforcements?"
Sampo raised an eyebrow.
"Yep, I contacted Boss Svarog in your name. If nothing went wrong, they should be arriving soon."
Speak of the devil.
A sudden explosion erupted on the battlefield—Svarog descended from the sky, landing in the center of the fray.
"Riot detected. Commencing extermination protocol!"
Missile pods opened on Svarog's back, unleashing a storm of missiles toward the vagrants.
Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle also entered the battlefield from the rear with the robot troops.
Xing unleashed her ultimate as soon as she entered.
"Judgment Of Shamash, Unleashed!"
With a single slash, she cleared a wide area.
Dan Heng's Cloud-Piercer spear gathered powerful energy.
"Ethereal Dream, phantom realm—shatter!"
He thrust the spear forward, releasing a cone-shaped energy wave that knocked down a large group of vagrants.
March 7th pulled her bow fully and summoned a barrage of ice arrows to freeze the vagrants' movements.
The robot troops were even more direct—subduing the enemies with overwhelming force, leaving no room for resistance.
Seeing that Svarog and the others had arrived, Natasha breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everyone! Reinforcements are here—full counterattack, charge!"
Wildfire's morale soared, and they launched a full offensive.
The remaining vagrants, seeing the tides had turned, fled in panic—wishing they had more than two legs to run with.
With the combined efforts of the robots and Wildfire, the vagrants attacking Boulder Town were successfully repelled.
Natasha, Oleg, Sampo, Seele, and Bronya approached Svarog.
"Stelle! March! Dan Heng!"
Stelle rested her Judgment of Shamash sword on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow.
"So, Seele—how's this for a galactic baseball hero, cool or what?"
Seele gave her a thumbs-up.
"Cool!"
Natasha turned to Svarog with gratitude.
"Svarog, thank you for your support."
Svarog replied to Natasha.
"No thanks necessary. All for the preservation of the Underworld."
After this battle, Wildfire's members developed a much more favorable attitude toward the robot settlement.
After all, if Boss Svarog and his robot troops hadn't come to help, many more people would've died today.
Now, Wildfire members and the robots worked together to clean up the battlefield, and with the robots' help, the efficiency was remarkably high.
***