Chapter 23: Intense Training Under the Dragon-Queller
The morning sun pierced through the thick, sulfurous steam rising from the natural hot springs, casting a warm, golden glow over a quiet clearing at the edge of the People of the Springs settlement.
Lumine and Paimon stood in awe beside a sleek, standard-issue training motorcycle, a fresh delivery from the Chat Group system.
The machine boasted aggressive, aerodynamic lines and a polished metallic chassis that practically screamed high-tech. It was a stark contrast to the clunky Ruin Guards or Fontaine's clockwork mechanisms; this was a beast of pure, unadulterated speed.
"Whoa! Is this our ride for the race? It looks so cool!" Paimon zipped around the bike in rapid, excited circles. She reached out with her tiny hands, reverently tracing the smooth, cold metal of the fairing.
"I certainly didn't expect the system to automatically calibrate the chassis to match my exact height and build. Pretty thoughtful," Lumine remarked. She ran a hand over the leather seat, a faint, nostalgic smile touching her lips. "This definitely isn't Teyvat engineering. It feels familiar. Like a product from the worlds beyond."
"We haven't run into anything like this across the seven nations," she murmured, leaning down to inspect the engine block. "It relies on pure mechanical control. But the weirdest part..."
Lumine circled the bike, her golden eyes scanning for a gas tank or fuel port. Finding none, she pressed her palm against the ignition array and channeled a surge of raw elemental energy into the frame.
The machine responded instantly. A deep, guttural roar erupted from the exhaust, the engine revving with such sudden ferocity that Paimon squeaked and tumbled backward in mid-air.
Lumine's smile widened into a confident smirk. "Just as I thought. The system made it compatible with Teyvat's elemental energy. We just need to feed it the elements to get it running. At least we won't have to scrounge around for whatever fuel this thing originally took."
She shifted her gaze to her floating companion, her tone dripping with playful teasing. "Oh my. If I recall correctly, a certain best travel guide has absolutely zero driving experience. You wouldn't even take the wheel of the Waverider."
"Hey!" Paimon planted her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffing out in a bright, defensive flush. "That was only because the Waverider's steering wheel is way too big! It's an unreasonable design! Besides, Teyvat doesn't even have motorcycles! How was I supposed to learn? It's not like you know how to drive one either, right?"
Lumine crossed her arms, feigning a look of supreme expertise. "Just because they don't exist here doesn't mean I haven't driven one before. Care to hire the legendary Traveler as your personal instructor? My rates are very reasonable. Just one Sweet Madame per lesson."
Swinging a leg over the saddle, Lumine settled into the driver's seat. She tested the grip of the handlebars and adjusted her boots on the footrests, her posture instantly shifting into that of a seasoned rider. "Come here, Paimon. You might not be able to reach the pedals, but you've got me. Let's start with the basics: reading the dashboard. It is the most crucial first step!"
Paimon's eyes sparkled. She immediately zipped over, perching comfortably on Lumine's shoulder and leaning her tiny face dangerously close to the illuminated digital displays. "Deal! But only one Sweet Madame! Now hurry up and teach me! What does this blinking blue light do? And why are these numbers jumping around so fast?"
Lumine chuckled, patiently pointing out the speedometer, the elemental intake gauge, and the throttle. The morning sun stretched their shadows long across the Natlan dirt, framing two companions completely absorbed in their crash course. The scent of sulfur and exhaust hung in the air, a quiet, focused prelude to the chaotic race ahead.
Meanwhile, aboard the Parlor Car of the Astral Express, the atmosphere was significantly less disciplined and infinitely more chaotic.
"Ta-da! Come check out the custom paint job I designed!" March 7th cheered, striking a dramatic pose as she materialized her motorcycle from the Chat Group interface.
The heavy machine hit the carpeted floor with a soft thud. It was an absolute visual riot.
"I went with a pastel pink base coat, layered with sparkly star decals and Six-Phased Ice crystal patterns! Oh, and I slapped a super cute Pom-Pom decal right on the front fairing! Isn't it just perfect?"
Stelle leaned in close, rubbing her chin with exaggerated academic scrutiny. "Not bad. It definitely screams March. But putting the Conductor's face dead-center on the ramming grill... Are you planning to use Pom-Pom's face to physically run over the competition? I am reporting this to the Conductor immediately."
"Hey! Don't you dare!" March squawked, waving her hands defensively. "Like yours is any better?"
Stelle smirked, summoning her own ride with a flick of her wrist. "Behold," she declared, gesturing grandly to the metallic beast that appeared beside March's pastel nightmare. "Gunmetal gray chassis. Neon yellow lightning bolt decals. And I specifically modified the rear exhaust to look like a military-grade flamethrower. I call her The Invincible Galaxy Overcomer No. 1."
Sitting on one of the plush sofas nearby, Dan Heng had been quietly reviewing the data bank archives on his datapad. At the sound of the name, he actually choked on his coffee, coughing into his fist before shooting Stelle a look of deep, exhausted helplessness.
"Hey! Stelle! What kind of naming sense is that?!" March 7th groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "And that dull gray is so boring! My Pom-Pom aesthetic is vastly superior!"
"Can cuteness be eaten for dinner? Will cuteness win us the championship?" Stelle planted her hands on her hips, her expression radiating absolute, unearned smugness.
"Speed. Power. Intimidation. These are the true keys to victory! Just you wait, March. That first-place prize of three hundred points is already sitting in my pocket."
"Hmph! Keep dreaming, you trash panda!" March puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms in defiance.
Dan Heng sighed, setting his datapad down on the coffee table. He adjusted his collar and spoke with measured, analytical calm. "According to the Chat Group's event rules, the system provides standard-issue motorcycles with identical baseline specs. The cosmetic paint jobs have zero effect on actual mechanical performance."
He looked between the two girls. "The true key to victory will lie entirely in the driver's mastery of the vehicle, their ability to adapt to the hazardous track environments, and split-second reflexes."
Stelle immediately pointed an accusatory finger at him. "How can you say the paint job is useless?! Look at this aggressive styling! When the race starts, my sheer visual aura will strike fear into the hearts of my enemies. They will spin out just looking at me. First place is a guaranteed breeze."
Internally, she grumbled. She had spent three agonizing hours in the system's customization menu, carefully tweaking color sliders and decal placements to achieve maximum coolness. For Dan Heng to dismiss her artistic genius as useless was a crime against aesthetics. She would prove him wrong on the track.
Far across the multiverse, deep within Blazewood in the Outer Ring of New Eridu.
Belle and Wise sat hunched over a bank of glowing monitors inside their temporary setup. Cascading streams of complex code and topographical energy distribution maps of the Hollows scrolled rapidly across the displays. Two bowls of instant noodles sat abandoned on the desk, the broth long gone cold.
"Wise, the Hollow energy readings are spiking again," Belle said, tapping her pen against a rapidly climbing red curve on the primary monitor. "The fluctuation pattern is almost identical to the Aether peaks we recorded during the Tour de Inferno."
Wise did not look away from his screen. His fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard in a blur, instantly pulling up a comparative historical model. "Hmm. An eighty-nine percent match. It looks like the Hollow activity near the race route Caesar provided operates on a cycle of periodic enhancement. Let us finalize this data model. We need to warn Caesar and the Sons of Calydon to stay on high alert during the event."
He finally stopped typing, pinching the bridge of his nose and rubbing his strained eyes. He shifted his gaze to a secondary monitor, which displayed a dismal set of statistics: the simulated driving data from their own recent training runs.
"We have only managed to squeeze in a few virtual laps during our lunch breaks and late at night," Wise noted, his tone pragmatic. "Thankfully, we both already have our standard driver's licenses, so adapting to the system's motorcycle controls was not too difficult."
Belle slumped back in her rolling chair, letting out a long, dramatic sigh. "Wise, you are the one who said basic operations are fine. But this is a multidimensional death race! Basic operations are not going to cut it against people who fight monsters for a living."
She stared blankly at the ceiling, shuddering as a specific memory surfaced. "And those racing techniques Caesar and her crew use..."
"We can't replicate that. We really can't. That Outer Ring riding style, completely ignoring the terrain, relying entirely on raw instinct, and using sheer guts to bulldoze through obstacles, is suicidal for normal people. Inside a Hollow, a single micro-mistake means total annihilation."
Belle vividly recalled Caesar's demonstration from the day before. The gang leader had executed a wild, high-speed drift, leaning the bike so far over that her knee pads literally sparked against the asphalt. Just thinking about it made Belle's stomach do flips. There was absolutely no way two internet-savvy Proxies could master that level of daredevil riding in a few days.
Factor in their massive backlog of Proxy commissions and Hollow mapping duties, and their actual training time was practically zero.
"Agreed," Wise nodded firmly. "Let us treat the Sons of Calydon's riding style strictly as a theoretical reference. Under no circumstances should we actually attempt to mimic them."
He turned to his sister, his expression turning serious. "Remember, Belle. Safety first, competition second. Our primary objective is simply to cross the finish line in one piece, secure the participation points, and roll the system's lucky draw. Do not let the adrenaline get to your head. We still have a much larger mission to complete." A quiet, intense desire for the system's promised power flickered briefly in his calm gray eyes.
Belle caught his gaze and offered a knowing smile. Without another word, the siblings spun their chairs back to the monitors, diving straight back into the endless streams of code. The rhythmic clatter of mechanical keyboards and the sharp pings of Aether analysis alerts filled the small room, their own unique, quiet cadence of preparation.
Liyue. Deep beneath the roots of the Dragon-Queller at Mt. Hulao.
The atmosphere in the subterranean cavern was suffocatingly oppressive, carrying the crushing weight of solidified bedrock. Eight colossal stone steles erupted from the cavern floor, towering like silent, ancient sentinels. They were arranged in a complex, esoteric formation, completely encircling the massive, shifting form of Azhdaha.
Veins of rich, liquid gold pulsed across the weathered surfaces of the steles. The glowing geometric lines connected through the air, weaving together to form an absolute, indestructible seal. The sheer density of majestic Geo elemental power in the cavern made it difficult to even draw breath.
"Morax!!" A deafening, devastating roar detonated from the center of the formation. The sound carried a thousand years of endless, festering resentment, slamming into the cavern walls with physical force. "How can the regrets of a millennium be repaid?!"
Bound by massive, glowing chains of pure Geo energy, the Lord of Vishaps thrashed violently against his cage. With every frenzied impact of his colossal body, the golden runes on the steles flared blindingly bright, sending violent tremors rippling through the crust of Liyue.
Within his massive, reptilian eyes, nothing remained but chaotic, swirling madness. The cruel march of Erosion had long since devoured his noble sanity, leaving behind only a hollow shell fueled by a deep-seated, agonizing hatred for the god who had once been his closest friend.
Zhongli stood perfectly still just beyond the edge of the glowing boundary. His hands were clasped loosely behind his back. His deep golden eyes remained fixed on the agonizing struggles of his oldest companion.
Beneath his stoic, unreadable exterior, a storm of unspeakable emotion churned. There was deep guilt. There was quiet, enduring sorrow. But above all, there was the crushing, solitary weight of upholding a contract forged in blood and stone a millennium ago.
Slowly, the retired Archon raised his right hand. A stream of pure, concentrated Geo energy bled from his fingertips, flowing like liquid amber through the dark air and silently merging into the core of the sealing steles.
The golden barrier flared with renewed, overwhelming intensity. The reinforced pressure slammed down onto Azhdaha, firmly suppressing his violent thrashing and forcing the great dragon back down into the dirt. He could only issue a series of furious, helpless, rumbling growls that shook the dust from the ceiling.
After watching the runes stabilize and confirming that the seal would hold firm for the immediate future, Zhongli finally lowered his hand.
He closed his eyes, drawing in a slow, measured breath of the cool, dust-choked air. He forced the turbulent waves of grief back down into the depths of his chest, locking them away.
When his golden eyes opened once more, they reflected nothing but resolute, unshakable calm.
With a mere thought, the translucent blue interface of the Chat Group materialized before him. He raised a hand, his fingers hovering over the holographic keyboard for a long moment as he carefully deliberated his next words.
Finally, a concise, heavily weighted message appeared in the multiversal chat:
[Genshin Impact - Zhongli]: @[Genshin Impact - Lumine] @[Genshin Impact - Paimon] You two, the preparations at the seal are complete. Please proceed to the base of the Dragon-Queller at Mt. Hulao to help Azhdaha clear the Erosion. I am counting on you.
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