Looking down at Lumine being restrained and Paimon screaming, Lofan couldn't help but break into a brilliant smile.
Was that a bit too harsh?
Lofan felt a fleeting pang of guilt, but it quickly subsided.
I can't just give up on a fat sheep like Lumine. She's my ticket to riches!
Farming Points from Lumine was as efficient as farming them from a God. How could he possibly stop now?!
I have to keep shearing this sheep!
Just think of it as a necessary sacrifice for saving Teyvat. I'm sure Lumine will understand, even if she suffers a little.
Besides, he paid such a generous reward. Under his tutelage, Lumine shouldn't struggle against a few mercenaries anymore.
Then again, who knows? The will of the greater world might be forcibly suppressing combat power.
"Forget it. I'll think about that later. Time to check my gains."
Lofan looked at his current Points with anticipation. The number that appeared before him made his eyes light up.
One million four hundred thousand!
He'd never fought such a profitable battle!
The score was higher than Lofan had expected. Sumeru alone shouldn't have yielded so many Points. The bulk must have come from the final wave when the Nail of Judgment appeared.
Its appearance would surely have alerted every powerful being across Teyvat, and it was from them that he'd farmed the majority of his Points.
It seemed this move was the right one. Though risky, the risk remained manageable.
With a single thought, he could easily teleport to another nation thousands of miles away. Even if Celestia truly appeared and discovered his existence, catching him would be no easy feat.
Unless Celestia destroyed the entire continent of Teyvat—but if his deductions were correct, Celestia likely lacked the authority to do so.
Besides, judging from the Khaenri'ah War five hundred years ago, Celestia's power, while formidable, was limited.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have brought the Seven Archons along. A single Celestial Nail would have ended it all.
Evidently, the Celestial Nail was a primary defense mechanism. Celestia would only intervene personally if the Nail failed to resolve the issue.
This meant Celestia could be exploited as a tool for farming Points. All he had to do was "die" cooperatively whenever a Celestial Nail appeared.
The possibilities just opened up!
Lofan stared at the 1.4 million Points, his eyes burning with desire.
Finally, the System can get a major upgrade!
Without hesitation, Lofan upgraded the System, unlocking three new functions: - Discounted Designated Avatars - SmarterAI (Managed AI) - Avatar Skill Sharing: Avatars can inherit one Skill from the Prime, as long as it doesn't exceed their body's limits.
Previously, Lofan had mostly redeemed ordinary human avatars. Using a special ability required transferring his consciousness, which became cumbersome with too many unique identities.
Now, this restriction was lifted. If Lofan wished, his Numbered Members could form an idol group and debut before the entire population of Teyvat.
Overall, these three new functions were extremely useful. The next System upgrade would require a whopping three million Points, but after this recent windfall, Lofan looked at the number and surprisingly didn't find it daunting.
This jackpot has made me a little arrogant, he mused.
Lofan then checked the abilities unlocked by the next System upgrade. One was increasing the number of abilities an identity could carry to five. The other was Avatar Fusion, allowing avatars to merge.
His eyes lit up at the second function. This is a game-changer.
When two avatars fused, the active avatar's stats would increase, while the absorbed avatar would be considered "dead," refunding a portion of its Points.
This meant that if Lofan spent his Points wisely, he could continuously fuse low-level avatars to create high-level ones. As long as he didn't fuse newly redeemed avatars in the middle of nowhere, the risk of losing Points was minimal.
Even if the stat boosts from each fusion were small, it was essentially a zero-cost business
Moreover, this had another crucial implication: Lofan could now create a body to serve as his Prime. By continuously fusing avatars into it, this Prime body could grow stronger indefinitely. He wouldn't need to save up ten million Points to redeem the ultimate body.
Without this ability, redeeming the ultimate body would have required a one-time payment of ten million Points—a daunting sum.
While the ten-million-Point body was truly invincible, even a one-million-Point body was more than enough to conquer Teyvat.
However, the current one-million-Point bodies had no growth potential; their limits were fixed. To get a stronger body, he would have to recycle the old one for Points and then redeem a better one.
The problem was, the more powerful the body, the lower the refund rate. A one-million-Point body would yield almost no return.
But with this new function, Lofan could cast aside his worries. He could redeem a powerful body now and enjoy its benefits immediately!
The thought made his heart race with excitement.
"I must unlock this crucial function as soon as possible!"
"Looks like it's time to accelerate the plan to bring internet to all of Teyvat."
To earn more Points, Lofan needed his actions to gain more attention. This was precisely why he wanted the Seven Nations to unite.
But even a Seven-Nation alliance couldn't compare to the internet. The web would truly turn Teyvat into a global village, where even the most trivial matters could capture the public's attention. If he orchestrated a major news story, Points would pour into his pockets nonstop.
At this thought, Lofan could hardly wait to start stirring things up.
He had already chosen his next target: Liyue!
Since Old Man Zhong enjoyed playing the part of a mortal and living a quiet, retired life among the people, Lofan wouldn't hold back.
He was determined to fleece this sheep!
And he couldn't neglect Lumine either—she was a prime, plump sheep!
The more famous she became, the more wool he could fleece from her. The prospect was almost too satisfying to contemplate!
Lofan took one last look at the group below, then shifted his consciousness directly to Liyue...
-
Is this really happening?
After the others had worked together to stop her from taking her own life, Lumine gradually calmed down as they continued to reason with her.
But despite their explanations, she still felt a deep sense of uncertainty.
The main reason was that the scene had been too shocking for Lumine. Dr. Edward had committed suicide so cleanly and decisively right before her eyes, and even after he stopped breathing, a strange smile lingered on his face.
No matter how she looked at it, Lumine couldn't possibly accept this world as real.
The others explained that while Dr. Edward had died, he wasn't completely dead. He had appeared to stop breathing, but he hadn't fully perished—his consciousness had simply returned, just like everyone else's.
"Of course this is the real world!" Nahida spoke up again, explaining as she cleaned up the traces on the ground. Chatting while standing over a corpse felt too unsettling.
"The members of this mysterious faction are special. Death isn't their end... Traveler, you can ask Greater Lord Rukkhadevata about this!"
When Lumine turned to look, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata nodded.
"It's true, Traveler."
As she spoke, a flicker of pity crossed Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's eyes. Dr. Edward really did a number on her.
"But that was terrifying! Who says goodbye like that?!" Paimon exclaimed, still shaken. She had been right beside Lumine when it happened.
Lumine nodded in agreement with Paimon. The scene had left a deep scar on her young heart
Lumine felt the biggest mistake she'd ever made was thinking Dr. Edward was a good person. He was nothing but a complete bastard with a terrible personality!
Thinking about the absurd dreams she'd had before, Lumine's rage surged.
He'd better not let me catch him again, she fumed, or I'll beat his ass with my Dull Blade!
If his corpse were still here, she might have even desecrated it!
"I believe Dr. Edward did this to give us a resolution," Greater Lord Rukkhadevata said with a gentle smile.
"While we know the deceased were all Dr. Edward's people, if he had wanted to spread that information, he wouldn't have needed to put everyone else to sleep.
"On the other hand, if we concealed the truth and didn't investigate the cause of death, Nahida's reputation would suffer a significant blow. But sending people to investigate would waste manpower and resources.
"So, Dr. Edward offered us his body, dying before our eyes, so we could use his corpse to quell the public's unrest and anger."
Hearing Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's deduction, the others were slightly stunned.
"I can't believe he considered even that," Neuvillette sighed softly.
"But did he have to die so terrifyingly?!"
Paimon finally snapped out of it. Though she felt a little better, the memory of that scene was still terrifying.
"Uh... perhaps your relationship with him was closer, so Dr. Edward wanted to give you a little scare."
After a long pause, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata finally offered a strained explanation.
Lumine and Paimon felt like they were going to vomit after hearing that. If they could do it all over again, they would stay as far away from Dr. Edward as possible!
"Ahem, in any case, Dr. Edward has seen his help through to the very end.
"Once the death toll stops rising, we will present his body and announce that the culprit has been brought to justice. Sumeru will then be able to restore peace in the shortest possible time.
"Still, I never imagined Sumeru had been infiltrated by so many people. If Dr. Edward had harbored even the slightest ill intent, I can't imagine how many innocent lives would have been lost."
Neuvillette nodded, understanding this point all too well.
Fontaine had sacrificed at least hundreds of thousands of lives for its hard-won peace. And if Emily hadn't been moved by Furina and switched sides in the end, the death toll would have been even higher.
Sumeru was truly fortunate!
"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, based on what Dr. Edward said earlier, did you two reach some kind of agreement?"
Nahida suddenly spoke up to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, unable to ignore what Dr. Edward had said earlier.
"Yes, he and I did make a small deal."
"Right while you were all having sweet dreams."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata gave Nahida a meaningful smile. Nahida immediately recalled her embarrassing behavior in the dream, and her face flushed red.
"Sweet dreams?"
Neuvillette and Paimon sounded confused, while Lumine gritted her teeth in frustration.
Paimon hadn't been pulled into the dreamscape. Neuvillette, not being a Sumerian, had simply been sleeping soundly without dreaming. Lumine, on the other hand, had been soloing the Abyss...
While Paimon and Neuvillette were fine, for Lumine, it had been an absolute nightmare.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem! Let's... let's discuss how to handle Dr. Edward's remains."
Nahida, desperate to prevent her embarrassing experience from being exposed, quickly changed the subject.
"Traveler, Paimon, Monsieur Neuvillette, would you be willing to let Sumeru take credit for this? It's incredibly important for us."
Nahida asked the three of them sincerely, while Greater Lord Rukkhadevata also looked at them with hopeful eyes.
"I know this credit belongs to all of us, so I will compensate you in other ways."
The three of them had no objections.
Neuvillette didn't care about fame at all; his reputation in Fontaine was already more than sufficient.
Although Lumine and Paimon wouldn't have minded becoming even more famous, they understood Nahida and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's current predicament and willingly relinquished the opportunity.
"Thank you! I promise I'll offer something that will satisfy all of you!" Nahida said gratefully.
"Don't be so formal, Nahida," Paimon quickly replied, waving her hands. "After everything we've been through, we're friends now! Friends are supposed to help and look out for each other!"
"Friends..."
Nahida murmured the word, her eyes unknowingly welling with tears.
"Nahida, what's wrong?"
Noticing her reaction, Lumine and Paimon looked at her with concern.
"It's nothing. I'm just... so happy."
Nahida wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. After five hundred years of solitude, she finally had friends she could truly cherish!
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata smiled warmly at the scene, feeling happy for Nahida.
Then, she turned to Neuvillette, who stood nearby, and spoke.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, I've heard that a certain Monsieur Rene in your nation possesses the technology to create bodies capable of housing consciousness."
Neuvillette was initially surprised by her words, but then a thought struck him.
"That is indeed true," he replied.
"However, I need to discuss this matter with Monsieur Rene. I will give Lady Rukkhadevata a reply as soon as possible."
"Then I must trouble you, Monsieur Neuvillette."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's lingering anxiety finally subsided. Although she was merely the last wisp of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness remaining in the world, she couldn't bear to part with the people of Sumeru, nor could she bear to leave this world.
If there was a way for her to stay, that would naturally be the best outcome.
With that settled, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata prepared to carry out her final task.
After Dr. Edward's Return, he had restored to her the ability to connect to the dreams of all Sumerians—an ability he had previously taken. Now, she had to return those dreams to every person in Sumeru...