Kai couldn't help but rest his chin in his hand, lost in thought.
To be honest... Kai was completely uneasy about his wife's work.
The Hilichurl at Starfell Lake was a minor issue.
With the ability of Jean, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, eliminating them would be effortless.
After all, she was a woman who could single-handedly take down the three major tribes of Dadaupa Gorge.
In such a situation, a few mere Hilichurls were something she could handle with her eyes closed.
But the problem was... Jean was too devoted to her work.
Although she had promised to definitely return tonight, Kai had heard similar assurances countless times.
Yet, the execution rate was less than fifty percent.
Under these circumstances, to ensure this woman would dutifully return for her birthday and get some rest to avoid the fate of sudden death, Kai felt he had to come up with a plan.
"Hmm, I'll just deal with the Hilichurl at Starfell Lake in advance!" Kai murmured to himself.
After all, that's what Jean had said earlier: her afternoon task only involved the Hilichurl at Starfell Lake, and once they were resolved, she could go home.
Given that... wouldn't it be absolutely perfect to go deal with the Hilichurl in advance and then pick his wife up from the Knights of Favonius Headquarters?
Kai felt there wasn't a single flaw in this plan.
"Even if she wants to continue other work then, she won't find an excuse.
You thought you were on the fifth floor, and I was on the first?
That you could temporarily trick me into going back and then find a reason to continue working?
No... in fact, this move...
This move!
I'm on the atmospheric layer!
"Then, let's go!"
Opening the map and looking at the marker for Starfell Lake, Kai scratched his head.
He turned and walked out of his house.
Although he had been transmigrated to this world for two full years, the subconscious habit of opening the map for teleportation hadn't changed.
Theoretically speaking... Kai always felt that he indeed possessed the power to resonate with the Statues of The Seven.
He could activate some ancient teleportation anchor points for spatial jumps.
But for some reason, the idea was perfect, but reality was terrible.
Even after years of studying the Statues of The Seven within Mondstadt and the scattered teleportation anchor points, there was still no reaction.
"Perhaps I have to wait until the protagonist's group is in place before the so-called resonance can be triggered?" A large question mark appeared on Kai's forehead.
Perhaps... anyway, Kai still somewhat trusted his intuition.
According to the documents he saw in the office at noon, Jean planned to lead a team to Starfell Lake around 2 PM.
Glancing at the less-than-an-hour remaining, Kai calculated the distance and nodded slightly.
Yes, absolutely enough time!
Mondstadt City to Starfell Lake was quite a distance.
To go there and back within an hour, and also clear out any potential Hilichurl, theoretically, the only way was by horseback.
But the problem was... Kai wasn't very good at riding horses.
The worlds he had previously traveled through were either steampunk in style, or magical worlds where dragons roamed everywhere and magical beasts were less common than dogs.
When he finally got to play with superpowers, it was in proper modern technology settings, with cars and such.
In such circumstances... why practice horsemanship? To be a cowboy?
However,"It's fine," Kai murmured to himself.
His body was a little different from ordinary people's.
After traveling and adventuring through multiple worlds, even without activating any buffs, his physical attributes had grown to be tens of times greater than an average person's.
Therefore, his running speed had naturally increased significantly.
Although prolonged high-speed running would likely result in him spitting up blood afterwards, these were minor matters.
Just a fatal injury, that's all.
My body, Kai's body, is not that fragile.
"Let's go!"
Slowly leaving Mondstadt City, he crossed the bridge, making sure no one noticed him.
Kai took a deep breath.
He began to run frantically, almost at an incredible speed.
After just over ten minutes... gazing at Starfell Lake, which was already within reach, and the constantly moving figures, Kai gradually stopped.
The intelligence was indeed correct.
At this moment... not far away, a large number of Hilichurl had gathered here for some unknown reason.
Hilichurlian sentinel posts stood on the open ground.
Starfell Lake, which was originally so quiet that only the wind could be heard, had become a noisy place with the gathering of so many Hilichurl.
The air even carried a unique, peculiar scent.
"Hiss... that's quite a lot of them," Kai observed seriously.
Even if Jean were to deal with Hilichurl of this scale, it would take her quite some time.
She might even have to clean up the battlefield and handle various aftermath tasks, and it would be unknown how long that would take.
Although these tasks could be handled by anyone, given Jean's personality... "Never mind, it's better if I handle it," Kai clapped his hands.
Taking a deep breath, he walked directly towards the group of Hilichurl.
Almost at that instant, as Kai's steps entered, the surrounding space suddenly underwent an incredibly terrifying distortion.
A shocking amount of energy gradually permeated the area, transforming into streaks of golden light as the space twisted.
It was like a black hole, suddenly filling the entire airspace.
"@#$!**??"
Such an obvious scene was naturally noticed by the Hilichurl present.
Looking at the human walking towards them single-handedly, with the constantly twisting space releasing a deterrent energy, the chaotic Hilichurl present waved their wooden sticks and other weapons, letting out strange roars.
"Yo, hello," Kai stopped, raised his hand, and greeted them.
"Today is my wife's birthday, but because of you Hilichurl running around everywhere, she still has to be busy with work."
"So, I came to ask, can you all just scram on your own?"
Hilichurl: "#%=@*"
The answer Kai received was a language whose meaning he couldn't quite grasp.
"As expected, I still can't understand it."
Kai scratched his head.
"But I can probably tell that they don't want to leave, right?"
"In that case..."
Kai snapped his fingers.
In the sky, the golden distorted space that filled the surroundings, as time passed, revealed a series of uniquely shaped weapons.
These were elemental powers that fundamentally did not belong to this world.
But under Kai's urging, they appeared in this world with incredible realism.
"Then, I invite all of you to die!"
"Boom boom boom!"
Almost as soon as Kai's words fell, countless weapons, facing terrifying power, shot out dazzling light.
They descended furiously towards the Hilichurl on the ground.
It was a scene like a rain of swords.
Weapons, enhanced by mysterious power, transformed into brilliant streams of light.
They roared out from within the golden vortex.
Terrifying energy reverberated throughout Starfell Lake.
The Hilichurl trapped within, facing these weapons falling from the sky, didn't even have the ability to retaliate.
In just a few moments, they were completely enveloped by light, turning the area into a dreadful tomb of death.
A full fifteen minutes passed.
As the light gradually dissipated, facing the chaotic scene before him, Kai scratched his head and couldn't help but exclaim,
"Ah, it's finally over."
The Hilichurl had been completely annihilated.
Honestly... a few hundred Hilichurl would probably take the Knights of Favonius a good amount of time to deal with.
But for Kai, it was just a matter of raising his hand to summon the Gate of Babylon and solving it with his eyes closed.
After all, Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms are truly perfect for clearing out mobs.
As for why he possessed such abilities... well, as a Traveler, during his past adventures, having some heart-to-heart talks with certain individuals and then casually 'borrowing' a few Noble Phantasms was perfectly normal, wasn't it?
"However, this scene is a bit difficult to deal with."
Staring at Starfell Lake, which had been almost completely overturned by the bombardment of the Gate of Babylon, Kai fell into thought.
In this world, Hilichurl are a mysterious species.
It is said they were abyss monsters unexpectedly summoned by the alchemists, known as the "Gold," of the lost ancient kingdom of Khaenri'ah, when they lost control.
It is also possible that they were Khaenri'ahns who were corrupted and blackened by the power of the Abyss.
In any case, after being eliminated, they do not leave behind corpses like normal living beings.
Instead, they dissipate into ash on the spot, like energy bodies that have run out of power, so there's no need to worry too much about bodies.
But the problem is... facing Starfell Lake, which looks no different from an area hit by a natural disaster, if the Knights of Favonius were to come back and see this, Kai felt like he would just be adding another unsolved mystery to Mondstadt.
"But cleaning it up is really super troublesome."
Kai sighed leisurely, gradually falling into deep thought.
What should he do?
However, what Kai completely failed to notice was that at the same time, behind a large rock not far away, a young girl with short, light gold hair, wearing a white knee-length dress, was crouching with a solemn expression.
Her brown eyes emitted a cautious light, and she held a one-handed sword of unknown material in her hand.
Clearly, she had seen the entire scene just now without missing a single detail.
"Lumine~ This person is super scary!"
A white-haired figure, like an elf, hid beside the rock, peeking out her small head.
Her body was countless times smaller than a human's, allowing her to easily sit on the girl's shoulder.
And at this moment... she was floating in mid-air, speaking with a cute and childish voice, full of apprehension.
"Otherwise, let's wait until that scary guy leaves before we come out."
Pulling her small head back, Paimon suggested with a hint of unease.
The scene just now had clearly frightened her.
Hundreds of Hilichurl were wiped out almost in an instant.
She had never seen such a terrifying sight.
Could humans truly possess such power?
"But he doesn't seem like a bad person, does he?"
After a moment of hesitation, Lumine shook her head, staring at Kai's pensive face, and quietly said, "After all, this is near Mondstadt, so maybe he's one of the Knights of Favonius?"
"That's true~"
Paimon propped her chin, nodding her small head thoughtfully.
"I also feel like he might be one of the Knights of Favonius, otherwise, how could he be so powerful?"
"How about we go say hello to him and ask him to help us get to Mondstadt?"
Clapping her hands, Paimon's eyes lit up, suddenly proposing this idea.
After all, if the other party was a Knight of Favonius, according to the rumors of their benevolent and generous nature, they would definitely not refuse this request.
"Anyway, Lumine, hurry up and say hello to him!"
"Alright, alright."
Listening to Paimon's urging voice, Lumine sighed helplessly.
Just a moment ago, she was hiding behind the rock, scared and refusing to come out.
Her mind changes really quickly.
However, staring at Kai not far away, Lumine thought about it and had no objections.
After all, Mondstadt was indeed her destination this time.
Since she could meet the rumored Knights of Favonius who protected Mondstadt, asking them to be her guide was indeed a good choice.
"Hello, Knight of Favonius."
So... putting away her personal one-handed sword, Lumine walked towards the chaotic Starfell Lake, taking the initiative to greet him.
"Hmm? There's still someone here?"
Hearing the greeting, Kai raised his hand, almost subconsciously preparing to summon the Gate of Babylon and attack directly.
However, when he saw the figure that appeared before him, Kai, who had still harbored such thoughts, was slightly stunned.
He couldn't help but examine her closely.
Blonde hair, white dress, one-handed sword. White-haired, small body.
A silly, cute face.
This outfit… "The main characters?"
Kai blinked; a memory hidden deep in his mind.
It surged forth in an instant.
He recogniKaid their identities almost immediately.
And as Kai was recalling, Lumine, with Paimon, had already walked up to him.
Seeing Kai still in a daKai, Lumine thought for a moment and greeted him again.
"Hello, my name is Lumine, and this is my friend and guide, Paimon."
"Hmm, hello, Traveler from a foreign land."
"May the Anemo God trick you."
Kai was still lost in his own thoughts.
Hearing their greeting, he remembered the Knights of Favonius rules his wife often mentioned, and instinctively replied.
Paimon: "…"
Lumine: "???"
The girl's expression instantly stiffened.
Wait, what did I just hear?
"Ah, my apologies, that was a slip of the tongue."
Vaguely realizing that what he had just said was a bit off, Kai coughed twice and quickly corrected himself.
"Hello, Traveler from a foreign land, may the Anemo God protect you."
"So, what are you here for?"
"Actually… I'm in the process of searching for my family."
Lumine's expression became a little unnatural; she felt that this Favonius Knight in front of her seemed a bit… off.
However, going to Mondstadt was the main priority.
So… let's ignore these details for now!
"Due to certain circumstances, my family got separated during a long journey, so I'm currently searching for them."
"I plan to go to Mondstadt City to try my luck."
"I wonder, Favonius Knight… can you help us get to Mondstadt?"
"No… the problem is I'm not a Favonius Knight."
Kai shook his head, hearing this proposal.
He directly refused.
"Eh~ You're not a Favonius Knight but you possess such incredible power?"
Paimon floated in the air, her tone filled with surprise.
"Could it be that you're like the heroes often seen in novels… secretly protecting Mondstadt?"
Eliminating a few Hilichurl makes you a hero protecting Mondstadt? That hero title is too cheap, isn't it?
Kai had originally intended to dismiss them with a few casual words after replying.
After all, from the current situation, these two main characters were clearly about to enter the main storyline.
Since that was the case, adhering to the principle of "stay away from the main characters, live two more years," Kai had no intention of getting involved with them.
It was more important to rush home and pick up his wife from work.
However, facing the almost overturned Starfell Lake not far away, and the main characters, with their obvious 'tool-person' expressions, right in front of him, Kai paused for a moment.
A thought suddenly sparked in his mind.
Wait a minute… it seems I don't necessarily have to clean this up myself.
"As expected of a Traveler, you actually saw through that?"
So, staring at these two main characters, Kai suddenly put on a serious face.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he directly admitted it.
"Yes, I am the hero secretly protecting Mondstadt."
"Just call me Kai."