The battlefield cleanup progressed quickly, and in no time, everyone had finished.
This time, the loot from over twenty bandits was quite impressive.
Besides a large variety of bullets, the rest consisted of all kinds of firearms.
Four Colt pistols, five Remington shotguns, two Thompson submachine guns, and two AKM assault rifles.
To everyone, these weapons were far superior to their MP5s.
In fact, in the spot where Ryen had originally used an RPG, they even found a VSS suppressed sniper rifle.
That really felt like a stroke of luck.
Thanks to the RPG clearing the way earlier—had that bandit with the sniper rifle joined the fight, it wouldn't have been good news at all.
After distributing the loot, they set off once again.
What surprised Ryen was how much more interested everyone was in the shotguns.
As Diluc put it:
"These things save ammo, pack a punch, sound loud—carrying one just feels more badass."
Since Ryen didn't particularly need the guns, he just let everyone take what they wanted.
With careful use, the ammo would last them a day or two.
When they had set out yesterday, each person only carried one firearm. But now, everyone had at least two guns slung across their bodies.
Even Paimon carried a small pistol in each hand, which gave her a strangely comical cowboy look.
Though to be honest, the pistols were just decorative for Paimon—Ryen never expected her to actually fight.
She didn't dare to engage zombies in melee before, let alone a battlefield filled with flying bullets.
Bullets don't discriminate—what if she got hit?
Today's journey was relatively smooth.
Along the way, they encountered herds of sheep and cattle, even a few Creepers.
Everyone took the opportunity to test their firearms and came to a clear conclusion:
Against enemies without guns or powerful elemental protection, firearms were a dimensional advantage.
The enemies couldn't even get close.
If someone had Ganyu's marksmanship, enemies would be wiped out from hundreds of meters away.
For lower-tier combat units, large-scale use of firearms was absolutely the right choice.
As long as an individual's strength hadn't reached a qualitative breakthrough capable of altering war on a grand scale, firearms were the deadliest tools.
To Archons, their current arsenal meant little.
But for Genshin characters who still retained many human qualities, thousands of firearms would be a deadly threat.
A small-scale firefight against bandits completely reshaped everyone's views on combat and warfare.
Now, all that was left was large-scale distribution.
Ryen also talked to Ningguang, asking her to summon reliable members of the Forging Division.
From now on, advanced firearms like energy weapons, Barrett rifles, and grenade launchers would still be made by him.
But standard-issue weapons for the Qianyan Army and Knights of Favonius should be produced by the people of Liyue and Mondstadt themselves.
The Qianyan Army had over ten thousand soldiers, and there were still thousands stationed in the Knights.
Ryen couldn't be expected to stay locked in a room crafting weapons forever.
Following the Eye of Ender, they had been traveling for nearly a full day.
Everyone was fast on their feet, and thanks to lucky blocks, aside from the bullet consumption, their supplies—like food and iron—had actually increased.
Every time Ganyu opened one, it was at least iron blocks, often diamonds and emeralds too.
Her luck was frankly outrageous.
Venti, unconvinced, tried opening a block himself—and promptly triggered an obsidian trap.
Luckily, everyone was nearby—he wouldn't have died, but he might've lost a Totem of Undying.
Chatting and laughing along the way, it was nearing noon when the Eye of Ender finally led them to a wide-open view.
The sound of waves echoed softly in their ears.
Crossing a jungle and climbing a mountain, they finally reached the peak and looked ahead—
A vast, endless azure sea spread before them.
Though the waves roared below, the sea itself stretched out in tranquil peace.
Sunlight shimmered on the surface, and fish could be seen swimming below.
No islands in sight—only the deep blue filling their vision.
The sky and sea seemed to meet at the horizon.
The view was so breathtaking it left everyone feeling at ease.
Ningguang pursed her lips and whispered:
"If Beidou saw this ocean, she'd be thrilled and probably rally her crew to sail immediately."
"To her, this sea would be a brand-new adventure."
Ryen raised an eyebrow at her words.
"Captain of the Alcor?"
"You know her?" Ningguang asked curiously, then quickly realized, "Ah, I forgot. Beidou's tale of slaying the sea monster is quite popular among storytellers."
Ryen shrugged, offering no denial.
"By the way, aren't you and Beidou good friends? It's been so long—you never brought her to this world?"
At that, Ningguang's expression grew a bit complicated.
After a pause, she turned her head and said softly:
"That woman is as stubborn as they come. She's completely set on her own goals now, not paying much mind to Liyue."
"She really loves being the big sister who wants to shelter the whole world."
There was a trace of discontent in her voice.
Ryen could only guess what that meant.
Beidou had most likely already gotten involved with matters in Inazuma—she was probably with Sangonomiya Kokomi and the others right now.
So…
With Inazuma under total lockdown and unable to send trade caravans to Liyue to purchase supplies, Beidou ended up taking on that role instead, going to Inazuma to sell goods?
Ryen shook his head and didn't pursue the matter further.
He looked down and spotted a village not far away.
It wasn't as big as the village near the snowy mountains—this one looked like it only had seven or eight houses.
It didn't even have any Iron Golems.
One could say it was just as poor as the very first village Ryen had once stationed himself in.
Although it had a blacksmith, library, and farm ready-made…
Ryen knew that a village without even an Iron Golem wouldn't yield much benefit.
But the one upside was that the villagers themselves were ready resources.
According to the usual method, if he locked them all in a single room, they'd eventually multiply, and then the villager tech could start rolling.
Turning his head, Ryen looked at Jean and chuckled:
"Jean, what do you think about using this place as Mondstadt's first outpost?"
Jean, who had been admiring the scenery, hadn't expected Ryen to say something like that so suddenly, and was momentarily at a loss for words.
Ryen thought she was simply thinking it over, so he cheerfully pointed down at their feet.
"The village is by the sea. While it's not very large, you could expand it by filling in the sea with magma—maybe even build a floating island. Space won't be an issue."
"It's a bit far from the manor villa, but with a teleport point set up, distance won't be a problem."
"Besides, we'll be locking up the villagers soon. It won't take long for them to multiply enough to get the villager tech going."
"It's backed by a mountain, so there should be plenty of resources. And there's a forest nearby too, so there should be no shortage of wood or mines."
"Perfect spot, really. In the future, when we start sailing, this place can serve as a port, making departures easier."
"I should've mentioned it before—this world is endless. Across the ocean, there's bound to be bigger continents. We'll have to go explore them eventually."
"There are even sunken ships and treasure under the sea… All in all, I think this is a great choice for an outpost."
After Ryen finished his lengthy explanation, Jean finally came to her senses and quickly said:
"No—it's not that I'm unhappy with this place. I just didn't expect we'd be establishing a base for Mondstadt so soon…"
She took a deep breath, looked at Ryen, and said softly:
"This region is indeed great—plenty of resources, rich in minerals, and close to the sea."
"As for the land issue, there's nothing to worry about. Keqing and I have discussed using magma and water to reclaim land for Liyue Harbor."
"So we're aware of how to expand the usable area…"
She pursed her lips and gave a slight bow.
"I know I've said it many times already, but… Ryen, thank you."
Ryen smiled and shook his head, stopping Xiao from tossing out another Eye of Ender.
"Let's go handle this village first. Once we set up a teleport point, we can resume searching for the End Portal."
"I have a feeling… we're close to finding it."
With that, Ryen leapt down first. His elytra unfurled, and he glided through the air swiftly and freely.
A firework appeared in his hand, propelling him toward the village.
That's the difference between elytra and wind gliders.
Wind gliders couldn't be powered by fireworks, but elytra could.
That said, with the Dragon Knight mod activated, Ryen didn't care much for elytra anymore.
Once he could ride a dragon and bombard targets with RPGs, wouldn't that be way cooler than just gliding?
Soon, the others followed Ryen and landed on the ground.
The villagers were still wandering the village aimlessly, seemingly unaware of their presence.
One glance told Ryen all he needed to know. He shook his head with a bit of resignation.
As expected, this village only had three professions: librarian, farmer, and blacksmith.
The other four villagers were all unemployed.
There was no point in checking what they had for trade—Ryen simply rang the bell on the village well.
All seven villagers rushed into their respective houses.
"Tie them up with leads and herd them into one room. Place about 4.4 beds, then just wait."
Ryen gave his instructions, then added:
"None of these villagers have professions, but don't worry. Once we have more villagers, you can just build a villager trading hall."
Hearing that, Jean and the others nodded seriously.
They had already mastered the art of capturing villagers with leads.
In no time at all, all the villagers had been herded into a single room.
They also took the opportunity to harvest all the village's materials. Although it was poor, at least there were four emeralds.
Once everything was settled, Ryen set up the teleport point.
The group reconvened at the village entrance.
Ryen pulled out an Eye of Ender and smiled:
"With this, the foundation is set. As for the rest, wait until your people arrive. For now, let's continue searching for the End Portal."
With that, Ryen raised his hand and threw the Eye of Ender.
But unexpectedly, the Eye didn't fly far.
It only moved forward about four meters before gently falling to the ground.
Ryen raised an eyebrow and walked to where it landed, tossing it again.
This time, the moment it flew up, it immediately dropped downward.
"Ryen, is the Eye of Ender broken?" Ganyu asked curiously.
But Ryen's eyes gleamed with a smile.
"No—on the contrary. We've found the End Portal!"
~~----------------------
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