In the game, Matthias is the founder and leader of the villainous organization, the Solarii.
"Solarii," meaning "Children of the Sun," was an organization Matthias built up gradually in the 90s, growing and strengthening it by cruelly recruiting survivors who drifted onto this island.
The meaning of the organization's name is "Children of the Sun" because they worship the Sun Queen, Himiko, making the group both a religious cult and an armed militia.
Matthias was a survivor of a plane crash; once he was stranded on this deserted island, he soon discovered that any effort to escape would be in vain.
Therefore, he established a reputation among the survivors through various means, became their leader, and founded the Solarii.
Through over a decade of tireless effort, he successfully discovered the secrets of this deserted island and learned the true reason why no one could leave.
So, he built a new city around Himiko's palace, both to defend against the intrusion of the "Oni" and to command the entire island's situation from a high vantage point.
Because he decided not to let a single survivor who drifted onto the island escape.
This was not just for his own rule, but also to find Himiko's "successor."
As long as Himiko was reborn in her "successor's" body, the storms outside the island would cease, and Matthias could use Himiko's power to establish a new world and be reborn within it.
As a descendant of Himiko, Samantha was the best "successor," so Matthias sought them out, and his conversation with them was also to confirm Samantha's identity.
In the game, the Solarii were the largest villainous organization on the island, though they were still wiped out by Lara alone.
The Solarii members' attitude toward Lara also changed over time; at first, they were very dismissive of her, but as the game progressed, some members began to be cautious or even afraid of Lara.
There were even members who, upon encountering Lara, would feign peace or even shout "Run away!" or express in chats with their comrades that they didn't want to run into this murderous she-devil.
But they couldn't be blamed; in the game, the Solarii were basically just extras who delivered kills and experience points to Lara. The only ones who could be considered true obstacles were those few named high-level personnel... Looking at Matthias, who was now under his control, Xia Yu looked down and pondered how to deal with him.
It didn't seem right to kill him off so easily; after all, he was the mastermind behind the entire game and one of the enemies Lara had to face.
The entirety of tomb raider 9 tells the story of Lara's growth, turning her from a fragile young girl into a strong warrior.
He didn't want to ruin Lara's growth, even if the price of that growth was a bit high—only four members of the expedition survived, and Lara herself was covered in wounds.
So while Xia Yu didn't want to ruin Lara's growth, growth through sacrifice was simply too cruel; a more appropriate level of growth would be better.
Moreover, he could use the Solarii for practice to deal with Trinity later on; Trinity was the overarching villain throughout the entire tomb raider series.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu looked at the enslaved Matthias and immediately altered his perception and parts of his memory.
He would continue to search for Himiko's successor, but his perception had been changed; the successor was no longer Samantha, but a middle-aged man—a middle-aged man wearing glasses who looked very academic.
That's right, it was Dr. Whitman, that profit-driven, inhumane archaeologist. He wasn't a good person anyway, so he might as well use his final bit of utility on this island.
With those thoughts, Xia Yu altered Matthias's perception according to his memories. A few seconds later, the modification was complete.
"Alright, time to go back. It's about time."
Xia Yu clapped his hands, and Matthias instantly woke up. He was a bit dazed at first, but then his eyes gradually cleared.
"Mr. Xia Yu, that was a truly pleasant conversation. Let's head back then."
Matthias put on a gentle expression. In his memory, he had just chatted with the young man in front of him for a moment; now that the conversation was over, it was time to go back.
Afterward, the two of them walked toward the campfire one after the other, as if nothing had happened.
Less than ten minutes had passed since they left the campfire. Lara and Samantha were still chatting at the campfire about their experiences.
Seeing Xia Yu and the other return, Lara immediately stood up to meet them, but seeing that there seemed to be no conflict between the two, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"What did you talk about? Why was it so fast?"
Watching Xia Yu sit down in front of the campfire, Lara followed suit and sat beside him, asking quietly in his ear.
"What? Worried about me?"
Xia Yu leaned into Lara's ear and spoke softly. The hot breath made the tips of Lara's ears turn red; she gave Xia Yu a sidelong glance, huffed softly, and stopped asking.
Samantha, watching their interaction from the side, felt a bit envious; perhaps she should find a boyfriend too.
On the other side, Matthias also sat down by the campfire. He looked at Samantha and said, "Samantha, can you tell me more about the story of the Sun Queen? I'm very interested."
"Um... alright then." Hearing the request, Samantha thought for a moment and continued, "Whether you believe it or not, thousands of years ago, Queen Himiko ruled almost all of Japan..."
Hearing Samantha start the story again, Lara quietly turned her head and whispered to Xia Yu, "She loves telling this story the most."
"...Himiko was a mysterious, peerless beauty, but she was also brutal and heartless, doing whatever she pleased. It is said she possessed shamanic magic."
Hearing this, Lara glanced at Xia Yu. She had witnessed the existence of magic not long ago, but she wasn't foolish enough to reveal it.
However, according to her previous way of thinking, she certainly wouldn't have believed in such supernatural existences.
"She controlled an army of warriors, the powerful Storm Warriors; they could ride the wind to conquer and leave no enemy alive."
While Samantha was still telling the story, Lara was already starting to feel sleepy. She didn't know how many times she had heard this story; she was already more than familiar with it.
With the warm campfire in front of her and the story sounding like a lullaby in her ears, the relaxed Lara soon closed her eyes and fell asleep leaning on Xia Yu's shoulder.
Xia Yu carefully supported Lara and placed her on his lap, then waited for the other crew members to arrive.
As the burning campfire crackled, after an unknown amount of time, Lara was suddenly startled awake by the sound of voices.
The other members of the endurance had found their way there. They were talking with Samantha and Xia Yu about the previous situation. Seeing this, Lara also propped herself up and sat up.
"Awake?"
Feeling Lara wake up, Xia Yu turned and asked. Hearing this, Lara felt a bit embarrassed, but she quickly stabilized her emotions and asked.
"Everyone else is here? Where are Matthias and Dr. Whitman? I don't see them."
Hearing the question, Xia Yu shrugged and explained, "You know what kind of guy Whitman is. Matthias said there's a tomb nearby, so he immediately wanted to go check it out to see if he could add the exploration records of that tomb to his show."
"They've been gone for a while now; we're waiting for the two of them to return."