Chapter 33: The Fatui's Secret Base
The Fatui's base was hidden behind the rocks in the mountains, overgrown with weeds and jagged stones. No ordinary person would ever imagine a stronghold concealed here.
The group stealthily approached the entrance, and Su Han let out a whistle.
"Who's there?"
The guard at the entrance looked around warily.
So Su Han whistled again.
The guard grew even more alert but didn't come over, until an impatient Diluc charged forward and beheaded him with a single stroke.
Su Han: "..."
Reality sure was different from Assassin's Creed—he'd been hoping to play around with some bush-ambush neck-slicing assassination.
"Make it quick." Diluc's face was cold as he led the way into the base.
"Pfft, idiot." Paimon mocked him mercilessly, then scampered after Lumine into the base.
"I'll be waiting for your good news, then." Venti pulled out a bottle of dandelion wine he'd swiped and waved goodbye from outside.
...
The ground here was paved with bluestone tiles, and ahead was a stone bridge made of several bluestone slabs. Beneath the bridge flowed surging magma—if anyone fell in, there'd be nothing left of them.
Diluc: "Hmph, they're really cautious, setting up traps even inside their own base."
Lumine stared at the stone bridge for a moment, then picked up a rock and tossed it onto the bridge.
"Bang—"
The instant the rock touched the bridge, the entire structure flipped over by two-thirds, and a small turret embedded in the underside of the slabs activated automatically, spewing flames in all directions.
"Whoa!"
Paimon, who had been about to fly across first, yelped and darted back. It took her a while to realize she was flying in the air, and the turret's flames couldn't reach her at all.
Su Han praised her: "Lumine, that was sharp observation. It's clear you have a wealth of adventuring experience."
Lumine crossed her arms at her waist, her little face beaming with a "Aren't I awesome?" expression that made everyone chuckle.
Jean: "If we destroy the mechanism here, I wonder if it'll alert anyone."
"Luckily, I can create a wind current. Let's use our Wings of Wind to fly across."
As the holder of an Anemo Vision, Grand Master Jean could generate a wind current strong enough for everyone present to glide over the bridge. Fortunately, the trap's designer must have been unskilled, as there were no high-altitude triggers like Su Han had imagined.
Otherwise, if something went wrong, he'd have to step in with Shunpo to save the day.
Paimon, who reached the other side first, quietly slipped into a small room on the left. Her eyes lit up at the treasure chest in the corner, completely oblivious to the unusual aura in the room.
However, the moment Paimon touched the chest, an iron gate suspended from the ceiling slammed down, trapping her inside.
Three purple slimes crackling with electro energy dropped from above, closing in on Paimon.
"Whoa, help!"
Paimon screamed for help while squeezing out through the gap at the top of the iron gate, leaving the three Electro Slimes bewildered in place.
Diluc: "..."
Jean: "..."
Su Han: "Clearly, the person who designed this trap was quite the fool."
Lumine: "Why?"
Su Han: "They didn't account for a tiny, flying creature cracking their trap so easily."
Lumine: "Who in their right mind would account for that?!"
Paimon: "Treasure chest, treasure chest! Su Skinflint, there's a treasure chest in there!"
"Hadō #4: Byakurai."
Su Han shook his head slightly, lifted his fingertip, and a dazzling bolt of lightning instantly pierced the nearest Electro Slime.
But the power was weak, not enough to kill it in one hit—just leaving it looking wilted and sluggish.
After doing this, he noticed everyone staring at him in astonishment, as if something unbelievable had happened.
Su Han frowned slightly: "What are you looking at me for? Is there a problem?"
Jean: "It seems you don't know about Teyvat's [Elemental Laws]."
Diluc: "Hmph, Teyvat's seven elements not only have mutual weaknesses."
"If used properly, you can also exploit reactions from clashing elements to deal amplified damage."
Jean: "For example, if you attack an Electro shield with equal Electro power, the result is just one thing—immunity."
"But 'immunity' has its limits. As Lisa says, 'Lower mysteries are destined to be crushed by higher ones.'"
"If your understanding and control of the same element reaches a higher level, you can easily shatter a lower-level shield of the same element. That's Teyvat's elemental law."
Paimon: "Yeah, yeah! Otherwise, if the Raiden Shogun, who's mastered Electro to the extreme, couldn't even hurt an Electro Slime, it'd be total chaos."
Diluc: "That's why we're curious about your attack just now."
"It was a lightning bolt so weak it couldn't even kill a slime, yet it ignored the immunity and pierced straight through the defense to injure it..."
Su Han: Are you mocking me?
After pondering for a moment, Su Han said: "I think it's because the technique I used isn't based on elemental power."
"Did any of you sense elemental fluctuations from my attack just now?"
"For now, the attack methods I've mastered convert elements into another substance you can't comprehend, and use that to launch the strike."
"Though, if I really encounter an elemental shield, whether it can ignore it is still unknown..."
Jean: "That makes sense. Senior Diluc, could you guard the entrance here for us?"
"I want to run an experiment with Su Han. It might be key to effectively boosting the power he commands."
Diluc: "Stop calling me senior already."
After that, Jean led Su Han to another trap room, this one holding three Hydro Slimes.
Jean took a deep breath, crouched down—her fine figure on full display—and used the power of [Wind Pressure Sword] to gather them together.
A gentle breeze appeared out of nowhere in the room, and the soft, plump white slimes seemed guided by the wind, bouncing happily and jiggling around.
"Try using that attack on them again."
Su Han lifted his fingertip slightly: "Hadō #4: Byakurai."
Zzzzt, crackle crackle—
Something astonishing happened.
The lightning bolt from his fingertip clearly only hit one Hydro Slime.
But a chain of electricity appeared around the Hydro Slime's body out of nowhere, spreading the damage to all the Hydro Slimes.
Then, under Jean's guidance, Su Han tested it on Pyro Slimes, Cryo Slimes... and even a Fatui elite member that Grand Master Jean had captured alive...
The opponent wasn't some low-intelligence monster; he knew how to dodge and ambush.
While fighting him, Su Han deliberately suppressed his spiritual pressure, focusing intently on the battle and constantly honing his attack skills.
But whenever the Fatui elite was about to land a hit on him, Su Han would immediately release his full spiritual pressure, stunning the man in place.
This went on repeatedly until, finally, the Fatui elite said in despair: "If you're going to torture me like this, just kill me already!"
Jean looked apologetic: "Sorry, I didn't consider your feelings."
With that, she thrust her sword into his heart, giving the Fatui a quick end.
Lumine: "..."
Fatui: "The... Lady won't let you get away with this..."
Paimon: "The Lady? This is like the second time I've heard that name. So weird."
Diluc: "One of the Fatui's Eleven Harbingers, eighth seat, codename [The Lady]."
Paimon: "Whoa, when did you get here?"
Diluc: "You were taking so long, I thought you ran into trouble."
"The Fatui can run rampant across the seven nations and threaten the Knights of Favonius all because of these eleven Harbingers."
"Time's short—we need to strike fast before she learns of this."
"By the way, how did your tests go?"
Lumine: "How do I put it... The abilities Su Han has mastered are really something to envy."
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