I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Coincidentally, it's almost the same spawn point as the Traveler in my previous game.

However, unlike what Ivan remembered, this coastline was much, much larger than what he had seen in the game. In the game, the Cape of Winds coastline could be seen from one end to the other, but the Cape of Winds coastline where they were now was almost endless on both sides when viewed from the landing point, as if the terrain in the game had been magnified several times.

Ivan didn't dwell on this for too long. After all, if you looked at the map scale in the game in real life, the Mondstadt region wouldn't even be the size of a small county town, and Mondstadt is a country. Now, looking at the surrounding terrain, which seemed to be magnified several times in the game, it finally felt much more normal.

After a brief reorganization, Ivan led Squad A and Squad B to separate. Because the terrain of Windsor Cape was very unique, there was only one road leading to Mondstadt via Starfall Lake, so the group had no other choice. They then set off along the coastline.

After walking for about ten minutes, the group finally saw a cluster of rocks and forests, as well as a mountain path leading to Starfall Lake, which made Ivan realize once again how long the Cape of Winds coastline was.

At this moment, a strangely shaped statue covered in dust and half-hidden in the weeds at the entrance of the mountain road caught everyone's attention.

Xiang Feng straightened his beret and leaned closer to examine it with some curiosity, saying, "Is this a statue sculpted by people from another world? Why does it look so much like a chess piece?"

Just as Ivan was about to explain, Paimon spoke up: "This is something unique to our Teyvat continent. We don't know what it's used for, but it's not chess. Speaking of which, what is chess?"

Just as Xiang Feng was preparing with great interest to have a discussion with Paimon about "what is chess", Ivan interrupted their mutual explanation and said, "This is a teleportation anchor. These things are scattered all over the Teyvat continent. No one knows who made these teleportation anchors and when they were placed in various corners of the Teyvat continent, but it is very likely related to the ancient civilization of Teyvat."

Hearing Ivan's words, Paimon looked at him with surprise again: "I really don't understand how you know so much... Nobody in Teyvat knew what this thing was for before... But, this thing is actually a teleportation anchor? How do you use it? Do you resonate with it using elemental power?"

"Well... I'm not entirely sure either. But ordinary elemental power probably won't work; we'll likely need a special kind of elemental power."

With that, Ivan stepped forward and placed his hand on the teleportation anchor. A few seconds passed, and nothing happened.

Ivan coughed awkwardly, thinking to himself, "So it really didn't work."

But thinking about it, it makes sense. If I had that kind of peculiar elemental power, how could I have lived in both Earth and Blue Star for so many years without noticing it?

As an ordinary person, one shouldn't try to appear richer than one is.

Just as Ivan was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that the weeds and dead branches around the anchor point looked like they had been cut down, clearly indicating that someone had been there before them.

At this moment, Ivan finally noticed something that he had been ignoring, yet it was so obvious that it couldn't be more obvious.

The teleportation anchor was now flashing a blue light, instead of the red light that hadn't resonated before, meaning that someone had been here before them and had communicated and resonated with the anchor.

On the continent of Teyvat, there are only two people who can resonate with the teleportation anchor: the Traveler from the original Genshin Impact storyline—Kong and Ying.

The original storyline should have been that Sora or Luminous rescued Paimon from drowning, and then the two of them would embark on a journey to find their brother or sister. But now Paimon has been intercepted by himself, and judging from the thickness of the dust on this anchor point, it seems that no one has used it for a long time, which means that Sora or Luminous came here a long time ago.

So, due to some unknown factors, the timeline may have changed.

Ivan raised an eyebrow.

Could it be related to the force that invaded Earth?

Chapter 8 Greetings from Another World (5.8mm)

Adhering to the principle of discovering and not letting go of any opportunity, Ivan took a picture of the teleportation anchor point with his camera, which amazed Paimon once again.

Ivan had initially thought of mentioning that Teyvat had cameras, but then he realized that cameras were something only certain merchants in Liyue possessed, and were considered rare items that ordinary people or even Paimon would never have the opportunity to access. So he let it go.

As for why the advance team still brought cameras, it was obviously to take pictures of the customs and culture of this other world for later research, and now they've come in handy.

After taking photos of the teleportation anchor point, the group discovered nothing new and continued along the mountain path.

The mountain path was rugged, with vegetation of various kinds that they couldn't name on both sides. Xiang Feng and his team members advanced while keeping watch, protecting Ivan in the middle of the group. After more than ten minutes, the scene in front of them suddenly opened up, and they realized that they had reached a small cliff that was not too steep, with a wide open plain below.

Standing on this cliff, you can see most of the small plain in one view.

At that moment, a member of the special operations team suddenly said, "Captain, look, there seems to be a building over there. Is it a house belonging to people from another world?"

Ivan and Xiang Feng looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a yurt-like house standing at the foot of the cliff. Outside the house, several dark figures were walking back and forth, as if they were carrying something. If you looked closely, you could see that most of these people were somewhat withered, with thick hair on their heads, and were dressed in revealing clothes. Each of them was wearing a strange mask.

This is a Hilichurl!

Just as Ivan was about to warn everyone to be careful, Paimon took over the task, peeking out from behind Ivan and saying, "These are Hilichurls, everyone be careful, they are more terrifying than wild beasts."

Hearing this, the special forces soldiers were somewhat taken aback.

So what's below is a monster?

Ivan further explained, "These things were originally human, but in ancient times they were corrupted and infected by demons for some unknown reason, turning into monsters that attack anyone they encounter. Over thousands of years, these monsters have gradually gained intelligence and become a species completely different from humans, with their own language and behavioral habits, and they are scattered throughout every corner of the Teyvat continent. Everyone should still be careful, as their desire to attack humans is still very strong."

Xiang Feng asked curiously, "Why does it sound so much like zombies?"

Ivan paused for a moment: "Actually, that understanding isn't wrong... Of course, besides these, there are many other monsters on the Teyvat continent. Everyone should try to be careful when traveling. Unlike Earth, the places where humans can move around safely are still very limited."

After saying this, Ivan and the others walked down the cliff along the mountain path on their right.

They passed by two Hilichurl camps in succession, and Ivan and his companions deliberately chose to detour to avoid them, but what was bound to happen eventually did happen.

A few minutes later, a Hilichurl camp several times larger than the previous two camps blocked their way.

In the grass in front of the Hilichurl camp, the group crouched down. Ivan put down his binoculars and frowned, saying, "This camp is different from the previous two small camps. The Hilichurls in this camp have set up several lookout towers on both sides, providing a wide field of vision. There's basically no way to get around without attracting their attention. We only have two choices: either force our way through or use climbing equipment to climb up the rock walls on both sides and find another route."

After saying that, Ivan turned to look at Xiang Feng, and then the two of them laughed in perfect unison.

"Captain Xiang, I think we're on the same page, aren't we?"

Xiang Feng sneered, "Today, let these monsters from another world taste the peanuts of Earth."

"Lüshan".

"To!"

"Du Jiang."

"arrive."

"Xia Wenhong".

"arrive."

"Zuo Lan".

"arrive."

As Xiang Feng called out names, several team members dressed in starry jungle camouflage stepped forward, including a female soldier.

"Lü Shan, you and I will flank the camp to the left. The other three will find sniping positions in front of the camp, and the rest of you will stay put and keep watch to protect Commander Yi's safety."

"Yes!"

At the command, the special operations team members sprang into action. Xiang Feng and Lü Shan began to maneuver along the mountainside towards the left side of the camp, while the other three dispersed and disappeared into the woods in front of the camp.

Ivan picked up the binoculars again and looked at the Hilichurl camp.

Shortly after, a muffled and faint sound came from the left side of the camp. A cluster of red blood immediately burst from the head of a Hilichurl holding a crossbow who was standing guard on the left watchtower, and then collapsed to the ground.

The subtle commotion went unnoticed by the other Hilichurls. The gunshot, muffled by a silencer, was like a signal that something was about to happen. The next second, more faint gunshots rang out, and the Hilichurls on the outer watchtowers fell one after another.

At this moment, the few Hilichurls in the middle of the camp, wielding homemade spiked clubs, finally noticed something. Somewhat puzzled, they walked out of the camp and stood at the main gate, looking around. But the next second, a series of similar gunshots rang out in front of the main gate, and several Hilichurls were shot in the head. They didn't even understand how they died.

At this point, only one Hilichurl remained in the entire camp—a giant Hilichurl over two meters tall, wielding a massive axe, with a muscular, bushy beard.

Because the sniping by Xiang Feng and his team was so subtle as to be almost negligible, the enormous Hilichurl was sitting in the center of the camp, dozing off with its giant axe lying beside it, when it was shot in the head by a 5.8mm bullet and sent to Hilichurl's utopia.

The battle ended easily within minutes.

The enormous advantage of technological leap is fully demonstrated here; it's practically a game-changer.

The fact that all of their own people died without even seeing a shadow of the enemy would probably be considered a supernatural phenomenon by other Hilichurls. But unfortunately, the Hilichurl camp had already been cleared out by the advance team, so this terrifying story was destined not to reach the ears of other Hilichurls.

After the battle, it was time to clean up the battlefield. Fortunately, Ivan and the others didn't need to dismantle the buildings in the camp. All they had to do was check the situation in the camp, take a few photos of the camp and the Hilichurls' corpses, and pick up some of the Hilichurls' "local specialties".

Ahem, this isn't looting, it's supplementing data for future research on Hilichurls.

Of course, some surprising things happened during this time. The corpses of those Hilichurls turned into light particles and disappeared completely on the spot not long afterward.

This surprised Ivan. He had thought that the way Hilichurls turned to ash after death in the game was just a way to maintain harmony, but he didn't expect it to be the same in reality. This was very interesting and a question worth studying, but now was not the time.

With the camp obstacles cleared, the priority now is to continue our journey.

Chapter 9 The Nun Cleaning the Statues

After that, Ivan and his group were lucky and did not encounter any more Hilichurl camps.

But an unexpected incident occurred in the middle.

Paimon told Ivan that he felt very sleepy and wanted to go to bed. Then he conjured a bracelet and hid inside it. This was Paimon's ability to turn himself into particles and hide inside an object.

This prompted the team members to exclaim in amazement.

Ivan put the bracelet on his wrist and continued on his way.

After crossing another small hill, a small lake formed by the convergence of streams suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes.

On the shore of the lake, a prominent statue stands there.

This statue was different from the previous teleportation anchors; it was much larger, and it was clear that the sculpture depicted a hooded figure. Ivan immediately recognized it as the Seven Statues of Mondstadt—the statue of Barbatos, the god of wind.

So this must be Xingluo Lake.

Just then, Xiang Feng suddenly raised his gun.

"Who goes there!"

The next second, all members of the special operations team also pointed their guns in the direction Xiang Feng was looking.

Ivan looked over with some curiosity and saw a girl with blonde twin ponytails, wearing a white nun's dress and a canvas hat with the church symbol on her head, timidly emerging from behind the Seven Gods statue, holding a broom in both hands.

"Who...who are you people?"

The girl spoke, appearing somewhat frightened in the face of so many strangely dressed people.

Seeing that the other party was just an unarmed girl, the special forces members looked at each other and then put down their guns.

Ivan's eyes lit up; he recognized the girl!

Barbara, the Healing Sister, is the personal physician of Mondstadt Cathedral, a singing idol of Mondstadt, and the sister of Jean, the acting Grand Master of the Knights of Mondstadt. She was originally a very important NPC in the game, and also the first healing character that players could obtain.

Although Ivan recognized Barbara, Barbara did not recognize them. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Ivan introduced himself first.

“Young lady, my name is Ivan. We are travelers from afar, and these are my friends. We just encountered some Hilichurls, so we're still a bit tense. I apologize for startling you. Judging from your clothes, you must work at the church, right?”

Barbara nodded timidly: "Yes...yes, I work at Mondstadt Church, and my name is Barbara."

Xiang Feng asked curiously, "Miss Barbara, the wilderness is so dangerous, why are you here all by yourself?"

Barbara gripped the broom tightly and replied, "This is our church's job. We send people every week to clean the septuagenarian statues throughout Mondstadt."

"The Seven Gods Statue?" Xiang Feng turned to look at the statue beside him. "Is this it?"

"Yes......"