The elimination announcement echoed, and the players who were chatting all fell silent for a moment.
[Sangonomiya Kokomi: Gorou… was eliminated… by Miss Yae…]
[Arataki Itto: Whoa… she actually attacked her own ally?]
[Sparkle: Hehe, things are getting interesting.]
[Raiden Ei: Miko, you attacked your own side?]
[Yae Miko: I'm innocent~~~ It was self-defense… and I wasn't the one who eliminated Gorou.]
[Silver Wolf: Self-defense? That's a new one.]
[Raiden Ei: What exactly happened?]
[Yae Miko: I was just peacefully fishing for supplies when Gorou's island flew over from the distance, waving a kitchen knife and chasing me.]
[Sangonomiya Kokomi: Then… Miss Guuji… how did you survive?]
Kokomi clearly didn't believe a word of it. There had to be more to the story.
[Yae Miko: He slipped and fell off by himself.]
[Raiden Ei: Then… what about his knife?]
Ei was focused on the weapon. She didn't have one yet—if she got that knife, she'd be unstoppable.
[Yae Miko: Fell off with him.]
[Raiden Ei: What a waste… Miko, you're so bad. You couldn't even keep such a good weapon.]
[Sangonomiya Kokomi: …Sigh…]
Kokomi wanted to remind Ei not to trust Yae Miko's words—but then thought better of it. Their infighting had nothing to do with her.
Even if she stayed silent, others weren't so easily fooled.
[Jing Yuan: Attention, everyone—Miss Yae can likely move.]
[Ruan Mei: And she's carrying a weapon.]
[Jian: Most likely a knife.]
[Yae Miko: Hehe… you'd better hope I don't catch you.]
Fine, she couldn't fool them anymore. But right now, she held the advantage.
If she wanted to rob people, then she would. What could they do about it?
[Raiden Ei: Miko, come find me! Let's team up.]
The moment she heard Yae Miko had a weapon, Ei grew excited. If the two of them teamed up, wouldn't they crush everyone else instantly?
As for Yae Miko betraying her? Impossible. They were close friends.
[Yae Miko: Of course… where are you? Don't worry, with me around, we'll be unbeatable.]
[Nahida: Sigh…]
[Venti: ...]
[Furina: Are you serious? If you tell her your location, what do you think she'll do?]
[Raiden Ei: Impossible. Miko is my familiar. She would never betray me.]
[Silver Wolf: Did you forget what you did to her last game?]
[Raiden Ei: Uh… well… don't come near me!]
…This was bad.
The more Ei thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Last time, she had locked Miko up and beaten her. What if Miko was planning revenge?
A chill ran through her.
[Kujou Sara: If the Guuji dares harm the Shogun, I will not stand by.]
[Yae Miko: Oh? Quite bold. Do you really think you can protect her?]
What a joke. She could move, had a knife, and even a bow now. Tell me—how do you lose with that kind of advantage?
[Kujou Sara: Propeller Blueprint.JPG, Firearm Blueprint.JPG. You're welcome to try.]
[Yae Miko: Uh… well… we're all from Inazuma. Let's keep things harmonious.]
[Ningguang: Two blueprints—mobility and weapon. I can already see myself being eliminated. Inazuma has produced two bosses at once.]
[Yelan: Indeed. This game feels unwinnable. I might as well not resist.]
[Keqing: Agreed. Just waiting to be eliminated at this point.]
[Yae Miko: Oh come on, that's just unfair.]
She was furious. These Liyue people were shameless. Saying they wouldn't resist while clearly planning to gang up on them.
[Yukong: They're right. Those two can't be left unchecked.]
[Sunday: Exactly. With their current growth speed, if we don't unite, we'll all be wiped out on the first day.]
[Yae Miko: Heh, so you want to team up? Let's see how I deal with all of you.]
Now she was truly annoyed.
If she didn't show them what she was capable of, they'd think she was easy to bully.
In the distance, another black dot appeared.
"You'll do."
She stopped chatting and immediately steered her island toward the target.
High in the sky, two floating islands collided once again.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!!"
Lucy lay on the ground, tightly bound, struggling desperately.
She was furious. If you want to eliminate me, then just do it—what kind of experiment is this?!
"Miss Lucy, remember this. When you go down later, take a good look at what's beneath the clouds."
Herta tied fishing lines around Lucy while giving instructions. "Don't worry. If you survive and tell me what's down there, I won't eliminate you."
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
Her limbs were bound, and her mouth was gagged. All she could do was protest helplessly.
"Relax. I'm not like Yae Miko. I keep my word."
Giving her a reassuring look, Herta swung the fishing rod.
Lucy arced through the air and fell straight into the clouds.
"Mmmph—!"
Splash!
A dull sound echoed from below, like something heavy hitting water.
[Attention: Player Lucy has been eliminated by Player Herta.]
"…Huh. Eliminated instantly?"
Herta pouted slightly. It seemed her hypothesis was wrong.
Earlier, after fishing a few times, she had an idea—what if she sent someone down to see where the resources were coming from?
If she could figure that out, she could cooperate with others and have people retrieve supplies directly.
But now, it was clear—that plan wouldn't work.
The moment a player entered the clouds, they were immediately eliminated.
"…What a shame."
She opened the communication channel.
[Herta: Anyone who goes below the clouds is eliminated instantly. No need for further experiments.]
[Ruan Mei: I see. That's unfortunate.]
[Screwllum: It appears the secrets beneath the clouds will remain unknown.]
[Caesar: What do you mean? You used my Lucy as a test subject?!]
[Herta: This is a sacrifice for science. Besides, she attacked me first.]
[Caesar: Hmph… Lucy is so cute. How could you hurt her? Even if she attacked you first, doesn't that mean you have some fault too? Why didn't she attack others? Why you?]
[Seele: The way you're saying that… it sounds like you don't even see Lucy as a person.]
[Valerius: Puppies are so cute. How could you hurt them? Even if they bite you first, you shouldn't hurt them. Why didn't they bite others, but only you?]
[Serval: That translation is… disturbingly accurate.]
After Valerius's "translation," everyone truly understood just how terrifying Version T0 was.
There was simply no reasoning with it.
[Cocolia: I think you should learn from this, Bronya.]
[Bronya: …I think I'll pass.]
She felt a headache coming on. What was even the point of learning something like this?
Bronya could guarantee one thing—if her mother learned it in the morning, then Valerius must have left Belobog that very same afternoon.
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