strictlysupreme Chapter 318 Untitled (3)
Chapter 318 Untitled (3)
Based on the map and Fu Hua's description, Kong and Paimon arrived at the location where the Abyss had last erupted. The place was now in ruins, with traces of battle everywhere. The most conspicuous thing was the damaged device.
The device was now covered in dust. Kong took out the device that Fu Hua had given him before he left and began to test it.
Fortunately, after checking the sky for a while, no trace of the Abyss was found, which means that at least for this period of time, the Abyss has not invaded Teyvat from here again.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Even if this is the first place to be breached, it doesn't mean that the Abyss will stubbornly invade here again.
However, this also makes things complicated, given the Abyss's all-pervasive nature. By the time you discover traces of the Abyss, other places will have already been largely invaded by it.
This is the biggest feeling I had after traveling through Nata. Even though Nata and the entire Teyvat Abyss have been isolated by Kiana, a lot of traces of the Abyss still remain inside Nata.
Although Kong was eager to confirm whether the Abyss invasion had completely ended, the device Fu Hua had given him was ultimately just a detection device and couldn't provide any warnings. And indeed, the traces of the Abyss here had been completely cleared away.
"What should we do now? Should we look for any Abyss Orders nearby and try to get anything out of them?" Paimon asked.
After frowning and thinking for a moment, Kong said, "No, let's go back to Liyue Harbor and find Kiana first. Perhaps we can get more clues from her."
“That’s true. Since Fu Hua said that everything is under Kiana’s control, it’s better for her to ask for some clues than for us to search aimlessly.” Paimon then sighed, “I’ve been a little unaccustomed to the little guy leaving. I’m really worried about whether it’s okay for it to travel alone.”
Yes, shortly after completing the final trial in the Holy City, at the place where they first met the little guy, he said goodbye to Kong and the others.
Unlike before when he only left for a day, this time the little guy was really determined to travel alone.
Although they were a little reluctant, Sora chose to respect the little guy's decision. After taking one last photo with the little guy, they parted ways with him.
"It should still be traveling around Nata right now. Although it has lost the power of the Flame Lord's Blessing, it has still traveled with us for so long, so we can't really treat it like a child. Besides, didn't we ask our friends in Nata to help it as much as possible if they encounter it in the wild?"
"Well, that's right."
A few days later, Sora arrived at Kiana's residence.
However, Sora didn't see Kiana this time. Just as he arrived at the door and was about to knock, Bella appeared. She told Sora that Kiana's due date was approaching, and Kiana was gradually refusing to see anyone. She suggested that if he needed anything, he could go to the captain.
After relaying the message, Bella asked Sora and Paimon to leave. Although they were turned away, at least Sora knew who to go to next.
Finding the captain was quite easy; he was spotted at the Adventurers' Guild in no time.
"So you came to find me because of the Abyss, right?"
After three bowls of tea, the captain and Kong ordered a pot of tea and began to chat.
"Yes, Fu Hua told us that Kiana might know more, but Kiana is currently refusing to see guests, so can the captain tell us more information?"
"Actually, I don't know much either..."
The captain then began to recount the information he knew…
"That's all the information I have."
"I see. It's because the will of the Abyss analyzed the barrier set up by Kiana through the Abyss left behind inside Nata, and finally passed through the barrier set up by Kiana and descended into the Valley of the Fallen Jade. At the same time, because of the intervention of the Abyss Order, by the time someone discovered the traces of the Abyss, the Abyss had actually been invading Teyvat for some time."
“That’s right.” The captain picked up his teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and said, “If it weren’t for Kiana’s help in handling the aftermath, the Abyss would probably have already begun a large-scale invasion.”
"Wow, I didn't expect there to be this connection. It seems we let our guard down," Paimon said, patting his chest with lingering fear.
"Don't worry, if it really erupts, it won't wait until you go over to check before it does. Although the Abyss has bypassed Kiana's barrier by relying on the nature of Honkai, it has also lost some of its concealment. If it accumulates too much, it will be unable to hide and will erupt completely. That's why the Abyss Order used that device and sent people to absorb the power back then."
"So, the Abyss Order was not only hiding the existence of the Abyss, but also using the new Abyss to strengthen its own power?" Kong asked, frowning.
"Of course. If it were just a matter of hiding, a catastrophe like the Great Collapse that happened in my hometown would have occurred long ago, instead of us having to go there to deal with it before we discovered the current situation."
"So what's Kiana's attitude? Does she really just see all of this as a test for the Teyvat beings?"
"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case at present."
"This doesn't look right at all! The Kiana I remember is definitely not like this!" Paimon said excitedly.
"The Kiana I remember wasn't like this either," the captain sighed. "Right now, we can only speculate that past plans had some impact on her."
"Past plans?"
"Listen, what I'm about to tell you concerns a secret about this world. I hope you will keep these things a secret."
The captain looked at Kong and Paimon with a serious expression. After receiving their assurances, the captain set up a soundproof barrier and began to tell the story of Kiana's creation of the world...
"This story begins when Kiana and her friends arrived in this world and gradually discovered that the history of this world was being constantly changed. After learning about the situation, Kiana began to search for traces of her past existence."
“No wonder we found Kiana with the archaeological team when we were in Sumeru. So that’s why,” Paimon said.
"After investigating the specifics, Kiana began her plan, the first step of which was to return to a time before Teyvat was even born..."
Upon hearing this, Kong and Paimon were immediately shocked, because according to the captain, Kiana had traveled to the past on her own initiative.
As for time travel, there's only one person I can think of who could do it, and that person is Ishtar. But Ishtar and Kiana's relationship back then probably wasn't the same as it is now, right?