"This power!"
Jiang Xiaofeng felt the machine body, more advanced than machines like the Ruin Graders.
"Although most of its abilities come from the filth here in the Chasm... it isn't this machine's power I'm after right now anyway..."
Muttering softly, Jiang Xiaofeng burrowed underground.
Rumble, rumble...
Jiang Xiaofeng sped through the earth.
Something like a built-in detection radar in the Ruin Serpent kept transmitting information about what lay above into Jiang Xiaofeng's head.
Using this ability, Jiang Xiaofeng soon found the cavern of the Underground Waterway.
Jiang Xiaofeng broke through the ground and stuck out his tail.
A clump of green moss emerged from the drill and fell to the ground.
The tail instantly lost its strength as well, collapsing on the spot.
Jiang Xiaofeng released his humanoid body, possessed it, and soon stood up.
Looking at the opening above, Jiang Xiaofeng flew up.
Soon, Jiang Xiaofeng spotted a group of Fatui Skirmishers.
"Hey! You there!"
Jiang Xiaofeng waved at them.
The Electrohammer directed an Anemoboxer beside him to walk over.
"Friend, is there something you need?"
The Anemoboxer spoke in a gruff voice.
It wasn't that the Fatui Skirmishers were good-tempered. They had noticed how Jiang Xiaofeng had appeared here, and the Anemoboxer felt it would be better to follow his heart...
"..."
Jiang Xiaofeng tilted his head up slightly to look at the Anemoboxer.
Why was he so tall...
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head lightly and said, "Katarina. Do you still know her?"
The Anemoboxer nodded.
"Of course. She's also a member of our group of squads."
In fact, he did remember Katarina, but he had gotten to know her through her younger brother.
After all, younger brothers who protected their older sisters that fiercely were truly rare.
Jiang Xiaofeng nodded and walked up to the camp.
"I'll leave these supplies for you. Use them sparingly."
Jiang Xiaofeng released a large pile of raw meat, fowl, flour, and other things. At the same time, he repeated some of what he had told Katarina.
Looking at the supplies covering the ground, the Anemoboxer nodded happily.
But the Electrohammer asked, "You aren't an ordinary person, are you? Otherwise, why would you bring supplies to people like us?"
"You might not necessarily be one of the Fatui, but you probably don't bear much ill will toward us Fatui."
"Then could we ask you to deliver a message to our Harbinger, the Knave?"
"Please say this: Lord Harbinger! We have no regrets about being assigned to your command! To die on a mission you issued is an honor for our Ninth Company!"
"We would be forever grateful!"
The Electrohammer bowed deeply to Jiang Xiaofeng.
Jiang Xiaofeng waved a hand and took out paper and a pen.
Don't ask. If you did, the answer was that Jiang Xiaofeng had thought he might have a habit of recording interesting events, but after discovering that this was merely a delusion on par with life's three great delusions, these were what remained.
"Write it down. I can't remember all that."
Jiang Xiaofeng looked at the Electrohammer.
"Besides, with that pessimistic attitude, are you planning to give up on yourself?!"
Jiang Xiaofeng barked.
"Look at yourself now, then look at your comrades!"
"Is this how you take care of your company?"
"If you don't know what to do next, go help the other companies. There'll always be something to do."
Having said his piece, Jiang Xiaofeng turned and left.
"We haven't yet asked your name!"
Jiang Xiaofeng waved a hand.
"The Beheaded, or the Beheaded. Either is fine."
"And keep those words for yourself to tell the Knave."
Whether the Knave would actually listen carefully was another matter...
Jiang Xiaofeng thought.
He completely failed to notice the Ninth Company bowing deeply to him.
Jiang Xiaofeng jumped down, launched his flying head, and attached it to the serpent's tail...
Jiang Xiaofeng put away his human body and began racing wildly through the Chasm!
The greatest advantage of the Ruin Serpent's burrowing was that it didn't cause extensive damage underground.
He didn't know how this worked, but when Jiang Xiaofeng burrowed, he left no hollow space behind him.
Aside from the large pile of earth displaced by his body when he first burrowed down, there was no excess earth anywhere else, just like a fish swimming through water.
Jiang Xiaofeng traveled underground.
Every so often, he burst out of the ground and crushed a Black Serpent Knight into the earth.
Looking at the terrain detected by his "radar," Jiang Xiaofeng broke through the ground!
There was a large pool of "black mud" here, along with a Pyro Abyss Mage.
The Abyss Mage was still murmuring an incantation and was rather bewildered by the sudden sight.
But Jiang Xiaofeng didn't move slowly.
The Cursed Sword flew out, plunged into the center of the black mud, and began devouring it, while Jiang Xiaofeng emerged from the ground, leaped high, and smashed down toward the Abyss Mage!
The poor Abyss Mage had only just deployed its shield when Jiang Xiaofeng pinned it into the earth and crushed it to death.
Jiang Xiaofeng estimated the number of cells.
"Only a few cells short of the next level... looks like I'll have to find a big group of monsters and harvest them a few times."
"I wonder how many cells the system has pocketed for itself..."
Jiang Xiaofeng left the Cursed Sword to run wild, burrowed straight into the ground, and began harvesting the surrounding Treasure Hoarders.
What? You're asking why I suddenly started attacking the Treasure Hoarders?
Ahem, I'm a Ruin Serpent. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to attack people who damage ruins?!
And so, although a group of Treasure Hoarders mining nearby noticed the commotion, they still couldn't escape disaster.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Jiang Xiaofeng had killed enough and had his fill of fun.
Only then did he check the system.
Only then did he discover that the system had already issued his rewards.
"Congratulations, host. You have obtained: Mutation: Velocity, Mutation: Kill Rhythm, Mutation: Disengagement, Skill: Phaser, Skill: Grappling Hook, Skill: Lightspeed, 'Acceptance,' 'Hattori's Katana.'" "The system will soon enter dormancy. Host, please kill enough monsters and obtain cells to reactivate the system..."
Jiang Xiaofeng looked at this round's rewards. Mm, as plentiful as ever.
The key was another Acceptance. This would be fun.
Whether mutations or skills, they all seemed somewhat intent on making him "faster"...
Jiang Xiaofeng lay underground, thinking.
Then Jiang Xiaofeng finally burrowed over to the world boss Ruin Serpent, coiled around that Ruin Serpent, launched his flying head, and possessed it once again.
Having successfully obtained a second Ruin Serpent body, Jiang Xiaofeng was in such a good mood that he didn't even spare the large group of Ruin Sentinels a glance, burrowing away directly.
Well, before leaving, he went to the huge pit below and crushed that Black Serpent Knight to death...
Cheerfully collecting the cells, Jiang Xiaofeng returned to human form, put away the Ruin Serpent's body, and arrived in front of the Waypoint.
Everything I needed to do this time was done. It was time to return to the surface...
Kill another batch of Hilichurls, and I should pretty much be able to level up again.
The system was on its eighth upgrade now. The ninth should give me something special...
Jiang Xiaofeng teleported above the Chasm, spread his dragon wings, and took flight.
Then Jiang Xiaofeng looked at the map in his head, found that Hilichurl camp, and flew over...
What? This wasn't Khaenri'ah's territory now. This was Liyue!
If I killed these Hilichurls obstructing their mining, they'd have to thank me!