Chapter 224: Black Snake Knight

It's not safe to cause destruction in an underground cavern.

Especially when someone like Luo De directly tears apart all the caves in the upper layer of the Black Mist Area.

If it were replaced by an underground area with slightly worse geological conditions.

Such a blow would surely trigger a chain reaction, destroying the entire cavern.

But that's relative to ordinary underground caverns.

But the Layered Rock Abyss is different.

In Liyue's legends.

West of Liyue, the wilderness once saw a heavenly star fall; as the star struck the ground, the wilderness directly impacted turned into a vast, profound abyss, from which beautiful jade and gold stone grew, inexhaustible, thus establishing Liyue's mining industry for the next thousand years.

Thanks to this heavenly star.

The rock quality of the Layered Rock Abyss has become extremely hard and solid; even though Luo De's violent demolition just now smashed almost everything here, the surrounding rock walls only trembled and shook for a moment, with not even a hint of a crack that could cause a collapse appearing.

After slaughtering all four Abyssal Apostles that were entrenched here.

Luo De flexed his wrist, then began to dig out the stones burying the Black Mist Area, releasing the Abyssal power that had been temporarily suppressed.

With these rocks suppressing him, he no longer needs to worry about falling into a situation like before, where he would have to endure excessive Abyssal power.

He just needs to gradually devour the Abyssal power here.

Just.

Perhaps the commotion from smashing the Black Mist Area just now was too loud.

Just as Luo De cleared away the stones of a small area, he heard footsteps coming from not far away.

There are many people.

They made no effort to hide their footsteps, openly and swiftly approaching Luo De.

Abyssal monsters again?

Holding this doubt, Luo De looked toward the direction the footsteps came from.

But the next scene made him frown involuntarily.

Since the glowing Abyssal ore in the Black Mist Area has been buried, the light here is much dimmer than before; only the faint glow from the star mushrooms and auspicious light bugs growing everywhere, as well as other ores affected by the Cold Sky Nail, allows one to vaguely see that the place where the footsteps come from shows traces resembling a structure.

When he saw the rough outline of that building.

Luo De recognized it.

It was that inverted ruin.

Actually, he knew the inverted ruin was near the Black Mist Area.

But when he first arrived at the Black Mist Area, he hadn't seen this ruin.

Back then, Luo De still thought the ruin's actual distance wasn't that close, so he missed it.

Now looking at it.

It should be because the ruin's position was blocked by protruding rocks, and Luo De's attention back then was entirely focused on the Black Mist Area below, so he didn't notice this inverted ruin.

And when the unmistakable sound of metal armor walking on the ground emerged from the darkness.

What entered Luo De's sight was a team of knights clad in black armor, holding various weapons.

Dim, empty husks.

No.

More accurately, they should be called Black Snake Knights.

After the fall of the Ancient Khaenri'ah Kingdom, due to the curse of heavenly principles, the knights of that ancient kingdom gradually lost their intellect and memory over time, becoming the mindless killing machines they are today.

Evidently, the earlier commotion disturbed them, the guardians stationed in the inverted ruin.

As the Black Snake Knights drew nearer, Luo De used wind elemental energy to send his voice forward: 'I have no intention of intruding on your territory; I'll leave now, I don't want to hurt you.'

As for this warning.

Those Black Snake Knights seemed not to have heard it, still advancing with weapons in hand, showing no intention to stop.

'I'll leave now; I don't want to clash with you.'

Luo De warned again.

In terms of combat power, these curse-ridden Black Snake Knights are not as strong as Abyssal Apostles; they merely have greater numbers, so if Luo De wanted to clear them out, he wouldn't need to exert any effort.

The reason he warned repeatedly instead of attacking on sight is.

Simply because he doesn't want to hurt these Black Snake Knights.

Unlike the Abyssal monsters that have lost their reason due to Abyssal corruption.

Although the Black Snake Knights have also lost intellect and memory, they still retain the instinct they had as humans: to protect the similarly cursed, transformed former citizens of Khaenri'ah who became Hilichurls.

Knights who fight to protect their people.

Even if such people become monsters, Luo De does not want to kill them pointlessly.

But no matter how he warns them, these Black Snake Knights pay no heed.

"Tsk."

No matter how reluctant he is to fight, the enemy comes at him with such hostility that Luo De can no longer afford to be soft-hearted.

Just as he gripped his bow with his right hand, preparing to strike first.

A muffled sound, as if something had covered its mouth, suddenly rang out from behind the Black Snake Knights.

Even those Black Snake Knights who had been showing killing intent stopped their steps upon hearing that sound.

Through the gaps in the Black Snake Knights' formation, Luo De saw the source of that sound.

It was an exceptionally huge Black Snake Knight.

His armor wasn't pure black, but had a hint of cyan, with wind elemental energy swirling around it, and he held a huge sword nearly as tall as himself.

Under the command of this special Black Snake Knight.

The Black Snake Knights who had originally been hostile toward Luo De began to retreat backward, and soon they all returned to the ruins.

"Hafdan?"

If I'm not mistaken, this special Black Snake Knight is the leader of these Black Snake Knights, Knight Hafdan of the Khaenri'ah Palace Guard.

He drove back his subordinate Black Snake Knights.

Hafdan did not return to the ruins with them, but instead stared at Luo De from afar.

He, having lost the ability to speak, could not express what was in his heart.

Luo De also couldn't guess what he wanted to do, so he could only continue to stare at him while devouring the Abyssal power in his hands.

Such a standoff.

It continued until another faint footstep sounded, at which point Hafdan's voluntary departure ended it.

"Does he have something he wants to say to me?"

Gazing at Hafdan's gradually disappearing back, Luo De pondered in silence.

Hafdan is an excellent knight.

Among the people Luo De knows.

Only Jean, the Knight of Favonius who strictly adheres to the knight's code, can be compared with him in principle.

"Is it about those Hilichurls?"

Luo De muttered.

Precisely because Hafdan is a qualified knight, if he has something to seek Luo De for, it certainly won't involve him or those Black Snake Knights; it is very likely related to those innocent Hilichurls awaiting death.

But I also have no way to remove their curse.

Luo De couldn't figure out what Hafdan wanted to say to him.

If it involves Abyssal matters, perhaps he could still lend a hand.

If it involves the curse of Sky Island, then there's nothing that can be done.

After all, this curse is a stubborn ailment destined by Dainsleif to be unsolvable, something even the gods cannot resolve, so Luo De is even less able to help him.

Just as Luo De was still pondering what Hafdan intended to do.

The owner of another set of footsteps appeared.

She also had no intention of hiding herself; otherwise, given her skill, while she might not be able to fool Luo De's ears, she at least wouldn't cause such a commotion.

Yelan

This was Luo De's first time seeing this intelligence operative who could be called Liyue's trump card.

She made no disguise, appearing before Luo De in her true appearance.

"Nice to meet you, I am Yelan, an employee of the Liyue Ministry of Affairs."

Yelan seemed to have already confirmed Luo De's identity; after introducing herself, she glanced at the severely damaged black mist area and asked, "Are these all your doing?"

Hmm

Luo De nodded in response.

"Creating such a commotion beneath the Abyssal Maw is dangerous."

"Don't do that next time."

After a brief reminder, Yelan continued: "I've taken care of the matter you asked me to handle; that Executive has now gone to a fork in the road, estimated to delay him for a day—is that enough?"

"It's a bit short."

"It would be best if it could delay him for another one or two days."

Luo De pondered: "Can you, in a day's time, undo those seals suppressing the Heaven's Nail? If so, then there's no need to further delay his time."

"Sorry, I can't."

Yelan straightforwardly shook her head and said: "This is why I came to find you."

"Oh?"

"The mechanism over there should be easy to destroy, right? I've read the action log of that Fatui Legion; they could find how to break the mechanism, so you should have no problem, right?"

Speaking of this matter.

Luo De even thought it was a miracle.

You know, even if the Fatui's Ninth Legion is as elite as can be, they are still mortal flesh, using the Evil Eye developed by the Fatui that has strong negative effects on the body, not a true Vision.

Relying on such physical fitness, they actually managed to trek all the way through the perilous underground mines to the position of the Frost Heaven's Nail, and indeed they found a method to resolve the Abyssal pollution.

Had it not been for the later falling-out between Snezhnaya and Liyue, with Liyue unilaterally cutting off supplies and Snezhnaya abandoning them to let them wait here to die.

Under sufficient supplies.

Luo De had no doubt that relying solely on this mortal troop could independently resolve the Abyssal pollution problem beneath the Abyssal Maw.

As for Yelan's ability.

Luo De had even less doubt.

This is someone who can go toe-to-toe with the Ninth Seat Executive.

All the members of the Ninth Legion combined would not be a match for her alone.

So if the Ninth Legion can handle it, why does Yelan appear as if she cannot solve it relying solely on herself?

However, what left Luo De astonished was.

Yelan's reply: "When did they get there? I've been following them; they only just escaped this heavily polluted area not long ago, and there's still a long distance from the Heaven's Nail position you marked for me."

"Ha—?"

Now Luo De was left speechless.

Oh no.

This truly wasn't within his expectations.

In his impression.

That Ninth Company had fought its way to the Heavenly Nail's position, finally found a solution, but gave up because their equipment was inadequate.

"Wait."

Luo De's forehead veins twitched.

Wrong.

The timing was wrong.

The Ninth Company did indeed find the Heavenly Nail, and they should have found a solution before their supplies were cut off, but after suffering a setback at the Heavenly Nail, they should have realized their supplies were cut; otherwise, with merely damaged equipment they could have requested new gear from Snezhnaya and wouldn't have retreated after just one try.

"This really stirred up a big mix‑up."

The headache‑stricken Luo De didn't know how to explain the matter of that journal for a moment.

Fortunately, Ye Lan did not pursue this matter further.

However, as a condition for not pursuing Luo De's nonsense, she needs Luo De's help.

"The pollution there is extremely severe, far worse than here; I alone really can't get close."

Ye Lan tapped her foot and continued: "The Foolish People's purification machine is only one; relying solely on that machine, cleaning the pollution here is already a struggle, and the pollution at Crystal Stone is at least ten times worse—there's no way their machine could handle it."

She said it's hard to approach, not hard to clean.

It's just off by two characters.

The meaning contained herein could be worlds apart.

However, Luo De keenly caught another matter in her words.

"What else do you know?"

Being able to suggest that I help is obvious—Ye Lan knows I'm not afraid of the Abyss's pollution, which makes Luo De frown slightly.

He is quite certain.

During this period when I have been devouring Abyssal power, Ye Lan has not been lurking nearby.

Besides the Lady and the Young Master, only a few people know this.

How did Ye Lan come to know this?

"Not that much, really."

In response to Luo De's questioning, Ye Lan smiled and said: "Sumeru classifies your information at a very high level; I've done my best and can only learn this much."

"Tsk, I hope you're not lying to me."

Luo De then said: "Fine, I can help you, but I need to wait a day."

"Okay, I understand."

"Then I'll wait for you at Crystal Stone."

Ye Lan didn't ask why she had to wait that day; she also clearly understood what "wait a day" meant, made an appointment with Luo De for time and place, then her figure became like the wind, turning into a blue phantom that vanished from Luo De's sight in the blink of an eye.

"Another unpleasant task, huh."

After a small complaint, Luo De's face showed no resentment; he shook his head and continued focusing his energy on devouring Abyssal power.

With no one else interfering and no risk of overburdening his body,

Luo De's devouring process went extremely smoothly.

Before recovering in the Black Mist Region, he first devoured all the Abyssal power here and successfully converted it into his own elemental energy.

After doing that.

He took out the Gnosis and tried using it.

This time.

The Gnosis finally was no longer completely still.

Under Luo De's urging, this Gnosis of Zhongli's faintly emitted a trace of light—very slight, but indeed a bit brighter than when it was taken out.

"Almost there, almost there."

Seeing that his efforts over this period hadn't been wasted, Luo De chuckled.

After putting away the Gnosis, his gaze shifted to the nearby ruins.

Ha Fu Dan was still there watching him.

After Ye Lan left, the leader of the Black Snake Knights reappeared.

And he was just as he was when the two first met.

He made no moves, simply staring at Luo De like a statue, with no hostility.

"You looking for me for something?"

Luo De conveyed his words over.

This wasn't the first time he'd asked Ha Fu Dan, but previously he'd gotten no response each time.

And this time.

He finally received a string of unintelligible strange sounds.

How to describe it?

Ha Fu Dan's responding sound was like someone scraping a knife on an iron plate—sharp and grating, and it was a long stretch of sound.

Leaving aside whether it can be heard or understood,

just the sound entering the ear is enough to make one's head buzz.

"."

Luo De, whose ears were tormented and still understood nothing, looked again at Ha Fu Dan.

It seemed he knew his own sound was unpleasant.

Ha Fu Dan stopped making sounds and instead turned, gesturing for Luo De to follow him into the ruins.

Luo De hesitated slightly.

Luo De then accepted Ha Fudan's invitation and leapt toward the direction of the ruins.

With the strength of these black snake knights.

Still not capable enough to be able to hurt oneself.

Believe that Ha Fudan should also know this.

So Luo De had nothing to fear; it was a good opportunity to see what this person, who still looks like that and remains a knight faithful to the homeland, actually wanted to say to him.

(End of chapter)