As for the Nether—
There really wasn't much that required a detailed introduction.
Aside from the Nether Fortress, there were the typical magma cube farms, piglin towers, and such.
Magma cream, after all, was still a decent resource.
If they had discovered an ancient ruin, then that would've been something worth talking about.
Unfortunately, the Nether wasn't like the Overworld.
Even the last-to-arrive Team 3 in the Overworld had the courage to expand in all directions from their base.
But in the Nether, expansion required constant vigilance.
It was simply too dangerous here.
Each Qianyan Army soldier and miner transported into the Minecraft world had taken a lot of time and effort to train and acclimate.
Other than that, there were some special minerals—
Most notably Nether Quartz, which held a unique place in redstone technology.
As for gold...
At first, Lumine and Paimon had been very enthusiastic. Unable to dissuade them, Ryen had taken them out to mine some gold ore.
Then...
They gave up.
The gold was practically endless. Just after finishing one vein, another massive deposit appeared right ahead.
And along the roadside, zombified piglins stood around, dumbly holding golden swords.
Lumine even saw several completely decked out in full golden armor.
What had initially seemed like a precious resource quickly became mundane. Lumine now felt that gold was hardly worth mentioning.
Even the ever-greedy Paimon lost interest and returned to Ryen's arms for a nap.
After spending the morning surveying the Nether and briefing Jean and the others on its current state, the group soon retraced their steps back to the overworld, arriving once again at the sky island.
Staring at the strange-looking Nether portal behind them, Lisa couldn't help but shake her head.
"A true dead zone... Stay here too long, and you might just develop a mental disorder."
Diluc nodded slightly beside her.
Everyone had started referring to it as the "Nether," thanks to Ryen saying "Hell" sounded too unlucky. No one argued with him.
But in Diluc's heart, this place was Hell—pure and simple.
Still...
It was a perfect place to imprison criminals.
He found himself thinking—once the Doctor was captured, locking him in the Nether and letting him suffer might just be the perfect punishment.
As for whether the Doctor would find a way to exploit the Nether's resources for profit?
That was laughable.
His power would be heavily suppressed, unable to manipulate the laws of this realm.
How could he possibly survive, let alone thrive, in the Nether?
Did he really think Netherite was easy to mine?
Instead of returning to the manor, Ryen teleported everyone to Base Two.
Even though it was already noon, Base Two was still mostly deserted.
The Qianyan soldiers and miners were restless types—clearly off exploring the surrounding terrain.
Only the mob grinder and iron farm remained in operation.
Two iron golems wandered outside the fence, and packs of wolves lounged within the walls.
Construction here was already quite complete.
This time, their destination was Ryen's underwater villa.
It had just been completed a few days ago—made entirely of glass and lit up by glowstone, giving it a distinct, elegant vibe.
Outside the glass, a variety of fish swam lazily, and a few drowned zombies floated nearby, staring in at the group through the transparent walls.
There were no beds in the villa.
At best, it was more like a tea room with a view.
Pouring everyone a glass of milk and handing out some cake and steak, Ryen chuckled:
"Let's have a peaceful lunch here in the underwater villa. After some rest, we'll head out in the afternoon to place the beacons."
Hearing that, everyone smiled and nodded in agreement.
Lisa glanced around the villa's structure and said with admiration:
"A fully sealed underwater vacation house? Ryen, you sure know how to enjoy life."
Ryen shrugged.
"Resource gathering doesn't require my direct oversight, and the main infrastructure is already in place. Naturally, it's time to enjoy life a little."
"Once things on your end are running smoothly too, we can go hunting on the plains every day—and you can explore all sorts of fun builds."
"Like remodeling the clouds and peaks around Mt. Aocang the way Cloud Retainer did."
At that, everyone recalled Cloud Retainer's passionate infrastructure plans and couldn't help but feel a bit intrigued.
Not to mention, the idea of rebuilding Mondstadt in a 1:1 replica within this world... That was pretty tempting.
"By the way, did you all see the blueprint Cloud Retainer drew for her own statue?" Keqing asked, barely holding back a laugh.
That prompted a round of chuckles from Ningguang and the others.
"You mean that rigid, blocky crane? I'm honestly wondering—if she ever actually builds it, will she get so embarrassed she blows it up herself?"
Ningguang shook her head, then continued with a soft laugh:
"Actually, she also sketched out a design for a statue of the Geo Archon..."
"And? And??" Venti leaned forward eagerly, glancing now and then at Zhongli's face.
Seeing Zhongli's expression darken, Venti instantly guessed—the blueprint must have been something else.
"I don't know the full story," Ningguang said. "But after she showed it to the Archon, she came back muttering that he had no sense of aesthetics."
That sent everyone into another burst of laughter.
Zhongli, however, didn't look amused.
He remembered all too well that crude, boxy drawing of a dopey-looking dragon.
He swore, he had never seen such an ugly concept sketch in his entire life.
He had rejected it on the spot.
And if Cloud Retainer dared to build that monstrosity...
He'd sneak in at night with a Redstone-powered Mountain Shatterer Cannon and blow the whole thing sky-high.
Amid laughter and small talk, lunch in the underwater villa helped Jean and the others quickly grow more comfortable in this new world.
During the meal, Ningguang also began explaining some basic alchemical crafting recipes.
After all, they'd now been to the Nether and had encountered plenty of alchemical base materials.
It was about time they started learning synthesis.
Lisa took particular interest, and Ningguang promised to copy the full list for her to study later.
Ningguang had high hopes—though Lisa's alchemy couldn't match Albedo's, she was still among the top alchemists in all of Teyvat.
Moreover, because of her past affliction, Lisa had focused much of her research on various types of alchemical potions.
There was no telling what breakthroughs she might make with this new set of ingredients.
After a while, Ningguang's expression turned serious as she looked toward Ryen.
"Back to business. Ryen, where do you plan to place the first beacon? At the manor?"
Ryen shook his head.
"Beacons aren't of much use to us personally. The manor doesn't need any resource boosts either."
"I plan to place the first one near the new city on the plains."
"There's a large concentration of Qianyan soldiers and miners there. With the beacon's buffs, their work will go much more smoothly."
He accepted the handkerchief Ganyu offered and dabbed his mouth, continuing gently:
"Just so you know, beacons have different levels. And the level of the beacon depends heavily on the type of blocks used in its base."
"Generally speaking, the base for a beacon can be made using iron blocks, gold blocks, diamond blocks, emerald blocks, or netherite blocks."
As soon as he said that, Keqing immediately grew curious and asked,
"You mean material blocks, not individual materials?"
Hearing that, Ryen nodded seriously.
"That's right, so building a beacon consumes a lot of resources."
Ningguang and the others nodded in agreement.
Resources weren't a major concern—after all, they had plenty.
But the problem was that they weren't just building one beacon, which meant a massive resource requirement.
"Looks like we'll have to open a few more lucky blocks after all..."
Keqing shook her head slightly.
"Relying solely on the Qianyan Army and miners to gather materials could take forever."
"Resources aren't the problem," Ryen waved it off.
"In the next few days, we're heading out to look for the End portal. There'll be lots of lucky blocks along the way—just let Ganyu open them."
Everyone nodded.
No one doubted Ganyu's luck.
Usually, if she just thought about what she wanted while opening a lucky block, she'd get it.
"But one thing to note is that beacons can be either active or inactive."
Ryen looked around at everyone.
"Inactive beacons only provide lighting. To activate a beacon, you need to build the proper base using those materials."
"The beacon's buff effects are heavily influenced by the size of its base."
"To get a fully powered beacon, the base must have layers of 9×9, 7×7, 5×5, and 3×3 blocks, from bottom to top."
"This way, the beacon can provide two long-lasting effects: health regeneration, and one primary effect boosted to level 2."
This piqued everyone's curiosity again.
Ningguang furrowed her brows slightly and said thoughtfully:
"If I recall correctly, you mentioned the beacon can provide buffs like Speed, Jump Boost, Fire Resistance, Haste, and Strength."
"So… these are manually selected buff effects?"
Ryen nodded lightly.
"Yes, a beacon can only apply one active effect."
Hearing that, Hu Tao pouted slightly in disappointment.
"Only one, huh... I thought each beacon could give all the buffs."
"But even one is enough. As long as it keeps giving us Strength, we'll become much stronger."
"At the very least, even without your help, we'll be able to use this world's tools and equipment."
Ryen chuckled and flicked Hu Tao's forehead.
"And where's the clever and witty Hall Master Hu I know? Why are you acting so silly now?"
"Rude! Want to taste my shooting skills, huh?!"
Hu Tao puffed up her cheeks and glared at Ryen, her face turning red—either from embarrassment or anger.
Ningguang just laughed softly and shook her head.
"What Ryen means is that a single beacon only gives one buff… but what if we had multiple beacons?"
Everyone froze, their brows gradually furrowing in thought.
Ryen gave Ningguang an approving look.
"Exactly! Beacon effects can be stacked."
"If you want all the beacon buffs... then you'll need six beacons."
Ryen held up his index finger and said seriously:
"Six fully-powered beacons will give us five level-2 buffs and level-1 regeneration!"
At that, Ningguang and the others frowned a little.
The resource cost of one beacon might not bother them.
But six fully-powered beacons…
That was astronomical.
Even using just iron blocks, they'd need over 8,000 tons.
Even with an iron farm, it would take at least a week to gather.
And that's not even considering supplying Liyue as well.
Moreover...
The core item for activating a beacon is the Nether Star, dropped by the Wither Storm.
Wither Skeleton skulls are already hard to obtain, and the Wither Storm isn't easy to farm either.
All things considered, it would take about a month to build the number of beacons Ningguang envisioned.
A month...
Didn't sound that long, actually?
Ningguang gave her head a light tap, feeling a bit helpless.
In Ryen's world, everything progressed so fast that skipping a single day meant missing something major.
She had started thinking a month felt like an eternity.
Raising her head to meet Ryen's gaze, Ningguang said seriously,
"Six fully-powered beacons—let's do it!"
~~----------------------
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