Following the guidance of the Electro Treasure Compass, Lu Chen and Venti walked along the coast, eventually arriving at a rocky beach that was painful to walk on.
In the distance, the metallic gleam of a treasure chest shimmered—its corners half-buried among the stones, waves lapping at its sides.
An exquisite treasure chest. The rewards inside would probably be far greater than last time.
More rewards meant greater danger. This time was no exception—Lu Chen had already spotted a "Hydro Mimic" guarding the area.
At last, his opponent wasn't just a Hydro Slime...
Anyone who had fought the field boss Oceanid would recognize this creature. Hydro Mimic was Oceanid's main method of attack—using Hydro energy to create various animal-shaped constructs that swarmed the player. A truly troublesome foe.
There were three Hydro Mimics ahead: two frogs and... a wild boar.
Each one was larger than a human. Their levels weren't displayed, but it was clear they wouldn't be easy to deal with.
"This is way harder than Slimes. Want me to give you a hand?" Venti asked.
"Let me handle it." Lu Chen replied seriously, drawing a blunt one-handed sword.
He chose the blunt sword over the Debate Club simply because that massive iron rod was way too heavy—he could barely swing it twice before getting exhausted.
"Alright, alright." Venti shrugged. "I'll be cheering for you!"
Sword in hand, Lu Chen slowly approached the mimics.
Among the three, the wild boar mimic would be the easiest to take down. It didn't seem to have any skills—just brute-force charges.
Lu Chen quietly crept behind it, preparing to launch a surprise attack and eliminate it first.
Taking it out early would reduce the Hydro Mimics' numbers, making it easier to avoid getting surrounded and defeat them one by one.
Just as Lu Chen was setting his plan into motion, a sudden commotion broke his concentration.
"Look over there! There's a treasure chest!"
"Is it one of those weapon chests like last time? Let's go check it out!"
Lu Chen turned and saw five young men in their twenties rushing over excitedly. One of them was even carrying a sword.
He recognized it—the three-star weapon Harbinger of Dawn, which boosted crit rate. Much better than the blunt sword he held.
But the key point was this—Lu Chen was finally seeing the real impact of Teyvat's fusion on ordinary people in this world.
Four of the five were Level 2. The one with glasses and the Harbinger of Dawn was Level 4.
They must've fought Slimes before—especially the glasses guy, judging by how quickly he'd leveled up.
Lu Chen was curious: without the system, what would they see when opening the chest?
No Primogems, no attribute points—those were built into the "Real Teyvat System." Maybe they could see EXP books? As for materials and weapons, those were physical, so probably.
"There are people ahead—we need to hurry before they beat us to it!" one of them said.
"There are some weird slime-like creatures up there," the glasses-wearing youth added, pushing up his glasses cautiously. "Never seen anything like these before. We'd better be careful."
"They're probably made of water like those Slimes. There's five of us—we can definitely handle it!"
"Come on! That guy with the sword is almost there!"
Urged on by his teammates, the glasses guy gave up on scouting and rushed forward with them toward Lu Chen's location.
Venti looked over with interest. With Hydro Mimics ahead and treasure-seekers behind, she was curious how Lu Chen would respond.
Lu Chen's response?
He slowed down, letting the five overtake him, and followed behind them.
The Hydro Mimics hadn't noticed him yet. He'd wait and observe.
The strength of these mimics was still unknown—better to watch how things played out.
Venti clicked her tongue. "How sneaky…"
"No wonder you're you."
...
Back to Lu Chen.
After observing for a moment, he realized the glasses-wearing youth was likely the group's leader.
They even knew a bit about tactics. Facing the Hydro Mimics, they split up and surrounded them in a semi-circle.
As the glasses guy passed Lu Chen, he adjusted his frames and glanced over.
But upon seeing Lu Chen's plain, dull, unsharpened sword, he looked away with slight disappointment.
Lu Chen curled his lip. Yeah, the blunt sword looked boring. In contrast, the Harbinger of Dawn had an ornate guard and a faint blue glow to its blade...
Kaeya had even given him one back then.
Back in the day, he used to toss weapons like that into storage and let them rust...
Lu Chen followed the group forward. When they got close enough, the Hydro Mimics sensed the intruders and let out eerie cries.
The wild boar mimic charged first—its massive body exuding a crushing presence.
"Dodge!" shouted the guy with glasses.
It charged faster than anyone expected. One of the five, the one closest, didn't even have time to react—the water-blue mimic, identical to a boar, barreled toward him.
"Help, help me...!"
The team had spread out in a surround formation, leaving him isolated and alone.
He pulled a baseball bat from his backpack, but it was completely useless. In the end, he and the bat were launched into the air.
"Ah—!"
He screamed, slammed into the rocky beach, and screamed again.
"Huh~" Venti, still watching from a big rock, let out a small noise of surprise.
The others panicked. This wasn't like fighting Slimes—they had all underestimated the danger of these water-based monsters.
"Stay calm! Change formation—regroup!" The glasses guy only faltered for a moment before issuing the command.
The other three immediately ran toward him.
Clearly, this team had full trust in the glasses youth. He must've been their de facto leader.
Watching them, Lu Chen couldn't help but wonder—now that supernatural powers were a thing, would all kinds of adventure teams pop up in the future, just like in Teyvat?
The glasses guy's command helped them hold off the boar mimic for now. When it charged again, he stabbed it with the Harbinger of Dawn—water splashed out, but the blow didn't seem to do much.
The boar mimic had basic intelligence. After being hit, it slowly backed away, gathering strength for another charge.
The five-person team—or rather, now four—didn't lower their guard.
The boar wasn't done, and new threats were approaching. The two frog mimics hopped toward them, stopped a certain distance away...
Then opened their mouths and unleashed a barrage of water blasts.
The streams were faster than high-pressure jets—far too fast to dodge by sight alone. Getting hit would be brutal.
"Get down!" the glasses guy shouted, diving to the side.