The Heavenly Authority Sustainer finished speaking and left with elegant steps, showing no intention of staying. However, this was for the best, as a certain slacking wind god escaped a calamity.
Everyone gathered on the first floor. Bronya, with a touch of curiosity, walked into the kitchen. She had no idea Venti possessed such culinary skills; was the competition for people so fierce? This was truly challenging her worldview.
As there was still some time before dinner, Lu Ze busied himself at the computer, intending to finish all the version preview content first, especially the new version's world boss battle, which was of paramount importance.
Following that, it was the new Abyss region. This time, it was directly set in Yaoguang Shoal, a place entirely composed of sand. It was mostly flat, making it easy to find challenge mechanisms. Lu Ze was only worried about ordinary people accidentally triggering them.
After all, many people frequented Yaoguang Shoal to collect seashells.
It seemed he needed to inform Zhongli first and have him prohibit civilians from going to Yaoguang Shoal to avoid casualties.
As he was lost in thought, seven or eight dishes were served. It was time to prepare for dinner, but why did the atmosphere feel a little strange?
"Lu Ze, eat more. You've been working so hard lately, you should rest properly."
Venti, with a gentle and virtuous demeanor, picked up her chopsticks and placed some meat into Lu Ze's bowl. Her expression clearly conveyed that if he dared not eat it, he would be in trouble today.
Perhaps feeling threatened, or perhaps dismissive, Lu Ze hesitantly ate the meat and said,
"Venti, you've done a good job. Your cooking has improved a lot."
Bronya, standing nearby, pondered for a moment and said, "I'll handle dinner. It's been a while since I let the captain try my cooking. I guarantee you'll be savoring it."
Although Bronya wasn't as skilled a cook as Mei, she knew the basics. After all, she had grown up and learned to take care of herself. Sometimes, she would even stay up late researching games.
This led her to sometimes make midnight snacks to reward herself, indirectly improving her culinary skills. She intended to showcase her abilities this afternoon and leave a deep impression on the captain.
Lunch was eaten quickly. Venti also got up from the lounge chair. After playing for three consecutive hours, he felt completely drained.
"Ugh, so tired... Why is this event so hard to clear? Never mind, let's see, I have about 7000 crystals. Should I try a few pulls? Let's do a ten-pull!"
He refused to believe that he, Venti, couldn't pull anything good. He had gotten nothing last time, but this time he was determined.
"Venti? Someone actually left you a voice message. Listen to it. If you're going to pull, try to do it quickly. I've already booked passage with a merchant group heading to Liyue, and I don't have much time now."
Although he was a bit confused, the shop owner had said it, so he could only listen. He hoped it wasn't bad news.
As the recorder played, he immediately recognized the familiar voice.
"Heavenly Authority Sustainer!"
The voice startled him. Had he been caught slacking? This wasn't fair! Wouldn't this make the Heavenly Authority Sustainer pay even more attention to him? How could he slack off then?
Punishment... Forget it. He didn't want any of that, as it sounded like nothing good.
"Oh, right. The new Abyss challenge is located at Yaoguang Shoal. Please tell Zhongli not to let civilians enter that area for the next week, as there might be casualties."
Venti nodded, and with his right hand, he gathered wind essence, forming a wind bird. It would deliver this message to Zhongli intact. He wondered what Zhongli would do.
Having done all that, he eagerly approached the gacha machine. This time, he would redeem himself! This time, he would definitely get something good!
As crystals were inserted, a giant airdrop crate slowly descended from the sky. The screen began to flash. As one item after another passed by, it quickly reached the last two. With one more click, the result would be revealed.
"Heaven, bless me, heaven, bless me! Let this little wind spirit get something good."
He clicked again, and two four-star materials popped out. It seemed the main prize was at the end. With the final click, a weapon icon appeared.
A large, dried fish jumped out. Yes, a large, dried fish. The appearance of this weapon left Venti stunned on the spot. No, he was petrified.
"Hmm? A dried fish... Venti, look at how much you've been slacking off. You even pulled a dried fish from the gacha. You should slack off less from now on."
A weapon resembling a dried fish sword appeared in Venti's hand. He was still in a daze, standing there foolishly.
"Let me briefly introduce you to this weapon's stats. Honestly, it's not bad."
Lu Ze brought up the data on the panel, and the stats for the single-handed sword "A Dried Fish" were fully displayed. The weapon had two skills: Fatal Lunge and Fish Spirit.
"The Fatal Lunge skill allows you to deal 666 + 6655 points of physical attack to enemies in front of you, while Fish Spirit grants higher all-damage bonus the lower your current HP percentage is. For every 1% of HP lost, you gain a 0.2% all-damage bonus. Doesn't that sound great?"
But Venti still hadn't recovered from the shadow of this dried fish. It seemed to have dealt a significant blow to him. Poor child, not only does he slack off, but he even pulls a dried fish from the gacha. If Morax next door saw this, he'd probably laugh at him for two and a half years.
After a long while, Venti slowly came back to his senses. He had wasted 2800 crystals, and besides a pile of materials, he had only gotten a dried fish sword. If he were to actually use it, the enemy would probably die laughing.
He casually tossed it aside and stored the dried fish sword in his spatial inventory. He quickly ran out of the shop, not wanting to stay there for another moment.
"It's just a dried fish from the gacha, is it that big of a deal? Forget it, forget it. Venti! I'm leaving the shop to you. I'm heading to Liyue as well."
Venti upstairs responded, as this had been planned long ago and couldn't be changed. But Bronya was different; she was new.
"Can you take me with you? You know you don't have the right to refuse. Take me."
Looking at the big owl in front of him, she was so aggressive. In the end, he was getting old and couldn't even argue with women anymore.