"Dragon egg? An Ender Dragon egg?!"
For some reason, Venti exploded with excitement far beyond anyone else.
In an instant, he turned into a breeze and rushed to Ryen's desk, eyes gleaming with fervor.
"A dragon egg can hatch into an Ender Dragon, right, right?"
"I can ride the Ender Dragon, right, right?!"
Seeing how thrilled Venti looked, Ryen didn't answer him directly. Instead, he rolled his eyes and complained:
"You really care that much about the Ender Dragon? If Teyvat's Dvalin finds out, he's definitely going to get jealous."
"Ehe~!"
Venti waved it off with a grin and joked:
"It's fine! Dvalin wouldn't care about such a small thing. He'd be happy I found him a new friend!"
"…"
A textbook example of a scummy response.
Ryen rolled his eyes again and retorted:
"Don't get your hopes up. The dragon egg is just a decorative item—at least for now. Without any mods, it's purely ornamental."
At that, everyone sighed in disappointment.
No matter how you looked at it, being a dragon rider sounded incredibly cool.
Lumine was still reminiscing about how majestic it felt to soar through the skies on Dvalin's back.
If Venti hadn't insisted on Dvalin having his complete freedom, she would've definitely tried to convince him to travel together.
Riding a dragon—how awesome would that be!
"But then again…"
Ryen suddenly changed tone, smiling as he looked at everyone.
"Hatching an Ender Dragon egg isn't actually that difficult—as long as you have the Dragon Rider mod."
"Dragon Rider mod? That's…"
Venti blinked, his eyes lighting up with hope again.
"Exactly. It's a mod that lets you hatch the Ender Dragon egg, and even grants the dragon special attack abilities."
"But... it's still far away for us. For now, let's focus on the Wither Storm."
Upon hearing that, Venti didn't press further. Instead, his eyes flickered with mischief, and he backed off cheerfully.
"The Ender Dragon is a tough opponent—at least in the End, it's no easier than the Wither Storm."
"But honestly, the loot it drops isn't that great. Right now, the main thing worth collecting is dragon's breath."
"That's a key ingredient for lingering potions, so we'll need to prepare a lot of empty bottles when the time comes."
"As for how to defeat the Ender Dragon…"
Ryen paused, then shook his head and said:
"It's a bit complicated to explain. Just remember: take out the end crystals first and follow my commands."
"Our true goal in the End isn't the Ender Dragon—at least not for now."
"We're going there to find the End stronghold. There are many useful resources there, and it's the only place we can gather the main materials needed to craft shulker boxes."
"Shulker boxes are special containers—you can think of them as a kind of portable pocket dimension."
"You can store items in them, and when you break the box, the entire container drops without spilling its contents."
"For you all, the biggest benefit is that it lets you carry way more items."
Upon hearing that, everyone nodded thoughtfully.
Even if the Ender Dragon's loot didn't compare to the Wither Storm, the End itself was a worthwhile destination.
Not only were there shulker boxes, but they could also build Enderman farms and collect Ender Pearls.
Those things are great for teleportation.
"Ehe~! Then what are we waiting for?"
Venti grinned innocently at Ryen.
"Let's go deal with the Wither Storm now! The sooner we handle it, the sooner we can relax."
"We're heading to the End tomorrow, after all—and I can't wait to meet the Ender Dragon."
Sounds perfect, but…
Ryen couldn't shake the feeling that Venti was up to something.
Still, the Wither Storm did need to be taken care of quickly.
And Ryen was also looking forward to unlocking the next mod.
He casually opened the dual portal, waited a moment for it to stabilize, then brought everyone back with him.
But just as he was about to retrieve the Wither Skeleton skulls, Venti suddenly equipped a full set of enchanted diamond armor and bolted toward the sky island.
The sudden move left everyone confused for a moment.
After a while, Diluc seemed to realize something and said angrily:
"That guy… he definitely went to the Nether!"
Ryen couldn't help but chuckle.
No wonder Venti had looked so obedient earlier.
This guy…
He tricked Ryen into bringing him in, then dashed off to farm Wither Skeletons.
Seems like he really can't suppress that desire to ride an Ender Dragon.
But…
Even Ryen wasn't sure what the next mod would be—how was Venti so confident?
Still, Ryen didn't mind.
Everyone had already explored the Lucky Block mod thoroughly—opening a new one was fine now.
"Let's go."
Ryen turned toward the sky island.
"We're going to the Nether to hunt Wither Skeletons."
Beside him, Jean looked a bit embarrassed. She lowered her head slightly and said apologetically:
"Ryen, I'm sorry. I didn't expect Venti to just…"
"It's fine."
Ryen put an arm around Ganyu and smiled:
"We only need a few more Wither Skeleton skulls. If we rely on Ganyu's luck tonight, we should be able to unlock the next mod soon."
Hearing that, Jean sighed in relief, though she still felt a bit awkward:
"Still… I really am sorry…"
"No need to be so formal, Jean."
Ryen smiled, then turned and took the elevator to the sky island.
Venti was long gone—he must've entered the Nether already.
Even though they knew he was playful, seeing it in action felt a bit too much.
Ryen wasn't angry about him running off-script, but this world wasn't like Teyvat.
Venti didn't have much self-protection here.
That was something Ryen needed to talk to him about seriously.
Otherwise, if this guy got too excited and decided to sleep in the Nether with just a bed...
Well, that would be fun.
It was still bright outside—not yet dusk—so Ryen didn't waste time. He led everyone back into the Nether.
As soon as they arrived, they saw Venti standing there with a huge smile.
"Ehe~! I knew you wouldn't leave me alone in the Nether!"
Ryen rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, Diluc coldly snapped:
"We still don't understand this world very well. Everything has to be taken step by step! If your antics cause someone to get hurt—what then?!"
Beside him, Lumine nodded in agreement and added:
"You're still as unreliable as ever!"
Venti just spread his hands and grinned.
"Don't be like that! I'm just doing my part to help out in this world. According to Ryen, we only need to kill a few more Wither Storms to unlock the new mod."
"I just wanted to help Ryen out!"
Lumine rolled her eyes.
"You obviously just want to activate a new mod and see if it's fun!"
"Ehe~! You saw through me, but let's not say it out loud, okay?"
Over his thousands of years of freedom, be it begging for wine by playing the poor, sneaking into Dawn Winery's cellar, or singing bardic poems in broad daylight—
Venti's skin had long been tempered to the point where not even the heavens could pierce his defenses.
Naturally, he wouldn't feel embarrassed by their accusations.
Besides, Venti had already thought this through.
After Ryen and the others had explored the Nether, it was quite safe now.
On top of that, from Ryen's words, it was clear—just a few more Wither Skeleton skulls were needed to unlock the new mod.
Venti cared a lot about these new mods.
Mondstadt had missed out on the initial benefits of the Lucky Blocks and Vein Mining mods.
By the time they joined in, most of the mines had already been cleared out.
And the Lucky Blocks around the mansion and villa had all been used up too.
Venti wanted to unlock the next mod early so Mondstadt could catch up and reap the early benefits.
Moreover…
All the Beacons were now in Liyue's possession—Jean and the others couldn't really say anything.
After all, the Wither Skeleton skulls were gathered by Liyue, and even if they gifted them a Beacon, Jean would absolutely refuse to accept it.
So by helping out today with collecting Wither Skeleton skulls, Venti could at least gather some for Mondstadt's own use.
"Let's go, to the Nether Fortress."
Ryen shook his head and chuckled, scooping up Nahida and Paimon before heading deeper into the tunnel.
He could more or less guess Venti's little scheme.
That guy wasn't as carefree and brainless as he looked.
After living for thousands of years, even a fool would've become a genius.
"Ryen, how many more Wither Skeleton skulls do we need?"
Ganyu asked curiously. Ryen thought for a moment and replied:
"Seven more. Together with the eight skulls delivered by the Millelith today, that's just enough for five Withers."
At that, Ganyu looked a little concerned.
"Seven? But the Millelith worked hard for a whole week just to gather those eight skulls…"
Ryen didn't stop walking. He turned his head and glanced at her with an amused look.
"Ganyu, why would you think your luck is the same as theirs?"
"The Millelith might need to kill four or five Wither Skeletons just for one skull to drop. But you…"
He gestured toward the diamond sword in Ganyu's hand, enchanted with Looting.
"With your luck, plus a Looting-enchanted diamond sword, you'll probably get a skull from every single Wither Skeleton you kill."
"What we really need is just to find a few more Wither Skeletons."
"Besides, the Millelith didn't really take a week. To be precise, they spent three days—since they only go to the Nether Fortress every other day to gather resources."
Hearing her beloved praise her luck with such confidence, Ganyu couldn't help but feel a little giddy inside.
Still, she hesitated.
"But what if my luck…"
"There's no 'what if.'"
Ryen chuckled and shook his head.
"I've always believed in you, Ganyu. Your luck is truly this world's greatest treasure."
This wasn't just sweet talk out of affection—it was the truth.
Until now, Ganyu had never let him down.
She had opened hundreds of Lucky Blocks, and not once did a zombie or any bad resource come out.
At worst, she got some redstone components.
And the drop rate for tridents—which was normally heartbreakingly low—
Whenever Ganyu attacked a Drowned, it was practically guaranteed that the trident would drop.
Xiao could testify to that better than anyone.
He now had seven tridents—all farmed by Ganyu.
And to be precise, those seven tridents came from exactly seven Drowned she had defeated…
Maybe Ganyu was worried that everyone was expecting too much from her, and she'd feel guilty if she failed.
But…
Everyone wasn't placing hope on her.
They had complete confidence in her success.
~~----------------------
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