Before Ryen could even offer a response, Aether scoffed from a nearby boat. "Don't state the obvious. It would be stranger if there weren't something under the sea."
Lumine's gaze turned sharp and annoyed as she glared at her brother. Aether, meanwhile, looked entirely at ease, lounging in his boat while Endis diligently rowed for him. This was the level of comfort one expected from a Prince of the Abyss Order. Seeing him so relaxed, and feeling bold enough to mock her, pushed Lumine over the edge.
She reached back, pulled out her staff, and leveled it at Aether. "Hydra Fireball!"
A massive sphere of flame surged through the air, hurtling toward Aether's position. Aether jumped in alarm, frantically pulling out a fresh boat and leaping into it, not forgetting, of course, to drag his hardworking subordinate, Endis, along with him.
Almost the exact moment they cleared the vessel, the original boat was obliterated by the fireball, the wreckage sinking into the ocean. Aether was livid. He had Endis stow the new boat and turned a glare toward Lumine.
"Are you insane? Do you want me dead?"
"Keep running your mouth and I'll scatter your ashes in the ocean next time!"
Lumine huffed, chin held high in triumph.
Aether gritted his teeth as he looked at her. He swore that if Lumine hadn't already risen to her current position, and if Ryen wasn't watching, he would have fired a Hydra Fireball right back at her without a second thought.
Deep down, a sense of melancholy washed over him. Ever since Lumine had gotten together with Ryen, he didn't dare push her too far. In their sibling wars, he had already suffered more than a dozen consecutive, humiliating defeats.
And every single one of those wars had reached a level where his Undying Totem was triggered.
It was precisely because they had Undying Totems that Lumine's attacks on him grew increasingly ruthless. She went for the kill every single time. It was either rocket bombardments, TNT traps, or dumping a bucket of lava directly onto his head. If not for the Totems, Aether would have died countless times over.
The most infuriating part was that every time the fight ended, Lumine would toss him an Undying Totem with an arrogant expression, mocking him for being weak and suggesting that his five hundred years as a Prince hadn't granted him much in the way of brainpower.
Because of this, Aether's supply of Undying Totems had remained stagnant at exactly one. Even Endis carried three of them. Aether, poor as he was, had but one. It wasn't that Ryen didn't give his brother-in-law face; when Ryen and Lumine first established their relationship, he had immediately handed Aether a dozen Totems.
Unfortunately, Lumine found out.
During those few days, Aether had to check the ground for pressure plates before stepping anywhere, lest he trigger a world-shaking explosion. He had to seal himself in obsidian every time he slept, terrified that someone would drop lava on him and force him to swim for his life. Even with such extreme caution, Lumine had managed to reset his count to one within two days.
Even now, as they set out to explore the New Continent, where everyone was required to carry five Totems, Aether had handed his extras over to the Khaenri'ahns as soon as he received them. He carried only one. He knew perfectly well that if he carried more, he would have been locked in the sights of Lumine's rocket launcher the moment they left the port.
How else could he have enjoyed this peaceful, lazy life of watching the scenery?
That was generally why the Khaenri'ahns were reluctant to accompany Aether on missions. The sibling wars between him and Lumine would inevitably involve them. Endis, who often worked alongside Aether, had lost four or five Undying Totems in half a month, all because he was caught in the crossfire of Lumine's sneak attacks.
In this current age, where Khaenri'ah lacked the means to continuously produce Undying Totems, Endis treated every single one like a sacred relic. And indeed, he did just that. Every night before he slept, he would take out his Totems, polish them carefully, and worship them with devotion.
Those ordinary-looking Totems were, quite literally, his life. Looking at his seven or eight Totems was like looking at seven or eight lives. To have them wasted because of collateral damage was agonizing. Yet, one was his Prince, and the other was the Prince's sister, the Princess. And Lumine was Ryen's girlfriend. There was nowhere to lodge a complaint; he was the victim with no recourse.
Lumine glared at Aether one last time before turning her attention back to Ryen. "Look, look! If you drink a Night Vision potion and look under the sea, it looks like I've found something just like a desert temple."
Ryen raised an eyebrow, opened his map, and confirmed that they had indeed reached the deep sea zone.
"Indeed. That is an Ocean Monument." Ryen nodded with a smile, his voice calm. "Starting off on the right foot, it looks like our trip to the New Continent will go very smoothly."
"It really is a temple!" Lumine shouted in excitement, standing up in her boat, energized. "Do Ocean Monuments have a lot of treasure? Are we going to explore it?"
The others stopped rowing and gathered around Ryen's boat.
"Since we're already here, we should definitely explore it." Ryen nodded openly. "There is treasure inside an Ocean Monument, though you might not care for it much."
"Normally, it's just some gold, enchanted weapons, and monster materials at best."
Lumine looked disappointed. "Ah... is that so? Sounds pretty mediocre for a temple."
Ryen laughed and tapped Lumine on the forehead. "That's only because we've already developed the main continent so thoroughly. We aren't lacking in gold or enchanted weapons, so you think this monument has nothing good. If this were back in the day, if we had found an Ocean Monument, we would have dived in immediately."
Lumine stuck out her tongue. During their first days in the MC world, especially before the Lucky Block mod was even enabled, they would have been eager to plan an exploration of an Ocean Monument. Now, however, their standards were simply too high to be impressed.
"Are we still going to explore it? If it's just those materials, wouldn't it be a waste of time?" Ganyu asked curiously.
Ryen nodded slightly. "We definitely have to go. Even if there is nothing in the monument, it is still a temple, a place that holds treasure. Exploration... honestly, you don't need to care too much about the harvest. The process of exploring the unknown is the most interesting part."
Ryen paused, looking thoughtful. "I was talking about the vanilla Ocean Monument. But now that we've added so many mods, especially the Witchery mod... who knows what kind of good things might be down there? Overall, it's still worth exploring."
Wenti clapped his hands happily. "If you had said there might be Witchery treasures, we would have jumped down already!"
"I only said it was a possibility," Ryen replied with a helpless shake of his head. "I need to stay up here to look after Nahida and the others. Who wants to go down and take a look?"
Zhongli immediately looked away. Fishing on the sea was one thing, but diving underwater... he would never, ever go under the sea in his life.
"I'm going!" Lumine raised her hand decisively, looking at Ryen with enthusiasm. Paimon blinked and was just about to raise her hand when Ryen scooped her up into his arms.
"Lumine can go, Paimon cannot!"
"Eh?!" Paimon puffed out her cheeks, staring at Ryen unhappily. But after a moment, she squinted and rubbed her face against his. "Fine! Paimon knows Ryen can't bear to let anything happen to me!"
Ningguang and the others had little interest in taking a dip; it was wet, and even if there were treasures, they weren't guaranteed to be anything special. After checking with a few others, it turned out that only Lumine, Aether, Kujou Sara, Cyno, Wenti, Diluc, and Baizhu, who had just joined and was still full of curiosity about the world, were willing to go.
Ryen didn't mind. The seabed wasn't like land; even with more people, it wasn't necessarily easier to dismantle and explore. Besides, since Aether was going, his Khaenri'ahn retinue would follow. That was enough. It was just an Ocean Monument; there was no need to overthink it.
"Take the Channeling-enchanted tridents down with you. In the ocean, Channeling tridents are much better than other weapons. Oh, and keep your staffs handy. Staves are quite useful underwater, too."
The group nodded, taking inventory of their supplies and waiting for Ryen to add details. It had been two months since Ryen had last guided them through a dungeon, the last one being the Twilight Forest's Final Castle.
Ryen reflected for a moment and continued, "The total area of the Ocean Monument isn't that large, about five hundred square meters or so. You must remember that unlike other land structures, the Ocean Monument is entirely filled with water."
"Aside from bringing enough Night Vision potions, make sure you have enough Water Breathing potions, or you'll die very easily."
"There aren't many types of monsters in the monument. Apart from Drowned, the ones you need to look out for are the Guardians and the Elder Guardian. You know what these monsters are; the damage they deal might not be very high to those of you wearing diamond armor."
"But the Mining Fatigue effect they inflict is disgusting, especially underwater. It's even worse. To avoid Mining Fatigue, bring a few buckets of milk. If the effect is applied to you, drink the milk immediately to remove it."
Baizhu looked surprised. "Can you drink milk underwater? Are you sure it won't just dissipate into the ocean the moment you take it out?"
Ryen raised an eyebrow. "You've been in this world for a few days now. Based on your own senses, do you think this world follows logic?"
Baizhu fell silent. Thinking of the blocks he had placed at random, floating steadily in mid-air, he suddenly felt his previous question had been a bit foolish. Sighing, Baizhu replied helplessly, "Alright, I haven't quite adjusted yet."
Ryen smiled, shook his head, and looked at Lumine and the others. "Is there anything else you think you should bring?"
The group froze, and Lumine scratched her head. "Milk, Undying Totems, alchemy potions, weapons... isn't that enough?"
Ryen pinched Lumine's cheek, annoyed. "Fool! You've been in this world for so long, and you've learned so many of its traits, you still can't think of it?"
Lumine pouted, glaring at him with feigned resentment. "Because you're always with me, I don't need to memorize too much!"
Ryen paused, then turned to Ningguang and the others, helpless. "What do you say? What else should we bring?"
The unexpected question left them stunned as well. Ryen felt a complex mix of emotions. He felt that they had been too comfortable lately, and had completely forgotten the world mechanics they had learned previously.
Suddenly, Signora spoke up, looking thoughtful.
"If I'm not mistaken... it's doors, right?"
In an instant, Ryen looked at her as if she were a genius, nodding in complete appreciation.
"That's right! It's doors!"