Stepping onto the massive floating island, the two of them found Valerius already waiting.
"Oh? Why'd you stop chasing?"
He had seen it clearly—those two had been charging forward aggressively, only to suddenly turn around and come back.
"Hmph, we let her go out of respect for you."
Amber lifted her chin proudly, looking completely convincing.
"Exactly. Shouldn't you give us a discount then?"
Eula chimed in from the side. After all, they had "spared" his wife—surely that deserved a better deal.
Valerius turned his head slightly and covered his mouth, suppressing a laugh. "No discounts. Go ahead and pick what you want."
He didn't expose them. What were they pretending for? He had clearly seen them retreat in panic.
"…Hmph. Fine, we'll buy."
Under Valerius's amused gaze, the two began carefully browsing the items.
As Amber scanned through the menu and spotted the high-precision ballistic missile, she suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! That Bronya earlier must've bought this! If I'd known, we shouldn't have let her go!"
Bronya had just dominated the notifications. It was obvious she had used one of these missiles.
And when they encountered her earlier, she had already used it—meaning she was basically defenseless at the time.
Amber immediately regretted it.
One point… just slipped right through her fingers.
"What are you talking about? I never had that kind of idea."
Eula quickly shook her head, firmly denying it. Chasing down Bronya? Absolutely not.
"Huh? But didn't you just say—"
Seeing Eula frantically signaling her with her eyes, Amber finally realized what was going on. She stiffly turned her head toward Valerius.
Discussing eliminating his wife… right in front of him…
Yeah, that wasn't a great look.
"…Hehe."
With no way to take it back, Amber could only laugh awkwardly.
"Relax," Valerius said, rolling his eyes at her nervous expression. "I'm not that petty. If you can eliminate Bronya, that's your skill."
"Oh! That's a relief."
Patting her chest, Amber refocused on the menu.
After reviewing everything, she still felt the missile was the best choice. One shot could bring in a huge amount of points.
"I'll take this."
Without hesitation, Amber chose the high-precision ballistic missile.
"You idiot. That thing only locks onto one target. Bronya just got lucky."
Eula understood it clearly. The missile was powerful, but it only targeted one player. If players didn't cluster together, those 5 points would basically be wasted.
"Hehe, worth trying."
"And what if you run into other players later? What will you use to fight back?"
"…Don't I have you?"
Eula froze.
So that was the plan.
After thinking it over, it actually made sense. With the missile, they could patrol together—handle lone players themselves, and if they ran into a group, Amber could just launch the missile.
"…Fine."
In the end, Eula bought an M416.
"You're not getting anything else?"
She had only spent 2 points.
"No."
Eula shook her head. A gun was enough. With her current firepower, as long as she didn't run into someone like Klee with siege weapons, she wasn't afraid of anyone.
Besides, Amber had a missile.
That massive thing standing on their island—who would dare provoke them?
"Alright, we're done. Let's go."
After purchasing their items, Amber shot Eula a look. If they left now, they might still catch up to Bronya.
"Got it."
Eula immediately understood. Bronya's speed had been slow—there was still a good chance of catching her.
Without hesitation, they headed back to their island.
"Amber, be careful. If you get eliminated, your missile can be taken by someone else."
As they stepped onto their island, Valerius casually reminded them.
That single sentence made Amber's hair stand on end.
She slowly turned to look at Eula.
"…So… you wouldn't betray me at a critical moment, right?"
"What are you thinking? Of course not!"
"Oh… yeah, that makes sense."
Amber let out a breath of relief. Eula wasn't that kind of person.
Back on the island—
"Um… Eula, you really won't betray me, right?"
"Relax."
They started moving.
"Eula, you wouldn't—"
"Say one more word and I'll shoot you right now."
"…O-Okay. I… I trust you."
Looking at the gun in Eula's hand, Amber felt uneasy. She didn't dare say anything more. What if Eula actually fired?
As she controlled the island, she slowly drifted farther away from Eula—just outside her shooting range.
In reality, Eula wouldn't attack her.
But this was a game.
Who knew what Eula might do?
Better safe than sorry.
After all, weren't Bronya and Seele also best friends? And look how that turned out.
"…I'm so mad. I'm remembering this."
Watching Amber drift farther and farther away, Eula fumed. If she wanted to attack, she would've done it already—was this level of paranoia really necessary?
At this distance, if Amber got ambushed, Eula wouldn't even be able to help in time.
"…Wait."
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.
If Amber was this far away… and got eliminated… and then she eliminated someone else…
"…Wouldn't the missile…"
"No, no. Don't think like that."
She shook her head vigorously, forcing the thought away.
There were still plenty of players left. It wasn't worth betraying her only best friend for a single point.
She was sure—if she betrayed Amber, once they returned to Mondstadt, Amber would never talk to her again.
Continuing forward, a small black dot appeared in the distance.
"Hehe, caught up."
Eula was certain—that had to be Bronya.
That point was practically theirs.
"Amber, hurry, catch up!"
[Attention: Player Bronya has been eliminated by Player Klee.]
The notification rang out.
Eula froze.
Bronya… had been eliminated?
By Klee?!
That meant if they kept going forward—
They'd run straight into Klee.
And they absolutely couldn't handle Klee right now.
Even with Amber's missile, they couldn't possibly use it on her.
Eula immediately signaled Amber—
Retreat.
But with some distance between them, Amber interpreted the gesture… differently.
After a serious nod—
She sped up.
And charged straight toward the black dot ahead.
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