As Bennett left, the Mondstadt group immediately followed. After all, they still wanted to hear more of his gossip.
With that, the rest of the players also began returning one after another.
At that moment, Welt and Acheron walked over with Kiana.
"Mr. Valerius… um, I'd like to ask… what conditions are required if Kiana wants to become a player?"
Valerius glanced at Welt and curled his lips slightly.
You're asking about Kiana? What you really want to know is how people from Honkai Impact 3 can become players.
"There's a Membership Recommendation Card among the rewards. As long as you draw that, you can invite anyone to become a player."
"I see."
Welt nodded, then turned to Kiana.
"Wait a bit longer. I'll do everything I can… and tell Dr. Tesla to take good care of Joyce."
"Got it, Mr. Welt."
Kiana nodded calmly, without any urgency.
Valerius found that surprising.
Looks like the little tuna really had grown up.
If it were her old personality, she'd definitely be pestering Welt nonstop to become a player.
"Mei, I'll head back now. If there's any danger, just summon me."
Kiana looked at Acheron with obvious fondness.
She really liked the purple-haired type—whether it was Acheron or even Raiden Ei from earlier.
Valerius silently turned his head away.
He really wanted to tell her—
Acheron doesn't need your protection at all.
With her strength, who here could even trouble her?
"Mm, don't worry. I understand… girls help girls."
Pfft!
Valerius burst out laughing.
Looks like Acheron still had some "evolution" left in her.
That laugh immediately drew her attention.
Empowered by her "T0 punishment state," Acheron wasn't afraid at all.
"What are you laughing at? And why so creepily? Don't tell me you have some weird thoughts about me and Kiana?"
"No, I was just thinking—"
"Thinking is forbidden. Thinking is also a crime."
"…Alright, alright, I won't think."
There was no reasoning with her right now.
Valerius decisively chose to log out.
Fine. I won't argue now. When your punishment ends, I'll replay everything you said daily.
"Hehe…"
Kiana shivered.
This version of Mei… was kind of scary.
Back home, Valerius checked the system interface and saw a large "NOWING" (Updating) sign.
"Looks like it really is under maintenance."
No games for now until the update finished.
Fortunately, the update details were already available.
He opened them immediately.
[Update Notes]
[1: Completely prohibits intentional feeding. Violators will be eliminated immediately and ranked last.]
[2: Faction Mode activated. Players will be divided into factions. Each faction selects participants for each game. Players cannot participate repeatedly until all members have taken turns.]
[3: Faction Battles activated. If a faction wins, all members receive rewards.]
[More rules under development…]
After reading, Valerius smiled.
So now they're breaking up the cliques.
Makes sense—before, everyone just teamed up with their own faction members to game the system.
Now they'd be mixed and forced to compete properly.
He took a screenshot and uploaded it to the chat.
[Nahida: Faction mode… and we can choose who participates?]
[Raiden Ei: Excellent. I will participate every time.]
She was thrilled.
After all, she was the Electro Archon—surely she'd always be selected.
More participation = more rewards.
[Yae Miko: Are you stupid? Each person can only participate once.]
[Raiden Ei: …How boring.]
[Jing Yuan: Mr. Valerius, will the game rules be revealed before selecting participants?]
Jing Yuan immediately spotted the key issue.
Without knowing the game in advance, selection would be meaningless.
[Valerius: Yes. The game will be announced first, then players are selected.]
[Herta: Heh, that's better.]
[Stelle: The Astral Express is invincible!]
Stelle was excited.
They only had five members—meaning faster rotation and more frequent appearances.
[Qingyi: Representing the Public Security Bureau—requesting deployment.]
[Bernice: Sons of Calydon, charge!]
[Rina: Victoria Housekeeping, at your service.]
[No. 11: On behalf of Squad Obol—requesting participation.]
[Raiden Ei: I will form a new faction with only myself.]
If rotation was required, then a one-person faction meant she could play every time!
[Valerius: Nice try… each faction must have at least 10 players. And don't forget faction battles—too few people and you'll just get crushed.]
[March 7th: Oh right, faction battles…]
[Lisa: Seems like exploiting loopholes won't be so easy now.]
For a moment, even Lisa had considered forming a "Library faction."
Clearly not viable anymore.
[Jing Yuan: Members of the Xianzhou—let's unite.]
[Feixiao: Naturally. The Xianzhou Alliance stands as one.]
[Natasha: Faction battles… I feel like Belobog doesn't stand much of a chance…]
Natasha sighed.
They were still relatively low-tier in strength compared to others.
And Belobog had many members—joining other factions might not be welcome, since too many people slowed rotation.
[Phantylia: Belobog, may I join you?]
[Bronya: You want to join us?]
That was unexpected—a strong player choosing them?
[Feixiao: If not you, where else would she go?]
Basically: no one else wants you.
[Nahida: Fontaine, shall we form an alliance?]
Nahida quickly realized the issue.
This system had a hidden trap.
Sumeru and Fontaine both had fewer players—without teaming up, they'd get crushed.
[Neuvillette: Agreed. We can ally with Sumeru.]
No hesitation.
Other regions already had enough players—joining them wasn't realistic.
And giving up faction rewards just for faster rotation wasn't worth it.
[Topaz: Miss Herta, shall we cooperate? And the people of Penacony?]
[Herta: Sure.]
The smarter players quickly grasped the balance—
Too few players = weak in faction battles.
Too many players = slow rotation, fewer chances to play.
The key was finding the perfect balance.
And so, negotiations began everywhere.
Alliances formed rapidly—
Because in this new system, survival depended on it.
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