Early morning is the best time for sweet dreams.
But suddenly, a gunshot jolted everyone awake.
"Enemy attack!"
"They have firearms! The enemy has guns!"
The shouts of Xiao and Diluc echoed through every room.
Ryen's eyes snapped open, his expression turning serious.
Beside him, Ganyu also got up, intending to run out with him.
Ryen pressed her down and said softly,
"Ganyu, stay inside and protect Nahida. Use the Barrett to scout for enemies and provide long-range support."
Ganyu also understood her role in battle.
She nodded decisively and whispered,
"Be careful."
Without saying more, Ryen grabbed a light machine gun and a shotgun, then opened the door.
The gunfire outside had already become extremely intense.
It sounded just like firecrackers going off during the New Year.
The constant bang bang bang of gunshots filled the air.
From the sound of it, Xiao and Diluc were already engaged with the enemy.
Judging by the density of gunfire, they were likely being suppressed.
Ryen activated the comms and started speaking:
"Xiao, how many enemies are there? What's the situation? Everyone else, hold position—modern warfare is different from cold weapons."
"Your powers are suppressed. Without supernatural protection, a single stray bullet can be fatal."
Everyone clearly understood what this meant.
Even without the communication device,
The smell of gunpowder and the bullets flying past the door were enough to tell them what to do.
"Mr. Ryen, there are over twenty enemies, all armed with firearms and dressed in standard black outfits, like villagers. No other monsters spotted."
"Diluc and I are still relatively safe. We're retreating behind obsidian cover."
Ryen frowned slightly.
"Bandits."
"Bandits?"
Ningguang's voice suddenly chimed in over the comms. Ryen responded,
"They're hostile mobs from the firearms mod—fully armed with guns. Not sure if they have RPGs, so be cautious."
The situation was a bit complicated.
If it were just 20 zombies, Xiao could handle them easily.
But these were bandits armed with modern firearms.
With elemental powers largely suppressed, this was much harder to deal with.
One wrong move, and you'd be riddled with bullets in seconds.
The only bit of good news: everyone had at least three Totems of Undying on them.
Still, the bullet-ridden battlefield ignited a fiery excitement in Ryen's heart.
It felt like he was back in his previous world, living through an action movie gunfight.
He took out an RPG, positioned himself behind an obsidian wall, and looked into the distance.
Xiao and Diluc had already fought their way back nearby while retreating.
The bandits weren't clustered together; instead, they were firing continuously from behind fences.
More than twenty firearms fired aimlessly, making for a spectacular sight.
Bullets whizzed past Ryen's ears—only making him even more fired up.
"Everyone, build defenses with obsidian and aim forward. Zhongli, give everyone shields. Once I fire the first shot, open fire! Make sure you don't hit our own people!"
After receiving everyone's confirmation, Ryen carved out a block from the obsidian wall.
Shouldering the RPG, he aimed it at a group of four or five bandits ahead.
"Taste this!"
Ryen smirked and lightly pulled the trigger.
The rocket streaked forward, trailing sparks as it sped toward the bandits.
A thunderous explosion rang in everyone's ears.
From a distance, the entire section of fence was obliterated, the bandits at the edge turned to smoke and vanished.
The ground looked like it had been hit by several blocks of TNT, leaving a huge crater.
The effect was fantastic—but it also blew open the fence.
The bandits started charging toward the base.
"Open fire!"
Ryen shouted, whipping out an M249 light machine gun and laying down suppressive fire from the gap in the obsidian.
Everyone else also pulled out their submachine guns and began firing from a distance.
In that instant, the air erupted with gunfire and smoke.
The deafening sounds shook everyone's ears and hearts.
Stray bullets flew everywhere. No one dared to move carelessly, only firing from behind cover.
Glass windows shattered all around. Paimon shrank into a corner, clutching her gun tightly with her eyes squeezed shut.
The bandits had stronger firepower and greater numbers.
But their aim was terrible.
Meanwhile, on Ryen's side—
Even if not everyone was a long-range expert, they all had solid combat experience.
Their accuracy far surpassed that of the bandits.
Plus, Ryen had given them ample ammo, and they hadn't fired a single shot yesterday.
So today, everyone was going all out.
One by one, the bandits were gunned down, turning to smoke.
Everyone gradually became more accustomed to hot weapon combat.
It was truly a completely different experience from the battles they were used to.
Cold weapons required getting up close.
Apply that combat style to firearms, and you'd be shot full of holes the moment you showed your face.
But still, this new kind of battle left everyone feeling pumped with adrenaline.
Ryen glanced at the bandits—only seven or eight remained.
He put away his light machine gun and pulled a grenade from his waist.
Biting out the safety pin, he hurled it forcefully toward the remaining bandits.
Another explosion rang out—two more bandits fell.
But the rest of the bandits had already reached the house. The situation was quickly turning into close-quarters combat.
Unfortunately for them…
Ryen had a surefire weapon for close-quarters fighting.
He pulled out a shotgun and shouted:
"Don't spray wildly! Reduce firepower! I'll finish off the last few!"
With that, he dashed out from behind cover, protected by Zhongli's shield.
The moment he showed himself, the bandits finally locked onto a target, their guns aimed at Ryen.
But Ryen wasn't about to give them the chance to shoot.
He racked the shotgun and fired in reverse.
A dense spray of pellets burst forth in a wide arc.
That single shot killed two bandits on the spot.
Only two remained. Ryen turned his gun toward them, ready to fire again.
Suddenly, a massive blast echoed from the house behind him, like a grenade had gone off.
In an instant, the final two bandits were obliterated by the explosion.
All enemies had been neutralized.
Ryen lowered his weapon and turned to look back.
He saw Ganyu holding her Barrett sniper rifle, smiling sweetly at him.
"Nice shot!"
Ryen gave her a thumbs-up.
After scanning carefully and confirming no more enemies were around, he called out:
"All clear! Let's clean up the battlefield!"
At his words, everyone cautiously emerged from cover.
Seeing that the threat was indeed gone, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the ground was a mess—pitted and cratered from grenades, RPGs, and Ganyu's Barrett blasts. It was hard to even walk without tripping.
Everyone regrouped around Ryen. Paimon immediately flew into his arms.
"That was so scary! Ryen! These modern weapons are terrifying! All those bangs and booms—it's too dangerous!"
She hadn't fired a single shot, crouching inside the house with her hands over her head.
Still, the shattering of glass from bullets had terrified her.
"Are we going to have to fight like this from now on? It's too scary!"
Paimon looked at Ryen with teary eyes.
She was truly frightened.
And to make matters worse, this world wouldn't even let her return to subspace.
Ryen gently patted her head and comforted her:
"It's okay, isn't it? We're all fine. Don't worry—bandits don't usually gather in large numbers. It's manageable."
Ningguang also looked at Ryen with concern. She hadn't expected large-scale firefights with modern weapons to be this devastating.
Naturally, she began to worry about the Qianyan Army and the miners.
Ryen understood her concern and said softly:
"The miners and Qianyan soldiers should be fine. Didn't we already tell them to stick to long-range attacks when facing enemies?"
"With proper distance and cover, and given the number and combat skills of the Qianyan Army, the base won't be in danger unless there are over a hundred bandits."
"Besides, it's rare to encounter a hundred at once."
Hearing that, Ningguang finally felt somewhat reassured.
Still, she spoke up:
"When we return to the manor, I want to start learning how to manufacture firearms. The enemies have such weapons, while the Qianyan Army only has bows and arrows…"
"That's just too disadvantageous for them."
Ryen didn't object.
After all, they could kill a few more dragons in the End dimension and begin experimenting with firearm mods.
"Hehe~"
Venti chuckled, completely unfazed.
He looked down at the weapon in his hands, beaming with joy.
"Who knew these things were so fun to use? Didn't you guys think that battle just now was kind of exciting?"
"…"
For a moment, no one knew how to respond to Venti's eccentric enthusiasm.
But thinking back, the battlefield filled with flying bullets and smoke really did get the heart racing. There was a certain thrill after the fight.
"Organized use of firearms really is way more powerful than individual ones."
Diluc pondered quietly and said:
"And this was just twenty or so bandits. Including us, the total number of combatants wasn't even fifty."
"Yet it caused so much destruction."
"If the Knights of Favonius could all be armed with firearms…"
Unbidden, Diluc imagined a thousand-strong army armed with guns, advancing in unison.
That kind of force could wipe out everything in its path—no monster would stand a chance.
Guns didn't just bring destruction—they brought absolute truth.
With that thought, he also remembered that many of the weapons these bandits had were even better than their current SMGs.
He immediately asked:
"Should we clean up the battlefield now? A lot of these bandit weapons are ones we've never seen before."
Ryen shrugged.
"Of course. I think we've gained quite a haul this time. You guys can see if there's anything you like, but remember—match the ammo types."
Almost before he finished speaking, Venti dove into one of the craters and began rummaging through the weapons.
He probably hadn't even heard the part about matching ammo.
The others also began cleaning up the battlefield.
Ryen shook his head, looking at the sky with a helpless expression.
All this had started just from a bandit attack this morning. Honestly, facing over twenty bandits with modern weapons alone would've been dangerous.
But with this many people, and once everyone got familiar with guns, even just four or five could wipe out a squad.
Bandits were never the biggest threat in modern warfare—not in Vic's world.
Thankfully, everyone was quickly getting used to the firearm mod.
After they developed a bit more, if necessary, Ryen would form a dedicated team to carry RPGs and hold off those monsters…