Arlecchino led her subordinates away from Suru.
Though seated aboard a ship, she had no destination in mind.
Returning to Snezhnaya was out of the question. While only a portion of her subordinates had been affected, bringing them back could risk the entire nation's collapse.
After much deliberation, Arlecchino ultimately decided to head back to Fontaine.
Now, if she didn't want to dispose of all her subordinates, her only option was to assign them missions that kept them apart.
Fontaine was the ideal choice. Due to past incidents, she was wanted by the Fontaine authorities, and even the Fatui were officially unwelco, forbidden from entering Fontaine without permission.
This situation had forced the Fatui's operations in Fontaine underground, creating a dire need for intelligence operatives.
This was the best solution Arlecchino could devise. Otherwise, all the effort she had invested in training these elite agents would have gone to waste—a tragic waste of resources.
As for the wanted status, it posed no challenge to Arlecchino. She had a hundred ways to infiltrate Fontaine without drawing Neuvillette's attention—this was her specialty.
"Lady Knave, look over there. It seems there's a Snezhnayan ship."
Hearing her subordinate's warning, Arlecchino snapped out of her thoughts and turned her gaze toward the indicated direction.
Sure enough, it was a Snezhnayan vessel, and judging by its size, the person aboard must be of high status.
Before long, Arlecchino recognized whose ship it was. Though the figure standing on the deck was aged, the unmistakable resemblance to Dottore remained striking.
It was clear that this man was one of Dottore's Segnts, though what orders Dottore had given him remained a mystery. Judging by the ship's course, his destination also appeared to be Fontaine.
This was puzzling. Dottore had previously ntioned to her that he had already sent a Segnt to Fontaine in advance. If this was that Segnt, the timing didn't align at all.
That ant this man must be a Segnt Dottore had recently dispatched to Fontaine. But what could his purpose be?
The re thought of Dottore stirred Arlecchino's inner fire into a simring rage.
After her thorough investigation, which had cost her over a dozen elite soldiers, she had found nothing. If not for his status as the Second Seat, with strength surpassing her own, she would have already attacked him.
Wait... had she truly cultivated so many elite soldiers already?
As Arlecchino surveyed the Fatui soldiers on her ship, she suddenly realized their numbers were quite substantial. But she didn't dwell on it, imdiately ordering her ship to approach the other vessel.
"Dottore, what are you doing here?"
Once the ships were close enough, Arlecchino leaped across, landing squarely on the other deck.
"Ah, it's you, Arlecchino," Dottore remarked, glancing at her.
"The Jester is looking for you everywhere. Your actions in Fontaine have beco a bargaining chip in negotiations between Fontaine and Snezhnaya."
"Because of you, Snezhnaya's diplomacy has beco exceptionally difficult."
"Is that so?" Arlecchino replied calmly after hearing Dottore's words.
"Just leave it to the Jester. Isn't this precisely his area of expertise?"
Dottore chuckled softly, then fell silent.
After a mont, noticing Arlecchino showed no signs of leaving, Dottore frowned and asked, "Aren't you busy with your own affairs?"
"You haven't answered my question yet. What are you doing here?"
Dottore's frown deepened.
"Arlecchino, this matter has nothing to do with you."
"Nothing to do with ? That remains to be seen." Arlecchino sneered coldly.
"Why don't you guess why I ca all the way from Suru?"
Dottore, ever astute, imdiately surmised that so unpleasantness had transpired between Arlecchino and her Pri.
"This has nothing to do with . Don't deliberately provoke , Arlecchino."
"Heh, what if I am deliberately provoking you?"
In truth, there was nothing particularly significant about this confrontation. Arlecchino rely sensed that Dottore's aura wasn't as formidable as usual and sought to vent her frustration.
If she couldn't defeat the Pri, surely she could handle a re Segnt?
"Arlecchino, are you serious?"
Sensing the rapidly escalating aura around Arlecchino, Dottore imdiately recognized the gravity of the situation and braced himself.
"What if I am? So many of my people have died under your watch without explanation. Shouldn't you take responsibility?"
"That wasn't my doing! Go find whoever's responsible!"
Dottore was seething with resentnt. It was bad enough that the Pri had ordered him, a Segnt, to drop everything and rush to Fontaine to collect experintal materials like so common servant. Now, he was being forced to shoulder the consequences of the Pri's own sses? This was beyond unreasonable!
Arlecchino completely ignored Dottore's words, slowly drawing her sword as Pyro Elent crackled around her.
"You're all the sa anyway. You even look almost identical."
Dottore was speechless.
I'm a Segnt from Dottore's later years! How can you call us 'almost identical'?!
But Arlecchino gave him no ti to retort, launching a fierce assault the mont she attacked. Dottore reacted with lightning reflexes, imdiately engaging her in a fierce exchange.
The battle erupted without warning. Confined to the ship, both combatants restrained themselves sowhat.
Though this Dottore was rely one of his many Segnts, his strength rivaled Arlecchino's.
Their fierce clash quickly drew the attention of nurous Fatui soldiers, who watched the intense battle with a mix of awe and reverence.
[ What exactly did you do? ]
[ I'm stuck dealing with this madwoman Arlecchino right now. ]
Dottore parried Arlecchino's relentless attacks while communicating with his Pri.
[ I rely used so experintal materials—nothing of real consequence. ]
[ Arlecchino won't actually kill you. Let her vent her anger. ]
[ Enough. Don't bother unless it's urgent. I'm busy. ]
Dottore froze upon receiving the Pri's ssage.
[ Let Arlecchino vent her anger? ]
[ Is that even a human thing to say? ]
[ Don't Segnts deserve basic human rights? ]
Frowning, Dottore barely managed to parry Arlecchino's relentless assault. Though their raw power was comparable, Arlecchino's vast combat experience far surpassed the reclusive Dottore's, giving her a clear advantage.
"Arlecchino," Dottore said, retreating a considerable distance after one attack, his composure slightly frayed. "I don't have ti for your gas. Enough is enough."
Arlecchino scoffed, her aura gradually fading.
"Fine. This ends here."
After venting her frustrations, Arlecchino felt considerably lighter, a stark contrast to Dottore's face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Arlecchino slowly approached the ship's railing. Seeing this, Dottore assud the matter was settled. To his surprise, however, Arlecchino simply gazed at the sea and didn't move.
"Arlecchino, what are you up to now? Aren't you going back to your own ship?"
"Since we're both heading to Fontaine, what difference does it make which ship we're on?"
Difference? A world of difference!
Though inwardly displeased with Arlecchino's behavior, Dottore ultimately said nothing, choosing to ignore her actions.
In truth, Dottore understood Arlecchino's motives perfectly: she was using this opportunity to investigate his true purpose.
But Dottore didn't care. After all, it wasn't exactly a deep secret.
If Arlecchino had the ti to play detective, he might as well let her investigate.
The two ships sailed side-by-side into Fontaine's territory, continuing for a considerable distance without encountering any Fontainian law enforcent personnel. It was clear this route was exceptionally well-concealed.
Arlecchino frowned. After years of intelligence work in Fontaine, she had never discovered this route, yet Dottore knew it. It seed his influence within Fontaine was not to be underestimated.
But why, after all her years of intelligence work in Fontaine, had she found so few traces of Dottore's activity?
At that mont, Arlecchino began to doubt Dottore's earlier claim that he had no cooperation with any mysterious forces within Fontaine.
Soon after, the ships docked at a designated location on a small island.
As the two disembarked one after the other, disaster struck.
A massive, azure Sealing Array suddenly blazed to life, completely isolating an area within a kiloter's radius.
A terrifying aura emanated from the array.
Arlecchino's pupils constricted slightly. She was intimately familiar with this aura.
It was Neuvillette's.
"Dottore, you've betrayed Snezhnaya!"
Since Dottore had led them the entire way, Arlecchino naturally suspected him, especially after so many traitors had erged from his own ranks. She was now even more inclined to consider such possibilities.
Caught off guard by Arlecchino's accusation, Dottore montarily lost focus amidst the sudden chaos.
But quickly regaining his composure, he solemnly declared to Arlecchino, "This has nothing to do with . We've been ambushed. This route has likely been compromised."
As Dottore spoke, he cursed inwardly at Dottore No. 1 and Dottore No. 2.
They were the ones who had given him this location in the first place. How could those two incompetent fools have failed to notice the compromised route? It was hard to believe they were once his younger selves.
Was I ever this stupid in my youth?
Dottore tried contacting his other Segnts, but it seed soone had severed the network. He couldn't reach anyone.
Just as the two were surveying their surroundings, distant rumbling sounds echoed from a nearby mountain peak.
As the commotion intensified, fiery missiles began streaking across the sky toward their position.
"Intercept them!" Arlecchino ordered, her body erupting in scorching flas the mont she spoke.
The searing flas engulfed several missiles, detonating them mid-air. However, the sheer destructive power of these missiles made Arlecchino's expression darken.
These missiles packed over three tis the destructive power of their standard counterparts. Even intercepted mid-air, the shockwave made her body sink, let alone if they had detonated at close range.
Worse still, countless missiles continued to rain down upon them, filling the sky like a storm of fire. The muffled booms from the distant mountains persisted, suggesting the missiles were still being replenished.
Though Arlecchino and Dottore's strength approached Archon-level, even they struggled to cope with such overwhelming firepower.
On the distant mountain peak, Neuvillette was directing the Court of Justice's Special Task Force as they operated Gardeks to conduct weapons testing.
Neuvillette didn't reveal the truth to the assembled onlookers, simply stating that he had brought them here to test the latest weaponry. The weapons being demonstrated were the newest models.
When Neuvillette received reports from Dottore's segnts, he learned that Dottore had set his sights on the Fontainians and lusines. Unable to suppress his anger, Neuvillette arranged this weapon test.
Having captured so many Dottore segnts, Neuvillette had gained a basic understanding of their capabilities. He concluded that the weapons currently employed by the Clockwork kas posed no significant threat to the segnts' lives.
Of course, if any accidents were to occur, it wouldn't matter. After all, they were rely conducting routine weapon tests, and Dottore had smuggled himself into Fontaine, then carelessly wandered into their firing range. Any mishaps would be his own fault.
However, Neuvillette was sowhat surprised to find Arlecchino present as well.
Now he could settle both old scores and new grudges at once. Neuvillette imdiately ordered the Gardek to switch to more powerful weapons, instantly intensifying the pressure on the segnts.
Nevertheless, Neuvillette shielded the remaining Fatui soldiers, reluctant to spill unnecessary blood unless absolutely necessary.
Though he could have personally intervened, his outrage toward Dottore was absolute. He was determined to deliver Judgnt.
However, as the Fatui's Second Seat Harbinger, Dottore likely enjoyed considerable leniency from Snezhnaya, regardless of his transgressions.
Thus, Neuvillette had already begun considering the possibility of war with Snezhnaya, which led to his idea of testing Fontaine's weapons.
As it turned out, Dottore and Arlecchino proved ideal test subjects. Watching them struggle to cope with the assault, Neuvillette gained a clearer understanding of Fontaine's current military might.
Fontaine's rapid developnt had only occurred in the past year. Neuvillette suspected this was connected to those who had regained their past mories. It was likely soone had awakened to their past experiences, integrated that knowledge with Fontaine's modern science, and further propelled the nation's progress.
Since they hadn't brought up the matter themselves, Neuvillette, though he had his suspicions, refrained from asking directly.
After testing all the latest weapons, Neuvillette decided to test the final one: the Pneumousia Obliteration Bomb, which its inventor claid could annihilate Patrick Star and cause mushroom clouds.
Neuvillette had no idea what "Patrick Star" was, so he thought he might as well see it for himself.
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