Northland Bank, Second Floor.
Tartaglia and Rosalyne didn't participate in today's Rite of Parting.
In fact, the entire Fatui remained well-behaved in their respective lodgings today.
They had no choice—after all, the Fatui weren't welco here.
What's more, Rosalyne had already revealed the contract between the Tsaritsa and Zhongli to Tartaglia.
As long as they followed Zhongli's instructions step by step, they would be able to obtain the Gnosis.
There was no need to go around doing thankless and risky things.
Especially now—Liyue was not a place they could afford to provoke.
If sothing happened to the Geo Archon today, and even one Fatui mber was present, they would be blad without a doubt.
Rosalyne still hoped to help the Tsaritsa establish cooperative relations with Liyue, so she naturally didn't want tensions to escalate further.
However, she still underestimated the mutual hostility between Liyue and the Fatui.
Even though the Fatui had been quiet and caused no trouble today, after the incident at Yujing Terrace, the Ministry of Civil Affairs imdiately sent people to launch a massive investigation.
All Fatui mbers were ordered to report their whereabouts over the past few days.
In addition, dozens of Qianyan Army soldiers had been stationed outside the Northland Bank—under the pretense of protecting rchant property.
Tartaglia had a thousand complaints about that.
Calling it "property protection" sounded nice, but in truth, wasn't it just surveillance and house arrest?
Who protects property by surrounding the building in full battle armor, with wolves on leashes and deadly glares aid straight at the bank?
Fully armored Qianyan heavy cavalry, riding tall warhorses and patrolling around the Northland Bank.
In the shadows, many light cavalry soldiers were ready to chug alchemical potions and storm in at any mont.
At this point, anyone unfamiliar with the situation might think a Demon God was hiding inside the Northland Bank.
Yet Tartaglia and the others didn't protest—in fact, they hadn't even shown their faces.
They saw clearly how rchants from the Suru Akademiya were now practically begging for people to buy their alchemical potions.
But the mont they revealed they were from the Akademiya, the rchants and adventurers scattered like they were fleeing a plague.
The Fatui may have been targeted, but they were still better off than the Akademiya.
At the very least, they hadn't lost their right to purchase alchemical potions.
Not long after, the entire main avenue of Liyue beca eerily quiet.
rchants and civilians all hid in their hos.
The Qianyan Army entered the city in full force.
At the front were densely packed heavy cavalry, their hooves smashing into the ground and sending shards of stone flying.
Following behind were light infantry, ard with uniform enchanted spears and enchanted swords at their waists.
Behind them ca archers carrying enchanted bows on their backs.
A pack of wolves ran alongside the soldiers, keeping pace.
In just a short ti, Tartaglia had counted no fewer than three thousand of these elite Qianyan troops.
The full might of Liyue's foundation was now on display for all to see—making their hearts tremble with unease.
Even without deploying any gods, these Qianyan soldiers alone were strong enough to sweep away nearly every known force in Teyvat.
That's why the Fatui didn't dare to stir up trouble despite being effectively detained.
At this mont, Liyue Harbor had three to four thousand elite troops—each as dangerous as Vision holders.
They simply weren't soone to ss with.
After a long silence, Tartaglia let out a soft sigh.
"What a storm this is…"
Rosalyne didn't answer. She silently observed the Qianyan soldiers below, particularly the enchanted weapons in their hands.
The flickering Pyro elents on their long swords made even her—the Crimson Witch of Fla—feel a deep desire.
"What terrifying strength. As expected, cooperating with Liyue will be the greatest advantage for Her Majesty the Tsaritsa."
After speaking, Rosalyne glanced at Tartaglia.
"You may move now. Morax sent word—the Traveler has left the Golden House. The Yuheng Star is still stationed there, and right now, the Traveler is alone."
Tartaglia rolled his eyes.
"You want to make a move right in front of all these Qianyan soldiers? Isn't that a little too high-profile? I'd rather not get surrounded and hacked to pieces."
"This is Morax's contract. If you fail to complete it, prepare to face the punishnt of stone."
Rosalyne's tone was light, but her words were cold.
She turned and left the eting room, returning to her own quarters.
Her role in this was over.
All she needed to do was report to the Tsaritsa as scheduled and wait to receive the Gnosis.
And while she was at it…
See if cooperation with Liyue was truly possible.
After seeing those enchanted weapons, Rosalyne's urgency had only grown stronger.
Liyue definitely had the power to stand up to Celestia.
Tartaglia looked down at the Qianyan soldiers below, a mix of emotions crossing his face.
After a while, he let out a sigh, hid his presence, and slipped away through the secret tunnel they had dug earlier—heading in Lumine's direction.
Of course, he didn't notice that just outside the tunnel entrance, in an inconspicuous spot, a hidden cara recorded his every move.
---
On the Jade Chamber.
Ningguang had invited Ryen and the others to rest here for the ti being and had also brought Klee and Nahida over.
Judging by the current situation, no one was in the mood to return to the MC World for now.
Ningguang's priority was to stabilize the internal panic within Liyue.
As for everything else…
It would have to wait until the so-called "trial" began.
Being atop the Jade Chamber, it was only natural that they could clearly see what Tartaglia was up to.
Especially after what Zhongli had said about Lumine—Ningguang and the others had been keeping a close eye on her ever since.
Tartaglia's actions and movents were laid out clearly before them.
Ningguang frowned slightly and glanced at Zhongli, but he showed no change in expression.
She could more or less guess that the Fatui were probably also one of the pieces Zhongli had set in motion in this grand Rite of Parting drama.
Still, Ningguang didn't want to dig too deeply into what Zhongli was planning.
She only needed to think from the perspective of soone preparing for Liyue's transition to self-governance.
And the answer to that was simple:
"Let the soldiers guard against the invaders; let the land absorb the flood."
No matter who the enemy was—Liyue had the strength to face them.
"This is the Sky-Eye System Ryen ntioned before, isn't it?"
Lisa curiously examined the array of screens before her.
They displayed densely packed images of every corner of Liyue Harbor,
clear enough to count every single fruit on a street vendor's stall.
It could be said that all of Liyue now lay directly beneath Ningguang's watchful eyes.
Anything that happened would be known imdiately.
For a city—no, for an entire nation—this was the most ideal outco.
At least, for those who managed Liyue, it was the perfect tool.
Hearing Lisa's comnt, Ningguang finally put aside her speculations about Zhongli's plan for the ti being.
With a soft laugh, she said:
"Ryen had people set this up. While you were away, every street and alley in Liyue—even the most hidden corners—were fitted with wireless surveillance caras."
"The Ministry of Civil Affairs also has screens like these. We've set up a separate departnt just to monitor them, with staff rotating shifts each day."
"If anything happens, we can send soone to handle it imdiately."
Jean nodded in admiration.
"That's truly convenient. If Mondstadt could install sothing similar, managing the Knights of Favonius would be much easier."
Ryen, who was playing with Klee and Nahida, looked up and smiled.
"It's not that difficult. Once you learn the crafting recipe, you can mass-produce them."
"You can study the thod later, make a bunch, and bring them back to install. Just ask Ningguang and the others for a manual."
Hearing this, Jean nodded quickly.
"Thank you very much. This will be really important for us…"
Just as she finished speaking, Hu Tao suddenly pointed excitedly at one of the screens.
"Look! Look! Lumine's about to run into Tartaglia!"
Everyone went quiet again, their eyes fixed on the display.
---
After returning from the Golden House, Lumine walked with her head down, silent.
She had planned to et the Geo Archon today to ask about her brother—but who could've expected such a sudden incident?
Keqing was still stationed at the Golden House, and Lumine didn't know where else to go, so she wandered aimlessly through Liyue Harbor.
Compared to its usual bustle, the city now felt shrouded in unease and fear.
Pedestrians moved quickly along the streets, while the number of Millelith soldiers had clearly increased.
Thankfully, many of the Millelith recognized Lumine as a friend of Ningguang and the others, so none of them stopped her to ask for identification.
Unconsciously, she wandered to an empty pavilion not far from Yujing Terrace.
There wasn't a soul in sight—only a few Millelith patrolling nearby.
"Lumine…"
Paimon gently tugged her sleeve and whispered:
"What should we do now?"
Lumine looked at Paimon with a blank expression, then sat down in frustration.
"I don't know…"
Paimon hovered beside her, holding her cheeks in her hands anxiously.
"Why would sothing like a heavenly punishnt suddenly fall on the Geo Archon?"
A thought struck Lumine, and she turned to Paimon.
"Paimon, in your mory… has anything like this ever happened in Liyue before?"
Paimon wrinkled her nose and thought hard, then shook her head.
"I don't rember anything like that! I haven't been to Liyue that many tis, though!"
"Not that many tis, and yet you rember all the local delicacies so clearly!"
Lumine glared at Paimon, then sighed and looked down again, discouraged.
"What do we do now… The one person who might've known where my brother is—sothing happened to him… Why does this keep happening to ?"
She t the Heavenly Principles on Celestia, faced the stormterror crisis in Mondstadt, and now the Geo Archon was severely injured here in Liyue…
Lumine was starting to feel like it was fate—or so kind of cruel joke.
"Lumine, maybe we should talk to Ryen? His world is so magical—maybe he can heal the Geo Archon!"
Paimon's words made Lumine freeze.
She'd nearly forgotten—
Ryen had Enchanted Golden Apples, Totems of Undying!
And more than that—his entire world was a place of healing.
No matter how badly soone was hurt, as long as they went there and restored their hunger bar, they could co back fully healed.
Lumine jumped up, grabbed Paimon, and kissed her on the cheek.
"Paimon! You really can be smart sotis!"
Being praised made Paimon happy at first, but after hearing what Lumine said, she imdiately pouted.
"Hmph! What do you an 'sotis' smart?! I'm always smart! I just need to eat well for my brain to work at full power!"
"So this is all your fault for always making Paimon go hungry!"
Now that she had a solution, Lumine didn't bother arguing. She grinned and pinched Paimon's cheek.
"Anyway, let's go find Ryen! If we bring the Geo Archon back to health, I'm sure Ningguang and the others will be thrilled!"
The two of them cheered up and began heading toward the small house at the foot of Mt. Tianheng.
But just as they rounded a corner, a bright, cheerful voice called out:
"Long ti no see, Miss Lumine, Miss Paimon. You two seem to be in pretty good spirits?"
Lumine stopped, stunned.
She turned around and saw Tartaglia leaning casually against a wall, arms crossed, smiling at them.
~~----------------------
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