Zapolyarny Palace.
On a huge screen, images of Sumeru were playing.
The God of Righteousness was insta-killed; the dignified Second of the Fatui Harbingers was being strangled by the neck and rubbed against the ground.
Scene after scene felt like a naked slap in the face, causing the expression of The Tsaritsa upon the throne to turn extremely dark.
Especially upon seeing the Electro Heart of God fall into Ye Xi's hands, her expression became even colder.
"Dottore, the mission I entrusted to you... you have failed completely."
"This..."
Dottore lowered his head. "That may be so, but—"
Before he could make excuses, the Empress's cold voice, suppressing her anger, rang in his ears again: "Not only did you fail to bring back the Sumeru Heart of God, but you also gave away the Inazuma Heart of God!"
Hearing this reprimand, Dottore hurriedly said, "Her Majesty the Empress, it was him who failed, not me."
"Enough, no need for sophistry!"
The Empress gritted her teeth, but eventually sighed. "I will send Arlecchino to Sumeru to bring both Hearts of God back."
"You will go to Fontaine. Do not cause me any more trouble!"
"...Yes."
Dottore hurriedly nodded to accept the order, simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief in his heart.
He had thought he would face Her Majesty the Empress's wrath; fortunately, he was safe and sound.
Just then, Pierro, standing to the side, frowned and spoke up: "Her Majesty the Empress, Dottore delayed the mission progress and should be punished!"
Previously, whether in Mondstadt or Liyue, the plans had gone very smoothly.
Only in Inazuma did The Fair Lady die unexpectedly, bringing considerable trauma to the Fatui.
Regardless, everyone had worked hard to complete the tasks assigned by The Tsaritsa.
But now, Dottore's plan had failed. Not only did the plan that Sumeru had prepared for many years go bankrupt, but The Fair Lady's efforts were also wasted, her sacrifice in vain!
Moreover, this greatly delayed the mission progress.
If he was not punished, the other Harbingers would definitely not be convinced.
"Punished?"
The Tsaritsa was furious, questioning coldly, "How to punish? Punish whom?"
"This guy has who knows how many segments. If you chop one, there's another. What is the use?"
"Uh..."
"Her Majesty the Empress makes a valid point."
Pierro immediately shut his mouth.
Although his proposal was truly stupid, the Empress's temper seemed to have gotten worse recently.
In short, it was better not to provoke her, otherwise, he would definitely get scolded.
At his age, he couldn't stand the torment.
The Tsaritsa snorted coldly and said, "You all must first research this Khaenri'ahn clearly. Before you figure him out, do not make an enemy of him."
"If you don't even understand his methods, anyone who goes is just seeking death."
After speaking, The Tsaritsa turned and left.
The atmosphere in the great hall suddenly became tense.
"Mr. Director, you seemed to have a lot of opinions about me just now."
Dottore slowly stood up, his eyes full of displeasure.
Clearly, this old man also had a share in this 'God-Making Plan,' but when it failed, this old geezer turned around and stabbed him in the back, making a snitch report to the Empress.
To actually impeach him right to his face!
It simply made one's blood boil!
Pierro coughed dryly and said righteously, "Dottore, your failure has brought shame upon the Fatui!"
"Not only did the God-Making Plan yield no results, but even two Hearts of God were left in a foreign land. Should you not be punished!?"
Dottore sneered a few times. "Pierro, I will not forget your act of burning the bridge after crossing it."
Before his voice fell, Dottore suddenly sprang up, sweeping past Pierro.
Although his strongest segment had already died in Sumeru, the other segments were not much inferior.
Pierro was startled. By the time he came back to his senses, he found Dottore holding a small tuft of his hair.
"Mr. Director, I don't mind spending some effort to make a few segments belonging to you."
"You brat—!"
Pierro's brow twitched, and he couldn't help but roar angrily, "You young person, you have no martial ethics!"
"Coming to trick! Coming to sneak attack! An old man from Khaenri'ah like me."
"I advise you to look out for yourself and reflect properly."
While cursing, Pierro left the palace.
Over these years, he had given his all for the Fatui, but the curse of immortality in his body was constantly eroding him.
Even though he possessed powerful strength among the Fatui, he couldn't hold on after bursting out a few times; ultimately, he was no match for these young people.
Seeing Pierro leave, Dottore huffed and casually threw those few strands of hair on the ground.
"Guy relying on his old age to sell his seniority."
He turned back to look at the large screen in the air and began to ponder.
At this time, several people entered the main hall one after another.
Upon closer inspection, these people actually all looked very similar to Dottore.
Some were young, some were old.
Some looked sanctimonious, while others looked sloppy.
In short, they were all Dottore's segments.
"It's all the No. 1 segment's fault! Damn it! My experiment was only halfway done, and I was forced to come back!"
"No. 3, what did Her Majesty the Empress say?"
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! That Khaenri'ahn! He actually killed our strongest No. 1 segment!"
"Trash, what use is anger! Be quiet!"
"Wuwuwu... What did No. 1's sacrifice bring us! It's experience! It's a bloody lesson! He died so pitifully..."
"Kill him! That Ye Xi must die! Otherwise, it will be hard to relieve the hatred in my heart—!"
"Everyone, as a missionary, I must say a few words."
"You shut up, I don't have time to listen to your rambling here!"
The main hall was instantly filled with noisy arguments.
The No. 3 segment, who had just bickered with Pierro, knocked angrily on the table and said in a deep voice, "Everyone shut up! The purpose of calling you here is to crack that Ye Xi's methods! Not to argue!"
A Dottore who looked to be in his teens frowned.
Although he had the figure of a young boy, he appeared unexpectedly composed.
He spoke slowly, "No. 3, I have already watched the battle in the Sumeru Grand Bazaar 13 times. I have also just watched the battle between that Ye Xi and The God of Righteousness."
"This Ye Xi's methods are truly formidable and unfathomable!"
Another segment, a youth in his twenties, had a face full of sarcasm. "Listening to your words is like listening to your words. What are you pretending to be mature for, you brat?"
"Shut up, Old Eight! Let Little Ten continue!"
The youth labeled Number Eight licked the chocolate syrup remaining at the corner of his mouth and turned his back indignantly.
Young Little Ten clicked to play, and images appeared on the screen.
It showed The God of Righteousness being hit by the Railgun, falling ruthlessly from the sky and smashing onto the ground.
It turned its head violently. Suddenly, a mutation occurred, and The Balladeer was defeated.
Little Ten spoke: "Gentlemen, please look. The moment The God of Righteousness turned its head, Ye Xi was still in the sky, a very far distance away."
"But in the next second, Scaramouche fell into Ye Xi's hands, and the head cabin of The God of Righteousness was completely destroyed."
"So, let us fill in what happened in between."
Seemingly because Little Ten's statement made a lot of sense, all the segments quieted down.
The No. 3 segment also began to think seriously.
Little Ten continued, "First, Ye Xi used his flight ability to arrive in front of The God of Righteousness."
"Then, using violent means, he opened the hatch."
"Ye Xi pulled Scaramouche directly out of the hatch and choked his throat."
"Up to this point, this is the image we see now."
"Note that during everything in between, The God of Righteousness had no reaction, allowing him to do as he pleased."
Hearing this, No. 3 said in a deep voice, "Perhaps, it wasn't that The God of Righteousness had no reaction, but that it could not make any reaction!"
"Correct, but that is not the key to the problem."
Little Ten crossed his hands horizontally before his eyes and said indifferently, "The question is, where did the time generated during this process go?"
As soon as these words came out, the entire hall fell silent.
Everyone was Dottore; everyone possessed a very intelligent mind.
Almost instantly, everyone realized it.
"It's time!"
"That Ye Xi can actually pause time!?"
"Hiss... controlling the authority of [Time]. His power is already invincible; we have no way to defeat him."
"Wuwuwu... We want revenge! To avenge the dead Number One!"
"Everyone, as a missionary, I have..."
"You shut up. Since we know Ye Xi can pause time, then to defeat him, we must catch him off guard."
"That's right, take him out before he pauses time!"
At this moment, No. 3 interrupted the chaotic dialogue.
"Her Majesty the Empress has issued an order. I am to go to Fontaine to complete the recovery of the Heart of God. The one going to Sumeru to accept the follow-up work is [The Knave]."
"We just need to inform Arlecchino about Ye Xi controlling the [Time Authority]; there is no need to worry about the rest."
Hearing this, the scene became chaotic again.
Some were clamoring for revenge, some were arguing about who should go to Fontaine.
Just at this time, several more people arrived outside the hall.
As soon as the main door opened, voices came from outside.
"Dottore, what did you call us over for? You..."
"Why are there so many segments here?"
[The Regrator] originally wanted to roast him, but seeing so many Dottores, big and small, present, he instantly held his words back.
Accompanying him were the Mayor, [The Rooster], and [The Knave].
Segment No. 3's brow twitched. "Pantalone, what are you all doing here?"
"Hmm?"
"Clearly, it was you who called us, saying there was something important to do!"
"Do you know how busy the Mayor's work is? Dottore!"
[The Rooster] Pulcinella leaned on his cane with both hands, his gaze full of displeasure.
Pantalone (The Regrator) beside him narrowed his eyes and smiled, teasing, "Is Mr. Mayor's work truly that busy? The Mora you have stored in the Northland Bank is increasing day by day."
"Enough. If you two don't want to stay here, you can leave!"
Arlecchino (The Knave) patted the snowflakes off her shoulder unhappily, her eyes full of disdain.
At this point, Segment No. 3 understood the situation and seized the conversation. "You two, I certainly did not notify you to come..."
"Ah! It was me!"
"It was me who called them here, wuwuwu..."
Among the segments, a Dottore with tear stains all over his face raised his hand and stepped forward from the group.
"Pantalone, I called you here because I wanted everyone to gather and hold a funeral for our Dottore!"
"The demise of Segment No. 1 is an extremely sorrowful event for us! Wuwuwu..."
"He was so wise, so powerful; he absolutely cannot die in vain!"
As he spoke, he wiped away his tears, as if he was incomparably sad in his heart.
However, [The Regrator] and [The Rooster] beside him looked at him speechlessly.
After a long stalemate, [The Regrator] compromised.
"Fine, then everyone present, let us observe a moment of silence for our Dottore's No. 1 segment."
"...That should be good enough, right?"
The crybaby segment hurriedly shook his head. "Oh no, no. I mean, we should have a funeral of the highest specification, just like Rosalyne's!"
"Get lost!"
Pantalone's eyes widened, and he grabbed Dottore's collar with one hand. "Do you know how much money Rosalyne's funeral cost? Hmm!?"
"A whole sleeping palace to accompany her!"
"The cost of building materials, the cost of the land, the cost of the custom coffin, the maintenance cost of the palace later—do you know how much Mora that is!?"
"You have so many damn segments. If I hold one every time one dies, do you think my Mora is blown in by the wind?"
"Do you know that I'm still raising that bastard Ajax (Childe)?"
[The Regrator] suddenly exploded, scaring the crybaby segment into retreating repeatedly.
"My heavens, violence is prohibited, violence is prohibited!"
Clearly, his power was much stronger than [The Regrator], who had no martial force.
But as soon as Mora was mentioned, [The Regrator]'s eyes were as terrifying as a vampire's, making him afraid from the bottom of his heart.
He could only shift his gaze to [The Rooster] at the side.
Noticing the crybaby segment's gaze, Pulcinella (The Rooster) frowned and said, "What are you looking at me for?"
"Pulcinella, when Rosalyne sacrificed herself back then, you said it, didn't you?"
"I think the sacrifice of Segment No. 1 is also worthy of a half-day work stoppage for remembrance!"
Before he could finish speaking, Pulcinella's cursing voice came over: "Impossible. Don't even think about it."
"If you are also worthy of a half-day, then no one needs to work anymore."
"Do you want to paralyze Snezhnaya?"
"Eek—"
The crybaby segment was so scared he hid behind Segment No. 3, unable to stop crying again. "Wuwuwu... No. 3, they don't take No. 1 segment's sacrifice seriously at all!"
No. 3 dodged the crybaby, dusted off the teardrops left on his shoulder with a look of disgust, and looked at [The Knave].
"Arlecchino, Her Majesty the Empress's orders."
"Go to Sumeru and take back the two Hearts of God."
Hearing this, Arlecchino frowned. "Hmph, you want me to clean up your mess?"
"Since it is the Empress's order, I will go."
After saying that, Arlecchino turned to leave. Dottore behind her suddenly spoke up: "Try not to provoke that Ye Xi."
"He possesses the authority to manipulate [Time]."
"What?"
As soon as these words came out, several people couldn't help but be startled.
"To actually be able to control time... truly enviable. Time is money."
"Arlecchino, I see your trip may not be smooth. Don't repeat the same mistakes."
Hearing their words, Arlecchino snorted. "My business does not need you wealthy politicians shrinking inside Snezhnaya to comment on. Keep your mouths shut."
With that, Arlecchino left Zapolyarny Palace without looking back.
....
Sumeru City.
The entire city was shrouded in a lively atmosphere.
The citizens flocked to the streets, gazing toward the outside of the city.
From the lush green grasslands, a flower carriage laden with fresh flowers slowly drove in from outside the city.
Countless small animals from the forest gathered around the flower carriage.
There were squirrels from the woods and chirping little finches.
They held wildflowers from the roadside in their mouths, placed them gently on the carriage, and followed closely behind it.
And in the middle of the flowers in the carriage sat a beautiful little girl, her smile as brilliant as the sunshine.
The flower carriage rocked and rocked; Nahida opened her eyes.
She said, her birthday was today.
"The Dendro Archon is here!"
"Citizens of Sumeru! We haven't celebrated the Dendro Archon's birthday for five hundred years! We must make it up to our god this time!"
"Come, cheer! Cheer for our Lesser Lord Kusanali—!"
For a moment, joyous sounds came from within Sumeru City.
The once-a-year Flower God's Birthday Festival had not been celebrated seriously by anyone for five hundred years.
What is the meaning of a Flower God's Birthday Festival without a god?
Just like celebrating a birthday—if the person having the birthday isn't there, how can everyone have the enthusiasm to celebrate for someone who is absent?
But this year was different.
This year, the people of Sumeru welcomed the first Flower God's Birthday Festival with a god participating in five hundred years!
________________________________________
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