"Morris, back so soon?"
"Haha, that's how fast I am! My physical fitness is top-notch!"
"Aren't you free again for the next three days?"
...On the shallow beach between Tatarasuna and Kujou Encampment, blue and black tents stretched as far as the eye could see.
If one looked closely, they would notice that the patterns on the tents were identical to those on the Fatui emblem.
Anyone even slightly familiar would immediately recognize these tents as military tents issued by the Fatui.
Originally, one might only see a single military tent in the wilderness, but now they almost covered the entire shallow beach, demonstrating the sheer number of Fatui stationed there.
However, unlike the usual busy and vigilant Fatui, the Fatui here were incredibly lax; some were strolling around the camp, while others were playing cards with their companions, enjoying their leisure!
The Fatui here were jointly managed by Balladeer and Childe. Initially, Balladeer didn't want to team up with Childe.
But later, he realized that he had no place to set up a camp at all.
The Fair Lady was on Watatsumi Island, and Childe was on Kannazuka. The only places left for Balladeer to establish a camp were Nazuchi Beach and Yashiori Island.
Yashiori Island, needless to say, establishing a camp there would be almost suicidal. If he were truly there, it's estimated that only the Fair Lady, Balladeer, and Childe among the Inazuma Fatui could withstand it.
As for Nazuchi Beach, it was the frontline of the battlefield; how could a camp be established there?
Gui Long could build one because his forces were small, and the spot he chose was in the corners of Nazuchi Beach, which allowed him to set up a camp.
But the Fatui were different. Although their outposts in the wild were individual, their numbers were overwhelming.
Gathering the Fatui from the wild, even just the Fatui from a single island, their numbers would be several times more than Gui Long's pirates.
In desperation, Balladeer could only team up with Childe and establish a camp on the beach between Tatarasuna and Kujou Encampment.
As for why he didn't team up with the Fair Lady? Mainly because the Fair Lady's tongue was sharper; if Balladeer mocked her once, she could retort three times.
But if he mocked Childe, Childe would only turn red and loudly demand a fight, and the key was that he couldn't even beat Balladeer.
"Ahhh~, so bored!" In a tent in the middle of the camp, noticeably larger than the others, Childe lay on his bed, calling out idly.
He had originally thought that falling into Ember's hands this time would make him as busy as he was in Liyue, but he didn't expect to be so idle that he was almost growing Mushrooms.
The reason for this was simply the sheer number of Fatui. Childe himself hadn't expected the number of Fatui in Inazuma to be so vast.
He hadn't counted—even if he had, he wouldn't know, but there were definitely thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands.
And these weren't just ordinary soldiers; all Fatui soldiers were equipped with element weapons, and the best among them were even empowered by Delusions.
Therefore, the strength of a single Fatui soldier could be said to be far superior to soldiers from other nations, both in terms of equipment and physical fitness.
Having so many super-capable people just transporting supplies was indeed a bit of overkill. So, currently, the Inazuma Fatui as a whole were in a state of relaxed ease.
"Isn't this good? The free time can be used to do what we should be doing." Balladeer, hearing Childe's shouts, put down his pen and paper and sneered a few times.
Speaking of which, it's a bit dark, but their leisure was partly due to the large number of Fatui, and partly thanks to the Shogunate and Watatsumi Island.
Because of various strange actions by these two factions, almost all the residents of Kannazuka and Yashiori Island who could die had died.
The surviving citizens either gathered into large villages with sufficient risk resistance, or they fled Kannazuka and Yashiori Island, leaving this troubled land.
So, their work as Fatui was actually quite easy, not as exhausting as they had initially expected.
"What should we be doing? What is that?" Childe jumped off the bed and asked curiously.
He came to Inazuma purely to escape the misery of Liyue. Just thinking about the slogans posted at the construction sites made Childe shiver.
How was this even more grueling than being a beast of burden?
"You don't need to know that. Just stay here and don't cause trouble." Balladeer glanced at Childe, waved his hand at him, as if shooing a fly.
"I'm also very curious, can you tell me?" A familiar voice echoed in the tent, making Balladeer and Childe immediately stand up.
When they looked around again, they found that Ember had arrived in the tent at some unknown point, and he was holding the pen and paper Balladeer had just put down.
"Should I destroy what's in his hand?" Childe quickly made a few gestures to Balladeer in the shadows.
He had, after all, climbed up through the military ranks, so he understood these basic things.
"There's nothing useful. If he saw it, he saw it. No need to provoke him." Balladeer also quickly responded to Childe.
"You two are wiggling your fingers so fast, aren't you afraid of getting cramps?" Ember lowered the paper in his hand, revealing the viewing slit on his helmet.
He had been watching Balladeer and Childe make hand gestures for a long time. Did they really think he was blind?
"Nothing, I'm practicing cat's cradle. My sister really likes it." Childe immediately stopped his hand movements and laughed awkwardly.
"Well, you should practice more." Ember put down the paper in his hand and turned his gaze to Balladeer.
"You haven't finished writing this? You have the objective of taking the Raiden Shogun's Gnosis, but what are the specific measures?"
He pointed to the paper on the table, which only had a few sparse words on it.
"Can't think of any." Balladeer pointed to the black blobs on the paper; these were all methods he had thought of, but they had all been rejected in the end.
"Then keep thinking! Maybe I can even offer some suggestions." Ember encouraged him.
If the Fatui were going to steal the Gnosis of another god, Ember would definitely intervene, but if that god was the Raiden Shogun, then Ember could make an exception and help out.
After all, if it weren't for the Sakoku Decree and the Vision Hunt Decree, he wouldn't have encountered so many troublesome things. For his tainted eyes, Ember would definitely have to trip up the Raiden Shogun.
"I see you two are quite leisurely?" Ember, recalling what he had seen and heard in the camp, asked Balladeer and Childe with a half-smile.
"No." Childe directly denied it.
"Actually, we've been celebrating a festival these past few days. We'll get busy after these days are over." Balladeer was a bit better than Childe; he even found an excuse.
"Alright, stop trying to fool me! Load up a few ships with people and come with me to Tsurumi Island!" Ember didn't believe Balladeer's words at all. With a wave of his hand, he was ready to take people to Tsurumi Island.
"I'm sorry, there are no ships left now." Balladeer's lips curled into a slight smile upon hearing this. Their ships were originally borrowed from Gui Long. With so few ships and so many people, they were already at capacity. How could there be any extra ships?
"No ships? Didn't Gui Long lend his ships?"
"Gui Long's ships are too few; even if Overloaded, they wouldn't be able to carry half of us. Otherwise, why do you think we're so idle?"
Balladeer simply stopped pretending and directly told Ember that the Fatui were very idle right now.
"Then hurry up and build ships! Seeing you all idle makes me more uncomfortable than being busy myself." Ember immediately urged the Fatui to build ships in a frantic hurry.
These people really took shortcuts whenever they could. No ships? Couldn't so many Fatui build one?
One could only say this was one of the drawbacks of speaking with fists; there was no initiative whatsoever.
"The Inazuma Fatui are all combat personnel. It's already difficult enough for us to transport supplies, let alone build ships."
Balladeer's smile widened when he saw Ember's anxious look.
"Really?"
"Really."
"You won't regret saying that, will you?"
"I definitely won't regret it."
Balladeer crossed his arms and nodded calmly.
Ember, hearing this, showed no sign of dejection. He simply whistled and said to himself:
"Oh, it seems I'll have to go to Tsurumi Island alone. What secrets does a place that even the Raiden Shogun is unwilling to face hold?"
"Wait, I take it back!"
The relaxed expression on Balladeer's face instantly vanished. He regretted it now.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"