In the end, Ye had no choice but to obey Lady Furina's orders and return to his room in utter dejection.
It's over.
Gone.
Everything is gone.
My forest… from now on, it'll all disappear.
The pain in his heart was indescribable. Ye felt like drowning himself in alcohol… though it wasn't quite that bad, really.
After all, Lady Furina was quite merciful. He could still dream of her in the future to relieve his mental stress.
And he could even do it in multiplayer mode.
But there was just one tiny regret.
And that was… Furina, just looking at you makes it obvious enough, but if you still don't get it, then take another look at Focalors—that utterly flat chest of hers is practically a certified runway!!!
She could even rival Nahida in that regard!!
Not that Ye cared too much about size in that department—in fact, he was more of a—cough—anyway, the point is… Ye was still a man with some standards, you know!
That aspect was still very appealing to him!
Not to mention, Lady Furina wasn't even a loli-type—she had the figure of a young woman!
Goodbye, Amber. Goodbye, Barbara. Goodbye, Lisa. Goodbye, Jean. Goodbye, Fischl. Goodbye, Mona. Goodbye, Eula. Goodbye, Rosaria. Goodbye, Sucrose.
Goodbye, Noelle. Goodbye, Beidou. Goodbye, Ganyu. Goodbye, Hu Tao. Goodbye, Keqing. Goodbye, Ningguang. Goodbye, Shenhe. Goodbye, Yanfei. Goodbye, Yelan. Goodbye, Guizhong. Goodbye, Raiden Shogun. Goodbye, Raiden Ei. Goodbye, Makoto. Goodbye, Yae Miko. Goodbye, Ayaka. Goodbye, Kokomi. Goodbye, Yoimiya. Goodbye, Kujou Sara. Goodbye, Kuki Shinobu. Goodbye, Kirara. Goodbye, Chiori. Goodbye, Candace. Goodbye, Dehya. Goodbye, Nilou. Goodbye, Faruzan. Goodbye, Layla. Goodbye, Rukkhadevata. Goodbye, Navia. Goodbye, Clorinde. Goodbye, Charlotte. Goodbye, Chevreuse. Goodbye, Arlecchino. Goodbye, Kiana. Goodbye, Mei. Goodbye, Bronya. Goodbye, Himeko. Goodbye, Theresa. Goodbye, Fu Hua. Goodbye, Yae Sakura. Goodbye, Seele. Goodbye, Durandal. Goodbye, Elysia. Goodbye, Mobius. Goodbye, Aponia. Goodbye, Vill-V. Goodbye, Kallen. Goodbye, Raven. Goodbye, Asta. Goodbye, Fu Xuan. Goodbye, Herta. Goodbye, Jade. Goodbye, Kafka. Goodbye, Qingque. Goodbye, Robin. Goodbye, Ruan Mei. Goodbye, Sparkle. Goodbye, Sushang. Goodbye, Tingyun. Goodbye, Xueyi. Goodbye, Yukong. Goodbye, Lumine. Goodbye, Nahida—wait, no, not her—but still, goodbye, Nahida. It seems we were never meant to be!
With such sorrow in his heart, Ye lay on his bed and drifted into slumber.
This time, however, he didn't dive straight into the main event. Instead, he summoned Nameless and gazed at the ethereal girl before him, lamenting, "Nameless, I'm so disappointed in you."
The girl blinked, tilting her head. "Father, what's wrong?"
As she spoke, the white dreamscape transformed into a grassy plain, and a round table with two chairs appeared between them.
Ye unceremoniously took a seat and demanded bluntly, "Let's be honest—I've still been having multiplayer dreams all this time, haven't I?"
"Yes, Father."
"Why? Didn't I say before that I didn't want any more multiplayer dreams?"
"Because I thought Father would like it."
"And I've also said this before—just because you like something doesn't mean you should do it."
"Because it's more beneficial for Father this way."
The girl sat across from him, her pale lips parting slightly as her dreamlike voice softly echoed, "Father, I woke up a little too late. I never expected you'd get caught up in such a serious situation… I'm sorry, Father. I've been going through your memories this whole time."
"..."
Ye stopped scolding Nameless. Instead, he crossed his right leg and narrowed his eyes at her. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"What did you find in my memories?"
"Everything. Though I can't tell how much of it is real, since if it's Father we're talking about, even the most believable memories can't be trusted. But there are some things I know are true."
Her voice drifted like mist as she continued:
"For example… the 'Sovereigns' of Fantasia."
"Oh." Ye responded flatly. "And what do you know about them?"
"I know… that they're all true monsters." Her tone grew slightly solemn. "They defy the will of the [World] with their own, usurping its authority—in a sense, they are all avatars of the [World] itself. Within this realm called [Fantasia], they are, in practice, omniscient and omnipotent deities."
"Even every word we speak now, every thought in our hearts—they will know it all. Father, being targeted by these Sovereigns is… truly a troublesome matter."
Do you even need to say that? What I don't know is why they're targeting me in the first place! I've never provoked them or even looked at them!
First, I was dragged into this world for some inexplicable game, only to realize later that the game itself seemed completely irrelevant—what actually mattered was apparently me?
Ye had always known that many things were being kept from him. After all, the other party never bothered hiding their secrecy, outright telling him—"I don't want to say."
In such cases, Ye never pressed further. At the end of the day, doing his job didn't require him to know his employer's secrets. All he had to do was fulfill his duties.
And so, Ye carried out his work with trepidation, clinging to the hope that one day he could return home—only to end up like this.
He had already given up! He was ready to take the backdoor route and stay in Teyvat for good!! He was going to retire in Fontaine!!!
"Back to the point. What do you mean by 'multiplayer dreams being more beneficial' for me?"
"Father, how much do you know about the sixteen Sovereigns of Fantasia?"
"Haven't you already seen my memories?"
"We still need to have a proper conversation to move the topic forward, no?"
Watching Nameless deliberately put on a cute smile, Ye sighed softly. "I have no interest in them, so I only know they're all women, and I recognize a few of their names."
He truly had zero interest. Sovereigns or not, Ye had no desire to learn about hostile pantheons.
After all, whether he understood them or not, it wouldn't change his duty to secure victory after victory in the game.
—And then he got screwed over by those who didn't play by the rules.
If he'd known this would happen, he might as well have done some research beforehand… though the end result would've probably still been a firm "I don't want to say."
There was no helping it. Ye wasn't a Chief God—even at his peak, he was only a High God, incapable of freely traversing worlds or sailing the Sea of Fantasia. Thus, his knowledge of other pantheons was limited to what his superiors told him and the few opponents he encountered in the game.
And his superior was a master of speaking in riddles… no, actually, she wasn't even that. Riddles would've been better—Ye was good at solving those. She couldn't even be bothered to phrase things cryptically. Every question was met with, "I don't want to say."
Honestly, sometimes when Ye couldn't resist spanking her, it wasn't his fault—it was just that not doing it would've been unbearable!
"So, Father doesn't know who stands among the sixteen Sovereigns, do you?"
"No. So, what's your point?"
"Father, among the sixteen Sovereigns of Fantasia, there is one known as 'The Arbiter Who Acts for Heaven.' She… originates from this very world you now reside in."
"Oh."
Faced with Nameless' revelation, Ye didn't even bat an eye, replying with utter indifference:
"Noted."
This was completely irrelevant. What mattered now was…
"Alright, enough digressions. Tonight, I must reclaim the debt of my lost forest from Lady Furina."