Childe greeted Lumine warmly: "Yo, Lumine. This is the first time we've met since everything ended. How should I put it? The atmosphere is a bit awkward."
Paimon planted her hands on her hips: "Hmph! We shouldn't have trusted you when we found out you were a Fatui Harbinger."
Childe: "Don't say that. Even though I deceived you a little before, I bore no malice towards the Traveler herself."
"Haha, apart from the unfortunate falling out at the end, our cooperation before that was quite pleasant, wasn't it?"
[Zhongli: Indeed. Childe was quite proactive when it came to payment.]
[Paimon: That's only because Childe needed something from you!]
[Lumine: Right. You were the only one who knew stories about the Exuvia back then.]
[Furina: Seems like everyone had their heads filled with cake. It wasn't Childe needing something from Zhongli, but Zhongli using Childe. Zhongli won twice, a complete victory.]
[Zhongli: Generally speaking, that is indeed the case.]
[Ningguang: Every year, we carefully study the divine decrees bestowed by the Geo Lord. His wisdom is beyond what we can comprehend.]
[Paimon: Zhongli is six thousand years old! With that much time, is there anything he couldn't learn?]
[Zhongli: Generally speaking, that is indeed the case.]
Childe: "We were merely on different sides. I don't take these things personally. Of course, it's fine if you hold a personal grudge against me. On the other hand, Signora and Zhongli over there really pulled a fast one on me."
Lumine looked puzzled: "Zhongli deceived you?"
Childe was about to say more but was interrupted by Signora: "Don't waste time, Childe. If you want to chat, you can do so at your leisure after I've finished official business."
"According to our contract, I have come to claim your Gnosis, Morax."
The confusion on Lumine's face deepened: "Contract? Gnosis?"
Paimon: "What on earth are you all talking about?"
Zhongli, in a rather good mood, replied: "The contract is fulfilled. As you requested, I bestow upon you the promised object."
As he spoke, a Gnosis materialized in Zhongli's palm.
Signora replied arrogantly: "Hmph. Such a condescending tone."
[Paimon: The Gnosis... just given away like that?]
[Raiden Shogun: The Gnosis was always something dispensable.]
[Paimon: A dispensable thing? I remember Neuvillette said the Gnosis is the remains of the Third Descender, with a cursed power, an inauspicious object.]
[Lumine: So, Neuvillette gave up his Gnosis, the Geo Lord gave up his Gnosis. Judging by the plot, in the earlier unaired footage, Signora also took Venti's Gnosis.]
[Paimon: It seems... the gods don't like the Gnosis.]
[Lumine: Currently, only the Anemo and Geo Archons are among the original Seven. That's proof of their strength. If the two gods were unwilling, who could possibly take their Gnoses?]
[Paimon: If the Gnosis is an inauspicious object, why is the Cryo Archon collecting them? Don't get it, don't get it.]
[Ningguang: Perhaps... to resurrect the Third Descender. After all, the Gnosis is precisely the skeletal remains of the Third Descender.]
Paimon's eyes widened: "So you are the Geo Lord! No, no, while that's shocking too... but why would you give your Gnosis to the Fatui?"
Zhongli: "It is not a gift, but a transaction based on a contract. This is a matter between the Cryo Archon and myself."
Lumine: "I still don't understand your reasoning. And why the fake death?"
Zhongli: "Allow me to explain."
Paimon: "Yeah! Your fake death was too much! Everyone held a ceremony to welcome you, then suddenly—thud—a dragon falls from the sky! Then Liyue Harbor was thrown into chaos and nearly brought about a great disaster!"
"Tch." Signora said dismissively: "Gathering the undercurrents surging beneath the water's surface, applying pressure to the limit, then detonating it... wasn't that precisely what he hoped to see?"
Paimon's confusion only grew.
Zhongli: "Allow me to explain all of this."
"As you know, I have lived in this world for over six thousand years. The establishment of Liyue alongside the adepti was also three thousand seven hundred years ago."
"Even the most unyielding bedrock, impervious to vortexes, will eventually erode under the flow of time. I simply kept convincing myself that the day the erosion would cause cracks had not yet come."
"Until one drizzly day, while strolling by the harbor, I overheard a merchant praising his assistant: 'You have fulfilled your duty. Now, go and rest.'"
"At that moment, I stood still amidst the passing crowds for a long time, constantly questioning myself: 'Has my duty been fulfilled?' But when I began considering whether I should step down from my divine station, I realized there were still many reasons I could not leave. Liyue, the land where gods once walked alongside mortals—was it truly ready to step into the next era? I needed a genuine opportunity to observe carefully before making a decision."
"That is why I orchestrated this false death, drawing Childe, the adepti, and the Qixing into the ensuing chaos together."
[Paimon: Aaaaah, I feel like my brain is growing!]
[Lumine: So, Childe was a pawn from start to finish.]
[Childe: Hey, hey, hey! Can't you use a better term? Aren't we friends anymore?]
[Lumine: Right now? Of course not!]
[Yae Miko: What a masterful scheme. As expected of Liyue's Lord Morax. Poor Childe.]
[Ningguang: Awakening an ancient god, plunging all of Liyue Harbor into crisis, and even destroying my Jade Chamber! The Northland Bank must pay for this!]
[Childe: Hey, hey, hey! That was the Jade Chamber! If I'm not mistaken, any single ornament on it was an antique, right? How much would that cost? You should blame your god, Morax, for this! If he had intervened, your Jade Chamber would have been fine.]
[Paimon: What kind of logic is that from Childe? It somehow... sounds reasonable?]
[Yae Miko: That's like a bully beating someone up on the street and, when caught by the Tenryou Commission, saying it's all the fault of passersby in Inazuma. Same principle.]
[Paimon: Childe really is a master sophist!]
[Keqing: Without concrete evidence, the Liyue Qixing naturally would not act against a foreign envoy. But now, you must not only compensate for all losses, but your members will also all be imprisoned in Liyue to face judgment by the Qixing!]
[Paimon: Especially Childe!]
[Lumine: By then, Childe would have long since run away.]
[Ningguang: But the Northland Bank cannot run.]
[Pantalone: Ah, who would have thought I'd be the one to clean up this mess in the end.]
Lumine: "Even if it failed, you still had a backup plan, right?"
Zhongli nodded: "Correct. That is also why I retained the Gnosis until now."
Paimon: "So, if the chaos had reached an uncontrollable point, you would have personally stepped in, using your divine power to help Liyue suppress the crisis?"
Signora answered with a smile: "Naturally. And for him, it would have been effortless."
[Arataki Itto: So cool! Shinobu, next time I win at beetle fighting, you stand beside me and say that line too! Just thinking about it makes me happy!]
[Kuki Shinobu: Boss... have you ever won at beetle fighting?]
[Paimon: Hahahaha! Dying of laughter!]
[Furina: Hahaha, such a perfect rebuttal.]
[Arataki Itto: How can you say I've never won? I've definitely won before!]
[Yae Miko: Morax is one of the strongest gods in the world. A single stone spear could seal the vortex god for a thousand years. Arataki Itto, you... still have a long way to go.]
[Arataki Itto: Yae Miko, if you're not convinced, let's have a match!]
[Kuki Shinobu: Boss, Yae Miko is the most powerful youkai in Inazuma. We're no match for her.]
[Yae Miko: Don't worry, don't worry. Something as crude as fighting is beneath me. I'll simply ask the Tenryou Commission to handle it.]
[Kujou Sara: At your service, Lady Yae.]
Signora: "Sigh. But looking at it now, it's like how a child who loses its parents quickly matures. This city named Liyue has also grown in the face of its god's death."
Zhongli: "The ultimate resolution of all events this time exceeded my expectations and satisfied me greatly. The adepti dwelling in seclusion possessed the least information, yet they first exercised the utmost restraint, then were willing to cooperate with the Qixing during the crisis, and finally attempted to understand the people's hearts."
"This lady, as the Cryo Archon's envoy sent to fulfill the contract, at my request, kept the truth she knew from her colleague Childe the entire time."
"As for myself, I walked the earth as the mortal Zhongli, and ultimately used this mortal identity to uphold Liyue's traditions. Traveler, I thank you for accompanying me on this journey. All of the above was within my plans. The only thing beyond my expectations was the actions of the Liyue Qixing."
"My initial expectations for the Qixing were the same as for the adepti: to protect Liyue was sufficient. Yet the answer they ultimately provided was to seize this opportunity to replace the divine, swiftly taking control of all power in Liyue during the vacuum following my 'death.'"
Paimon was quite startled by this: "That doesn't sound like a good thing..."
[Paimon: That move must have been initiated by Keqing.]
[Ningguang: Watching the video, I quickly understood as well. The answer is actually simple. If the Qixing didn't take control of all power in Liyue, who else should it be handed to?]
[Paimon: Oh, right! The adepti live in seclusion in Jueyun Karst, don't understand Liyue's development, and are in no position to govern. Moreover, they probably don't enjoy handling official duties anyway. So, it could only fall to the Qixing.]
[Furina: I must say, Paimon's wisdom is still above that of the one called Arataki Itto.]
[Paimon: Hehehe, of course!]
[Lumine: Actually, Furina is mocking you. Your wisdom is only slightly better than Arataki Itto's. You're worse than everyone else.]
[Paimon: So mad! So mad!]
Zhongli said with a smile: "I, however, think this is excellent. This is something I once worried might be premature, yet also faintly anticipated would eventually arrive. It is a sincere farewell to me, a deity of the old days."
Childe said discontentedly: "Hey, what about me? You all led me by the nose. Aren't you going to apologize?"
"Tch." Signora commented on Childe: "How about we thank you instead? Your meddling was also part of the scheme. The Geo Archon should thank you for your spectacular performance."
"If not for you creating the immense pressure of a battle involving adepti, mortals, and an ancient god, then the lump of coal the Geo Archon had been toying with for millennia would never have had the chance to become a gleaming diamond."
Childe: "Huh? Why are you mocking your own colleague from the perspective of another nation's god? Want to fight?"
Lumine: "This time, Childe really did lose face."
Childe crossed his arms, fuming: "Darn it! 'See through, but don't say it out loud'—didn't anyone in Liyue teach you that?"
[Furina: That Signora is truly arrogant. Shows no courtesy to her own colleague at all.]
[Paimon: You can tell Childe really doesn't like her.]
[Childe: Who would like a woman like that? Keeping a respectful distance is more like it.]
[Signora: Suit yourself.]
Signora showed no interest in the topic of Childe being mocked. She chuckled lightly: "Now that the Gnosis is obtained, idle chatter is meaningless. You and I should return to Zapolyarny Palace to have an audience with Her Majesty."
Childe: "Fine. But I'll be returning later. I have no desire to share a ship with you."
Signora didn't care: "Hmph. Suit yourself." Having said that, she left with haughty steps.
Lumine then looked at Zhongli: "I want to know what price the Cryo Archon paid?"
Paimon: "Yeah! You said before that transactions must be fair. But what in this world could possibly be worth exchanging for a Gnosis?"
Zhongli: "Generally speaking, indeed, there is nothing. But I am the God of Contracts. Over thousands of years, countless contracts have passed through my hands. In any transaction, unless there is profit to be gained, I would never act lightly. The contract with the Cryo Archon is the final contract I made as the Geo Archon, a contract to end all contracts."
"As for what the Cryo Archon placed on the other end of the scales as her bargaining chip... you shall uncover that answer yourself on your future journey."
[Paimon: So stingy! Neuvillette never beats around the bush like this.]
[Lumine: Zhongli probably has reasons he can't speak of. Like Furina did.]
[Paimon: Thinking about that makes me feel my Hydro energy surging.]
[Ningguang: I believe it's because the Lord made a contract. He is the God of Contracts and will inevitably uphold it.]
Paimon, acting as the mouthpiece, deployed the 'begging' skill on Lumine's behalf: "So, Zhongli, just what kind of contract did you make with the Cryo Archon? Tell me, I'm so curious!"
Zhongli: "Not disclosing the contents of the contract is also part of the contract."
Paimon complained: "So stingy."
Leaving the Northland Bank, Paimon suddenly remembered something: "Today is the day of the Rite of Parting. Even though the supposed 'subject' of the ceremony is fake, after all the time we spent preparing, it'd be a shame not to go see it."
---
Yujing Terrace
There were quite a few people at Yujing Terrace, gathered in small groups chatting.
"Now that this Rite of Parting is being held, it means all those rumors are confirmed, right?"
"The old Geo Lord... he really did... sigh. But why hasn't the assassin been caught?"
"Nonsense! Anyone capable of assassinating the Geo Lord is definitely no ordinary person. Those suspicious figures mentioned in the rumors all seem unreliable to me."
"There's only one theory I think has a high probability. I heard the assassin is a high-ranking official among the Fatui, codenamed... 'Childe.'"