Looking at the dreamlike scene on the stage, Neuvillette glanced at Chang Ming beside him, then muttered to himself:
"So the power you had me output... has this kind of use?"
Hearing Neuvillette's cryptic words, Chang Ming spread his hands helplessly, then said:
"It's just a small trick to make the stage scenery more beautiful. Since it's a public performance, once is enough."
Neuvillette merely nodded at Chang Ming's somewhat nonsensical reply, then asked:
"You didn't just call me here to watch the performance, did you? When do you plan to carry out that matter?"
Hearing this, Chang Ming smiled playfully, then said:
"After the performance, and... when my fishing net is pulled in, we can carry out that plan in front of them."
As Chang Ming spoke, he pointed to the theater troupe members standing at the other end of the backstage, looking at the stage with expectant faces, then said:
"Actually, you want to know too, don't you? How many regrets exist between them, and how many emotions you've never seen are contained within those regrets..."
"Sitting in that position, all you see are the most extreme and irrational emotions in this world."
"I hope those beautiful emotions... can enhance your understanding of humanity, Neuvillette."
With that, Chang Ming turned his gaze to Furina on the stage and said no more.
Neuvillette, on the other hand, took a deep look at the blue-haired man beside him, a cryptic emotion flashing in his gray vertical pupils.
"You are truly hard to understand... Chang Ming..."
He said so in his heart.
...
Furina on the stage looked at the 'herself' that suddenly appeared in front of her, without a hint of surprise on her face.
It was as if... Furina had known all along that 'another herself' was going to appear before her.
However, the audience's reaction below the stage formed a stark contrast to Furina's composure.
They were surprised and astonished.
"What does this mean? Could it be that... the previous play segments were merely Lady Furina's final choices before facing The Prophecy?"
"No, no, I don't think how the play turns out is important. What's important is the scene construction this time!"
"Exactly! This dreamlike scene probably requires several Vision Holders to exert their full power to achieve!"
"And this projection of Lady Furina, it's truly... breathtaking!"
Listening to the slightly heated conversations below the stage, Furina's face remained calm, as if nothing could disturb her.
And the other 'herself' also stared intently at Furina in front of her, and only spoke first after realizing that she had not opened her mouth:
"They threw all the pain for you to bear, and handed you the most difficult problem in all of Teyvat to solve."
"Even though you gave everything to protect them, you were still defined by them as 'doing nothing', and now you are even personally sent to the Judgment seat by them..."
"Even so, will you still save them?"
As soon as these words came out, the previously noisy audience instantly fell silent.
Perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps out of curiosity, they desperately wanted to know what kind of answer Furina had given at that time.
Although from the outcome... the answer was already very clear, in essence, the experience gained from seeing the 'process' and seeing the 'result' of such a thing is different.
Looking at the 'herself' with a calm expression in front of her, Furina gently shook her head, not speaking.
"Since you don't plan to save them, why don't you give up the Gnosis—"
"I didn't say I wasn't going to save them."
Furina looked at the 'herself' in front of her with a relaxed expression, then continued:
"As the God of Fontaine, I should save them. Those who don't believe in me... are only a small part."
"Since you can read my memories, you should be able to see it, right?"
"See what?"
The 'phantom' asked involuntarily.
Hearing this, Furina's lips curved slightly upwards, and a hint of pity flowed from her beautiful heterochromatic eyes—
—as if she was pitying the other 'herself' in front of her.
After a moment of thought, she softly said:
"You should be able to see those Fontaine residents who explained my identity at the very beginning of the Judgment."
"From the very beginning... you have been amplifying the negative emotions in my heart, trying to make me give up saving my people through this..."
"But unfortunately, I can see those who explained for me, or even... exonerated me."
At this point, Furina paused slightly, then continued:
"I admit that I once wanted to give up this inhuman duty due to loneliness and pain, but I still persevered."
"I also don't deny that some Fontaine residents have strong opinions of me; they are uneasy about my behavior and doubt my abilities..."
"But they just want to live more peacefully, that's all."
A hint of emotion flowed from Furina's eyes. Before the phantom could continue to find reasons to hypnotize her, she spoke first:
"Gods love people. I am Hydro Archon Focalors of Fontaine. I am the God of humans. I must cherish my people and protect them from disaster."
"Bearing these pains silently alone was not my original intention, but... this is the only way to solve the prophetic disaster."
"There's a saying in Ritou... 'When the sky falls, the tall ones bear it.' With the prophetic disaster upon us, as a God, I am naturally the tall one."
"Bearing this sky has become my duty, protecting them... is what I must do."
Speaking of this, Furina seemed to recall something, a smile appeared on her face, and then she gently said:
"What's more... I haven't been alone for a very long time..."
"Since that day he heard me muttering to myself, he began to spare no effort in investigating everything related to The Prophecy."
"On that collapsing night, he brought a cake and his own deductions. From that moment, I knew... I was not alone."
"Although I still need to pretend and remain silent, executing these plans in silence, I know there will always be someone standing behind me supporting me."
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