On a small island hundreds of miles from Yashiori Island, Sangonomiya Kokomi and Thoma arrived with the tide.
After finding a place to land, the light on Sangonomiya Kokomi's body gradually faded, and then her body went limp, and she almost fell directly to the ground, finally leaning against a nearby giant rock to regain her balance.
"Lady Sangonomiya, are you all right?"
Thoma looked at Sangonomiya Kokomi, whose face was as pale as paper, and asked with concern.
"I'm fine, it's just that the consumption was a bit too much."
Sangonomiya Kokomi shook her head.
"I just don't know how Arataki Itto and Kuki Shinobu are doing now, and whether they will be in danger."
Sangonomiya Kokomi looked at Yashiori Island, which was still covered by the terrible thunderstorm in the distance, sighed softly, and spoke again with some self-blame.
"It's my responsibility, it was clearly me who brought them to Yashiori Island and sought their help, but in the end, I left them behind."
After hearing Sangonomiya Kokomi's words, Thoma hurriedly comforted her.
"Lady Sangonomiya, this is not your fault. In that kind of situation, if we had not evacuated Yashiori Island, we might not have been able to leave at all. The battle between gods is simply not something we can deal with; even just the aftershocks of the battle would be a catastrophic disaster for us."
Thoma spoke with a hint of palpitations. That apocalyptic scene was still playing out before his eyes at this moment, just some distance away, but he could still feel that suffocating aura.
"Besides, I think Brother Itto and Miss Kuki Shinobu have already reached a safe place by now; it is just that we evacuated in different directions."
"If it were just Brother Itto, I would still worry that he might act on impulse without assessing the situation before evacuating, but I believe Miss Kuki Shinobu definitely knows what the right choice is."
After hearing Thoma's words, Sangonomiya Kokomi felt a bit more relieved.
"I hope so."
Sangonomiya Kokomi intended to pray for the two of them, but at this moment her body and spirit were exhausted to the extreme. It was already good enough that she didn't immediately fall into a deep sleep like a baby, let alone conduct a prayer that would cost a lot of energy.
At this moment, Thoma hesitated for a moment, then asked Sangonomiya Kokomi the question he was most concerned about.
"Lady Sangonomiya, could you please tell me, you should have seen the appearance of the person fighting the Almighty Shogun, right?"
"Could she be the one from five hundred years ago?"
After hearing these words, Sangonomiya Kokomi hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
"I did see her appearance. She looks very similar to the Raiden Shogun, but there are still some slight differences."
"As for whether she is the one from five hundred years ago, I cannot be sure, but I think she probably isn't."
Sangonomiya Kokomi glanced in the direction of Yashiori Island again. At this moment, the battle over there was still continuing, and the impact of the fight had not decreased but had even become more terrifying. Raiden Ei must be getting serious.
"If the opponent were truly the one who sacrificed herself five hundred years ago, the Raiden Shogun would not fight her with all her might."
"However, even if that person is not the Raiden Shogun's closest friend, her appearance means the opponent has the ability to bring her closest friend back to this world."
After hearing Sangonomiya Kokomi's words, Thoma fell into silence.
"I didn't expect the pollution to have spread to this place so quickly."
Suddenly, Sangonomiya Kokomi changed the subject and looked at the seawater faintly glowing with purple light, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.
As the sea was more and more severely eroded by the Electro Element, the pleas for help sent to her became more and more intense. Such emotions reached Sangonomiya Kokomi, making her unconsciously shed tears.
Of course, whenever she thought about what was about to happen in Inazuma soon, Sangonomiya Kokomi's heart was also filled with immense sorrow.
In truth, just as Yae Miko had said, what would happen to the Shogunate was a matter for the God Raiden Ei to consider, and it was not her place to worry about it at all.
The surviving people of Watatsumi Island had already been completely relocated to Enkanomiya, so they would not be affected by the pollution of the seawater.
Therefore, she could have remained a bystander, and even a great weakening of the Shogunate would still be a good thing for Watatsumi Island.
But whenever Sangonomiya Kokomi thought about how thousands of innocent civilians would probably die every day in Inazuma from now on, she felt a wave of suffocation in her chest.
Could there really be no way to reverse this?
Sangonomiya Kokomi rested and recuperated while simultaneously searching for a countermeasure.
Not long after, Sangonomiya Kokomi suddenly thought of something, and her eyes lit up.
She seemed to have a method after all, which was to infuse the bloodline of Bathysmal Vishaps into all the people of Inazuma.
For the Bathysmal Vishaps, an extreme survival environment was nothing more than a common occurrence, only the concentration of Electro Elemental Power in the air was dozens of times higher. Once everyone had the Bathysmal Vishap bloodline infused, this problem might be solved effortlessly.
As the saying goes, if you can't solve the person creating the problem, then solve the problem itself. Sangonomiya Kokomi's method was based on this line of thinking.
At this thought, Sangonomiya Kokomi could no longer hold back. She wanted to return to Enkanomiya immediately and order her people to advance the research as quickly as possible, making sure to finish before the pollution spread to areas where a large number of Inazuma's people lived.
Sangonomiya Kokomi turned to leave in a hurry, but as soon as she stood up, her legs went weak, and a wave of emptiness washed over her body.
"Lady Sangonomiya, are you truly all right?"
Sangonomiya Kokomi shook her head, then gritted her teeth and spoke.
"Thoma, I need to make a trip to Watatsumi Island as soon as possible."
After hearing Sangonomiya Kokomi's words, Thoma spoke with some hesitation.
"Lady Sangonomiya, your body is so exhausted right now. We should rest for a while first."
"There is no time. Judging by the current speed of the pollution's spread, I don't have much time left."
Sangonomiya Kokomi shook her head and insisted.
"Thoma, please prepare a simple boat for me. That way, I can push it through the sea and hold on for longer."
Thoma hesitated for a moment, but seeing that he couldn't persuade Sangonomiya Kokomi, he finally gave up.
"Alright, I'll go prepare it."
-
Not knowing how long Neuvillette intended to keep Sandrone detained, Arlecchino left Fontaine for Sumeru first, preparing to trade with Nahida for the Gnosis.
Arlecchino knew of the current friendly relations between Fontaine and Sumeru, so she had Neuvillette send a message to Nahida via mobile phone in advance. This was to ensure she wouldn't be wanted by the authorities the moment she stepped onto Sumeru's soil.
However, what Arlecchino had not expected was that the Electro Archon's Gnosis had actually been taken by No. 3, Persephone.
"So that is how things stand..."
After Nahida explained the events of that day to Arlecchino, she gazed at the crudely reassembled Divine Tree, lost in thought.
Arlecchino had also learned through her own intelligence network about Persephone's rampage in Sumeru, but she truly never imagined that the other's goal would be the Gnosis.
After all, besides the fact that collecting all seven could summon the Divine Dragon... the Dragon God Nibelungen, a single Gnosis would be of little use to a being like Persephone.
Furthermore, Persephone also took the remains of the Shouki no Kami, which was equally unusual. If the Gnosis still held a shred of usefulness, then the remains of the Shouki no Kami should have been completely useless to her.
Was Persephone's previous behavior a display of force in front of everyone, or was she trying to draw the attention of other nations to Sumeru to conceal her true movements or goals?
This was not impossible. Arlecchino had learned from Neuvillette that Persephone's strength was already above that of the current Rex Lapis. Yet she still hid in the shadows, waiting until everything was about to settle before personally intervening to disrupt it all.
Obviously, Persephone was no mere brute; she also had some kind of scheme. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so little information about her even now, and they wouldn't even be able to pinpoint her location.
This was the most important matter right now: to locate Persephone as quickly as possible. Otherwise, they would be too passive.
As for Arlecchino, she needed to see Persephone and have her bring her friend back to this world. For this, she was prepared to pay any price, no matter how heavy. Arlecchino had already steeled her resolve.
But in the end, for the sake of the children of the House of the Hearth, she wanted to make a final deal with the Fatui. However, the deal had now fallen through.
Although Nahida still held a Gnosis, this Gnosis was crucial to the operation of the Akasha and played an irreplaceable role in Neuvillette's upcoming plan. It was simply impossible to hand it over to her.
If they were to use force, it would mean offending both Sumeru and Fontaine simultaneously. This would be an extremely irrational course of action.
"Does Your Excellency Lesser Lord Kusanali know which nation Persephone has gone to now?"
Although she already had a faint answer in her mind, Arlecchino couldn't help but ask.
Nahida shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't know Persephone's current whereabouts."
After hearing these words, a look of unconcealable disappointment appeared in Arlecchino's eyes.
"Very well. Thank you, Your Excellency Lesser Lord Kusanali, for coming to inform me of these matters."
"I have other things to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
After leaving Nahida's presence, Arlecchino stood at the entrance of the Akademiya, her face showing a thoughtful expression.
Now that the two worlds were out of balance, people who had originally died all had the chance to return to this world.
Whether it was the Gnosis or the remains of the Shouki no Kami, Persephone did not seem to have prepared them for herself. In other words, there was a high probability they were meant for the previously deceased Scaramouche.
And now, so much time had passed yet not much news had been relayed. Either Persephone had done an excellent job of keeping secrets, or they were simply too far from where the anomaly occurred for news to reach them in such a short time.
The first possibility was inconsistent with Persephone's arrogant nature. She would never be so careful to hide her tracks; otherwise, she would not have shown herself in Liyue before.
Therefore, the second possibility was highly likely, meaning that if she guessed correctly, the enemy should be in Inazuma right now!
Thinking of this, Arlecchino found a new direction, and as she snapped back to her senses, the distant land gradually faded away.
-
Snezhnaya.
"Lord Mayor, this is already the one hundred thirty-fourth incident this month, isn't it?"
Pantalone, The Regrator, looked at Pulcinella, The Rooster, before him and spoke faintly.
Although a smile still hung on Pantalone's face, the smile he revealed was very cold and hypocritical.
"Pulcinella, shouldn't you rein things in a bit? After all, the Northland Bank's funds didn't just blow in with the wind, and they can't withstand such squandering."
At this moment, Pantalone was truly somewhat angry. His Mora reserves had been sufficient, and his plan was ready to begin, yet a series of consecutive compensations starting from Liyue had forced him to postpone it.
Now, not only did he have to pay other nations, but even when accidents happened to workers in the factories, Pulcinella came to him for compensation. Seriously, did they really take him for a sucker?
Originally, Pantalone hadn't cared much, but to his surprise, the frequency of workers getting injured recently was so high, and each compensation payment was so generous.
Although this portion of the expenditure was currently nothing to the Northland Bank, the amount was still considerable. Pantalone could no longer tolerate this inexplicable drain.
It wasn't as if workers had never had accidents before, and back then, no one ever mentioned compensation. So why was it suddenly a thing now? Who were they trying to impress?
Faced with Pantalone's aggressive questioning, Pulcinella merely fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"Pantalone, this is for your own good."
Pantalone raised an eyebrow, completely unable to grasp what Pulcinella meant by that.
Yet before Pantalone could press further, Pulcinella turned on his heel and left.
"The price for breaking the rules is something even you would find hard to bear."
Watching Pulcinella's receding figure, Pantalone's brow furrowed deeply.
Lately, something unusual did seem to be happening at the factories, but the information was tightly sealed, and he wasn't entirely clear on the details.
After careful consideration, Pantalone ultimately decided to proceed with the plan Pulcinella had proposed. Pulcinella's recent behavior exuded an eerie vibe, robbing him of any impulse to take a risk.
Not long after, Pantalone returned to his residence, processing his work while listening to his subordinates' reports.
When Pantalone heard that Liyue had opened a bank, attempting to entice people to exchange Mora for a new currency with generous benefits, his hand paused.
Liyue wanted to use this method to shake off the Northland Bank's influence?
Wasn't that a bit too naive? The current Liyue Qixing shouldn't be so foolish.
Pantalone couldn't immediately figure out the Liyue Qixing's intentions, but he also didn't underestimate the current Liyue Qixing. The sense of unease in his heart grew more pronounced.
The plan had to be put into preparation, otherwise, more variables might arise.
Thinking of this, Pantalone's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of coldness seemingly flashing through them.
His revenge plan absolutely could not fail. He wanted Morax to see his abilities properly and make him completely regret not choosing him.
Soon, various arrangements were successively conveyed down from Pantalone's residence, and the Northland Bank began to operate at high speed.