"Are you alright?"
"It's alright, I'm fine!" Childe, whose face was swollen like a pig's head, spoke indistinctly. Ember couldn't understand what he was saying, so he just assumed Childe was fine.
Just before, Ember had witnessed an internal conflict among the Fatui. Two Harbingers had a massive fight, which Ember and other Fatui who rushed over found incredibly exciting.
The outcome was clear: Balladeer won.
As the loser, Childe's face was now swollen like a pig's head.
Logically, even if they had a casual quarrel, Balladeer wouldn't have been so ruthless to Childe, his colleague.
But Childe had gotten carried away this time and completely forgotten about their main mission.
And from Ember's perspective, Balladeer seemed to have vented his suppressed emotions on Childe this time.
Things like, "You dare to look at me directly?" and "Yell louder!" gave Ember goosebumps just hearing them. He wondered how Balladeer could shout such things with an excited expression.
Indeed, the emotion Balladeer had been suppressing all along was "arrogance"! However, because Ember always kept him in check, Balladeer couldn't be arrogant.
This had almost suffocated Balladeer. Mocking others offhand had been a habit of his for hundreds of years. Now, being forced to hold back, the discomfort he felt was probably known only to him.
"The area you were responsible for before, it's this region, isn't it?" On a hillside, Balladeer looked at the land shrouded in mist in the distance and asked Childe—pig-head limited edition.
Childe immediately nodded. He dared not provoke Balladeer again. There was nothing he could do; although he was gradually approaching Balladeer's strength, it was only an approach. He was still some distance from being on par with him.
"Lead the way, and re-investigate!"
Childe heard Balladeer's almost commanding tone, and without argument, he immediately led the way.
Since only Ember and Balladeer were accompanying him this time, Childe didn't hold back at all—he even ran faster than before.
Ember and Balladeer effortlessly kept up with Childe's speed, the former taking photos, the latter drawing and sketching.
Both of them appeared relaxed and at ease, making Childe in front feel a little dejected.
When did he become the one at the bottom?
Wait, wasn't he always at the bottom among the Harbingers?
After realizing this, Childe immediately felt relieved.
The three of them dashed through the island. If ordinary people saw them, they would probably only think they were seeing things, because the trio's speed was almost too fast for normal people to distinguish.
However, this rapid speed didn't last long. Soon, Childe stopped.
"Something's not right. Why are there still so many Hilichurls and Ruin Guards here? I clearly cleared them out yesterday!"
Childe stood in place, scratching his head. He had swept through the area from south to north yesterday. If there were any omissions, it would only be Hilichurls.
But when he came back today, he didn't expect there to be so many Ruin Guards and other monsters!
This made Childe start to suspect that the formidable enemy Ember mentioned wasn't the Golden Wolflord, but a massive lair capable of accommodating so many monsters.
Childe liked both: overcoming a powerful enemy through arduous battle and venturing alone into an enemy camp to fight on all sides.
"How did your head heal?"
Ember didn't pay attention to Xiao Jiu Jiu in Childe's mind. He was more concerned about how Childe's face had returned to normal so quickly.
"This is normal. As long as no parts of my body are missing, I can recover in a few days at most."
"This is what's not normal!"
Childe said, rolling up his sleeve and showing the scabs on his arm to Ember and Balladeer.
Unfortunately, no one cared.
"Oh? The monsters have increased? Are you sure?" Balladeer's eyes flickered as he asked Childe.
"I'm sure!"
Childe answered Balladeer's question with certainty.
"I understand. Let's finish the main task first, then consider other things." Balladeer nodded at Childe, signaling him to continue forward.
Childe didn't doubt him. After casting his doubts aside, he sprinted off again.
After moving some distance through the mist, Childe once again arrived at the small island where he had previously fought the Golden Wolflord.
This time, as soon as he arrived, he sensed an unusual aura—the space on the island's flat ground was constantly twisting and shaking.
Space was inherently formless, but Childe inexplicably felt that the space here was very "thin," as if something was corroding it.
"Watch out!"
"Roar!"
Childe had a premonition. He immediately turned around and shouted a warning to Ember and Balladeer behind him. But the Golden Wolflord was one step ahead of him.
A familiar golden wolf head emerged from the Akasha, biting fiercely. Its target was Ember, who was looking around aimlessly.
"Clang—"
"Owoo~"
Sparks flew. The Golden Wolflord felt as if it had bitten into an iron mountain, its head buzzing.
Seeing this, the Golden Wolflord showed no hesitation and instantly retreated into the Akasha.
"What was that? Is it raining stones?" Ember picked up a sharp, arm-thick "stone" from the ground, scratching his head in confusion.
How did a pile of stones suddenly appear around him in the blink of an eye, and all of them were long and sharp like steel needles?
Fortunately, it hit him. If it had hit anyone else, it would have been a grave mound upon impact.
"No... nothing! It's... it's just that yesterday's wolf is back again." Childe swallowed, awkwardly waving his arm.
"Wolf? Didn't you deal with that wolf yesterday?" Ember asked, puzzled by Childe's words.
Childe couldn't beat that wolf? Impossible! Could it be that he had misjudged?
"I did, but I don't know why it revived." Childe also felt puzzled, but he quickly thought of a possibility.
"When this wolf died yesterday, a Ley Line Blossom gushed out. Could there be a Ley Line factor involved?"
Childe explained excitedly, feeling he might have found the truth.
"Perhaps! But for the Ley Line to revive such a powerful creature within a day, it would be somewhat difficult." Balladeer stroked his chin. The Ley Line's energy was also limited. While areas of Ley Line obstruction would indeed produce past phantoms, they didn't appear out of thin air; they required consuming the power of the Ley Line obstruction.
And clearing Ley Line obstructions generally meant having a fight, dispersing the phantoms formed by the Ley Line. Without the power of the obstruction, the Ley Line would naturally flow smoothly.
"But Tsurumi Island's Ley Lines are already a mess. You can't possibly not feel it, can you?" Childe tapped the ground with his foot.
The disorder of Tsurumi Island's Ley Lines was the worst Childe had ever seen. Under such a degree of Ley Line disorder, it wasn't unacceptable for a Golden Wolflord to appear in a day.
"Indeed, that makes sense." Balladeer, uncharacteristically, agreed with Childe's statement. He looked around and his gaze settled on a raised rock pillar.
"Swoosh!"
Balladeer waved his hand, and Electro element power gathered on his arm. Then, the element power surged, and a bright arc flew towards the rock pillar.
"Boom!"
The arc swept across the rock pillar, instantly cutting it in half. The cut surface was flat and smooth, without any protrusions.
"What are you doing?!" Childe was startled to see Balladeer suddenly destroy the rock pillar.
Was Balladeer going crazy again?
"Just making a mark. I just have an immature idea that needs time to verify." Balladeer showed a playful smile. After speaking, he lowered his head and drew the last few strokes on the blueprint in his hand.
"Let's go, it's roughly done. We just need to come back and check here tomorrow." After finishing, Balladeer rolled up the blueprint in his hand and ran back to the camp without looking back.
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