After waiting for a while inside the small room, Lumine finally led Firefly out quietly.
"They shouldn't have gone far. Let's follow them slowly."
"Mm!"
Firefly nodded heavily, her heart burning with determination.
Just you wait, traitor. I'm coming to catch you.
After turning several corners, a familiar figure suddenly appeared ahead.
"That is… Miss Bronya!"
In an instant, Firefly's eyes widened.
Everyone was supposed to be fleeing together—so why was Bronya moving alone, separated from the main group?
There was no need to think further.
Bronya was definitely the traitor.
"Don't panic. Let's follow her and take a look."
With Lumine's eyes glowing blood-red, the two quietly crept closer.
They arrived at a small room.
Bronya was standing at the doorway, speaking with someone inside.
Because of the angle, Firefly couldn't see who was inside at all.
"Shh."
Lumine made a quiet sound, and the two slowly moved closer.
At that moment, Valerius's voice drifted out.
"Well done, Bronya."
"It was nothing… your plan was better."
"Mmm. Then proceed according to plan."
"Understood."
After hearing that exchange, the last trace of doubt in Firefly's heart vanished completely.
There was no mistake—Bronya was the traitor.
"Be careful. Let's retreat."
Lumine whispered to the already-stunned Firefly.
The two slowly backed away, turned several corners, and only then dared to breathe again.
"Phew… I never imagined Miss Bronya was on Valerius's side."
Firefly felt terrible inside.
They had gone through everything together—and now this?
A betrayal from behind?
"What do we do now?"
At this moment, Firefly trusted Lumine completely.
If there was anyone who couldn't possibly be the traitor, it had to be Lumine.
After all, she had been helping the team the entire time.
"Don't say anything yet."
"Why?"
Firefly didn't understand.
Why not expose the traitor immediately?
Were they just going to let Bronya continue causing trouble within the team?
"Listen to me."
Lumine placed both hands on Firefly's shoulders, her eyes full of concern.
"We don't know how many traitors there are. And even if we accuse Bronya right now, we don't have any concrete evidence."
"Then… are we just going to let Miss Bronya stay in the team?"
"That is a problem."
Lumine lowered her head as if deep in thought—
while inwardly, she was absolutely delighted.
This Firefly is great. Very cooperative.
"Here's what we'll do. When we regroup later, we suggest splitting into teams. Once we're separated, Valerius won't be able to wipe us all out at once."
"But… isn't that too risky?"
Firefly hesitated.
If they split up, wouldn't Valerius just pick them off one by one?
"Even if we stay together, don't we still get found anyway?"
"…That's true."
Firefly nodded.
They had already tested it—staying together only made them an even bigger target.
And now that they knew there was a traitor, moving as a group was even more dangerous.
"Alright. Let's rejoin the others."
Without further hesitation, the two hurried off after the group.
Livestream
[Topaz: I don't get it. Is Bronya actually betraying them, or is this the crow's illusion?]
[Jing Yuan: Most likely an illusion. Her eyes flashed red earlier.]
[Furina: So whenever her eyes turn red, she's using illusion magic?!]
[Kaveh: But if that's the case… then Bronya's 'traitor' identity is basically locked in.]
[Xiangling: Huh??? Then why not tell everyone right away?]
[Nahida: What Miss Firefly saw was only an illusion. At this moment, Miss Bronya should still be with the main group.]
[Nilou: Meaning… if they expose Bronya now, the disguise would fall apart.]
[Jing Yuan: Exactly. If Firefly accuses Bronya now, Lumine's identity likely won't hold.]
[Feixiao: Then when do they expose it?]
[Herta: When Luocha is gone.]
[Ruan Mei: When Luocha is gone.]
[Welt: Agreed.]
Even Welt, watching the stream, felt Luocha was truly unlucky.
Everyone was scheming specifically to get rid of him.
And yet… for some reason, it felt oddly satisfying.
Meanwhile — Inside the Rune Room
Already transformed into a crow, Lumine watched the scene transmitted through the crow's eyes.
She was so angry she started cawing loudly.
What is wrong with this Firefly?!
How are you THIS easy to fool?!
"Hehe. Looks like things are progressing nicely."
Valerius reached out and lightly lifted the crow-Lumine's chin.
Then he stood up.
"Alright. Next… it's time to hunt players."
He pushed the door open and stepped outside.
Back With the Group
The two finally caught up to everyone.
"What happened to you two? Why did you fall behind?"
Arataki Itto voiced his dissatisfaction immediately.
This was a critical moment—how could they just drop out like that?
"Sorry… we accidentally went through a spatial gate and got teleported somewhere else…"
This explanation had already been discussed beforehand.
Firefly didn't think much of it—but her gaze kept drifting toward Bronya.
"Alright. Since you're fine, let's keep moving. Don't stay in one place too long."
Luocha gave the two a meaningful glance before turning away.
"How about… we split up?"
At that moment, Firefly raised her hand.
"Works for me. I'll team up with Arataki Itto."
Unexpectedly, Luocha agreed immediately and walked over to Itto.
"Sounds good."
Even Keqing stepped forward, saying she was fine splitting up, and pulled Clorinde with her.
This left Lumine completely stunned.
She had planned so much just to get them to agree to split up—
Yet they agreed this easily?!
"Alright."
Whether Lumine was stunned or not didn't matter—Firefly was energized.
Since they were splitting up, she would obviously team up with Lumine.
"Then… let's separate here."
Seeing Itto about to say something, Luocha stopped him with a hand.
"We'll go this way."
"Then we'll go this way."
Just like that, the once tightly united team instantly fell apart.
Livestream
[Herta: Wait… what is even happening now?]
[Guinaifen: I don't get it. I really don't get it.]
[Jing Yuan: Looks like Luocha has noticed something.]
[Beidou: That's one thing—but did Keqing notice too?]
[Ningguang: Very likely.]
[March 7th: Huh? Luocha noticing something is one thing—but Keqing too?!]
[Kaeya: You're really underestimating the Qixing.]
[Furina: And Clorinde definitely noticed something was off as well.]
[Dan Heng: Jingliu probably knows something too.]
[Seele: So that means… only Bronya and Firefly didn't realize anything?]
[Natasha: Seele… have a little more faith in Bronya.]
[Sampo: I see it now—this whole setup only fooled Firefly and Arataki Itto!!]
[Dr. Ratio: Not exactly. Valerius deceived everyone.]
[Diluc: What do you mean?]
[Screwllum: Question… what is Mr. Valerius's true objective?]
[Boothill: Ain't it obvious?! Stir up distrust, split the team—damn it all, that actually WORKED?!]
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