[Teyvat girl group, requesting to deploy!]
[Lumine: Give me the center position—my battle record speaks for itself!]
[Just how good ensemble casts can be!]
The battle at Yunlai Sea gradually reached a white-hot intensity. At the same time, the situation in Liyue Harbor was steadily growing dire.
Thick dark clouds blanketed the entire Liyue region. Countless thunderbolts rolled and roared within the cloud layers.
Thunder constantly exploded. Houses in Liyue Harbor and Guili Assembly continued to collapse. Flames stretched across the cities, and even the torrential rain could not extinguish them. Rolling smoke and dust shrouded all of Liyue Harbor and Guili Assembly.
All the residents of Guili Assembly had already evacuated to underground shelters, but most of the people in Liyue Harbor still remained within the city.
Panic, wailing, sobbing...
All the negative emotions humans produce in times of crisis filled Liyue Harbor.
The unending downpour had long since pushed Liyue Harbor's drainage system to the brink of collapse. Osial's revival delivered the final kick that broke it open.
The water level rose with the passing time, gradually submerging people's ankles.
The citizens fled toward the city outskirts, but the collapsed buildings made the journey seem endlessly long.
In the end, the residents of Liyue Harbor could only watch as houses collapsed, Liyue Harbor was flooded by the deluge, and old friends they had lived alongside were swept away...
The houses at Chihu Rock were mostly single-story, making this area one of the hardest hit by the flood.
In an ordinary courtyard, the water had already risen enough to submerge the entire yard.
An elderly woman living in the courtyard clung tightly to one of the house's pillars with one hand, struggling not to be swept away by the current, while her other hand gripped a wooden basin without letting go.
Inside the wooden basin was an infant not yet a month old.
In the pouring rain, the baby's loud cries sounded so insignificant.
The old woman's eyes were bloodshot. Even as her body swayed constantly in the floodwaters, she never once thought of letting go.
Her son and daughter-in-law had already been swept away. If this only granddaughter was swept away too, she truly would have no reason left to live in this world.
The grandmother desperately tried to protect her newborn granddaughter in the flood, but...
An elderly woman, even unleashing every ounce of her latent strength, could not contend with a natural disaster.
She did not let go, but she could no longer hold tightly to the pillar that supported them both.
The raging floodwaters engulfed the grandmother's body. She could no longer cling to the pillar and was swept away while clutching the wooden basin tightly.
In the final moment before losing consciousness, what the grandmother saw was a pitch-black figure resembling a swimming fish.
"Elder, elder, are you alright?"
The grandmother heard someone calling her. She struggled to open her eyes, feeling the rain hitting her face, a sense of being in another world rising in her heart.
She was still alive.
She had been rescued and was now on a fishing boat.
"Elder, it's good that you're alright." Someone nearby breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the grandmother sat up abruptly, grabbed the person's shoulders in panic, and said: "Where's Yingying? Have you seen my granddaughter? She was right..."
"Mom—we're right here."
Before she could finish, a voice choked with sobs came from the side.
The grandmother froze, then turned her trembling body.
Her son and daughter-in-law—who she thought had been swept away by the flood—were now holding their little granddaughter, looking at her with tears brimming in their eyes.
"..." Yunshang, drenched through, stood silently at the bow of the boat watching the family embrace.
[Wet temptation—is this scenery I can see in a 12+ game? (drooling.jpg)]
[Hold it together—I was getting moved, and then I see the comment above... Can people whose brains are only full of yellow please mind the occasion.]
[Didn't they say Ziwei and his deputy went to activate the secret weapon? So what is Yunshang doing right now...]
[Probably came here after activating the secret weapon. As for the reason—saving people doesn't need a reason.]
"That baby got drenched in the rain and might develop a fever. Go find a doctor to examine her and get some medicine." Yunshang said to the person beside her wearing pitch-black armor.
"Yes." The person nodded and went to find a doctor.
The fishing boat navigated Liyue Harbor amid the floodwaters, continuously rescuing drowning residents and those submerged in the water.
Sometimes it was Yunshang, sometimes soldiers in pitch-black armor, sometimes people wearing clothing styles different from Liyue Harbor's.
When the rescued asked about their saviors' identities, they only received replies along these lines:
"I am the deputy of Ziwei Star from Guili Assembly."
"I am one of Lord Ziwei's trusted soldiers."
"I am just an ordinary citizen from Guili Assembly."
The meanings were similar, but they all shared one common point—these people were from Guili Assembly.
Fishing boats like this one were present throughout Liyue Harbor, but without exception, the rescuers on board were all from Guili Assembly.
[Oh my oh my, I remember someone mentioned earlier that the people of Liyue Harbor really don't like the people from Guili Assembly. (side-eye smile.jpg)]
[Guili Assembly: Showing the people of Liyue Harbor what real vision looks like!]
[Starting to look forward to how the people of Liyue Harbor—especially those who are being saved right now—will face the citizens of Guili Assembly after this disaster. (side-eye smile.jpg)]
While Liyue Harbor suffered such a natural disaster, the people of Guili Assembly, led by Yunshang, descended like divine soldiers from the heavens, saving Liyue Harbor from fire and flood.
As for the Rex Lapis whom Liyue Harbor had placed all their hopes in—he had already "passed away as an Adeptus" and made no response whatsoever.
Amid the pouring rain, Zhongli stood atop Mt. Tianheng, quietly watching everything happening in Liyue Harbor.
Bean-sized raindrops fell, yet not a single trace remained on the man's clothes.
"Lord Rex Lapis still has no intention of taking action to help Liyue Harbor through this crisis?"
Pantalone arrived alone at Mt. Tianheng and stood behind Zhongli with a smile.
[? Pantalone, you can use teleport waypoints too?]
[Pantalone moves really fast—just a moment ago he was at the Golden House, and now he's already on Mt. Tianheng.]
[Finally confirming Zhongli's identity in the plot. As expected, he really is the Geo Archon.]
[Osial better pray it can beat Jun Bai, or it won't just be a beating that'll settle things.]
[Zhongli (Morax): My little phoenix is still in recovery, but I don't have that problem—I've always been at full strength!]
Zhongli chose not to answer. He slowly turned around, a trace of gold flowing in his eyes: "Although this is in keeping with a contract, this action has gone too far."
"If Lord Rex Lapis feels this action is improper, feel free to cut me down here and now. I believe Her Majesty the Tsaritsa would have no objections." Pantalone said with a faint smile.
"..." Zhongli said nothing, silently drawing the Vortex Vanquisher as Geo energy coalesced upon it.
Pantalone smiled without speaking, a faint glimmer of anticipation even flashing in his eyes...
"Handling a small fry like this doesn't require Lord Rex Lapis to personally act."
Heavy footsteps sounded. Xuanjian appeared beside Pantalone, gripping a warblade that even ordinary people might not be able to lift with both hands in one hand.
[Big brother-in-law suddenly appears.]
[Is the big blade in big brother-in-law's hand the secret weapon against Osial? It looks like nothing special except for the emphasis.]
[Plain and unremarkable? Perhaps it's a case of returning to simplicity—worth paying close attention to.]
"Ziwei, the one I'm looking for isn't you!"
Pantalone looked at Xuanjian and said through gritted teeth.
"The one I'm looking for isn't you either."
Xuanjian delivered a heavy punch to Pantalone's abdomen, directly knocking this Fatui Harbinger unconscious. He collapsed to the ground, falling into the deep sleep of an infant.
Zhongli silently put away the Vortex Vanquisher.
Youth is nice—fall asleep the moment your head hits the pillow.