Tartaglia stood up and stretched his body with agile movements. He fearlessly met King's "terrifying" gaze and the shocked stares of everyone in the shop.
"As expected of the 'Strongest Man in Fontaine'."
Tartaglia smiled, his voice carrying undisguised admiration and excitement.
"I thought I had disguised myself well, but I didn't expect to be discovered by you!"
His gaze ignored the stunned crowd and locked directly onto King. The light flashing in his eyes was like a Hunter who had discovered his long-dreamed-of prey.
"I didn't expect that nonsensical rumor to actually be true!"
"An incredible monster has come to Fontaine, one that even the Iudex couldn't last ten moves against!"
"I didn't believe it at first, but seeing you today, your reputation is well-deserved!"
Tartaglia slowly walked toward King, each step landing with immense weight.
Two invisible auras—
King's unfathomable pressure and Tartaglia's sharp battle intent—clashed in the air!
The tables and chairs vibrated slightly, and the glass display cases hummed.
Seeing Tartaglia, Paimon trembled and hid behind King in a panic, only poking half a head out.
"Tartaglia, what are you doing here!"
Tartaglia glanced at Paimon, but his gaze quickly returned to King, his smile unchanging.
"Oh, it's little Paimon."
"I don't have time for you right now; I've found a much more interesting 'playmate'."
He emphasized the word "playmate" heavily, carrying a provocative tone.
King's heart pounded wildly in his chest.
The roar of the emperor engine became even more intense because of Tartaglia's appearance.
"Thump! Thump! Thump—!!!"
The diners in the shop could no longer take it.
"Run, run quickly!"
Someone shouted, and people scrambled toward the door like startled birds, knocking over chairs and breaking cups and plates.
In just a dozen seconds, the once-packed breakfast shop was left with only a few people.
Lilith froze behind the counter; she wanted to run, but her legs were so weak they wouldn't listen.
Lyney and Lynette's expressions also changed drastically.
"How could Childe be here!"
Lyney lowered his voice, his tone full of shock: "Isn't he supposed to be in Snezhnaya?"
Lynette's cat ears twitched violently as she stared at the two men facing off: "This is going to be trouble..."
This Harbinger's love for battle was legendary. With him involved, this situation would not end peacefully!
Tartaglia didn't care at all about the people fleeing; his attention was entirely focused on King.
He spread his hands with a look of pure joy: "Ah, to be able to fight a strong opponent again, how delightful!"
King: "..."
Tartaglia stopped three meters away from King—a distance that was neither too far nor too close, placing King within his attack range while leaving enough space to react.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tartaglia, the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers, Childe."
"My favorite thing is fighting, especially fighting against someone as strong as you!"
He tilted his head, his smile bright: "By the way, this place is too small to go all out."
"How about..."
Tartaglia raised his right hand in a "please" gesture, pointing toward the sunlit street outside the shop.
"Let's take this outside."
"It's spacious, bright, and has plenty of spectators."
"A duel like this is only fitting for your title as 'Fontaine's Strongest', isn't it?"
His tone was relaxed and casual, as if inviting a friend to afternoon tea.
But in those deep blue eyes, what burned was a desire for battle enough to incinerate everything.
King sat in his chair, motionless.
On the surface, he still maintained that expressionless, fierce-eyed look, appearing completely indifferent to Tartaglia's challenge.
But in reality—
'Holy crap holy crap holy crap!!!'
'Childe Tartaglia! A Fatui Harbinger!'
'The battle maniac who summoned a God in Liyue and fought the Traveler until the sky turned dark!'
'Why is he in Fontaine? And why did he pick me!'
King's inner self was screaming frantically.
His brain worked at the fastest speed of his life, thinking of a strategy.
He couldn't fight. Although he had the Explosive Heart Release Fist now, at most, it was only at the peak of Tiger-level.
Tartaglia was a monster who could go back and forth with a Traveler using multiple elements, and even briefly suppress the Star-Swallowing Whale!
If they really fought, he estimated he wouldn't last three moves.
Fight? Fight with what, his head?!
Cold sweat soaked King's back, but his face remained as hard as iron and stone. His eyes were as deep as a cold pool, appearing to disdain Tartaglia's challenge, or perhaps thinking about higher-level problems.
He looked as steady as an old dog on the outside, but inside, he was panicking like crazy.
This extreme contradiction and the intense emotional fluctuations it brought caused the sound of the emperor engine to reach a new peak!
"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump—!!!"
The dull roar, like an ancient behemoth awakening, not only made the remaining glass in Lilianes Bakery hum but also penetrated the walls, echoing through the early morning streets of Fontaine.
Pedestrians in the distance who had been peeking curiously turned pale upon hearing this terrifying sound. They scrambled into nearby shops or alleys, only daring to peek out with half a head.
Paimon, hiding behind King, had a pale little face. She gripped his clothes tightly, so scared she couldn't even speak.
Lyney and Lynette didn't even dare to breathe. They remained in their bowing positions, their bodies stiff, feeling like every second was a year long.
Tartaglia, however, showed no fear of this terrifying heartbeat. Instead, he became even more excited, the fire of battle in his eyes Burning ever more intensely: "I hear it! I hear your roar of longing for battle!"
He was almost unable to restrain the urge to strike immediately.
King: "..."
You damn beast, what did you feel!
Am I going to be beaten into a pancake by this hot-blooded idiot?
At this critical moment, a flash of inspiration crossed King's mind.
Right, the System!
I still have a cheat!
"System! I want to draw!"
King shouted in his heart.
[Ding.]
The system's light screen expanded in response, floating within King's vision.
[Current Emotion Points: 1,025,000]
[Would you like to perform a draw?]
King didn't pay attention to the system; his gaze was fixed intently on the [Current Emotion Points] column.
His entire being, from soul to body, fell into a daze.
One... million... twenty-five... thousand?!
King's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of needlepoints, and his mind went blank.
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands... millions?!
He blinked hard, wondering if he was having hallucinations due to excessive tension.
How is that possible!
Yesterday, Furina, Lumine, and Paimon combined only contributed 115,000 Emotion Points.
The A-Rank draw for Explosive Heart Release Fist cost 100,000 points.
Even though the Lyney siblings contributed another 10,000 today, there should only be 25,000 Emotion Points left!
Where did these million-level Emotion Points come from?
Even if pie fell from the sky, it wouldn't fall like this!
"Sy... System..."
King's consciousness trembled slightly: "You bastard, do you have a bug? These Emotion Points... what's going on?"
[System performing self-check...]
[Ding! System is operating normally; no errors or loopholes detected.]
[Emotion Point statistics are correct.]
Correct?
One million Emotion Points is correct?
King was stunned.
This huge sum came out of nowhere, as if an obscure little author had suddenly been given a massive gift by a mysterious tycoon overnight!
But at this moment, King had no time to delve into which sucker... no, which "noble person" had provided these points.
Tartaglia was still standing before him like a tiger watching its prey, and the emperor engine was almost drumming his heart out.
Life found from a dead end!
Sudden wealth in a desperate situation!
The wave of wild joy in King's heart instantly drowned out his fear.
One million Emotion Points! How many times could he draw?
A hundred B-Rank draws? Ten A-Rank draws?
No, he wanted to draw—
S-Rank!