"Captain, congratulations. You finally got what you wanted," Columbina said, her voice soft and ethereal.
"Mm." Capitano nodded. "You be careful too. If you don't want to stay with the Fatui, then don't go back."
He understood Columbina fairly well. She was someone rather innocent by nature.
Koji had stepped in and resolved both Natlan's ley line problem and the issue of the Night Kingdom. As for Capitano, he had now completely vanished from this mortal world, no longer doomed to sit forever upon that stone throne.
"Prince of the Abyss Order, long time no see."
Ronova looked at Aether. It was obvious they were old acquaintances who had met many years ago.
"It really has been a long time, Ruler of Death. My war with the Heavenly Principles is not over yet."
Aether's expression remained calm, and his tone was even.
Ronova smiled. "The Heavenly Principles may be sleeping, but if you wake Them up, can you really handle Their morning temper?"
The power of the Abyss truly was terrifying, but the Heavenly Principles were no hollow name either.
Back then, Nibelung had possessed all the elements and even wielded the power of the Abyss, yet still failed to defeat the Heavenly Principles.
So as things stood now, the Abyss still had a hard time standing against Them.
Aether neither agreed nor disagreed. The power needed to oppose the Heavenly Principles was still not enough.
Back then, neither he nor Lumine had been able to defeat the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, the Ruler of Space. And that had only been one of the Four Shadows projected by the Heavenly Principles. Just how strong the Heavenly Principles truly were, even Aether did not know.
He had never seen the full truth directly, but from the strength of the Four Shadows alone, one could already glimpse a fraction of it.
"Aether, I've wanted to ask you this before—do you even sleep?" Paimon asked curiously.
If he could not even defeat Asmoday, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, then defeating the Heavenly Principles themselves was out of the question.
Aether did not answer. He merely gave her a gentle smile, then left with the two Abyss Lectors.
Lumine wore a helpless expression as she gritted her teeth and said, "Husband, next time we see him, break his legs for me."
"How many?"
Koji held back a laugh. Lumine really did love this brother of hers to a ridiculous degree.
"Three."
Lumine answered without hesitation.
Everyone's expressions turned a little strange. Was she trying to turn her brother into some kind of mutant?
They did not understand, but no one said anything. After all, this was Lumine's family business.
"Lady Night God, there's one thing I've always wanted to know no matter what. I've never once seen the Captain sleep. Why is that?" Olorun asked.
"It's simple enough." Venti spoke first. "With all those souls inside the Captain, did you really think souls would stay quiet and obedient?"
The Night God said, "The Anemo Archon is right. Once souls fuse together, the voices of the other souls will echo endlessly inside the mind, without stopping for even a moment."
"The souls that retain the final memories of their lives will keep screaming, wailing, crying out in despair. And the number of souls he carried was so vast."
"I think I get it now." Paimon nodded thoughtfully. "So it's like there are a whole bunch of people constantly talking inside the Captain's head."
What a torment that must have been—and for several hundred years at that.
The Captain's will was truly astonishing.
"What a remarkable warrior," Raiden Ei said with some regret. "It's a shame I never got the chance to spar with him."
He had been an exceptionally pure person, willing to fight against the laws of the world for the sake of certain souls.
"Fufu, humans really are strong—just like you."
Focalors smiled as she spoke. Fufu had played the role of a god for more than five hundred years, while Capitano had borne those homeless souls for more than five hundred years. Both were extraordinary feats.
"Compared to the Captain, what I went through wasn't quite as bad. At least I could still sleep."
Furina shook her head. During those five hundred years, she had lived in constant tension and fear, but she had still been able to sleep, and she had not suffered interference from countless souls.
The Captain's will truly inspired admiration.
Focalors agreed wholeheartedly. Capitano's endurance had long surpassed the limits of ordinary people. He was a true warrior.
Among the Fatui, no one questioned the Captain's character.
Mavuika let out a sigh. Compared to her own plan, the Captain's had been the safer one. Even though neither plan had ultimately been carried out, a loss was a loss. Still, she felt no resentment over it. In the end, they had all been fighting for Natlan.
"Congratulations. The matter of Natlan is finally over," Venti said with a grin.
"So now we can all have a proper drink together, right?"
Now that the crisis was gone, of course he wanted to drink his fill.
"You, honestly…" Mavuika looked at Venti in resignation. "Were you just waiting for this exact moment?"
It wasn't that she minded drinking with Venti, but did he really have to be this eager?
Truth be told, she wanted to rest first.
"Ehe, not exactly. But we can at least start with a drink," Venti said with a smile.
"All right, fine." Mavuika nodded. "After this, Natlan's people will gradually start visiting your nations. I hope you won't exclude them."
She said it jokingly as she looked at the other gods.
Now that the Abyss crisis was over, Natlan's people could finally go out and travel, to see the scenery and customs of other nations.
When that time came, the number of Natlanians heading to other countries would steadily increase.
"We certainly won't," Zhongli assured her. "We will inform the appropriate people."
As long as they did not cause trouble, any nation would welcome them. But if they did cause trouble, then they would have to face each nation's laws.
"Mondstadt will definitely welcome them."
"Inazuma will as well."
...
None of the gods had any objections. The only issue was distance. The journey from Natlan to Mondstadt in particular was extremely long, whether by sea or by land, and would take a considerable amount of time.
Traveling from Natlan to Sumeru would be much closer. But anyone wishing to go on to Mondstadt or Liyue would need to plan carefully.
"Oh, right, Mavuika—your vehicle looks pretty cool. Get one made for each of us. We'll pay for them. How about it?" Venti asked.
Among the gods, it seemed that only the Pyro Archon had a huge motorcycle. None of the others had any real official means of transportation.
"That's a small matter. When the time comes, I'll just have Xilonen make them," Mavuika said casually.
"Hehe, Lady Mavuika, if Xilonen finds out you made that promise on your own, her mentality is going to explode," Citlali said with a laugh.
The Pyro Archon's motorcycle was often sent to Xilonen for repairs. Xilonen had told her many times to be more careful with it, but it never helped. Before long, it would always be sent back again.
"There's money to be made. Xilonen will do it." Mavuika pressed her lips together in a smile.
Xilonen's craftsmanship was excellent, so Mavuika felt quite at ease leaving the work to her.
"I won't need one." Zhongli shook his head. He was not very interested in that kind of vehicle.
If he wanted to travel in suitably grand style, all he had to do was summon a stone stele, hurl it forward, and stand atop it to fly through the air.
In common terms, that was called riding a pillar into flight.
(End of Chapter)
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