"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Inside a meeting room at Yujing Terrace, Ningguang carefully reviewed the list in her hand while lightly tapping on the desk in front of her.
In front of her sat the Damselette, and beside him, Childe, whose shackles had been removed.
Childe rubbed his wrists; it was the first time he had been cuffed. He had to admit that those special shackles were very effective in suppressing him.
His connection to his Vision had been greatly suppressed.
Childe looked around. In the small meeting room, only Ningguang, the Damselette, and Childe remained.
Looking at the calm and composed Ningguang not far away, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Childe's eyes.
With two Harbingers, himself and the Damselette, they should be able to instantly kill this annoying woman in front of him.
"Control your colleague behind you. If I die, none of you will walk out of this door," Ningguang said to the Damselette in front of her, without even raising her head, sensing Childe's gaze.
"Oh? I didn't realize Tianquan was so strong? Confident enough to survive two Harbingers," Childe raised his eyebrows, but his tone sounded somewhat sarcastic.
"Strength doesn't just include muscles," Ningguang put down the list in her hand and said to Childe with a half-smile:
"Guess how many Guizhong Ballistas are aimed at this place?"
"Guizhong Ballista?" Childe's eyes were pure, a beauty untainted by knowledge.
"An Archon's crossbow used by Liyue during the Archon War to fight against Gods. If you want to die, don't drag me into it," the Damselette finally spoke, unable to bear Childe's clueless expression.
What was all this? He was doing fine at Northland Bank, then he was told to go to Yujing Terrace to bail out Childe.
The key was that this idiot Childe was caught for the crime of "peeping at a Damselette"! Why hadn't he noticed this habit before?
"Heh heh, it seems the Fatui still have smart people," Ningguang chuckled a few times. The Guizhong Ballista had only been repaired recently, and she had Lumine to thank for it.
Then, she placed the list in her hand into a drawer, waved her hand, and said, "The list is fine. Take your colleague and leave."
"If I catch you again next time, what I'll want won't just be a list of undercover agents." After routinely delivering a few harsh words, Ningguang raised her head and shouted sternly, "Dismissed! See them out!"
...At Northland Bank, everyone was as quiet as a cicada in winter, including Childe.
"Do you know that all of Regrator's arrangements over the years have been completely ruined by you?"
The Damselette looked at Childe, seething with anger. This time, to get Childe back, he had even given up someone like Zhiyi, who was only half an undercover agent.
All this was to ensure Childe would be released immediately. Ningguang said that for every person missed, it would be an extra month in custody. Who knew if that would turn into a year in the end?
At this critical juncture, the Damselette dared not gamble.
"Tell me how you fell into the Qixing's hands. With your strength, you shouldn't have been subdued so quietly," the Damselette looked at the embarrassed Childe beside him and asked in confusion. With Childe's strength, if Liyue wanted to take him down, the commotion couldn't be small. But this time, something unexpected happened. Childe was apprehended without the Fatui having any prior knowledge.
"It wasn't the Qixing, it was that armored guy from before. I think his name was Yu Jin," Childe said with a constipated expression. It was the first time he had encountered such a helpless situation.
His proud strength was like that of a child in front of Yu Jin. The last time he felt this way was when he fell into the abyss and faced his master.
The crucial thing was that he was no longer that ignorant child! As soon as he thought of this, Childe felt Yu Jin was even more unfathomable.
Upon hearing this, the Damselette immediately rolled his eyes.
He stroked his chest, secretly blaming himself for not thinking of Yu Jin sooner. He should have realized it when he heard Childe's crime of "peeping at a Damselette"!
As someone who vowed to avoid Yu Jin, the Damselette felt he had been too careless.
"Alright, no need to say more. It's your bad luck to run into him," the Damselette nodded helplessly, speaking weakly.
He looked up at Childe, who was deep in thought, and had a bad premonition, "What are you thinking? Are you perhaps thinking of retaliating?"
"Of course, have the Fatui ever suffered a loss?" Childe said as if it were a matter of course.
No sooner had Childe finished speaking than the Damselette felt the burn on his back start to ache again—he was afraid Childe's actions would "accidentally harm" him.
Thinking of this, the Damselette quickly waved his hand at Childe and said, "I advise you not to act rashly. It's better to lie low for a while."
"Lie low? I can wait, but Her Imperial Majesty cannot. Although I don't know why Morax would fake his death, that Exuvia is genuine."
"If we miss this opportunity, it won't be easy to find such an easy chance to seize the Gnosis again."
Childe felt that the Damselette was speaking without understanding his predicament. The task of seizing the Gnosis was his, not the Damselette's. Of course, the Damselette could tell him to wait.
But Childe couldn't wait. The timing for acquiring the Gnosis was fixed, a decision the Fatui made based on intelligence gathered from various nations.
A mishap here might affect the actions of other Harbingers.
Childe did not want to bear this responsibility.
"Indeed. Damselette, what did you experience in Mondstadt? Why do I feel like your bones have been broken?" Balladeer walked out from behind the counter of Northland Bank, his eyes filled with disdain as he looked at the Damselette.
Previously, seeing the Damselette's arrogant demeanor, Balladeer thought he had a lot of capital. He didn't expect him to give up just because some unknown guy popped up?
In contrast, Balladeer found Childe, this "gorilla," much more agreeable. At least Childe didn't immediately want to give up like the Damselette after learning that Morax was still alive.
"Instead of worrying about whether my bones are broken, you should worry about whether the parts on your body fit. You should also change your mouth," the Damselette retorted without fear.
Balladeer shrugged, indicating he didn't want to argue with the Damselette. Among the Harbingers, he and the Damselette had the foulest mouths, and they mocked each other more times than all the other Harbingers combined.
"I still say the same thing, you'd best lie low for a while. I've fought that guy, and he's not someone you can defeat."
The Damselette paused, then continued, "As for the Gnosis, don't worry about it. I have a way to get it. You can take a vacation now."
After the Damselette finished speaking, he sighed. This was his true, hidden purpose for coming to Liyue.
He hadn't expected to reveal it directly to Childe and Balladeer, who should have been kept in the dark, which made the Damselette feel a bit weary.
"Oh? I see you staying in Northland Bank every day and not going out. You're telling me you have a way to get the Gnosis?" Childe looked incredulous.
Since the Damselette arrived in Liyue, he truly acted like a sheltered young woman, never stepping out. This made it difficult for Childe to believe that the Damselette had a way to get the Gnosis.
"You don't need to know the details, at least not now. You just need to know that the Gnosis will eventually be in my hands," the Damselette became a riddle-solver.
It wasn't that he didn't want to explain, but that was how the contract between the Empress and the Geo Archon stipulated. The Damselette could not violate it.
Childe and Balladeer exchanged glances, bewildered by the Damselette's vague explanation.
"Do you believe him?" Balladeer turned to Childe and asked.
"I don't," Childe shook his head.
"Slap!"
The two clapped their hands together and ran like the wind into the depths of Northland Bank.
Just as the Damselette was about to stop the two, he heard Childe and Balladeer's playful and mocking shouts from afar: "Big brother, go take care of your pregnancy! We're definitely getting the Gnosis!"
The veins on the Damselette's forehead immediately bulged. He took a few deep breaths, then left Northland Bank.
Very well, let those two go to their deaths. There were a few good prospects below who should be able to fill the vacant seats.
As for Northland Bank, he had to leave quickly. From this moment on, it was no longer safe.
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