While Su Han and Xi Yao were discussing things,
the Black Coal Ball remained silent the entire time, seeming to be deep in thought, yet also somewhat sorrowful.
After leaving the Amrita Pool,
Su Han did not head straight to Mondstadt or Liyue.
Instead, he sped across the desert.
Crossing one dune after another,
they eventually discovered a settlement hidden deep underground in the heart of the desert.
Xi Yao sensed the area from the sky and revealed a surprised expression.
"They don't seem to be pure desert dwellers. Su Han, is this one of your bases?"
From her perception,
these desert people were exceptionally fierce. Their strength surpassed that of ordinary people by more than a hundredfold.
Only after discovering that they possessed Haki did Xi Yao ask the question.
"This is a place controlled by one of my subordinates. You could say it's part of my arrangements."
Back then,
Diluc had sought revenge and asked for Su Han's assistance.
At the time, Su Han lacked manpower, so he assigned him to the desert.
Unexpectedly, in only two months, the development had progressed quite well.
By rough estimation, there were around five thousand people inside the settlement.
Excluding children, women, and the elderly, there were about three thousand capable fighters.
For the desert, this number was small.
But for a newly established organization, it was already very impressive.
"Let's go. We'll see how Diluc's development is progressing."
Su Han took the lead and dove straight down.
Soon, they arrived at the entrance to the settlement.
The guards noticed their arrival and immediately sounded the alarm.
Countless soldiers quickly gathered.
When the leader saw Su Han's face, his expression changed dramatically. He immediately dropped to his knees.
"Greetings, Divine Lord!"
The nearby people gradually recognized Su Han as well and hurriedly knelt down.
"Divine Lord? What does that mean?"
Su Han was thoroughly confused.
At that moment, Diluc, who had received the news, hurried out from inside.
When he heard Su Han's question, he immediately smiled and explained:
"It's an honorific title we use for you! Please, come inside and have a seat."
"An honorific title? Don't tell me you're running some kind of religious cult."
Diluc froze briefly and replied in surprise,
"You already know?"
"..."
Su Han was speechless.
So Diluc really was playing the religion card.
On the way inside,
Diluc explained the whole story.
"At first, I only intended to recruit followers and establish a base. But these desert people kept insisting that I was a messenger of the gods and treated me with immense respect. That's when I realized religious faith is much easier than simple management."
The desert people lacked education.
They had far more muscle than brains.
So when Diluc, who possessed Haki and the Golden Light Spell, appeared before them, it was only natural that he was labeled a divine messenger.
And naturally, the god in question was Su Han.
"How is development on the desert side going?"
Since the matter was already settled, Su Han couldn't be bothered arguing.
A god was a god.
Besides, in terms of strength, he honestly wasn't far from a true Archon anymore.
"At present, I've brought two tribes under our control. As for the others, we're still making contact. My plan is to make them become fervent believers in you before accepting more tribes."
Diluc understood well that biting off more than one could chew was unwise.
Therefore, he never rushed.
The current situation was developing smoothly. As long as things proceeded steadily, they would eventually gain a firm foothold.
His greatest advantage was a constant supply of resources.
Whether it was water, which was scarce in the desert, or food and medicine, they had everything here.
As long as those supplies remained plentiful, even if he tried to drive the desert people away, they wouldn't leave.
At that point,
Diluc remembered something.
"By the way, my lord. A few days ago, that woman who appears to be a descendant of the Desert God came here. She was very curious about everything we were doing. She also said that if we continue growing, she'd be willing to support us in taking in more people."
"You suspect her motives?"
Su Han asked with a smile.
Diluc nodded gently.
There was no such thing as kindness without reason.
"I don't just suspect her. I was even planning to place some people in Aaru Village. That way, our control over the desert would become even more comprehensive."
"That's unnecessary."
"Why?"
Su Han's answer left Diluc puzzled.
Could it be that the leader of Aaru Village possessed some special ability?
"If you send people there, she'll discover them the moment they arrive. Since you know she's a descendant of King Deshret, then you should understand that every grain of sand in Aaru Village is within her perception."
"I see."
Diluc immediately understood.
If her sensory range was truly that vast, then placing spies there would indeed be inappropriate.
After all, her attitude was friendly.
Excessive probing would only create unnecessary misunderstandings.
"How do you maintain daily operations here?"
After observing the settlement, Xi Yao was filled with curiosity.
The place didn't seem particularly special.
Yet supporting three thousand people should require tremendous resources.
After all, water was scarce in the desert, and crops couldn't easily grow.
Diluc glanced at Su Han.
After receiving a nod of approval, he began his formal explanation.
"A large portion of our supplies is imported from outside, but we also raise livestock and cultivate fungi."
"For example, the mushrooms we grow here are already being exported to Inazuma."
"The desert may be barren, but underground it's actually very cool. If developed properly, there are plenty of resources available."
Diluc led everyone deeper underground.
The alchemists had built elevators here, making travel up and down extremely convenient.
From the outside,
the cave settlement appeared shabby.
But inside, countless small structures filled the underground space.
For example, the first level contained ten mushroom farms, all dedicated to cultivating edible fungi.
The second level was used for raising animals.
Chickens, ducks, geese, and more.
Of course, they required sunlight.
But for the alchemists, that was actually quite simple.
Artificial sunlight only required simulated lighting.
And if the animals needed room to run around, there were other solutions.
Namely:
The Serenitea Pot.
"Our main food source right now is still the vast amount of crops inside the Serenitea Pot. Abundant sunlight, stable climate conditions, and the seeds researched by Miss Sucrose."
"Basically, the fruits and vegetables produced every day exceed what everyone in the settlement can consume. Some of them are even being preserved as canned goods."
Only then
did Xi Yao finally understand why the desert residents here looked so happy.
With abundant food and resources,
who wouldn't be happy?
As for the mirror connected to the Sumeru rainforest,
it couldn't be activated because Mona wasn't here.
However, Diluc's transportation network was already operating very smoothly.
After making a complete tour,
everyone returned to the surface.
Only then did Diluc bring up the matter of revenge.
"My lord, when will we make our move against Sumeru?"
"Getting impatient?"
"A little."
Diluc nodded awkwardly.
He was indeed anxious.
But so many years had passed, and his enemy was incredibly powerful.
Killing Dottore would not be as simple as imagined.
Su Han patted Diluc's shoulder and comforted him.
"Endure a little longer. At the very least, you need enough strength to defeat him. Otherwise, even if you face him directly, you'll still be no match for that guy. At the same time, there's something I need to tell you."
"Please."
Diluc looked at Su Han seriously.
"Dottore is an old monster who has lived for hundreds of years. In the future, I'll use a scheme to make him destroy a large number of his own clones. But even then, there's no guarantee he won't have additional backup plans. When that moment comes, that's when you should strike."
In the game,
Nahida had used the Gnosis to force Dottore into destroying his clones.
But based on Su Han's understanding of him,
Dottore wasn't stupid.
He definitely had other contingency plans.
And if Diluc wanted revenge,
that would be the best opportunity.
Diluc fell into thought after hearing this.
He roughly understood what he needed to do.
"Thank you for the reminder. I'll work hard."
"Good. Keep it up."
Su Han encouraged him.
Afterward, he left with Xi Yao.
Along the way,
the Den Den Mushi rang nonstop.
Everyone was asking about his situation.
Kitsune Saiguu: "You've returned to Teyvat now?"
Ei: "How are things? Kitsune Saiguu said you seemed to have run into some trouble."
Shenhe: "Su Han, where are you? I want to find you."
During this period,
she had been in seclusion training.
Ever since obtaining the Ice-Ice Fruit, Shenhe had devoted herself entirely to mastering its power and integrating it with her own abilities.
As a result, after only a few days apart,
Su Han had nearly disappeared.
That frightened Shenhe badly.
She didn't want to do anything right now.
She only wanted to hold Su Han for a while.
Otherwise, her heart simply couldn't settle down.
In response,
Su Han smiled and comforted her.
"Alright. Let's meet at Mt. Yougou later."
But the reaction that made him laugh the most was little Klee's.
After hearing that he had left the Teyvat world, she cried so hard she could barely breathe. If Jean hadn't constantly comforted her, the little girl might have cried herself unconscious.
Mona rushed over immediately after receiving the news.
When Su Han arrived at Caravan Ribat, they used the mirrors for transportation.
The Black Coal Ball's eyes were filled with shock.
It had assumed the Third World was weak.
Yet what were all these unbelievable technologies?
And mirrors that could transfer people through space?
That was even more impressive than ley line transportation.
During the journey,
Mona was extremely curious about Xi Yao and the Black Coal Ball's identities.
Su Han explained:
"Xi Yao is actually the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, the former Dendro Archon of Sumeru."
"As for the Black Coal Ball, I'm not sure yet. You can think of it as my follower."
The moment Mona heard Xi Yao's identity,
her mouth formed a perfect O.
Had Su Han rescued another god again?
No wonder the woman possessed such an extraordinary temperament and was so beautiful.
Good grief.
She was an Archon, and a beautiful goddess at that.
Mona immediately jumped beside Xi Yao and started trying to win her favor.
"Hehe, hello, Sister Xi Yao! I'm the astrologer Mona and also Boss Su Han's employee!"
"Mhm, hello. I've heard about you from Su Han. This ability should be the power of the Mirror Fruit, right?"
"Yep!"
The two women chatted and laughed together, creating a pleasant atmosphere.
Soon,
they arrived in Liyue.
After gathering a group of people, they headed to Mondstadt and finally reached Inazuma.
On Mt. Yougou,
Zhongli, Venti, and the others were already waiting.
Everyone was curious about Su Han's experiences.
Of course, they were even more curious about Xi Yao.
"Wait, Xi Yao? I remember that wasn't your name before. You should be called..."
"Shh. The old me is already dead. My name is Xi Yao now."
The beautiful Archon blinked, indicating she didn't want to discuss the topic.
Venti immediately stopped.
But Zhongli asked with great curiosity:
"According to the information we've obtained, your previous self seemed to have died because of a forbidden curse. We didn't investigate too deeply at the time, but what exactly happened back then?"
The old man normally didn't concern himself with other nations' affairs.
But since the Abyss was involved,
he wanted to understand.
The secretaries beside Ningguang immediately picked up their notebooks and began recording.
Recalling the past,
a trace of sorrow flashed through Xi Yao's eyes.
"It all started with that hateful Goddess of Flowers."
According to her account,
the beginning of everything dated back thousands of years.
At that time, the Archon War was raging across the world.
But Sumeru itself experienced very little warfare.
Yet despite the apparent peace,
a massive conspiracy emerged.
The Goddess of Flowers had always harbored hatred toward Celestia.
Or rather, she herself had been abandoned by Celestia.
In her quest to destroy it,
her mind gradually became twisted by hatred.
"So-called love and so-called transcendent power are nothing more than a scam."
Xi Yao's face was filled with disdain.
Men were attracted to women.
And naturally, the incomparably beautiful Goddess of Flowers attracted gods as well.
Resting his chin on one hand, Venti listened to the old story and sighed.
"I complained to the old man long ago that Nabu Malikata had issues. I even secretly warned Ahraman, but unfortunately he didn't trust me."
The moment everyone heard there was more gossip,
they immediately turned toward Venti.
"Don't think I'm making things up. It's true."
"It happened when I was wandering through Sumeru."
"I don't remember the exact time. Anyway, after hearing people talk about the Goddess of Flowers, Nabu Malikata, I became curious and secretly observed her."
"But the undefeated and most beautiful goddess that people praised, the Queen of Flowers herself, was doing things that made no sense."
While eating a milk dumpling, Yae Miko asked curiously,
"What did you see?"
"I saw Nabu Malikata torturing souls."
The Goddess of Flowers,
who should have been the gentlest of all,
was instead torturing certain souls in a hidden location.
And her normally beautiful and gentle face was filled with distortion and hatred.
At that moment, Zhongli remembered something.
"There does seem to have been such an incident. Some flower spirits fled to Chenyu Vale, and according to the stories they spread, the Goddess of Flowers did indeed have problems. I simply didn't expect her hatred to be so terrifying."
Trying to destroy Celestia by destroying the world itself
was a truly insane idea.
After chatting about the gossip for a while,
the conversation eventually returned to Su Han.
"By the way, what exactly did you experience? And how did you revive Xi Yao? Also... what is that pitch-black creature that keeps eating?"
Faced with Yae Miko's disdain,
the Black Coal Ball immediately protested.
"I'm not some pitch-black creature! I'm a lifeform from the Second World! Although I was corrupted by the Abyss, I still believe I'm special."
Bang.
One punch later,
the Black Coal Ball was instantly knocked unconscious.
Only then did Su Han begin talking about his own experiences.
"Originally, I wanted to study the power of space-time. But I never expected the interior of the consciousness space to send me to the birthplace of Makoto and Ei, the land where the gods of the Second World were born."
As he explained,
everyone learned about the existence of the Second World and its catastrophe.
When they heard that the Abyss had swallowed everything,
their expressions became grim.
Ningguang frowned and immediately asked:
"So the consciousness space beneath our feet is still sealed. Is it possible for that seal to be broken?"
"In theory, it shouldn't be."
After thinking about it,
Su Han felt that the seal had been created by the World Tree using its very life.
There shouldn't be any problems.
But at that moment, Cloud Retainer raised a question.
"Su Han, although the consciousness space may not be breached, doesn't this prove that the Teyvat world is full of holes everywhere?"
There were already many known danger points.
The Khaenri'ah vortex.
Enkanomiya.
The consciousness space.
And every location that had once been swallowed by the Abyss.
The Chasm.
Counting them all, there were probably more than a dozen.
Among them,
the place closest to the Abyss was undoubtedly Snezhnaya.
Just thinking about it made everyone's scalp tingle.
They had believed the world was peaceful.
Instead, it was filled with ticking bombs.
Yae Miko held her head and said gloomily:
"So basically, either we devote ourselves to repairing the world, or the Abyss will eventually swallow everything."
Cloud Retainer glanced at her and sighed.
"It's even worse than that. The Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah obtained power through the Abyss. They escaped the restraints of the World Tree, but in exchange, they no longer have any retreat available to them."
The World Tree restrained native lifeforms.
Furthermore, if someone altered the memories within the ley lines and the tree,
they could even rewrite memories.
But another problem emerged.
If one day the Heavenly Principles completely destroyed the world,
those people would become rootless drifters.
As for which side they would ultimately join,
that would depend on their own choices.
Zhongli looked at Su Han meaningfully.
"From now on, much will depend on your performance."
Even if the people of Teyvat obtained Haki, it would still be difficult for them to surpass their limits.
But Su Han was different.
Not only did he possess the power to change the world,
he wasn't even a native lifeform of this world.
If the world were ever destroyed,
perhaps everyone connected to him would still survive.
Su Han naturally understood Zhongli's meaning and immediately promised to do his best.
"But my efforts alone aren't enough. You'll all have to help me. At the very least, none of you can slack off when it comes to selling manga."
Hearing that,
everyone burst into laughter.
Such a small matter was easy.
"Don't worry. I'll handle promotion in Mondstadt."
"Leave Inazuma to Yae Publishing House!"
"Liyue's market is already fully established. The people are also looking forward to your works."
Su Han thought about it.
Manga had already become a trend.
Since that was the case,
there was really nothing to worry about.
They only needed to continue developing steadily, step by step.