"Am I doing the right thing, Rene?"
The man in opulent robes stood atop a distant mountain peak, gazing down at Poisson, now submerged beneath the Primordial Sea Water, his expression somewhat dazed.
His inner turmoil wasn't due to the casualties caused by his actions. His heart had long grown cold from the physical transformations he had undergone. Moreover, he considered these sacrifices necessary for the birth of a new world.
(Original lore never connected Poisson's Primordial Sea Water to Jacob. This connection is something I've inferred from a side plot, which will be explained later.)
What truly shook him was his uncertainty about whether to proceed with the original plan.
The Prophecy had arrived early.
When he learned about the events at the Fortress of Meropide, he was utterly shocked.
In his mind, Rene was absolutely correct, and his predictions of the future were infallible.
Yet the Prophecy had manifested over a year ahead of schedule. Though this discrepancy amounted to a mere fraction of a percent when considering the scale of centuries, such a margin of error was unthinkable for someone like Rene.
Rene was a genius!
Furthermore, a mysterious ancient power within Fontaine remained beyond Rene's predictive scope.
The soaring crime rate in Fontaine had shaken his confidence in his original plan—to dissolve everyone's consciousness into the Primordial Sea Water, guided by Rene, so they could collectively transcend and evolve into new beings.
If they proceeded with this plan, could Rene's spirit truly withstand such overwhelming malice in the final stage? Could he achieve transcendence and avert Teyvat's destruction?
The man hesitated for a long time before ultimately deciding to follow Rene's instructions.
These were not his concerns; his only duty was to trust Rene.
When Rene awakened, he believed the genius would make the wisest decision.
The man shook his head and turned to leave.
At that moment, a man in a Gestalt uniform approached him, bowing deeply and speaking with utmost reverence.
"Lord Jacob, the location of the next Covenant Seal node has been confirmed. Shall we proceed there now?"
"Of course," Jacob nodded. "The Day of Prophecy is fast approaching. We must accelerate our efforts."
"Virlick, if you faithfully execute this plan for me, I will personally commend your contributions to Rene. When that time comes, Rene may entrust a portion of his consciousness to your command."
Upon hearing Jacob's words, Virlick's face flushed crimson, and he lowered his head even further.
"Yes, Lord Jacob!"
The two figures swiftly vanished from the cliffside, leaving no trace of their presence behind...
Upon hearing that Poisson had been submerged by Primordial Sea Water, Charlotte rushed to the scene at top speed. Having received the news while relatively close to the town, she arrived even before the Fontaine authorities' official rescue teams.
Charlotte's frantic journey wasn't solely driven by her desire to obtain the latest information from Poisson. She was also deeply concerned for her friend Navia.
To Charlotte's relief, she spotted Navia, Melus, and Silver unharmed, urgently directing evacuation efforts with anxious expressions.
"Navia!"
"And Melus and Silver—I'm so glad you're all safe!"
Seeing Charlotte's arrival, the trio's faces lit up with surprise.
"Charlotte, what are you doing here?" Navia asked.
"I'm a journalist, of course I'd rush to the scene immediately!" Charlotte replied.
Melus and Silver also greeted Charlotte.
"Miss Charlotte, hello."
"I apologize for not being able to offer you tea and refreshments right now, but the situation is urgent."
"Don't worry about that. Let's hurry and get everyone to safety. I'll help too."
Hearing Charlotte's words, Navia spoke with gratitude.
"Thank you."
With Charlotte's assistance, the evacuation sped up considerably.
In fact, the surge of Primordial Sea Water had already stopped, and the water level had even receded significantly. However, for safety's sake, Navia insisted on evacuating all survivors from Poisson.
She personally led rescue teams to retrieve those who had climbed to higher ground to escape the Primordial Sea Water and were now unable to descend. Given the possibility of a second surge, Melus and Silver urged Navia not to venture into such dangerous areas herself, but she refused.
To maximize efficiency, the group eventually split up to conduct the rescues.
"Thank you so much, Miss Navia! You saved my life!"
After rescuing a man who had climbed a flagpole, he broke down in tears.
"Save your thanks for later. Get to higher ground immediately. The Primordial Sea Water might rise again."
Hearing Navia's words, the man immediately panicked.
"Alright, I'll be off then!"
"Miss Navia, please take care too!"
With those words, the man hurried away.
After rescuing two more people, Navia scanned the area but found no other trapped residents. She breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the agreed-upon meeting point.
Upon her return, Navia saw that the Fontaine authorities' rescue teams had arrived, accompanied by numerous Court of Justice personnel.
"Miss Navia, we've completed the initial search and rescue of the residents. Those who were brought down have already been taken to safety," a Special Task Force member reported.
Navia nodded. "Thank you so much for your assistance."
"There's no need for formalities, Miss Navia. It's our duty."
"Regarding the casualties, please don't grieve too deeply. Our investigation indicates approximately three hundred people perished."
Upon hearing this, Navia's heart sank.
Is that a high number?
Considering the population of Poisson, this number was relatively small. If not for the earlier mass relocation prompted by the incident, the casualties might have been several times higher.
But these were three hundred living, breathing people. Just this morning, they had been laughing and talking, and now, in an instant, they had all been dissolved and become part of the Primordial Sea Water.
Navia was overwhelmed with regret. If she hadn't left Poisson today, perhaps she could have saved more lives.
When the disaster struck, Navia wasn't in Poisson. She had been out with Melus and Silver, gathering intelligence on a mysterious organization. They had only traveled halfway when they received news of the incident in Poisson and immediately rushed back.
Though her heart was heavy with grief, Navia didn't want others to see her vulnerability. Composing herself, she addressed the messenger:
"I understand. Thank you for informing me."
"If there are no further questions, Miss Navia, please follow us to higher ground for safety."
"It's best to stay away from this area until the danger is confirmed to be gone."
Navia nodded.
"Very well. I'll leave as soon as my friends return."
Knowing Navia's formidable strength, the messenger didn't press the matter further. After bidding her farewell, he hurried off to attend to other urgent matters.
Before long, Charlotte and the others finally returned, and the four of them climbed to a higher vantage point together.
Navia gazed pensively at the ravaged ruins of Poisson.
Just then, Charlotte approached Navia with an elderly woman and spoke softly.
"Navia, I found a survivor who witnessed the entire incident. She's willing to tell us what happened."
Hearing the commotion behind her, Navia snapped out of her reverie. She turned and nodded to the old woman Charlotte had brought.
"Thank you for facing your fears and sharing your account with us."
"Oh, it's nothing!"
To Navia's surprise, the old woman brushed off her words with an indifferent wave of her hand.
"It wasn't even that scary, really."
"Someone shouted, and we all noticed the water rising unusually fast."
"If everyone had evacuated immediately, we would have been safe."
"But for some reason, instead of fleeing, several people started stripping right there."
"Oh my, those young men had such fine physiques! Slurp"
The old woman wiped the corner of her mouth, causing Navia to tremble slightly.
"Then, right in front of everyone, they leaped from the high platform, diving into the water."
"They even performed some impressive acrobatic moves mid-air—quite a spectacle, I must say."
"But alas, they ended up splashing into the water and dissolving completely."
"What a waste! They'd have been better off with me..."
"Ahem, Granny, could you please tell us what happened next?"
Sensing the conversation taking an unsettling turn, Melus quickly interrupted her, pressing for more details.
"After that?"
"Seeing what happened, we immediately realized the water must contain Primordial Sea Water. The crowd finally snapped out of their gawking and swarmed toward higher ground."
"I initially tried to run too, but after a few steps, I gave up."
"According to my calculations, the total distance from my position to safety was 3,000 meters. My running speed is 2.5 meters per second, while the water was rising at 0.5 meters per second..."
Charlotte, Navia, Melus, and Silver: "..."
"Based on the above calculations, I realized there was no way I could reach safety. So, I found the nearest rooftop and resigned myself to fate."
"But Granny, wasn't there enough time?" Charlotte couldn't help but ask.
The old woman nodded. "Ah, actually, I spent three minutes doing the calculations. By then, it was too late."
Charlotte: "..."
Navia, Melus, Silver: "..."
"Anyway, that's how I witnessed the entire incident unfold."
"I originally thought those handsome divers were rare enough... slurp."
"Ahem, Granny, please restrain yourself a little," Silver said, clearing his throat twice.
"Alright, alright, I'll try... By the way, young man, you're quite handsome too! Such a sturdy build!"
Under the old woman's intensely predatory gaze, goosebumps erupted across Silver's skin. He immediately retreated two steps, hiding behind Navia, whose body stiffened slightly at the contact.
"Let's save the trivial matters for later," Melus said firmly. "Please continue your story."
Melus took a deep breath and stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Navia to block her view.
"Alright, young man, feel free to drop by for coffee sometime. My place is quite spacious."
After extending an invitation to Silver, the old woman resumed her reminiscing.
"Back then, for some reason, quite a few people stripped naked, shouting things like 'I'm free!' 'I'm liberated!' and then plunged into the Primordial Sea Water."
"The sight was truly spectacular. Let me describe it for you."
"They would stand high up, push off the ground with their legs, and their bodies would immediately launch into the air. Then, yiu~a boom!—one person would fall into the water."
"And then another yiu~~~~~a boom!—splash!"
"After that, the third, the fourth..."
By the time she was halfway through, the four listeners' minds were already buzzing. Charlotte finally couldn't restrain herself any longer and interrupted the old woman's vivid, graphic account.
"Grandma, you really don't need to go into such detail."
Only then did the old woman reluctantly pause, clearly still eager to continue.
"Are you sure you don't want me to continue describing? The rest was quite thrilling, you know."
"No, no! That's enough!" Charlotte quickly declined, her smile strained.
"Alright then. After that, I got lucky. The Primordial Sea Water didn't flood my area, and Miss Charlotte rescued me."
"Good, good. Thank you for recounting the situation so clearly."
"Madam, did you happen to see any strange people? If you remember anything, please tell us."
Charlotte suspected the incident might be connected to Fontaine's mysterious forces, so she finally asked the question.
"Strange people? Well, there was one."
Hearing this, the four of them immediately grew serious. Could this case really be tied to that mysterious organization?
"I'm not sure if I was seeing things, but I thought I glimpsed Lady Furina's figure."
The unexpected answer left the four stunned...
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