Following Cyno through the world sculpted by yellow sands for quite some distance, Victor Wang, Lumine, Alhaitham, along with Paimon and Isaac, finally found the target they were looking for.
It was a group of Eremites, yet Dehya had arrived a step ahead of them and was already speaking with someone who looked like the leader of the Eremites.
Isaac couldn't hold back any longer. He rushed forward and shouted, "Why… Sister Dehya, didn't you say you'd help me find my grandpa?! Why are you on their side?!"
The Eremite leader looked as if he had expected this. "Hahaha, you got here pretty fast."
Dehya sighed helplessly and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Cyno questioned her sharply. "Did you betray Aaru Village?"
Alhaitham calmly observed how things unfolded. Lumine said nothing, but even Paimon's trust in Dehya began to waver.
This team, formed barely two days ago, had now seen everyone except Lumine and Candace take turns being suspected as the insider.
The Eremite leader swept his gaze over the group and advised Dehya, "Working with them is worse than coming to help me. You've seen it yourself—I have methods, and my ideals are far more lofty and glorious than theirs."
Dehya rejected him outright. "I'm not someone who's easily swayed, Rahman. You know that."
"What's going on…" Paimon felt completely dizzy. "Dehya, you—you whose side are you on, exactly?!"
Dehya rubbed her forehead again. It wasn't that she wanted to—there was simply no other gesture that could better express her helplessness.
She turned around with that same helpless look and complained to Paimon, "Are you an idiot?"
"I can't tell; I really can't tell at all…"
"It's actually very simple. We're all mercenaries of the desert. Rahman and I have known each other for a long time. The Eremite group he leads is quite large. After our talk yesterday, I thought I'd try to recruit them. But they're far too obsessed with reviving King Deshret and never agreed to my proposal. Their hatred toward the people of Sumeru runs too deep, and they don't trust outsiders either, so I didn't bring you along."
Rahman listened calmly to everything said about him and even nodded. "That's right, my dear lady. Don't you understand now? Pursuing faith is the lifelong wish of the desert people. Even if the chance of reviving King Deshret is only one in ten thousand, we must give it everything we have."
Dehya shrugged. "That's how it is."
"Heh heh, we've waited for this day far too long. Sandstorms buried the withered cities, interred civilization and prosperity, leaving us with nothing but the scorching sun and endless drought… Everything we want lies beyond the great sand wall. And now, with these scholars, we can turn the tables on the Akademiya and strike straight through to the other side of the wall."
"You're being naïve. You're vastly outmatched—how could you possibly contend with the entire Akademiya, let alone the Fatui, or even… Archons? Rahman, I really don't want to see you throwing yourselves into the fire. Join forces with us."
"Ha, don't joke with me. Why would I cooperate with the people of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?" As he spoke, Rahman began to curse. "Despicable, crude traitors. Your god betrayed King Deshret and sold out righteousness. The Eremites will never again trust the followers of the Dendro Archon!"
Dehya shrugged. "That's how it is."
Victor Wang stepped forward. "I'm not from Sumeru. Can I talk to you properly?"
This time, Rahman didn't curse. "An outsider—someone who knows nothing—has no right to talk about our affairs."
Dehya shrugged. "That's how it is."
However, Victor Wang wasn't deterred and continued to speak to Rahman.
"Let me analyze the situation for you. You captured that group of mad scholars for only two possible reasons.
First, you want to revive King Deshret.
We've already talked about this… have we?
If not, then let me say it now: King Deshret's revival is nothing more than a rumor spread by the Akademiya. They want to use your hands to obtain mad scholars so they can produce divine knowledge capsules.
That's why the rumor is so vague. It only says that reviving King Deshret requires madmen as sacrifices—but in truth, you don't actually know how to revive King Deshret at all, do you?
Second, you're thinking of using these mad scholars to negotiate with the Akademiya.
That's even more of a fantasy. I'm pretty sure we've already covered this—the Akademiya spread those rumors precisely to capture the mad scholars. They never considered them human to begin with. How much value do you think they'd have as bargaining chips?"
Rahman crossed his arms, his brow darkening as he forced out a cold snort through his nose. He didn't immediately refute him, so Victor Wang continued.
"Oh, right. You probably also captured some normal scholars who were carrying out Akademiya missions—the ones using mad scholars to make divine knowledge capsules. Go ahead and torture and interrogate them as much as you like. See if what they say matches what I've told you.
When that happens, you'll naturally understand the true value of the mad scholars. They're just ordinary lives. For the sake of the fact that they've protected Aaru Village many times with the power of the Lesser Lord Kusanali, stop tormenting them.
Or could it be that you've already interrogated them, and that's why you're hesitating over what to do with the mad scholars?
It's like this… On one hand, you say that even a one-in-ten-thousand chance is worth reviving King Deshret. On the other hand, you say you'll use the mad scholars to threaten the Akademiya and personally storm beyond the Wall of Samiel.
If King Deshret truly revived, given the current state of the Lesser Lord Kusanali, would you even need to act yourselves?
Isn't that… contradictory?"
After hearing this, Rahman's expression changed completely. Every problem they were facing had been laid bare. Yet he couldn't back down. "Even if you talk until flowers bloom, we'll never cooperate with the people of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. And no matter how little value those mad scholars have, we won't hand them over to you."
Victor Wang shook his head. "I'm not thinking about something that narrow. If the key issue is distrust toward the people of Sumeru… Little Wen, it's your turn."
After waiting for a long time, Little Wen flew out of its sheath with delight and darted between everyone. ["Ahem! I am a spirit stone born of heaven and earth, existing for a hundred thousand years since my creation. Tempered by sun and wind, rain and thunder—"]
"Get to the point."
["Oh! Well, actually, I've been here before. I remember that King Deshret and the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata were on pretty good terms, weren't they?"]
Many present were stunned by the sight of a talking sword. Rahman was also intrigued, but thinking it might be some Akademiya invention, he steadied himself. "Don't think… that bringing out some strange little toy will confuse us."
["Who are you calling strange?! I'm a sword spirit—something that is born one in tens of thousands! I'm rarer than Vision bearers! You're the strange ones, hating your savior as an enemy for thousands of years!"]
"Get to the point."
["Oh! I've been here several times. The first time, the Goddess of Flowers was still around. The second time, both the Goddess of Flowers and King Deshret had disappeared somewhere. The third time, King Deshret was already dead. I don't know how he died—I only saw his people commemorating him, and I heard them say they needed to thank the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, that her grace must never be forgotten."]
A wave of commotion erupted among the Eremites—not because they were shaken, but because they were enraged.
Rahman roared viciously, "What nonsense are you spouting?!"
["Hmph!! Competing over who's louder, are we? I still remember the location—it's near King Deshret's Mausoleum. If you don't believe me, go see it for yourself!"]
===BREAK===
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