Inside the Solace Book Store, everyone was stunned by the absurd scene unfolding on the projection screen.
"Wait, what happened to the epic clash we were expecting?"
"Where's the fight? All I see is one guy eating fruit and four people watching him!"
"Whatever he's eating must taste awful—just look at his face!"
"Yeah, his expression's practically twisted in pain. No way that's good food."
As the scene grew more bizarre, the onlookers couldn't help but start joking around.
"Boss, what exactly is Mr. Diluc eating?"
Noelle asked curiously.
Even she, who had seen Diluc's usual calm and stoic demeanor, had never seen him make such a miserable face before.
"A Devil Fruit. If you'd like, I can get one for you too."
Han Feng smiled pleasantly.
That smile looked harmless, but everyone who frequented the shop knew better by now.
"U-uh… maybe not,"
Noelle said quickly, backing off.
She'd learned through experience— whenever Boss Han smiled like that, someone was about to suffer.
"They say when Boss Han smiles… life or death hangs in the balance."
On the Screen
By now, Diluc had finally managed to choke down the last of the Flame-Flame Fruit.
Barely.
His complexion was pale green, and his entire expression looked haunted.
"Cough, cough! My dear brother,"
Kaeya said lightly,
"Barbara once told me that with a Devil Fruit, you only need to take a single bite. You don't have to eat the whole thing."
Diluc: (⊙_⊙)
You've got to be kidding me.
He'd even read that part in the manga, but in the moment, he'd completely forgotten!
"Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
Diluc snapped furiously.
"You just looked so… enthusiastic,"
Kaeya chuckled, "I didn't want to interrupt your enjoyment."
Diluc: "…"
If this weren't the middle of a fight, he'd have already set his brother on fire.
"So you were mocking me this whole time?!"
The Doctor finally realized what had happened.
He'd been too stunned earlier by Diluc's strange behavior to react— seriously, who eats fruit right before a battle?
And while grimacing like they're in agony?!
The more Dottore thought about it, the angrier he got.
He, one of the Fatui Harbingers, had actually been played like a fool.
"You'll pay for this!"
He roared and charged forward.
"Come on, then!"
Diluc's fighting spirit blazed to life.
That disgusting taste hadn't been for nothing— power surged through his body, his flame roaring to life with new, burning intensity.
He swung his greatsword, and a torrent of fire wrapped around it like a living inferno.
Then he rushed straight at the Doctor.
Kaeya, Eula, and Amber exchanged a glance and followed.
In an instant, the battle erupted in full force.
Though the Doctor's strength was formidable, he was being steadily pushed back under the four-on-one assault.
Every time he tried to counterattack, Kaeya's strange "Face-Fruit" ability would interrupt him.
"Would you please give me some face?"
Kaeya would say with mock politeness— and, unbelievably, the Doctor's move would sometimes freeze mid-action, giving them just enough time to dodge or retaliate.
"Heh, this ability may be unreliable,
but when it works—it really works,"
Kaeya smirked.
Dottore's face twisted in disbelief.
These people were unnatural!
Diluc had eaten a disgusting fruit and suddenly gained terrifying firepower.
The one-eyed man could literally freeze his attacks through sheer "face power."
And the two women—one darting around with a greatsword, the other constantly shooting arrows while moving too fast to pin down— made fighting them infuriatingly difficult.
"Where did these freakish abilities come from…? Don't tell me…"
A thought flashed through Dottore's mind.
"Could all of this be from that comic shop's rewards?"
If so, he was in trouble.
He couldn't let this drag on— if reinforcements came, he'd be surrounded.
"You've forced my hand!"
His expression darkened as his mechanical parts began to glow.
He drew out a black card—his final trump card.
"Activate—Infinite Cannon!"
The card burst into dark light and disintegrated, energy swirling around his shoulders.
In the next moment, two massive cannons materialized, their dark barrels radiating dreadful power.
The sight alone sent chills through everyone's hearts.
Now, with his enormous body and shoulder-mounted weapons, Dottore looked like a miniature Machinedramon himself.
"Everyone, scatter! Just last three minutes!"
Diluc shouted grimly.
"Three minutes? You won't last thirty seconds!"
Dottore sneered.
"Behold—the power of the Infinite Cannon!"
His shoulder cannons lit up with searing light— and then,
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
A barrage of devastating energy blasts rained down like a storm.
And the worst part— there was no cooldown.
Dottore fired continuously, sweeping the battlefield with endless, explosive energy waves.
It was a carpet bombardment, just like Machinedramon's attack from the manga.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The shockwaves tore through the streets.
Houses crumbled, the ground split open, and deep craters appeared one after another.
Dust filled the sky, the entire area swallowed in chaos and destruction.
Fortunately, the fight was happening near the outskirts, close to the comic shop's back area— otherwise, half of Mondstadt would've been obliterated.
"Hahaha! Now this is what real power feels like!"
Dottore laughed madly amid the carnage.
Back in the Comic Shop
The onlookers stared at the projection in shock.
"That… that's insane! The Infinite Cannon is that destructive?!"
"It's way stronger than the Liyue ballista!"
"Can the Knights even survive something like that?"
"Well, at least it only lasts three minutes…"
"Still, Boss Han's rewards are absolutely terrifying."
Han Feng, arms crossed, just smiled faintly.
And when Boss Han smiled— no one could ever tell who would live and who would die.
~~--------------------------------------
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