The next day, Durandal left the villa early and came alone to the port of Liyue Harbor, sitting there and watching the Jade Chamber in the sky.
The Jade Chamber was located high up, from where one could see every corner of Liyue Harbor. Even without going up, one could observe the status of the Jade Chamber.
Today, she couldn't accompany Klee. She had to constantly observe the status of the Jade Chamber, ready to act the moment an unexpected situation occurred, to prevent the situation from becoming serious.
Speaking of which, what would happen if such a huge sky palace fell directly towards Liyue Harbor? The explosion caused by the massive impact would probably destroy Liyue Harbor.
Even if it couldn't destroy Liyue Harbor, it would at least cause heavy damage. Ningguang, when building the Jade Chamber, surely wouldn't have failed to consider such a situation, or rather... was she certain that the Jade Chamber would absolutely not lose control?
Regardless, the Jade Chamber falling from the sky also needed to be guarded against. It's just that if such a thing really happened, she didn't know how to resist it.
In her current form, if she were a little serious and used her great scythe for cutting attacks, she should be able to break the Jade Chamber into pieces.
But how should those cut-off fragments be dealt with? Would they harm the people who hadn't escaped from the Jade Chamber?
There were so many troubles. She couldn't possibly fly to the back of the Jade Chamber in this form and shout: "It's just a Shitou, watch me push it back!" could she?
This didn't match Durandal's personality, and she had no intention of doing such a thing at all. To minimize losses, she could only revert to her original form.
If she returned to her original form... Lumine would definitely see it, and Jean and Klee would surely see it too.
If they really saw that scene, her image in their hearts would be completely shattered, and she wouldn't be able to continue accompanying Lumine on her journey to witness its end.
"Durandal-jie! It really is Durandal-jie!"
"I said it must be Durandal-jie, and you said it wasn't!"
"Never mind that!"
At this moment, three Children excitedly ran towards Durandal.
Durandal recognized them. Lumine had played pirate games with them before, and Durandal had even taken embarrassing photos.
Later, they came to Durandal's clinic for treatment, and after a few visits, they became familiar. She didn't expect to meet them for the first time at the port.
Lulu, with her hair tied in a bun, walked over and smiled, "Durandal-jie, why are you at the dock today? Are you waiting for someone here?"
"I have something to do; I might have to stay here all day today. You all be careful and stay safe."
"Don't worry, Durandal-jie. The three of us often play here and know it very well. Nothing will happen."
The three of them often played here, knowing not only the terrain but also most of the adults who worked there.
They could even walk around here with their eyes closed; there would definitely be no problem.
Durandal shook her head. She wasn't talking about that kind of danger, but this was fine too. Even if they were afraid, they could wait until something happened to say so.
"Do you know what happened at the Rite of Descension?"
Looking at them, carefree, Durandal couldn't help but ask, "Did the departure of Rex Lapis not affect you?"
The three looked at each other, thought for a moment, and replied, "These past few days, Dad and Mom have been talking about this at home. Although we didn't expect the Archon to encounter such a thing, but... it shouldn't have any impact, right?"
"Why?"
"Because although the Archon's body died, his spirit is still there."
This was the statement from Xiao Meng, who wore glasses: "Dad said that the existence of Gods is different from humans. The physical body is just a vessel for the spirit. Although the body died, Rex Lapis's spirit did not disappear."
"He will still watch over Liyue Harbor as he did in the past. Since that's the case, there's nothing to worry about."
This Children's parent is truly a talented person.
Looking at his attire, the parent should be a scholar, no wonder he would give such a reason. Who knows how much time he spent coming up with such a reason to answer his Children's questions.
Not only Xiao Meng, but Lulu and Afei also gave the same answer. Although they would mourn Rex Lapis, they would not stop in their tracks because of his departure.
After all, it wasn't just Rex Lapis who kept Liyue Harbor fully operational; it was mainly the residents living in Liyue Harbor.
Durandal nodded, watching the people working at the dock.
There was no sign of dejection on their faces. As they said, although Rex Lapis had departed, the gears of their lives had not stopped because of it.
Did you set this plan with confidence because you knew your people would react this way?
It truly is you. To think to this extent, is this the wisdom of the Geo Archon who has existed for thousands of years? Truly impressive.
However, what exactly is the reason for you doing this? Durandal pondered for a while. Combining Zhongli's usual behavior in Liyue Harbor, she felt that the reason he faked his death was to find an excuse to slack off, just like Venti.
It should... not be possible, right? Zhongli is different from that lazy bum Venti. He has diligently managed Liyue for thousands of years. How could such a diligent person be like that lazy bum?
At this moment, Durandal keenly sensed several obvious energy reactions coming from the Jade Chamber.
She looked up and indeed saw two animal figures moving towards the Jade Chamber.
They should be the adepti of Liyue. They usually appear before ordinary people in animal form, but they, like Zhongli, should also have human forms.
As a beneficiary, Durandal was well aware of the various advantages of the human form, and those adepti should also understand this.
"Let's start observing. First, send a scout to check the situation. A common bird shouldn't arouse their suspicion."
Under Durandal's command, a bribed bird flew onto the Jade Chamber, intending to eavesdrop on the conversation between the Seven Stars of Liyue and the adepti, but the room where they were talking was closed, making it impossible to hear the voices from outside.
This was very awkward. Its role as a scout was essentially useless; it could only watch from outside.
Time passed minute by minute. Until noon, the conversation between the Seven Stars of Liyue and the adepti had not ended. Durandal had already rotated several waves of scouts.
Some of them brought back some slightly more reliable news. It seemed that the adepti suspected that someone among the Seven Stars of Liyue was trying to seize power while the Archon was deceased, which was something the adepti did not want to see.
Seize power? This must be referring to Ningguang. Besides him, no other of the Seven Stars of Liyue came to mind.
It couldn't possibly be Keqing, could it? This workaholic doesn't seem like the type to be interested in power. If he got any busier, his beautiful hair wouldn't last.
Speaking of hair, Jean, who often worked overtime, never had problems with her hair, but among the patients she had seen, many suffered from hair loss due to frequent overtime.
Why did this problem never occur with Jean and Keqing? Could it be because they both possess a Vision? Or because they are girls?
(The Indestructible: Hair loss is quite terrifying, but The Indestructible won't have it.)
Several hours had passed, and there was still no major movement from the Jade Chamber. When she received the intel about "seizing power" from the "scout," she thought a conflict was about to break out, but nothing happened.
He was so calm, making her, who had been constantly on alert, feel very foolish. She began to wonder if she was an idiot for sitting here all morning, not accompanying Klee but coming here to space out. Was she a fool?
Durandal felt an emotion called "mental exhaustion" for the first time. If it weren't for the contract, she would never do such a thing.
Because it was mealtime, there were already far fewer people at the harbor, and the sun had become somewhat scorching. To avoid drawing too much attention, Miss Durandal conjured an umbrella to block the sunlight.
This was also Lumine's suggestion, but even though she said it would make her less noticeable, every time she took out her parasol, the number of eyes watching her would increase.
Lumine would also look at her with strange eyes. Miss Durandal always felt that Lumine was deceiving her, but was it really necessary to lie about just carrying a parasol?
"Will something really happen?"
Miss Durandal doubted her intuition for the first time. It had always been so accurate before, so why was there no reaction at all this time?
Could it be that she was really overthinking it? Although the Liyue Qixing and the Adepti had deep conflicts, they wouldn't resort to force out of consideration for Liyue Harbor?
If that were the case, then she truly had nothing to do. If so, she might as well go back and find Klee, spending the rest of her time with her.
Thinking this, Miss Durandal jumped down, twirling her parasol, and prepared to leave the harbor area.
Suddenly, Miss Durandal sensed something, stopped, and looked up at the sky.
She wasn't looking at the Jade Chamber; she was looking at the sky, which was rapidly being covered by dark clouds.
It had been a sunny day just a moment ago, yet in the blink of an eye, it had become this. No matter how she thought about it, something was wrong.
This definitely wasn't an anomaly that the Liyue Qixing or the Adepti could create. She could feel a huge surge of power appearing in a certain area outside Liyue Harbor, and this chaos had arisen after that power appeared.
"Is this... is this the real reason you made a contract with me? Zhong... Rex Lapis."
Miss Durandal quickly discovered the source of this strange phenomenon. In the sea a distance from Liyue Harbor, several towering columns of water appeared.
These water columns gradually condensed into the shape of a serpent in the air, and at the same time, an extremely terrifying aura emerged.
Although its eyes were made of water, everyone could feel the wrath, anger, and resentment it held for Liyue Harbor and for Rex Lapis.
It roared to the heavens, and the suppressed power completely erupted at this moment.
The God sealed by Rex Lapis with a stone spear during the Archon War—Osial, the God of Vortex—had revived.
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