Federer District.
Clorinde and Furina arrived before a Statue of The Seven and recognized it immediately—it was another Geo Archon statue.
Furina glanced at the bustling street around them, suddenly thinking of something. She hurriedly pulled out her phone.
"I forgot to buy more phones... I wanted to give one to Navia, one to the Traveler, and one to Neuvillette…"
"Lady Furina, let's just get them next time we come."
"Yeah, we can teleport anytime using the Statue of The Seven."
With that, Furina placed her hand on the statue. After selecting their destination, she activated the teleportation.
In an instant, she and Clorinde vanished from in front of the statue.
Nearby citizens, who happened to witness this, gasped in awe. Thinking the statue had manifested again, they rushed over to pray.
...
In the city of Fontaine.
As always, crowds bustled through the streets.
Near one of the city's teleport anchors, a flash of blue light signaled the sudden appearance of two figures—Furina and Clorinde, freshly returned from New Eridu.
Back in Fontaine, Furina looked around at the lively city center and let out a sigh.
"New Eridu is so massive... If only Fontaine could grow that big one day."
Then she pulled out her phone, opened her messaging app, and tried to send a message to Sam Li and Nicole to let them know she was back safely.
But no matter how many times she tried, the messages kept failing to send.
Was her phone broken?
Did she buy a fake?
Clorinde checked hers as well—same issue. Even the forum wouldn't load.
Suddenly, Clorinde remembered something.
"Anby mentioned that once you leave New Eridu, your phone loses signal. That's probably what's happening."
Furina's face fell.
"I really thought these worked everywhere..."
Just as she was about to head home to check in with Navia...
Passersby started to recognize them.
"Lady Furina! It's really you—you've returned!"
"Look, it's her! Where have you been these past few days? Lord Neuvillette sent people everywhere searching for you..."
"Some said you were kidnapped by bandits..."
...
Hearing the murmurs around her, Furina suddenly realized the full weight of what had happened.
When she and Clorinde left Fontaine, she hadn't told Neuvillette, fearing he might stop her. They'd simply used the teleportation from a Statue of The Seven to head straight to Liyue.
She'd been missing for days.
Neuvillette must have been worried sick.
Clorinde said solemnly,
"Lady Furina, let's go see Lord Neuvillette and tell him everything we saw on our trip."
Furina nodded.
"Yeah…"
To soften any anger, Furina even bought a little cake for Neuvillette on the way.
But before they reached his office, word of their return had already reached him.
Neuvillette immediately stood and headed out.
Just as he reached the doorway, he ran into Furina and Clorinde.
"Uh... Haha, Neuvillette—what a coincidence! We were just about to visit you..."
"Quite the coincidence indeed. Come in."
Neuvillette kept his eyes on Furina, scanning for any injuries. Once he confirmed she was safe, he let out a breath of relief.
As soon as they sat down, Furina pulled out the little cake.
Neuvillette just said,
"You eat it."
Furina blinked.
"Okay…"
...
Then Furina spoke cautiously,
"Actually... Clorinde and I went to Liyue."
Neuvillette nodded.
"I know."
Furina was stunned.
"You do?!"
Of course he did.
Ever since inheriting the power of the ancient dragon, Neuvillette had become the true ruler of Fontaine, succeeding the Hydro Archon in authority.
He was acutely aware of who activated which Statue of The Seven, who made offerings, who prayed... all of it.
The moment Furina and Clorinde teleported using the statue, he knew. But he couldn't stop them.
If Furina hadn't come back soon, he would have dropped everything and gone to find them himself.
Seeing that Neuvillette wasn't angry, Furina relaxed and smiled.
"We didn't go for nothing! Clorinde and I discovered a massive secret. Deep within Liyue lies a hidden city—huge, several times bigger than Fontaine. Its buildings tower even higher than the Hydro Archon's palace!"
She gestured with her hands for scale.
"Liyue's secrecy is no joke. They hid a city that massive and completely cut it off from the outside world. They even use a different currency—something called Dennies..."
"The people there are super welcoming—well, some aren't. Right after we arrived, a group of bandits tried to rob us, but Clorinde took them down in seconds. We even scored a truck as a trophy! You've probably never seen one—it's this huge vehicle with four wheels and it moves super fast, way faster than Fontaine's boats!"
"Oh, and they have cell phones that let you talk over long distances, and TVs that actually play moving pictures! I thought the camera orb was already impressive, but Liyue's tech is way beyond ours—by a lot!"
Furina excitedly recounted everything she'd seen and experienced.
She told him about the people she met—those from the Sons of Calydon, the residents of Hare's House, and the siblings who ran the video store.
She even described the entire Tour de Inferno race.
Her voice grew hoarse from talking so much.
She took a sip of water and pulled her phone from her pocket.
"This is a cell phone. Next time I go, I'm definitely bringing back a truck!"
As Neuvillette looked at the device, his expression shifted. Surprise turned to suspicion. His brows furrowed.
Furina noticed.
"What's wrong? Don't you think the phone is amazing?"
Neuvillette shook his head.
"No, the phone itself is amazing. But I just received a reply from Liyue's Qixing. Keqing herself—said that area... doesn't belong to Liyue."
Furina's eyes widened.
"What?! You're saying New Eridu isn't part of Liyue?"