"Why did it suddenly turn into a battle?!"
Paimon jumped in fright at the sound of the gunfire and immediately ducked behind Lumine, not forgetting to keep holding a plate of desserts and continue eating.
Though the firepower at the scene was a bit intense, Paimon still believed Lumine could protect her, and felt no panic at all internally, only somewhat worried about the safety of the remaining food on the table.
Lumine couldn't understand the situation in front of her at all. The mother and daughter who she had originally thought were problematic had now become victims of a terrorist attack?
However, Lumine soon stood up.
Although she didn't know the specific circumstances, it now seemed like the mother and daughter needed help!
Even though the woman's strength shouldn't be too weak if even her daughter had such power, to be safe, the warmhearted Lumine still decided to draw her sword and lend a hand.
So Lumine gave Enjou a meaningful glance, then charged into the battlefield brandishing the Dull Blade.
After understanding Lumine's intentions, Enjou also made his move. However, in order to keep his form from changing, he didn't use his full power.
Of course, it didn't matter much. By now, Enjou's combat power had become mob-level. It was mainly a matter of attitude; whether he went all out or not had almost no impact on the battle situation.
Just as Lumine charged toward the outlaws who had launched the terrorist attack, she suddenly felt an extremely terrifying aura erupt from the woman not far away, and then her vision was filled with green light.
All the attackers and those who had made a move were instantly blown away by this powerful force, finally being savagely slammed against the walls, floor, and even the ceiling by wildly growing vines. Soon after, a chorus of wails echoed from all around.
Lumine resisted the impact of this force, swung her sword to easily cut down all the encroaching vines, and only slowly lowered the Dull Blade after everything had settled. Then she met a pair of cold, vertical-slit eyes, and her body instantly tensed up.
"Good, good, good. Finally, some characters worth looking at have arrived."
After throwing out these words, Apep's gaze swept back and forth between Lumine and Enjou, making them both tense up instantly, as if being looked down upon by a being from a high and mighty position.
Lumine, Enjou: "..."
Wait, has some misunderstanding occurred?
They were originally prepared to help the other party, but the one who acted was dealt with so easily. Now, they seemed more like the ones who had started the fight.
"Mommy looks so cool! Go, Mommy, go!"
Otillia waved her small fists excitedly in support, shouting while licking the ice cream in her hand, her face filled with enjoyment and contentment. Hearing her cheers, Apep's expression softened slightly, and the fury in her heart over the interruption of their tender mother-daughter time gradually subsided.
The only value of these few underlings was that they could please her daughter.
"My good daughter, there will be even cooler things coming later!"
With that, Apep began to size up Lumine and Enjou, calculating in her mind how to play with them to make Otillia even happier.
Of course, the most important point was that they couldn't see blood. She couldn't leave even a single scar on her precious daughter's heart, as Otillia was still too young and fragile in her eyes, not yet at the age to grow up independently without her parents, and still needing her mother's meticulous care.
In fact, if not for this reason, she would have long since plastered those people evenly across the ground with absolute power. As for Paimon, Apep completely ignored her.
"Do you know how to dance?"
Apep spoke coldly to Lumine and Enjou, and their expressions immediately changed as countless vines surged from all directions, transforming into whips, arrows, and spears to launch a fierce assault, forcing them to make all kinds of evasive maneuvers.
As the pinnacle of the Dendro element, Apep's control over it had reached a level beyond ordinary people's imagination. Even controlling the Dendro element to launch over a hundred different types of attacks on Lumine and Enjou simultaneously was effortless for her, and she could even restrain herself from causing too much damage to Hotel Debord, after all, her daughter quite liked the things here.
Lumine's strength and combat experience had now reached a level unattainable by ordinary people, making her relatively relaxed in dealing with the situation, but Enjou was in a miserable state, not only unable to maintain his human form, but his body soon became covered in numerous wounds. If Apep hadn't wanted to amuse Otillia, Enjou would have been gone the moment she made her move.
"An Abyss Monster actually sneaked in!"
Apep was just about to deal with Enjou ruthlessly, for such an ugly and evil creature could not be allowed to defile her daughter's eyes, but just then, Otillia's cheers came from beside her.
"Hahaha, Mommy is so much fun!"
Hearing Otillia's laughter, Apep nodded with satisfaction, feeling that her extra effort had been well worth it.
Fine, I'll let this Abyss Monster stay for a little while longer.
Of course, at this moment, Apep also didn't forget to continue her child's education, speaking to Otillia with a smile.
"Lia, as long as you practice your power diligently, you'll be able to do the same thing in the future."
"Why don't you try it right now? Lia, try using your power on them, and Mommy will guide you."
"Don't be afraid of them hurting you, Mommy will be watching at all times. Lia, just try it boldly and without worry."
Watching the harmonious scene of mother and daughter before them, Lumine and Enjou, who were currently "dancing," felt utterly miserable. They absolutely did not want to become a part of this mother-daughter education.
"Wait a minute, miss, you've misunderstood!"
Seeing that Apep treated them as accomplices of terrorists, Paimon immediately explained anxiously.
"The Traveler and Enjou aren't bad people, we were trying to help you before... Ah!"
Paimon was only halfway through her sentence when a small vine slapped her right across the face, sending her flying out with a scream.
"So noisy!"
Apep, annoyed by Paimon's chatter, immediately struck.
As for the "misunderstanding" Paimon mentioned?
Heh, they had already drawn their swords against her. What misunderstanding? There was no misunderstanding at all!
Seeing this, Lumine's mind went blank for a moment. Then her gaze sharpened, and grayish-white flames erupted from her body.
All the vegetation that touched the grayish-white flames on Lumine's body seemed to lose its color and power, turning into dust in the air and completely dissipating after a moment.
Immediately after, the grayish-white flames rapidly expanded outward, and in an instant, the area around Lumine became a Forbidden Zone for life.
"This power..."
When Apep felt the Power of Void on Lumine at this moment, her expression immediately turned grave.
"Lia, stand behind Mommy."
Apep blocked Otillia, then, not daring to be careless, she immediately unleashed her power to the limit. Lumine's figure was instantly engulfed in endless green light.
However, in the next second, a grayish-white sword light flashed, and all the green light was split apart by this single strike, even continuing to fly towards Apep without losing any momentum.
Apep hadn't expected Lumine's strength to be so formidable. She further unleashed her power as dark green scales rapidly spread across her face and a pair of long horns gradually sprouted from her forehead.
Apep then gaped her jaws wide, and a Dragon's Breath of supreme power spewed forth from her mouth.
When the Dragon's Breath collided with the sword light formed by the Power of Void, an incomparably dazzling light instantly erupted. Countless tables and chairs in Hotel Debord were immediately turned to ashes. Even sound itself vanished without a trace within the range of this enveloping light.
As the light gradually faded, it revealed Hotel Debord, which had not only lost half its structure but now also had a giant skylight.
The people lying on the ground vanished along with the building. They had already been incapacitated by Apep's attack, and this time, the world had finally become quiet.
By now, Lumine had returned to Enjou's side and found Paimon as well.
Meanwhile, Apep was protecting Otillia, asking her if she was alright in a concerned tone while panting slightly.
Judging by Apep's complexion, she had lost the previous clash by a narrow margin. But who told her to stand on the left? At this moment, she was already starting to doubt her very existence as a dragon.
Isn't it just... What the hell is wrong with Fontaine? Even the weapons were one thing, which she could put down to technology advancing too quickly for her to keep up with. But meeting random people who were all this strong? Isn't that a bit much?
She was the Dendro Dragon Sovereign, the pinnacle of the Dendro element: Didn't she have to save face?
Apep couldn't help but reflect on Sumeru once more. The strongest there was the Dendro Archon Nahida, whose current strength had only just reached God-level, and even then, she belonged to the weakest tier.
Aside from that, the General Mahamatra Cyno, Acting Sage Alhaitham, and Dehya, Flame-Mane were somewhat stronger, but they were still just at the level of mortals.
Among the Dendro Archon's followers, a few Aranara seemed to have decent strength, but that was all.
Compared to Fontaine, this battle power was an absolute dimensional crush!
"Madam, you've truly misunderstood. We are not bad guys!"
At this moment, Paimon rubbed her slightly flushed cheeks and spoke again to explain. Only now did Apep start to consider the possibility.
After all, Lumine's strength seemed to be even greater than hers. If they really had any bad intentions toward her, they could have just attacked directly instead of wasting their breath on explanations.
Just at this time, Neuvillette finally arrived at the scene.
When Neuvillette saw that half of Hotel Debord had already collapsed, his eyelid couldn't help but twitch.
"Dad is here!"
Seeing Neuvillette's figure, Otillia cheered and ran over, throwing herself into his arms. Neuvillette's expression softened, and he smiled as he patted Otillia's small head. Meanwhile, Apep watched this scene from the side, feeling sour with envy.
Hearing Otillia call him "Dad," Lumine and her two companions were stunned. Their pupils dilated in shock as they froze completely.
Neuvillette already had a family? And his child was already this big?!
Sensing the intense emotions in the trio's gaze, Neuvillette sighed inwardly. He knew that this matter had definitely been misunderstood again.
But no matter what Otillia was told, she refused to change how she addressed him. Eventually, he gave up, even feeling a bit like just letting things slide.
However, Neuvillette's mood soon improved. After all, he urgently needed Lumine to act as a mediator to persuade Inazuma, Liyue, and Mondstadt to discuss the five-nation cooperation. As for Natlan and Snezhnaya, he would have to find other ways.
At this moment, the Fontainians, who were holding piles of clothes in their arms, watched the sky turn gloomy, then suddenly clear up, then darken again the next second, and finally clear up once more. They couldn't help but curse in their hearts.
So, Neuvillette quickly and warmly invited Lumine and her two companions to be guests at Palais Mermonia, while also clearing up the misunderstanding for both sides.
Although the misunderstanding was resolved, the blow Apep had suffered internally wouldn't heal anytime soon.
On the other side, at the Fontaine Research Institute.
After making some inquiries, Sandrone arrived at a secluded room.
She had already confirmed that Dottore seemed to be imprisoned here to undergo punishment.
This place seemed to have been built to punish the nobles who caused almost all of the Fontaine Research Institute's previous generation of researchers to perish. It allowed for six-dimensional, all-around, blind-spot-free filming, and the entire hundred-square-meter room contained only a single device used for execution, with nothing else at all.
Because Sandrone had been busy with her research and reading novels, hardly ever leaving her room, she only learned about this place this time.
After entering the room, Sandrone realized that what others had said was not an exaggeration at all. The entire room, except for a bed covered in various precision instruments and a monitor to the side, had almost nothing in it.
The floor, walls, and ceiling were all white, creating a peculiar sense of space, as if it had no end.
And at this moment, Dottore was tied to that sole bed, his body and head covered with various electrodes and equipment, with a huge black helmet placed over his head.
Beside the bed, a person was reading a research report while randomly operating the instrument next to them.
"Miss Ann? What are you doing here?"
"I was curious about this place, so I came to take a look."
Sandrone said impassively. To avoid exposing her identity and out of consideration for the other person being a fellow Fatui Harbinger, she wanted to find an opportunity to let Dottore out.
"There's nothing much to see, just watching someone wail in pain. It's quite boring, not even as interesting as a research report."
Sandrone nodded deeply in agreement. Research reports were definitely more interesting!
If she hadn't been threatened by Dottore, wouldn't she have gone back to read novels... no, read research reports with this time?
Damn Dottore, being the Second Seat and still such a useless person, in the end he had to rely on her to escape.
In order to have a chance to rescue Dottore, Sandrone could only force herself to speak insincerely again.
"I just haven't seen it before, I was really curious."
"Alright then, let Miss Ann have a look."
After saying that, the other person turned on the monitor. Soon, the screen displayed a scene of complete darkness, as if the very concept of direction had been lost.
In the image, only Dottore's somewhat illusory figure could be seen. One sharp knife after another was continuously stabbing into his body, causing Dottore to frown repeatedly, but in the end he still didn't let out a single groan. His mocking gaze seemed to say, Is that all?!