"Enough chatter. I'm here for one reason today Where is Morax?"
Tartaglia clearly didn't care that Yae Miko was present.
Even if Baal noticed him, he didn't mind.
Because as long as they had Morax, there would be no one in Inazuma left to fear.
After all—Su Ran was his colleague.
Until Su Ran formally declared himself withdrawn from the Fatui, Tartaglia would treat him as an ally.
"In the Tenryou Commission's prison."
Zhongli's appearance had been an accident.
Though it caused huge shifts, Su Ran didn't mind letting him go.
"You're just… giving me the information?"
Tartaglia really didn't expect this.
He knew for sure that Baal didn't have the power to subdue Morax.
So the one who captured him had to be Su Ran.
If he personally captured Morax, why was he now casually allowing Tartaglia to take him away?
Was this a trap?
"Why not? We're colleagues, aren't we?
A little mutual assistance is natural."
Su Ran said generously.
Tartaglia's suspicions grew.
Su Ran?
Suddenly helpful?
Impossible.
Something smelled wrong.
"And you're not afraid we'll break the dream and return to reality?
This dream is your creation!"
Ridiculous.
Would the genius really sit there and let his creation collapse?
Would he simply watch?
Tartaglia refused to believe it.
Even Yae Miko didn't believe it.
She too suspected Su Ran had a dozen schemes behind his back just waiting for someone to jump into the trap.
And the one to step in might very well be her.
"You don't know dreams can be restarted?
No matter what happens inside, a reboot brings everything back."
Su Ran explained patiently.
This place was nothing more than a space where human consciousness gathered.
The real core was the machine within Tenshukaku.
And because the dream covered such a wide range, no one could get close to it.
"So… even if we defeat Baal, we still can't escape the dream?"
Tartaglia suddenly felt despair.
If this was true, then their entire plan was meaningless.
Baal could respawn infinitely.
But could they defeat Baal infinitely?
Absolutely disgusting.
"No~ I never said this dream belonged to her.
She only has the right to live inside it, not the right to control it.
She cannot reboot it."
A jolt of hope struck both Tartaglia and Yae Miko.
Yes in theory, with reboots, the dream could loop endlessly.
But Ei didn't have the authority.
"I promised the dream to the Raiden Shogun.
She knows the dream has problems.
That's why she isn't interested in a realm filled with countless wills.
She's simply waiting for the dream to shatter."
The Shogun pursued eternity.
Not the escapist, trauma-driven eternity Ei once sought.
After Makoto returned to her side, eternity no longer mattered.
If Makoto existed in reality, Ei would abandon the dream without hesitation.
"Wait—
you're saying…
you never intended for the dream to last from the beginning?"
Yae Miko was stunned.
She suddenly realized— whether Inazuma's people remained trapped in a dream meant absolutely nothing to Su Ran.
The "ultimate villain" they had imagined…
hadn't been serious at all?
"Of course. This is just a replica of a place I saw.
I only made it out of interest."
Su Ran valued the dream but only as a tool.
Not a treasure to preserve forever.
"So you already know when the dream will collapse?
And that blonde traveler—she's part of your plan too?"
Yae Miko finally understood how important the traveler Lumine was.
Everything had been waiting for her.
"Mm. I quite enjoy a classic 'hero-rescues-beauty' storyline…"
After all, Su Ran had cast himself as the frail scientist captured for his looks by Raiden Ei.
"You mean the beauty being rescued is you?"
Yae Miko stared at him in disbelief.
The entire continent of Teyvat who could compare in strength to this man?
Even the puppet Shogun carrying Ei's full power was slain in one hit.
"Isn't that right?
Raiden Makoto personally certified me as beauty-and-intellect unrivaled under heaven.
Are you planning to disagree with her?"
Su Ran narrowed his eyes at her.
It sounded like he was using Makoto as a threat.
But Yae Miko had a feeling that if she dared say "yes,"
she wouldn't even live long enough to complain to Makoto.
Su Ran would handle her himself.
"How could I dare?
Su Ran-sir beauty and wisdom are, of course, unmatched."
Yae Miko slipped behind him, kneading his shoulders flatteringly.
This man was more narcissistic than she was.
She always claimed she was "beautiful and wise," but she never said she was "peerless in the world."
She ranked herself highly but this man?
This man ranked himself number one.
Tartaglia, listening nearby, got goosebumps all over.
He had never seen someone so shameless.
Not even among the Fatui.
He truly thought Su Ran would be someone similar to himself but no.
This wasn't his kind of crazy.
This was a different flavor of crazy entirely.
"I can't believe this.
Even the Guuji of Narukami Shrine messes around with you like this?"
Even Yae Miko named by the Fatui as "extremely troublesome" was obedient around him?
Tartaglia genuinely felt Inazuma was insane.
Yae Miko was harder to deal with than even the Kamisato Clan's head.
Yet now she was… like this?
All because of the genius?
He still couldn't understand.
He hadn't seen the vastness of the universe like Ayaka and Yae Miko had.
He had no idea what Su Ran was truly capable of.
He couldn't comprehend how someone could inspire such a dramatic shift in a person.
And Yae Miko wasn't even the only one changed…
—------------------------------
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