Acting Grand Master Jean stood at the entrance of the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, trying hard to maintain a professional smile.
"Citizens, please rest assured. The... uh, 'accident' just now has been properly handled."
Her voice was slightly shaky. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the brand-new "Flying RV Monument" in the plaza, and her mouth twitched involuntarily.
The Mondstadt citizens looked at each other. A child raised a hand and asked, "Acting Grand Master Jean, will those Hilichurl uncles come back?"
"They are not..."
Jean took a deep breath.
"They are special... foreign guests."
Inside the Good Hunter Restaurant.
"Two servings of Sweet Madame, please. Thank you."
Lumine buried her face behind the menu, trying to shield herself from outside gazes.
Paimon floated in her seat, dangling her little feet: "Traveler, isn't it a bit disloyal for us to do this?"
"Do you want to go back and watch them lead a group of elderly people in square dancing?"
Lumine peeked out from the edge of the menu—in the distance, Jesse was directing several people to form a line spelling out "Mondstadt Welcomes You."
When Sara served the meal, she hesitated to speak: "That... the self-service dessert bar outside the entrance is..."
"Did those four guys set it up?"
Lumine keenly sensed the problem.
"They called it 'Inter-Dimensional Gourmet Cultural Exchange'..."
Sara wiped sweat from her brow.
"But that fire-breathing Chocolate fountain has already burned three tablecloths..."
Lumine: "..."
Paimon: "..."
West Wind Cathedral Medical Bay.
"Eula, are you alright?"
Amber gently pushed open the ward door.
The Spindrift Knight was sitting on the bed with her knees pulled up, her usually vibrant blue hair hanging limply.
Hearing the movement, she slowly lifted her head, the light gone from her eyes: "Amber... I was actually defeated by a Hilichurl..."
Amber's bunny ear ribbon twitched: "They really aren't ordinary Hilichurls! Look at this—"
She pulled out a "family photo" of the quartet with Dvalin. "Matt took this this morning when he was treating Dvalin..."
In the photo:
Dvalin was squinting comfortably (rolling his eyes in agony).
Matt was holding a Giant Cupping Device.
Elliot was applying nail polish to a dragon claw.
Jesse was holding up a sign that read [Five-Star Service Review].
Eula: "..."
Her worldview was collapsing at a visible speed.
In front of the West Wind Cathedral, a gentle breeze blew.
Venti's fingertips danced across the strings, and a melodious tune drifted across the empty plaza.
His eyes were closed, a faint smile playing on his lips, as if he had anticipated everything.
"Barbatos, God of Anemo, you actually walked right into our trap."
Rosalyn walked slowly forward, accompanied by an Electro Cicin Mage and a Debt Collector, her high heels clicking crisply on the ground.
Her red lips curled up slightly, and a dangerous light flashed in her eyes.
Venti stopped playing and opened his emerald eyes: "No, actually, you're the one who walked into the trap~"
"Why do you think I dared to wait for you alone?"
Rosalyn's expression froze. Suddenly, she felt darkness overhead.
She sharply looked up—
"Mount Tai Meteorite Crash!!!"
The seven-meter-tall Matt descended from the sky, crashing precisely onto Rosalyn with the force of a thousand thunderbolts.
"BOOM—!!!"
The ground shook violently. The shockwave directly flung the Electro Cicin Mage and the Debt Collector away, who spun three and a half times in the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Matt slowly stood up, revealing Rosalyn underneath, who had been flattened into a sheet of paper.
Her beautiful face was now two-dimensional, and her spiral eyes were still spinning.
"Uh... wasn't that a bit too harsh?"
Venti poked the paper person worriedly.
"Don't worry."
Matt patted his chest.
"I haven't crushed anyone to death yet."
At this moment, the Electro Cicin Mage and the Debt Collector scrambled over: "Harbinger Madam!!"
The two frantically peeled Rosalyn off the ground and shook her twice with a "pat-pat" sound, like shaking a rug.
Surprisingly, Rosalyn slowly regained her three-dimensional form, though her eyes remained unfocused.
"Wait! Take this!"
Venti suddenly threw a faintly glowing blue chess piece.
The Debt Collector instinctively caught it.
"The Gnosis is yours, no need to thank me~"
Venti waved cheerily.
"Remember to buy Miss Rosalyn some tonics~"
The next second, sparks suddenly appeared beneath the feet of the Electro Cicin Mage and the Debt Collector. Carrying Rosalyn, they bolted away at supersonic speed, kicking up an exaggerated sandstorm behind them, looking exactly like three deserters riding Fiery Wheels.
Venti stared dumbfounded at the instantly deserted street, then looked up at Matt sitting beside him: "Can your abilities... be contagious?"
Matt scratched his head: "I don't know, probably not. I just thought they could run like that."
Venti: "..."
Meanwhile,
At the Fatui Secret Base Medical Bay.
Rosalyn held her forehead and slowly opened her eyes, her vision still blurry.
She felt a dull ache all over her body, as if she had been severely run over by something.
"What happened to me... what occurred?" she asked with a frown, her voice carrying a hint of confusion.
The Electro Cicin Mage nearby saw she was awake and hurried forward, carefully handing her a cup of water: "Madam Harbinger, you're awake? We... we already have the Gnosis."
"The Gnosis?"
Rosalyn was startled. Her gaze fell upon the faintly glowing blue chess piece on the table, and her expression gradually solidified.
"...How did we get it?"
The Electro Cicin Mage swallowed, cold sweat beading on her forehead: "Well..."
"Speak."
Rosalyn's voice was cold as ice.
The Electro Cicin Mage took a deep breath and forced herself to explain: "You... were flattened by a seven-meter-tall Electro Lawachurl, and then Barbatos just tossed the Gnosis to us..."
Rosalyn: "..."
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
The next second—
"Barbatos!!!"
A roar of fury nearly blew the roof off the base. Rosalyn violently stood up, the water cup in her hand shattering with a "crack." Cryo element burst uncontrollably around her, and the entire room instantly formed a thick layer of frost.
"He actually... just gave the Gnosis away like that?!"
Her voice trembled with rage.
"And he let a Hilichurl... turn me... turn me into..."
She couldn't finish her sentence. The image of Matt flattening her into a sheet of paper with the "Mount Tai Meteorite Crash" flashed through her mind, making her shake with anger.
The Electro Cicin Mage huddled in the corner, trembling: "Madam Harbinger, p-please calm down..."
"Calm down?!"
Rosalyn sharply turned her head, her eyes sharp enough to kill.
"He is humiliating me! Humiliating the entire Fatui!"
She grabbed the Gnosis from the table, staring intensely at it, as if trying to crush it: "We painstakingly laid out our plans, and he just tossed it out casually like swatting away a beggar?!"
The Electro Cicin Mage weakly added: "...And he also told us to buy you tonics..."
Rosalyn: "..."
Her expression completely contorted.
"Send the order!"
she hissed through gritted teeth. "Every Fatui member in this base, gather your equipment and evacuate immediately!"
"Huh?"
The Electro Cicin Mage was stunned.
"Aren't we... aren't we going to retaliate?"
"Retaliate?"
Rosalyn gave a cold laugh.
"Do you want to be crushed by that Electro Lawachurl once? Or do you want to try the methods of the other three guys?"
The Electro Cicin Mage shuddered instantly, recalling Elliot's "80!" thunder hammer, Zane's RPG, and Jesse's "Thousand Years of Death Special Attack Bullet": "I will arrange the evacuation immediately!"
Rosalyn gripped the Gnosis tightly, her eyes dark: "Barbatos... I will remember this humiliation."
Far away in Mondstadt City, Venti suddenly sneezed: "Ehe, looks like someone is thinking of me~"