"Keqing, don't do this—I'm afraid Ganyu might misunderstand!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the effect was immediate—and devastating.
Because he said it right to her face, Bai Ge could clearly see every change in Keqing's expression.
Visibly. Plainly. Undeniably.
Within those pink, diamond-shaped pupils, emotions churned like an overturned palette—
Three parts confusion,
three parts shock,
three parts embarrassment and anger, and the final part—
Killing intent.
The hands wrapped around Bai Ge's neck slowly loosened.
Then—
With a clear clang, the blade Lion's Roar slid out of its scabbard.
"Heh… hehehehe…"
A low, dangerous laugh escaped Keqing's lips as crackling arcs of lightning crept along the sword.
"You—"
she said coldly, pointing the blade straight at Bai Ge,
"say that again."
No girl wants to hear the name of another woman come out of the mouth of the man she likes.
She had already gone this far—
and Bai Ge still dared to say something like that.
It was nothing less than trampling her pride, her dignity, and her charm straight into the dirt.
As the saying goes—
The cuter one gets, the closer they are to becoming unhinged.
Keqing, right now, was exactly in that state.
Unfortunately for her—
Bai Ge did not care in the slightest whether she was cute or unhinged.
Looking at Keqing, Bai Ge curled his lips and put on a troublemaker's smile.
"I said—Master Keqing, don't do this, I'm afraid Ganyu might misunderstand."
"And not just Ganyu," he continued cheerfully.
"I'm also afraid Ningguang might misunderstand.
Shenhe.
Eula.
Ei.
Yae Miko.
Ayaka."
"And besides all of them—"
he added leisurely,
"there are plenty of others I'm afraid of too."
"So?"
"Are you satisfied now?"
Bai Ge asked, deliberately courting death.
That was the final straw.
"Hehehehehe…"
Violent lightning erupted around Keqing's body.
Her voice dropped into a low chant.
"Swift as lightning—
judge and—"
Before she could finish Starward Sword,
Bai Ge had already vaulted out the window—
Wind tight, pull out, retreat!
After provoking someone to this degree,
who doesn't run?
Was he supposed to wait there and let an enraged Keqing slice him into eight equal portions?
"You bastard—!"
"You won't get away!"
Keqing immediately gave chase.
One lightning-fast escape,
one furious pursuit—
The two figures vanished into the crowded streets of Liyue Harbor.
...
Meanwhile.
At the Fatui headquarters in Liyue—
the Northland Bank.
Tartaglia was waiting for a piece of crucial intelligence.
He didn't have to wait long.
Soon, the door opened, and a Pyro Debt Collector stepped inside.
"Lord Childe," he reported,
"the information on Bai Ge has been obtained."
"Excellent—hand it over!"
Tartaglia snatched the report eagerly and began reading it like a starving man.
Honestly, it was kind of tragic.
Originally, gathering intelligence on Bai Ge should have been done the very next day after they parted ways.
But something unexpected happened.
After returning from Heyu Tea House—
La Signora went on strike.
As if trying to make up for centuries of missed drinking,
she locked herself in her room and drank dandelion wine nonstop.
Worse still—
Signora informed Childe that her trip to Liyue this time was actually under a secret order from the Tsaritsa—to deliver a message.
Because of her drunkenness,
the originally scheduled timing was delayed—
Unilaterally—by the Fatui.
Being stood up wasn't scary.
What was scary—
Was being stood up when the other party was the God of Contracts.
At that point, Tartaglia was completely screwed.
With Signora clearly refusing to work,
he had no choice but to deliver the message himself.
After paying an enormous price,
he finally completed the Tsaritsa's task yesterday.
Only after resting for a day
did Tartaglia remember Bai Ge again.
"…How could it turn out like this?"
Reading the gathered intelligence,
already exhausted, Tartaglia put on a full pain mask.
The report detailed Bai Ge's background.
Aside from recent rumors involving Keqing and Ganyu,
he appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary man.
No mention of combat strength at all.
That alone wasn't strange.
Disciples of the adepti often looked like that.
The problem was—
The Fatui in Liyue had previously been involved in an operation related to Bai Ge.
And that operation had been part of the groundwork for another one of Tartaglia's plans.
That incident, however, had ended inexplicably, without conclusion.
The details weren't included in this report.
But from this alone, one thing was clear—
Bai Ge was absolutely not a friend.
There was an item Tartaglia had to obtain.
And that day—
Bai Ge had shown up on purpose.
He had played Tartaglia like a fool.
The good news?
If the opponent relied on tricks,
then perhaps his actual strength wasn't that overwhelming.
But that needed verification.
"Is there really nothing more precise?"
Tartaglia asked.
"Do we have any clear evaluation of his strength?"
The Debt Collector lowered his head deeply.
"…I see."
Tartaglia shook his head regretfully.
"The Hundred No-Taboos Talisman is something we must obtain."
"For now, prioritize probing his abilities."
"Activate the evaluation protocol," Tartaglia ordered.
With that command—
The Fatui began to move.
—------------------------------
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