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"W-what? How could there be such a strange request?" Paimon's eyes widened.

Ying's lips twitched: "Just imagining it makes me feel awkward."

"Actually, it wasn't a very difficult task..." Han Fulai, who recited love poems to the entire Mondstadt audience at the actual "Badminton Festival," said he was in a stable mood.

“It seems this request doesn’t quite suit your taste.” Catherine changed the request form again: “Then let’s change it to this one: Go to Port Ormos and persuade the local ‘gilded troupe’ to take odd jobs at the children’s welfare home.”

"What kind of mission is this?!" Paimon felt speechless.

Ying recalled the "Gilded Brigade" mercenaries she had met... well, apart from Desia, none of them seemed like good people.

Those burly mercenaries going to children's welfare homes will surely give the children nightmares, won't they?

Catherine continued to add the mission requirements in a serious tone: "P.S.: Please use the phonograph to take pictures of the mercenaries' expressions. I'm sure their reactions will be quite interesting."

Paimon raised his hand: "Can I ask... who posted these requests?"

Catherine tilted her head and replied innocently, "The client? Well, actually I just wanted to see you do these things."

Chapter 103 Like a Triumphant Hero [4k]

Yingmei glanced sideways at "Catherine".

Although this "Catherine" looked exactly like the Catherine she remembered, she had never seen Catherine show such a girlish expression.

Catherine would never arbitrarily assign tasks to adventurers, let alone joke about commissioned tasks. If she did, she wouldn't be Catherine.

"...Are you Nasita?"

"Heh, you've already figured it out? I was really hoping you'd accept the commission. Such a great opportunity to 'observe humanity'..."

"Catherine" walked out from behind the counter with a smile, her voice now carrying a touch of Nasita's liveliness.

Paimon suddenly realized, recalling the "Catherine on vacation" he had met a few days ago: "Oh! Narcida, you've been 'observing' us all along, haven't you? The Catherine we saw in Sumeru was actually you in disguise all along?"

“Not entirely…” Narcida, appearing in the form of Catherine, said, “As the ‘original Void Terminal,’ my consciousness has always been connected to the ‘Void.’ By borrowing the power of the ‘Void,’ I can theoretically enter the brains of everyone wearing a ‘Void Terminal’ and control their consciousness.”

"This is a very convenient ability! I just used the 'Void Terminal' to confirm that Dina Zede and the others have all woken up. Although their bodies are still a bit weak, their spirits have not been affected. We have successfully saved everyone!"

"Really? That's great!"

Ying and Paimon immediately beamed with joy.

They had been worried about Dina Zede's condition and were considering visiting her, so they were naturally happy to hear the news.

After laughing, the two of them simultaneously realized something—

"Wait, Narcida, you said you can use the 'Void Terminal' to invade other people's consciousness? So, have you invaded Catherine's consciousness now?"

"And our brains, you didn't see them too..., did you...?"

“No?” Nasita blinked. “I have always respected the will of the Sumeru people and have never really invaded their consciousness. I will only borrow this ‘Winter Bionic Doll’ when necessary.”

"Bionic, doll? Ah... wait, it seems I've suddenly learned something terrible!" Paimon exclaimed, covering his mouth.

Ying then recalled that there was an identical Catherine in the adventurers' guilds of every country: "So Catherine is... no wonder she has so many strange features..."

She was certainly curious about this, so she tried asking Catherine, who replied, "Have you ever seen many Catherines at the same time? If not, then there's only one of me. To meet the needs of adventurers in various places, I use special tools to teleport and work in multiple locations simultaneously."

As for what kind of "teleportation tool" it was, Catherine said it was an association secret and she couldn't reveal it... In the end, the "teleportation" thing was just a hoax!

Han Fulai was not surprised at all. He had noticed Nasita's presence a few days earlier when he met with "Catherine on vacation." When Nasita notified them to meet at the association, he immediately realized that Nasita would be using Catherine's body.

The fact that Catherine was a "bionic doll" created by the Winter Kingdom was not a secret to him.

He had heard from Ayane that the Kingdom of Winter possessed superb "doll" making techniques when he was in Inazuma. The techniques for making "Thunder General" and "Scattered Soldiers" were provided to Ayane by the Fools.

It's not surprising that the Adventurers' Guild's headquarters are located in Winterfall, and the guild's receptionists in each branch are "dolls" produced in Winterfall.

Moreover, he had previously heard Catherine emit program-like voice messages such as "Abnormal... Retry..." when she was in standby mode in the game, and he had also seen the strange keyhole-shaped mark on the back of Catherine's neck.

He had suspected Catherine was a robot back then, and now he was just confirming it through Narcida's words.

However, he was somewhat concerned about the fact that Narcida was still using Catherine's body.

Demons all have the ability to transform, and their appearance can change in countless ways. Don't be fooled by the fact that Nasita appears as a little girl when she meets them in her dreams; if necessary, she can transform into a curvaceous older sister at any time.

Previously, Narcida used Catherine's body to move, which he believed was due to Narcida's lack of power at the time. But now, Narcida has absorbed a lot of "wishes" during the "Flora Festival," and her power should have improved significantly, so she is no longer as "incompetent" as before.

“Nasita, is there a special reason why you are not meeting us with your own body?” Han Fulai asked.

“Yeah! I wanted to ask that too!” Paimon chimed in.

She was also curious as to why Nasida specifically wanted to use Catherine's body, since everyone had already seen her true form in the dream... Was she shy?

"Um……"

Nasida seemed a little down when the topic was brought up.

"...This all started a long time ago. After the Great Tree King disappeared, the sages found me when I was just born and took me back to Sumeru. At that time, I was indeed young and weak, so the sages, under the guise of 'protection,' locked me in the Pure Good Palace and hardly paid any attention to me."

“Jingshan Palace was originally the residence of the Great Compassion Tree King. Inside, there is a meditation device left by the Great Compassion Tree King. That meditation device was a special device that the Great Compassion Tree King used to connect to the ‘World Tree’.”

"Because connecting to the 'World Tree' is risky, in order to ensure safety, the Great Tree King used its divine power to create this device, which can generate a barrier that isolates all external objects."

“After the Tree King died five hundred years ago, the Great Sage at that time modified the device so that it could no longer be controlled from the inside—in other words, the barrier became my ‘birdcage’.”

Upon hearing this, Ying couldn't help but sigh, "So, are the sages actually imprisoning their own new gods? Using the technology of gods to imprison gods... No wonder Narcida said you were a 'caged bird'..."

Paimon was indignant: "How dare they do this!"

Nasita lowered her head and said, "...They probably really wanted to find the Great Tree King, rather than me, who symbolizes the Great Tree King's passing. In a way, they weren't wrong."

"The Great Tree King is 'omniscient and omnipotent,' and even after his passing, the 'Void' continues to empower this nation. As for me... I am far from deserving the title of 'God of Wisdom.' The Council of the Faith is far more adept at governing the nation, and my existence is not of much significance..."

"Naxida, are you still saying such things now?" Han Fulai emphasized.

Naxida shook her head.

"Cultural inertia" is a powerful force, especially a mindset that has been ingrained for five hundred years; it cannot be completely changed overnight. But she has already resolved to change it.

"I'm sorry, Master... I was just thinking about things from the past. Please rest assured, I am no longer the person I used to be."

"Now that we've made up our minds, it's time to act," Han Fulai said solemnly. "Our plan to harvest dreams has been interrupted by the Council of the Order, and there should be some chaos within them. Now is the time for us to act. Whether it's to hold someone accountable or to control the situation in Sumeru, the first thing we need to do is capture the Great Sage Azar."

"To use an old saying from Liyue, this is called 'to shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to capture a thief, first capture his king.' Moreover, I want you to do this personally."

This is the most important step for Nasita to regain her authority, and it should not be done by anyone else.

Nasita nodded and replied, "Yes, I already confirmed it with the 'Void Terminal'. Hazard and his accomplices are still in the High Sage's office in the Council of the Church."

As she spoke, she clenched her fist and swung it into the air, as if she were smashing someone's old face with her fist.

"The Order of the Fathers has made a mistake, and I will correct it. Moreover, I will personally teach those who made the mistake a profound lesson!"

Well, if Narcissus were to perform this action using her own body, it would probably give off a cute vibe, but using Catherine's body to do it just seems a bit odd...

However, it was a good thing that Nasita was able to make up her mind. Han Fulai did not complain about Nasita's strange actions, but simply nodded and said, "By the way, you can only move around using Catherine's body now. Will this affect your strength? If necessary, we can go to the Pure Goodness Palace first and release your true body."

Nasita smiled and shook her head: "No need. My powers are based on consciousness, and this is enough for me."

Paimon clenched his fist: "Alright, let's head to the Council of the Church now and teach that great sage a lesson!"

The city of Sumeru was built around the "Sacred Tree," and the Church of the Order was located in the middle of the "Sacred Tree," connected to Baoshang Street by a long ramp.

Because the slope is built around the "sacred tree," it is a winding "mountain road" with many twists and turns, which is often complained about by students of the Faculty of Education as "working out before going to school" - after all, climbing a slope is indeed a very physically demanding thing.

Perhaps because it was still early, there were not many pedestrians on the slope, and the path leading to the Church of Christ was very empty.

Logically speaking, as the most famous academy and government institution in Sumeru, the Academy should have a "team of thirty" on duty and patrolling, but the group did not see any mercenaries along the way.

Perhaps Hazard realized that someone would come looking for trouble, so he started to reduce his defensive forces in advance?

Thinking about the battle that was about to take place, Ying's expression became somewhat solemn, while Han Fulai was thinking about the "God-Making Plan" of the Order Academy and did not say a word on the way.

The silence along the way made Paimon a little nervous, and his little face became stiff.

Noticing this, Nasita chuckled and asked Paimon, "Do you need to rest for a bit, like going to the toilet for a good rest or something?"

Paimon was stunned for several seconds before he understood what she was saying: "Huh? Wait, what weird thing are you saying now? Why do you need to go to the bathroom at this time?"

Nasita tilted her head: "Hmm? I often see children in my dreams rushing to find the toilet, and they look very refreshed after they come out of it, so I recommend you go once... Is that strange?"

Paimon stomped his foot: "Don't treat me like a bedwetting kid! By the way, where's the toilet on this street?!"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from in front of them: "Sister, are you looking for a toilet? There's one in the academy. I can show you the way."

The group looked in the direction of the sound and saw a little girl.

The little girl looked to be only eleven or twelve years old, with freckles on her face and two pigtails. She looked somewhat familiar.

She ran up to the group with a "thump-thump-thump," as if she really was going to lead Paimon the way.

"You are...?" Paimon looked at the little girl in confusion, unsure whether to accept her kindness or explain that he was just venting.

Ying then remembered: "Ah... her name is Kumari, right?"

When Nilu led them to the Grand Bazaar to find Manager Zubair, they encountered this girl on the roadside. At that time, Kumari had skipped school to go to the Grand Bazaar to see a performance and had been severely scolded by her father.

Ying still remembers that the child admired Nel, saying that he wanted to be a dancer in the future and learn the "Dance of the Flower Goddess" from Nel.

Speaking of which, how did the children from the Grand Bazaar end up at the Church of Jesus?

It's still dark at this time, the time when kids are still in bed.

Kumari ignored their questions and ran forward on her own, stopping and looking back after a few steps, as if waiting for them to catch up.

Han Fulai frowned and said, "...Let's follow them."

Kumari's situation was somewhat unusual, but they were going to the Order of the Church anyway, and a little child couldn't possibly pose any threat to them.

After climbing the last slope with Kumari, the group arrived at the open space in front of the Church.

The scene before them was even more bizarre—

The once empty road was now packed with people: street performers from the Grand Bazaar, merchants from Baoshang Street, students from the Order of the Church, mercenaries from the "Thirty-Man Group," and tourists who were clearly from other countries... It was as if everyone who had been strolling through Sumeru City today had gathered in this place.

Han Fulai roughly counted that there were at least a hundred people here, filling the open space in front of the Academy to capacity.

Even more bizarrely, these people just stood there silently, without exchanging any words with each other, as if they were all asleep standing up.

But they didn't fall asleep.

As Kumari led them over, these people who seemed to be asleep suddenly came to life!

They began to cheer, clap, and dance, shouting the same words: "Welcome our hero! The great hero who saved Mount Sumeru!"

Paimon, perched on Yingmei's shoulder, peeked out and asked, "Heroes...are they talking about us? They've come all this way to welcome us?"

Actually, it's not wrong to call them the great heroes who saved Sumeru. They did break the cycle of the Flower Goddess's Birthday and saved all the people of Sumeru who were trapped in the cycle.

The problem is... no one else knows about this except for them?

"...Impossible, we didn't tell anyone we came to the Order House today." Yingping stretched out his arm to shield Paimon and Nasita behind him, looking around warily.

Those “enthusiastic” people made her feel very uncomfortable.

Just then, a person walked out of the main gate of the Order of the Fathers, clapping his hands as he went:

"Is this kind of welcoming ceremony grand enough, like that of a triumphant hero?"

Chapter 104 "Doctor"

"A mob of fools?!"

Ying immediately drew her "Mist Cutter".

Ying had never seen the person who had just clapped before, but she recognized his clothes—a "mourning mask" covering half his face, and a long white overcoat covering his entire body. Only the Fools could dress like that.

The fact that the Fools are here is definitely a conspiracy!

The man seemed unconcerned about Ying's hostility, and even raised his hands to the surrounding crowd like a conductor, signaling them to cheer more enthusiastically.

Nasita suddenly spoke up: "You are... an 'outcast' from the Church?"

Like Ying, she was also meeting the person in front of her for the first time, but she had read the archives kept by the Order in the "Void".

The archives contain records of a young genius of the "Sophist" school, Zandik, who was expelled from the Church.

The sage Shanama, who was then the headmaster of Amirido Academy, once formed an expedition to explore the war relics of Mount Devil—the giant "plowing machine" left by the Kanriar army in the "Black Calamity," a "relic colossus" as tall as a mountain.

The expedition team brought together the young talents of the six major factions of the Order of the Church, and Zandik was also a member of the expedition team.

Although Zandik was from the "Mystical School," his knowledge of plant and animal ecology and medicine was in no way inferior to that of Tosata of the "Life Theory School." He also had considerable expertise in mechanical science, history, linguistics, and the theory of earth vein elements. Therefore, he was exceptionally recruited into the expedition team as an apprentice Tosata.

The expedition to the ruins suffered a major accident: during the expedition, the colossus of the ruins activated automatically due to some kind of program malfunction, and its main weapon went out of control, causing numerous casualties to the expedition team. In the critical moment, the apprentice Tushad Tsandik stepped forward, shut down the control panel of the colossus, and saved the entire expedition team, thus becoming a hero of the Order of the Church and gaining great fame.

Upon returning to the Council of the Church, Zandik, leveraging the fame he gained from this expedition, held an academic conference to publicly present his research findings. However, his research contained numerous taboos that violated the "Six Root Sins," such as human experimentation and modification, as well as disrespect for God.