Tide, I Have Returned!

"Hey! Wake up!" Furina laid Wu Wanghai flat on the ground, then patted his face with her small hand.

Before long, Furina saw Wu Wanghai's eyes snap open.

"What are you doing? You scared me!" Furina patted her chest, then folded her arms, looking somewhat angry that she had actually been frightened.

"What happened?" Wu Wanghai rubbed his eyes groggily.

"You suddenly passed out in there, and you're asking me what happened?!" Furina seemed to puff up in anger. And rightly so—she had gone to great lengths to drag him out of the pool earlier.

She had nearly been worked to death. No, nearly worked a god to death.

"Don't rush, don't rush. Let me... think." Wu Wanghai sat up.

He really had spoken with the consciousness inside the fountain, just like the Traveler had.

And what it said seemed more or less the same as the plot. Most importantly—

"Ami..." Wu Wanghai paused, blinked at Furina, and barely held back the curse on the tip of his tongue.

Wu Wanghai slapped his forehead. He was an idiot. Why had he listened to all that nonsense?!

He should have just mechanically repeated his questions from the start: Where is Vacher's laboratory? Who is Vacher? Wouldn't that have been great?

"At least give me a portrait or something." After all, Wu Wanghai could not guarantee that those NPCs who all shared the same few faces looked exactly like they did in the original.

"What portrait?" Furina asked curiously.

Wu Wanghai stood up and sighed. He desperately needed outside help now, such as...

Wu Wanghai turned to Furina. "Let's go find Neuvillette first."

As he spoke, Wu Wanghai opened his phone and found the teleport function. He could teleport there himself, but what if he brought someone else along?

"Hm? Sure, but if we go back to the Palais Mermonia now, it'll be dark by then. Why don't we watch an opera fir—" Furina thought on the spot, then looked toward the opera house not far ahead. Since they were already here...

Wu Wanghai reached out, grabbed Furina's black-gloved hand, and tapped teleport.

Beeeep~~~ Loading...

"—st." Furina finished speaking, only to discover that the scene before her had changed. Looking around, wasn't this the front of the Palais Mermonia?!

The onlookers around the Fountain of Lucine were stunned. What kind of magic was that? Two living people had vanished in the blink of an eye.

And at that very moment, the passersby outside the Palais Mermonia were stunned as well!

A-a magic trick with living people. How had the Hydro Archon and that man suddenly appeared? Without a sound or warning.

"Huh?" Furina let out a startled, bewildered sound.

Basic stuff. No big deal.

Wu Wanghai waved smugly, thoroughly satisfied with this ability of the phone.

As she followed Wu Wanghai toward the Palais Mermonia, Furina turned into a curious child. "I never thought you could use the Statue of The Seven to teleport. And you can even bring me with you."

"Haha, impressive, right?" Wu Wanghai turned to meet Furina's gaze, his grin nearly reaching his ears.

"Hmph, go ahead and be proud! It's just using teleport waypoints..." Furina turned her head away, deeply unwilling to accept it. She could not let this guy act so smug in front of her.

"Once I unlock every teleport waypoint, I'll be able to go anywhere on the continent of Teyvat. Touring all seven nations in one day won't be a problem then."

Wu Wanghai suddenly froze, then asked Furina stiffly, "Didn't we see a few teleport waypoints earlier...?"

"Yes. Why?" Furina looked utterly confused.

"Nothing, nothing..." Wu Wanghai's expression stiffened as he looked at the map on his phone. Only the markers for two Statues of The Seven were lit up.

He had been so focused on fighting monsters and leveling up that he had forgotten he needed to unlock teleport waypoints too.

"Ah!" Wu Wanghai let out a miserable cry, leaving Furina utterly baffled.

He zoomed in on the phone's map and saw that only the small area he had personally traveled through was revealed.

Wu Wanghai could not help cursing inwardly. There had to be a catch—he still had to explore everything himself.

Thinking about how he would have to run all over the world later just to find and unlock teleport points gave Wu Wanghai a splitting headache.

Can't someone help me?

Wu Wanghai thought of a certain blonde-haired female protagonist and her white-haired floating companion.

"So exhausting..." Wu Wanghai, an otaku by nature, grew depressed.

Knock, knock, knock! A symbolic knocking sound came from some large door inside the building.

Furina pushed the door open and strode right in. "Neuvillette, I'm back!"

"Oh dear, I'm exhausted!" The moment Furina entered, she ran to the sofa beside the desk and flopped down.

Neuvillette, who had been reviewing case files at work, glanced at the two intruders. He said nothing and continued with his work.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp."

Having conscientiously brewed herself a pot of black tea, Furina began drinking it.

"Sip~ Who was gulping like that? It definitely wasn't me. A lady like me would never drink that way."

The wait was not so boring. Wu Wanghai sat in the chair opposite Furina and looked at his phone.

Furina sipped her black tea and blinked as she watched Wu Wanghai's strange movements.

Why did it feel like there was something in his hands?

Over the past two days, Furina had often seen him make motions as though he were picking something up, but his hands were clearly empty.

Ugh, it was so uncomfortable to watch. Everything about her was perfect except for these blue and purple artifacts.

The road ahead was long...

Then he thought of the artifact substats to come, and his head hurt even more.

His future was pitch-black...

After a long silence, rustling sounds arose in the room. Then Neuvillette set down the documents in his hands and stood.

"Ahem... so, what did you need from me?" Neuvillette looked at Furina.

Seeing Neuvillette looking at her, Furina's eyes widened slightly. She shook her head and waved her hands, then looked toward Wu Wanghai.

"Um, hello, Neuvillette. It's nice to meet you." Wu Wanghai greeted him somewhat awkwardly.

As for Neuvillette, Wu Wanghai could only say that he knew of him, not that he knew him well. He understood relatively little about him, and he had come here before finishing Fontaine's main storyline.

Still, Wu Wanghai knew one thing: the Neuvillette before him was a water dragon who could spray water.

"I'm pleased to meet you as well, Mr. Wu Wanghai," Neuvillette replied.

"You're too polite, too polite." Wu Wanghai humbly replied, then said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony!"

"I need your help, mighty Water Dragon~" Wu Wanghai clasped his hands together in a praying gesture.

"..." Neuvillette fell silent. It was not strange that Wu Wanghai knew his identity.

"I am not omnipotent, but I will do my best to help you."

Good. At the very least, he had enough standing for Neuvillette to help him.

Not bad, not bad.

"First..."