Sandrone: You Black-Hearted Capitalist!

Meanwhile, inside the Third-Round Knockout, Tian Tie Zui stood dumbstruck, his mouth open wide enough to swallow his fan.

Half a month ago, he had even spoken recklessly to Mr. Zhongli—no, to His Majesty the Emperor.

"Which of us understands Rex Lapis better, you or me?"

His face burned red. He was so embarrassed he could have dug a three-bedroom apartment out of the floor with one foot.

Fortunately, there had not been many customers that day. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Then it struck him that he had appeared in the Emperor's very own feature, and he burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Liu Su, oh, Liu Su, once people see this, how can you compete with me? I need someone to paint this scene and pass it down, so future generations will know that I, Tian Tie Zui, was Liyue Harbor's finest storyteller."

On the Sky Screen, the character portrait faded, replaced by Zhongli floating in the heavens.

Countless stone spears gathered around him.

Below, monsters ran rampant across the land, with even gods among their ranks!

And Zhongli was still called Morax back then.

Behind him lay the Guili Plains.

Stone spears fell, crushing monsters to powder and driving gods into the earth. If one spear did not kill them, another, bigger one followed.

Not until no one could stand did the bombardment stop. The plains had become mountains and ravines.

But it was not over. On the screen, another god tried to rise.

"Planet Befall."

As soon as Morax spoke, a colossal Guizhong Lock appeared behind him.

It was larger than the Jade Chamber.

Blinding light erupted beneath the Heavenly Star. The demons arriving in its wake were all petrified, then shattered into endless dust that vanished without a trace.

Between heaven and earth, only that towering figure remained, spear in hand and robes billowing.

The scene ended there.

As with Venti's feature, there was a little bonus scene.

The long-haired girl with gray-blue hair appeared on the screen once more.

Everyone expected a heartwarming little extra. Instead, the scene shifted, and a towering flood surged toward them.

Countless monsters charged the Guili Assembly.

Faced with so many enemies, Guizhong and the Adepti who had stayed behind were gradually stretched beyond their limits.

The narrator spoke.

"When gods went to war, flames swept the Guili Plains and living beings suffered. Guizhong could not withstand the attackers and perished in battle."

The scene changed again. The girl lay among the Glaze Lilies, her body turning to dust.

"When a person dies, their light goes out. Even Adepti are no different. Perhaps one day, we too shall all settle into dust."

Crack!

The cup in Zhongli's hand was crushed to powder.

Even though he had never forgotten, he still could not make peace with it.

Only one line of text remained on the screen.

"After Guizhong's death, the war of the gods entered its final stages, and the Emperor revealed his boundless, fearsome power to kill."

The shorter the words, the greater the weight behind them.

With that, the assessment of Zhongli's combat strength ended.

Yet the people of both worlds remained stunned, unable to come to their senses for a long time.

[Was the war really that terrible?]

[My grandfather told me our people once lived on the Guili Plains. It was because of that battle that we moved to what is now Liyue Harbor.]

[My ancestors said we came from the Lang-Gan Kingdom. A Heavenly Nail destroyed our homeland, and the guardian god we had always worshipped died beneath it while protecting us. The Emperor took us in.]

The natives of Douluo Continent read the messages and fell into thought, patting their chests in relief.

Thank goodness they lived on Douluo Continent. What kind of place was that neighboring world, where entire countries were destroyed at the drop of a hat?

One country had even been wiped out by a nail. It was terrifying.

What sort of power did it take to destroy a country with a nail?

The Worship Hall.

Qian Daoliu thought back over the Spirit Hall's books. According to them, even at the continent's most chaotic point ten thousand years ago, the worst of it had been Evil Soul Masters running rampant.

Compared with what the Sky Screen described, that era had been downright safe. The Evil Soul Masters' rampage barely counted as a disaster.

The Teyvat Merchants' Guild.

Su Yun patted Zhongli on the shoulder. That was Morax's shoulder; he might have been the only one who dared touch it.

"Don't worry, Zhongli. Judging by the Sky Screen's previous rewards, this one may well grant our wishes."

"So Guizhong might come back to life."

Guizhong might come back to life...

At the thought, the corners of Zhongli's mouth lifted before he could stop them.

He tried to hold back his smile, but could not.

Su Yun could not help laughing. Aside from Hu Tao, Guizhong was probably the only person who could put that expression on Zhongli's face.

He really was like an old father. Speaking of Hu Tao, Su Yun suddenly remembered something.

"Where did Hu Tao run off to?"

Hadn't Hu Tao been in Heaven Dou City all along? How had she disappeared?

Ningguang pointed at the Sky Screen. "There."

A message flashed across it, standing out amid the Liyue people reminiscing about their hardships.

Hu Tao: @Arlecchino, do you need a funeral? From what you're saying, you're planning a grave for someone called Dottore? I'm Hu Tao, the current director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

Hu Tao was already promoting her services on the Sky Screen.

To support Zhongli, she was pulling out every trick in the book.

Unfortunately, no one replied. In the end, Sandrone answered because she did not want Hu Tao to feel awkward.

Sandrone: They should be in a meeting right now.

At this hour, they really should have begun discussing how to carry out the "Winter Plan."

But the next message almost made Sandrone's hair stand on end.

Pantalone: @Hu Tao, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor? I've heard of it. Do you offer a complete funeral package? Is a hundred million Mora enough?

Sandrone was so furious at Pantalone's words that, like Zhongli, she crushed her cup.

Coffee ran down her palm.

Sandrone: Pantalone! When are you going to approve my six million Mora research budget?!

Pantalone: Esteemed Marionette, please be patient. You need to come to the Northland and sign for it in person.

Pantalone had counted on Sandrone being away from Teyvat.

Sandrone was about to explode. She turned into a bristling cat, all reason gone!

Sandrone: You've delayed my six million Mora research budget for three months! Dottore's laboratory blew up, and when he asked for three hundred million, you signed off on it that very day!

Sandrone: And now you want to spend another hundred million on Dottore's funeral!

Sandrone: Rosalyne's funeral only cost five hundred thousand Mora! Columbina took one bite out of the coffin because she was hungry, and you deducted two hundred thousand Mora from her wages!

Sandrone: Drop dead, you black-hearted capitalist! No wonder Rex Lapis won't give you a Vision! You black-hearted Emperor fanboy!

After Sandrone's barrage of revelations, the meeting that had been discussing the "Winter Plan" came to an abrupt halt.

Arlecchino settled in to watch the drama unfold.

Rooster wanted to say something, but after a moment's thought, he kept watching too.

This was far more entertaining than that blasted meeting.

He also thought Pantalone treated their budgets and the Doctor's completely differently. The moment the city administration asked for money, Pantalone found every excuse to stall.

But when Dottore's laboratory exploded, Pantalone had approved the repair costs before the paperwork even arrived.

There was definitely something going on between those two!