Perhaps the conditions Wu Yi had proposed really were too demanding. Even Rosalyne had not dared agree to them outright, saying only that she would report them to the Tsaritsa before taking her leave.
Wu Yi returned to Sangonomiya, where he had been staying these past few days. He had no plans to move elsewhere before the civil war here ended.
Not long after he returned, however, Sangonomiya Kokomi came over and asked what exactly La Signora had discussed with him.
Wu Yi thought it over. There was nothing worth hiding, so he gave her a general account.
"I never expected the Fatui had come to recruit you, Dr. Wu... Still, I've always heard that La Signora is very proud and often aggressive in diplomatic dealings with Teyvat's nations. Her pride must have taken quite a blow in front of you today, though."
Kokomi chuckled. Because of the Delusions, she was happy to see La Signora suffer a setback.
"But Mr. Wu Yi, do you think the Tsaritsa will agree to the four conditions you gave the Fatui at the end?"
"I don't know. I'm not familiar with the Tsaritsa, and I don't care that much, either." Wu Yi looked out the window, his tone casual. "La Signora said she'd pass them on, so let's wait to hear from her."
"If all the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya wants is to free everyone in Teyvat from the Heavenly Principles' shackles and let them control their own destinies, I don't mind lending a hand... But I do mind them using power borrowed from me to trample on the people of other nations."
"Dr. Wu, you really are a good person." Hearing this, Kokomi studied Wu Yi seriously, then spoke.
"Even if you became a Harbinger, you would only change the Fatui for the better."
"...I told you, I'm no good person. Where did you get this strange impression of me?" Wu Yi sighed helplessly.
"Because everything you've done since you appeared on Watatsumi Island has helped other people, Mr. Wu Yi," Kokomi said without hesitation.
"That's just how it looks. I didn't do those things with the intention of doing good. At most, we each got what we needed. To put it bluntly, I was satisfying my own selfish desires." Wu Yi shook his head. "Even by the most forgiving standards, I should be considered a bad person."
"You're always too modest, Mr. Wu Yi." Kokomi shook her head. "All I see is that you helped the people of Watatsumi Island."
"You... never mind. Say what you like." Wu Yi sighed and gave up arguing.
Then, looking at Wu Yi's handsome profile, Kokomi clenched her fist slightly. After quietly encouraging herself, she spoke in a seemingly casual tone:
"Dr. Wu, if you really do become a Harbinger... after you go to Snezhnaya, may I write to you often? If possible, I'd like to be your pen pal."
"Hm?" Wu Yi was taken aback. "Of course."
"Mm!" Kokomi nodded vigorously, her expression seeming to brighten. "If you don't get used to living in Snezhnaya, you can come back to Watatsumi Island whenever you like. It doesn't matter how long you stay. I'll always keep the room you've been staying in these past few days ready for you."
"..."
Hearing that, Wu Yi paused for a moment. Then he glanced at Kokomi and smiled.
"That sounds pretty good, but why do I feel like you're keeping me?"
"Cough, cough, cough-"
Kokomi's eyes widened at his words, and she immediately began coughing, her face red. Then she looked away awkwardly and said:
"I mean, you've helped everyone on Watatsumi Island so much, Dr. Wu, and everyone is grateful to you. So we hope you can come back and visit often. Besides, if Watatsumi Island has any more difficult medical cases, we can ask you for help."
"Mm." Wu Yi smiled softly. "I will."
Over the next few days, perhaps because something had indeed gone wrong behind the Shogunate Army's lines, the front on Watatsumi Island grew much quieter. There were only occasional small-scale clashes, and few people were injured, making Wu Yi's days much more boring as well.
He did not have to wait too long, however.
Before long, Watatsumi Island received three more letters from outside.
One was from the Traveler. She wrote that everything was going rather smoothly on her end. They had confirmed that the Fatui were the true culprits behind the Vision Hunt Decree, having colluded with the Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission of the Tri-Commission to push its implementation from behind the scenes. In two days, Lumine would publicly expose the truth of the Tenryou Commission's betrayal of Inazuma.
The second letter came from Beidou of the Crux Fleet. She and her people, who were also members of the resistance, had recently found a new sea route. With the Crux Fleet's help, the resistance could use it to reach Inazuma City, where the Electro Archon resided, without anyone noticing. That would allow them to bypass the vast majority of the Shogunate Army's defenders and launch a surprise attack on Tenshukaku. They had tentatively set the attack for two days later.
The third letter came from La Signora, Rosalyne. It had been sent specifically to Wu Yi and said that the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya had agreed to the various conditions he had proposed earlier. Once Rosalyne had more or less completed her mission in Inazuma, she would take Wu Yi with her on her return to Snezhnaya so that he could formally join the Fatui.
The day she had originally planned to return was also two days away.
In other words, that was the day the Traveler and La Signora fought a Duel Before the Throne in the original story.
According to the original plot, La Signora would lose to the Traveler here, then be slain by the Raiden Shogun with a single strike.
So Wu Yi decided to make a trip to Tenshukaku as well.
After all, it would be terrible if the person who had introduced him died before he had even reported for duty with the Fatui.
Kokomi and the others naturally welcomed Wu Yi's decision to go. They were about to face a god, after all, and with a doctor who could even bring the dead back to life accompanying them, everyone's chances of survival would be much greater.
Thus, under cover of night, Watatsumi Island's elites boarded the ships.
The Crux Fleet's new route proved highly effective. The ships slipped past the shogunate's naval patrols in the night fog, and when they came ashore, there were scarcely any decent defenses along Narukami Island's coast. The resistance elites slipped right in.
Seeing this, Wu Yi could not help reflecting that the world really was one enormous amateur operation. Whether the Shogunate Army was too confident in the Shogun's martial strength or had already sent all its main elite forces to the front on Watatsumi Island, defenses here in Inazuma City, the very heart of the nation, were shockingly lax.
Both Inazuma City and Tenshukaku were surrounded by sea. Any nation's navy could strike straight at their heart if it wished, yet they had deployed so few defenses along the coast and in the surrounding waters!
Only after the resistance landed did the city's defenders wake up to the danger and converge on them. But having been forced to respond in haste, how could they match the resistance elites who had come prepared?
Thus, Beidou, Gorou, and Kazuha, three Vision holders, led the charge and punched straight through the Inazuma City garrison's defenses. Wu Yi stayed near the rear of the resistance elite force, taking no part in the fighting and only treating the wounded in the group after each battle.
While everyone was fighting, however, they could also sense what seemed to be wave after wave of elemental power coming from Tenshukaku.
"The Traveler said in her letter that she would expose the Tenryou Commission's betrayal today. Could her plan have failed, leading to a clash with the shogunate?"
Kaedehara Kazuha guessed anxiously.
"No time to worry about that," Beidou said. "We'll find out once we fight our way in!"
Wu Yi, however, knew that the two elemental powers locked in fierce combat should belong to La Signora and the Traveler, Lumine, as they fought their Duel Before the Throne.
And so the resistance pressed forward triumphantly, fighting all the way to the entrance of Tenshukaku without encountering any worthwhile resistance.
But just as they were about to charge inside, they unexpectedly saw the Traveler step out through Tenshukaku's gates.
Her steps were unsteady, and one hand rested lightly against her forehead. She seemed a little dizzy, clearly having just been through a very difficult battle. Paimon floated beside her with a worried look, but when she suddenly saw the resistance ahead, some of the tension instinctively left her face.
But the next instant, a dark blue eye suddenly appeared in the air behind her, accompanied by Electro power that abruptly surged into a frenzy.
By the time the Traveler sensed that something was wrong and looked back, the Electro eye had already been shattered by a single slash. The Raiden Shogun emerged from it, the long blade in her hand flashing toward Lumine's neck.
Wu Yi saw the entire sequence clearly, but he had no intention of intervening. He merely turned to look at Kazuha beside him.
At that very moment, the long-dimmed Vision hanging at Kazuha's back suddenly lit up. At the same time, both wind and lightning elemental power wrapped around him.
In the next instant, his body transformed into a flash of lightning and shot forward. At the same time, the Fillet Blade flashed from its sheath and met the Musou no Hitotachi head-on.
Lightning exploded, bleaching the stone steps white. Violent winds swept in every direction, kicking up clouds of dust.
When the dust settled and everyone looked toward the front of Tenshukaku again, they saw that Kazuha had blocked the Raiden Shogun's strike, which had been meant to kill Lumine outright.
"There will always be those on the ground who dare to face the lightning's glow."
Seeing this rather classic scene, Wu Yi recited the classic line for Kazuha, thoroughly satisfied.
Then the Raiden Shogun struck again, sending Kazuha flying. The Traveler came to her senses, summoned Electro power, and slashed at the Raiden Shogun with all her might.
The next instant, space split open. A deep spatial rift, like a giant maw, swallowed both Lumine and the Raiden Shogun.
When the two of them vanished, only the resistance and the Shogunate Army remained, staring at one another.
All right, the famous scene's over. Time to get down to business.
With a thought from Wu Yi, an inconspicuous thread of lightning flashed across the stone steps and vanished. His figure disappeared from where he stood. Everyone present was still immersed in the shock of Kazuha blocking the Raiden Shogun's strike and failed to notice.
When Wu Yi reappeared, he was already inside Tenshukaku's great hall.
With the Raiden Shogun gone in pursuit of the Traveler and all of Tenshukaku's defenders drawn away by the invading resistance, Tenshukaku was empty. All that remained were scorch marks in front of the throne and two people lying on the floor.
One was the unconscious Kujou Sara. The other could perhaps no longer be called a person, only... ashes.
"Good grief, is there nothing left but a little ash? The Raiden Shogun really didn't hold back."
Wu Yi came to the scorch marks, where dense Electro power still lingered, and pinched up a little ash from the floor, clicking his tongue in wonder.
All that remained in the world of the habitually haughty Harbinger La Signora was this bit of ash, the shattered Cryo Delusion within it, and the broken half of a mask beside it.
"Rosalyne, my future colleague, you died far too cleanly. You really know how to make trouble for me."
"But that's all right. You've only been reduced to ashes."
Wu Yi reached down and pinched up a little ash from the floor.
"I can still save you."
"Don't underestimate an Emanator of Abundance."
When it came to healing the sick and saving lives, the Path of Abundance was without equal in the entire universe.
And among those on the Path of Abundance, Wu Yi was one of the oldest and strongest.
In terms of seniority, even figures as notorious among the Denizens of Abundance as the Borisin warhead Hoolay and the Winged Emperor of the Wingweavers would have to stand and toast him when they met him.
His senior brother had once been killed until only scraps of flesh remained, yet those scraps could be used to resurrect the dead. Although that treatment had failed, it was clearly because the person responsible for saving the patient lacked sufficient medical skill. It did not mean the vitality in his senior brother's flesh could not save anyone. He had even accidentally created an undying, indestructible byproduct.
Wu Yi's understanding of the Path of Abundance surpassed even his senior brother's. It was no exaggeration to say that, unless their master came in person, there was probably no one in the universe who understood Abundance better than Wu Yi.
Otherwise, how could he have been worth the Seven Arbiter-Generals joining forces to trap and hunt him down?
Someone like La Signora, who had only recently died and whose body had left behind a little ash, was naturally someone he could save.
Although a considerable amount of damage from the Power of The Hunt still remained in his body, he had recovered considerably over the past few days. He could now draw on nearly a tenth of his Power of Abundance.
That was more than enough.
As for the problem Miss Ronova had warned him about earlier, the ley lines' hunger for souls, he had already thought of a way to solve it.