Chapter 217: Kokomi, Mind Broken
Battousai… is the Ausbilder?!
That… didn't seem wrong.
Wait—Battousai is the Ausbilder?
Could that really be true?
So all this time, he wasn't just acting—he was meeting openly with Fatui agents right under her nose, executing operations for the Fatui without even bothering to hide it?
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could you be Battousai?!"
Yeah, that's right. This damn Fatui Harbinger was just trying to shatter her resolve—using this absurd claim to break her spirit.
Battousai is a Fatui agent?
Why not go ahead and say I'm the Raiden Shogun, too?!
CLANG—!
A flash of cold light:
Bai Luo's paper umbrella transformed into a reverse edged blade, its edge honed and the back blunt.
Along the blade's steel glinted a faint plum blossom scent, lingering softly.
But even with the blade resting against her neck, Kokomi's reaction was… strange.
Her pupils were unfocused, her breath erratic, and she kept murmuring under her breath.
She seemed to be replaying the entire situation in her mind—questioning the truth of Bai Luo's words.
She just couldn't figure it out—where had things gone wrong?
Was it someone from Liyue?
No— The admiration those people held for Battousai wasn't faked, and she had seen Beidou's horns with her own eyes.
Besides, they had no reason to collude with a Fatui Harbinger to deceive her, right?
Unless… they had been deceived by the Ausbilder as well.
But the Ausbilder almost got killed by Battousai—that had happened!
No way he would stab himself for the sake of acting, right?
Impossible…
Absolutely impossible…
I am the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi…
I am the leader of this land… I…
Her murmuring became increasingly erratic—slipping into incoherent babble.
Put simply… she was in denial.
Unable to accept the reality that she had lost completely.
She didn't even register the sharp blade at her throat—she stood up, trembling, to confront Bai Luo—
Seeing this, Bai Luo sighed deeply.
He was left with no choice but to use the long-unused Bai-style Physical Deep Hypnosis Technique™.
Thunk
With a soft grunt, Kokomi collapsed into his arms, unconscious.
She's out cold.
It really was a last resort.
If he left her awake any longer, this little ornamental fish would have fallen into a mental death spiral, eventually breaking her mind and becoming a hollow shell that is not different from the girl of a R18+ Doujin.
If her situation needed to be summarized in one sentence, it's 'she got played too hard'.
But then again, this outcome made sense.
Bai Luo had gone all out—building up the perfect savior persona for the resistance.
From Kokomi's early suspicion, to cautious trust, to admiration after receiving three hundred million Mora… all of that had come from her heart.
And now, Bai Luo suddenly revealed he was a Fatui Harbinger.
Her previous trust and admiration?
It became a complete joke.
Honestly, the fact she didn't drop dead from a heart attack was already impressive.
Otherwise, Bai Luo might have had to use his reverse blade sword to glitch her into staying alive.
In Bai Luo's original plan, he hadn't intended to take control of Watatsumi Island this soon.
He enjoyed the process of planning far more than the end result.
But he had keenly sensed something:
Watatsumi was without divine protection.
As a power created by Orobashi, Watatsumi Island had outwardly submitted to the Raiden Shogun.
But ever since Kokomi formed the resistance army, they had in truth lost the protection of the Electro Archon, becoming a wild faction.
And that meant, anyone with ambition could step in and claim Watatsumi.
Even Liyue's Tianquan, Ningguang, realized this earlier than Bai Luo—sending Beidou to engage with Watatsumi as a third party.
So, if Bai Luo wanted to truly stabilize this island, he had only one task:
Not just to make the Fatui aware that Watatsumi was under the protection of a Harbinger, but to make the whole world know that Watatsumi now belongs to Bai Luo.
It wasn't just about the Fatui knowing.
It was about letting every faction across Teyvat know that Watatsumi Island now belonged to the Fatui, and it was under the protection of the Fatui Ausbilder.
This way, even if someone had ideas about meddling here, they'd have to think 'was it really worth offending the Ausbilder and the entire Fatui behind him?'
Yes, Bai Luo enjoyed the thrill of executing his plans, but that didn't mean he tolerated people meddling in them.
That would be like… You're eating peacefully, and some random guy just sits across from you and starts eating from your plate.
Rage inducing, right?
Rather than put up with such a mood-killer, he'd rather just terminate the plan early.
Everyone can go home—game over.
As for why he revealed his identity to Kokomi…
Honestly, it was just a bit of his twisted sense of humor.
"Milord, what are your orders next?"
After Bai Luo gently laid the unconscious Kokomi on the bed, Sveta hesitated for a moment before asking.
Should she… maybe leave the room right now?
"Inform Snezhnaya. Have them send some people over to establish presence here. As for Inazuma… I'll deal with it myself."
After tucking Kokomi in with a blanket, Bai Luo paused, then took out the original manuscript of "My Electro Archon Can't Be This Cute" and placed it beside her pillow.
Pets are like kids—you need to give them both the stick and the candy.
Otherwise… they'll grow up wrong.
"Then I—"
"Until the advance troops arrive, you'll be in charge of things here. If there's anything you don't understand, find Miss Kujou in the village—she knows the area well."
"Understood, sir."
"Tonight, you'll also be responsible for watching over her. I need to hurry back to Sayu—otherwise, that little rascal will be up to something again."
"Yes, sir."
With everything arranged, Bai Luo didn't linger on Watatsumi Island.
But before he left, there was one thing that puzzled Sveta—
He took a grilled fish and two boiled eggs with him.
Those were obviously for Sayu, so no problem there.
But what confused her was… the empty milk bottle he also took.
What was that for?
And most importantly…
The Ausbilder really had no clue how to care for people.
Putting a blanket over someone without taking their clothes off?
That's just asking to sleep uncomfortable.
At least undress her a bit first, right?
Sigh~ truly a handful.
. . . . . . . . . . .
The fact that the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi had agreed to cooperate with the Fatui wasn't kept secret.
Before dawn broke, most of the upper echelons of the island already knew.
Naturally, everyone was against it at first.
Cooperate with the Fatui? Are we throwing ourselves into the fire?!
If Kokomi weren't currently bedridden, many would have stormed her room to confront her.
But once the Fatui's offered terms were made public, most people—except for the older generation—quietly withdrew their objections.
Because, objectively speaking, this alliance was more beneficial than harmful to Watatsumi Island.
As for the so-called "recruitment" clause?
As long as I don't enlist… what can they do to me?
Only the older, more experienced ones understood the danger, that striking a deal with the Fatui was no different from bargaining with a tiger.
Eventually, it would be Watatsumi that paid the price.
. . . . .
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind to pay $5 monthly to read till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Current Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 256: The Conscription of Watatsumi[2]
Link to the current chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/139694056?collection=174425[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/174425?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/174425?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/139694056?collection=174425
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/139694056?collection=174425
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/174425?view=condensed