"I didn't realize it, but why are you so laid-back? You were quite fierce when you fought me, so why is there no resistance now?" Yu Jin listened to Kutri's self-deprecating laughter and circled his head.
"Hehe, at that time, I finally saw someone who could free me, so I was naturally a bit eager." Kutri chuckled awkwardly a few times, and his hot breath blew Yu Jin far away.
He had spent the longest time in the Dark Sea, which was close to the edge of the world and naturally subject to the Abyss's corruption.
Kutri had fought the Abyss for thousands of years, but eventually, he inevitably fell into a disadvantage. So, when he sensed Yu Jin, he used all his remaining power to try and give himself a dignified end.
He didn't expect dignity; instead, he was saved by Yu Jin.
Yu Jin saw a dark power begin to flow through Kutri again and enthusiastically asked, "Do you want me to help you remove those things from your body?"
Kutri looked at Yu Jin in surprise; he hadn't expected Yu Jin to have a way to remove these things from beyond the world.
But he quickly pouted and said, "Thanks, but forget it. I'm fine like this, half-dead."
"Are you thinking of your junior?" Yu Jin remembered Kutri's previous words and asked.
"Hmm, the pinnacle of element creatures are the Seven Dragon Sovereigns. Now, all the ancient Seven Sovereigns have fallen, and the new Seven Sovereigns are being born one after another."
"I've occupied the position of the Fire Dragon Sovereign for too long; it's time to give it up for the juniors."
Kutri looked at the distant land and said in a muffled voice. It was good enough that the newly born Seven Sovereigns could descend upon the land of Teyvat again.
In contrast, those of them who had either died or fled could just remain here.
Seven again? Yu Jin scratched his head, thinking there must be some connection between the Seven Dragon Sovereigns and the Seven Archons.
But Yu Jin quickly gave up thinking. Come on, it's tiring to use his brain. And, do these things have anything to do with him?
Not a single bit!
"So what are you planning to do next?" Yu Jin looked at Kutri and asked curiously.
"Haha, anything is fine. Maybe I can create a piece of land, then create some dependents, and watching them will be like retirement!"
Kutri laughed heartily. Although he was in a state of Decay now, his power was not something an ordinary God could match.
After all, he was an existence that had fought the Primordial One for forty years. At that time, he was the main attacker, the Geo Dragon Sovereign took the damage, and the other Dragon Sovereigns provided support.
As if remembering his spirited appearance back then, Kutri's tail unconsciously began to wag.
Immediately, the entire ice floe began to shake. With a "crack," the temporarily found ice floe broke, and Yu Jin fell into the sea.
"Bye bye!" Yu Jin, lying in the sea, didn't get up and said goodbye to Kutri.
"Goodbye." Kutri also went into the water and swam away. He now felt that his idea just now was incredibly good, and now he just wanted to find a good place, raise a piece of land, and retire.
"Let's go, we're going back." Seeing Kutri leave, Yu Jin said to the Black Blades in the sea, and then he was carried by the Black Blades towards the mainland.
The previous battle with Kutri had made him a bit tired; he needed to rest… "This is… Liyue?" Katheryne, or rather, the Marionette, opened his eyes and looked at the busy scene before him, knowing he had succeeded.
As a puppet produced in Snezhnaya, Katheryne theoretically had no consciousness. All Katherynes shared a database to better perform their work.
Although Katheryne would only operate according to specified procedures and would not make movements beyond them.
But as Katheryne's actual designer and manufacturer, the Marionette knew very well that Katheryne was also part of the Fatui's intelligence system.
Adventurers loved to go on Adventures everywhere. The intelligence they gathered from all over the world would be collected by Katherynes in various branches, compiled, and eventually submitted to the Snezhnaya headquarters, as well as into the hands of the Fatui.
This was also why the Fatui could always find lost ruins and master lost technologies.
And for some difficult people, the Katheryne puppet could also play a huge role. For example, now—luring some people into pre-arranged traps under the guise of commissions.
However, because Katheryne was a puppet, they certainly could not complete such complex actions autonomously.
So, at this time, the contingency left over from the manufacture of the Katheryne puppet had to be used, achieving the goal of controlling the puppet through temporary consciousness transfer.
Although this would scrap one puppet, the cost was worth it. A person who could make the Fatui resort to such methods would cause harm far beyond that of a single puppet.
The Marionette glanced at the archives. Since it was late at night, there were only a few people still working overtime in the hall.
He chose to transfer his consciousness at this time to avoid revealing too many flaws.
Because it was after work hours. Although Katheryne was a puppet, he still had work hours.
Generally, Katherynes would use this time after work to maintain himself or simply stare blankly.
"Is Miss Katheryne off work?"
"You've worked hard, Miss Katheryne."
"When will Miss Katheryne come to my house for a meal? I've bought Snezhnaya's specialty ingredients!"
...The people in the archives saw the Marionette about to leave and greeted him one after another.
Although they knew Katheryne was a puppet, everyone subconsciously ignored this identity of his.
After all, Katheryne was so human in every aspect that he had no mechanical feel whatsoever.
Not only that, Katheryne arrived earliest for work, left latest, was beautiful and kind, and treated people sincerely and warmly.
Almost everyone who had worked with Katheryne would praise him endlessly, so it was not surprising that he had such good popularity.
The Marionette responded to each greeting with some discomfort. In the Fatui, he had no need to do so. With his status as a Harbinger, others would only bow to him.
After a somewhat difficult exit from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Marionette now carried many bottles and jars, which were gifts from everyone in the Ministry of Civil Affairs to Katheryne.
"So popular?" The Marionette looked at the items in his arms; most of them were unique to Liyue, and many he had never seen before.
"To have such inexplicable feelings for a puppet, should I call it enthusiasm or foolishness?" The Marionette casually threw these things into a trash can by the street and walked towards Katheryne's usual residence without looking back.
Katherynes from each country lived together in the same room, as this made maintenance and repair between Katherynes convenient.
Similarly, it also made the next steps easier.
"Lord Marionette." The Katheryne of the Adventurers' Guild bowed his head and greeted himself.
The Marionette nodded. There were only two Katherynes in Liyue. Although they were puppets, making them as lifelike as Katheryne also came at a considerable cost. So Snezhnaya hadn't produced too many Katherynes.
"Is that fellow still in Liyue?" the Marionette asked Katheryne.
"Reporting to Lord, Mr. Yu Jin went out to sea with The Crux Fleet some time ago," Katheryne bowed his head, was silent for a moment, and replied.
"When will he return?" The Marionette frowned. If all preparations were complete but the main target was missing, it would be ridiculous.
"It should be soon," Katheryne said. It had been some time since The Crux Fleet set sail, and under normal circumstances, he should be back soon.
The Marionette's heart settled slightly upon hearing this. He instructed, "For the next period, you go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and I will go to the Adventurers' Guild."
"Understood." Katheryne's head was even lower.
"Alright, you're done. Prepare yourself; don't show any flaws tomorrow." The Marionette felt there was nothing else and dismissed Katheryne.
Katheryne withdrew to his room upon hearing this.
Katheryne's room was a bit cramped, filled with various strange gadgets piled up haphazardly. These were things Liyue's Adventurers had dug up from who knows where, and then somehow ended up in his hands.
Katheryne was now sitting upright on the bed. He glanced at the night outside the window, then shut down and waited for tomorrow to arrive.
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