Yaoguang Shoal, located east of Guili Plains, is a rare, large expanse of shallow beach in Liyue. Although it's a rare beauty, not many people actually come here.
This is because the area has no special products and is rarely visited by people. Compared to humans, monsters are more suited to this region.
Katheryne walked on the beach, most of her parts burned away. The fact that she could still retain a shred of consciousness was thanks to Marionette, who had tampered with her body yesterday, allowing her to live a little longer.
However, a Harbinger's good intentions are not so easily accepted. Marionette did this only to avoid leaving any evidence.
As long as Katheryne was destroyed by 'accident,' Yu Jin couldn't blame her.
"Self-destruct..." Katheryne repeated Marionette's final order to her, walking step by step towards the Ruin Guard in the distance.
The closer Katheryne got to the Ruin Guard, the slower her steps became. She didn't want to be destroyed like this, but she couldn't find a reason to resist the order.
Dolls are, by nature, made to obey.
Even as slowly as Katheryne walked, she didn't stop. The Ruin Guard wasn't far from her. Eventually, the Ruin Guard detected her.
"&#$..." After a series of mechanical sounds, the Ruin Guard in the distance fired several missiles.
"A Ruin Guard? So this is what it looks like." Katheryne, who was produced to handle Adventurer affairs, saw the true appearance of a Ruin Guard for the first time.
Katheryne stiffly raised her head. This was the first time she had actively walked such a long distance. She wanted to see what those things she had only heard about actually looked like.
"Whoosh—" The air whistled, and Katheryne closed her eyes, quietly awaiting her death.
"Boom!" An explosion sounded, and Katheryne only felt a hot wind blow past. The anticipated scene of her being blown away didn't occur.
Katheryne opened her eyes and found a figure not far in front of her.
"Waiting to die isn't good, Miss Katheryne." Yu Jin's figure flashed, and the Ruin Guard in the distance scattered into a pile of parts.
Yu Jin collected these parts and walked up to the surprised Katheryne.
"The black smoke you're emitting, it could be used to smoke cured meat," Yu Jin remarked, seeing black smoke continuously rising from Katheryne's head and various joints.
Katheryne looked at Yu Jin, unsure whether to feel disappointed or happy. But thinking of her situation, she said, word by word:
"Mr. Yu Jin... you... actually didn't need to come. I... was about... to be destroyed."
Katheryne's voice was not only intermittent but also hoarse and unclear. If one didn't listen carefully, no one would connect it to Katheryne's usual voice.
Most of her clothes were burned away due to the high internal temperature, and her exposed skin was covered in wounds.
Engine oil continuously seeped from her wounds, then evaporated due to the unyielding high temperature, emitting a pungent, strange odor.
Not only that, but Katheryne's body also occasionally flickered with jumping electrical arcs, scorching patches of her skin.
Even more terrifying were Katheryne's legs. Due to the long journey and her half-destroyed body, the area below her ankles no longer showed any human traces.
Steel and wires were directly exposed on the damp beach. It seemed that for an ordinary doll to reach Yaoguang Shoal so quickly, the cost was not small.
"Marionette and Regrator? It seems they've lived long enough," Yu Jin sighed, seeing Katheryne's tragic state.
Yu Jin felt that the matter wouldn't be so complicated with just Marionette, but with Regrator added, it made much more sense.
"No... need. I... have no... complaints." Katheryne shook her head at Yu Jin. She still inwardly considered herself a doll and always held the greatest tolerance for Snezhnaya, who created her.
Yu Jin heard Katheryne's words, looked up at her for a long time. After a while, he smiled and nodded:
"Alright, since you forgive them, then I'll spare their lives. Good, good. Their lives are perfect for you."
Then he placed his hand on Katheryne's head and said, "You said I didn't need to come? You're wrong. My doll-making skills are far superior to anything Snezhnaya has."
Subsequently, a huge suction force came from Yu Jin's palm, and Katheryne was absorbed into Yu Jin's body.
After absorbing Katheryne, Yu Jin did not leave immediately. He tapped his helmet with his finger. The 'clang clang clang' of metal echoed on Yaoguang Shoal for a long time.
"Regrator?" Yu Jin thought of the fellow who always wore a smile yesterday.
"In every country I've visited, Regrator's trade routes, destroy them all!" Black Blade was already half-kneeling beside Yu Jin, awaiting his command.
"As for Marionette..." Yu Jin recalled her unchanging face, and some interesting ideas formed in his mind.
"She must have her masterpieces, right? I wonder if her expression will change if her most prized creations are destroyed right in front of her?"
Yu Jin finished speaking, then lowered his head in thought for a moment before adding:
"Oh, and if her masterpieces have consciousness, then forget it. In that case, you guys just destroy all of her creations."
He tapped his forehead, seemingly finding this punishment too light, so he smiled and said:
"I'll give the Doctor a test. Hmm... a test on limb regeneration will do."
"Everyone understood?"
"Understood!"
As soon as Yu Jin finished speaking, Black Blade scattered, leaving only Yu Jin on the vast Yaoguang Shoal.
Katheryne forgiving them is Katheryne's business. If they dare to play tricks during negotiations, then Yu Jin won't be polite... Everything was Burning, everything was collapsing. Deep red blocks, wriggling pitch blackness, they filled everything in front of Alex's eyes.
Alex slumped to the ground. He didn't understand what had happened. Why was Khaenri'ah so beautiful just moments ago, but now it had become Doomsday?
"Ah—" A piercing pain came, and Alex raised his arm. He suddenly realized that his palm had turned pitch black at some unknown point.
Alex looked down, only to see a monster reflected in the broken glass on the ground. That monster was as confused as him, as pained as him, and as despairing as him.
"No—" Alex suddenly stood up. He glanced around, wiping the large beads of sweat from his forehead.
"Is it a dream again?" Alex got out of bed, poured himself a glass of water, to calm his nerves.
He pulled back the curtains, and the bright sunlight made it hard for him to open his eyes. Alex looked at the scene outside the window and smiled contentedly. Was it really just a dream?
Walking out of the room, Alex looked up at the Sky, a faint white, completely different from the Sky on the surface.
But it didn't matter. Although Khaenri'ah was underground, with their 'Light of Humanity,' it was enough to make the underground like the surface.
There were flowers, plants, trees, birds, beasts, insects, and fish here. Things found on the surface were here, and things not found on the surface were also here.
"Ah... what should I do today?" As Khaenri'ah's mechanical designer, Alex had long lived a retired, 'lazy fish' life.
However, he had never considered why the role of a mechanical designer, which seemed like it should be busy, was so leisurely for him.
Just as Alex was pondering where to go to play today, not far away, Yu Jin was stealthily following him, leading Katheryne.
"This... where is this...?" Katheryne's eyes widened. Where was this place?
Why was the Sky pure white? Why were there so many suns here? Why didn't the Ruin Guards attack others...? Many questions arose in Katheryne's mind, but Yu Jin said nothing. He didn't know what to say either.
He had never been to Khaenri'ah. This was just a fake Khaenri'ah created from memory.
However, that fellow in the distance was real, a confused guy who had lived for hundreds of years and knew nothing.
Yu Jin led Katheryne to Alex and said to him, "Brother, do you fix dolls?"
"Hmm?" Alex came back to his senses. He looked at Katheryne and immediately became interested.
"Hiss... these wiring connection methods, it looks like a third-generation Ruin Guard's, right? Are people still using such old methods?"
"Hmm? Why is this body's heat dissipation module so bad? Didn't study 'Introduction to Mechanics' well, did you?"
"Why is it so broken? These traces, consciousness descent? Messing around. The consciousness core is made so badly, and you still want to do consciousness descent?"
...Alex circled Katheryne as if looking at an antique, seemingly very interested in her.
"Can you fix it?" Yu Jin asked again.
"Who are you looking down on?" Khaenri'ah's ace mechanical designer (self-proclaimed) Alex confidently raised his head.
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