Chapter 14: The Arrival of the Wanderer
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When it comes to the Fatui Harbingers, Bai Luo has different attitudes towards each of them.
Let's not talk about those who are on missions outside and are hard to meet.
As for Childe, Bai Luo avoids him whenever possible.
This battle maniac dared to challenge him to a fight on his first day in front of the Tsaritsa.
The Lady, though with a bad temper and a penchant for picking fights, is at least someone with a warm heart beneath a cold exterior.
As long as you don't provoke her, she's generally reasonable.
As for Pulcinella and Capitano... they were Bai Luo's former superiors.
Even though he's now a Harbinger, Bai Luo still finds it hard to fully adapt to his new role when facing them.
Then there's Dottore... he's….an enigma.
Even though Bai Luo once exploited his name to pull off some scams, Dottore never seized the chance to make life difficult for him.
Despite being rumored to be brutal, Dottore has never shown that side to Bai Luo.
He understands some of the others to varying degrees, but the Wanderer is a different case.
Bai Luo has rarely seen the Wanderer, who hardly ever appears in official settings.
Even during grand ceremonies where other Harbingers are expected to return, the Wanderer often does his own thing.
If Pulcinella and Capitano are his former commanders whom he still respects, then the Wanderer is like the leader of a rival class—someone powerful but whom Bai Luo can still treat as an equal.
The Wanderer's connection to Inazuma is anything but simple.
In Teyvat, there's a concept no one can escape: erosion.
Even the mighty Geo Archon cannot avoid the torment it brings.
The Electro Archon is no exception.
To resist erosion, the Wanderer was created.
It's unclear where she obtained the technology, but somehow, the Electro Archon managed to create the first intelligent puppet—the Wanderer.
At that time, he wasn't yet called by that name.
The Electro Archon intended for this puppet to serve as a vessel for the Gnosis and govern Inazuma in her stead.
But when the first puppet was completed, she found a major flaw—he could shed tears.
The Electro Archon considered this a sign of human weakness, rendering him unworthy of holding the Gnosis.
Thus, she discarded him and sealed him in the Shakkei Pavilion south of Tatarasuna.
For the second attempt, the Electro Archon decided to play it safe.
To avoid human frailty, she abandoned the idea of placing the Gnosis within the second puppet, turning her into a heartless warrior.
However, this decision also led to endless trouble when she later tried to fix the puppet's flaws.
For example, she had to spend thousands of years in a special space to correct this puppet's mindset.
As for the Gnosis... she entrusted it to the most trusted Yae Miko for safekeeping.
The Electro Archon herself entered the Plane of Euthymia, meditating to resist erosion, only appearing in critical moments to maintain order.
Thus, a hundred years passed in the blink of an eye, and the puppet sealed in the Shakkei Pavilion unexpectedly awakened...
Bai Luo doesn't know why the Wanderer joined the Fatui.
However, one thing he's sure of is that something else now occupies the space where the Gnosis was supposed to be in the Wanderer.
This was something Dottore inadvertently revealed while Bai Luo was doing a job for him.
According to Dottore, the Wanderer possesses a "tainted heart."
This also means that this tactical-minded individual is not someone Bai Luo can easily deceive.
Now, it's best for him to quickly understand why the Wanderer has come to Inazuma.
The Wanderer's arrival was abrupt.
In Bai Luo's opinion, even if he didn't arrive with great fanfare at the port, at the very least, there should have been a small boat, right?
But according to his subordinates, the Wanderer appeared so suddenly at the port that it took the Fatui there a while to react.
He hadn't planned on meeting Bai Luo, after all, the Harbingers don't all have great relationships with each other.
But Bai Luo sought him out.
"What is it?"
Setting down the teacup in his hand, the Wanderer, who looked like a youth, raised his head and asked.
Since coming to Inazuma, Bai Luo hadn't actually seen the Raiden Shogun herself, but he had seen plenty of portraits of her.
Compared to the game, she appeared less soft and more imposing—understandable, as she was a god who ruled a nation.
From the Wanderer's features, one could still see the resemblance to the Raiden Shogun, though he seemed intent on hiding this, always wearing a large hat to conceal his face.
"Did the Tsaritsa send you to replace me?"
Before this, he had never heard that the Wanderer would be coming.
"I have a different mission; it doesn't conflict with yours."
The Wanderer's eyes lingered briefly on the Delusion at Bai Luo's waist as he explained.
He seemed to understand why Bai Luo had sought him out.
It made sense—before he came, the Tsaritsa had said that Inazuma's affairs would be fully entrusted to him.
Yet, not long after he took office, the Wanderer showed up, almost as if questioning his competence.
The Harbingers have their pride. If it were up to the Wanderer, he wouldn't even be sitting here talking; not drawing his weapon was already a courtesy to the Tsaritsa.
Though the Wanderer's movements were subtle, Bai Luo noticed them—he was looking at his Delusion.
Realizing this, Bai Luo thought he understood why the Wanderer had come to Inazuma.
"The Delusion factory?"
Speaking of which, the serpent's remains on Yashiori Island must be mentioned.
On this continent of Teyvat, there's little camaraderie between gods.
During the Archon War, Orobashi was defeated and eventually fled to a place called Enkanomiya.
There, he protected the local people, becoming their Watatsumi Omikami, and led them back to Inazuma to establish an independent Watatsumi Island, separate from Narukami Island.
The two sides coexisted peacefully.
If that had been the end of it, there wouldn't have been a problem.
Narukami acknowledged Orobashi's existence and allowed Watatsumi Island to remain independent.
But one day, for reasons unknown, Orobashi went mad and launched an invasion.
In that war, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and even the Raiden Shogun's beloved general, the tengu Sasayuri, perished.
Orobashi was ultimately slain by the Raiden Shogun herself, and his remains still linger on Yashiori Island, casting fear under the sun.
The impact of that war hasn't faded even after thousands of years; it even altered the environment of Yashiori Island.
For example, the Raiden Shogun's slash created the vast canyon known as Musoujin Gorge.