Chapter 21: with translation of chapter title

"Hello everyone, I am the Great Merciful Tree King; actually I didn't die, I was just forgotten by the world. Now I have become a disciple of the 【Abundance】 sect. Anyone who sees this message, please transfer 500,000 Mora to help my endeavors. After I succeed, I will unify Teyvat and appoint you as the Great Sage of Sumeru!"

"……" Cyno tore down the fraudulent small advertisement posted on the street in one go, furrowed their brows, and stared at it for a while.

I recognize each character above, but when put together they are indeed puzzling.

How long has the Abundance Star God just appeared, ah? This kind of off-key news has already appeared; the key is, unbelievably, there are still people who believe this and get fooled……

——

"Cover your eyes, they say, lest the impending darkness make your mind and spirit wary."

"Because it will teach your soul to become as heavy as if filled with lead, and your feet will become numb and unable to bear."

"Void!"

As soon as the words fell, it was as if the sun sank in the west, and the whole earth entered night after a sigh.

The entire light curtain was enveloped by a mass of Void chaos, as if not a single thread of light could seep out or escape from within.

Gazing far off at that purple vapor, Yuecheng Liu only felt as if something were being drawn in, like a spiral slowly pulling and tugging; she exhausted her vocabulary, yet could hardly describe that strange feeling, impossible to name or put into words.

"Looking at it is truly unbearable." Yuecheng Liu took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes, only then feeling a little more comfortable.

Although the Void does not produce as direct an effect as when the Memory Star God appears, the feeling it gives people is still unpleasant; after thinking for a long time, she could only describe the sensation of staring at the Void as "boiling a frog in warm water."

At first you might not feel anything, but as your gaze lingers longer, the Void will devour you whole like a vast abyss maw.

Liu turned her head, only to find Section Chief Ya still intently staring at the Void Star God, not even blinking.

"Ya, you wouldn't……"

"Don't worry, Liu, I am currently practicing 'staring at the Void Star God for one hour.'"

"Ah ah ah, Section Chief Ya, don't do something so dangerous!"

Yuecheng Liu, in a fluster, was just about to cover Ya's eyes with a steam eye mask when the scene in the light curtain suddenly changed, and the next Star God made a grand entrance!

"Push open that solemn city gate, they say, pick up the lapis lazuli slab. Read aloud loudly, recognize what the clay brick is made of."

"Recognize who laid the foundation of that wall!"

"Preservation!"

"Uh…… this Preservation Star God feels a lot like our work, huh." As the President of Baigi Heavy Industry, Kelida carefully analyzed the narration.

"Building foundation walls, simply put, isn't that just civil earthwork?"

"Except one uses steel-reinforced concrete, while the other uses lapis lazuli slabs, a new building material they've never heard of……"

"But essentially they're the same!"

"Kelida finally understood why, upon first seeing Kelipo in the simulated universe, she always felt an unusual closeness."

"Thinking of this Star God, who stands alongside Destruction, Memory, Hunt, and Abundance, actually engaging in such a 'simple' and down-to-earth job, Kelida felt a bit more approval toward the Preservation Star God."

"Our goal at Baigi Heavy Industry is not to build houses, but 'homes'; perhaps this Star God's philosophy is also similar to ours?"

"It's not merely building walls, but to 'protect' the myriad lives behind them."

"Kelida turned her head and saw Gis murmuring with her head down, as if thinking about something."

"Elder sister, what are you thinking about?"

"Gis rested her chin: 'Hmm…… I'm wondering whether Mr. Kelipo, when building the walls, used pure manual labor or already employed engineering machinery.'"

Upon mentioning engineering machinery, Gis seemed to have an internal switch suddenly flipped, and she began to speak at length:

"You know, efficiency is the lifeblood of construction engineering; if it's the former, maybe someday we could sell Baigi Heavy Industry's construction machinery to Him? Our mechanical parts can operate in a vacuum, and if we equip them with a 'high-frequency ray particle recovery' device, they might even work in space!"

Like a flash of inspiration, Gelisi let out a shout of "Wow", leapt down from the workbench, and excitedly went to debug her new work.

"Big sis really does come up with one thing after another." Keleida let out a long sigh, noticing another change appearing in the light curtain.

"Then they say, those who reach the end—oh—go to the all‑embracing paradise!"

"Join this grand hymn and feast, listen to the beating of hundreds of millions upon hundreds of millions of hearts, and embrace you——"

"Harmony!"

A blue‑skinned woman's figure slowly emerged; like Nanuke, she had an almost human body, but her skin was composed of countless puzzle pieces. Beneath her white long hair lay three utterly holy faces—compared to the mystery of memory, she was instead much more straightforward.

"How beautiful." Filien stared, entranced, and softly sighed.

If a goddess truly existed in this world, perhaps she would look like this?

However, Filien faintly sensed a discord from her—whether it was due to her three utterly different faces, or because her puzzle‑like nature left her upper body fragmented.

"Gods are lovers of people." Zan Yin beside him suddenly said, "This saying has been passed down since the age of mythology."

"But the star gods of this world are less gods and more like some greater being—although they possess divinity, …" Zan Yin wanted to speak but stopped; he lowered his head, thought for a while, then slowly said: "… I don't feel that they love humanity—at least I didn't feel any love from this Hippe goddess."

Furlian nodded, showing agreement with Zan Yin's words.

The picture continued to flow, and the next star god soon appeared.

"Look at the court jester's honeyed words, the sailors drunk as mud, hear the infant's laughter and tears in the mirror, the tide enters dreams, the scales topple, welcoming the unseen heir."

"Joy!"

The joy‑filled image flashed by quickly; aside from the various masks that appeared at the start, no true form of the Joy star god showed up.

On the contrary, the words for Procreation, Order, and Purity among the star gods streamed by like flowing water, and they all became objects of "Joy"'s amusement and play.

"Can Joy also become a star god?"

Inside Teyvat's Momang Palace, Navilate sipped water from Liyue while watching the light curtain's content, furrowing his brow.

As a representative of Fontaine's order and justice, he could hardly imagine what authority the Joy star god actually wielded.

"Isn't the Joy you understand just forcing others to laugh?" Laiosili chuckled; he rarely came to Momang Palace to fetch a few reports, but seeing Navilate organizing his documents, he guessed that the Chief Arbiter had his mind elsewhere.

"Isn't that so?" Navilate's voice carried a hint of tranquil doubt.

"Although you judge criminals, you still don't understand their psychology enough, ah." Laiosili spread his hands, "Do you know? In Meiluo Bitedebao prison there's a kind of criminal whose purpose isn't to maliciously harm others; compared to murder and robbery… they prefer to watch this world burn fiercely."

"It's not because the world is cruel and lacks burning; it's simply because they find the flames nice to look at and fun to play with—nothing more."

"So I guess Joy is the same concept—as long as it makes oneself feel amused and can laugh out loud, toying with all beings is nothing more." Laiosili looked up at Navilate, "So, do you understand?"

Sorry... I still don't understand.

Nawailite regretfully shook his head, but the next second he spoke with a firm tone: "But I know the kind of person you're talking about must all be arrested and put on trial."