Chapter 171: New Friend

It took two days total.

Luo De then completely cleaned up the poisonous blood on Te Wa Lin's body.

During that period.

Ying did not intervene.

She only asked about his brother's matter.

Luo De told everything truthfully.

Besides, he didn't know much; he only knew that Kong is now the Abyss Prince, and the Abyss Order's people always refer to themselves as servants when facing him.

Afterwards, Ying returned to Mondstadt with mixed feelings, continuing to participate in the city's post-disaster reconstruction.

And after Te Wa Lin was successfully soothed by Wen Di, the dragon plague that had troubled Mondstadt for a long time was declared completely over by Qin.

Furthermore, she publicly announced Te Wa Lin's identity and explained the cause of the East Wind Dragon's frenzy to the Mondstadt citizens seeking the truth.

After obtaining Wen Di's approval.

Qin also passed on the news that the Wind God had returned.

【The frenzied East Wind Dragon was calmed down personally by the Wind God.】

This news made the entire Mondstadt instantly burst into cheers.

Up to this point.

It can be said that everyone was overjoyed.

Luo De obtained the Gnosis, the dragon plague that had troubled Mondstadt for a long time was resolved, and the truth about Diluc's father's death is no longer being covered up.

The only unfortunate thing.

is the Foolish People still stationed in Mondstadt.

Especially Nü Shi, who is suffering the most.

Although the West Wind Knights and Dawn Winery were jointly applying pressure, at least there were three executives here, so the Foolish People could still maintain their strength.

But as the news of San Bing's serious injury and the Wind God's return—two pieces of bad news—spread.

The advantage of the three executives gathering in Mondstadt vanished instantly.

Especially when Di Lu Ke and the West Wind Knights actually presented evidence suggesting that the Doctor had designed the killing of Ke Li Pu Si back then.

As a Snezhnayan diplomat, Nü Shi had no time to think about how to obtain Wen Di's Gnosis, and moreover had to consider how to respond to Mondstadt's surging public opinion and the dual condemnation from the West Wind Knights and Dawn Winery.

Of course.

She blamed all of this on a certain executive who watched her colleague being besieged but did not lift a hand to help.

For this reason.

After San Bing suffered heavy injuries and was brought back, Nü Shi immediately expelled Gong Zi, forbidding him from interfering in any Mondstadt affairs, and openly said she would report to the Her Majesty the Empress the fact that Gong Zi's abandonment led to the failure of the Mondstadt plan.

Regarding Nü Shi's attitude.

Gong Zi felt no responsibility for the plan's failure at all; on the contrary, as soon as Nü Shi spoke, he hurriedly fled, even abandoning the recovering San Bing.

What made Nü Shi so angry she almost spat blood was.

The expelled Gong Zi went nowhere else but directly sought out Luo De, who could be called the chief culprit, and stood there confidently waiting for a duel with Luo De.

Such shameless behavior—even Nü Shi would jump up and scold.

Luo De could hardly hold himself back.

Even someone as stern as Qin found it both laughable and vexing, not knowing how to handle this.

Just two days ago, everyone was still fighting to the death.

Moreover, his own colleagues were still causing trouble in Mondstadt.

If it were normal thinking, one would have to consider whether the other party would mind past events.

As a result, this Gong Zi just swaggered over, acting all familiar, spending the whole day squatting in front of Luo De, grinning and chattering.

But he remained that way.

Even if he was willing to say a few words to Qin.

Most of the time, however, he just kept chattering on and on with Luo De there, and even if Luo De ignored him, he would still keep babbling nonstop.

"This guy is an arrogant person who only regards those who earn his acknowledgment as friends."

"As for who can earn his acknowledgment,"

"that is naturally strength."

This was Qin's answer when she once again warned Luo De.

While Gong Zi was away.

Luo De told Qin: "You don't need to worry about him; his mission is not to come to Mondstadt to seize the Wind God's entourage or the Wind God's power—he is simply here to help Nü Shi complete her task."

"Now that San Bing has been seriously injured, you have also begun to tightly guard against Nü Shi; her task is basically equivalent to total failure with no room for maneuver."

"So Gong Zi being able to appear here now is no longer treating us as mission targets; she merely wants to have a hearty duel with me."

The words are true.

It's just a bit hurtful.

Luo De clearly explained Gong Zi's reason for ignoring Qin.

That is, Gong Zi thinks Qin is not worthy of fighting him.

Including Ying.

He also thinks that way.

Actually, among the people present.

Besides Luo De, Wen Di and Te Wa Lin are the ones he can look up to.

Only Wen Di explicitly refused his challenge.

"Don't fight, let's settle things with singing and playing music, ending the dispute with poetry, okay?"

After Venti finished speaking, the young lord left, rather uninterested.

Competing with a deity is indeed a very tempting prospect, but singing and playing music—that's not his forte.

It's the same over in Te Walin.

Even if he wanted to compete with the young lord.

But the poison blood in his body had just been purged; even if Venti again bestowed upon him the power of the wind god's clan, his body had not yet fully recovered, making him unsuitable for combat.

So he looked around.

The young lord could only set his sights on Luo De.

Then he patiently waited until Luo De finished all his affairs.

Only then did the two have a fair duel at Star-Plucking Cliff.

No witnesses.

Neither Jean nor Venti had anyone spectating here.

It was just the two of them in a one-on-one duel.

The result was obvious.

Luo De, whom Nadixa had already deemed to be no weaker than the Lady, after devouring the Abyssal poison blood, his strength leapt another great step.

The young lord, whose strength was still not as good as the Lady's, could not withstand Luo De's barrage; even under Luo De's reckless firepower assault, he couldn't even touch the hem of Luo De's clothes.

Such an unequal battle.

The young lord couldn't be bothered to use his Devil King armor, and simply conceded defeat.

Next, the two had another duel purely of martial arts.

This time.

Luo De lost.

Facing the young lord, who was reputed to be skilled in all martial arts, Luo De exhausted all his abilities and could only barely hold his own in archery; with other weapons he suffered crushing defeats.

And archery is the young lord's weakest weapon.

This was expected.

Luo De began systematically studying martial arts, which in total amounted to only a few months.

He could not compare to the young lord, who had trained under the top swordsman Sikeke and had ample combat experience.

Luo De's earlier battles against Te Walin and the scattered soldiers also relied solely on his abundant elemental energy, plus the help of Venti and Jean, leaving him hardly any chance to display his martial arts.

The duel ended with one win and one loss.

This made the young lord very satisfied.

Even his tone when speaking to Luo De became much more intimate.

"Friend, if you ever have the chance to go to Snezhnaya, feel free to come find me."

At the time of parting, the young lord added: "If any other executive comes to trouble you, you can give my name; although it might not be of much use, considering we're colleagues, they might give me some face."

"Thank you."

Luo De laughed and said goodbye to him.

The young lord.

Oh, no, he should now be called Dada Liya.

This guy is a very pure person.

He doesn't distinguish between good and evil.

His mind is filled only with Her Majesty the Empress's orders and the desire to battle strong opponents.

As long as Luo De is not an enemy personally ordered by the Ice Empress, even if he is the person the Lady explicitly named to deal with, Dada Liya has no interest in opposing Luo De.

Quite the opposite.

Through these two duels, Dada Liya's relationship with Luo De became extremely close.

He not only became sworn brothers with Luo De, but also promised to speak up for Luo De if any other executive targeted him.

Just like that.

After an incident that wasn't really an accident, Luo De made another friend in Mondstadt.

(End of chapter)