Chapter 261: The Impact of the Three‑Way Standoff

The day of the god succession ceremony has finally arrived.

As the representative of Sumeru, Luo De was a specially invited guest attending the ceremony together with Nafis and Jules.

Thinking of Granny Ping's warning to Xiangling and Yaoyao.

Actually, Luo De originally thought of just having the other Sumeru people stay in the safe embassy, with his and Nadixa's protection keeping Nafis and Jules safe as well.

But after a second thought,

Granny Ping wasn't at ease with Xiangling and Yaoyao because they were too lively, and with the adepts having no time to watch them, they might accidentally wander into a weakly defended dangerous zone.

Although it wasn't certain that something would happen,

but there was still a chance.

That's why she specifically warned them not to go to the site to watch.

By contrast, Nafis and his group were different.

The viewing spot arranged by the Liyue officials was definitely the safest place; even if other places had breaches, this one certainly could not.

Otherwise,

the high-ranking mortals of all nations in Teyvat are gathered here; if the whole force were wiped out, even ten Liyues couldn't afford such a loss.

Moreover,

If everyone else goes while we only bring a few people, that would also easily invite criticism.

After figuring this out,

Luo De stopped pondering those useless things; whoever wanted to come could come, as long as they didn't stay too far from him.

With that said, dozens of people from Sumeru came over in a mighty throng.

After all, it's a rare god succession ceremony, and nobody wanted to miss the chance.

When the envoys of the surrounding nations saw Luo De appear,

most of them greeted him with a kind smile.

only a few people's faces instantly turned cold, and some even openly gave Luo De a sinister look.

Indeed.

That refers to the Snezhnaya people who have the most grudges against Luo De.

Who knows what the Snezhnaya Empress is thinking.

This time, the ones coming to Liyue are again the Childe and the Lady.

Dadalia is fine, though.

He and Luo De have no grudge; at most, he's a bit disappointed that he couldn't recruit Luo De.

Rosalyn is different, though.

After suffering repeated setbacks, when she returned to report, she was forced to pull out all the covert agents she had painstakingly planted in Liyue herself.

Especially since these covert agents were those of the Ninth Execution Officer, the Rich Person Pantaroni—namely, her subordinate who, despite wearing a smile, had narrow, sinister eyes full of gloom.

It is precisely because of Rosalyn's actions this time.

The Rich Person's many arrangements in Liyue were all forced to fail.

As the purse of Snezhnaya,

Although he knew Rosalyn was forced, he still secretly lowered her activity budget, expressing his dissatisfaction through action, leaving Rosalyn unable to voice her suffering.

Thus, the only hostile gaze directed at Luo De in the whole venue came from those two people full of resentment.

"Huh, did you provoke the Snezhnaya people?"

Nafis is a smart person, and he isn't afraid of any Snezhnaya executioner.

Being naturally fiercely protective of his own, upon sensing the hostility from Rosalyn and Pantaroni, he immediately glared back without hesitation.

Jules did the same, as did Dixiya, Cyno, and even the usually mild-mannered Tighnari, all glaring back at the Snezhnaya people.

Their thoughts differed from Nafis and Jules, who simply help kin without regard for reason.

Snezhnaya conducted extensive human experiments in Sumeru, killing untold Sumeru people and destroying countless families.

Before, when they went to the Chasm together with the Snezhnaya people for scientific research, they went holding their noses, constantly on guard, and with the Lady's ever‑wide mouth, the fact that they didn't fight then was already everyone exercising enough restraint.

Now the Snezhnaya people have displayed such obvious hostility.

Not returning the sentiment would really be hard to justify.

Such blunt hostility from both sides naturally drew the attention of the other nations' envoys as well.

As Sumeru's staunch ally,

at least in Jean's view, Mondstadt is now Sumeru's staunch ally.

Moreover, they are both nations that have suffered at Snezhnaya's hands; just a Doctor alone abducted countless people from Mondstadt, there's the grudge against Clorinde, and during the dragon disaster, because the Lady hindered them, they missed the best chance to soothe Thoma, ultimately causing Mondstadt to suffer huge losses of manpower and wealth.

In comparison,

Luo De helped Mondstadt resolve the dragon disaster, has a close relationship with the Wind God, and as Sumeru's representative signed a heap of cooperation agreements with Mondstadt.

Although the occasion isn't quite appropriate,

but since our staunch allies have clearly shown their stance, both emotionally and logically, Mondstadt must help out here.

Thus,

The Mondstadt side led by Jean directly showed their support for the Sumeru people through action.

One could see them mirroring the Sumeru people's actions, glaring back in kind, and someone even drew their sidearm with a clang, making their posture fully sufficient.

After the Mondstadt side joined in,

the already tense atmosphere immediately grew even more tense.

At the same time, this also made the other nations' envoys more curious.

After all, Mondstadt is a neighbor of Snezhnaya.

The trade between the two countries has always accounted for a large part of Mondstadt's economic structure.

This is also why Mondstadt, even though it knew what Snezhnaya had done before, remained silent and merely endured it.

The consequences of completely breaking ties would be a huge loss that Mondstadt cannot bear.

But now, on Inazuma's viewing platform.

A blue-haired youth in white robes watched the three-way standoff, a constant smile playing at the corner of their mouth, and murmured to themselves: "It seems Sumeru has already snatched away Snezhnaya's share of cooperation with Mondstadt."

The red-haired youth standing beside them exclaimed in surprise: "Given the distance between Mondstadt and Sumeru, that seems unlikely, doesn't it?"

Inazuma's Magistrate, Kamisato Ayato, and their most trusted confidant, Thoma.

They are the envoys sent by Inazuma to attend the ceremony.

Kamisato Ayato is an outstanding individual in terms of personal ability among Teyvat's younger generation.

As the current head of the Kamisato clan, one of Inazuma's three great families, they possess formidable personal strength and are equally a headache for Inazuma's elders in terms of strategy and scheming.

When they assumed the headship.

Due to successive mistakes, the Kamisato clan had already become precarious, while the other two great families eyed it like tigers, ready to devour the helpless Kamisato clan completely.

Yet this was merely an inexperienced youngster whom no one thought highly of.

Yet they displayed a slickness no less than that of old oilers, using various unexpected means to sweep away internal family strife with thunderous force, and in a flash reversed the clan's unfavorable position in politics, successfully steadying the foothold of the tottering Kamisato clan.

However.

Such an outstanding performance also made them a thorn in the flesh of Liyue's other families.

This is why the Magistrate took over the Treasury's duties and came to Liyue to attend the ceremony.

Normally, Inazuma should have sent the head of the Hiiragi family, who heads the Treasury, as that would be most appropriate.

This had been said before.

This time is a rare opportunity to engage in more cooperation with Liyue, and also to sit down with envoys from other countries to discuss matters that usually don't come up.

But the old fogey of the Hiiragi family, together with the head of the Kujo family who heads the Divine Council, jointly selected the person to be sent abroad—Kamisato Ayato, who had nothing to do with this matter.

As for the reason.

They claim that Inazuma is currently in a period of national closure, and that any business negotiations before the Shogun lifts the lockdown are meaningless.

What if the head of the Hiiragi family went instead?

Then, if envoys from other countries discussed these matters with them, wouldn't they end up losing face before the Shogun?

The Kujo family's reason is even more absurd.

They say they need to guard Inazuma's safety and have no time for such occasions.

You, the head of the Kamisato clan, aren't very good at handling such big occasions, so just go.

In short.

The two of them, using various reasons that seemed perfectly reasonable, successfully advised the current ruler of Inazuma, the Raiden Shogun, to appoint Kamisato Ayato as the envoy to Liyue.

However, Kamisato Ayato was not particularly worried about them deliberately sending them away.

Because before departing.

They entrusted all the clan's major and minor affairs to their sister, the White Heron Princess of Inazuma, Kamisato Ayaka.

They still have great trust in their sister's abilities.

At the very least.

Before they return, the family will surely not encounter any major turmoil.

Thus they can rest assured to focus their efforts entirely on matters here in Liyue.

During these days since arriving in Liyue.

They have been constantly navigating among the envoys of various countries.

Although they lack the authority to negotiate, they have gained a deeper understanding of the current situations of various countries compared to before they came.

Heh—

Recalling the previously learned clandestine meetings and vague personal connections between Sumeru and Mondstadt peoples, Kamisato Ayato gazed ahead and continued speaking to Thoma: "You may be underestimating the relationship between Mondstadt and Sumeru."

Underestimated?

They didn't have much interaction before, did they?

Thoma is Kamisato Ayato's most trusted confidant; much of Kamisato Ayato's information still passes through his hands, and given their deep mutual trust, their tone gives no hint of a master-servant relationship.

But Thoma is indeed Kamisato Ayato's intelligence officer behind the scenes.

But Inazuma is, after all, in a state of national closure.

Much of the foreign information has been blocked by the lockdown, so their understanding of Inazuma and Sumeru remains as it was months ago, when the two countries merely maintained normal diplomatic relations.

"Do you think ordinary diplomatic relations would be worth Mondstadt risking a rupture with Snezhnaya to openly support Sumeru?"

Kamisato Ayato crossed their arms, resting them on their chin, and said with interest: "It seems something we don't know about has happened."

"But it's not worth it, is it?"

"Mondstadt and Sumeru are separated by Liyue; no matter how you look at it, that wouldn't be cost-effective."

Thoma asked, bewildered: "Could they have achieved some kind of cooperation there that outweighs Snezhnaya?"

"Not ruled out."

Kamisato Ayato also agreed with this saying: "I met Luo De once; they are an interesting person, speaking with great force, but that force masks their unprofessional conversational skills."

"Masked?"

Thoma blinked and looked toward their master.

"Hmm."

"They seem to have only recently come into contact with such authority; their conversational skills are severely lacking, and they actually don't understand many diplomatic terms, so they rely on not listening, not speaking, not explaining, just stubbornly pushing their demands—if you agree, you agree; if you disagree, they at most bargain with you twice and then it's over."

Recalling the scene of their earlier conversation, Kamisato Ayato smiled helplessly and said: "Luo De gives me the feeling of an ordinary person haggling at a market stall."

After a strange description.

Shenli Linren let out a soft sigh: "But people who don't follow the rules are really hard to deal with."

What do you mean?

Did Mondstadt accept his strength?

Tuoma roughly understood what Shenli Linren wanted to say.

It's also possible he isn't that strong toward Mondstadt.

Shenli Linren looked odd and said: "Or perhaps, when facing Mondstadt, he doesn't need such strength."

Is it not needed?

This.

This made Tuoma's eyes narrow involuntarily: "Is their relationship really that close?"

Quite possible.

Shenli Linren shifted his gaze back, shook his head, put the matter to rest in his heart, and stopped making further guesses.

Such discussions were taking place among the envoys of other countries as well.

Don't think it's just simple opposition between Mondstadt's support for Sumeru and Snezhnaya's people.

Considering the ultra-long distance between these two countries.

Anyone with a keen sense of smell should start treating this matter cautiously and carefully consider the diplomatic policy toward these two countries.

Brother Alliance.

This is a very old and unfamiliar name.

Yet it is also an alliance that, whenever it appears, must be taken seriously.

There's no other reason.

Countries that have formed the Brother Alliance not only have extremely close economic cooperation, but when one side encounters difficulties, the other will likewise offer unconditional support.

Although no one wants to believe that these two countries could achieve such an outrageous cooperative relationship, Qin's statement at such an important occasion forces even the doubtful to believe.

Amid the clamor of discussion.

The two executives of Snezhnaya didn't even glance at Qin, instead staring intently at Luo De.

The only outsider, Dadalya, was caught in the middle, sitting uncomfortably as if nails were stuck in his buttocks.

The standoff among the three parties brought an eerie and oppressive atmosphere.

After Ningguang appeared.

It suddenly dissipated in the cold, unanimous voices.

The three factions, who just moments ago seemed ready to fight over a glance, all sat down as if nothing had happened.

Aside from Luo De giving Qin a nod, no one else exchanged any glances; their expressions were so normal that one couldn't tell what they had just done.

Since all three parties gave face like this, it naturally made Ningguang unable to say anything.

After that, having swept over the faces of the people of the three nations one by one.

The spokesperson of the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing then loudly announced the start of the divine succession ceremony.

(End of chapter)