Chapter 323: Strike

Taking those desert folk who wield evil eyes away from A Ru Cun was still quite easy.

These people were originally the most fervent followers of the Scarlet King.

Although they were somewhat dissatisfied with Luo De, the Scarlet King's emissary, upon hearing that Luo De would take them to live in a new city, they said nothing, immediately packed their bags, bade farewell to their families, and followed him.

Kantisi knew that Luo De was taking them to avoid Duotuo Lei's deception, and she did not say anything to stop them; she only reminded Luo De that, if unnecessary, he should try to preserve their lives as much as possible.

She wasn't worried about anything else.

She was worried that these fervent Scarlet King followers, upon arriving at Hope City, would speak and act recklessly, breaking Hope City's laws.

Given Luo De's nature.

If these guys misbehave, there really could be a chance they won't survive.

"Don't worry."

"These guys are still useful; as long as they are sensible, I will be generous."

Having said that, Luo De and Ying, together with them, set out on the road to Hope City.

These Scarlet King followers who obtained evil eyes are still quite adequate in physical quality.

Even without using transportation such as beast-drawn carts,

they could still keep up closely behind Luo De and Ying, who deliberately slowed their pace.

Of course.

Although they slowed their speed, their speed was still faster than that of a cart or beast of burden.

It only took one day.

They had already covered half the journey.

If nothing unexpected happens.

They will be able to reach Hope City by tomorrow evening.

Night fell.

Those desert folk each pitched a tent, three people per tent, and went to sleep.

Luo De and Ying guarded the campfire.

They were both keeping watch and also unable to sleep.

"How are these people's bodies?"

Ying, who was roasting chicken wings over the fire, asked.

Her voice was not loud.

It was just loud enough for Luo De to hear, without disturbing the others.

And the reason she asked this was

because Ying, during her time in Inazuma, had once come into contact with the Watatsumi Island army stranded on Tatarigami Island, and had seen the soldiers who were maimed beyond human form by the evil eye.

"How should I describe it?"

The evil-eye bearers that Ying saw.

They were clearly only around twenty years old.

Yet, due to the overdraft from long-term use of the evil eye, they became emaciated, thin, and in worse cases, their hair turned white and skin wrinkled, resembling elderly people at a glance, with no trace of their own age left.

It is precisely because she has witnessed the harm of the evil eye.

So, upon knowing that these desert folk in the team had been deceived by Duotuo Lei and had begun using the new-style evil eye, Ying inevitably felt some worry about their mental and physical condition.

"These guys..."

"I've checked them; compared to before, their bodies are actually somewhat stronger."

Luo De idly poked at the stick in his hand, stirring the blazing campfire.

Don't underestimate the harm of the evil eye.

But one cannot discuss toxicity without considering dosage.

The evil eyes of Inazuma are crude, mass-produced weapons made by the Foolish Ones to deceive Watatsumi Island and expand the scale of the Inazuma civil war.

Therefore, the quality of those evil eyes is extremely poor, far inferior to the ones currently used by the elite of the Foolish Ones, by more than just one grade.

And such poor quality.

Brings about a severe backlash when using the evil eye, which can drain a person's vitality completely within two or three months, leading to utter death.

On the contrary,

The evil eyes held by the Scarlet King followers of A Ru Cun were specially researched by Duotuo Lei for the purpose of creating soldier‑people.

Speaking solely of quality,

Not much worse than the evil eyes usable by the elite of the Foolish Ones.

Moreover, because these soldier‑people evil eyes have the ability to infuse elemental energy.

The bodies of these holders, as the elemental energy concentration within them gradually increases, gain a bodily strengthening similar to that of Vision bearers.

Of course.

This is not to say that the soldier‑people evil eye is something good.

Although, in the short term, the influx of elemental energy into the body seems to bring endless benefits to the physique.

But in reality,

According to Duotuo Lei's experimental report,

Such an increase in elemental energy, for the human body, easily triggers various mutations.

For example, elemental disease, an incurable ailment.

However, unlike elemental disease,

The elemental energy increase brought by the soldier‑people evil eye always remains in a controllable state, keeping the elemental concentration within the user's body between the body's tolerance and the increase, so as not to lose control of elemental energy.

Next is the effect of the Archon residue.

According to Lin Ye's observation and the records on the experimental report.

These desert folk who possess puppet-soldier evil eyes can only truly calm down when they hear the name of the Red King; in the remaining time, unless they are facing someone like Luo De, a divine envoy of the Red King, they will not show any particularly good expression to anyone, and their spirits are especially excited and irritable; at the slightest inconvenience, a disagreement will lead them to brawl, and some will even strike to kill, utterly disregarding the camaraderie of fellow villagers.

The precondition for making puppet soldiers controllable is to make them uncontrollable.

Then, by specially controlling these uncontrollable puppet soldiers, a usable weapon is completed.

「Kantisi's worry is correct. 」

「Duotulei makes good use of these people as the radical and rebellious thoughts of the radical faction; don't look at these guys, although they are currently out of fear of me and can still be honest. 」

「Under the influence of the Archon residue, their thoughts have become increasingly difficult to control. 」

「It won't be long. 」

「They will gradually move toward becoming uncontrollable puppet soldiers; then Duotulei will pretend to be the Red King and release something that can control them, and these guys will completely become Duotulei's lackeys, beginning to madly chant the Red King's teachings. 」

Starting from seeing that experimental record, Luo De roughly guessed Duotulei's time of action.

After confirmation by Raiden Ei and Leidianzhen.

Plus Luo De's own inspection.

He has already calculated how much time remains that can be used.

「As short as half a year, as long as around eight months. 」

Due to long-term manipulation of consciousness fragments, Luo De's control over the mind is now far superior to before.

With the amplification of the Thousand Night Floating Dream.

He can easily calculate the time when these puppet soldier reserves will completely lose control.

「Half a year? 」

「Is this time enough? 」

Hearing Luo De say that time, Ying furrowed her brows, her face solemn as she asked.

She knows that the evil eye factory is not easy to find.

Trying to find a factory in the vast expanse, even if the Great Merciful Tree King acts quickly, gathering surveillance and investigation would take considerable time; half a year is actually completely insufficient.

However, Luo De is not worried about this.

Just hear him saying there calmly: 「I have contacted Cyno; once we arrive at Hope City, he will seal the Archon residue on these people. 」

「Cyno? 」

「Oh, is that your senior brother? 」

Ying has seen Cyno in Liyue; regarding that person who claims to be Luo De's senior brother and who can feast heartily at the Insect Banquet as a wolf-headed youth, she is deeply impressed. Unexpectedly, he also has such ability, even being able to seal that Archon residue.

「Hmm. 」

「My student Ke Lai's Archon residue inside is what he sealed. 」

Speaking of this, Luo De suddenly paused, stroking his chin as he began to think.

Cyno's sealing technique is indeed formidable.

Inheriting the legacy of Hemanubisi, it allows him to easily seal even such things as Archon residue, thoroughly suppressing the Archon resentment within, so it cannot excessively affect the host.

But this cannot eradicate the root cause.

A seal is ultimately just a seal.

If one forcibly uses the power within, once the seal is broken, the Archon residue will completely lose control, thereby becoming a servant of the Archon resentment and turning into a bloodthirsty madman.

「Is there any method to remove the Archon residue? 」

Luo De asked this of Leidianzhen.

Asking Raiden Ei about this is useless.

This powerful Electro Archon, asking her about martial arts is okay, but if you ask too much about other things, she also cannot give a definite answer.

As expected.

Just as Luo De finished asking, Leidianzhen gave a method.

「It can be forcibly purged. 」

「Shadow will make dolls. 」

「As long as she prepares in advance dolls with sealing techniques, then from that child's body you mentioned, purging the Archon residue and injecting it into the doll's body can clear the Archon residue. 」

「However, if the person contaminated with Archon residue has too much of it inside, during the purging we must be careful of the Archon resentment running rampant, causing great destruction to the surroundings. 」

「Also. 」

「Because the damage the Archon residue does to the body, especially its impact on lifespan, there's nothing to be done; we can only slowly nurture. 」

Next.

Leidianzhen then explained the method of purging the Archon residue to Luo De.

It's not actually difficult.

It just requires Archon-level power.

Otherwise, lacking equal power to suppress it, during the purging process one is likely to suffer backlash from the Archon residue, and both the purger and the target could possibly be eroded by the Archon resentment, leading to immeasurable consequences.

Luo De listened attentively, then asked a few more difficult points, after which he had a clear idea in mind.

「Luo De? 」

Seeing Luo De silent for a long time, Ying called out to him curiously.

Seeing he still had no reaction.

Paimon then stepped forward and grabbed a handful of Luo De's hair.

「Huh? 」

「Oh. 」

A slight sting brought Luo De back to his senses; after lightly flicking Paimon's head, he smiled and said, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something and zoned out."

"Hmph—"

"Even when talking to Ying, you can zone out—I really don't know what to say about you."

Paimon crossed her arms, gave Luo De a harsh look, then flew to Ying's side and eagerly grabbed the freshly grilled chicken wing.

"Waa—"

Obviously, she forgot that the freshly grilled chicken wing was extremely hot, and immediately she cried out from the burn.

But even though she was burned, she kept sucking in cool air.

She also couldn't bear to put down the chicken wing in her hand.

The comical sight made Luo De and Ying burst out laughing.

Until dawn.

Ying and Luo De, who had not slept all night, set out again with the equally early-rising Red King believers.

Along the way.

I don't know if it's because they've become familiar with Luo De.

These Red King believers are no longer as cautious and fearful as they were at first; instead, they can summon the courage to ask Luo De some questions.

At first, their questions were fine.

They were just simple questions.

For example, what the Red King that Luo De, this Red King's emissary, saw looked like, what the Red King lord's personality is like, and what kind of blessing Luo De received.

Among them, there is no lack of probing intent.

Basically, they just compare the Red King they have seen with the one Luo De saw to see if they are the same.

In this way, they confirm whether Luo De's identity as the Red King's emissary is genuine or not.

To be honest.

This is a very bold act.

Because Luo De's identity as the Red King's emissary was approved by the chief of the desert tribes, who is also a Red King descendant, from A Ru Cun.

Furthermore, the prevailing view in Sumeru currently approves of this.

In other words.

To question this identity.

If they confirm Luo De's identity, that would be fine.

But if they discover that the Red King's identity is problematic, then there will be big trouble.

Once such a subversive fact appears,

The entire desert will erupt in chaos—whether those who trust Luo De, those who don't trust Luo De, or those who came seeking the Red King's bounty because of Luo De's words, all will be thrown into an uproar.

Once such a thing occurs.

Then Luo De will lose lose his speaking authority in the desert, the entire desert will return to the former era of division and turmoil, and completely lose the hope of being united.

Even worse situations.

That is the Duotuolei slice currently regarded as the Red King's image.

He can completely use this opportunity to develop an uncontrollable powerful force in the desert, creating another major threat to the Dendro Archon and Sumeru.

"Hehe—"

For these questions that look simple but are actually very tricky to answer, Luo De revealed a sinister smile.

Seeing him, with the force of thunder, he grabbed the desert dweller who kept asking about the Red King's information, lifted him up, then grinned and said, "How? Do you think that just because you received the Red King lord's bounty, you can be mentioned in the same breath as me? Hmm?"

Luo De's voice was unusually cold, and the gaze in his eyes toward that desert dweller in his hand was also full of cold killing intent.

Since this question is hard to answer,

then let's just keep it simple.

Just take care of those who are asking the questions, and it's done.

In other countries of Teyvat, there might not yet be an overly strict hierarchy.

But in Sumeru, especially in the desert,

the social hierarchy between people is extraordinarily strict.

High-ranking divine retinue have absolute command authority over low-ranking divine retinue, let alone those who are still commoners who have merely received the Red King's bounty.

Luo De, in the crudest and simplest way, directly exerted the dignity that a Red King's emissary should have, causing these commoner-level believers to instantly fall silent, repeatedly begging for mercy: "Emissary lord, spare my life, emissary lord, spare my life, we don't have that intention, we're just, just curious."

"Curious?"

Luo De exerted a little force with his hand, and the questioning believer immediately rolled his eyes, his struggling strength greatly diminished.

Then.

Then Luo De calmly said, "No matter who is stirring you up here to probe my identity, remember this: hierarchy is observed, I am the Red King's emissary, an existence you Red King believers must look up to; if I hear anyone questioning my identity again, I will let you know what the Red King lord's thunderous wrath really is."

(End of chapter)