Chapter 327: That Child

After a lively night.

After setting the fire, Dixiya and Youla immediately switched to work mode, and Cyno, who had come for questioning, all flopped onto their chairs without hiding their fatigue.

"You really know how to find work for me."

Exhausted Cyno complained: "The people you threw at me a couple days ago, I just finished dealing with the Archon's resentment on them, and today you've dumped all this work on me again."

By rights.

Arson cases aren't within Cyno's jurisdiction.

But several of the places Luo De burned yesterday were sites the Academy had invested in.

So he had to personally handle it.

Just a few days ago I exhausted myself setting up the formation to deal with that huge crowd of Desert Folk infected by the Archon's resentment, and just as I was hoping to rest properly for a night, this matter dragged me running east and west.

This made Cyno involuntarily complain again: "Next time you plan something, give me a heads‑up so I can prepare."

Hehe.

Luo De scratched his head, offering no defense for himself.

This was indeed his oversight.

He forgot that the places he planned would fall under Cyno's jurisdiction, and then caused this big mix‑up.

But it's all right.

It just stirred up Cyno a bit more, without alarming too many others, so the initial goal was temporarily achieved.

"Using investigation as an excuse to drag all these people in for questioning—what a wicked idea you came up with."

Recalling the people he had taken away that morning, Cyno couldn't help but shake his head again.

Many of the people Luo De singled out and abducted covered every aspect of Hope City, including not a few Academy officials, and many Desert Folk were also taken away.

In name only.

Taking these people away was supposedly just to gather leads on the arson case, but following the clues Luo De had provided beforehand, a night‑long raid turned up that each of them bore some responsibility related to the arson or other incidents, the most serious of which even involved treason and blasphemy against the gods.

Now the city became even livelier.

The arson fire itself already covered a sizable area, and then with so many people taken away for questioning and not returning, Hope City was instantly filled with a tense atmosphere.

Of course.

This was aimed at those with guilty consciences.

The commoners went on as they always had.

The construction sites under building weren't delayed either; only the Academy and the school had a number of people absent from reporting today.

What a pity.

"That guy still didn't show up."

Although part of the intended goal was achieved, Duotuorei swallowed his anger and stayed hidden, leaving Luo De inevitably a little disappointed.

"Want to check out the Foolish Ones' factory?"

Cyno, aware that Luo De was looking for the Foolish Ones' executive, thought for a moment and then made a suggestion.

The Snezhnaya‑supported industrial zone lies on the outskirts of Hope City.

That site was personally planned by Nadixa.

Moreover, this Snezhnaya industrial area is still under construction, with large numbers of Foolish Ones troops and technicians stationed inside.

It also makes sense that Cyno hid Duotuorei's slices here.

But Luo De shook his head: "He's not there."

Cyno could think of this, and the Great Merciful Tree King surely had already thought of it.

So she deliberately made an excuse to take a turn around the industrial zone.

What a pity.

There, not only were no traces of Duotuorei's slices found, but even the usually restless Foolish Ones troops were earnestly obeying Sumeru's laws, staying put properly in the industrial area with no intention of meddling in the city.

Cyno and the others didn't know about this.

But Luo De was well aware.

Compared to the homework‑doing Nadixa, the Great Merciful Tree King is a standard practitioner who insists on personally trying anything first.

This is also the source of the suspect list in Luo De's hand.

"What now?"

"Besides setting fires, do you have any other tricks?"

Youla, having rested enough, asked another question.

Her face still showed fatigue, but her eyes were full of excitement.

This sort of crying 'thief!' while being the thief herself made her especially happy, to the point that her words still carried the tone of wanting to do it again.

"For now there are no other action plans."

Luo De doused her with cold water, saying: "We caught a lot of people this time, the Yang Plot's expected target is basically achieved, and Duotuorei, having lost many lackeys, will surely lay low for a while and not cause any big commotion—you just keep doing your daily work as usual; as for other matters, we can leave them alone for now."

"All right."

Youla rose disappointedly, shouldered her sword, yawned, and hurried away.

After she left.

Cyno and Dixiya also followed suit and left.

They still needed to continue interrogating the people Luo De had marked, using whatever means—even if it meant fabricating evidence through false accusations—so that these people could not return to their original posts.

After everyone had left, only Luo De remained.

He leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into the mental space.

Outside matters are outside matters.

He had never delayed the progress of repairing Lei Dian Zhen.

Even at his busiest, he still spent a couple of hours each day repairing it.

The progress was slow, but only slightly.

But with Luo De's strength surging repeatedly and his tireless day-and-night labor, today only a final point of Lei Dian Zhen's consciousness remains to be repaired for it to be complete.

"I've prepared the things for you."

Before conducting the final repair work, Luo De showed Lei Dian Zhen something.

This was handed to him by Raiden Ei.

A fan-shaped ornament.

Lei Dian Zhen's relic.

It needs no special modification; it naturally has the ability to preserve consciousness, just like being single-minded about a dream.

"I didn't expect you to still have such a treasure."

Luo De sighed.

The name of this head ornament is Myriad Tribulations; it was the key Lei Dian Zhen used to borrow the power to transcend five hundred years of time from the Time Executor.

At the same time, it has always been hidden in the One Mind Pure Land.

Before Lei Dian Zhen awoke, this head ornament had always been kept by Raiden Ei personally.

Using one's own thing to preserve one's own consciousness is indeed perfectly appropriate.

Unfortunately,

After Raiden Ei used the power of Myriad Tribulations to cross five hundred years and plant the Divine Cherry Tree, the power of Myriad Tribulations was completely exhausted; now it only functions as an ornament, with not even a trace of attack power left.

The only praiseworthy point is that

It is simply that this object is a divine artifact with extremely strong defensive power, so solid that even if Luo De used Piercing Rainbow, he couldn't leave the slightest mark on it.

"We're about to begin."

"Are you ready?"

Before taking action, Luo De routinely asked a question.

After receiving an affirmative reply,

Luo De then began to gather the final fragments and fuse them together.

At the same time.

The condensed form of Lei Dian Zhen's consciousness also became more substantial, appearing about to become as clear as Luo De's consciousness, turning into a near-physical clear shape.

Luo De's progress was very fast.

The thunder and lightning that once gave him countless headaches now, when striking him, could no longer stir even a ripple; as long as his mental endurance could bear the consumption, he could continue to persist. Just like that.

About an hour passed.

Lei Dian Zhen, who had once been torn into fragments and only preserved by various means, was finally reassembled by Luo De using his own method after several months.

With the final fragment pieced together,

The electric light filling the sky shifted with thunderous speed onto Lei Dian Zhen's body, while outside Hope City the clouds suddenly thickened, and lightning snakes surged back and forth between the cloud layers.

The sudden phenomenon quickly caused an uproar among the city's residents.

Hope City has weather forecasts.

The specific procedure is that scholars of the Bright Theory School at the Academy each day, upon reaching five in the afternoon, would send people to post the weather changes observed from the star phenomena on various bulletin boards, so that city residents could prepare in advance for the next day's weather changes.

Although most of the forecast content is simply 'tomorrow will be sunny,' it is still somewhat useful for the city's residents when artificial rain occurs.

It is precisely because of this,

When Lei Dian Zhen's consciousness was perfected, the celestial changes it triggered immediately filled the city with curses.

Right now is the season for drying grain.

Hope City, relying on its abundant water and fertile land, let the desert folk inside see for the first time what a bountiful harvest is.

Especially those desert tribes that first entered the city.

They were the earliest to respond to Luo De's call, coming to Hope City to farm, and in doing so they had many conflicts with the other residents.

After months of hard work.

All for this great harvest now.

With the help of farming tools borrowed from the Academy, these desert folk harvested the grain in the fields at the fastest speed, and under the guidance of the Life Theory School scholars, they adopted a rotating planting method and sowed several other crops with slightly lower yields.

But that is a story for later.

Now these desert folk only know one thing.

That their grain has not yet dried, and if this rain, not in the forecast, were to fall, it would all be destroyed.

Thus, many nearly identical scenes appeared within Hope City.

They were all dark-skinned desert folk frantically rushing toward their own grain fields.

As for their original work, no one attends to it anymore.

Fortunately,

The heavy rain that seemed destined to destroy everything ultimately did not fall, and those terrifying black clouds and lightning gradually dissipated.

This minor disturbance,

also slowly returned to normal afterward.

Luo De, who had been watching the city's situation, played with Myriad Tribulations in his hand and said, "Look at the mess you've caused."

To be frank,

When the phenomenon appeared in Hope City, Luo De was also startled.

He had thought that Lei Dian Zhen's revival would cause some commotion, but he never imagined it could reach this extent, being even more lively than when the Great Merciful Tree King recovered.

Consider yourself fortunate.

My powers are now mostly in my shadow form; otherwise, if it were the me from before, even if I deliberately suppressed them, this rain would be enough for three days and three nights.

Leidian Zhen struck back at Luo De forcefully.

She is, after all, the first Electro Archon among the many Archons of Teyvat.

Even if she is not skilled in combat.

That merely means she is not skilled in martial arts.

Speaking of divine power reserves, authority might, and faith power, Leidian Zhen is far stronger than the Great Merciful Tree King.

She wasn't boasting.

Such divine power and ability bring her the grand momentum befitting the Electro Archon's revival.

You seem quite proud.

Luo De angrily tapped Ten Thousand Calamities.

Hehe.

It's been a long time since I felt this free; I can't help but feel excited.

Leidian Zhen gave a snicker, her voice full of delight, then her tone turned serious: 'Do you have time? Take me around again; I'm not the same as when I was in your consciousness space. If I can encounter a fragment of Duotuolei, I should be able to recognize it.'

Oh?

This good news made Luo De raise an eyebrow; without wasting a second, he shoved Ten Thousand Calamities into his arms and hurried to the streets of Hope City.

Next.

The two went from alleys to main streets, passing shops and skyscrapers, leaving no place where people could be seen unchecked.

This time.

Luo De manipulated the wind elemental energy with exquisite control, drifting around the city while listening.

This wasn't like before when I was showing people around.

At this speed, in just one afternoon they covered a quarter of Hope City, having personally checked over tens of thousands of people.

By nightfall.

Hope City's constant flow of people made job hunting very troublesome.

Luo De and Leidian Zhen, who were already continuing the search, found that this approach would easily miss many people.

So they went back to rest.

Such mechanical searching continued for three full days.

Luo De and Leidian Zhen had almost covered all of Hope City, leaving only a final area unsearched.

Surely it's not really in the Pure Virtue Palace, is it?

Looking at the Academy's branch campus and its surrounding derived buildings, Luo De's first thought was the New Pure Virtue Palace inside the Academy.

There's nothing to be done.

That place is indeed too special, and it also has the advantage of being dark right under the lamp; just as Luo De reacted when he first heard Dixiya suspect that Duotuolei was hiding in the Pure Virtue Palace, his reaction would have been impossible.

But even if there was a suspect target.

Luo De still went through each place one by one in order.

Luo De had been to every place: the Research Institute, the Plantation Garden, the Breeding Area, and the Cultivation Area.

But when he entered the school run by the Academy, the ever-silent Leidian Zhen finally spoke.

There's something odd here.

I'm not sure; go in and have a look.

Upon hearing that,

Luo De froze, his pupils contracting: 'You say Duotuolei's fragment is hidden here?'

I'm not sure.

Leidian Zhen said: 'I merely sensed that the aura here is somewhat strange; it seems something uncomfortable is hidden here.'

Having said that much.

Even if what's hidden here isn't Duotuolei, for the sake of the children's safety here, Luo De must find it.

One class.

Two classes.

Luo De passed the class where Tade La was, passed the other children's classes, and when he reached the room where Ke Lai was, Leidian Zhen spoke again: 'The aura here is strongest; it should be here, but I can't precisely tell which person it is—you'll have to find it yourself.'

But Luo De's response was a furrowed brow and a shake of the head.

There's no need for that.

I know who it is.

Having said that,

Luo De's gaze fell on a child among the teachers.

He had looked over the data.

This child consistently ranked first in all subjects and had a decisive advantage over Ke Lai.

(End of chapter)