Chapter 329

It's possible that Duotuo Lei himself never even thought of that.

They are clearly his fragments, even their self‑designations are the same name.

Yet a two‑faced traitor has appeared, wanting to break free from the other fragments.

This can also be considered an unexpected joy.

Moreover, with that list that can eliminate the hidden danger of Hope City, Luo De can also go to the desert with peace of mind to search for that deceitful fragment.

Once everything is arranged, even if I am not there, it will be enough to handle any sudden incidents in the city.

Luo De then set out.

Although he and the Great Merciful Tree King have been plotting how to disguise himself as the Red King.

But this does not conflict with dealing with that fake Red King fragment.

Self‑verification is self‑verification.

Not letting anyone affect one's self‑verification at that time is the most important.

However, Luo De also did not believe the words of that child fragment.

It could be that they used a genuine list and a pitiful act to gain his trust, then arranged several fragments to ambush him; that is not impossible.

Luo De has witnessed Duotuo Lei's scheming ability more than once.

Therefore, no matter what, he will never fully believe that child fragment's one‑sided account.

Out of a cautious mindset.

When Luo De found that ruin, he did not storm in openly; instead, he kept watch from a wind‑eroded rock outside the ruin.

Luo De was very careful.

He worried that he might not conceal his trail well, so he also asked Leidian Zhen for help, completely masking his presence and aura, so he could better monitor the situation inside the ruin.

After waiting like that for several days.

Luo De and Leidian Zhen, who never saw Duotuo Lei appear, finally caught a small opportunity.

Outside the ruin, a squad of Foolish People's soldiers arrived.

It was still a squad of acquaintances.

"Ninth Battalion?"

"How did they end up here?"

This Foolish People's squad that came to deliver supplies is precisely the Ninth Battalion that Luo De had once encountered deep beneath the Liyue Chasm.

Luo De stroked his chin, looking at those several Foolish People's soldiers with weary, bitter faces, and suddenly realized.

"These guys seem to have been assigned another unfriendly mission."

Luo De finished muttering.

Leidian Zhen then asked: "Do you know them?"

"Hmm."

Luo De nodded, briefly recounted what had happened back then beneath the Liyue Chasm, and then said: "These guys are quite pitiful; their heads are full of the grand justice of Teyvat, yet they are always used as pawns by their superiors."

"Indeed, they are a pitiful bunch."

"So what do you mean now?"

"You think these people are good, so you don't want to use them?"

Leidian Zhen is not as friendly as her appearance suggests; in fact, she has a bit of a dark side.

Using the Foolish People's squad to deliver supplies was originally a plan devised jointly by her and Luo De.

So seeing that Luo De seemed to have the intention of giving up, she couldn't help but ask.

"No."

Luo De shook his head: "Since we know them, it's actually easier to talk."

Having said that.

Luo De took out the Thousand‑Night Floating Dream, gave a hehe laugh, and said: "Originally I wanted to catch a few tongues to get some information or sneak into the ruin, but now it's great—having these guys around, I can simply pose as another acquaintance and infiltrate more smoothly."

As for who that acquaintance is.

Leidian Zhen soon found out.

By borrowing the power of the Thousand‑Night Floating Dream, when Luo De arrived before the Ninth Battalion, in the soldiers' eyes he had already become the likeness of Tartaglia.

"Sir, Young Master, what are you doing here!?"

Upon seeing Luo De, disguised as Tartaglia, appear, the resting soldiers immediately stood and gave a Snezhnayan military salute.

"The clown said the Doctor ran into some trouble over in Sumeru and wants me to come help."

Luo De imitated Tartaglia's way of speaking and complained: "This desert is too huge, the clown didn't give me a map, and after wandering for days I still don't know where the Doctor's secret base is."

Speaking.

He wore an expression as if he'd just recalled something, raising his brows and said, "Right, how did you end up here?"

We're here to deliver supplies to Doctor.

The officer in charge replied.

But his expression didn't match the trust in his words; he kept eyeing Luo De scrutinizingly.

Although the Fatui executors also cooperate, normally the soldiers below should have been notified.

If the young master was arranged by the clown to assist the Doctor.

Then, logically speaking.

Someone should have informed them of this.

But the problem now is.

The Ninth Company hadn't received such notice, and no one knew why the young master would suddenly appear so deep in the desert.

Just as that officer was preparing to have his subordinates send a message to confirm the young master's identity.

Luo De opened his mouth and asked: "Andong, when you last returned to Snezhnaya, did Gongji give you trouble over the mission failure?"

Upon hearing this,

Andong's body suddenly stiffened, and he trusted the young master's identity a bit more.

The matter of the mission failure had to be traced back to the Layered Rock Abyss.

Back then, if it weren't for Dada Liya arriving in time and pulling them out of the mire, the Ninth Company's mission would actually have been a complete failure.

Therefore, afterwards they distributed rewards based on merit.

Their Ninth Company not only had no merit, but actually bore the blame for the mission failure.

Only those who knew about this.

Besides their direct superior Gongji, only the young master had been helping them.

"Reporting to Young Master, Gongji only demoted our duties by one rank, without any other punishment, and our duty station was changed to Xu Mi."

Andong's face showed a hint of guilt as he lowered his head.

Although Gongji did not punish them for desertion, and even comforted them about the complex situation of the Layered Rock Abyss, the Ninth Company's defeat was completely understandable.

But the more he said that,

the more these surviving soldiers of the Ninth Company felt guilty and believed they had completely betrayed Gongji's trust.

As for their such performance,

Luo De curled the corner of his mouth into a slight smile, glanced over, and asked a youth holding a firearm: "Hey, Nikola, are you feeling better?"

"Sir, I'm already better."

The youth whom Luo De called Nikola scratched his head and said embarrassedly.

Back when they were in the Layered Rock Abyss.

Because the Ninth Company encountered an attack by Abyss-tainted relic guardians, their company commander also fell in battle at that time.

So in order to protect the other members of the company,

Nikola then volunteered, luring that relic guardian away alone, and nearly died in a hidden cave.

Later, it was Dada Liya who found him.

And the Abyssal taint on his body was also cleared with Luo De's help, as requested by Dada Liya.

Thus, Luo De knows everything about his situation.

At this moment.

A hooded woman beside Nikola snorted displeasedly: "Just knowing how to play the hero; if it weren't for the Young Master, the Hearth's grave would have a cenotaph for you."

"Hehe." The speaker was Nikola's sister; facing her criticism, he couldn't refute, could only give a hehe laugh, trying to gloss over the matter.

"Katrina, you too; just coming back alive is fine, don't be too harsh on Nikola."

"Besides."

"Nikola is willing to sacrifice himself to save others; you should praise him, even though he's a bit overconfident, but he indeed saved everyone, right?"

Luo De's words got the surrounding soldiers nodding repeatedly.

And his behavior of joking and chatting old times with the Katrina siblings also made the Ninth Company's new company commander Andong completely at ease.

These are all secrets of the Ninth Company and the Young Master.

Since the visitor knows this so clearly, it shows he is indeed the Young Master himself, not some monster disguising as him.

Such trust.

In return, Andong voluntarily proposed to take Luo De to the ruins.

Walking along the endless yellow sand road.

Gazing at the ever-closer ruins, Luo De chatted heatedly with the Ninth Company's soldiers while saying to the Electro Archon: "How is it? My method went smoothly, right?"

"Just didn't expect you to do it like this."

"The Electro Archon laughed: Given your personality, I thought you'd use something even more crude and direct."

"Too crude a method is easily detected."

"Luo De slightly shook his head: You said that earlier—are you sure it's set up? Won't it be damaged by someone or something else?"

Luo De said.

It was a teleportation array that the Electro Archon proactively proposed to build.

This thing in Teyvat counts as high-end gear, and only a very few people can set it up.

The Electro Archon is one of them.

Coincidentally, Wanjie can serve as the key and carrier for the teleportation array.

The only pity is.

Because he lacks a body, the Electro Archon can only place the focus of this teleportation array near the ruins, unable to go too far.

Luo De calculated and thought it's about enough.

Provided that the teleportation array's destination isn't destroyed by some sudden accident.

"Definitely no problem."

"The Electro Archon, however, is full of confidence: I've arranged a protective barrier infused with Electro Archon power there; unless someone with ulterior motives shows up, there definitely won't be any problem."

"Then it's fine."

Seeing her full of confidence, Luo De also felt much more at ease.

Dealing with Dottore is not an easy task.

So the only people who came this time are himself and the Electro Archon; others, including Ying who could contend a bit with an Archon-level being, did not follow.

This is just in case Dottore has an ambush here; if so, he can flee quickly on his own.

While chatting and walking.

The Ninth Brigade had already brought Luo De to the entrance of the ruins, and after exchanging the password with the guarding Foolish Ones soldiers, they entered the ruins.

"Huh?"

"Mechanism activated?"

As soon as he entered, Luo De's brows furrowed.

The ruins chosen by Duo Tuolei are extremely huge.

Even among all the excavated Red King ruins in the desert, it is one of the largest in area.

As everyone knows.

The larger the Red King ruins, the more numerous and complex the mechanisms inside.

What's more,

Duo Tuolei, not knowing what method he used, actually activated the mechanisms in these ruins.

"Fortunately, I found someone to guide us."

Luo De secretly felt relieved.

Judging from the fact that the mechanisms at the entrance have already been activated,

The number of mechanisms activated in these ruins is likely not small; perhaps even the main mechanism with the greatest power has already been activated.

If one were to recklessly barge in,

Even with Luo De's body and ability, resisting the mechanisms head-on would be no problem.

But doing so would surely alert Duo Tuolei, giving him advance preparation to deal with me.

The Ninth Brigade is an excellent guide.

With them leading the way, Luo De not only became familiar with the ruins' defenses but also avoided triggering any mechanisms, smoothly penetrating deep into the ruins.

Upon entering the true interior of the ruins, Luo De saw a gigantic statue glowing with fluorescence.

"Hiss—"

"What is this?"

Luo De's pupils contracted sharply.

He was extremely familiar with the fluorescence on this statue.

It was exactly the same as the Red King Divine Envoy statue in A Ru Cun.

"Power of Faith."

"He really did produce a Power of Faith."

Leidian Zhen affirmed Luo De's thought.

"This is the Power of Faith."

Unlike the Power of Faith in A Ru Cun that Luo De can draw upon at any time, this Power of Faith is not Duo Tuolei's.

It belongs to the Red King.

"The Power of Faith obtained by falsely posing as the Red King—looks like he can't use it himself."

Luo De stroked his chin, his gaze fixed on that Red King statue.

Speaking of which, it's really a kind of hellish joke.

Obviously the Power of Faith that Duo Tuolei obtained for himself, but because he used the Red King's identity, these Powers of Faith actually belong to the deceased Red King.

And it works on the same principle as that statue in A Ru Cun.

This statue, designed to draw divine Power of Faith, indirectly snatched it from Duo Tuolei.

"Whoosh—"

"Good thing he can't use these Powers of Faith."

Luo De, having experienced the Power of Faith, still has plenty to say about it.

A slice capable of impersonating a god is undoubtedly of Archon level.

If Duo Tuolei of such strength were to gain the boost from the Power of Faith, then even without setting any ambushes, Luo De could not be his match.

Since we know that Duo Tuolei cannot use this Power of Faith,

then Luo De's focus shifts to whether there are more slices lying in ambush within the ruins.

However, just as Luo De wanted to continue deeper into the ruins,

The guide, An Dong, stopped walking and said with difficulty, "Young Master, I can't go any further inside; that's the Doctor's laboratory, and entering without permission would earn his punishment."

"Oh, thank you for your trouble."

Luo De said nothing, lifted his foot, and walked in himself.

He paid close attention to every corner; the range of the Thousand Nights Floating Dream's ability was also maintained, never lapsing, and with Leidian Zhen also keeping watch, no place where one could hide escaped their search.

When Luo De finally arrived before Duo Tuolei's laboratory,

he was already certain.

There are no ambushes in these ruins; only that deceitful slice is here causing trouble.

This discovery made Luo De feel more at ease; he directly pushed open the laboratory door, facing off from a distance with the Duo Tuolei slice wearing white work clothes and the signature mask, amidst many experimental staff.

(End of Chapter)