Chapter 378

Luo De's outfit was crafted from the memories of the Great Merciful Tree King, and the Red Sand Staff was borrowed from Cyno.

Such an appearance.

From afar.

Compared to the Red King's image in records, it is extremely hard to tell apart with the naked eye.

When Luo De's face cannot be seen clearly.

At a glance, one would mistake him for the Desert God Red King who once stirred up storms in Sumeru.

The reaction of the Sumeru people also fully confirms this.

Whether rainforest folk or desert folk, anyone who has heard of the Red King truly believes that the Red King, like the Flower God, has returned to Sumeru.

The most excited among them.

Naturally, it is that group of desert folk who once received the Red King's grace in A Ru Cun.

This includes scholars like Saitalei, the guards and villagers of A Ru Cun, and the radical desert folk who later settled in A Ru Cun.

They merely, although fervently, believed that the Red King had awakened.

Yet a considerable number of desert folk still do not believe this.

The conservative faction, which has always opposed them, openly rejects their claims, firmly believing that the Red King is utterly dead and could never reappear; these radical factions are merely fabricating lies to sabotage the desert‑rainforest reconciliation, using the Red King's name to fulfill their petty desires.

Moreover, the conservative faction is of the sort that keeps arguing even after their mouths are burned away.

Even when these radical factions showed the Vision granted by the Red King and various miracles, they still never ceased their doubtful attitude.

Thus.

If not for Kantisi holding them back, the two factions would have already beaten each other's brains out.

Fortunately, Kantisi is strong enough.

In the face of absolute strength, the two factions, no matter how they vie behind the scenes, must put on a show of harmony and friendliness when Kantisi is present.

But both Kantisi and Luo De know.

Relying solely on such force, it is hard to suppress the long‑accumulated contradictions of the two factions.

This is also where the desert folk feel most helpless and troubled.

At first, the Academy's exploitation and oppression of the desert had reached the point of not treating desert people as humans, yet this group still fought among themselves, and it was that kind of fierce internal strife with no room for compromise.

Such a lack of unity.

The upshot is that after all these years, even though the desert now looks harmonious under the Dendro Archon and Luo De's suppression, deep down it remains a scene of dire suffering.

This problem.

And it peaked at the instant Luo De, disguised as the Red King, appeared.

Almost—no, all the radical desert folk have now erupted, cheering and shouting, not even sparing the nearby Apep, loudly singing that once the Red King arrives, any dragon will have to bow at his feet.

This confidence comes from the tale of the Red King's first encounter with the Seven Sages' Dragon, Apep.

Thus, their confidence in the Red King, while they celebrate, also drives them to wildly mock and provoke other factions, stirring up hatred.

Needless to say, the conservatives.

As longtime rivals.

When the radicals rise, the first to be blamed, without a doubt, are them.

The heavenly battle has not yet been decided.

The underground battle has just begun.

The radical desert folk average one person shouting three times; aside from not gaining the upper hand physically, they dominate in verbal sparring.

Moreover, they haven't even considered fighting the conservatives, or, for the sake of appearances, given up on winning people over with reason.

They didn't come to blows.

Simply because Kantisi is patrolling around.

This guardian, who is usually gentle and always smiling, warned them before heading to Xu Mi Cheng.

【On the Flower God's Birth Festival, no one is allowed to cause trouble; otherwise, if they think they've lost the Academy's aid quota this year, then when they return to A Ru Cun, Kantisi will hang all those who caused trouble and send them to the wind-eroded sands to feed the scorpions.】

Such threatening words.

Plus, Kantisi herself is present here.

Thus, the two factions are only fierce in words, with no actual action whatsoever.

It's the moderates caught between them who are far from merely annoyed.

They now just want to know.

As for that Red King in the heavens, is he truly the Red King?

As for the battle between conservatives and radicals, they don't want to watch and can't be bothered to care.

These desert folk who have completely abandoned faith.

They believe in no god, firmly convinced they can carve out a place for themselves in the desert by their own strength.

But the more they hold such a notion.

When they see the gods of Xu Mi appearing one after another, they still realize a very serious problem.

That is picking a side.

When there are no gods.

The moderates survive in the crack between conservatives and radicals, and even, thanks to the atheistic argument, have won more privileges for themselves.

However, when the gods appear.

Even atheists must necessarily choose a side.

There's no way around it.

Gods are gods.

Even just relying on their own followers, it is a terrifying power that the moderate faction cannot match.

The era of the Dendro Archon.

By exploiting the Academy's imprisonment of the Dendro Archon and its oppression of the desert, the moderate faction secured extremely high benefits for itself.

But when the desert's deity appeared, especially the desert people's deity, the Red King,

Panic had already inevitably arisen among the moderate faction's people.

They had no intention of intervening in the verbal clash between the conservative and radical factions.

Their current situation.

They just wanted to understand one thing.

That is, they wondered whether the Red King in the heavens was real or fake.

At this moment,

They hoped even more than all the desert people present that the heavenly figure was a fake, not the returning Red King who would lead Sumeru back to glory again.

The same sounds of discussion and controversy.

They also spread among the rainforest people's and other nations' guest seats.

However, the rainforest people were more supportive of the host.

The Red King's reputation.

That, in Sumeru, could be said to be the most resonant of all.

Anyone who is a Sumeru person knows the worth of this one who is called the strongest deity of Sumeru.

To put it bluntly.

Once the Red King returns,

With his strength, crushing the Dendro Archon and the Flower God is completely a foregone conclusion.

Unlike those moderates who oppose the Red King's return out of self-interest,

The rainforest people do not want the Red King to return, simply because they fear renewed warfare; when that happens, the rainforest region will be unable to withstand a single blow, letting the desert people become Sumeru's rulers.

This is not baseless worry.

But because in Sumeru's legends,

The Red King fell because he was ambushed by their Dendro Archon, the Great Merciful Tree King.

This is an irreconcilable grudge. So if the returning deity truly is the Red King, what will the rainforest region do?

Unlike the vigilance or cheers of these Sumeru locals,

The guests of the Seven Archons all had solemn expressions.

Including the Mondstadt people who are on good terms with Luo De.

Anyone could imagine.

The second deity of Sumeru, the Flower God, has already returned, and yet a Red King has also returned—the legendary strongest Archon of Sumeru.

"Wait—"

Just as Jean and Diluc were discussing whether to adjust their strategy for Sumeru, and also whether to visit Luo De again after the ceremony to have a good talk, Kaeya suddenly exclaimed.

Always carefree and easygoing, with a perpetual smirk, he now wore an expression of disbelief as he looked at the 'Red King' attacking Apep in the sky, and asked doubtfully: 'Take a close look—is that Luo De?'

"Luo De?"

Upon hearing that name, Jean and Diluc both froze, then immediately turned their heads in unison toward the 'Red King'.

After a careful observation.

Although they still couldn't clearly see the heavenly figure's formation, from the multiple elemental energies' combat style and habitual movements, that person was Luo De! 'He is the Red King?'

Diluc and Jean exchanged glances, then found it hard to remain calm, daring not to say: 'He is actually the Red King?'

"Looks like"

"It should be him, no mistake."

Jean recalled what Luo De had done during the time she had known him.

Immediately after.

She suddenly widened her eyes, thinking of something.

"He and the Wind God originally addressed each other as friends."

"When we were all desperately searching for the Wind God to no avail, it was he who told us the Wind God's true identity!"

Jean felt she had grasped the truth, her eyes lighting up as she said: 'Exactly, that's it—it's because he is the Red King that he is so close to the Wind God, and thus he disregarded the Wind God's wishes to relay his news to us!'

"."

Kaeya turned his head speechlessly, then looked again at the sky.

Jean's reasoning doesn't hold up.

Moreover, according to his observation, Luo De, when he first arrived in Mondstadt, was absolutely just a human, and he is now very likely pretending to be the Red King.

Turning his gaze to the desert people who were about to clash, Kaeya narrowed his eyes in realization: 'Is it because of this? So he had no choice but to pretend to be the Red King? What painstaking effort.'

"And if that's the case,"

Kaeya then glanced at Apep, who seemed to be fighting fiercely but actually offered no resistance.

His suspicion grew ever more confirmed.

The muttering Kaeya.

He did not share his deduction with Jean and Diluc.

No matter what.

If one wants the desert people to regain peace, someone must make a sacrifice.

So whether Luo De is pretending to be the Red King, it's better that fewer people know, lest they disrupt the arrangement he has painstakingly carried out.

In the Pure Goodness Palace.

The gods who hadn't known Luo De's plan beforehand lost interest this time, instead continuing what they were doing with idle chatter—those who should drink drank, those who should chat chatted.

Fu Ning Na, who had only come to watch the climax of the big show for a little while, soon became confused again.

Especially after that Wei Lai Te also shook his head and left.

She then couldn't make sense of the situation at all.

At first everyone was having a good time, right? So why did everyone put on that expression as soon as Luo De appeared? 'Maybe it's because everyone guessed Mr. Luo De's plan?'

Was E Ge Li Ya still dutifully explaining things to Fu Ning Na?

"What plan?"

"Ah—cough cough—"

Furina lightly coughed, masking her earlier doubtful expression, instead reverting to her previous confident visage, and asked Egeria: "What exactly does that guy want? Does he just want everyone to know he's the Red King? Isn't he afraid of summoning the true Red King?"

Such a problem full of errors.

If Furina had asked someone else, it might have caused someone to develop a one-track mind toward her.

Fortunately.

The one guarding her side was Egeria, a deity who clearly understood the pain brought by a divided body.

Hearing Furina's stupid question,

Egeria immediately replied in a low voice: "Mr. Luo De is the Red King himself; such a grand display is merely because some changes occurred on the desert side, plus his reputation there is somewhat unfavorable, so he used this method to allow himself to openly reclaim the throne."

Furina could understand every word Egeria said.

But when those words were strung together, she began to not quite understand them.

"Since he is the Red King, why—"

Just as she was about to speak the latter half, Furina suddenly had a flash of inspiration, thinking of a possibility: "He isn't the true Red King, but merely inherited the Red King's name; however, his name in the desert is of the sort that people despise and loathe, so he came up with this method, using external pressure to make his being the Red King seem more reasonable and justified."

After all, it's a country that has governed Fontaine for five hundred years.

Externally, she built a vast intelligence network to seek ways to resolve Fontaine's prophecies; internally, she had to meticulously disguise herself, preventing others from discovering her false Hydro Archon identity, while also maintaining state construction, enabling Fontaine not only to swiftly rebuild after the black disaster but also to further develop into Teyvat's foremost technological power.

All of these things, without exception.

All were done by Furina herself.

Even if some of it had the help of Neuvillette.

But in Fontaine.

The Hydro Archon and the Chief Justice are one and the same.

Any policy of Fontaine cannot escape Furina's nod of approval.

Such year-after-year tempering.

Even if the newly appointed Hydro Archon Furina was inexperienced and immature, she would still constantly make mistakes.

But the current Furina.

Is now fully capable of standing on her own.

With such confidence and wisdom, she only needed a short time of thought to clarify the relationship between Luo De, the desert people, and the Red King.

And at that very moment.

As Apep's form retreated step by step, Luo De's flying height also grew lower and lower.

Until the desert people within Xu Mi Cheng saw his face.

The moderates felt relieved.

The conservatives showed an expression of "as expected."

While the radicals went completely berserk.

They completely reversed their previous fervor and praise, doing a 180-degree turn to angrily shout and curse at Luo De.

They harshly scolded him in front of Luo De, this harbinger of doom.

The radical desert people had wanted to do this for a long time.

Now they finally got an opportunity.

They spared no effort in using all the insults they had learned throughout their lives, cursing as vilely as possible.

In their eyes.

This time.

Luo De truly committed a grave taboo.

Because the Red King's divine envoy pretended to be the Red King, seeking everyone's attention, this is an absolutely unforgivable act!

(End of chapter)