Genshin Impact, Teyvat's own beloved immortal.

Upon receiving their orders, the group hurriedly led their men away from Mondstadt to destroy the Stormterror's energy source.

“I can help.”

Lu Sheng got out of bed, wanting to follow the Knights to wipe out the temple.

Qin immediately stopped him.

You need to rest!

"No need. Barbara has already healed me. I'm in better shape than ever. Even if Stormterror comes back, I can still defeat it."

“Commander Jean, you don’t need to feel indebted to me. Just think of me as a bounty hunter. I do the dirty work and kill monsters for Mondstadt, and the Knights give me Mora as payment. We don’t owe each other anything.”

After saying this, Lu Sheng left alone, ignoring Qin's advice.

Rest? I can sleep? At this stage, during my developmental period, how can I sleep?

You can miss out on anything but the delicious elemental energy inside the West Wind Temple!

As the source of the Wind Demon Dragon's power, the wind elemental power contained within must be quite abundant. The three temples are equivalent to three super-potent tonics!

I, Lu Sheng, hate wasting food the most. It's a fool not to eat when there's food available, not to mention there are many different kinds of monsters along the way.

Kill all these monsters and you can get Mora! I can eat and take it all! Where else in the world can you find such a good deal?

Lu Sheng returned to his lodgings, first hiding the stolen Sky Harp in a secluded spot. After a short rest, he prepared to set off for the Temple of the West Wind.

Just as he reached the city gate, several people wearing strange masks suddenly blocked his way.

Fools?

Lu Sheng immediately recognized that the masks worn by those people were unique to the Fools.

"A good dog doesn't block the road, get out of the way."

"Don't be so blunt. Our counselor would like to meet with you. Please come over; it won't take up too much of your time."

Oh? The Fools actually came to me on their own initiative?

Lu Sheng's interest was immediately piqued. He didn't seem to have provoked the Fatui during his time in Mondstadt, did he? Instead, they had come to him on their own initiative.

Let's go and see. I'm curious to see what the Fools are really up to.

"lead the way."

A moment later, Lu Sheng, led by two members of the Fools, arrived at a luxuriously decorated study on the second floor of a villa.

As soon as Lu Sheng entered, the two Fools closed the door and stood on either side of it.

In the study, a woman dressed in a long purple robe and wearing a mask looked up and sized up Lu Sheng, then angrily scolded her subordinates behind her: "How rude! Is this how I always teach you to treat guests? Hurry up and find a chair for the hero who just saved Mondstadt!"

"Please sit down~"

The woman showed extreme friendliness towards Lu Sheng.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Anastasia, and I am the diplomatic attaché from the Kingdom of Winter. You may have heard of us by another name—the Fools."

"Hmm, what next?"

Lu Sheng crossed his arms and asked in return with a smile.

"It seems the name 'Fatalists' doesn't surprise you at all?"

"Why should I be surprised? Are the Fools... that terrible?"

Anastasia sat up straight, placed her hands on the table with her fingers interlaced, and said in a playful tone, "The terror of the Fools is relative. We are tolerant of our friends, and we do not hesitate to use the worst means to punish our enemies. My attitude depends on whether you choose to be our friend or our enemy."

"Oh? You mean I can choose for myself?"

"Of course, I saw your battle with Stormterror just now. I have to admit, you are very strong. In our Winterlands, strength speaks for itself. Therefore, I am very fond of you. Please forgive me for taking the time to inquire about you. I found out that you are not a member of the Knights of Favonius and only recently arrived in Mondstadt."

"I don't like beating around the bush. I hate it when talented people are buried. Those old-fashioned Knights of Favonius will never amount to anything. Why don't you join our Fools and we become friends? What do you say?"

Mondstadt-Liyue Chapter: Chapter 9: I Want to Be the Twelfth Seat of the Fatui

Anastasia's lips curled up slightly; she seemed very confident, as if the olive branch she had extended would surely win over the man before her.

"What if I refuse?" Lu Sheng asked coldly.

"Of course you can refuse, and we won't make things difficult for you. But please note that people with your strength will be marked as dangerous by our Fools. We will keep an eye on you, and if you accidentally get in our way one day, we will not hesitate to kill you."

"Is this scary? Please don't kill me! I'll join you, okay? I'll do anything as long as you don't kill me."

Rikuo's lightning-fast change of expression caught Anastasia off guard. She thought the negotiation would be troublesome, but she didn't expect that he would be subdued after just a little intimidation. She even began to doubt her judgment of people. Recruiting such a spineless guy into the Fools would be a waste.

"You agree now?"

"Oh, by the way, I have two small requests that I hope the Fools will grant."

Lu Sheng changed the subject and began to discuss the terms.

“Go ahead and say it. The treatment we Fatui people receive is top-notch in all of Teyvat. Don’t even mention two small requests, we can have twenty without any problem.”

Hearing the other party agree so readily, Lu Sheng's lips curled up, and he leaned closer to Anastasia, saying earnestly, "First, I want 500,000 Mora, all of it must be transferred to my account."

Anastasia took a deep breath. Five hundred thousand Mora was no small sum, but considering this person's ability to repel the Stormterror, it wasn't impossible to negotiate with the higher-ups.

"Okay, I agree, but the maximum amount that can be approved is not up to me. I will do my best to help you get it. What about the second point?"

"The second condition is even simpler. I want your Queen to appoint me as the twelfth seat of the Fools, and I've even thought of a code name: 'The Fool.'"

Anastasia's pupils dilated instantly, and a surge of anger welled up inside her as she realized she had been tricked.

"Damn it! You dare to play me?! Take him down!"

At his command, the Fools at the door instantly sprang into action.

In an inconspicuous alley in Mondstadt, several stray cats huddled in a corner to avoid the storm outside. Suddenly, one of the cats pricked up its ears, as if it heard a pitiful cry coming from afar.

boom! ! !

A loud bang exploded in the alley. The red brick wall of the villa turned into fragments like tofu. Amidst the flying stone chips, a dark shadow twisted and flew out, crashing to the ground like a lump of mud, rolling several times before barely coming to a stop.

Immediately afterwards, another dark figure screamed and flew backward, crashing heavily into the opposite house, its body firmly embedded in the wall.

Inside the study, Lu Sheng stood with two Fools under his feet, adjusting his cuffs with an indifferent expression, and looked up at Anastasia.

"Damn it! These useless bastards! Don't come any closer! Don't push me!"

Anastasia was forced into a corner with nowhere to retreat, and all she could do was loudly warn Rikuo not to come any closer.

Lu Sheng felt his ears were being pierced by the woman's shouts, and he stepped forward to tell her to shut up.

"You forced me to do this!"

In an instant, Anastasia's pupils suddenly turned blood red, and an eye-shaped ornament at her waist was emitting an eerie red light.

"Evil eye?!"

Lu Sheng's eyes narrowed, and he instantly used the Forward Slash to close the distance to Anastasia, knocking her to the ground with an elbow strike. Before she could fully unleash the power of the Evil Eye, he snatched it and refined it in an instant!

Interrupting spellcasting is a tried and true method.

[Ding! Unknown elemental force detected, conversion in progress...]

[The assessment result indicates Evil Eye Elemental Power; a new skill branch has been unlocked for you.]

[Evil Eye's level has been upgraded, gaining a new skill: Demon Transformation - Use forbidden power to strengthen yourself. After activating Demon Transformation, all your attributes increase by 1%]

"Ah!! What have you done?! That's my Evil Eye! No! This can't be! Give me back my Evil Eye! Give it back to me!!"

"Shut up!" Lu Sheng shouted to silence the other party: "I clearly saved your life. Someone like you thinks you can use the Evil Eye? If I hadn't intervened, you would have been turned into a wrinkled old woman by now due to the backlash from the power of the Evil Eye."

He kicked Anastasia away as she lunged at him, grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the bookshelf. With just a little force, he could send this Winterland diplomat back to her homeland.

"I am the counselor of the Kingdom of Winter! A member of the Fools! You dare to kill me? Have you considered the consequences?"

Enraged, Anastasia's face flushed red. Her mask was damaged, revealing to Rikuo a face that was not bad-looking but distorted by anger.

"Does not killing you mean I can do whatever I want to you?"

Lu Sheng glanced meaningfully at Anastasia's figure; the curvaceous, black-stockinged mature woman was, according to his aesthetic standards, a 6 out of 10.

"Ugh! Then just kill me!" Anastasia tried to struggle, but the tightening grip on her neck made her weak all over.

"Fool, I can still do whatever I want even if you die, but you're not worthy of my interest."

"What on earth do you want to do?!"

Anastasia's voice was tinged with a sob. As an envoy of the Winter Kingdom, she had never suffered such humiliation in her life. She had always been the one threatening others, and no one had ever been able to ride on her head!

What terrified her even more was the indifference she saw in this man's eyes, the same indifference she had seen in the executive she had met before.

It was a chilling, bone-chilling power that allowed someone to kill without hesitation!

Her voice trembled because she realized at that moment that she was really going to die.

Lu Sheng tightened his grip, twisting Anastasia's neck to force her to look at him, his tone mocking.

“I really like your evil eye. I’m taking it. Consider it my deposit for joining the Fools.”

"If you want to recruit me, this is far from enough."

“Listen to me clearly. Transmit what I just said to your superior word for word. I know that one of the Fatui's executives is in Mondstadt right now. If you want to talk, have her come and talk to me. You are not qualified.”

“Tell her that what she wants is with me, and if she wants to win me over, she has to show some sincerity.”

After saying that, Lu Sheng knocked Anastasia unconscious. Before leaving, he accidentally turned on the automatic pickup switch and accidentally put all the valuables in the study into his pocket before leaving the place with satisfaction.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Rikuo stopped and curiously activated his newly unlocked demon transformation skill.

I thought it would look like Dante and Vergil from Devil May Cry, or at the very least, like the Demon King Armor of the Prince. However, the so-called demonization is just a layer of faint dragon scale-like patterns on the skin.

"It only increases attributes by 1%, and the appearance doesn't even change. Isn't that useless? Or... can this thing be upgraded?"

Thinking of this, Lu Sheng opened the system to study it. Sure enough, the level of the Evil Eye could also be improved, and with each level up, the attributes after demonization would increase by 1%.

It is estimated that the appearance will also change as the level increases.

In short, as long as you can level up, that's good. As long as you can level up, you can clearly see the path to becoming stronger, which is much better than most online novel protagonists who feel their way across the river by feeling for stones.

I wasted a lot of time on that counselor, I need to hurry to the Temple of West Wind, otherwise I won't even get a sip of soup.

As for the Fools, once the counselor returns to report, it shouldn't be long before the "lady" comes knocking on their door.

Rikuo isn't the type to put all his eggs in one basket. He's willing to cooperate with the Knights of Mondstadt to obtain the Stormterror's elemental power, but if the Knights can't be relied upon, he wouldn't mind using the Fatui to achieve his goal.