People in Mondstadt, starting to develop black technology

"Ying, what a nice name!" She smiled. "She was the first person to visit me in the Snow Mountain vein information flow in three thousand years. In order not to expose myself, I lied to her and said she was in my dream. I wanted her to help unlock the seal of the Frost Sky Nail fragment and revive the silver-white... honeysuckle tree."

"Wait." Shen Qin interrupted her, "Although I have some guesses about your situation, I still want to get the correct answer from you."

"Well... how should I put it? It's fine if you think of me as Princess Shar Findenir from three thousand years ago, but my essence is actually a piece of information that has developed self-awareness. This piece of information contains her entire life."

"Five hundred years after she died, I first woke up in the information flow of the Snow Mountain's earth veins. My consciousness was turbid, and I spent a thousand years in a daze. After being continuously washed away by the information for a thousand years, I finally woke up and found that I could read all the information in the Snow Mountain's earth veins, and I could also control a part of the earth veins' power."

"After that, I shuttled through the information flow, always looking for a way to revive the honeysuckle tree. This was a goal that I failed to achieve before I died. Perhaps it has become my obsession."

"Five hundred years ago, the black dragon Durin and the sky dragon Tevarin came to the snowy mountains and fought fiercely. Durin's blood dripped onto the ground of the snowy mountains, and the powerful vitality in it was actually absorbed by the roots of the dead honeysuckle tree. Although the honeysuckle tree only recovered a tiny bit of vitality, this proved that it has the possibility of revival."

"But at the same time, I also captured a special power in Durin's body. It can rewrite Durin's perception. Well... just like you said, Durin's six senses were hijacked by it. Destruction is a blessing in Durin's eyes, wailing is a song in its ears, and fighting is a dance in its perception."

"What surprised me even more was that that special power was created by a technology of Shar Findenir. So I tried to use the power of the earth veins to interfere with reality for the first time, erasing that power in Durin's body and restoring his six senses to normal."

"I could sense the sadness in its heart after it woke up. It had done so much evil without realizing it! So it gave up resistance, exposed its weakness to Tevarin, and sought death. If I had known that it would do this, I might not have recovered its perception."

The princess felt sorry for its ending. She saw the shadow of Shar Findenir in it. It seemed free, but in fact it was always under the control of others.

But what's the difference between what she wants to do now and it?

She calmed herself down and continued, "Durin's blood has not been completely shed for a hundred years, and the Honeysuckle Tree has absorbed enough vitality, but because its body and two root nodes were sealed by the cold air overflowing from the Frost Nail, it has never truly revived."

"Then the time came to three days ago. The Abyss Cult came to the Snow Mountain. They installed an energy extractor on the body of the Honeysuckle Tree and used the Honeysuckle Tree as a filtering tool to extract a large amount of earth vein energy and Durin's energy, which caused the earth vein to enter an extremely disordered state."

"That blond boy was in the Abyss Cult's team at the time. The Abyss Mage and the Abyss Apostle named Phoenix called him His Royal Highness the Prince."

"Then you entered the snowy mountains. When Ying used the power of the Deep Red Stone formed by Durin's blood to break the seal of the Frost Sky Nail fragment, her consciousness suddenly broke into the information flow of the earth veins and entered my information. I not only have the princess's information, but also the information about the princess's surroundings."

"She came when I had just planted the remains of the Silver Tree, but her existence was very short, so I asked her to unseal all the fragments and revive the Honeysuckle Tree, so that the disorder of the earth veins could be stabilized."

Shen Qin interrupted: "What was the full version of the last sentence you said when you first met Ying? The earth veins connect not only space, but also..."

"Teyvat and the starry sky."

Chapter 187: One day you will wake up

Shen Qin asked doubtfully: "Teyvat and the starry sky?"

The princess smiled and said, "I can sense that Ying is a visitor from the starry sky. This sentence is one of the truths she is looking for. It has little to do with the rest of you."

In fact, players in previous lives have done some research on the true history of Teyvat and the truth about the world.

The starry sky of Teyvat is fake. This is the truth that many natives of Teyvat discovered after the law of nature fell asleep five hundred years ago. However, the "starry sky" in the princess's words definitely does not represent a fake starry sky, but the real starry sky.

What's inside the starry sky? There is a being or power that is powerful enough to destroy the entire Teyvat.

That is why the original god separated Teyvat from the starry sky. However, if the earth veins connect Teyvat and the starry sky, it means that the connection has not been completely severed, which may also be the source of various natural disasters on Teyvat.

But now is not the time to dig deeper. Shen Qin believes that as long as he continues his research, he will always find the correct answer.

But he is just an ordinary person, what can he change?

He shook his head and put aside these irrelevant matters, and said to the princess: "Go on."

Princess: "The first visitor was Ying, but the second one who broke the seal was the prince of the Abyss Cult. He was a little surprised to see me, but he seemed to understand my situation quickly and invited me to revive the Shar Fendnier civilization with them, but I refused."

"After the Abyss Cult prince's consciousness was expelled from the earth veins, I cut out the princess's individual information from the environment, hurriedly buried a warning note under the remains of the silver-white tree, and left here to find a way to stop the Abyss Cult."

"Because I know that the Abyss Cult will not make so much effort just to revive Shar Findenir out of kindness. They must want to gain something from it. And I have already made up my mind that I will never let my country become a tool in the hands of others again. We must decide our own destiny!"

"The old information I brought is the complete history of the fall of Shar Findnir from my memory, as well as what the Abyss Cult did in the Snow Mountain. The people of Shar Findnir have the right to know all the truth, and they also have the right to decide their own destiny. What I have to do is to ensure that they have the right to choose freely."

"By the way, why did you commit suicide right there at the celebration? Couldn't you have found a place where no one was around and killed yourself secretly? Wouldn't that have caused less noise?"

"I was originally planning to announce my presence to the entire Shar Findenir, and to express my determination to everyone."

"I see."

Shen Qin looked not far away and saw that all the guards had been locked up in a rock cage by Albedo. The others had already hidden in buildings or fled the palace because of the battle. Now there was no one who could stop the princess from awakening all the people of Shal Findnir, unless Phoenix personally stepped in to stop it.

"Princess, I have a plan to kill Phoenix, but I need you to cooperate with us."

"Kill the gods? Great!"

Shen Qin didn't continue talking, as if he were to be spied on by Phoenix.

If they just said they were going to kill him, he probably wouldn't care even though he had already become a god. In the words of Sanbing, "How dare a tiny insect look down on a god?"

Everyone returned to the princess, waiting for the inverted snow mountain to fall and the Phoenix to come, but the Phoenix did not appear until the two snow mountains embraced each other.

The old information (2) did not overwrite the original old information. Instead, it turned into streams of information and merged into the memory of every Shar Findenir person.

Imon Loka, who was imprisoned with the palace guards, stared at the princess and Shen Qin with red eyes. He always believed that they were the murderers who killed the princess he loved.

But after knowing all the truth, he was silent for a long time, and tears suddenly came out uncontrollably, and then he cried and laughed, and hit the hard rock cage with his fists.

"Imon Roka, you're a loser! You can't do anything! Wuuuuuu...hahaha! You're such a loser! Not only can you not find a way to save Shar Findenir, you didn't even see her for the last time!"

"Coward! Waste! Coward! Waste! ..."

His fists were already bloody, but several guards held him back to stop his impotent rage.

"Imon Roka, don't do this, don't do this...Imon Roka..."

They looked at him with complicated eyes. From the princess's memory, they learned that he was the man the princess loved. After the Frost Nail fell, he carried the expectations of her and the people and went to a distant place to seek a way to save the country, but the princess did not wait for his return until her death.

When he returned with nothing accomplished, all he saw were the remains of the once lush country.

But including him, which of the people of Shar Findenir had a good ending?

The recorder Uku who willingly degraded himself, accepted the curse and became a Hilliard, and guarded the snow-capped mountains alone for three thousand years?

Or has he wandered in the earth veins for three thousand years, needing to kill his own princess with his own hands?

"So... our existence is meaningless?" Edmund leaned against the rock cage, looking at the city in front of him that he had guarded for half his life, his eyes numb.

Shal Findenir perished three thousand years ago.

All of them are just homeless ghosts.

pat-

The door of a building near the rock cage opened, and an old woman in her seventies or eighties walked out with a little girl less than ten years old, and slowly walked towards the platform where the princess was.

"Grandma, will you die? Will I die too?" The little girl's voice was filled with tears.

"Everyone will die one day. It's just a matter of time," the old woman said slowly.

“But, but, I don’t want to die… I still have so many delicious foods to eat and so many fun things to do, and I haven’t grown up yet…”

"Stop!" the old woman raised her voice and shouted, but immediately squatted down to wipe the tears from the girl's face.

"You don't want to die. That's right. No one wants to die, but the gods don't give us the power to choose. If they want us to live, we can live. If they want us to die, we have to die."

"Now, our beautiful princess has spent three thousand years telling us that we are free to choose. Those who want to die will die, and those who want to live will live. There will no longer be gods to decide our fate. She will stand in front of everyone and keep all troubles behind her."

"But before she comes to pick us up next time, we have to take a nap first. When we wake up, we will be truly free! You can eat all the delicious food, play all the fun things, and grow up happily..."

"Grandma, we will wake up after we fall asleep, right?"

"Haha! Of course, you will wake up one day."

The old woman walked away holding the little girl's hand.

"Most definitely."

The guards in the rock cage were silent. Edmund touched the rock cage with his hand, and it turned back into rock elements and returned to the world.

He walked forward a few steps, stopped, and said to the people behind him: "Let's go, let's finish our last stand."

Chapter 188: Is the meaning of your trip to trick your brother?

The princess in armor stood alone on the platform in the square, and below the platform, large groups of Shar Findenir people saluted her with their right hands on their hearts, and then their bodies turned into streams of information and merged into her body.

Her vision was already blurred, so she had to keep wiping away her tears, looking at everyone carefully, trying to remember every face firmly in her heart.

Next to the platform, Shen Qin and his team used healing spray to treat the wounds of the palace guards.

"Are you Mond people so good at lying? When we first met, you blurted out lies, and I never doubted your true identity at all." Edmund looked at Shen Qin with a bad face.

"Ahahaha—" Shen Qin scratched his head awkwardly, "It's not that we are good at lying, it's that you are too naive! I thought I would have to spend more time talking to you, but you believed my nonsense after just a few words..."

Edmund was silent for a while, then said quietly, "Are you just saying I'm stupid?"

Shen Qin patted his shoulder and said, "Not really. It's because the life in Shar Findenir is too comfortable! There is no intrusion from outside, no oppression from inside, and everyone living here is very happy. It's as beautiful as a fairy tale world."

"So you are very friendly to everyone, thinking that they are all as kind as the people of Shar Findenir. If it were me, I would also like to live a happy life here without all the intrigues and deceptions. How wonderful!"

"I used to think it would be good to continue living like this, but it's different now." Edmund said with emotion, "Look at the livestock in the pen. They have free food and a place to sleep and rest. They sleep when they are tired and eat when they are hungry. They live a comfortable life, but their end is to be slaughtered by others."

"Wild animals living in the wild are different. They need to hunt for food, otherwise they will starve to death. They also need to compete with other animals for territory, sometimes winning and sometimes losing, and getting injured is commonplace. But when faced with human hunting, they can at least resist, and even escape or injure humans."

"We, the people of Shar Findenir, are like livestock kept by the gods, to be slaughtered at will, but now we have to become wild beasts."

Shen Qin nodded in appreciation: "I'm glad you have such awareness, but don't you have a wrong concept? Even if those powerful beasts are kept in captivity, they can still hurt humans. Even if those captive livestock are released into the wild, they may become a mobile buffet for other beasts. This is the difference in species."

"..." Edmund rolled his eyes at him, "You are really good at talking."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The two of them suddenly fell silent, silently watching groups of Shar Findnir people bid farewell to the princess and then "die".

"Will we have a chance to meet again in the future?" Edmund asked.

Shen Qin: "Your princess should work harder! Try to revive Shar Findnir before I die a hundred years later. Then I can invite you to the Cat's Tail Tavern in Mondstadt to drink a glass of the most delicious cat wine in Mondstadt."

Kaeya, who was not far away, heard this and came over silently: "Oh, my dear friend, does Diluk know that you like to drink the wine of the competitor of Dawn Winery? He must know this terrible thing!"

Shen Qin glanced at him and said, "I'll tell Diona when we get back to Mondstadt that you said the cat wine she made is not as good as the Angel's Gift, a large glass of fifty Mora draft beer."

"Brother Shen! That's not necessary. I'll treat you to a glass of cat wine later!"

"Two drinks!"

Edmund smiled as he watched Kaiya, who was much older than Shen Qin, calling him brother in a very familiar way.

That's great. When the princess resurrects Shar Findenir next time, he will also go to the Cat's Tail Tavern in Mondstadt to drink the cat wine they highly recommend.

As the Shar Findnir people left one by one, starting from the outer edge of the snow-capped mountains, large areas of space began to shatter into pieces like broken glass, and old information was gradually returning to the earth veins.

At this time, the shadow of the Frost Nail above the palace became more and more solid. It would not be long before the information and reality would be completely synchronized. But the strange thing was that as Phoenix watched the number of people in Shar Findenir decrease, he remained indifferent.

Shen Qin and the others became more alert.

Reality, snowy mountains.

As the old information disappeared, the snow mountain slowly returned to its original appearance, as if nothing had happened before.

Sora and Phoenix were witnessing everything that was happening in the old information at this moment, but they just watched and had no intention of intervening.

"Your Highness, this operation is going to fail..." Phoenix said nervously.

He was the leader of this operation. If the higher-ups wanted to hold him accountable, he would not be able to escape. But if the powerful prince was willing to take action, he believed the situation would be reversed in an instant.

"No, the operation was successful, far more successful than we planned." Kong was now very interested in the princess. "Compared to the entire Shar Findenir civilization, the princess is more valuable for research!"

"Huh?" Phoenix looked confused.

"No matter how prosperous a civilization is, in the eyes of a true god, it is just an ant that can be crushed to death at any time. The only difference is the size of the ant. But after wandering in the earth veins for three thousand years, and now carrying the princess of the entire Shar Findenir civilization, she has the potential to become a god!"

"She has the opportunity to become a supreme god, not a false god like you who is no different from an ordinary demon god."

Phoenix scratched his head awkwardly. He knew what was wrong with him. Without the Abyss Cult investing resources at all costs behind him, he could at best be considered an excellent apostle who had half a foot into the leader level.

Sora turned his gaze towards the girl with the same blonde hair, and the expression on his face softened.

Sister, why do you always manage to ruin our plans just right?

Is pitting your brother the meaning of your trip?

Anyway, I hope you can gain something from this trip to the snowy mountains! It is not yet time for us to meet, but I will wait for you at the end of the journey, waiting for you to give your own answer.

Kong raised his head and stopped looking at Ying. He stretched out his hand and drew a portal to the abyss at his side.

"I'm leaving now. You need to finish up the operation here. I'll give you a promotion and a raise when I return."

"Thank you, Your Highness! I promise to do the finishing work beautifully!" Phoenix's eyes lit up.

Promotion and salary increase, what wonderful words these are!