Chapter 96:

Although Lan truly disapproved of Liuhuo's plan—after all, Lan had been a pragmatist since his human days—he couldn't appreciate Liuhuo's boss-like pie-in-the-sky approach. And honestly, this wasn't even majority rule; it could be called a 'one-vote veto' system...

Lan wondered: "Isn't little Liuxing too optimistic?"

If he were truly an authoritarian father, he should have acted first and then stopped Liuhuo from pursuing his own suicidal ambitions, and made him reflect on his ill-advised actions. But Lan ultimately remained where he was, letting Liuhuo follow his own path.

He didn't consider whether he would regret his decision in the future; he was only concerned that his little Liuxing would never shine a single moment until it fell.

Even if this was just a performance before his death, he would be there to witness the finale.

In the "Pure Good Palace," Latio was sharing his observations with his Xumi group and the puppet-like Thrane. He paid no attention to the few Fatui soldiers... or officers?

Whatever, whatever.

Latio hadn't originally planned to stay in Teyvat, but honestly, could he still follow Liuhuo to join the Star God Bureau?

... Latio had a clear understanding of himself, which in this context could be synonymous with 'self-awareness'.

Forget about helping. If it weren't for Liuhuo's caution, even the unmanned secondary ship responsible for detection wouldn't have been able to transmit any images.

Even trying his best to watch was a struggle.

Kavi was restless with anxiety, yet he couldn't take his eyes off Latio's book... er, screen... He seemed particularly fidgety, but Latio had no time to care. In fact, he had already unconsciously broken a piece of capacitive chalk as he tried to block out his anxiety.

And the suffocating atmosphere was even interrupted mid-sentence.

"Doctor Truth... that's the signal..."

The voice of a genius lady with a pointed hat suddenly emerged, startling several of the onlookers. But Latio had interacted with Ms. Black Tower before and was quite familiar with some of her characteristics: so he wasn't angry about her hijacking the signal.

Black Tower wasn't exactly relaxed right now. After all, she'd been projecting her own consciousness to deal with Omphalos's scepter, so she was in a dual-task state. But she was quite excited right now—just kidding, this was a Star God who had actually volunteered to be 'observed'!

Tsk, although she'd long known that Doctor Truth was the only one garnering the attention of the "Dual Phase," the "simulated universe" she'd coaxed three of her club colleagues into creating could only simulate secondary evidence to 'study' the Star God—and now, seeing Latio's observation ship being carefully guarded by Liuhuo, even Black Tower felt a little jealous...

And that flickering blue light in the shot... was it Lan, the "Patrol" that was so fast that its observation records were fleeting?

So the relationship between the "Dual Phase" and the "Patrol" might be even deeper than the "Immortal Ship Alliance" had let on... So many questions worth researching, Black Tower had to ask its people to take notes, letting them record their emerging ideas in a memorandum.

Latio was accustomed to these geniuses' eccentricities, eager to see the action—he didn't even attempt to "throw" the black tower away: perhaps, he also wanted more people to witness this "end"... who knows.

...In fact, if he hadn't asked, Liuhuo would never have brought such a "camera": not to mention that after he and Lan "■■■"ed, he handed the observation ship to Lan. Even if no one on the camera could understand what they were saying, judging by the language of the camera, it was easy to tell—he was definitely asking Lan to keep his toys for him!

That's right, the kind of annoying child who gives their parents their toys when they get tired of holding them, and gets angry if their parents break or lose them...

Although, considering the size of the Star Gods, a few ships are just like rhinestones on a nail, they could easily be knocked off with a careless knock: in that sense, they really need to be treated with caution.

Liuhuo, in the camera, looked stunned—well, he was indeed troubled. Neither Lan nor Akivilli had taught Liuhuo how to say goodbye to a Star God, a skill he might only need to use once in his life. So Liuhuo spent a long moment pondering what to do.

Finally, he glanced at the observation ship Lan had casually slung over his shoulder, and remembered: Lan seemed to have been human once? And Vera was human too, so why not say goodbye the way humans do?

Liuhuo: "Goodbye... no... it should be..."

Liuhuo: "Goodbye, Lan."

"From now on, I will be with you."

"Transformation?... Is this the true form? Do Star Gods even have the concept of mimicry?" Heita didn't think Latio had the time to answer her question, but she couldn't help but mutter, "What is he going to do... I think I feel it..."

The overlapping spinning wheels gradually increased in speed, beyond the observation ship's ability to register. It was clear that the flow that should have been absorbing imaginary energy had disappeared. Instead, the generated destiny energy was dissipating in all directions, and this dissipated energy didn't gradually affect the surroundings.

Even from the "Black Tower Space Station" near the Azure Star, countless light-years or even countless galaxies away, Lady Black Tower could clearly sense something was happening.

Even humans could sense it, let alone the Star Gods—and the fastest arrival, needless to say, was Nanook.

Had Mith not previously cast an illusion on Teyvat, Nanook's dedication would have meant he and Liuhuo would have been locked in a stalemate on the Broken Moon.

But in this situation, Mith's gimmick of sticking stickers on the cracks was clearly ineffective. Naturally, Nanook was the first to report: Un was about to ascend. If he didn't take action now, he would be left with no shortcuts. However,

Nanook's face remained expressionless, and he was a bit hesitant the moment he attacked. Before, not only had Un fought back, Lan wouldn't just stand by and watch, pointing his bow and arrow at him. But this time... it

was too calm.

Lan didn't even glance at him, and the Spinning Wheel Group (Un) didn't react at all.

It was as if Nanook hadn't existed.

Of course, Nanook wouldn't stop. Even if the other party's attitude was strange, he wouldn't be frightened into resorting to the empty city tactic for such a show of bravado. So he immediately raised

his hand... huh? His hand was gone.

...Not by an 'impact,' but simply...transformed?

And it was simultaneously consumed and taken, digested, then dissipated along with Un's destiny energy.

The next moment, Nanook's hand grew back, and he repeated the process.

"..."

This phase of "flow" was like the dying throes of light before its demise—terribly powerful.

At this point, sleep was out of the question. Nanook strangely maintained peace in the triangle, awaiting the next...perhaps the last opportunity.

This opportunity wasn't slow in coming. After all, the destiny energy of the Flowing Fire was dissipating at top speed, until only...about the size of a strand of hair remained in its normal state. Only then did this terrifying fusion slow down.

The surviving "hair" that was emitting the light of a shell was transformed into a "flowing fire" with great difficulty.

Nanook attacked again... This time his hand was saved, but...

The area of Flowing Fire that Nanook "touched" instantly transformed into imaginary energy, then returned to its original state the next instant...

Only Nanook and Lan, present at the scene, understood what had happened. Latio and the others, observing the chaotic scene through the "lens," were completely bewildered, even suspecting it was an illusion.

However, Flowing Fire, in its current state, was only a step away from being an illusion—especially after it glanced toward Lan and the "lens." With an effort, it split in two again, mimicking Chixing's male form.

As if a layer had been set to 50% transparency, both Flowing Fire and Chixing became semi-transparent.

And then... they heard singing.

Perhaps it couldn't be called singing, after all, this kind of sound, transmitted directly into the brain through a medium, is what most humans would call "telepathy."

Or perhaps... "harmony."

It was like hearing something, or perhaps it was just a collective illusion—but Flowing Fire and Chixing accepted Hipe's offer, and as she sang, Flowing Fire took Chixing's hand.

He began... to dance like a human.

"Oh~ Akivelli's teachings were well-deserved," Aha's strange, yet playful, voice echoed through his ears, and Latio almost dropped his book. "Isn't this using both male and female steps?"

"Don't be so serious~"

"Aha is just doing an interview."

"What's it like watching little Un sacrifice himself?"

"Ah, speechless... Yeah, who would have thought that a martyred god would die faster than the martyr himself~"

The acts of guidance, struggle, and martyrdom are manifestations of the "flow" of fate—or rather, the destiny of Un.

Therefore, He always watches over those who struggle for their own or others' destinies, ultimately sacrificing themselves for their ideals.

Like Thrane, like Kavi, like... Veritas Latio.

Latio had no intention of arguing with Aha—it was pointless.

So he only uttered a small voice, barely loud enough to drown out the chorus of "harmony."

"He is with me."

She is with me.

Aha, tired of watching humans' fun, appeared beside the robotic head of Boshizun with a smile: "Then let Aha add fuel to the fire... Oh no, no, no."

"That's a timely help~!"

With Boshizun suppressed, Un, with the consent or tacit support of Lan, Yaoshi, IX, Fuli, Myth, the Last King, Hippe, Klipper, and Aha, finally merged into the veins of the universe, becoming an inseparable part/entirety of the interstellar tide.

Nanook reached out again in vain—the spinning wheel, no longer emitting light, leisurely passed through his body and landed in Lan's palm.

Lan hung them behind his head, just like the mischievous little devil who had once grabbed his hair and whispered.

This was Un's "relic," and the "authority" left to Lan.

The view from the observation ship ended there—Latio stared at the black screen, silent.

What kind of ending was he expecting?

As a fateful traveler of the "Flow," yes, he had only recently realized that possessing a "spinning humanoid form" didn't equate to being a "Flow Commander"—but that didn't prevent him from judging that the Star God of the "Flow" hadn't fallen like Taichi and Akivilli, but simply hadn't appeared again... And

how would he tell the others this news?

Well... he knew, right now, he didn't care what others thought.

He just... couldn't face his own emotions.

The next few days were uneventful. Latio didn't stay in Xumi, but instead lived in the shuttle outside the Teyvat eggshell: it had also served as his mobile laboratory.

Perhaps it was someone else's knowledgeableness, or perhaps he had turned on Do Not Disturb—who knows, but an empty space is always quieter.

He woke up to his biological clock in the morning, quickly prepared breakfast with the help of the AI, and then put the food in his mouth.

"..."

"..."

"...Are you really not going to help me cut the sausage?"

"...Vera?"