"Who is that person?"
Raiden Makoto and Gorou's discussion had ended, and they were preparing to set out for Sangonomiya Shrine. Although Sangonomiya Kokomi held the noble status of Watatsumi Island's Divine Priestess, her actual combat strength was somewhat weak; a dozen or so elite soldiers would be enough to defeat her.
That was also the reason why the various factions on Watatsumi Island had something to rely on. Many soldiers in Sangonomiya actually took orders from those factions. It could be said that currently on Watatsumi Island, aside from some shrine maidens, only Gorou was completely loyal to Sangonomiya Kokomi.
Everyone else harbored their own hidden agendas.
But just as Raiden Makoto intended to head toward Sangonomiya Shrine with Gorou and the others, she spotted someone among the training resistance soldiers. That person carried an aura that disgusted her; though faint, it was still detectable.
"You mean him? I don't know either." After all, it was impossible for Gorou to know every single resistance soldier, but he noticed Raiden Makoto's brow furrow slightly, as if the person she mentioned was problematic.
"I'll call him over."
The man had black hair, wore the standard attire of a resistance soldier, and had an ordinary appearance.
"Lord Gorou..." When the man saw Gorou, he hurriedly bowed to him and stopped fooling around with the soldiers beside him.
"Come here, I have some things to ask you."
As the man followed Gorou to stand before Raiden Makoto, the disgusting aura became even more potent, causing Raiden Makoto to frown deeply.
"Lord Gorou, did you need me for something?" The man naturally didn't recognize the others beside Gorou. As for Raiden Makoto, he only found her somewhat familiar and didn't think much of it.
"What is your name?" However, he could see that Gorou seemed to defer to Raiden Makoto. He had never seen this young girl with long purple hair and purple eyes before.
Could she be a high-ranking official of Sangonomiya?
"Teppei..." Not overthinking it, he answered very seriously and sincerely, "My Lord, my name is Teppei... I'm in the Logistics Support Unit of the resistance..."
"Have you been in contact with any strangers?" At this moment, Raiden Makoto completely withdrew her originally gentle smile and became serious.
This made Gorou realize the gravity of the situation as well. Although Lumine and Paimon were somewhat confused, they remained silent.
"Tell me the truth."
The smile on Teppei's face vanished completely, and his face turned pale. Seeing Gorou's stern gaze, he knew the young girl before him must be someone of very high status.
"I..."
Teppei's face was exceptionally pale, and pea-sized beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He began to stutter as he spoke.
"The Grand Narukami asked you a question, answer her immediately!" Seeing Teppei still trembling with fear, Kujou Sara barked at him.
"It was a stranger... He said that as long as I used it, I would gain power, and I indeed felt that power."
"It's not just me; many others are like me, using its power." As Teppei pulled a device from his pocket that was somewhat similar to a Vision but entirely different, an aura that made Raiden Makoto uncomfortable emanated from it.
"I didn't want to just be an ordinary logistics soldier... I wanted to charge into battle just like Lord Gorou."
The device also emitted a light completely different from the seven elements—a dark red glow.
"A evil eye?!" Lumine blurted out upon seeing the device. She had certainly seen it before, and more than once; Childe had used the power of a evil eye right in front of them back then.
Diluc had also told them about evil eyes.
"A evil eye?" Gorou's expression began to turn grave. He didn't know what a evil eye was, but just hearing the name told him it was nothing good.
As for Raiden Makoto, how could she not know about evil eyes? Now that all her memories were fully restored, even her memories of her previous life on Earth were crystal clear. The events that occurred when she played Genshin Impact were still vivid in her mind.
"It's overdrawing your life force... Don't you know?" Raiden Makoto could clearly sense Teppei's life force trickling into the evil eye bit by bit, while the evil eye converted that life force into another kind of power to supply him.
"If you continue to use the evil eye to gain power, given your life force, it won't be long before you age completely and eventually die." Raiden Makoto's expression was grave. From Teppei's words, it was clear that many in the resistance had already accepted evil eyes.
And that was definitely related to the Fatui.
"It seems the Fatui's reach has completely permeated Watatsumi Island." Raiden Makoto's words made Gorou's face look quite grim as well. He said solemnly, "Lady Sangonomiya and I failed to notice..."
These soldiers were contacting the Fatui right under his nose, yet he hadn't discovered a single clue.
Gorou felt somewhat self-reproachful.
"Grand Narukami, what exactly is the Fatui's goal?" Kujou Sara now knew that the Kujou Clan had secretly conspired with the Fatui, leading to the Vision Hunt Decree. Now that the Fatui were also in contact with the resistance on Watatsumi Island, she was curious about what they were really up to.
"It's the Gnosis... Their goal is the Gnosis."
"A Gnosis? What is that?" Kujou Sara was puzzled. While she was confused, Paimon spoke up to explain, "According to Venti, a Gnosis is like a more advanced Vision, and it seems to be an organ for channeling elemental power?"
"The Fatui are indeed after the Gnoses. They took Venti's Gnosis in Mondstadt... and released Osial, the Vortex Archon, from the Guyun Stone Forest in Liyue, all for the purpose of obtaining a Gnosis," Paimon said very seriously.
"So their presence in Inazuma is definitely for the Gnosis as well."
"Do they want to throw Inazuma into chaos and then seize the Gnosis amidst the turmoil?" Kujou Sara looked at Paimon and Lumine questioningly.
"Yeah, definitely." Paimon could bet on it; the Fatui were absolutely in Inazuma for the Gnosis, specifically to get the Electro Archon's Gnosis.
"They provided evil eyes to your resistance probably to allow you to stall the Shogunate Army for longer... After all, it's difficult for them to reach Narukami Island. Obtaining the Gnosis would be a very difficult task indeed." Raiden Makoto's tone was somewhat unfriendly; the Fatui simply didn't treat people like human beings.
She knew the Cryo Archon's goal was to rebel against the Heavenly Principles... but while the Cryo Archon was rebelling, she allowed her subordinates to conduct evil human experiments and cause havoc in other nations.
She agreed with the Cryo Archon's goal, but not her methods.
"Dammit... those Fatui are despicable!" Gorou gritted his teeth. If what Raiden Makoto said was true, then who knew how many soldiers in their resistance would perish because of the evil eyes.
And who knew how many more would die in the war.
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