Chapter 73: Unshakable 16

Zhong Li entered the church smoothly.

The Overseer nodded to him, said a simple hello, and then turned and left, leaving space for him and Gilgamesh.

"What is it?" Gilgamesh leaned back nonchalantly, resting his arms on the back of his chair.

"I came to check on you," Zhong Li came and sat down beside him, "Are you injured?"

Here comes the question again.

Gilgamesh said unhappily, "Do you think I'm in trouble?"

Zhong Li said: "I may not be able to 'see' it."

Gilgamesh frowned and turned to look into Zhongli's red-gold eyes. Those eyes were calm and unflinching, like a windless lake, which instantly reminded Gilgamesh of the fact that the other party couldn't see.

So, unlike Kotomine Kirei who teased him even though he knew he was fine, Zhongli probably really was... concerned about him?

Gilgamesh was silent for a moment, then said, "How could this king be easily hurt?"

Zhong Li smiled slightly, as if relieved: "That's good."

Gilgamesh: “…”

He was ill at ease.

Since he decided to rebel against the authority of the gods, among all the gods, only his mother, the goddess Ningsun, still cares for him as before, without any reservations, and now there is also Zhongli.

Faced with pure kindness, Gilgamesh couldn't say anything to criticize. He glanced at Zhongli and asked, "Is that all you want to say?"

Zhongli did not deny it, but curled his lips. Gilgamesh guessed what he wanted to ask, and summarized the battle last night in a few sentences. When he got to the key point, he suddenly stopped, and when Zhongli asked him why he didn't continue, Gilgamesh said: "I can't tell you all this for nothing, let's make a deal."

"What do you want?" Zhong Li said with a smile, "As long as I have it, it's fine."

Seeing his frank attitude, Gilgamesh asked directly, "Who is the 'he' you mentioned before?"

The "he" in Zhongli's mouth is the one who is truly blind and cannot see the light of day.

As soon as the words came out, the relaxed atmosphere froze instantly.

The curve of Zhong Li's mouth froze for a moment. He did not answer immediately, and remained silent as if a long-lost memory was evoked.

As expected, "his" existence was very important to Zhongli. After realizing this, Gilgamesh became more and more interested in "him".

Zhongli appears in this form and even wants to become a human... Could it be related to "him"?

On the other hand, Hoshino Nozomi, who finally remembered who "he" was after being reminded by the system, was completely convinced by the King of Heroes' unconventional moves.

He racked his brains to think of countless possibilities and was even prepared to return the black card, but Gilgamesh wanted to know about King Rhodra?

Hoshino Nozomi gave up trying to figure out the King of Heroes' train of thought.

Hoshino Nozomi: “He is my best friend.”

Just a few words, no follow-up.

Gilgamesh asked, "Where is he now?"

"He's in..." Hoshino was stunned.

System: [Under the ground of the Fulong tree in the Nantianmen area of ​​Hulao Mountain in Liyue. ]

The system spoke a series of unfamiliar place names at a very fast speed. Xingye Wang was confused and only remembered the last few words. His voice became lighter due to lack of confidence: "Underground."

Gilgamesh was startled, but quickly reacted.

Underground... In the Age of Gods, the underground was usually the location of the underworld.

Therefore, Zhongli's best friend is dead.

Gilgamesh suddenly thought of Enkidu. His best friend died under the curse of the gods, and he realized the shortcomings of "humans" and embarked on a journey to find the immortal herb.

If it weren't for that death, he would probably never have touched the realm of God called "eternal life".

What about Zhongli? What does he want to do?

When the god mentioned "underground", his usually calm and composed tone became light and vague. To this day, Zhongli still cannot let it go.

If I deliberately gave up my vision in order to experience my best friend's world, then I wanted to become a human and learn human thinking... maybe it was also for him.

Zhongli remembers his friends in his own way.

It seems that as long as you do this, your best friend will never leave.

Stupid. That's what Gilgamesh wanted to say.

But the crazy things he did after Enkidu's death seemed to be no different in essence from Zhongli's behavior.

Gilgamesh stopped asking questions and continued to describe the battle last night, but this time he was more detailed and spoke in a gentler tone.

Xing Yewang: “?”

Was it his illusion? Why did Gilgamesh's attitude suddenly become much better?

The system has no idea about this: [Anyway, this is a good thing. ]

Hoshino Nozomi was no longer entangled and sorted out the information given by the King of Heroes, such as when Gilgamesh came, the Red King was preparing to join the battle, and that Gilgamesh had already persuaded Matou Sakura to commit suicide.

Hoshino Nozomi: “…” In some ways, he feels similar to Dazai Osamu who went around looking for girls to commit suicide for love.

Hoshino Nozomi: “Why?”

"Foolish question." Gilgamesh glanced at him, but there was no impatience on his face. "She will die sooner or later. It is better for her to commit suicide while she is still conscious than to be unable to die in the end."

Hoshino Nozomi silently withdrew his previous evaluation, thinking that the King of Heroes' actions still made sense.

The more Heroic Spirits it absorbs, the more severe the breakdown of its body functions becomes, until the host completely loses consciousness and turns into a Lesser Holy Grail... which is no different from death.

Hoshino Nozomi didn't understand Matou Sakura's thoughts for the time being, so she got up and left Fuyuki Church.

Not long after, he received a call from Dazai Osamu. When he heard the joking complaint from the other end, he remembered that he had forgotten to call Dazai Osamu back. Hoshino Nozomi said, "I'm fine." Dazai Osamu said, "Mr. Zhongli hasn't replied to me about the last matter."

Hoshino Nozomi did not answer immediately, and Dazai Osamu said, "Besides me, Chuuya might also come... No, if we tell him, he will definitely come."

Xing Yewang: “…”

As if by some strange coincidence, he agreed.

After getting a positive answer, Dazai Osamu hung up the phone happily. A long "beep" sound was heard, and Hoshino Nozomi was surprised to realize what she had agreed to.

He got himself into trouble.

The system thinks it doesn't matter: [The character's exit is a fact. No matter how many guesses Dazai has, they can't be confirmed. Please rest assured, host, it won't be exposed. ]

There is one more sentence that the system did not say: Besides, you haven’t seen Zhongyuan Chuye for a long time.

The first person you get along well with after arriving in the other world will always occupy a special position.

Hoshino Nozomi felt that what the system said made sense. The worst that could happen was that Wendy would be bitten to death. The most important thing now was how to stop the Red King from approaching the World Tree.

After this battle, Fyodor might change bases frequently. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. Hoshino Nozomi can only tell others to keep an eye on Matou Kuran and Assassin, waiting for the opportunity for the Black Holy Grail to appear.

That night, the Black Holy Grail did not take action. Archer was in charge of keeping an eye on Assassin, and Hoshino Nozomi finally had a chance to have a good rest.

*

Matou Sakura woke up.

The room was dark. She turned on the bedside lamp and looked at the time on the clock: one o'clock in the morning.

She had slept for a whole day, and now that she was awake, she didn't have the slightest burning feeling in her stomach.

Looking at the night outside the window, Matou Sakura was a little dazed, as if she had not yet woken up from a long dream.

The dream was a beautiful story like a fairy tale. She wore a light pink dress and followed the moving and talking dolls to the castle on the mountain, where she played games with them. During the process, one doll was naughty and noisy and refused to admit defeat. Matou Sakura patted its head half in anger and half in play, and the doll immediately turned into a candy.

She ate the rainbow-colored candy. It was sweet and she liked the sweet taste.

Matou Sakura leaned against the head of the bed for a while and felt something was wrong.

The room seemed to have changed.

She got up and went to the quiet living room, finally making sure that this was not the house where she had slept before.

...Never mind, it's not important.

Matou Sakura looked around and saw a white-haired, brown-skinned man "playing" with his mobile phone on the sofa. She couldn't help but pursed her lips and smiled.

Mr. Amon is still interested in technology products.

Chi Wang stopped disassembling the phone and asked: "How do you feel?"

"Feelings?" Matou Sakura was stunned. "Well... I slept well last night. This room is also very good. Thank you, and Mr. Fyodor."

Red King: "No need."

Matou Sakura sat next to him, watching Chi Wang restore his phone in a few seconds, and recalled the rainy night a few days ago.

The raindrops hit her body, and the cold penetrated into the seams of her bones, freezing her blood. The kind Russian gentleman lent her an umbrella and an umbrella, and said in a voice as gentle as a cello: "If you have nowhere to go, you can come to my house first."

Home. For Matou Sakura, this is a distant word. But as Fyodor said, she has nowhere to go.

Since she can't escape the fate of being used and abandoned no matter where she goes... let's find a place where she can feel warmth for a short time.

A moment later, Fyodor also came to the living room and thanked Matou Sakura for the warm water she brought him.

"Don't you want to sleep a little longer?" said the Red King.

Fyodor shook his head. "I had a dream. When the dream ended, I woke up."

He dreamed of the Red King's memories.

This is one of the effects of the contract. In his dream, he witnessed the rise and fall of the Red King's Kingdom, saw the Flower God and the Great Kind Tree King that the Demon God had been thinking about, and saw the Grass Dragon Apep that covered the sky.

In order to prevent the forbidden knowledge from spreading throughout the entire continent of Teyvat, the Red King designed to let Apep swallow him to avoid the spillover of the forbidden knowledge.

The memory stops here, but it's not the end.

The forbidden knowledge affected the World Tree of Teyvat. After the death of the Red King, Fyodor did not know how the Great Compassionate Tree King solved the problem, but this also reminded him that in addition to the Holy Grail, there was an alternative plan.

Use the forbidden knowledge of the Red King to pollute the World Tree.

Fedor held the water glass in his hand, thinking that Mr. Amon probably wouldn't want to repeat the same mistake, but Mr. Amon actually had no choice.

As long as he wants to see the Great Compassionate Tree King, he must reach the World Tree; as long as he reaches the World Tree, the forbidden knowledge will spread.

"Mr. Amon," Fyodor suddenly said, "let's go."

Dive into the underground caverns beneath Ryudo Temple and use forbidden knowledge to repair the Holy Grail's summoning system.

It’s time for the absent Rider to appear.