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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 367: Rosaline's Wrath (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2024-12-11 14:30:00 +0000 UTCBe a Good Person
"Hmm, this command is a bit abstract and broad in scope," thought Nolan, "but it’s not some word game, nor does it have any loopholes to exploit. In fact, precisely because it’s so simple, it becomes even harder for the 'Lady' to disobey."
After all, the definition of "good person" isn’t up to the "Lady" herself. Imagine if she believed destroying the world was a good deed—what chaos that would cause! Actions that align with being a "good person" must, at the very least, be harmless to the world, society, and ordinary people.
She cannot intentionally use anything to harm others.
Of course, when it comes to dangerous monsters or truly evil people, she can act if necessary—or not act, since being a good person doesn’t necessarily mean she has to help others.
In essence, it simply means refraining from doing bad things in the conventional sense.
The reason Nolan decided to embed this command into the Command Seal was not to overly restrict the Lady’s freedom but simply to ensure she no longer commits evil acts.
The third command was as follows:
[You must not, in any way, harm the interests of Nolan or his close friends.]
Although the second command should already prevent the "Lady" from harming Nolan and his group without reason, explicitly stating this as a formal rule seemed like a good safeguard.
For example, if Nolan accidentally did something wrong and the "Lady" attacked him as a result, such exceptions could still occur.
Of course, that’s just a hypothetical scenario. After all, according to the first command, the Lady has to obey him, so there’s no real need to worry about such accidents happening.
Moreover, Nolan wouldn’t do anything bad in the first place.
"These three commands should be enough, right?" Paimon said, holding her little head. She couldn’t think of any more rules.
"Yes, this should suffice," Nolan nodded.
"Wait a second," Lumine suddenly said, noticing something odd. "The first command makes her listen to someone with interstellar travel capabilities. But if we give her the Waymark later, wouldn’t she also qualify as someone with that ability?"
"Good point! And what if both Lumine and Paimon need her to do something at the same time? Who would she listen to?" Paimon asked, confused.
"There’s no need to worry about that," Nolan reassured them with a smile. "Command Seal cannot be used by the person they’re placed on. As for Paimon’s concern, it works like this: she’ll prioritize the orders of the person who issued the command first and then deal with the second person’s request afterward."
The feedback from his Command Seal specialization provided him with detailed information, so even though he hadn’t tested it, he was very clear about how the seals operated.
"I see," Lumine and Paimon nodded in understanding.
After finalizing the commands, Nolan walked over to the "Lady." Thinking for a moment, he grabbed her left hand and pressed the Command Seal onto the back of it.
A flash of golden light illuminated the room, and a red pattern appeared on the back of the "Lady’s" hand.
"Huh? Is it really that simple?" Paimon exclaimed in amazement.
"Exactly," Nolan confirmed.
"Ahh~" Lumine yawned. "Since it’s all done, let’s head back to bed."
With that, she and Paimon returned to their room to sleep.
Nolan closed the door to the confinement room, took a shower, and prepared to rest as well.
Suddenly, he realized that sleeping alone might feel a bit lonely, so he picked up Mona, who had fallen asleep on the couch, and carried her to his room.
Using the soft body of the girl as a hug pillow, Nolan found himself much more comfortable and ready to drift into a peaceful sleep.
…
The Next Morning
Without the sun to wake him up, Nolan naturally woke up a bit later than usual.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Mona was no longer there. Perhaps she had woken up to find herself lying on top of him and, out of embarrassment, hurriedly left.
The evidence? Mona had forgotten to take her hat, which was still on the bedside table.
As their relationship grew closer, Mona’s affection for him seemed to increase more frequently. A quick glance at the character interface confirmed it—a new affection notification had appeared.
[Mona Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 240 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 8 (750/800).]
What a lucky morning!
It wouldn’t be long before Mona’s affection for him reached max level. He wondered what kind of extraordinary ability Mona, as a master astrologist, would grant him.
Picking up Mona’s hat, Nolan walked out of his room.
The girls had all woken up and prepared breakfast. Mona was sitting on the couch, eating a Sunsettia. When she noticed him, she huffed in annoyance and turned her head away.
Nolan chuckled softly, but what caught him by surprise was seeing the "Lady" sitting not far from Lumine and Paimon, sipping porridge.
Her expression, however, was one of extreme reluctance, as if someone were forcibly controlling her actions.
"This one was screaming her head off in the confinement room early this morning," Paimon said, floating in the air with a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other. "She even tried to threaten us with her position as a Fatui Harbinger, saying the Tsaritsa wouldn’t let us off the hook. Like a little kid throwing a tantrum! We had no choice but to use the Command Seal to make her sit down and eat properly."
"I see," Nolan nodded knowingly. He walked over to the couch, sat down, and smiled at the "Lady."
"Miss Rosaline, I trust you understand your current situation by now," he said.
The moment Nolan spoke, Rosaline’s anger flared. Her fingers, holding the chopsticks, tightened as veins nearly popped on her forehead. Yet, because of Paimon’s command to sit and eat properly, she had no control over her body.
All she could do was fume silently while continuing to eat.
She cast a glance at the red patterned mark on the back of her hand. These damn travelers! Not only had they sealed her powers, but they had also taken control of her body!
"You damned bastards! You—mmph!"
Rosaline tried to speak during a pause between bites, but her hand betrayed her by picking up another piece of meat from the bowl and stuffing it into her mouth, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"Heh, looks like you do understand," Nolan said with a smirk before continuing. "Don’t worry. We only want some information about the Fatui. Once we’ve got what we need, we’ll let you go. Besides, you can’t commit any evil deeds anymore."
Not long after, Rosaline finished her breakfast. With Paimon’s command fulfilled, she was finally able to speak freely. She cast a disdainful glance at Nolan and scoffed.
"Hmph. Trying to pry into the secrets of the Fatui is a serious crime. The others won’t let you off!"
Nolan understood that by "others," Rosaline was referring to the other Fatui Harbingers.
He chuckled inwardly. If the Tsaritsa herself intervened, that might be troublesome. But as for the other Harbingers... well, there were certainly a few he couldn’t handle yet.
Still, it didn’t matter. The Fatui probably didn’t know they had captured Rosaline. After all, when the situation turned dire, Scaramouche, Dottore, and the other Fatui soldiers had fled immediately.
Later, he could order Rosaline to pretend she had escaped successfully and command her not to reveal that she had shared any information. That should buy them a lot of time.
By the time the Fatui realized something was wrong, Nolan would have grown strong enough to fear no one.
With that in mind, he decided not to miss this opportunity to gather information about the Fatui. After a moment of thought, Nolan asked Rosaline:
"Why is the Fatui collecting the Gnosis? What’s your purpose?"
His question was enforced by the power of the Command Seal, ensuring that Rosaline would have no choice but to answer. Additionally, this place was a "Domain," (Wonderland) a separate world disconnected from Teyvat unless the "door" was opened.
Even if the Tsaritsa had some secret method of monitoring the Harbingers, it wouldn’t work here. After all, no matter how powerful the Tsaritsa was, she couldn’t eavesdrop across two worlds, right?
Of course, the greater likelihood was that the Tsaritsa didn’t place any such failsafes on the Harbingers. Their relationship seemed more like collaborators than a strict hierarchy.
Rosaline’s expression shifted upon hearing Nolan’s question. This bastard! He was really going to make her spill such critical information!
No matter how much she resisted or hated it, her body betrayed her, forcing her to answer through gritted teeth:
"We collect the Gnosis because it’s Her Majesty the Tsaritsa’s command. As for its purpose, it’s to harness the power of the Gnosis to challenge Celestia!"
"Celestia? You mean the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles?" Paimon asked, pressing a finger to her lips in thought.
"What is Celestia? And why does the Tsaritsa want to oppose it?" Lumine asked, her pale face showing confusion.
"According to the Tsaritsa, Celestia is an existence far more powerful than the Seven Archons. Only by gathering all the Gnosis can we hope to stand against it. And why oppose it? Because Celestia has sealed Teyvat beneath a false sky, cutting us off from the outside world!"
Rosaline continued to divulge the information against her will, fuming internally at how helpless she was. Why could so many people command her?!
"Really? Is that true?" Paimon said in astonishment.
Nolan was skeptical. When he had been transported to Teyvat, the game’s story hadn’t progressed far enough to reveal why the Fatui were collecting the Gnosis. He couldn’t be sure whether Rosaline’s explanation was entirely accurate.
After all, the "Lady" was likely telling the truth about the reasons she knew. But there was no way to be certain whether the Tsaritsa had lied to her and the other Fatui Harbingers.
Still, the reasoning seemed internally consistent.
After all, "Celestia" was an entity that essentially ruled over all of Teyvat, blocking anyone from leaving. Such tyranny would inevitably provoke resistance—like that of the Tsaritsa.
Come to think of it, both Venti and Zhongli handed over their Gnosis so easily. Perhaps they, too, were dissatisfied with Celestia.
Hiss~ If that’s the case, when the time comes for him to leave Teyvat and search for Earth, would he have to face not only the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles but Celestia itself as well?
What a headache. Nolan sighed inwardly.
"Why does this Celestia seal off Teyvat in the first place?" Paimon asked, scratching the side of her hair curiously.
"Her Majesty did not tell us the reason for that, nor has Celestia ever revealed its motives to anyone. So no one knows," Rosaline replied, having given up resisting the compulsion to speak.
With most of the important questions answered, Nolan continued to ask the "Lady" other questions.
"Do you know how Delusions are made?"
"Hmph, I’m not interested in such things, so of course I don’t know. If you want to find out how Delusions are made, go capture the 'Doctor,'" Rosaline said with a sneer.
There was a flicker of surprise in her eyes. She couldn’t understand why these people, already so strong, would want such flawed tools that drained lifespan.
"Fair enough," Nolan nodded. Indeed, the "Lady" didn’t seem like someone who would be interested in research.
Still, the Fatui didn’t rely solely on the "Doctor" for research. There were others. And who knew which "segment" of the Doctor they might run into? If he got caught in the process, that would be disastrous.
"Do you have any questions?" Nolan turned to Lumine and Paimon after finishing his own inquiries.
"Not really, but…" Lumine and Paimon shook their heads before trailing off.
Nolan immediately understood what they wanted to say. They likely wanted him to ask about the Fatui’s secret bases in Mondstadt, on behalf of Acting Grandmaster Jean.
After some thought, he decided to connect with Jean directly so she could ask the questions herself. He would relay the answers for her.
It was best to leave professional matters to the professionals.
Over the next hour or so, Nolan helped Jean gather extensive intelligence on the Fatui and Snezhnaya from various angles.
Once he had squeezed all the value out of the "Lady" as a Fatui Harbinger, and with nothing else to do, he prepared to let her go. He would send her back to act as a spy within the Fatui’s ranks.
After commanding her not to disclose her capture, Nolan handed Rosaline a Waymark, returned her Delusion, and disabled the elemental suppression barrier Lisa had placed on her. Finally, he opened a spatial rift to let her leave.
Rosaline had no choice but to comply. She stomped off angrily, muttering like a furious child.
She radiated a sense of helpless rage.
[Rosaline Has Developed Negative Feelings Toward You. Obtained -300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 1 (-500/100).]
Well, so much for that. Nolan chuckled to himself.
It didn’t really matter. The "Lady" was now essentially a "summon." He didn’t particularly need her affection for any skills.
---
Yashiori Island, Watatsumi Army Forward Camp
After letting the "Lady" go, Nolan and his group made their way to Gorou’s camp as agreed.
Gorou and the Watatsumi soldiers warmly welcomed them. After carefully searching the battlefield the previous night, the soldiers had discovered numerous mechanical remnants from Delusion factories, as well as evidence of large-scale combat.
Confirming that Nolan’s group had indeed resolved the Delusion factory issue, the soldiers were extremely grateful.
The group stayed for lunch. Once Gorou and two Vision-wielding soldiers prepared the documents and materials needed for Watatsumi Island, everyone set out in the afternoon.
The distance from Yashiori Island to Watatsumi Island wasn’t as far as from Narukami Island to Yashiori.
Thus—
With the help of Wind Gliders and clearing out dangerous monsters along the way, they finally reached Watatsumi Island at sunset.
(End of Chapter)
