Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 159 Nata

After confirming Xiao's current location, Kiana immediately went to Guili Plain to revive the Fire Yaksha Yingda.

However, he had to act quickly, since Zhongli was already preparing to save the day, so he didn't have much time left.

After retrieving Yingda's memories, Kiana skillfully inserted them into the body she had just prepared, snapped her fingers to open a portal, and sent it away.

After doing all this, Kiana left.

She then met Kong and Paimon, who were talking with Zhongli, at Tian Tiezui's place. Based on their conversation, it is not hard to deduce that Kong and the others had realized that Zhongli had helped Xiao in the end, but Zhongli did not admit it directly.

Then, the sharp-eyed Paimon noticed Kiana standing to the side and went over to invite her over to chat.

The main reason is that they haven't seen Kiana for a long time since the Lantern Festival. They can still see Fu Hua, who occasionally spawns in the wild, and even less so the others.

Mei hasn't been seen recently because she went to Fontainebleau, and Kiana has been a long time since I've seen her.

"Hey! So Kiana went to Sumeru!"

“After all, there are some things I need to take care of over there, but is Paimon really that surprised?”

"Because recently, there was a coup that ousted the Great Sage and put the Little Lucky Grass King back in power, and then the Great Tree King was resurrected, etc. It was all very exciting... As a result, Sora and I missed it because of Liyue and other things."

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Kiana, now that you've been to Sumeru, is it still dangerous there?"

"Why would Paimon say that? Sumeru is peaceful now that the Great Sage has stepped down, not to mention that Sumeru is currently under the rule of two gods."

“Well…” Paimon said, pointing his index finger at each other, “The main problem is that we always seem to encounter some kind of crisis whenever we arrive in a new country, and we might even be wanted by the police…”

"Thinking about it now, that's true," Kong agreed. "But no matter how you look at it, it's all Paimon's fault."

"Hey! How could that be! It's clearly just bad luck!"

Kiana couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Sora and Paimon bickering, before straightening up and replying seriously.

"The current Sumeru is as peaceful as I just described. Even meeting the gods is possible through proper procedures, but..."

"But what?"

"However, there are many people queuing up to meet the Grass God now, and it is said that the queue has already stretched into next year and beyond."

"The wait will last until next year! This...this is way too long! Kiana, do you have any other way to let us see the Grass God sooner?!"

"I am just an ordinary adventurer, without the power of the higher-ups in the Order of the Church. Besides, those who meet with the Grass God are all scholars who hope to obtain some academic answers from the Grass God. The obsession of those scholars with knowledge is far beyond your imagination."

“However, it’s not like there’s no other way to see the Grass God,” Zhongli said from the side.

"Really! Zhongli, tell me quickly, what's the method?"

"You should already know about the Flower Goddess's Birthday Festival, right?"

"The Flower Goddess's Birthday Festival? You mean the one in the group chat?"

“That’s right. Now that the previous Great Sage has fallen, the entire Sumeru is directly managed by the Little Auspicious Grass King and the Great Compassion Tree King. Presumably, this celebration will proceed as scheduled. And you all know to some extent the reason for this celebration.”

"So what Zhongli means is that if the Flower Goddess's Birthday Festival is really held as originally planned, the Grass God will definitely appear in front of everyone in the end! At that time, all we need to do is find an opportunity to chat with the Grass God, right!"

Paimon stomped his feet excitedly. Although Kiana wanted to let Paimon be happy for a little longer, she couldn't help but interrupt Paimon's fantasy when she saw that Paimon had already arranged everything.

"While what you said is true, Paimon, have you considered that security will be even tighter once the Grass God appears? You won't be able to get close to him then. Paimon, you don't want to be wanted for illegally approaching the Grass God, do you?"

"That makes sense. Let's set off as soon as possible and follow the normal procedures."

Paimon said dejectedly, "But Kiana is kind-hearted and can't bear to see others sad."

"Okay, don't be sad. It's not true to say there's no way out."

Upon hearing this, Paimon instantly perked up, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Kiana, too, found Paimon's enthusiasm overwhelming.

"As you all know, the reason why the coup in Sumeru happened was because the Great Sage's plan was exposed in the group chat, which aroused public anger and allowed the coup to succeed."

"Right, but speaking of the Great Sage's plan, shouldn't there also be skirmishers? How is he now?"

"He's currently atoning for his sins. Specifically, he's confessed to all the crimes he committed and accepted the revenge of the descendants of those involved. Luckily, he's a puppet and he's still somewhat useful to Nasita, so after those people vented their anger, Shadow repaired him and handed him over to Nasita for safekeeping. However, Thor's heart was still stolen by the Fools when no one was looking, and Grass God's heart was taken by Nasita and used to make a deal with the Winter Queen before being given away as well."

"I can understand the stragglers being guarded and imprisoned, but where did the Shadow come from? And how did those two Hearts of God end up in the hands of the Fools? Were those Hearts of God really that important?"

“These hearts of the gods may be important to us, the Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm, or they may not,” Zhongli said.

"What do you mean?"

Do you understand the essence of the heart of God?

Kong nodded to indicate that he understood, and Paimon also revealed that Wendy had given them all this information.

"Since you know that, it's easy to explain. Simply put, the Heart of God is just an external magical organ that connects us to Sky Island. It only slightly enhances our strength. Its main function is for Sky Island to collect faith from the continent of Teyvat. As for what it's used for, that's something you can't know right now."

"Here we go again... Forget it, I never intended to get any useful information from Zhongli in the first place," Paimon grumbled. "And then? What happened to Kiana after that?"

"It's nothing. The current Sanbing is a student at the Academy of Teachings, and his mentor is none other than the Little Auspicious Grass King Naxida. So you can try your luck by looking for Sanbing. But if you want to find Sanbing in Sumeru, remember to call him Ama Tongxue."

"Ah Mao... Pfft!"

Paimon couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard the name, but he managed to stop himself from laughing out loud by covering his mouth.

"In short, if there are no further questions, let's set off."

Kiana stood up and gestured for the two to follow.

"Huh? Is Kiana going to Sumeru for some business?" Paimon asked.

"No, I have business to attend to in Nata, and then I need to transfer to Fontaine. Sumeru is sandwiched between these two countries, and if you want to take the shortest route, the best way is to pass through the desert region of Sumeru. So we are going the same way until we reach Sumeru City."

"That's great! With Kiana around, at least our safety is guaranteed!"

"Paimon, do you mean I can't usually give you a sense of security?"

"N-Of course not!" Paimon quickly retorted, "What I mean is that with Kiana around, I feel twice as safe! Yes! That's it!"

"Forget it, I won't argue with you. Let's go, Paimon, hurry up and catch up."

As they talked, Sora and Kiana walked towards the Abyss of Lapis Lazuli. Paimon, who had come to her senses, immediately followed and complained about why Sora and Kiana hadn't waited for her.

As Zhongli watched the three leave, a slight smile crept onto his lips. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Hu Tao grabbed the old father by the collar and dragged him back to work.

After sending Sora and Paimon to Sumeru City for a short rest, Kiana set off towards the desert. Once Kiana's figure had completely disappeared from her sight, Sora began to ask how to get to the Order of the Church.

After all, whether one goes to see the Grass God through normal procedures or contacts the Grass God through skirmishers, Sora needs to go to the Kyoryoin.

After finding out the location of the Order House, Sora brought Paimon to the entrance of the Order House. After explaining their purpose to the gatekeeper, Sora entered the Order House.

Looking at the scholars rushing around and listening to the various experimental data they were talking about, Kong Du felt the pressure of academic work for the first time.

Meanwhile, Kiana had already crossed the desert and arrived in Nata territory.

Kiana felt a headache coming on as she sensed the phlogiston permeating the air. Ultimately, it was the ruptured ley lines that caused the leakage of light energy within, leading to the ubiquitous phlogiston in Nata.

Yes, the so-called phlogiston is the manifestation of the light-elemental force in Teyvat. The great war between Nibelungen and Tenryu caused the ley lines of Natalya to shatter, causing the phlogiston within to leak out onto the surface of Teyvat through the broken opening.

While phlogiston-rich environments are the most suitable for dragons to survive, this is not necessarily the case for humans and other creatures, who do not have the same ability to adapt to phlogiston-rich environments as dragons.

Therefore, the last angel remaining in Nata chose to sacrifice himself for humanity and other living beings, reshaping the broken ley lines and integrating them into the Kingdom of the Night God.

Although most of the phlogiston has been integrated into the Kingdom of Night God to some extent, the territory of Nata is still affected by phlogiston.

Fortunately, over thousands or even tens of thousands of years, the humans and creatures here have gradually adapted to the environment of Nata today.

However, this also made Kiana hesitate about whether to set up her own backup plan. After all, if she followed her own ideas, all the leaked pheromones in Nata would inevitably be absorbed and utilized by her.

The specific approach is to reconstruct the ley lines for Nata as a backup, modeling them after their past selves. This way, even if the situation develops to the point where the Heart of God has to be used to reconstruct the Kingdom of the Night God, the Nata people will not lose their civilization and memories.

Furthermore, the new ley lines can also help the Kingdom of Night resist the invasion of the Abyss, which can greatly delay the Abyss's final offensive and indirectly help the Goddess of Fire, Mavica, complete her plan.

However, Kiana now faces a rather troublesome problem: the Nata people's fighting style, having adapted to the pheromone environment, inevitably incorporates pheromone.

Once they carry out their plans, it will inevitably affect the way the Nata people fight, and in severe cases, it may cause even greater casualties.

It's really like the plan ended before it even started; that feeling is awful!

Just as Kiana was having a headache, a black-haired boy with emerald green eyes came to Kiana. He was wearing a headscarf and was accompanied by a pixelated creature.

"Hello." The boy began to introduce himself. "My name is Ginitch, and this is my companion. You can call him Joe."

"Hmph! Behold me! Before you stands the great holy dragon Kuhuleach, and this one beside you is merely my servant, destined to become my vessel sooner or later... Oh dear!"

Before he could finish speaking, Ajo was flicked away by Ginitch. After doing all this, Ginitch first apologized and explained his purpose.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to listen to him. We were summoned by Lord Vulcan to invite you to the Holy Fire Arena. Lord Vulcan has something important to tell you."

“Vulcan Mavica… I understand, lead the way.”

Led by Kinichon, Kiana arrived at the council office of the Sacred Fire Arena, where the fire goddess Mavica had been waiting for a long time.

"Welcome, successor to the principles of Heaven!"

Seeing that Ginich had left, Mavica naturally didn't hold back and greeted Kiana warmly.

"Looks like you're quite well-informed."

"Of course, after all, Nata has her protection, and I can also learn some information through her power."

"You didn't come here just to get to know me, did you?"

"Of course, I'd like to know why you've come here?"

"What would you think if I said I was here to help you survive the Abyss invasion?"

Mavica, who had been smiling, now looked serious. She took out a pair of sunglasses from inside her clothes and put them on, looking at Kiana with a piercing gaze through the lenses.

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"The specifics are roughly that we will use your abundant phlogiston resources to create another ley line to jointly resist the invasion of the abyss. At the same time, it can also serve as a backup for the Nata civilization. In this way, you can start the backup plan without any worries."

"And what is the price?"

"They're really perceptive," Kiana said with a wry smile. "The price is that Nata has completely lost his pheromones."

“This will undoubtedly deprive us Nata of our means of fighting,” Mavica said, frowning. “No, it’s probably not just that. Perhaps even the Sacred Flame will be affected. After all, the Sacred Flame relies on phlogiston as fuel to burn continuously. In that case, the Holy Night Pilgrimage will probably be difficult to continue, and we Nata will lose our most important trump card in the fight against the Abyss!”

"That's why I'm having a headache. After all, your Nata have always relied on the advantages of pheromone to fight against the Abyss. As the saying goes, pheromone is both your strength and your weakness. Doing things my way might not be of any real help to you."

“No, perhaps there is still a chance,” Mavica said.