People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 521 Paimon: Sending Evil Eyes and Supplies, the Fools May Be Great People?

“Clang, bang, clang—”

The sun had just risen when the sound of armor plates clashing came from the edge of the guard post.
Even though the gods had cleared away the monsters in the wilderness some time ago, with such a large number of people crossing the wilderness, the necessary vigilance and precautions still cannot be relaxed.

They avoided the relatively dangerous nighttime hours and chose to set off at dawn.
They were well aware of the density of monsters in the outside world and had prepared a series of contingency plans.
Not only the battle-hardened soldiers on the periphery, but even the civilians in the center of the column received sufficient training before setting off.

Due to the influence of the elemental energy concentrated in the Musou Blade Rift area, many strange monsters have recently appeared in the waters near Hachiyū Island. Allowing them to damage ships could pose unnecessary risks.

After careful preliminary investigation, Xin Hai chose to cross the safe zone cleared by the general, cross the island of Hachiyū, and take a boat from Namishiki Beach towards Narukami Island.

Southwest of Ba Yun Island, near the Snake Bone Mine.

A short while after the main force set off, Xin Hai and his two allies returned to the center of the group from the distant Haizhi Island, under the curious gazes of the soldiers.

Most people only know that their own living goddess priestess left before to "persuade" those stubborn people who were unwilling to leave.

The civilians and soldiers, who had expected the persuasion to take a long time, were astonished by the unexpectedly quick return of their leader.

—The stubbornness of those people was evident to all. All previous attempts at communication had failed, and at one point it even seemed like an impossible task.

But Lady Xin Hai truly lives up to her reputation as one of the most outstanding living goddess priestesses recorded on Haiqi Island; her personal charisma is indeed incredibly powerful.

After making arrangements and leaving the group, he surprisingly managed to persuade all of them in a very short time.
I never doubted that Lord Coral Palace would return empty-handed.

After all, their leader had said before leaving that he wouldn't leave unless all the residents were taken with him.

Increasingly curious about the scene, those present regretted not having applied to go along and missed this brilliant speech that would be recorded in the history of Haigi Island.

"Xin Hai, a few people seem to have a strong resistance to hypnosis. Ying and I just went in again and knocked them out again."

"Don't worry, Ying is very good at this kind of thing, there won't be any bad effects."

The central part of the group, isolated by the Yuanxia Palace group, is a place where the conversation is not easily overheard by other Haiqi Island people.

A certain human-god-like priestess, whose charisma is praised by countless soldiers, is currently having a conversation with her ally that is utterly astonishing.

The power of words has its limits, and sometimes we have to resort to more direct and effective persuasive methods.

Since taking on the role of a living god priestess, this was probably the first time she had used such an efficient method of "persuasion."
Recalling the scene of the audience lying on the ground below the stands, Xin Hai's expression was slightly complicated:
"Thank you, then I'll leave the rest to you."

"I am still thinking about how to truly change their minds. In the worst-case scenario, let them stay in your two grottoes for the time being until they return to Haiqi Island."

They were well aware that once they arrived, they would inevitably have to deal with the Shogunate army.

Moreover, to avoid major chaos, their residences will likely be relatively dispersed under the arrangement of the magistrate's office, which is a completely foreseeable development.

The good news is that the current resistance force already includes a large number of people who fled from Narugami Island. Through their daily interactions, they have become very familiar with both the people of Umijima Island and the residents of Narugami Island.

With the shogunate overthrown and the gods now in charge,

These refugees, caught between the two sides, would become a valuable communication anchor between the shogunate and Umijima, greatly alleviating the initial unfamiliarity and hostility between the people on both sides.

"Therefore, in order to avoid ruining the rare opportunity for communication, and also to avoid arousing people's suspicion when we need their help."

"Although it may be a bit undemocratic, we hope you two can temporarily take in these residents who are most likely to cause conflict. Haizhi Island will provide full compensation afterward and will not make things too difficult for you."

As the current human-god priestess, she formally made a request to her two allies, and Xin Hai's thoughts were particularly complicated at this moment.

She knew very well that there were intelligent people within the shogunate, and that after inviting them over, they would inevitably take the opportunity to assimilate Umijima.

According to the thoughts of the residents and believers in the Dust Song Pot, she should fulfill her duties as a "human god priestess" and maintain the unity of Haiqi Island to the greatest extent possible.

but.
“The time frame is different now than in the past. Recent experiences have made everyone realize that external threats cannot be limited to the one that happened five hundred years ago.”

"Only by receiving divine grace can one survive the fate of destruction. If one then deliberately creates conflict between the two sides, returning everything to the state it was before the disaster occurred..."

He silently shook his head, not believing that if something like this happened again, Umijima, which insisted on opposing the shogunate, would still receive divine assistance.

I truly felt the sense of crisis that comes with the absence of divine protection and the possibility of collapse at any moment.

It's perfectly clear that the resistance has only managed to hold out this long because of good luck.

Xin Hai, who had prayed countless times that the demon leader would not come to Haiqi Island, sighed deeply and decided not to interfere with the people's own choices.

"Hmm, speaking of which, Xinhai, have you caught the traitor on your side yet?"

"I remember you said before that a large portion of the residents who were unwilling to leave had been in contact with a few specific individuals."

The column continued forward, and with most of the marching supplies packed into the dust-song pot, the army made a rapid journey to the ferry.

From the very beginning, Paimon felt that the people were excessively stubborn, and he also wanted to know who the traitor within was.

"We found quite a few. In fact, even I was a little surprised."

"Perhaps the recent monster attacks have made it difficult for them to make contact with their informants."
Or perhaps it's because the relocation of Haizhi Island would greatly impact their plans, so they're willing to risk exposure to stop it.

"In short, I think the vast majority of the traitors should have been caught."

He glanced at the enormous serpent skull in the distance and responded frankly. He had long suspected something was amiss with the destruction of the protective artifacts on Ba Yun Island, and in his recent thorough investigation, Xin Hai had successfully uncovered the Fool's spy disguised as a Mondstadt person.

They provided patrol routes for the rebels to infiltrate the shogunate army, and when the shogunate army advanced towards Hachiyeon Island, they used the pressure of the situation to persuade other soldiers to destroy the sacred objects of the Great God, resulting in heavy losses for the shogunate army.

They assisted the magistrate in promising to rescue the residents of Hiki Village who were corrupted by the evil spirits, and later, together with the magistrate's men, they scuttled the rescue ship and framed the resistance army.

Finally, they used a few survivors to spread propaganda on Narugami Island, inciting the island's residents to resent the resistance.
"The number of spies was large, and after interrogation, it was discovered that there were countless acts of sabotage in various clandestine ways."

"Some of the sabotage by these fools' inside agents benefited the rebels, while others benefited the shogunate. At first glance, it is difficult to understand their intentions."

"But judging from this action to incite residents to oppose the relocation, their goal is most likely to escalate the civil war between Inazuma and drag the two sides into a protracted stalemate."

Even he was shocked when he found so many spies. Although he had a vague feeling that the actual situation would be so exaggerated, he did not expect it to be so extreme.

I've long been puzzled by the intensity of the battle, always feeling that the strength of the shogunate army's offensive was closely related to the current strength of the resistance forces.

After a thorough investigation, Xin Hai was also quite helpless about this result:
The composition of the resistance was too complex, including many foreigners whose origins were difficult to trace.

Loose organizations are inherently vulnerable to espionage; it's just that the constant fighting meant there was no time for thorough internal screening.
"The Fools? So, the mysterious reinforcements who've been sending us supplies all this time are really those bad guys?"

"Well, although Ying and I had our suspicions when we recognized Evil Eye, we never expected that they would actually be the ones to help us so much."

Perhaps the Fools' intention in sending the Evil Eyes was malicious, but when faced with the sudden monster invasion, the resistance's losses would likely have been several times greater without these Evil Eyes.
Coupled with the food and equipment that had been given to them for free before, Paimon even had a momentary illusion that they were really good people.
"This is probably a twist of fate. The Evil Eye was originally intended to balance the power gap between us and the Shogunate army, but the other side did not expect this to happen later."

"The intensity of the Abyss invasion far exceeded expectations, and their current attempt to incite the people to stay on Haiqi Island is probably their last try."

"Judging from the current situation, I suspect that those shogunate officials who initially came to Haigi Island to escalate the conflict were most likely in league with them."

I've had a long-standing question in my mind: why did Umijima so naturally choose to confront the shogunate army head-on?

The magistrate's office was indeed severely corrupt.
But even the most foolish official wouldn't immediately propose collecting the vast majority of residents' income to support the Eye Hunting Order.

A bizarre cause, a bizarre bloodshed, and then it was conveniently proclaimed as a resistance movement.

Everything progressed too quickly, leaving her little time to react.

"It's too late to know all this now. Once a conflict starts, it's not so easy to stop it."

"But after this sudden change, the Fatui's original plan has completely failed in the face of this indiscriminate attack of the dark monster."

Unlike Paimon, who joined midway, Xin Hai himself had absolutely no liking for these guys.

There are countless ways to oppose the Eye Hunting Order, but direct confrontation is definitely the worst of them all, tantamount to a group suicide mission.

They inexplicably took over this disastrous start chosen by others, and then had no choice but to force themselves to continue down this path.

The mind, burdened with an unknown amount of extra work, recalled those unbearable days and inexplicably felt a sense of relief at the current predicament of the Fools, as if a great revenge had been avenged.

".?"

"Hmm? What's wrong? Why do you look like you want to say something but can't?"

"If there's anything you'd like to know, just say so. After all, this successful relocation wouldn't have been possible without your help."

Noticing that Paimon and Ying were giving her strange looks, Xin Hai, not quite understanding what was going on, temporarily stopped reminiscing.

"Um, actually, we wanted to ask you how you obtained so much information."

"After all, in our impression, the Fools are very stubborn and it's hard to get anything useful out of them."

I'm genuinely curious about this. I've captured quite a few Fools in Mondstadt, but I couldn't get any information out of them.

But judging from what the other party said, they were practically spilling beans, revealing information that absolutely could not be disclosed, clearly squeezing out every secret of the Fatui.
"Oh, so that's what it is?"

"Well, actually I didn't participate in their interrogations myself. These were handled by dedicated priestesses, and they never let me see the specific process."

"Looking back at the historical reasons, it's probably because the former White Night Kingdom left behind many bizarre punishments and torture methods. Although these things come from a dark history that is not easy to talk about, they seem to be very useful for interrogation."

"After all, it can be considered one of the heritages of Haiqi Island, and I've always wanted to see it for myself."

Shrine maidens weren't always glamorous.

Besides the young women you see on ordinary days, there are also some elderly people on Haizhi Island who are responsible for passing on essential knowledge to the younger generation.

Although the witches always greeted him with kind smiles and inquiries, the prisoners who had been interrogated seemed to cower in fear whenever they saw them.
"Well, I think it's best if you don't watch 'Heart Sea.' Based on our experience, watching it will probably give you nightmares."

It's unimaginable what kind of dark history that "White Night Kingdom" had that could give rise to torture methods that even the Fools couldn't bear.

He offered heartfelt advice to the sea of ​​emotions before him.
Considering the current special time when diplomatic influence can be completely ignored, Paimon felt that the Fools' spies who had infiltrated Haigi Island were probably among the most unlucky.
"Alright. The ship has been adjusted and it's about time to set off."

"Hopefully, the person on Narukami Island who will be in contact with us won't be too difficult to get along with, and ideally, won't have too much prejudice against the residents of Umijima Island."

The trek was not slow, and after setting up camp several times, they finally reached a point where they could set off by boat.

As I boarded the ship, I glanced back towards Haiji Island in the distance.
I'm glad I'm away from the tiring life of the past, and I hope the people in charge of Narukami Island can trust them a little more.

(End of this chapter)