She's different from before!
Compared to the previous Cryo Archon, the woman standing before them now seemed far more energetic.
She no longer looked like someone who had sealed away her own heart.
"Your Majesty seems much more confident now!"
Columbina quickly noticed the change in the Cryo Archon.
"Hmph~ Naturally! The formula for victory has already been established!"
After witnessing battles on the level of Emanators, the Cryo Archon genuinely had no idea how she could possibly lose anymore.
Heavenly Principles?
Nothing more than an ant.
It had suffered tremendous losses just dealing with a Dragon Sovereign.
As for the Five Sinners?
Ridiculous.
If they were so capable, why didn't they go fight Phantylia?
Now that an Emanator of Erudition was standing right beside her, she truly couldn't see a path to defeat.
"Has Your Majesty already found a reliable method of defeating the Heavenly Principles?"
Columbina felt that the Cryo Archon was becoming a little too confident.
To prevent confidence from turning into arrogance, she felt it necessary to remind Her Majesty just how powerful the Heavenly Principles truly were.
"Reliable? Before the Genius even begins to exert himself, the Heavenly Principles would be wise to kneel and surrender quickly. It might save them from bloodshed."
The Cryo Archon still lacked a concrete understanding of just how powerful an Emanator truly was.
But she had learned enough about the Xianzhou.
The Heavenly Principles?
Merely ants.
Hadn't she seen for herself how highly the Genius was regarded even on the Xianzhou?
What kind of existence was the Xianzhou Luofu?
She couldn't grasp the entirety of it.
But the population of a single Xianzhou ship alone far exceeded that of the entire continent of Teyvat.
Within such a colossal civilization, the Genius was merely a guest, yet he still received the highest level of treatment.
Inviting him to save Capitano back then had truly been the wisest decision she had ever made.
"Your Majesty, the Heavenly Principles... are the rulers of all Teyvat."
Columbina was beginning to suspect something might be wrong with the Cryo Archon's head.
How could a single trip change someone's personality this much?
"Your Majesty, what talents did you recruit during this journey?"
The Cryo Archon answered confidently:
"None!"
Columbina sighed.
Then she asked another question.
"Did you acquire any new powers?"
The Cryo Archon's confidence remained unwavering.
Her voice even grew louder.
"No!"
Columbina struggled to keep the smile on her face from cracking.
"Then... did you gain any new allies?"
"No as well!"
The Cryo Archon's momentum did not diminish in the slightest.
After all, this trip had only taken her to the Xianzhou Luofu.
Not even the entire Xianzhou Alliance.
Just a single Luofu alone was already so overwhelmingly powerful that she felt it was beyond reach.
How could she possibly form an alliance with them?
That simply wasn't realistic.
Surely she couldn't ask Su Ran to have the Luofu march against the Heavenly Principles?
"What exactly did you gain, then?"
Columbina fought the urge to punch the Cryo Archon in the face.
She genuinely worried that she might lose control of her temper.
If Her Majesty had returned from this trip with absolutely nothing yet remained this confident...
Columbina really couldn't take it anymore.
Was this supposed to be a honeymoon rather than an expedition?
"I gained a wealth of knowledge!"
The Cryo Archon wasn't entirely empty-handed.
On the contrary, the experiences of the past few days had truly opened her eyes to the brilliance that existed beyond the sky.
They had made her long for the wider universe even more.
Columbina smiled politely.
The fist in her hand tightened further.
It looked as though regicide could happen at any moment.
"And I ate lots of delicious food, saw many interesting things, and watched a battle that shook the heavens and earth."
At this point, Columbina couldn't even maintain her forced smile anymore.
"...Your Majesty, now that you've returned, perhaps these documents should be handed back to their rightful owner."
As for the Heavenly Principles, Bronya didn't care.
But the pile of paperwork she wasn't authorized to process?
That absolutely needed to be returned to the true ruler of this nation.
"Hm? Why is there so much?"
Looking at the mountain of documents on the table, the Cryo Archon was bewildered.
It felt several times larger than usual.
Hadn't the Genius said this woman was fully capable of handling her duties?
"Because there were some decisions I didn't feel qualified to make, so I left them untouched."
Bronya looked at the relatively thin stack before her.
No matter how she looked at it, it didn't seem like much work at all.
It was still less than what she used to handle on a daily basis.
Was this so-called god just a mascot?
She thought there wasn't even that much paperwork here.
"Your Majesty, where's my Boss?"
Seeing nobody standing outside the doorway, Bronya suddenly felt nervous.
Surely she wasn't about to be abandoned here?
Although she could communicate smoothly with a handful of people, there remained one major obstacle to living in this world.
Language.
She could converse with these people thanks to the Synesthesia Beacon.
But Synesthesia Beacons weren't commonly used here.
Only a select few among Snezhnaya's upper ranks had them.
Bronya could understand what everyone else was saying.
She could understand ordinary citizens too.
But ordinary citizens couldn't understand her.
Communication remained her greatest problem.
"He should have returned already. No idea where he ran off to."
The Genius was much more active than she'd originally expected.
Back in Snezhnaya, he barely left his workshop.
Yet after spending only a few days on the Luofu, she felt that Snezhnaya wasn't quite as appealing anymore.
Since she couldn't go back right now...
Perhaps she should visit Liyue for a while?
Treat it as an extension of her Xianzhou experience.
After all, there were many cultural similarities between the Luofu and Liyue.
Bronya:When exactly can I go home...?
While she was still longing for Belobog—
Belobog itself welcomed a visitor from beyond the stars.
After discovering that this planet, long classified as a dead world, had regained vitality, the Interastral Peace Corporation had immediately begun investigations.
Monitoring stations had already been established in orbit.
Then, upon discovering the existence of humanoid lifeforms on the planet, they decisively moved to uncover the secret behind this world's revival.
But before that, they needed to redefine the ownership rights of the planet.
After all, the IPC had once invested here.
Loans had also been issued.
It was time to collect on those debts.
A director from the Strategic Investment Department had arrived on the planet.
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