"Then I'll let you, Lin Tian, decide. I am only responsible for stripping Azar of his status as Sumeru's Grand Sage. He is forbidden from entering Sumeru City ever again, and his descendants will inherit this crime."
Nahida said to Lin Tian with a serious face. If not for her elven ears turning bright red, Lin Tian might have actually believed she was doing this willingly.
Hearing Nahida's punishment, Azar was unconcerned. To him, the location of his experiments didn't matter at all. As long as he was let go, with his intelligence, he would make a comeback sooner or later. But to his despair, Lin Tian had no intention of letting him off.
Azar was just about to beg for mercy, hoping to be spared, but Lin Tian didn't give him a chance to speak, directly throwing a capture sphere and trapping Azar inside.
Under Nahida's calm gaze, Azar's figure vanished, leaving only a purple, strangely glowing sphere on the ground.
Nahida: 'I've seen too much. I'm used to it. At this point, I'd believe it if someone said Lin Tian could resurrect Greater Lord Kusanali.'
Lin Tian walked over to where the capture sphere had landed, picked up the sphere containing Azar, and then turned his gaze to Scaramouche, who hadn't said a word from the beginning.
Scaramouche, who had been enjoying Azar's predicament, suddenly realized the show was over. Moreover, Lin Tian was now looking at him. He shuddered instantly and quickly shut his eyes, pretending to still be unconscious.
"A puppet... has no sense of pain, right? Let me think... System!"
[DING! Dream Manipulation unlocked.]
"Alright, I really hate this guy too. Help me teach him a good lesson!"
"Dream Manipulation... Got it!"
Hearing about this new module, Lin Tian immediately had a great idea, one that would guarantee Scaramouche a very wonderful experience.
"Scaramouche, time for a little nap. Don't worry, I've practiced. It'll be painless."
Lin Tian stretched out his right hand. Under Scaramouche's terrified gaze, he prepared to grab his head and slam it into the ground three times. This was something he had learned from the great teacher Shenhe; he heard it was very effective.
THUD!
One slam, and a hole was smashed into the back of Scaramouche's head. Scaramouche successfully entered dreamland.
"Looks like the other two slams weren't needed. Is Scaramouche's sleep quality really this good?"
Looking at the tightly shut eyes of Scaramouche, Lin Tian nodded in satisfaction. Teacher Shenhe's method really worked!
Standing behind Lin Tian, Lumine watched this scene and couldn't help but shudder. Lin Tian's action felt familiar... and looking at Nahida, she was clearly studying Lin Tian's behavior!
'It seems this Nahida won't be like the one in the original story. But that's good. Having read the original, Lumine didn't want Nahida to be like that anyway. Scaramouche was clearly so evil, yet she still helped him...'
"Lumine, what is Lin Tian doing?"
Paimon suddenly flew to Lumine's side and whispered, watching Lin Tian wave his right hand around the person called Scaramouche. She didn't understand. Was this some kind of ancient ritual?
"Paimon, I guess Lin Tian is preparing to give Scaramouche an unforgettable memory."
Although Lumine didn't know what Lin Tian was planning, she was well aware of his lolicon tendencies and knew he definitely wanted to break Scaramouche. Even though she and Scaramouche had some family ties, she found him disgusting too.
When she thought about the original story, she just couldn't understand. This guy wasn't like Childe. Why on earth did she become friends with someone like him?
'It must be the fault of the person responsible for whitewashing Scaramouche. Definitely!'
Just as Lumine was convincing herself of this, Lin Tian had finished setting up Scaramouche's dream.
Lin Tian set it up like this: In the dream, Scaramouche would experience three thousand betrayals, each lasting at least half a year. Lin Tian had already told Scaramouche that he would genuinely experience 3,000 betrayals. If he could endure it, he would be let go, and he could even be given the Gnosis.
However, this was just the first layer of the dream. If Scaramouche survived, he would enter the second layer. In the second layer, Lin Tian would set him as a woman and seal parts of his memory.
Although he would be an orphan, his life would be smooth sailing... until he completely fell in love. At that point, his memories would gradually unseal.
When his memories were fully unsealed, he would be betrayed by his husband and given to the filthiest, most depraved brutes in the Treasure Hoarders to be used.
If he survived that, he would fall into the third layer...
And so on. Lin Tian set up a total of one hundred dream layers. If Scaramouche could endure it all, he would respect him as a real man and would genuinely let him go.
He just set the duration a bit long; it would take at least a year for him to wake up. Moreover, if he failed any single layer, he would be sent back to the first layer to start the cycle all over again. The order of the subsequent layers would also be randomized, leaving him with no way to prepare mentally.
...
Lin Tian slowly explained what he had done to Lumine, Nahida, and the people in the live broadcast room.
After hearing Lin Tian's words, the scene fell silent. 'As expected of you. Two of the people who hurt Nahida are already half-dead. It seems those in Sumeru who were once involved with Azar are going to regret it deeply.'
"But, this way, won't it be... Mph!"
Nahida had just started to feel a bit of sympathy for Scaramouche. After all, this punishment was countless times more painful than her 500 years of imprisonment. But just as she was about to plead for him, Lin Tian suddenly shot her an expectant look, as if he really wanted her to plead!
Nahida immediately shut her mouth. Her ears were still incredibly sensitive right now! As for Scaramouche... he deserved it.
"Well then, Lumine, I'll have to rely on you to tell Raiden Makoto about Scaramouche. Just say I did it. If she has a problem, she can come find me."
Lin Tian tossed this remark at Lumine, who instantly remembered her other role. 'Being the middleman is hard!'
But Lumine just shot Lin Tian a glare and didn't say anything. She had planned to teach Scaramouche a lesson anyway.
"Oh, right. Speaking of which, where is Miko? Wasn't she always on your shoulder? Why haven't I seen her since I got here?"
After dealing with Azar and Scaramouche, Lin Tian finally had a moment of peace. Only then did he notice Yae Miko was missing. He looked around in confusion, but couldn't find any sign of her.
"Oh, her. She's up above. I'm not sure what she's discussing with Alhaitham."
Hearing this, Lin Tian looked up at the opening above and scanned the area, but he didn't see Yae Miko or Alhaitham. They must have gone somewhere else to talk.
However, Lin Tian did spot a few familiar figures. They were the people led by Kawaja who had followed Azar, as well as Nafis, the only sage who had opposed the "god creation project."
"Looks like I won't have to waste effort finding these guys."
Seeing them, Lin Tian controlled the power of wind to snatch the other sages down, leaving only Nafis.
"What! What is this!"
"Oh no! If this demon catches us, we're finished!"
...
The others at the opening quickly moved away from these sages, terrified that Lin Tian would mistakenly think they were associated with them.
Amidst the terrified curses of these few, their bodies were gradually pulled down.
"Everyone, don't panic. I'm just about to give you the same treatment as Azar."