The Doctor planned to leave by ship. The Traveler and Dehya, still uneasy, went to the port to investigate.
The Doctor was indeed there. He had already boarded the ship and was directly "good ship."
Unfortunately, in the scene, he was still alive, elegantly waving from afar at the Traveler and Dehya.
[The Doctor: "Time to say goodbye, then."]
This wasn't the audience's first time hearing the Doctor speak, but for those who "liked" the Doctor, listening to him talk was truly enjoyable.
However, precisely because of this carefree attitude of his, the readers who "liked" him also really wanted to see the scene where he gets beaten.
They really wanted to see him lose his confidence! They really wanted to see him suffer! Traveler, hurry up and smack him!
The Traveler in the story did want to smack him, but unfortunately the Doctor's ship had already sailed away, and there was an even more urgent problem.
There was only the Doctor on the ship; no other Fatui had followed. So where had they gone?
The Traveler and Dehya reacted quickly and rushed back to Pardis Dhyai. Sure enough, the Fatui were attacking Pardis Dhyai—they were after Haypasia, dead or alive.
But the Fatui also had an excuse, beautifully worded as:
["Our superiors have approved our search and collection of medicinal herbs required for research in Pardis Dhyai."]
[Tighnari: "The Fatui haven't just arrived in Sumeru today. Coming to Pardis Dhyai for herbs only now—doesn't that seem far too deliberate?"]
Clearly, the Grand Sage had sold Tighnari out. After all, Tighnari himself wasn't on the Grand Sage's side.
From the Grand Sage's perspective, it would be even better if Tighnari and the Fatui both suffered heavy losses.
If Tighnari were to yield to the Fatui, that would be fine too—the Grand Sage could later use the Fatui to pressure Tighnari.
Unfortunately, Tighnari showed no intention of yielding. He only said one sentence.
[Tighnari said gently: "—No one will disturb you today either, Haypasia."]
In the scene, Tighnari leaped backward, and his longbow gathered Dendro energy before firing.
The close-up was Tighnari's Burst animation, only made even more dazzling by Lucian and the others, since it was produced to the standards of an animated film.
That leap truly leaped into many people's hearts—he was so handsome.
Similarly, Tighnari's single sentence struck straight into Haypasia's heart. Tighnari was truly so gentle!
But the feeling that struck her heart wasn't romantic love, because the two of them had already been friends for a long time. Now Haypasia truly regarded Tighnari as a friend she would die with.
She didn't fall in love, but there were people who did fall in love with Tighnari. At that moment, they wished they could crawl into the movie and become Haypasia.
Who wouldn't like a powerful, wise, and gentle man? Especially for those with an intellectual attraction—Tighnari and Alhaitham were basically the most beloved.
So yeah, we love Dendro men the most!
At this moment, the Dendro man Tighnari was facing an elite Fatui squad, but besides this elite squad, there were countless other Fatui—an endless wave.
Fortunately, the Traveler and Dehya arrived just in time. The three of them faced the Fatui together.
Dehya and Tighnari held the front line, while the Traveler went inside first to find Haypasia in case she was ambushed.
However, Haypasia was fine; it was the Traveler who ran into trouble. When she touched Haypasia, she saw Scaramouche's "holographic projection."
Scaramouche had come to spout some ruthless lines. He had finally become a god—how could he not show off a little?
[Scaramouche said: "Even if you rescue the Lesser Lord Kusanali, as a 'god,' the difference in our power is like heaven and earth."]
Scaramouche's first sentence was pure mockery of the Traveler's wasted effort and Nahida's weakness.
But the real Scaramouche who saw this scene darkened his face—because he hadn't beaten her!
Looking at this line now, it felt like he was slapping his own face. Beside him, Tartaglia was almost laughing himself into a "true soul form," cackling "ga ga."
Indeed, the difference was like heaven and earth—too bad the other side was the heaven.
Now he had truly become "Scaramouche (the clown)."
And in the story, his output continued. He didn't just attack the Traveler and the Dendro Archon—he also attacked the Grand Sage.
[Scaramouche continued: "Scholars regard the God of Wisdom as their faith, which is why they can both revere and carry out the god-making plan at the same time."]
["But this also shows that human worship of gods is both blasphemous and sacred—quite ridiculous, isn't it?"]
This amused the audience. This guy was truly equal-opportunity—he attacked everyone, friend or foe.
Scaramouche was ruthless enough to even attack himself.
He was the type who, when eating out, would see a waiter and say, "Look at this B person's face," and if he passed by a dog, he'd roast it twice too.
For example, later on Scaramouche started attacking himself. The Traveler "concernedly" pointed out that Scaramouche might have his consciousness invaded by "godly canned knowledge," causing him to lose his self-awareness in the end.
This loss of self-awareness was, in a sense, death. So what the Traveler really wanted to say was: Aren't you afraid of dying?
[Scaramouche replied: "I was born to become a 'god.' Up until now, my life has been nothing but a meaningless 'process.'"]
["Everything the previous 'me' left behind was just painful memories and the boring emotions of humans. Utterly absurd—it should have ended long ago."]
See, he started attacking himself, directly denying the meaning of his own past existence.
Scaramouche watched this scene in silence, because even now he still held that same belief.
In fact, it had gotten even worse. He had failed, so he felt even more that his life had no meaning.
But if you asked Raiden Ei, she had never intended for Scaramouche to "become a god" from the very beginning.
She only wanted a vessel to hold the Gnosis, preferably one that could handle the government affairs she didn't like dealing with. She never planned to abdicate the throne to anyone.
That throne was passed to her by her sister—she wouldn't give it to anyone else unless that person was Raiden Makoto.
Theoretically, Scaramouche was actually an excellent choice. He could hold the Gnosis while still possessing empathy.
For a ruler, empathy is extremely important. Inazuma ending up the way it did was absolutely partly because the Shogun lacked empathy—she only executed orders.
If it had been Scaramouche, he probably would have fought Ei in the Plane of Euthymia for five hundred years before the second Raiden Shogun incident. The Traveler's arrival would have been the peacemaker.
The two would definitely have fought for a very long time, because Scaramouche was the type who wouldn't give up until he achieved his goal—the stubbornness inherited from the Raiden family.
That stubbornness came from Raiden Ei, so when two stubborn people met, they'd just fight.
But in this timeline, it didn't happen, because he could cry. Ei, already in a "fragile" state, couldn't accommodate another fragile soul.
Raiden Ei didn't want to end up crying together with Scaramouche in the Plane of Euthymia in the future.
Scaramouche was abandoned. His life entered another timeline, and he met the Doctor.
In this timeline, he became a "god," and Haypasia was his first devout believer, so Scaramouche cared deeply for Haypasia.
That was also why, even now, Scaramouche's consciousness was still connected to Haypasia—he truly cared about this believer of his.