“1: The mastermind behind the scenes, 2: Abyss Mage, 3: Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, 4: Ordinary bard, 5: The Anemo Archon's apostle, 6: None of the above.”
“Please answer from Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru, with 5,000 people randomly selected from each country’s public chatroom.”
“Discussion time: 5 minutes.”
“Don’t pick me.”
“Crap, I got picked.”
“What do I choose?”
“The number of people in the second round decreased?”
Charlotte: “This question doesn’t involve us!”
Arataki Itto, perked up again: “Hahaha, isn’t this question a freebie?”
【Kujou Sara: A freebie again?】
Arataki Itto, speaking confidently: “Give this dude a close-up on the public chatroom, all eyes on me!”
The sky screen’s lens obliged.
The entire world watched Arataki Itto: “First, we saw that he could vanish instantly, so he’s not an ordinary bard.”
【Kuki Shinobu: Boss, that’s called a bard】
Arataki Itto: “Second, he doesn’t look like the Anemo Archon. Even though I don’t like the Shogun, she has a presence when she appears. Does this Venti have that? It seems he doesn’t, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen him many times, drunk and sleeping on the city walls.”
“I’ve seen him too, singing something in the Windrise area.”
“You guys see him occasionally, we, the people who drink at Angel’s Share, see him often. He can sing and drink, but he has a good personality.”
Arataki Itto: “So, I’m directly eliminating 3, 4, and 6. I suspect he’s the mastermind behind the Stormterror attack. Think about it, he said something to Stormterror in the forest, causing him to attack the city. I’m leading everyone to choose 1!”
【Yoimiya: It seems to make sense】
【Thoma: Arataki Itto figured it out】
【Xingqiu: I still find it a bit strange】
【Amber: I feel it makes some sense】
【Lisa: Jean, you decide for yourself】
“I agree with that Oni kid.”
“I’ll choose with him.”
“The analysis makes sense.”
Ganyu: “I want to choose 1, what do you think, Mr. Mu Chen?”
Mu Chen looked at Keqing: “What do you think, Keqing?”
Keqing pondered for ten seconds before saying: “Arataki Itto’s got a point, but I think Venti isn’t a bad guy. I want to choose the Anemo Archon’s apostle, what about you?”
Mu Chen lowered his voice: “The first thing I eliminated was the apostle.”
Keqing and Ganyu blinked their eyes.
Mu Chen: “The term should be ‘retinue.’ Does the Geo Archon have apostles? Ganyu-jiejie knows best.”
Ganyu shook her head: “No, the Geo Archon treats us like family, even back when the Geo Hypostasis was alive, we were comrades and companions. The term ‘retinue’ was coined later.”
Mu Chen: “Stormterror is the Anemo Archon’s retinue, so I instantly ruled out the apostle option. Keqing, do you trust me?”
Keqing placed her hand on her chest: “I trust you.”
Mu Chen whispered: “In my judgment, the mastermind behind the scenes accounts for 40%, he being Barbatos accounts for 40%, and the remaining 20% goes to option 6. Choose 1 or 3, I’ll gamble on 6!”
He really made me want to cry, Keqing and Ganyu’s eyes held a watery glow.
In their eyes, Mu Chen was jumping into a fire pit, taking all the danger onto himself.
Keqing: “There’s a chance of 6, I’ll choose it!”
Mu Chen: “Let me do it, listen to me.”
“Countdown: three, two, one, please choose your answers, representatives of the four nations.”
Nilou and Cyno both chose 1, while Nahida chose 3.
“Hahaha, you Sumeru gods aren’t up to par, choosing 3?”
“That adorable little Grass Archon chose 3?”
“Wasn’t that a giveaway?”
“Oh my, why choose 3? Even we Sumeru people wouldn’t choose 3.”
“I believe in that ghost dude!”
In Inazuma, Arataki Itto stood tall with confidence, confidently selecting 1, Gorou followed suit, while Kamisato Ayaka chose 4.
In Liyue, Ganyu chose 1, Keqing, trusting Mu Chen, chose 3, and Mu Chen chose 6.
“Why did Miss Keqing choose 3?”
“The Liyue people have been watching from the perspective of the proxies. Miss Keqing wanted to choose 5, but after listening to Mu Chen’s suggestion, he believes that 1, 3, and 6 have the highest probability.”
“Hmph, I think 3 is the least likely.”
“Even though I’m a Liyue person, if Venti is the Anemo Archon, I’ll stand on my head and poop.”
“I’ll eat it directly!”
“Waste of an opportunity.”
Finally, in Mondstadt, Aether chose 1, Diluc chose 1 as well, and Jean chose 6, believing that Venti has another identity.
The answer was still unknown, everyone was on edge.
“The correct answer is... 3, Barbatos, the Anemo Archon.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“He’s Barbatos, the Anemo Archon?”
“No way, this answer is impossible, right?”
【Barbara: Impossible, how could Barbatos-sama do that!】
【Rosaria: Barbara, the sky’s falling】
【Paimon: Venti, you’re really the Anemo Archon!】
【Venti: I told you guys, but you didn’t believe me】
【Kachina: It’s good this question wasn’t for us, or we’d be wrong again】
【Hu Tao: Oh my, this is so interesting】
【Jean: Venti-sama is Barbatos-sama?】
【Barbara kneels on the ground, her mind blank】
【Mu Chen: Is Barbara-jiejie alright?】
【Rosaria: She’ll be fine after a while】
【Kaeya: I always thought Venti was the Anemo Archon, we’ve drunk with him many times】
【Diluc: So you think you’re the Cryo Archon then?】
“Where’s the Liyue person who said they’d stand on their head and poop? Come out!”
“And the one who said they’d eat it? Who’s gonna pay for the food and drinks!”
“This is hilarious, we’re all crying because we got it wrong again!”
“Crap, we got everything wrong.”
“What was Arataki Itto analyzing for?”
【Kujou Sara: @Arataki Itto, are you sure you didn’t know the answer? You successfully avoided it every time】
【Kuki Shinobu: Boss successfully avoided the correct answer again】
“4651 people in Mondstadt got it wrong, 4799 in Liyue, 4675 in Inazuma, and 4847 in Sumeru, water punishment.”
The sky screen displayed images of the people who got it wrong in all seven nations. Suddenly, they vanished into thin air, dragged into the sea.
Glug, glug…
These nearly 20,000 people were dragged into the sea, their frantic struggles useless. They were released after thirty seconds, teleported back to their original locations.
“Quick, save them!”
“They were all pulled into the water for half a minute?”
“Liyue Qixing, come quick, this person fainted.”
“Can’t they even hold their breath for half a minute?”
“They were suddenly scared.”
The punishment was being abruptly pulled into the water, they were all choked up pretty bad.
“They didn’t even spare the kids, so miserable!”
Timmy lay on the bridge in Mondstadt, even spitting out a fish.
The blacksmith apprentice, Schultz, was choking badly.
A-Shan, the Liyue kite seller, was convulsing on the ground, her eyes rolling up. In Inazuma, Miyu, the owner of the Nemuri Kitsune shop, had fainted from fright.
This was still the public punishment.
The screen shifted to the proxies’ chatroom, their punishment was here!