Genshin Impact: What, the one we need to save is Focalors?

"Hmph! He merely wanted to protect his family's honor and find a scapegoat," Scaramouche said, his tone full of contempt.

"Truly foolish! After so many years, you haven't improved at all!" Lin Yide criticized him with sharp words.

"Back then, you didn't heed Mikoshi Nagamasa's dissuasion and stubbornly insisted on going to Tenshukaku to beg that foolish deity for help, which resulted in the Tatarasuna accident being discovered by the Shogunate.

Not long after, the Shogunate decided to punish all the administrators at the time.

And Katsuragi, who let you go, realized he had made an irreversible mistake, so he voluntarily took on all the responsibility."

Hearing this, Scaramouche's expression turned somewhat somber. He defended himself, saying, "At that time, many people begged me to go seek help."

Lin Yide let out a cold laugh. "That's why I called you utterly foolish! Mikoshi Nagamasa is one of the 'The Yougou Three'; his perspective far exceeds that of you incompetent lot. If begging the deity for help could have resolved the accident back then, he would have gone to Tenshukaku himself long ago."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "But that wasn't even your greatest folly. Your greatest foolishness lay in doubting Niwa, who you had spent years with, and instead trusting that malicious Escher."

Scaramouche seemed to have a raw nerve touched, and his emotions suddenly became agitated. "The events back then are perfectly clear! Are you trying to push all the blame onto Escher?"

Lin Yide stood up from the bonfire and stretched languidly. "Scaramouche, I am the Head of the West Factory. As for all the information on Fontaine, all I need to do is say the word, and someone will have it delivered to my desk within half an hour.

Coincidentally, before coming to Inazuma, I looked up information on Escher. He is a renowned scholar at the Fontaine Research Institute, and his life's path is crystal clear—primarily conducting research in Fontaine and Sumeru. He has never once set foot in Inazuma."

"You must be lying to me!" Scaramouche shouted.

Lin Yide slowly walked closer to him, looking down at him condescendingly. "Lie to you? Is there any need for me to do that?"

Scaramouche was stunned into silence. Given Lin Yide's strength and status, he truly had no reason to lie to him. "Then tell me, who exactly was that Escher?"

Lin Yide showed a meaningful smile. "I'll give you a hint: This was a master manipulator."

At these words, Scaramouche's expression drastically changed. "No... this is impossible! You must be lying to me!"

His heart felt as if it was being savagely bitten by a venomous snake, and the pain was unbearable.

Lin Yide slowly squatted down, staring at him with cold eyes. Slap! A heavy slap landed squarely on Scaramouche's handsome, pale right cheek. "Now, do you believe it?"

Scaramouche's right cheek quickly became red and swollen, but he still stubbornly turned his head away. "I don't believe it!"

Slap! There was another crisp sound, this time his left cheek bore the brunt of the blow.

Scaramouche lifted his head, his eyes filled with resentment and defiance, yet he still refused to yield.

Slap!

"Believe it?"

"I don't believe it!"

Slap!

"Believe it?"

"I don't believe it!"

......

It was unknown how long he was slapped, but Scaramouche's face was swollen like a pig's head, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Compared to the physical pain, the anguish in his heart was even harder to bear.

If everything Lin Yide had said was true, then his entire life truly was utterly ridiculous, pitiable, and tragic!

Suddenly, his vision went black, and he plunged into endless darkness.

"So easily knocked out?"

Lin Yide looked somewhat annoyed at the unconscious Scaramouche and sighed helplessly.

He grudgingly spent 50 Experience Points to purchase a strangely shaped 'wowotou'.

Then, he tore the 'wowotou' into pieces and slowly fed them into Scaramouche's mouth.

About an hour later, Scaramouche gradually regained consciousness. He looked around and saw that the "demon" who had tormented him was intently reading a novel not far away.

Hearing Scaramouche stir awake, Lin Yide closed the novel in his hand and looked towards him. His first words were, "Do you believe now?"

Hearing this, Scaramouche involuntarily shivered. He was about to answer, "I don't believe it," but the burning pain and swelling on his face made him hesitate.

"I... I believe it," Scaramouche struggled to utter.

Seeing Scaramouche finally yield, Lin Yide nodded with satisfaction. "Wouldn't it have been better to believe earlier? You just had to suffer all this physical pain."

"What... what was the purpose... of you doing this?" Scaramouche asked, the pain on his face feeling like knife cuts with every word.

Lin Yide replied calmly, "Because you still possess a certain degree of usefulness. You can serve as a pawn against the Raiden Shogun and also cause some trouble for Dottore."

"If everything you said is true," Scaramouche said coldly, "then I am willing to be used by you."

Lin Yide raised his hand.

Scaramouche thought he was going to slap him hard again. However, the large hand merely gently patted his shoulder. "Fool," he said. "Come with me."

After saying that, he left without looking back.

Scaramouche struggled to his feet. Although his steps were shaky, he still limped along behind Lin Yide.

The sunlight outside was exceptionally bright. Occasionally, butterflies fluttered by the roadside, adding a touch of vitality to the beautiful scene.

Scaramouche, however, felt as if he had just broken free from a long nightmare.

As Lin Yide walked, he slowly recounted the truth of what happened back then.

"Hundreds of years ago, Dottore came to Tatarasuna to research a fragment of a Demon God from Yashiori Island and create chaos in Inazuma, thereby allowing the Fatui to establish their influence.

It was then that he discovered an excellent experimental subject—a puppet created by the deity herself.

In order to make the puppet completely give up on its human companions, he meticulously planned a conspiracy..."

"After experiencing the 'betrayal' of the one it held dearest, the puppet still held a glimmer of hope for humanity, so it adopted a child. However, Dottore took advantage of the puppet being out and cruelly murdered that child."

"Right at that moment, Dottore appeared. He exploited the puppet's anger and grief and brought it back to Snezhnaya. There, the puppet willingly underwent various cruel modifications and experiments, solely to seek the power of revenge."

Scaramouche's heart was now filled with anger and hatred. He clenched his teeth and let out a low roar from deep in his throat: "Dottore! Dottore!"