I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Hello everyone.

Suddenly, several figures appeared before everyone without warning, stepping on the white snow.

The team members became more vigilant.

"who?"

Jeon Seok instantly placed his hand on the pistol holster at his waist, ready to retaliate at any moment should anything happen.

In the thick fog, several hazy figures gradually became clear. The next second, a high heel broke through the fog, revealing long, fair legs, a white dress draped with a deep red feather robe, and pale golden hair piled up behind her head. A mask resembling a half-winged butterfly was worn on her forehead, revealing her identity.

Fools, ladies.

Upon seeing the Fatui suddenly appear, everyone's vigilance increased several levels, especially the Mondstadt members of the rescue team.

As the leader and executive officer in charge of the affairs of the Fools in Mondstadt, the people of Mondstadt will never forget the lady's appearance.

Quan Shi squinted and asked, "Who are you people?"

The woman chuckled: "Fools, madam."

"The Fools?"

Quan Shi raised an eyebrow.

Although he had only been transferred from the rear of China to the Teyvat continent for a short time and did not know the lady, he was still familiar with the Fools. Before the team went up the mountain, headquarters had warned them that the Fools were active in the snowy mountains and that they might encounter them. Sure enough, they had run into them.

Looking at the highly vigilant Quan Shi and Abedo holding the West Wind Sword beside him, the lady smiled slightly: "Gentlemen, there is no need for us to be so tense. We are not here to target you, but to discuss a cooperation with you."

Quan Shi frowned: "Cooperation? What kind of cooperation?"

The woman said, "You are a team composed of members from China, Mondstadt, and Liyue, right? I know you have a way to contact your command personnel back home. Ivan is here too, isn't he? I need to talk to him. As for the details of the cooperation, I will explain them later."

Quan Shi asked warily, "What reason do we have to believe you?"

The woman tilted her head slightly: "You really have no reason to believe us, and we have no means to make you believe us, but we are already close to the summit of the snow mountain. Any large-scale battle has a high chance of triggering a massive avalanche. I think you, like us, don't really want to perish together in this place. I will be back in half an hour, and I hope you will have thought it through by then."

After saying this, the woman turned and disappeared into the thick fog once again with her men.

Quan Shi frowned slightly.

"Groups one and two, pay attention, stay alert, check the surroundings, and see if there are any traces of other Fools around."

"clear."

"Group Three, quickly set up a communication base station. We need to contact headquarters immediately."

"Yes!"

Quan Shi then looked at Abedo: "Mr. Abedo, you are the strongest in the team in terms of individual combat strength. If any unexpected situations arise, I'll leave it to you."

Abedo nodded and said, "Don't worry."

Ten minutes later, the communication base station was completed and voice communication could begin. The team immediately contacted headquarters.

"Headquarters, this is the action team. We've encountered an unexpected situation ahead."

Ivan's voice came through the communicator: "Action Team, this is headquarters, please speak."

"Headquarters, we encountered the Fools near the mountain path close to the summit."

"The Fools? Has a battle broken out?"

"No, another group of Fools came who claimed to be ladies and said they wanted to discuss cooperation with us. They specifically asked to speak with Commander I. They said they would explain the details of the cooperation later. They have left temporarily and will return in twenty minutes."

"Received. Remain on alert. Headquarters needs to discuss this matter temporarily. We will contact you in ten minutes."

"clear."

At the trailhead, inside the command headquarters tent, Ivan hung up the communication and immediately sent someone to notify Qin, Xu Donghai, and Ningguang, the three leaders of the three-party operation who were handling other tasks, to return to the headquarters tent for a meeting.

A few minutes later, all three arrived, and together with Ivan, a small meeting of four began. Ivan briefly explained the situation the team had encountered.

"As expected, I've encountered the Fools again..."

Qin said in a deep voice, "So it seems that the Fools' expedition to the snow mountain this time was led by the lady?"

Ivan shook his head and said, "It's not necessarily just the lady as an executive officer; there may be other executive officers present."

Xu Donghai stroked his chin and asked, "What's your opinion on the Fools' Sect seeking cooperation with us?"

Ningguang pondered, "We don't yet know what the Fatui are planning. Should we make contact first?"

Ivan nodded: "That's what I think too. Given the Fools' style of doing things, unless they encounter something insurmountable, they won't take the initiative to seek cooperation with us. Moreover, the action team is already close to the top of the snow mountain. If a large-scale battle occurs there, it could trigger an avalanche. I don't think the Fools want to have a conflict with us for the time being. In any case, let's see what the Fools are up to first."

The four quickly reached a consensus, and Ivan immediately began contacting the forward action team.

Ten minutes later, the team members on guard at the temporary camp reported to Quan Shi that the Fools had arrived, and the two sides met outside the camp.

The woman looked up and asked, "Well, have you thought it through?"

As Quan Shi moved, Ivan's voice came through the communicator in his hand.

"Hehe, your condescending tone is not the way to ask for cooperation."

The woman raised an eyebrow: "Ivan?"

"It's me, ma'am. It's been a long time. I heard you specifically asked to speak with me?"

The woman squinted, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

"Yes, it's been a long time. I never imagined that your attitude towards me back in Inazuma was all an act..."

"Just trying to protect themselves. What, you want to avenge the stragglers?"

The woman snorted coldly: "Hmph, the death of the stragglers has nothing to do with me. I don't have the time to avenge him."

Ivan on the other end of the communicator said, "Alright, I think it's time to talk about the so-called cooperation, but before that, you have to answer one question for me: what are you going to do on the snow mountain?"

The woman frowned and said, "I'm afraid I can't answer that question."

Ivan laughed and said, "Then I'm sorry, I think our cooperation is probably not possible."

The woman was taken aback: "Ivan, what do you mean?"

“Madam, it seems you haven’t grasped the situation. I know you Fools; you would never seek our cooperation unless you encountered an insurmountable problem. You must understand, the initiative is in our hands. We can choose not to cooperate with you, but can you Fools do that?”

At this point, Ivan's tone became firmer.

"Now, tell me what you're going to do on the snow mountain?"

Chapter 342 The Secret Hidden on the Mountain Top

"Now, tell me what you're going to do on the snow mountain?"

Faced with Ivan's unequivocal tone, the woman fell silent.

Ivan is right. The Fatui's operation has run into trouble, and it's a problem that the Fatui can't solve. But the lady knows that the three-way joint operation headquarters, with Mondstadt as the main force, can solve it. To be even more precise, China has the ability to solve it.

Therefore, the woman decided to come and negotiate with the three-party joint action team.

As the party seeking help, they certainly don't have the initiative in this matter.

Having understood this, the woman sighed and said, "I can tell you the purpose of our visit to the snow mountain, but you must agree to cooperate with us."

"Madam, I've always thought you were an interesting and intelligent person. I'll repeat myself: the choice to cooperate or not is in our hands. You were originally operating in the shadows, but now you've exposed yourself and chosen to stand before us. You should have understood this. You have no right to negotiate with us. Of course, you can choose not to answer my questions and not to cooperate with us. Whether that's in your interest or not is none of my concern, but it certainly has nothing to do with ours. Moreover, this is Dragonspine Mountain, the border of Mondstadt. Your Fatui presence here is already considered illegal entry, and we have every legitimate reason to conduct a lawful search and arrest of your people. Will your operations still be able to continue then?"

The woman laughed angrily, "Are you threatening me?"

Ivan chuckled softly from the other end of the communicator: "So what if it is?"

The woman was speechless.

Yes, so what?

Does it matter if it's a threat?

As long as the Fools want to achieve their ultimate goal, they can only hope that Ivan and his companions will cooperate with them.

"Damn it, next time there's a job like this, let whoever wants it do it..."

After mentally cursing, the woman gritted her teeth, still wanting to secure one last chance to assert her side's voice, and said, "I can tell you that the matter we want you to cooperate on also concerns the security of Dormund."

"Really? The Fatui are even concerned about Mondstadt's safety now? I never expected that. Excuse me, if it really concerns Mondstadt's safety, we can investigate ourselves. In fact, compared to unknown threats, the known threats posed by you Fatui are far more pressing. So, are you still not going to tell me the purpose of your Fatui's visit to the mountain?"

The last scheme was thwarted, and the woman breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "It seems we have no other choice... Our purpose in coming to the snow mountain is to find an ancient ruin in Gukanria."

"The ancient ruins of Kanria? Where are they located?"

"Right on the summit of the snow-capped mountain."

Ivan's voice paused for a moment on the other end of the line, then he asked, "What's in the ruins?"

The woman answered truthfully, "I'm sorry, I'm not too sure about that either. The information we Fools have received is that this ruin contains the root cause of the destruction of the Kingdom of Kanria. As for the purpose of investigating these things—I am just an executor of this operation, and I don't know the ultimate goal."

At this moment, inside the operation headquarters at the foot of the snow mountain, Ivan showed a look of surprise on his face.

The root cause of Kanria's destruction is an unsolved mystery that has remained unknown to the world of Teyvat for thousands of years.

Could such a huge secret be hidden in the snow-capped mountains?

After a moment's thought, Ivan said, "You obtained a piece of Kanria technology from an ancient Kanria ruin in the Salt Flats, didn't you?"

The woman raised an eyebrow: "I didn't expect you to be able to obtain such information... Indeed, we did enter an ancient Kanria ruin in the Salt Flats, and we did trade with the locals there for some things. However, it wasn't technology, but a key—a key that could unlock the mysteries of the ruins atop the snow-capped mountains. Unfortunately, this key cannot open the door to the ruins, which is why we've come to you for cooperation."

Ivan said, "The truth about the root of the destruction of Ancient Kanria does sound intriguing, but that cannot be a reason for us to cooperate with a tiger. Helping you open the gate to the ruins doesn't seem to benefit us in any way. Besides, why do you think we can open a gate that you can't open?"

Although she couldn't see Ivan's face, the woman could already imagine his somewhat annoyed expression from the tone of their conversation.

The woman said, “I have witnessed the methods of your Chinese people, and I believe you definitely have a way to open the gate of this ruin. As for the issue of interests, as I said before, this matter concerns the safety of Mondstadt. I can tell you now that during our attempts to open the gate of the ruin, we detected a large amount of destructive energy inside, and it is still rapidly increasing over time. The concentration is the highest I have ever seen. At this rate, I think it won't be long before this ruin can no longer contain so much destructive energy and leaks out. As the highest point in Mondstadt and located near the border of Liyue, if we are not careful, this destructive energy may affect the entire Mondstadt region and most of the Liyue region. I think you don't want to see that either, do you?”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the operations headquarters who were listening to the negotiations was startled, and Ivan's brows furrowed.

It was an aura of destruction...

If what the woman says is true, then this is indeed a big problem.

If the destructive aura emanating from this ruin is not dealt with promptly, given the geography of the snowy mountains, even the slightest leak could affect Mondstadt and Liyue, inevitably causing a disaster.

After a moment's thought, Ivan temporarily muted his communication and looked up at the solemn-looking crowd surrounding him.

How are you feeling?

Qin said, "I don't think we can completely believe what she says."

Ningguang nodded and said, "That's what I think too. After all, they are the Fatui."