Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"Tch, I even beat up your executive officer's son, did I say anything?"

Jiang Bai rolled his eyes. The vines growing on the sandy ground hooked them upside down.

If we want to communicate with these fools, we need to teach them a lesson first.

Jiang Bai didn't believe that every member of the Fools had an iron will and determination. Most of them were ordinary people, and they could always achieve their goals through coercion or bribery.

"Aite, take two men and go find their camp; it must be nearby. Remember to bring back anything useful, like their logbook..."

Since they launched an attack on them without explanation, it means that their goal is the same as the ruins guard, and they are afraid of being beaten to it.

Therefore, they must have a base of operations nearby.

Even if these fools are unwilling to speak, they will surely find something like an action log.

In this way, whether or not you speak up is not a big problem.

“Okay.” Ai nodded and led the two of them back in the footprints they had come from.

The Fools were a little flustered. This person clearly knew a lot about them, even knowing things like their operation log.

"Your target is this ruin's guardian, isn't it? Although I don't know how long you've been stationed here, I doubt you've ever actually gone inside..."

Jiang Bai sat in the chair, staring at the group of fools who were hanging upside down, and spoke with great conviction.

If Hu Tao hadn't simply walked through the wall, Jiang Bai wouldn't have believed that the ruins' guardians, now depleted of their energy, could be opened from the outside.

"Just then, we opened the inner door and went inside."

Hanging up, Feng Quan couldn't hold back any longer, "How is this possible! Without energy, how could you possibly open it!"

"How do you know we don't have energy? Why is it that you're the only ones who know how to open it, but we can't?"

Wind Fist fell silent again.

They were also worried that this group's goal was the same as the ruins' guardian, and feared that they would get there first, so they acted without saying a word.

"We're only interested in the guardian of this ruin; we don't intend to use it for anything. If you have any irreplaceable information, we're open to cooperation..."

“I’ve dealt with you Fatui before, and I have a good relationship with some of your executives. I also agree with the Ice Queen’s will, so there’s no need for you to be our enemy…”

Jiang Bai gradually lured the foolish soldiers, lowering their guard.

"who are you?"

"Me? I don't know if you've heard of me, but I am the Knight of Favonius, the honorary knight who helped Mondstadt resolve the dragon scourge, the hero who defended Liyue from the demon god crisis, the key figure who faced the Thunder General and lifted the isolation order for Inazuma... the famous Traveler—Kong!"

As Hu Tao listened to Jiang Bai's boasting, her lips twitched uncontrollably when she heard him directly steal Kong's name.

Judging from how skilled this guy is, it must not be his first time.

"No, although we've never seen him before, according to our intelligence, that traveler is clearly blond!"

Jiang Bai reached out and touched his white hair, his voice low and melancholy:

"Because I turned my hair white overnight from worry..."

"There's no way I could believe that!" the musketeer couldn't help but blurt out.

Hu Tao's shoulders trembled as she covered her mouth, struggling to keep herself from laughing out loud.

It's unbelievable that Jiang Bai could come up with such a story, including turning white-haired overnight...

Jiang Bai rolled his eyes at the rude hall master.

Is it really that funny?

"I'm not kidding you anymore. My name is Jiang Bai, a soul-ferryman from the Hall of Rebirth. I specialize in funerals and corpse collection. You can ask me about my deeds when you get back."

"Never heard of it..."

The musket was very honest, so honest it was almost heartbreaking.

Jiang Bai glanced at him expressionlessly, but did nothing to him.

"Tell me, which executive do you belong to?"

"We are the advance team, and for now we will follow the Doctor's orders."

"It's him again. Could it be that all the fools involved in the Sumeru event are following his orders...?"

Aside from the Scattered Soldiers and the Doctor, Jiang Bai doesn't seem to have heard of any other Executives in Sumeru.

If the lady hadn't died, she might have come, but she's dead now, and the only familiar face left is the young master.

Who knows if the young master is in Liyue or in Winter Solstice?

"What were his orders this time? To activate the Relic Guardian? To control the Relic Guardian? Or perhaps he wanted to study its principles and replicate a similar war machine?"

Jiang Bai felt that the doctor's purpose should include all of the above.

I had heard from Alfonso that the Doctor was building a weapon of mass destruction, based on the Dead Zone and the Dream Zone, but that didn't mean he couldn't use other things as models.

Back when he was still in Sumeru, he accidentally entered a factory abandoned by the Doctor in D'Artagnan. It was full of ruin guardians.

This suggests that the doctor has conducted in-depth research on the guardians of the ruins, and may have even fully grasped the principles behind manufacturing such machinery.

Based on this reasoning, the Fools must have a way of operating this machine, making "cooperation" imperative.

Jiang Bai lowered the several fools who were hanging upside down, dizzy and with blood rushing to their heads, and bound their hands and feet with vines. He then directed the few members of the Sand Wolf Mercenary Group:

"Go and search them to see if they are hiding anything on their person."

As the fools struggled and refused, the information they were carrying was unsurprisingly discovered.

As for the Mora that was found, Jiang Bai let the Sand Wolf Mercenary Group divide it among themselves.

Jiang Bai opened the blueprints he had taken from the captain, his two heads staring blankly at the data and energy route diagrams on the blueprints.

This is too technical; I don't understand it...

Chapter 781 The White Swan Knights

Not long after, Aite returned with the two of them.

In addition to the Fools' logbook, they also moved all of the Fools' supplies over.

No water or food was left for the fools.

Of course, they're all here now, so even if we kept them, we wouldn't receive them.

Is this it?

Aite handed over the log.

Jiang Bai opened the log and began to read its contents.

[...We have entered the interior of the Demon-Slaying Mountain Ruins. The internal energy system is functioning normally...]

[Like other Kanria machines, it uses energy from the 'Abyss' and has a backup power source inside...]

[Core components damaged, multiple areas corroded, unable to start...]

[The wiring and blueprints have been completed...]

[...Documents that were previously lost were discovered, possibly investigation records from a former scholar of Sumeru...]

Upon entering the Tu Ke Luo Valley, the massive guardians of the ruins are all paralyzed and severely damaged, but they appear to still be active and will indiscriminately attack any living creature within their field of vision...

[...The attack power is very strong; it was tested on monsters, and its power did not diminish even after more than ten attacks...]

After firing continuously for thirty minutes, the cannon appeared to overload and entered a shutdown state...

[...Taking advantage of the attack's pause, they entered the interior...The interior was severely damaged, and they discovered documents left behind by Kanria...]

The Thousand Ravines Sandy Land ruins are the best preserved and may be activated...

[We have already established a presence here, but are lacking energy and the entrance cannot be opened. A small team has been dispatched to Tukeluo Valley to retrieve energy resources...]

After reading the operation log, even though he hadn't met the other two ruins' guardians yet, Jiang Bai already had a general understanding of them.

Of the three guardian ruins, this one is the best preserved, but it lacks energy and cannot be activated.

They obtained the manipulation methods and energy roadmaps from the other two relic guardians and prepared to activate this relic guardian.

Jiang Bai took out the paper tucked inside the logbook. It was an ancient record that the other two guardians of the ruins had found and kept.

This record should belong to the former Canria. The tattered paper is filled with very messy writing, and although the content is sparse, it contains a great deal of information.

[...A dark calamity... erupts, and Regent Anfortas...the White Swan Knights are ordered to cover the people's escape to the surface...]

Upon seeing this first record, Jiang Bai frowned.

The content written here somewhat challenges his preconceived notions.

He had always thought that the dark monster tide was created by Kanria in an attempt to invade the Seven Kingdoms, but now it seems that's not the case.

Kanria himself also encountered the dark beast tide and was even forced to lead his people to flee to the surface.

The entire dark calamity resembled the result of something "out of control".

This "loss of control" is likely related to Kanria's research into the power of the abyss. Because it went out of control, even his own people were affected, and most of them were unaware of these things.

This calamity may also be an unexpected disaster that destroyed their homes.

Jiang Bai continued looking at the next image.

For successfully completing the mission of halting the beast horde, the commander of this operation, Knight Hadura, was awarded the title of "Golden Palace Guardian".

This order, issued by "Regent Marshal" Anftas...

This was the second time Jiang Bai had seen the name Anfortas.

The one in front was the regent, and the one behind him became the regent marshal.

Why a regent? Where is the real king?

"Tsk, it seems that things weren't so peaceful inside Kanria back then..."

I still remember the completely different attitudes of Dain, the Black Serpent Knights, and the Abyss Order when we were in the Abyss of the Lava.

They are all from the same country, but because they know different things, their positions are completely different.

Dain knows everything. He hates the Seven for destroying Canria, but he doesn't think Canria's actions back then were right.

The Abyss Order is clearly a stubborn force in Kanria, and they are delusional about restoring Kanria's glory.

Most of them were probably from the former aristocratic class, knew many secrets, and did not think that Canria's actions were wrong.

As for the Black Serpent Knights, to them, Kanria wasn't just home to nobles, but also to many ordinary people. Their will was to protect the people.

I looked at a few more sheets of paper.

The paper contained only a few fragments of information, a record of the White Swan Knights' battles against the monsters.

After covering the evacuation of the people from underground, the White Swan Knights, who were positioned as guardians of the ruins, began their aid to Sumeru.

As the center of Teyvat, Mount Meru suffered severe damage, even the sky was broken.

During this process, many knights died in battle and were buried in unfamiliar lands.

But gradually, more and more patients appeared.

First, their skin began to peel off, then their limbs rotted, and gradually their faces became unrecognizable...

Upon seeing this, Jiang Bai felt a chill envelop him.

He realized that these Kanriyans were gradually turning into Hilichurls.

Although I had known for a long time that Hilichurls were transformed humans, when I saw the records written by the people involved, I felt as if I were experiencing it myself, and it was hard to control myself from going crazy.

Jiang Bai gathered his chaotic thoughts and continued reading.

[...Upon completion of this mission, the remaining personnel shall immediately abandon this unit and transfer to the Marshal's aircraft... Although it is regrettable, due to limited transport capacity and uncontrollable safety hazards, after leaving sufficient supplies, the remaining patients should be transferred to a nearby safe area for future handling...]

The regent also left the underground with the people, but it is unknown whether the destruction of Kanria by divine justice occurred after they left.

Unfortunately, without these records, the story ends here; there is no record of what happened after leaving the ruins guard.

Jiang Bai took out the last sheet of paper, which also contained the most information. It was a record of the work log of the ruins guards.

The energy core failed due to an inherent mechanical design flaw that caused it to overload during operation...

Recommended course of action: Due to a lack of spare parts, production is difficult and repairs are incomplete. Only short periods of full-power operation are possible. The engine should be shut down and allowed to rest after each time the timer flips over...

The weapon system melted down due to overuse...