Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 172 The storm is coming

At this moment, Kong, who was helping Slusa complete her final trial in the sea of ​​sweet dew flowers, was chatting happily with the flower spirits when suddenly Slusa looked intently at the intersection not far away.

"Be careful, my Lord! There are two powerful auras approaching!"

Upon hearing this, Kong immediately summoned his bladeless sword and became alert, while Paimon fearfully hid behind Kong.

"Tap tap tap~"

Two sets of footsteps sounded from the direction Slusa was pointing, and then Sora saw a man and a woman with very different styles of clothing walking towards them.

The man walking in front wore a Liyue robe, had brown hair and red eyes, and his muscles, which looked as if they were about to burst out of his clothes, clearly indicated that he was a very strong man.

The woman behind her wore clothing typical of the Sumeru Desert, and with her green hair and blue eyes, she was radiating an aura of displeasure.

The newcomers were none other than the Dragon King Ruoduo and Apep. Because their actions in their true forms were too tumultuous, Nawilet suggested that they transform into human form before taking any action.

Naga King Ruoduo readily complied, as he had done this a thousand years ago. Only in this way would the humans not show fear towards him; after all, his true form was far too enormous for humans.

Even standing still, he could fill the largest square at the time, and any slight movement would be devastating to a human town. Therefore, people kept their distance from him, which troubled King Jodra for a long time, until Marcus suggested that he try transforming into human form.

Trusting his friend, the Dragon King Nagata, who had transformed into human form the next day, was unexpectedly welcomed by many people when he arrived in the town. From then on, the Dragon King Nagata rarely appeared in front of humans in his true form except when he was fighting.

But Apep was different. As one of the original dragons, she had no fondness for humans and disdained to speak with them. Therefore, she spent most of her time hiding deep in the desert, conserving her strength and waiting for an opportunity to launch a war against Sky Island.

Therefore, she showed considerable resistance to transforming into a human form, and no amount of persuasion from King Ratna could change her mind. He was so hot-tempered that he almost got into a fight with Apep over it.

It wasn't until Vilette brought up Kiana again that Apep reluctantly transformed into a human form. According to her, this form was borrowed from the few humans who had ever appeared before her, but Apep remained silent as to who they were or why they had appeared before her.

And so the two groups met. Compared to Kong, who didn't recognize the two human appearances at all, both Apep and Rota Dragon King immediately recognized the human traveler with whom they had a lot of connection. So Rota Dragon King stepped forward and greeted them warmly.

"Hey, isn't this the traveler? Long time no see!"

"Is the human opposite me, the one I praise, someone you know?" Sluza asked.

“They do seem to recognize us, but we don’t remember them either!” Paimon replied.

While trying to recall where he had seen these two people before, Kong sensed their auras and finally detected a familiar aura on Ruo Tuo Dragon King. It was the aura that belonged to Zhong Li.

Kong put down his sword and asked, "Do you know Zhongli?"

"Zhongli? Oh, you mean Morax, right? Of course I know him!"

When the Dragon King Ruoduo was mentioned, he seemed to become a different person and began to talk at length about the good things about Zhongli. During the Dragon King Ruoduo’s speech, Kong keenly captured some key information.

"Wait, are you saying that you fought Zhongli thousands of years ago and voluntarily allowed yourself to be sealed near Mount Aozang? Are you the Dragon King Ruoduo?"

"What?! He's the Dragon King Nagata?!"

Paimon exclaimed in surprise, then she cautiously circled around the Naga King Rota, trying to discern something from him.

Seeing that Paimonrodha Dragon King was circling around him, he didn't say anything. Even if he was slow to realize that the conversation had continued for so long, he had indeed not let them see his human appearance, so it was understandable that they didn't recognize him now.

“That’s right. I had contact with you when my consciousness was divided into good and evil thoughts, but neither of them is my true form. The form I am in front of you now is the human form I used when I walked in Liyue. As for the one behind me, I think you should also recognize her. She is the Grass Elemental Dragon King Apep.”

Paimon stared wide-eyed at Apep behind the Dragon King Rota. The fact that the man in front of her was the Dragon King Rota was already surprising enough, but the fact that the person behind the Dragon King Rota was Apep was even more astonishing.

Appepp snorted in response, his expression growing even more somber.

"Now that you've seen this place and confirmed what you needed to confirm, shouldn't you leave?"

Upon hearing Appepp's words, Paimon realized what was going on: "Oh right, speaking of which, what are you doing here, King Rota? I remember you should have been resealed back then, and why is Appepp following you?"

"Well... that's a long story."

King Ruoduo scratched his head, ignoring Apep's urging from behind, and began to explain to Kong and the others.

"Simply put, Kiana helped me solve the wear and tear problem, and now I'm heading to Nata with Apep. I just sensed some strange fluctuations while passing by this area, so I came over out of curiosity to check it out."

"Nata? What happened there? And they want both of you... Dragon? Anyway, they want both of you to go? Are you trying to take Nata for yourselves?! That won't do!"

"Paimon, how did you come up with all this?" King Rota rubbed his nose helplessly. "Kiana called us over. Now she has become the embodiment of justice and returned the power of the ancient dragons back to her. The main reason she called us to Nata is that a large-scale invasion of the Abyss is about to take place there."

"Heavenly justice? Ancient dragon's power? Will there be an abyss invasion in Nata? I don't understand a single word."

"The specific reasons are quite complicated, but in short, Kiana has now inherited the position of Tenryu, and Sky Island is now under her control. If you have any questions, you can go to her to find out, but I think she's probably quite busy right now."

After thinking for a moment, Kong decided to confirm with the two Dragon Kings first. Now that he thought about it, the god who took away his sister looked quite like Kiana.

"I don't know if you know the god who calls himself the maintainer of the laws of heaven, the one who looks a bit like Kiana."

"The maintainer of heavenly principles?"

From the clear, empty eyes of the Dragon King Ratna, it was clear that he did not recognize the maintainer of the natural order; on the contrary, Apep showed considerable disgust.

"She was one of the four shadows of the former Tenri, and the person who managed Sky Island in place of Herakti before Herakti became Tenri."

"Huh? Does Appepp know her?"

"I've more than just known her. If Herakti hadn't forbidden us from attacking Sky Island, I would have killed her long ago!"

Seeing Appepp's gritted teeth, Paimon unconsciously took a step back. It was clear that Appepp harbored deep resentment towards the enforcers of justice. Nevertheless, Paimon mustered the courage to ask the reason.

"Um... is there some connection between this and other things?"

"Haha, there's a lot to say about the origins of this!" King Ruoduo laughed. "Anyway, we don't have much time. If you want to know more about it, why not follow me? We'll talk as we go."

Paimon and Kong exchanged glances, their eyes filled with curiosity. Moreover, they were quite worried about Nata's situation. Now that they had heard the details, Kong naturally wouldn't stand idly by, so he accepted the invitation from King Ruoduo.

"Singing the Lord, Bai Piaopiao, are you leaving already?"

"Well, after all, we heard that Nata is about to face a crisis, and we feel that we can't just sit idly by, so it's time to head to the next stop."

"Alright, since that's the case, I won't stop you anymore. See you next time, my Lord."

After saying goodbye to Slusa, the group headed towards Nata. Along the way, King Roda and Paimon explained the grudges between Sky Isles and the dragons. With Apep, a firsthand witness, adding to the story, Sky also learned a lot about the secrets of Teyvat.

Not long after, led by Apep, the group crossed the desert and arrived in Nata, where a girl named Kachina was waiting for them.

"You must be the distinguished guests sent by Lord Vulcan. My name is Kachina, and I have been ordered by Lord Vulcan to await your arrival. Hmm, let me see... wait, there are two more people here!"

"Haha, little friend, don't worry about it. Let's take you to your Lord Vulcan's place first!" King Ruotu laughed heartily.

“Hmm, alright.” Kachina thought for a moment and decided to follow the Dragon King Rota’s advice. “Please follow me, everyone. The place where my tribe, the Echoing Sons, resides is just ahead. We will rest there for a while and then set off.”

Led by Kachina, the group arrived at the Echo Children tribe. Through Kachina's introduction, they learned that the Echo Children tribe made a living by trading minerals, and therefore the people in the tribe had a close relationship with the Ridge Dragons, who were skilled at mining.

Yes, Nata is the kingdom of dragons. Whether it was during the period of dragon rule in the past or the current period of human rule, dragons have always played a pivotal role in this land.

Today, the people and dragons here have long since achieved harmonious coexistence, and even Apep has to marvel at the changes of the times.

Perhaps it was time for Apep to let go of his hatred and try to make contact with humans. This thought popped into his mind as he watched humans and dragons living in harmony.

After greeting the chieftain of the Echoing Children tribe, Kachina led everyone on their way.

The target was naturally the center of everything in Nata—the Holy Fire Arena, where not only was the long-awaiting Fire Goddess Mavica, but even the captain of the Fools' Executive Officer, who had been secretly observing, appeared at the Holy Fire Arena's headquarters.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Mavica warmly invited them to take their seats, and even Kachina, who had originally planned to leave, was called back to sit down as well.

"First, let everyone introduce themselves. I am Mawika, you could say I am the deity who governs this land."

It would have been better if Mavica hadn't said anything, because as soon as she did, Appepp's face darkened.

"Hmph! The gods who govern this land!"

"May I ask how I should address you?"

"Never mind, I'm not here to confront you today. I am Apep, the Dragon King who governs the grass element. Hey kid over there, what happened to Shukutel in the end?"

“Shukutel?” Mavica immediately realized, “If you are referring to the previous Dragon King, it is a pity that it is already dead.”

"Dead? What about the next Dragon King? Why hasn't it appeared? Could it be..."

At this point, Apep's eyes turned dangerous, and even the Dragon King Ratna beside him put away his gentle expression.

Even if Naga King Rota liked humans very much, he still had his limits. He and Apep had the same attitude towards their own kind.

To this, Mavica could only smile wryly and explain, "I think you've misunderstood. Since the death of the previous Dragon King, no Elemental Dragon King has ever been born in Nata."

Appepp frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

"The specific reason is that this part of the history has been lost due to the long passage of time, but we know from the legends that the power of the former Dragon King Shukutl was split into countless blessings, which were then bestowed upon the newborn dragons in Nata."

"Legend has it that every dragon blessed with a blessing is the successor to the Dragon King. As long as a dragon passes the trial, it will become the next Dragon King. And all the newborns have one thing in common: a red mark will appear on a certain part of their body."

"Why did it become like this?"

"As I just said, the specific reasons have been lost to history and have not been passed down. Even these legends can only be confirmed in those newborns who are blessed."

“But the Dragon King’s power is extremely strong and domineering. Even if it is divided into countless parts, the tiny amount of power is still beyond what the newborns can withstand,” the Dragon King Ruotu said worriedly.

"As you said, many dragon cubs who cannot withstand the power perish before reaching adulthood. To survive, they must pass trials, but these trials are fraught with danger..."

As they spoke, Mavica's expression turned somber. King Rota could sense that Mavica's feelings were genuine and not feigned, and thus Mavica gained King Rota's initial trust.

"Let's not talk about these sad topics anymore. I am an elemental life created by the ley lines of the Rota Dragon King, so I guess you could say I am the Dragon King who governs the rock element."

“King Ruoduo Dragon King…” the captain, who had been silent, spoke up, “I’ve heard of your legend.”

"Really? I didn't expect my deeds to have spread beyond Liyue. It seems that interacting with humans isn't entirely without its advantages!"

King Ruoduo laughed heartily, and it was clear to anyone with eyes that he was in a very good mood.

But the captain's words immediately silenced the lively scene.