Liu was a Milleneth troop.
Correction. He was an undercover Milleneth troop.
"Ready for today's guard duty, Zoro." He was under the disguise of a Geo Bracer in a Forward Operating Base in the outskirts of Liyue near to Fontaine. This was the primary base through which was responsible of major assaults on the nation of Rex Lapis, Liu's homeland.
"Do we have a choice?" Liu responds in a Sneznayan accent. He had been trained for this assignment for weeks even before the awakening of the ocean god Osial. Despite the army of Liyue being ready for an invasion, the death of Rex Lapis hit hard which caused a morale loss. And the Fatui army took advantage of that.
Half of Liyue was lost in a few days as vital spots in the nations were struck and chaos claimed the lands as certain key figures in Liyue were assassinated. One of which was the general commander himself and the Tianquan herself barely saved herself from an assassination.
Liu was disguised as Fatui for about two months now. He has intricately crafted his fake past as a native Sneznayan and as a Fatui and got stationed in this base. His primary goal was information and relaying it to his comrades in Liyue.
Up until now, he had given a great deal of information and proved himself as a valuable asset.
But recently he had come across something which may prove to be very useful information for the guys back in Liyue and for the entire harbour as well. The Fatui were planning to assault the harbour by disguising one of their ships as a trade ship. And from what he had found out, the assault force will be quite large with even a Harbinger with them.
And there was one another piece of information regarding the adepti themselves. Apparently they have been imprisoned in their own domain with the help of special runes which were used to awaken Osial.
This information needed to get to Liyue. If they hope to get any chance to gain an upper hand in this conflict.
Liu's shift ended at 3 A.M sharp and he sneakily makes it past the security of the guard and out of the base where he is to meet a person who is going to relay the information to the Milleneth.
But once he reached there, he sees a sight that made his blood run cold. There was a person in black clothing laying flat on grass painted red with blood.
Liu's mind immediately went into high alert and his instincts kicked in just in time to dodge a fire shot from the darkness of the trees.
"Well, well, well. Looks like the little fly has finally revealed himself." A female voice spoke as a woman stepped out of the darkness of the trees. It was a frost operative.
Brandishing her sword, the frost operative lunged at him with the intent of stabbing him, but he puts up a shield to stop her charge. But it seems she was not alone there. Several Pyro Bracers were there too along with an Electrohammer Vanguard.
He was surrounded.
"Because of you, this conflict had extended to this stage. Otherwise, we would have conquered Liyue much sooner." The lady snarled at him. Using her cryo manipulation, she sends icicles hurling towards him which he countered by summoning rock projectiles at her. But she proved to be too agile and his shield will not last long with the onslaught of different elemental attacks courtesy of the other Fatui.
"You are surrounded, spy. Why even bother to back?" Beneath the bandages covering his face, Liu grits his teeth. Why bother? Liyue was his home. He great nation nurtured by their archon who lowered himself enough to walk amongst them. Liyue will not fall.
"Liyue will never fall." Liu's geo spectre glowed golden as field of yellow appeared and surrounded the area. He can feel himself getting empowered. His speed, strength and durability were amplified by the geo energy. Even if he were to die today, he will do so fighting till his last breath.
He teleported in front of the frost operator and hits her with the blunt edge of his staff knocking the wind out of her. While his combat power has increased, hers had decreased by the action of the geo field he deployed. His next strike was deflected by her blade and she lunged at him with the tip drawn towards his heart but he blocks it with his staff and headbutts her shattering her mask.
His energy drain was massive and with the combined effect of the geo shield surrounding him and the operator and the amplification aura, he will not last long. He had to escape somehow.
Taking advantage of the operator's disorientation, Liu makes a flash go off from his staff and then makes a run for it in the woods while retracting and power up the geo field further. He took advantage of the dark and the thick forest to evade the clutches of the Fatui who were after him.
Liu can see a cliff ahead of him and realised that if he manages to get down from it, he may be able to escape, but before he can take the chance, a found an icicle stab him in the back making him fall to the ground.
Liu screamed in pain as he sees the blue crystal sticking out of his abdomen.
"Such a shame that you are not a Fatui, Liyuen spy. You almost managed to escape. Guess the Milleneth really live up to their name." He growled at her and tries to stand up but couldn't as his legs fail him.
"Liyue will make you pay for your crimes, Fatui." He rasps out. The operator simply smiled and slowly walked to her while readying her cryo sword which seem to freeze the grass by mere contact.
"Your nation is barely standing as it is, Milleneth. It's about time you realise it too. Your god is dead. Your economy is in shambles. Your troop are dying almost daily now. What hope do you have left?" He can feel his body weakening further. The frost operator swung her sword at him and he closed his eyes embracing his end.
But the pain did not come.
He slowly opens his eyes and sees a spear with a gleaming yellow rip and another curved blade to its side blocking the frost blade of the Fatui with inches away from his throat.
"Plenty."
The voice was distorted but a rich accent was still identifiable. Pushing back the cryo blade, the spear traced a path along the arm of the operator severely harming her and eliciting a scream of pain from her as she lets go of the blade and clutches her arm which now cannot even be called an arm anymore.
Liu saw the gleam curved edge of the spear beheading the operator making a fountain of blood rain upon him. He looks upon his saviour and sees a person wearing a mask with a glowing symbol of geo on the forehead. The golden eyes peering back to him gave him a sense of security and peace he had only felt once before.
"My lord." He unconsciously muttered.
"I am not your lord." The voice replied instantly snapping him out of his trance. He sees the man walk past him and taking the cryo blade of the deceased Fatui in his hand. The blade seems to glow for a moment before becoming normal again.
"W-we need to get out of here, other Fatui members are coming. They will overwhelm us." The person seems to look at him for a moment as if assessing him and golden eyes narrowed instantly. Kneeling in front of him, the man examines his injuries.
"You will die of blood loss sooner than we can reach Liyue." Liu was... expecting at the news. He gulps and looks at the man.
"Can you do something for me? And a wish of a dying man?" The person nodded and Liu reached for the insides of his coat and pulls out a letter.
"Take this letter and give it to the Tianquan. She will know what to do with it. And also tell her that..." Liu coughs blood. His time was near.
"Tell her that we have rats in our ranks." Breathing was getting difficult to him. He had many regrets in his life. He wanted to make his mother proud and someday get a lovely wife for himself. He wanted to become a high-ranking officer in the army. He wanted many things. But at least he went down fighting.
"... Did Rex Lapis died so that you can give up so easily?" Reality slapped him like a bitch the moment his lord's name left the person's mouth.
"What did you say?" A cold edge seeped into the voice of Liu.
"Rex Lapis was a foolish god. He died so easily and left his nation when it needed him the most." Anger surged and he found himself swinging his fist at his saviour which was dodged easily.
"How dare you talk to my lord like that! Rex Lapis was unjustly assassinated by those Fatui! He was tricked! Never will he abandon his people!" Liu raised his fists once again but was distracted by a shout from the trees where a Electrohammer Vanguard appeared from and is now charging at them with his weapon ready to strike them.
Liu raised his spectre to fire rock projectiles at the incoming enemy, but the masked person was faster. Swinging the spear which was glowing with geo energy, the person launched an arc of geo and struck the Vanguard and pushed him into a tree. There was a large and deep slash mark on the Fatui chest bleeding profusely and he was obviously dead.
"Then why are you giving up so easily, Milleneth. Are you sullying the legacy of the soldiers of Liyue and disrespecting your lord who left his nation to you?"
"Never!" Rock projectiles flew and struck the pyro bracers preparing to fire at them.
The masked person moved like the wind with wisps of geo energy rolling off of him and struck in incoming Fatui with his spear and the hijacked cryo blade.
Liu can only watch in awe as the person moved with an almost inhumane grace and wielding those weapons as if he knew them his whole life. Parrying with the cruved blade of his spear and then attacking with the sword of ice and manipulating cryo with its help despite using geo at the same time to send arcs of golden energy at the enemies.
It was a like a dance of gold and blue. Mesmerising and holding a terrifying beauty to it.
And all of it happened in a single minute after which nine of the enemies stood.
The person took several guns from the pryo bracers and the hammer of the Vanguard and stored them in his inventory.
His hand unconsciously touches his abdomen where he felt the absence of the cryo projectile and instead felt a smooth surface of glowing geo energy.
"That is only a temporary solution. We have to get you to safety immediately." He opened his mouth to speak but his vision went blurry. The adrenaline had faded.
"Do not worry, you can now. Life will still be with you the next time you open your eyes." Despite them both being nothing more than strangers, something told Liu that he can wholeheartedly believe the man in front of him. But before he becomes unconscious, he has to know one thing.
"Who are you?" The person seem to think in silence before giving him a reply.
"I am Dust."
What a strange thing to call yourself.
Darkness was all he knew afterwards.
...
Zhongli cannot help but think that his first night went a little too eventful. It was a good thing he sensed the activation of geo energy as he was nearby the area. His target was the big base set up the Fatui and cause some chaos there, but then he found this lone man about to be slaughtered.
From the conversation this man in his arms was having with the frost operator, this man was a spy and had ploughed some vital information.
After reaching the harbour, Dust leaves the spy in the Bubu Pharmacy. Little Qiqi was curious about him and he berated himself for giving her silence. Deciding to make it up to her later, he leaves the Pharmacy and disappears into the rooftops. The night was about to end and Dust too.
It was time Zhongli returns.
He had seen the contents of the letter the spy was about to give him and if any of them were correct then he had a lot of things to plan ahead.