The Treasure Hoarders in their little hideout set the table for another round of Genius Invocation. They talked about their recent scores and troubles. Fontaine had been pretty crazy with all the prophecy stuff going on, but the hoarders had a strong presence there. Everybody stayed out of Natlan because of the wars.

Matthias, who started a round with Xiuyong, said, "Yeah, Natlan is definitely not a great place to be a Treasure Hoarder. Liyue's pretty big, so the Milileth can't police everywhere."

"True," said Xiuyong, "But you still got to deal with Yelan. That woman's crazy."

"Inazuma's pretty tough too," said Miura. "General Sara is always on patrol. And Heizou can track anyone down."

Hideki, who threw down some Mora and raised the stakes, said, "I hear people say Mondstadt's tough, but I think it's all hype."

Everyone went silent. They all stared at Hideki as if he were the biggest moron in the whole world. Matthias facepalmed. Xiuyong shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Do you believe this guy?" said Fuijing, jerking his thumb at Hideki.

Ulman sighed, putting down his cards.

"Listen, man. Mondstadt is by far the worst place to be a Treasure Hoarder. Hell, it's the worst place to be a Fatui. There's a reason why the bigwigs don't set up shop there. You want to know why? One word: Jean."

Kangsheng nodded. "You remember Tinker? That Treasure Hoarder who reverse-engineered Ruin Guards? One time, he thought he'd take on Mondstadt. He got the robots set up to invade that wine festival. Before he can even push the button, Jean shows up, cuts his robots in half, and hurls him into the ocean. The man won't even touch Mondstadt."

"Pft, that's not even the wildest one," said Matthias, "One time, this bub Slick Wu tried robbing Good Hunter. He pulls a knife on the waitress, and one second later, he's taking a nap in the fountain. Jean just came out of nowhere and nearly drowned the guy!"

"And then there was Runner," said Xiuyong. "That man has crossed all of Sumeru Desert on foot. His stamina and speed are legendary. One time, he goes to Mondstadt, and a little brat sticks her tongue out at him. I guess the guy's got low self-esteem or something. He snatches the girl's lollipop. Then, when he looks up, Jean is there. She just glares at him, as if saying, 'You shouldn't have done that.'

"He flees the city. He tries fleeing up Starsnatch Cliff, but Jean chases him down. He climbs Dragonspire, but as soon as he gets to the top, Jean's there. He runs all the way to Liyue Harbor, and Jean's still chasing after him. Then, he puts on all his speed and sprints all the way to Sumeru City. But guess what? Jean's waiting for him at the gate. That lady chased him all around Teyvat, just to get a kid's lollipop back. Runner's still in therapy."

"Jean's the worst to deal with," said Knotty. "Yelan will leave you eating out of a straw for months. Sara will throw you in prison. Jean? She'll lecture you. She'll say, 'I know you have it in you to be better than this.' That's the worst part. She leaves you feeling all guilty because you know she's right."

The Treasure Hoarders all sighed, remembering the awful lectures.

Izzard shuddered, "Plus, she's got Kaeya, Noelle, Rosaria, Eula, Amber, and that demonic bombing kid. Ugh… And don't even get me started on the Dark Knight hero…"

Hideki quirked an eyebrow. "Come on, you guys are exaggerating. The Fatui are there right now."

"Yeah, but they're basically confined to a hotel," said Tyler. "They don't make any trouble while Jean's around."

Hedeki snorted. He patted the big old bag of Mora stashed beside him.

"But it can't be that bad. Look. I've been playing with Mora I stole from Mondstadt this whole time, and I'm fine."

The room went deadly quiet. Matthias slammed his fists on the table and screamed, "You stupid moron!" Before he could utter another word, there came a knock on the shack door. The Treasure Hoarders went deathly pale.

"She's found us."

"Might as well turn ourselves in now."

Hideki got up. "Relax. It's just the pizza I ordered."

He opened the door. Outside, in the dim glow of the lantern light, a tall woman leaned against the pillar supporting the awning. Arms folded across her chest, she regarded the Treasure Hoarder with fervent disapproval. Jean drew her sword and proceeded to arrest all the Hoarders.

Then, they got the Jean-lecture.