Pierro: "The weather is lovely today, a completely clear sky. Wouldn't you agree, Signora?"
Signora glanced up at the heavily overcast sky and, forcing herself to lie through her teeth, replied, "Indeed, the weather is wonderful."
Dottore: "Very well, I won't take it to heart."
Pierro: "Good to hear."
"However, I have need of the Snezhnaya military factory lately. I'll require your cooperation for a period, and throughout this time, funding and materials must be supplied to me continuously."
"Consider it done. I'll have Pulcinella assist you." The situation in Snezhnaya had stabilized, so the funding allocated to Dottore indeed needed to be increased. Pulcinella was just going to have to work a little harder.
Pulcinella: "Pierro, what in the name of Archons!"
"Then let us begin tonight. Time waits for no one."
Dottore returned to his laboratory first, where over a hundred bottles of restorative potion were neatly arranged to one side.
The system initiated a deep visualization—target—Titan: Synthesizer 2.0.
The visualization began, his hands moving so fast they left afterimages as he sketched out the blueprints for the Titan Synthesizer 2.0. When he finished, he looked down at the scattered blueprints covering the floor and picked them up one by one.
When the appointed time arrived, he walked to the military factory. Upon entering, every single worker in the massive facility snapped to attention, looking toward Dottore.
Dottore: "I'm not quite used to this kind of reception."
"I need you to manufacture everything on these blueprints within half a month. These items will provide immense assistance for our future endeavors. During this time, funds will be prioritized for the military factory. Do your best!" Finally, he added, "For the Cryo Archon!"
"For Her Majesty the Tsaritsa!" With that cry, the military factory sprang into action.
..................
Having taken care of these arrangements, the next day he stealthily brought the cloned Rostam to Snezhnaya Palace, proceeding with the utmost caution along the way out of fear that Signora might randomly spawn in his vicinity.
Carrying Rostam on his back, he walked inside. The Tsaritsa and Columbina were already waiting. He laid the body down on the floor, bowed to the Tsaritsa, and left the two of them alone.
Columbina: "Did you spend your whole journey here worrying about being discovered by Rosalyne?"
Dottore: ......
Columbina: "Relax, don't worry, I don't have mind-reading abilities."
Dottore: "Then how on earth did you know what I was thinking?"
"A secret."
Dottore: My silence was deafening.
Without another word, he walked outside and shut the door behind him, waiting for the outcome.
Before long, Columbina emerged looking rather exhausted. (Good thing I thought ahead.) He pulled a bottle of restorative potion from his pocket—the flavor had already been changed from tasteless to candy-flavored.
"Thank you." She took it and drank, and her exhaustion instantly vanished. "I'll be going now. Her Majesty is still inside."
He pushed open the palace doors and walked back in, seeing Rostam still lying motionless on the floor, showing no signs of waking up.
"Soul and flesh require time to attune to one another. In a few days, he will wake up."
"Once again, I thank you for your grace."
"There is no need to rush. Have you figured out how to convince him not to return to Mondstadt? And how do you plan to explain all this to Rosalyne?"
"Your subordinate will handle the explanation." With that, and with the Cryo Archon's implicit permission, he left Snezhnaya Palace. On his way out, he ran into the very person he least wanted to encounter—Rosalyne.
As far as Rosalyne's memories were concerned, Rostam had fallen in battle long ago when the dragon Durin invaded Mondstadt, his bones buried behind the cathedral; he had no business appearing here. Yet she knew Dottore had spent time alone there recently, and now Rostam was being carried on Dottore's back. Furthermore, Pierro had once mentioned that Dottore joined the Fatui purely to research taboo subjects. That led to only one possible conclusion: Dottore had dug up Rostam's grave to use him for taboo experiments.
"Wait, Signora, let me ex—" (His face was deformed by a punch.)
"Explain my foot! Dottore, go to hell!" She burst into flames, transforming into her second form and brutally beating Dottore.
Pierro hurried over and explained that it was all a misunderstanding. By that time, Dottore was already sleeping peacefully.
When he finally woke up again, the moment he opened his eyes he was greeted by a familiar ceiling. He was hospitalized yet again. Turning his head to the right, he saw—good grief—Rostam lying in the bed right next to him.
"You're awake, Dottore? I'm so sorry, I was just too impulsive. I should have waited for you to explain."
"It's fine. It's only human nature, and it just goes to show how deeply you love him, doesn't it?"
Hearing Dottore say this, Signora felt even more ashamed. Pierro had explained to her that Dottore had used advanced technology to restore her lover's body to its original state, and had begged the Tsaritsa to summon her lover's soul to achieve his resurrection. Yet she had beaten their benefactor to such a pulp. Even though he had already forgiven her, she still felt mortified.
"Well, you don't need to dwell on that anymore. What you should be thinking about is how you're going to persuade him once I've brought him back. After all, he is a knight of Mondstadt through and through, devoted to the Anemo Archon. See if you can actually get him to stay here with you." With those words, Dottore sat up on the hospital bed, swung his legs down, removed his bandages, and quietly left the room on his own, leaving only Rosalyne and the still-slumbering Rostam behind.
After watching Dottore leave, Rosalyne pondered how things had ended up this way, ultimately reaching a conclusion: it was all the fault of that incompetent Anemo Archon for failing to protect her Rostam and driving her to beat up her own benefactor. She then seated herself beside Rostam's bed, eagerly awaiting his awakening.
Dottore's mood at that moment was utterly abysmal. Not only had he saved someone, but he had gotten the crap beaten out of him by the saved man's wife. He returned straight to the military factory, only to receive a report that due to the exorbitant expenses, that bastard Pulcinella had cut off the funding for the facility.
He strode directly to Pulcinella's office and kicked the door wide open.
——————
My name is Pulcinella, the Fifth Fatui Harbinger, codenamed the Rooster. Because the Second Harbinger is working on a major project, he has drained a vast amount of funds from my coffers. I am currently run ragged trying to juggle everything, yet his project demands even more capital, and my cash flow is completely tapped out. In desperation, I cut off the funding to his sector. And now, the Second Harbinger has just kicked open my office door and walked right in.
"Dottore, what brings you here?" Pulcinella asked, putting on a calm facade.
"I hear you cut off the funding for my project. If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I wouldn't mind dissecting an Elf from the inside out to study how they tick."
"The funds your project requires are simply too astronomical. Cash flow has gotten a bit tight."
"Pierro explicitly stated that throughout the time I manage the military factory, a continuous stream of funding and materials must be provided."
"Then go take it up with Pierro and let him figure out a solution. I simply have no way to supply you with any more money."
"Fine, then I'll go find Pierro right now."
"He went out to search for a new Harbinger under the Tsaritsa's orders. He isn't in Snezhnaya right now."
The black mist radiating from Dottore grew heavier and heavier. Pulcinella swallowed hard and hastily added, "If you could provide blueprints for some products, perhaps I could manage to drum up more funding for you."
Dottore casually tossed a few recipes requiring cheap ingredients but capable of being turned into delicious snacks right onto Pulcinella's desk, and then walked out of the office.
Pulcinella: That plague god is finally gone. He then inspected the food recipes and felt they looked decent enough. Consequently, he dispatched workers to produce them, varying their quality into low, medium, and high grades—each quality yielding a different taste. After tasting them himself, he set the pricing, began exporting them to the other six nations, and incidentally restored the funding supply.
He thought to himself: Dottore might look like a demon, but the things he hands over are genuinely useful.
...................................