Early the next morning.
At the break of dawn, Ryen and the others had already gathered at the Jade Chamber.
Ryen was holding Ganyu in his arms, whispering something softly to her. Ganyu's face was rosy, her spirits unusually high,
clearly, last night had once again been a fully refueled night.
Guizhong glanced at the two of them and let out an annoyed snort.
But almost immediately after, she felt puzzled by her own reaction.
Nearby, Lumine and Paimon were eating with reckless abandon.
According to Paimon, this trip to Sumeru would probably mean another long stretch of nonstop trouble. Since there was no guarantee they'd get proper meals for a while, she absolutely had to eat her fill now, so she could at least reminisce about this luxurious breakfast later.
Three giant dragons were quietly crouched in the plaza of the Jade Chamber.
After being tempered by the laws of Teyvat, each dragon had grown to its maximum size, roughly two-thirds the size of Dvalin.
Even so, compared to the Jade Chamber, now continuously expanded with MC blocks, they still didn't occupy the entire plaza.
Dehya stared at the dragons with barely concealed excitement.
In a moment, she and the others would be riding dragons back to Sumeru.
She had heard plenty of rumors about Liyue's Dragon Rider Corps during her stay.
Some even claimed that Ningguang and her group alone could mobilize over a hundred dragons.
She had thought those stories were exaggerations.
But now that she thought about it more carefully…
they actually sounded quite accurate.
That said, Dehya didn't care much about the rumors.
What mattered was,
She was actually going to become a dragon rider herself.
This might very well be the most glorious moment of her entire career with the Eremites.
Paimon hurriedly wiped out the last plate of breakfast and raised her tiny hand.
"Sister Ningguang! Another serving!"
Ningguang smiled lightly. She knew Paimon's appetite better than anyone,
for such a small creature, she could easily eat as much as seven or eight Ningguangs combined.
With a casual wave of her hand, another group stepped forward, efficiently clearing the plates and laying out a fresh spread.
Lumine rolled her eyes and complained,
"It's always like this. Paimon eats like a starving ghost, no sense of decorum at all!"
Paimon stuffed a bun into her mouth and retorted through full cheeks,
"You're not qualified to say that, Lumine! You've already eaten two rounds yourself!"
"And what do you mean 'starving ghost'? That sounds awful! It's obviously because Sister Ningguang and Ryen spoil me that I get to eat this much!"
"Lumine should stop criticizing Paimon when you're benefiting from it too!"
Nilou covered her mouth and laughed softly, her eyes bright as she looked at Paimon.
"There's really no need to worry. Sumeru has many unique local dishes. Once you're there, I can treat you and Lumine to meals."
Under normal circumstances, those words would have delighted Paimon.
But not this time.
Taking a sip of porridge, Paimon muttered,
"That's exactly what Ayaka said last time we went to Inazuma."
"But once we got there, we only ate well on the first day, and then… we ran all over the place fixing Inazuma's mess."
"We had Mora but didn't even dare spend it in Inazuma City. Paimon was starving for ages!"
At those words, Ei, sitting beside Makoto, awkwardly looked away.
Paimon patted her belly smugly.
"Paimon has figured it out!"
"Lumine is a walking disaster magnet. Every time we travel to another nation, something goes wrong, either we're wanted criminals, or we're running nonstop."
"Sometimes we don't even get two proper meals in three days!"
"But don't worry, Lumine! Paimon won't abandon you. Paimon's already used to it!"
"This time in Sumeru, we're going to clash with that so-called Grand Sage, right? There's an eighty-percent chance we'll be wanted again."
"So the clever Paimon has decided to stuff three stomachs full now! Even if we're running around nonstop later with no good food, at least we won't starve!"
Lumine froze mid-bite, puffing her cheeks in anger.
"What do you mean I'm a walking disaster?! Do you think I want to be wanted?!"
"Pah! I'm clearly the great hero! It's just that every country we visit happens to already be in trouble!"
She bit into her bun gloomily and muttered,
"But… now that I think about it, it is kind of strange."
"When I first woke up and went to Mondstadt, there was the dragon crisis."
"Then I came to Liyue, Zhongli faked his death, and Osial attacked Liyue Harbor."
"After that, Inazuma, Ei was isolating herself and chasing us down."
"And now it's Sumeru, where they're trying to create a god, and we have to overthrow that so-called Grand Sage."
"…It really is weird."
"Out of the seven nations, I've already witnessed turmoil in four."
"And then there's Snezhnaya, with Jester and the Fatui. If I go there next, I'll probably have to deal with their mess too."
Scratching her cheek, Lumine looked gloomily at Zhongli.
"Hey… you guys didn't secretly plan this together, did you? Just to make my journey miserable?"
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it felt. She slapped the table and stared straight at Zhongli.
"Tell me the truth! Did you conspire with Aether to give me trouble?!"
"The more I think about it, the stranger it gets! He keeps saying I should leave something of myself behind in this world."
"And you told me to remember this world, rather than letting the world remember me."
"Zhongli, don't tell me you actually signed some kind of contract with Aether back then?"
"After I finish traveling through the seven nations and fixing their problems… is my next stop the Abyss?"
Zhongli took a calm sip of tea and replied evenly,
"According to universal rationality, it is merely coincidence."
"The only ones who signed contracts with Aether were myself, Venti, and the Tsaritsa."
"There was no such clause in those contracts."
Lumine pouted.
"Who knows what kind of contract you actually signed? Even if it's coincidence, four coincidences in a row is a bit too coincidental, don't you think?"
Hearing this, Zhongli carefully reflected on all the troubles Lumine had encountered along her journey.
For the first time,
Zhongli fell silent.
If he didn't already know exactly what was written in the contract he had signed with Aether…
At this point, even Zhongli was starting to feel that it truly seemed as though the Seven Archons had deliberately arranged hardships to temper Lumine's growth.
After a moment of silence, Zhongli spoke quietly:
"Perhaps Paimon is right. You are the very eye of the storm in Teyvat."
"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Lumine puffed out her cheeks and glared at Zhongli.
"Isn't that just another way of saying I'm a huge troublemaker?!"
Zhongli glanced at her and replied calmly,
"You are a hero."
"Tch… don't think saying that will make me happy!"
Lumine snorted. But she didn't manage to hold her dignified expression for long before Paimon ruined it with a comment.
"When you say that, Lumine, you really don't need to smile that happily!"
"Paimon!!!"
The meal lasted a full hour.
For the most part, it consisted of Lumine and Paimon eating like there was no tomorrow.
Even though Lumine didn't have three stomachs like Paimon, once she really got going, her appetite wasn't much worse.
By the end of breakfast, Paimon had finished seven tables' worth of food, while Lumine had polished off four.
The two of them collapsed comfortably into their chairs, lying there like corpses.
After a while, Paimon yawned and muttered,
"Sleepy…"
"…."
Nilou let out a helpless sigh.
"Should Paimon rest for a bit?"
Lumine grabbed Paimon and yanked her to her feet.
"No need! This thing eats, sleeps, then eats again, she's about to turn into a meatball. If she doesn't move more, she'll be all fat, and then she won't taste good when we stew her!"
"???"
Paimon stared blankly at Lumine, then looked down at herself, furious.
"I'm not fat! Paimon has a secret technique that lets her eat without affecting her figure at all!"
"And besides, the little bit of belly is called 'soft chubbiness'! Ryen likes slightly chubby Paimon the most!"
Lumine nodded perfunctorily, dragged Paimon along, and led Dehya and Nilou toward the three dragons.
Ryen and the others also stood up, ready to see them off.
Lumine took one last look through her bag enhanced with Adeptal Sub-Space Creation, then checked her MC-world spatial backpack.
She considered taking out her Serenitea Pot to check it as well, but decided it was too much trouble and gave up.
All three storage spaces were stuffed to the brim.
Food. Weapons. Resources.
It was no exaggeration to say Lumine had brought along nearly half of Inazuma's total assets.
She carried three advanced-grade magic staves, and as for firearms and other equipment…
An entire room inside the Serenitea Pot was packed full of them.
The rest was mostly stuff Cloud Retainer had insisted on stuffing into her bags.
Immortal power crystals. Newly developed self-defense mechanisms.
Clothes. Mora. Weapons. Alchemical potions.
Cloud Retainer had even thought ahead to the possibility that Lumine might not be able to spend Mora, so she gave her a huge pile of Cor Lapis, saying she could use it to barter instead.
Cor Lapis was extremely valuable, after all.
Lumine felt Cloud Retainer was acting like an overbearing mother, but in Ryen's eyes, Cloud Retainer was just being a terminally obsessive guardian.
After tossing Paimon onto the dragon's back, Lumine turned around with a bright smile and waved at everyone.
"That's it, then! I'm heading out, wait for my good news!"
"And also…"
She looked at Ryen with a serious expression.
"No matter what, if a new mod is unlocked, you must notify me immediately. If I miss a new mod, I'll be very angry!"
Ryen shook his head with a laugh.
"Relax. Once we clear the Twilight Forest, I'll have Cloud Retainer notify you."
Cloud Retainer's heart leapt with joy, though she still forced herself to nod coolly.
"If things aren't too busy on your end, you can also use a Teleport Waypoint to come back."
Ryen added with a smile,
"Albedo developed a Pocket Waypoint. I placed one outside the courtyard and added your elemental energy to the whitelist."
"If you want to return, it's just a blink of an eye."
"And Sumeru's teleport waypoints probably won't be sealed off like Inazuma's were."
Ei's face darkened instantly, and she shot Ryen an irritated glare.
Being repeatedly reminded of that incident right in front of her sister,
As Eula would say, this grudge was officially logged.
Dehya laughed heartily.
"Don't worry. The Akademiya doesn't have the ability to seal ley lines. Even if the rainforest waypoints are disabled, we still have the desert ones."
"The Akademiya can't control the desert."
Lumine visibly relaxed and smiled.
"Then I'm reassured. In that case, I won't waste any more time."
She exchanged a look with Dehya and Nilou, swung herself onto the dragon, and waved again at Ryen and the others.
"See you another day!"
The dragon let out a thunderous roar, drawing the attention of all Liyue Harbor.
Under countless gazes, the massive creature leapt skyward, pierced through the clouds, and flew toward Sumeru.
In the blink of an eye, it became a tiny black dot on the horizon.
That majestic sight once again ignited a wave of admiration for the Dragon Rider Corps throughout Liyue Harbor.
The on-duty Millelith looked utterly dejected.
Every time dragons appeared, they suffered the most.
Not only did they have to suppress their overwhelming envy, they also had to deal with endless questions from Liyue citizens about how to become dragon riders.
Absolutely absurd.
If they knew how to pass the dragon rider assessment, would ordinary citizens even need to ask?
They'd have rushed off to take the test themselves long ago.
Watching Lumine, Dehya, and the others disappear into the distance, Ryen withdrew his gaze, looked around at everyone, and said quietly:
"Prepare yourselves."
"This time, we're clearing the Twilight Forest in one go."
"And unlocking a new mod."