When Sucrose and Albedo entered the cockpit, Klee was sitting on the floor, slumped against the driver's seat. The moment she saw them, her body trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes—as if she already knew her fate.
She buried her head in her knees, peeking up at the exasperated Albedo and the expressionless "Sister Sucrose."
Sucrose, torn between irritation and amusement, sighed and gently ruffled Klee's hair. "Alright, go sit in the passenger seat. I'll take you back."
"Mmm." Seeing that Sucrose wasn't angry, Klee's eyes brightened a little. She obediently climbed into the passenger seat and let Sucrose carefully fasten her seatbelt.
'Sister Sucrose is so nice. She's kind to Klee and never loses her temper.'
Albedo wordlessly took a seat in the back and buckled up as well.
Sucrose returned to the driver's seat and began steering the massive vehicle back, but her foot stayed firmly planted on the accelerator, sending the Brightcrown hurtling forward at breakneck speed.
She was furious, but she couldn't take it out on little Klee. So instead, she vented by pushing the machine to its limits.
Klee, watching Sucrose's blank expression as she maxed out the speed, finally grew terrified. Thankfully, as they neared the exhibition area, the Brightcrown slowed down, and Sucrose's usual gentle demeanor returned.
Sucrose lifted Klee out of the cockpit and smiled sweetly. "Klee, you must forget what just happened, okay? Especially don't mention it to your big brother Shen!"
Klee shivered, unable to meet her eyes. "O-okay!"
'So scary! Sister Sucrose is terrifying! Never, ever make her angry again!'
Sucrose glanced at Albedo, who immediately closed his eyes and raised his hands in surrender. "I saw nothing."
They hadn't taken more than a few steps before Klee spotted an even more terrifying figure approaching. Her legs gave out, and she plopped down onto the ground.
Sucrose waved cheerfully. "Master Jean, we've brought her back—"
A tempest of Anemo energy erupted around Jean. "KLEE! DO YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF OCCASION?! OCCASION!"
After that day, the members of the Explosion Team didn't see their little captain for a very long time.
That day, Shen Qin also noticed a cloud in the sky, one that suspiciously resembled a butt—split cleanly in two.
Still, the incident with Klee served as a wake-up call. Shen Qin optimized the intelligence systems of all engineering machinery, ensuring they would only activate when operated by authorized personnel.
Of course, in emergencies or special circumstances, the system could still make independent judgments, whether to grant operational permissions or not.
The first day of the exhibition was a resounding success. According to reports from each exhibition zone, the total orders for the day had reached 4.2 billion Mora! This electrified all shareholders and employees—shareholders because they saw Akademiya City's boundless potential, and employees because Diluc announced that everyone would receive a massive bonus!
Mondstadt, Liyue, and Snezhnaya simultaneously announced plans to establish traffic laws, mandating that only those who passed Akademiya City's training and obtained the proper licenses would be permitted to operate vehicles.
Additionally, all three nations would expand and optimize their existing roads, designating separate high-speed lanes exclusively for vehicle traffic.
Of course, this was only a temporary measure. Shen Qin had openly discussed with the three nations that he might later develop specialized road-paving machinery, which would produce even smoother and more durable highways.
On the second day of the exhibition, the crowd only grew larger. Many who had traveled from distant regions finally arrived at Akademiya City. After learning about the machinery's functions and performance, they contributed another 3.9 billion Mora in orders.
But around 8 PM, Jean sent Kaeya to deliver some troubling news.
"So here's the situation. There are quite a few rumors spreading in Mondstadt that are… less than favorable for us. Some say Akademiya City is just a mora-scamming fraud, that our machinery isn't worth the price."
"Others claim we've poured all our resources into making just a handful of prototypes and can't possibly mass-produce them, that we'll just take the deposits and vanish."
Shen Qin raised an eyebrow. "And how is the Knights of Favonius handling this?"
"They're not. You know how Mondstadt is—land of freedom, freedom of speech included." Kaeya shrugged, arms spread wide. "Besides, if the Knights reacted too strongly, it'd just make people believe the rumors more."
"When did these rumors start?"
"Last night. By today, they'd snowballed enough that we had to warn you."
"Well, that's interesting. Because not a single client today backed out of their orders." Shen Qin chuckled. "The wise won't care about baseless gossip, and fools were never our target audience anyway. Time will prove everything. Once we deliver the first batch, the rumors will collapse on their own."
"See, I told Jean this would be nothing to you. She still made me rush all the way here." Kaeya flopped into a chair, clearly having full faith in Shen Qin.
Shen Qin smiled, finishing up his work before adding, "By the way, do me a favor—look into where these rumors started."
….
….
Mondstadt, A Certain Estate
Johnston was trying to persuade his caravan's members. "You've all seen Akademiya City's transport vehicles by now. You know they're going to dominate land freight. Human and animal-drawn carts will be obsolete. If we don't seize this opportunity, the market will be carved up by caravans equipped with these machines, and there'll be no room left for traditional ones!"
An elderly man with graying hair spoke up. "But… right now, all over Mondstadt, people are saying Akademiya City can't possibly manufacture that many machines. That it'll take them at least a year to fulfill all orders. If we sell off all our old carts now, how will the caravan operate in the meantime?"
A short-haired young man cut in. "Old Gwen, you're not thinking straight! Who's spreading these rumors? People who've never even seen the machinery, and stubborn old traditionalists. Since when did their word mean anything?"
"Now look at who's backing Akademiya City. Three of the seven nations, including Liyue, the commerce capital! The Feiyun Commerce Guild, the Dawn Winery, the Adventurers' Guild, and Master Shen Qin! Who's more credible, them or some random gossips?"
"Besides, on our way back from Fontaine, didn't you see people using hoverboards and healing sprays? And those were just scattered merchants who brought them out of Mondstadt—the Dawn Winery hasn't even officially entered those markets! With so many major players involved now, isn't that proof enough?"
"And if we don't sell the old carts now, once transport vehicles hit the market, we'll never get a good price for them!"
Old Gwen looked at the determination in the eyes of the caravan's leader and its younger members. It reminded him of his own youth, when he'd followed Roy to pioneer new markets—back when they, too, had been brimming with confidence that their path was right.
'Now, its just like them.'
'Yes… what was there to hesitate about?'
"Let's do it!"