Although the sly fox's words were unreliable, her lack of airs was something that everyone in the group liked, because they could joke around with her freely.
The first person to arrive at the Jade Chamber was, naturally, Mona. She had gone out today to research astrology; who knows how that went. In any case, since being kept at the Jade Chamber, she seemed to have put on a little weight, or perhaps her figure had just undergone a second phase of development. At the very least, she no longer looked so flat.
However, her clothes were still as risqué as ever.
"How are you feeling today?" Su Han asked.
"Not bad. After cultivating Observation Haki, I've gained a completely new understanding of astrology. I heard from Ningguang recently that Liyue is short on technical talent again. Do you want me to poach some for you from Fontaine?"
"How would you do that?" Su Han asked, looking at her with confusion. He had never heard of her having any connections there.
Mona just rolled her eyes. "The Steambird, of course! I'm always publishing academic articles in the astrology column, am I not? So naturally, I'm very familiar with the editor-in-chief there. Yesterday, I heard Ningguang talking about a talent shortage, and how the plan to research the sea train had to be put on hold. So I was thinking, maybe I could poach some people for you from Fontaine."
Among the Seven Nations, besides Snezhnaya, the kingdom of technology, Fontaine's technological strength was also quite decent. The main thing was that their nation inherently had this kind of talent. Both the Liyue and Inazuma of the past had employed people from Fontaine.
Su Han understood and smiled. "Alright. As for the payment, you can just ask Ningguang. But opening a sea train route is really not that simple."
The elementary engineering encyclopedia had only mentioned this technology. To truly apply it would require a great deal of research.
Ningguang wanted to research the sea train because she naturally wanted to conduct large-scale trade with Inazuma in the future. But for now, the difficulties were numerous.
First, there was Inazuma's thunderstorm. This point could be easily resolved if they could win over the Raiden Shogun.
Secondly, if they were to open a sea train route, it couldn't go directly from the Sea of Clouds to Narukami Island, because the sea was too vast. Even if the Fatui and the Abyss didn't cause trouble, they might still face the crisis of sea monsters destroying the tracks. Ningguang did not want to see a train heading to the bottom of the ocean.
Therefore, the proposed route for the sea train was from the vicinity of the Blackcliff Forge to Watatsumi Island.
This distance, after surveying, was actually shorter than the route from Liyue Harbor to Mondstadt City. This meant that as long as this sea train was completed, it would only take a few hours to travel from Liyue to Inazuma. Of course, reaching Narukami Island would be slower. This would require further technological improvements.
However, this did not hinder Ningguang's plan. It was always better to prepare many things in advance. Otherwise, who knows what year or month it would be by the time they dealt with the Raiden Shogun.
Subsequently, Sucrose returned from outside with Klee. Looking at the little sun's cheerful expression, one could tell she had a very happy time today.
"Wow, Big Brother is back! Klee missed you so much!" The moment she saw Su Han, she came running over and, ignoring the beads of sweat on her face, directly pounced into his arms and started nuzzling him.
The later-arriving Ningguang and Ganyu saw the two of them being so affectionate and exchanged a smile. If Su Han were to become a father, he would surely be very dedicated.
Ningguang walked over to the two of them and gently wiped Klee's sweat with a handkerchief.
"Ah, it's Sister Ningguang! You're back!"
"Mm. I just finished my work. I heard from the secretaries that Klee was very diligent today. Big sister has prepared a small gift for you."
With that, Ningguang gave a ruby the size of a chicken egg to the little sun.
If this gem were sold on the market, it would be worth at least three million Mora.
When did this woman become so generous?
Seeing Su Han's puzzled expression, Ningguang explained, "Klee loves explosions very much. So, I just let her blow up some unnecessary places. It both entertained her and got rid of some troublesome little hills. Why not?"
"So that's how it is. I was wondering why she was so covered in dust."
Most of Liyue's terrain was mountainous, which greatly hindered the development of transportation. But for ordinary workers to use explosives would take too long. Since Klee was bored anyway, it was better to just let her blast the mountains.
The little sun played with the gem for a while and said happily, "Thank you, Sister Ningguang! Klee will work even harder! Hehe."
Although she didn't know the value of the gem, Liyue was just too much fun. Not only would she not be put in solitary confinement for blasting mountains, but she would even get a reward. It was so much better than Mondstadt City.
Then, Ganyu and Keqing arrived together. Not long after they arrived, Hu Tao finished her day's work and came running over with some fruit.
Su Han turned and shouted to the distant Shenhe, who was training Xingqiu and Chongyun, "Let's eat before you continue training! Come on, it's time to eat!"
"Alright," Shenhe replied. She turned to the two, who were drenched in sweat, and said, "Let's take a break for now."
Thump. Thump.
The two little guys directly collapsed onto the ground. Shenhe's training was just too terrifying. The two of them had been training with several hundred pounds of weight on them.
Arriving at the banquet, Shenhe glanced around and, noticing that Zhongli was not there, asked, "Hasn't that adeptus come?"
"You mean Zhongli? He came home today, but it seems he went to see an opera. He said not to wait for him. He seemed to have mentioned something about being an adeptus and not needing to eat dragon meat to increase his strength," Hu Tao explained while eating a meat skewer.
The nearby Su Han was secretly laughing. The man was the dignified Geo Archon. Of course he didn't need to increase his strength.
After a moment, Chongyun and Xingqiu came before the group.
Su Han asked, "How are you two doing? Can you still hold on?"
"Hah… I never thought everyone's training was so terrifying. Although it was a bit hard at the beginning, I can feel my strength improving every day. Please rest assured, I will persevere," Xingqiu said with a hearty laugh.
Chongyun, however, nodded shyly and said in a low voice, "I can hold on." He now understood the relationship between Lord Su Han and his little aunt, so he was still a little reserved.
Su Han nodded. "There are no shortcuts in cultivation. If you want to become a strong expert, you must put in countless hours of sweat. Keep working hard."
As they were speaking, a figure walked in from outside. Seeing that so many people had already gathered, she couldn't help but smile. "I didn't expect so many people to be here already. It's really lively today."
Hearing the voice, Kaedehara Kazuha's face lit up. Captain Beidou was back.
Su Han smiled at her. "Welcome back."
"See? Su Han is the only one who cares about me. Unlike a certain someone, who only ever makes me do things for her. Hmph." Beidou sat down next to Su Han, her gaze directed towards Ningguang.
The latter just gave an elegant smile and replied, "Oh? The modifications to your Crux Fleet cost nearly ten million Mora, and I didn't take a single coin from you."
The two of them were always at each other's throats like this, and everyone was used to it. In their eyes, this was probably just their form of banter.
Beidou, as expected, didn't mind and laughed heartily. "Don't worry about things like Mora. By the way, those dog demon bones, I've already sent them to the Blackcliff Forge. You can arrange them as you see fit. Just remember to save some weapons for my crew."
Ganyu nodded. "Don't worry, you won't be left out." There were a lot of bones this time. Beidou's fleet had returned fully loaded. Although it was only half of the skeleton, it was still enough to make hundreds of weapons.
With Beidou's arrival, the atmosphere became even more lively. Unfortunately, her idea of getting Su Han to drink was blocked by Ningguang. She could only drink freely with the others.
During the meal, Su Han looked at Ganyu and asked, "You've already been promoted to a Level 2 member, right? When are you planning to do your mission?"
"Probably in a bit. I'm busy with official duties during the day and don't have much time to do it," Ganyu replied obediently.
If it were a random group mission, it would naturally have to be done during the day. But for an independent mission, she still preferred to do it at night. She had heard from Keqing and Beidou that the independent missions were very short and didn't take up much time.
Su Han nodded. "Then I'll help you plan it out in a bit."
"Mm."
About an hour later, the banquet had not yet ended. Su Han followed Ganyu to her room. Neither of them had been drinking; having eaten their fill was enough.
"Then, should I start?"
"Mm, accept the mission," Su Han nodded at her. A Level 2 mission at most was nothing to worry about.
Ganyu opened the Multiverse Mission Group and accepted her independent mission.
[Do you wish to accept the private mission?]
[Hint: Once a private mission is accepted, you will be directly pulled into the mission world and can only return upon completion!]
[Note: The difficulty of the mission world is random, but it will not exceed your own group member level!]
"Yes."
After Ganyu accepted the mission, she vanished from before Su Han's eyes.
Her vision went black. In less than a few minutes, her sight returned to normal, and she found herself in a strange world, in a brightly lit room.
"This is?" Ganyu looked at the strange place, a little confused. Wasn't she supposed to be on a mission? Why did she appear in a strange room?
At that moment, a dialogue box appeared before her. The mission had appeared.
[2-Star Hidden Mission]: Defeat the Evil Eye in the depths of the floating city.
[Time Limit]: One hour.
[Note]: If the kill is not completed before the time limit ends, the mission will be considered a failure.
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