Keqing: Centralize Power! Who Agrees? Who Opposes?**
"Oh no! That woman just said she's going to arrest us!"
Paimon's face went pale in an instant.
Her emotions went from excitement, to surprise, to shock—and finally to sheer terror.
Lumine was equally stunned.
Why did something always go wrong wherever she went?
In Mondstadt—she got dragon-dropped right in the face.
In Liyue—the Geo Archon died on the spot.
Am I some kind of walking calamity?!
While Lumine was still questioning her existence, Paimon grabbed her and bolted in a panic.
The Millelith hadn't fully sealed the area yet—there was still a chance to escape.
After running for a bit, Lumine suddenly stopped.
"Wait. We didn't do anything wrong. Why are we running? Even if we're detained and questioned, we'll be released once things are cleared up."
Paimon froze.
"Uh… that's true."
Lumine: "..."
She really wanted to knead this emergency food into a ball.
They hadn't needed to run—yet now that they had, they couldn't stop.
They had already been seen.
Getting caught now wouldn't be nearly as easy to explain.
Who knows—they might lock her up for months.
After all, innocent people don't run.
And once tortured into a confession, it'd all be over.
Holding back her frustration, Lumine had no choice but to keep sneaking away with this idiot.
Getting in had been easy. Getting out? Nearly impossible.
Yujing Terrace lay at the very heart of the city—the most important location of all. Even if she somehow escaped, with Liyue under lockdown, where could she go?
"This is all your fault!" Lumine hissed, glaring at Paimon.
"I panicked, okay?! You can't blame me!" Paimon muttered awkwardly, then added miserably,
"Looks like our inn deposit is gone too…"
Lumine: "..."
At a time like this, you're worried about Mora?!
Above Yujing Terrace
The moment Ganyu turned her helpless, bewildered face toward him, Luo Li had already put on a suitably shocked and grave expression.
"Teacher… His Excellency the Geo Archon…"
Frowning deeply, Luo Li said solemnly,
"There's something wrong here. Morax isn't someone who would fall so easily."
Ganyu had never imagined that she'd been planning to bring her teacher to reunite with the Geo Archon.
Old friends who hadn't seen each other in years—surely they would've been overjoyed.
Yet just as her teacher had "returned from the dead," the Geo Archon had died instead.
"I'll investigate this," Luo Li continued.
"This matter won't end so simply."
Then his tone shifted as he looked at Ganyu.
"With what's happened, Liyue is bound to face turmoil. This is exactly when you're needed. You don't have to stay with me for now—go help this generation of the Qixing shoulder the burden."
Before Eula or Noelle could react, Ganyu nodded firmly.
"I'm sorry, Teacher. I can't stay with you."
After bidding farewell, she rushed toward Yuehai Pavilion without hesitation.
At a moment like this, the Qixing would undoubtedly convene. She only needed to arrive.
Sure enough, before she even left the pavilion grounds, Millelith soldiers came to escort her.
"Lady Ganyu, the Qixing request your—"
"I know."
Watching her hurried figure disappear, the soldier thought to himself that he hadn't even finished speaking.
Not long after, Ganyu arrived at Yuehai Pavilion amid tight security.
When she entered the meeting hall, all seven members of the Qixing were already present.
The moment she appeared, Ningguang's three secretaries—Baizhi, Baixiao, and Baishi—looked at her as though salvation itself had arrived.
Only the gods knew what they had endured these past two days.
Earlier, Lady Keqing had said they would help share Ganyu's workload—
but once they actually did, there was no rest at all.
The three of them had slept less than six hours combined over two days.
At this rate, someone was going to die.
Only now did they truly understand just how overwhelming Ganyu's daily workload had been.
Ganyu herself didn't notice—she only felt the three staring at her with admiration and reverence.
Before she could say anything, Keqing stood up, sweeping her gaze across the others with overwhelming pressure.
"At a time like this, I propose that the Qixing take direct control of Liyue, consolidate all eight administrative divisions, and centralize all authority."
With the Geo Archon gone, hesitation would only lead to chaos.
Drastic times required drastic measures.
Keqing's solution was centralization of power.
Though it might provoke criticism, indecision would achieve nothing.
Lifting her chin proudly, she declared:
"Who agrees?
Who opposes?"
Ningguang remained silent at first.
She had already considered countless options—but in terms of speed and effectiveness, Keqing's plan was the most direct.
The Tianshu Star coughed lightly.
"I'm old. These matters are beyond me now. Leave them to you young people."
Keqing nodded decisively.
"Tianshu abstains. And the rest?"
Ganyu was surprised.
She had assumed such a proposal would come from Ningguang.
Yet it was Keqing—who turned out to be the true iron-fisted hardliner.
But given Keqing's straightforward personality and disdain for political maneuvering, this was her ideal solution.
If they could weather this crisis, Liyue would be firmly in the Qixing's hands—
a nation truly free from divine rule, governed purely by humans.
Heavy-hearted yet filled with resolve, Keqing's eyes shone with ambition.
"The moment of reform is upon us.
A thousand-year-old order is about to be rewritten—and we will be the ones to write history!"
"What is your answer?"
Bolstered by Luo Li's support and her vision of the future, her presence alone seemed to weigh upon the entire room.
Ningguang's gaze flickered.
After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"I support Keqing's proposal."
From this moment on, she would have to adapt to a Liyue without the Geo Archon—
abandoning the mindset of a merchant and thinking instead as a leader of a nation.
The remaining members exchanged glances.
Two votes in favor.
One abstention.
Just one or two more votes—and the proposal would pass.
From then on, the Qixing would truly become a single, unified force.