The unfamiliar voice immediately put the Fatui captain on guard. The other two agents also drew their weapons and scanned their surroundings warily.
Unfortunately, with Su Bai's illusion barrier in place, even if they widened their eyes until they popped, they wouldn't notice anything amiss. Having observed for a while, Su Bai decided these three idiots had no idea where the base entrance was. He stopped hiding and dispelled the illusion, revealing the group before the three agents.
"No wonder you three were sent to do manual labor. With brains like yours, you can't even find your own base entrance. Manual labor is all you're good for."
Su Bai's words made the agents' faces flush with embarrassment. Being called out on such a humiliating matter was hard to swallow.
"So, this is your first time at this base, isn't it?"
"Of course not! We're stationed here. We were here this morning and—"
"Shut up!"
The captain barked at the agent who had spoken. What an idiot, answering everything. Didn't he realize they were being probed for information?
"This is the first time I've met people who don't know how to open their own front door. Even dumber than Paimon."
"Are you sure you got into the Fatui through connections or something?"
Lumine's casual remark made the captain jump.
"That's nonsense! I passed a rigorous selection process to join the Fatui."
"Captain, didn't you tell us your dad's classmate's son's girlfriend's uncle was a battalion commander who pulled some strings to get you in?"
"Yeah, yeah! You said it yourself when you were drunk. I heard it too."
Paimon tilted her head. Well, Lumine had hit the nail on the head. The captain really did have connections. Lumine drew her Blackcliff Longsword. She didn't care if he had connections or not. Once these agents were dead, none of that would matter.
Taking advantage of the agents' distraction, Lumine didn't hesitate. She unleashed a tornado. Somehow, Pyro energy seeped in from somewhere, turning the tornado into a fiery vortex. The three agents didn't even have time to scream before they were gone.
Watching the still-raging fire tornado, Lumine looked at her hands in confusion. She couldn't control Pyro. How had it become a fire tornado?
"This Pyro energy feels familiar. I think I've seen it before."
Su Bai narrowed his eyes and carefully sensed the Pyro within the tornado. He was surprised to find that the strong Pyro energy had surged up from underground. Someone who could make Pyro penetrate the ground like this—he couldn't think of anyone who could do that.
And the Pyro energy covered a wide area. Even Hu Tao, who could make her Pyro penetrate the ground, couldn't cover such a vast range.
At that moment, Zhongli seemed to sense something. Geo energy flowed from his body, traveling down into the earth. The ground shook a few times, then split open with a loud crack.
Given her small size, and after Lumine tempted her with promises of good food, Paimon squeezed through the crack. When she came back out, everyone fell silent.
Su Bai and Lumine stared at the remains of a Jumpy Dumpty and exchanged a look. Having helped Klee find her treasures in Mondstadt, they both immediately thought the same thing: had the unlucky Fatui somehow mistaken one of Klee's bombs for something valuable and brought it back?
Zhongli, on the other hand, sensed familiar Geo energy on Paimon. No wonder his good friend hadn't returned to Wangsheng in days—she was out doing good deeds. It seemed Azhdaha had grown up. Perhaps he could ease up a little in the future.
"Wait for me here. I'm going down to see what happened."
With that, Zhongli jumped into the crack. There were some things he had to confirm personally.
"Um... what are you all doing?"
A soft, tired voice interrupted their thoughts. Su Bai and the others quickly composed themselves. As long as Klee was safe, the Fatui base exploding wasn't a big deal.
"Huh? Wang Xiaomei!"
"Wang Xiaomei? Who's that? Hello, traveler. My name is Ganyu."
Ganyu looked confused by the nickname. When had she acquired such a name? Paimon was equally puzzled. For some reason, the name "Wang Xiaomei" had popped into her head the moment she saw Ganyu.
"Sister Ganyu? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work at this hour?"
Seeing Ganyu was unexpected. She was always busy. By all logic, she should still be at Yuehai Pavilion handling paperwork.
"Well, I saw intelligence that the Guizhong Ballista had sustained some damage. Since Keqing is off duty today, Ningguang asked me to come repair it. I had just finished and was about to head back to Liyue Harbor when I sensed Pyro energy here. I came to check if monsters were causing trouble."
"Is something going on here? I could offer some help."
Ganyu reached for her bow, ready to assist. After Su Bai explained the situation, she finally relaxed.
"Sister Ganyu, you need to rest. Working overtime all the time isn't good for you."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful."
Su Bai didn't believe a word of that. When he had visited Ganyu after returning from Inazuma, she had worked three days straight and only rested on the fourth. This kind of endless overtime made him want to learn puppet techniques from that old hag Ei.
If he could learn puppet techniques, perhaps Ganyu could be freed from that mountain of paperwork. At least then she could have three meals a day and a proper schedule.
"Sigh. Another reason I need to go back to Inazuma. But I really don't want to face that old hag Ei."
Su Bai's brow furrowed. He and Ei seemed to be incompatible. Every time they met, either he teased her or she put him in his place with force.
Neither of them was particularly impulsive, yet they always seemed to rub each other the wrong way. Yae Miko and Hanachirusato had no intention of stopping them. Those two troublemakers had even set up a bet on whether Su Bai or Ei would have the upper hand next time.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I should be going. There's still so much work to do."
"Sister Ganyu, wait. Do you know where to find high-quality Glaze Lilies?"
"High-quality Glaze Lilies?"
Ganyu hesitated for a moment, then pointed to a peak in Jueyun Karst. She had discovered it by accident and always kept it as her secret spot.
"The summit of that peak is covered in Glaze Lilies. They're tender and delicate, with a slight sweetness and a refreshing taste. They should be of very good quality."
"If you're going to pick some, please... please leave a few behind. I really enjoy eating those Glaze Lilies. If you take them all, they won't grow back."
With that, Ganyu covered her face and ran toward Liyue Harbor. The blush peeking through her fingers showed how much courage it had taken her to say that.
Left behind, Su Bai and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. Paimon scratched her head and said uncertainly.
"I feel like I just stole candy from a little kid. Why don't we try looking somewhere else?"