After Shenhe explained things, Ganyu finally accepted that this little box could indeed send messages to others. She picked up the phone and, under Shenhe's guidance, sent Su Bai a message. To her surprise, he recognized her immediately.
"This thing is so convenient."
Ganyu reluctantly handed the phone back to Shenhe. Such a treasure was surely rare. Though she liked it, she couldn't bring herself to take it from someone else.
"Senior sister, if you want one, I can give you one."
"Before Su Bai left for Wangshu Inn, he gave me several phones and told me I could give them to anyone with a Vision."
Shenhe pulled out a phone from the small pouch Madame Ping had given her, which was enchanted with Sub-Space Creation, and handed it to Ganyu. After a moment's hesitation, Ganyu accepted it. The idea of being able to chat with others while staying in her office was very appealing. Now she could work and talk at the same time.
"When we visit Master later, we should give her one too. That way, she can stay in touch with us anytime."
Besides respect, Shenhe felt deep gratitude toward Cloud Retainer. If not for her, Shenhe would have long since left this world. So the moment phones appeared, her first thought was to give one to Cloud Retainer. Su Bai had the same idea.
"Master will definitely love this. Junior sister, why can I see so many people sending messages here? I can even see messages from Director Hu of Wangsheng."
"That's called a 'group chat.' It's a place where many people can talk together. If you want to send a message to someone specific, just tap their name at the top of the screen."
Shenhe thought the name Lumine had come up with—"group chat"—was very fitting. Ganyu, curious, tapped into the group chat and immediately saw a message from the Conqueror of Demons, Xiao.
Xiao: 'Conqueror of Demons, Xiao.'
Bennett: 'This guy seems kind of cold. Not easy to approach.'
Su Bai: 'Young guy?? Xiao is probably a few thousand years old!'
Amber: 'The Conqueror of Demons? The legendary Liyue adeptus!'
Su Bai: 'Amber, what do you mean "legendary Liyue adeptus"? I'm an adeptus too...'
Amber: 'No, no, Su Bai, it's different. The Conqueror of Demons is the kind of adeptus with folk stories about him. My grandfather used to tell me stories about him when I was little.'
Su Bai: '... I'm going back to working on my relay device. Albedo, even though you're remotely directing me, don't you think you're overestimating an adeptus who's never studied alchemy before??'
Albedo: 'Didn't you bring Albedo Junior with you? If you can't do it, get him to help. It's been a few days—he should have mastered the basics by now, right?'
Su Bai: 'Don't even mention it. Albedo Junior almost became Liyue Harbor's dream-maker.'
Su Bai: 'His colorful Whopperflowers can transform into people. A lot of people asked him to use them to recreate the appearance of their departed loved ones, just to see them one last time.'
Albedo: 'That sounds nice. He must have found meaning in life, right?'
Su Bai: 'Yeah, it started out fine. But then a Fatui agent had a Whopperflower turn into a Snezhnayan beauty and carried her off!'
Su Bai: 'If he hadn't been caught, that Whopperflower might have caught the Fatui off guard. But the unlucky agent ran into Keqing. After she arrested him, he ratted out Albedo Junior. Now Keqing has sent him to Yanfei to learn the law for "illegal operation." He's still in class.'
Albedo: '... Looks like the saying "truth is stranger than fiction" really holds up. My poor brother. Haha.'
At Wangshu Inn, Su Bai stared at the pile of mechanical parts scattered across the floor, his head spinning. If not for the fact that the distance between Mondstadt's coast and Liyue's Nantianmen was too great for messages to reach, he wouldn't be going through this trouble assembling a relay device.
"Albedo, if you were going to have merchants bring the parts all the way here, why couldn't you just come yourself? This stuff is impossible for someone who's not an expert."
Inside the Knights of Favonius' alchemy workshop, Albedo smiled as he handed a glass of milk to Klee, who was busy assembling bombs nearby. Imagining Su Bai's frustrated expression, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Brother Albedo, why do you look so weird? It's like those villain illustrations Klee saw in books."
"Klee, you're still growing. Here, have another glass of milk."
"Ah?! Brother Albedo is a good person! He looks like a good person when he smiles!"
Inside an office at Yujing Terrace, Yanfei stood at the podium, holding a thick legal code, passionately lecturing on various Liyue laws. Below, Albedo Junior sat with a pained expression, taking notes alongside Xingqiu.
The two brothers in misfortune exchanged glances, their eyes filled with mutual understanding. Seeing Yanfei absorbed in her lecture, Albedo Junior quietly asked Xingqiu:
"Sir, how did that tigress Keqing drag you here?"
"Brother, you might not believe this, but I found a Snezhnayan beauty on the street. She looked so lost and alone that I felt sorry for her and wanted to take her home to clean her up before sending her to the Ministry of Civil Affairs."
"But then we ran into Keqing. If I hadn't explained myself quickly, I would have ended up in jail for human trafficking."
Albedo Junior's face stiffened. He shrank back guiltily and asked:
"Sir, weren't you doing a good deed? Why are you here learning the law?"
"Because I didn't take her to the Ministry right away. That's why I'm stuck here studying law with Yanfei..."
Xingqiu smiled bitterly. He still felt wronged. That Snezhnayan girl was indeed attractive, but he had no feelings for her. Fortunately, his good reputation meant Keqing believed his explanation. Still, he couldn't understand why her expression had twisted at the end—like she was holding back laughter.
"Hey, hey, you two! Pay attention!!"
"Keqing told me that after I finish teaching Liyue law, she'll personally test you both. If you don't pass, you'll have to extend your study time with me."
"Ah, no way?!" x2
A wave of despair filled the office. Yanfei, seeing her students' resistance, felt a headache coming on. Keqing had really given her a tough assignment.
(T/N: In the coming weeks, there may be times when chapters aren't uploaded according to my usual schedule, or when fewer chapters than usual are uploaded. This is because college is starting, and I won't have as much free time anymore. Another reason is that Webnovel's scheduled publishing feature has been acting up lately, so chapters may not always go up when they're supposed to. I don't expect this to happen often, but I wanted to give a heads-up just in case.)