"Come on, Su Bai, stop dawdling with your girlfriend. If you keep dragging your feet, I am seriously going to leave you here at Guyun Stone Forest and set sail right now."
Watching the dawdling couple before her, Beidou felt a slight twinge of secondhand embarrassment. Damn it, she and Ningguang never dragged things out like this when parting. She never expected Su Bai, an adeptus, to force-feed her such a heavy dose of romance right here at Guyun Stone Forest.
"Shenhe, it is time for me to set off. Head back and do not worry, I will definitely take good care of myself."
"If anyone bullies you, write down their name. If Master approves my trip to Inazuma in the future, I will personally avenge you."
As she spoke, Shenhe took out a small piece of extremely hard Crystal Ore. Under Beidou's shocked gaze, she crushed the ore directly into powder. Watching the dust dissipate in the wind, Beidou looked at Su Bai with a hint of pity in her eyes. Someone with such terrifying strength... it seemed Su Bai's girlfriend was definitely no ordinary person.
"Shenhe, do you still not believe in my strength? If someone really dares to bully me, I will definitely get revenge."
He was someone who could walk around with absolute impunity in Inazuma. If someone really dared to bully him, not to mention Su Bai taking action himself, Yae Miko and Hanachirusato would make sure that person learned a lesson they would never forget.
"No, you getting revenge is you getting revenge, and me helping you get revenge is me helping you get revenge. The two cannot be confused."
Shenhe corrected Su Bai's words with a serious expression. Listening to Shenhe's twisted logic, Hu Tao, who was joining in the fun, shrank her head back. If someone really bullied Su Bai, would not that person get beaten up twice? That was just pitiful, but she liked it. In the future, the Director would protect her own people like this too.
"Let us go, let us go, let us go! Zhongli, I have never been to Inazuma. I wonder what the rocks there taste like."
"If Inazuma is filled with Electro energy, maybe eating rocks will make my mouth feel all tingly."
Azhdaha was full of anticipation for this trip. Zhongli, on the other hand, purely wanted to understand the culture and customs of Inazuma and see how the people there lived, in order to compare and see if there was anything Liyue needed to improve. Of course, Hu Tao insisting on going to Inazuma was also a reason.
"Then I am setting off. Shenhe, you should head back. I will definitely bring back the light novels from Yae Publishing House that you want."
On the deck of the Alcor, Su Bai waved at Shenhe, signaling her to go back. Shenhe watched the Alcor gradually disappear on the horizon and gently covered her chest. For some reason, she felt very uncomfortable. Perhaps she now understood what the sorrow of parting in books felt like.
...
On a high peak of Guyun Stone Forest, Xiao and Cloud Retainer appeared at some unknown time. Watching the departing Alcor, neither Xiao nor Cloud Retainer said anything. If it were usual, the two might have gone down to say goodbye to Su Bai, but now that they had phones, the sorrow of parting in their hearts did not seem as great as they had imagined.
"Conqueror of Demons, just contact me on the phone if you need anything in the future. I will be heading back first."
"Mn. I will continue clearing out monsters."
After saying their goodbyes, Xiao and Cloud Retainer flew off to their respective destinations. On the Alcor, Zhongli looked in the direction of Guyun Stone Forest and silently took out his phone to check it. It seemed that ever since they got phones, ordinary partings were acceptable. Perhaps he could really take Azhdaha to travel around Teyvat.
...
After several days of sailing, the Alcor sailed calmly on the sea. Perhaps because of the reputation of the Crux Fleet, many pirates who made a living by robbing ships fled as soon as they saw the massive Alcor. It was as if they, the pirates, had become lambs waiting to be slaughtered, while the Crux Fleet had become the butcher.
However, Hu Tao, who had been observing the pirate ships, also noticed something unexpected. Some pirate ships actually sent small boats to interact with the supply ships behind the Alcor, seemingly conducting transactions.
"This is so boring. I thought we would run into some pirates and have a good fight, but I did not expect them to be so cowardly."
Hu Tao leaned on the railing, looking at the vast ocean and the gradually distant pirate ships, feeling quite depressed. Nothing unexpected had happened for such a long time, which made Hu Tao very bored. Beidou, standing on the deck, could not help but laugh out loud upon hearing Hu Tao's complaints.
"Haha, little Hu Tao, do you think I have not made a name for myself on the seas all these years? Do not even mention these small pirate groups; even the big pirate fleets do not dare to provoke my Crux Fleet."
"Miss Hu Tao, ever since our Captain Beidou threw an entire shipload of pirates into the sea by herself, no pirate fleet has dared to target our Crux Fleet."
"Moreover, the Crux Fleet always carries a large quantity and variety of supplies at fair prices. Those pirates do not want to conflict with us either, otherwise, we would not sell them a single bit of our goods."
A young lady in charge of accounting, while recording how much Mora they had just earned from trading with the pirates, proudly explained to Hu Tao why the pirates would not dare to provoke the Crux Fleet.
Hu Tao blinked. She did not know if it was her imagination, but she always felt that every sailor on Beidou's ship worshipped Beidou. Wait, no, that guy named Kazuha did not seem to worship Beidou that much. That guy actually had a pretty good relationship with Su Bai. Those two had been on the crow's nest all morning, and she did not know what they were doing.
"Zhongli, pour me some water. Ugh~"
Looking at Azhdaha, who was swaying and could not even walk straight, Zhongli naturally took out a cup of already brewed tea and handed it to her. Azhdaha did not even look and downed it in one gulp.
"Phew~ I am back to life, I am back to life. I did not expect your tea to have this kind of effect, Zhongli. It is really amazing."
"I really did not expect you, an adeptus, to get seasick, Zhongtuo."
"Shoo, shoo, you emergency food. If you have the guts, do not fly up there and come stand with me."
Zhongtuo casually threw the cup in her hand at Paimon, who was flying in the sky. Paimon dodged it and did not forget to make a face at Azhdaha. Zhongli looked at Azhdaha, who was stomping her feet in anger, and found it somewhat unbelievable. He had not expected Azhdaha's seasickness to be this severe. The tea he had collected, which could dispel many mental effects, could only temporarily suppress Azhdaha's seasickness.
"Today is just weird. I have not caught a single fish all morning."
Lumine put away her fishing rod in confusion. Every time she went fishing a few days ago, she would catch something. Why was her luck so bad today? She was thinking about catching a few good fish to add to the midday meal, but looking at this, there would be no extra dishes for lunch.
"No, this should not be a problem of luck. The Electro energy around is getting thicker and thicker. It must be the thunderstorm sealing Inazuma that scared all the fish away."
Zhongli silently felt the elements around him. To be able to influence such a wide range with Electro energy, it must have been the work of that Electro Archon. He did not expect that the former shadow warrior, after not seeing her for years, had grown to this extent. It was truly remarkable.