The Xianzhou Luofu, Central Hub of the Star-Skiff Sea.
After meeting Yukong, the Helmswoman of the Sky-Faring Commission, Nolan left the Divination Commission together with Tingyun. Since it was already noon, Tingyun said she wanted to treat him to lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Nolan saw no reason to refuse and accepted her invitation.
If not for the holographic menu used for ordering, he would've thought the restaurant was no different from the ones in Liyue.
What stood out was the holographic storyteller standing in the middle of the hall, reciting tales.
To be honest, the pale-blue projection was extremely blurry—barely clear enough to make out a human silhouette.
If it was just for giving diners something to look at, Nolan really didn't think this hologram was any better than a high-definition screen.
The Divination Commission they'd just come from was completely different, though. Besides some holographic bonsai, it even had a full spatial hologram of the Xianzhou's internal layout.
While he was talking with the Helmswoman, he noticed several staff members operating that holographic model, as if it could display the ship's real-time status.
A blocked star-skiff lane? A fire breaking out in some district? Everything could be fed back and even zoomed in for a closer look.
He had to admit—that was impressive. But when such a system was used just for storytelling, the effect dropped significantly… unless they used a much higher-definition holographic technique.
If the storyteller could appear indistinguishable from a real person, that would give diners a great experience.
But it was probably expensive. This restaurant clearly wasn't willing to go that far.
"Benefactor… Benefactor…"
Tingyun called out several times, puffing her fair cheeks in mild displeasure when he didn't respond—his attention glued entirely to the holographic storyteller.
She had planned to chat with him… get to know him better. Yet somehow, he was completely captivated by that projection.
"Ahem, my apologies." Nolan coughed awkwardly. "Please forgive me—I only recently left my 'rural' planet. I don't see things like this often, so I got a little curious."
"Pfft—so that's why. I didn't expect Benefactor to be this cute."
Tingyun couldn't help but giggle, her fox ears giving a small twitch.
"That's projected with a Projection Sandpit. If Benefactor likes it, I can give you one later."
[Tingyun Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 380 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (400/700).]
Nolan had a full row of black lines on his forehead.
So Tingyun thought he was… gap-moe? That must be the reason for the Affection, right?
As an upright, sunny, righteous young man, he absolutely did not believe he shared anything in common with words like "cute" or "adorable."
But arguing would only make him look petty and immature. This was probably just Tingyun's illusion due to her high Affection.
He shook his head helplessly.
"No need to spend money on me—I already have a phone. Right, you were calling me earlier? What's wrong?"
He'd actually looked up Xianzhou Projection Sandpits online.
They were similar to phones, but not quite the same—there were computational Sandpit Units, Communication Sandpits, and of course projection-type Sandpits.
But for now, he didn't really need one. Compared to Projection Sandpits, a phone was simply more convenient for him.
"Hehe~ rejecting a girl's gift… Benefactor, you're a bit lacking in charm, aren't you?"
Tingyun teased, a light smile on her fair face. Seeing his embarrassed expression, she continued:
"Anyway… earlier I wanted to ask: how would you like to arrange your afternoon? Should this little girl go prepare lodging first, or would you prefer to stroll around?"
After spending a few days together, her sharp intuition had already noticed that Benefactor didn't reject her attempts to get closer.
"…"
Nolan wasn't very experienced with proactive girls. Most of the girls in his Wonderland Space were people he pursued first.
"Well… how about you come with me to the Stargazer Navalia to pick up a delivery?"
He pulled out his phone and showed her the logistics page.
The armor materials he ordered a few days earlier had arrived at the Stargazer Navalia. Since Tingyun was free, he wanted her to guide him there—otherwise he'd be wandering around clueless in an unfamiliar place.
This was something he had originally planned to bring up anyway. Since she asked first, he might as well get the materials before arranging anything else.
"You bought something from a company? Mm, it's indeed at the Stargazer Navalia's pickup station. Alright, let's head out now!"
Tingyun sounded quite cheerful—clearly excited to wander around with him.
"Sure."
He nodded. They had already finished their lunch—walking around now would help digestion anyway.
[Payment received: 87 strales]
Since the Sky-Faring Commission's commission fee hadn't arrived yet, all he could do was watch Tingyun pay with her phone.
But when he heard the restaurant's payment chime, Nolan froze slightly.
The unit of credit… was Strale?
Seeing his confusion, Tingyun gently took his wrist and explained while walking:
"Our Xianzhou Alliance mainly uses 'Strales'. Credit points can also be used, but they're mostly for 'Outworlders.'
"But within the Alliance, everyone is encouraged to use Strales instead. There are often random discounts on purchases. For example, our lunch was 88.5 Strales, but with Benefactor here, our luck was wonderful—we got a 1.5-Strale discount!"
The fox-folk girl smiled sweetly.
"I see. I learned something new."
Nolan immediately understood the logic.
Credit points were universal interstellar currency. For the Xianzhou, they functioned like foreign exchange—mainly used in interstellar trade.
By reducing internal use and attracting Outworlders to convert their credits into Strale for discounts, the Xianzhou effectively increased its foreign-exchange reserves.
A very normal economic strategy.
Fully abandoning one's own currency for the Interastral Peace Corporation's credit system would be far too risky; no sane civilization would do that.
Except for civilizations too poor to survive without IPC aid—they had no choice.
"We're at the pier now. Let's take a star-skiff. Stargazer Navalia is just east of the Central Hub—it won't take long."
Tingyun seemed to enjoy riding a star-skiff together with Nolan.
"Alright."
He nodded. Although he could teleport, he didn't want to teleport recklessly inside the Xianzhou before understanding its rules—he might get mistaken for some suspicious character by the Cloud Knights.
He was a stranger here—having power didn't give him the right to disregard rules. Respect and courtesy were necessary.
The two of them boarded another star-skiff, and it automatically flew toward the Stargazer Navalia.
Along the way, Tingyun sat beside Nolan—so close that her hand, which had been holding his wrist, "accidentally" slid down and rested lightly on the back of his hand.
Faced with Tingyun's undisguised display of affection, Nolan felt a bit uneasy. Things were progressing far too quickly—he wasn't ready to tell her he had many lovers.
And with her Affection not yet at max, coming clean now felt risky.
But considering how warm and proactive Tingyun was being… she might very well confess to him later. And when that happened, there was no way he'd reject her.
Yet accepting her, only to tell her afterward that he already had many lovers—that felt dishonest. What if Tingyun developed resentment later?
With his other lovers, he had always clarified things before expressing mutual affection—though that was only after he knew their Affection toward him was high enough that they wouldn't mind.
Or, the girl already knew beforehand—like Layla.
When her Affection was still low, she already knew that he and Mona were lovers. Later, when her Affection increased and she began to like him, she had naturally taken that into account and didn't mind.
These days, Mona often invited her to the Wonderland space to do research together, and when they worked too late, Layla would simply sleep in the lab.
Nolan felt it was about time to invite her to live there as well.
But Tingyun was different—she was active and forward, making the timing of his confession difficult to judge.
He wasn't sure if Affection Level 7 would be high enough for Tingyun to accept the fact that he had multiple lovers.
Different girls had different personalities. Some wouldn't care even at Level 5 or 6; some at Level 7 or 8 might still mind quite a bit.
If he were the one pursuing her, he could simply wait until her Affection was nearly maxed or fully maxed before confessing and expressing his feelings—that was much safer.
Of course, this only applied to girls outside Teyvat. Within Teyvat, he was already so famous that any girl who played Akasha Interconnected Network knew he was a notorious flirt.
Girls who still let him build up their Affection after that would naturally not care about such things.
After thinking for a while, in order to avoid the risk of losing Affection, Nolan decided it was better to confess early.
He hesitated, pulled back his left hand that Tingyun had rested upon, straightened his collar, and spoke gently:
"Well… Miss Tingyun. Actually, I have rather deep relationships with many girls back on my homeworld, so if you mind—"
Before he could finish, Tingyun leaned her whole body against him, resting lightly on his shoulder. With a soft, airy smile, she said:
"The fox-folk's noses are quite sensitive, you know. When I first met Benefactor, I already noticed—there were indeed many girls' scents on you.
"But back then we weren't close, so I naturally didn't mind it. After all, the galaxy has plenty of men like Benefactor."
She laughed lightly.
"But after getting to know Benefactor these past few days… I found Benefactor truly very charming. Without realizing it, this little girl seems to have been drawn in. At that point, there's not much left to mind.
"Speaking of which~ for Benefactor to sincerely confess so proactively… were you afraid of hurting my heart?"
Her fair lips curved slightly. She stared at him with smiling eyes, making Nolan a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat.
"…A little, yes. After all, it does feel quite guilty to make a girl sad."
"Then Benefactor can rest assured. Although this little girl wishes she could have Benefactor all to herself… fate wasn't kind enough to let me meet Benefactor earlier. I only hope Benefactor won't dislike me."
[Tingyun Has Developed Good Feelings Towards you, Obtained 460 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (160/800).]
Tingyun herself hadn't expected her feelings to deepen this much. They had known each other for less than a month, and yet she already felt like this—it really must be what they call love at first sight.
Fox-folk elders often said that once a fox-girl chose a man, she would fall deeper and deeper without escape, even if that man were a short-lived human.
That was simply the nature of the fox people—emotional and wholehearted.
Now she found those words to be true. She had just proven it herself.
"Of course not. Since Miss Tingyun thinks so highly of me, I naturally won't disappoint you."
Nolan smiled softly and took her hand in return.
Truly, when a woman pursued a man, things progressed like cutting through a single thin layer.
Nolan hadn't expected their relationship to advance this quickly.
"Aiya~ it feels like this little girl has accidentally sold herself. After all, I'm not the only one who has Benefactor's love. So then—why don't you tell this little girl the stories of how you met your other girls?"
Tingyun hugged his arm, her fox ears flicking lightly as she spoke with a teasing smile.
As expected… she was a bit curious.
Nolan felt helpless—since she asked, he could only give her a simple version.
He started with Amber, the very first girl he met upon arriving in Teyvat.
While Nolan and Tingyun chatted intimately aboard the star-skiff, night once again fell on Baihuang Star. The Louyue Behemoths crouched down and gently closed their eyes.
Sensing this, Nolan immediately commanded the "Sword God" to move.
There were two avatars on Baihuang Star now—one of them had been sent here two days ago via the Void Starsea.
After secretly knocking out over a thousand Louyue Behemoths across several nights, Nolan now had over 150 million Adventure EXP on his status panel.
If he could subdue the remaining few hundred tonight, his total would climb close to 200 million—enough to wrap up his mission on Baihuang Star.
And with around 200 million Adventure EXP, he could level up several times in a row—bringing his strength to new heights.
With the star-skiff still en route to the Stargazer Navalia, now was the perfect time to finish off the last remaining behemoths. As the thought settled, both Sword Gods moved swiftly into action.
(End of Chapter)
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