Wonderland Space, Main Hall.
Because the Luofu Xianzhou and Teyvat use different celestial references to measure time, a time difference of roughly five and a half hours was inevitable.
Thus, when Nolan and Tingyun arrived from the Xianzhou at around 4 p.m., it was only approaching 11 a.m. inside the Wonderland.
That meant lunchtime was near, and many girls had already returned from their morning work.
Noelle, Lumine, and Raiden Makoto were in the kitchen preparing lunch.
Xianyun, Ganyu, and Shenhe were sitting on the sofa with Ningguang and Keqing—two of Liyue's Heavenly Council—enjoying tea.
Fischl was dragging Mona and a still slightly-shy Layla into playing a new game—not Genius Invokation, but the recently launched tower-defense PvP game on the Akasha Network.
It allowed small teams to queue together and fight against other players.
The basic gameplay was simple: once the match started, players needed to rush to gather gold through hunting, logging, or random encounters. Gold could then be used to build defensive structures to protect one's base.
They could also craft weapons, buy items, and launch attacks on the enemy's base.
Whichever base was destroyed first lost the match.
This game was produced by a dedicated game-development department within the Akademiya, and it had exploded in popularity on the Akasha Interconnected Network—surpassing Genius Invokation for a time.
So of course, Nolan had heard of it.
As for how that department was developing games inside the Akasha Interconnected Network?
Naturally, Nahida had taken computer-science knowledge downloaded from the Interastral Peace Network and created her own visualized graphic programming system, available to everyone on the Akasha Network.
This programming method was extremely simple—just a few days of practice and anyone could start making software or even full games.
Once created, software and games simply needed to pass an inspection by a dedicated review department before being published on the marketplace.
So recently, countless apps and games had surged onto the network, making its software ecosystem remarkably complete.
This method of expanding the Akasha Network was far more efficient than Nahida trying to develop everything alone.
And it made the creators money—while also making the network itself extremely profitable.
After all, the platform and the programming tools were provided by Nahida, so naturally, part of everyone's earnings would be tithed to the system.
Following Nolan's suggestion, the Akasha Network took a 70% cut from all software and game revenue.
Software creation carried very low costs—no need for advanced R&D, and anyone with creativity could jump in.
If making money became too easy, everyone would abandon reality to make games and apps, and real-world industries would stagnate.
And that 70% revenue share was used to support societal development.
Mining, infrastructure, and similar industries were essential yet exhausting and dangerous; they needed extra subsidies.
By increasing their salaries and benefits, society could maintain a fair balance between all types of work.
But most importantly, the funds fueled scientific research.
As long as technology advanced, dangerous and exhausting industries would gradually become safe and automated—that was true progress.
Meaning that with the Akasha Network supporting them, every nation now had nearly unlimited research funding, and scientific advancements were happening rapidly.
The Akasha Interconnected Network was thriving, and Nolan was naturally delighted.
Aside from Fischl and the gaming group, on the right side of the hall Yae Miko and Kokomi were locked in a strategic battle.
On the other side of the sofas sat Eula and Amber, newly returned from patrol and resting.
Everyone looked over when they saw Nolan bringing home another new girl, and a slew of helpless expressions instantly appeared.
This guy… honestly… no matter where he goes he attracts girls like bees to honey!
"Ahem, come, I'll introduce you."
Feeling the stares, Nolan coughed lightly in embarrassment. He brought Tingyun to the sofa and began:
"These are Xianyun, Ganyu, and Shenhe—"
He slowly introduced Tingyun to everyone present; those not in the hall would be introduced later.
"Greetings, sisters. This little girl is Tingyun, the Guiding Overseer of the Luofu Xianzhou's Sky-Faring Commission."
Tingyun's beautiful eyes held a flicker of surprise.
She had mentally prepared herself for Nolan having many lovers.
But seeing it with her own eyes was still a bit startling.
Yet noticing that none of the girls rejected her, Tingyun finally relaxed.
Before coming, she worried that Nolan's other lovers would exclude her.
But now she realized—they were just like her.
Even after knowing Nolan had other partners, they still chose to be with him.
Thus, they clearly accepted the existence of other women, and wouldn't reject her either.
"Oh my, hello Tingyun."
Yae Miko, who had been playing game with Kokomi, walked over. "You have fox ears too. Are you perhaps one of our yokai?"
She didn't sense any youkai aura from Tingyun—but that didn't stop her from using the topic to build rapport.
Tingyun shook her head gently.
"No, this little girl is from the Foxian race. Compared to humans, we simply have fox ears and a tail. There are not many other differences."
Indeed, aside from a lifespan of several hundred years and their animal traits, the Foxians differed little from humans.
"Oh? I see. Speaking of which, Miss Tingyun came from the boundless stars—why not tell everyone about the starsea?"
Miko smiled, then shot Nolan a sideways glance.
"This guy went to the stars and came back without telling us anything. He only knows how to bully us when he has free time!"
As she spoke, she pried Nolan's hand off Tingyun and pulled the fox girl down beside her on the sofa—clearly telling Nolan to go entertain himself elsewhere.
"You—this woman…" Nolan's lips twitched.
What do you mean I only bully you?
You were all quite happy sticking to me during those moments—and especially you, Miko.
You sneak into my room at night the most, with such a ridiculously loud voice…
No restraint.
You keep the other girls awake until they have to come over too—leading to half the group oversleeping the next morning.
Whatever. He had no intention of arguing with her.
"Alright, Tingyun, chat with everyone for a while. I'll head to the third floor and drop off the materials."
"Mm. Benefactor, please go ahead. I'll take this chance to get acquainted with the sisters."
Tingyun nodded sweetly.
"Alright."
Nolan left the hall and headed upstairs.
Stepping onto the stairs, Nolan went up to the second floor first. As usual, there wasn't anyone around before evening. He continued upward and soon reached the third floor.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Guizhong were both in their labs, and Ei was in her meditation room. But when Nolan entered, she wasn't half-floating in meditation like she normally did—
Instead, she was lying on her stomach on the bed, projecting the Akasha Interconnected Network interface in front of her, casually scrolling through news and videos.
"You've fallen too, huh?"
Nolan sat on the edge of the bed and patted her butt.
"I'm just taking a break. I can't cultivate every single day while ignoring the ever-changing world outside."
Ei shot him a sideways glance before shifting her gaze back to the screen.
"Fair enough."
Nolan lifted the back hem of her clothes, revealing the soft curve of her hips wrapped tightly in purple lace panties.
He tugged the panties down to her thighs, then straddled her, pressing down on her soft, snowy rear.
Raiden Ei, still browsing through updates, frowned for a moment before relaxing. She didn't bother to stop him—only pursed her lips slightly to avoid making strange noises.
"By the way, I brought back the forging materials. When you're free, help me forge the armor."
Nolan spoke while massaging Ei's rear, then realized her waist was easier to hold.
"Mm."
Ei responded with a flat expression—as if telling him to hurry up and get off her.
"If the materials aren't enough, just tell me. I cleared another commission, so I'm feeling a bit wealthy again."
Nolan leaned forward, pressing his chest to her back, brushing aside her lightly fragrant hair with the tip of his nose to kiss her earlobe.
"Bastard, get off."
Ei's pale cheeks flushed pink; being pressed down like this made her chest feel tight.
"Hold on, I'll be faster."
....
A few minutes later, Nolan climbed off her, helped pull her purple lace panties back up, and lowered the hem of her clothes to restore her appearance.
Ei rolled onto her back and stood up. She lifted her clothing to straighten the panties he had pulled aside.
Feeling a warm trail sliding down the inside of her thigh, she shot Nolan a glare and wiped it irritably with the back of her hand.
"Next time you get my panties dirty, you clean them with your tongue!"
"Sorry, sorry."
Nolan quickly took out the materials and changed the subject.
"These are what I bought last time. Go ahead and check them."
He opened the square crate, revealing the various materials inside.
Ei, still in her over-the-knee socks but barefoot since she hadn't put her shoes on yet, stepped over and knelt beside the crate. She took out each material one by one, inspecting them carefully.
After tapping one lightly, she confirmed nothing was wrong.
"Go to the warehouse and bring down two pieces of Dragonblood Jade. Its gentle properties can harmonize with these materials," she said with a calm glance.
As a master blacksmith, she had long studied the Dragonblood Jade produced by the Wonderland.
A simple look was enough for her to understand most of it.
"Got it."
Nolan nodded and left the room, heading up toward the fourth floor.
Absorbing Dragonblood Jade didn't provide much EXP for him anymore, so using some for forging armor wasn't a loss.
Before long, he reached the fourth-floor storage room.
There, wearing a white open-shoulder dress, was Havria. Her long hair, shimmering faintly like salt-crystal silver, spilled down her back as she polished and arranged the treasures on the shelves.
She managed the entire warehouse now. Every treasure and material collected was meticulously organized by her.
Her soul body had fully recovered—just like Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's—and she was now a gentle, elegant mature woman.
"I heard you two talking downstairs. You're here for Dragonblood Jade, right?"
Havria looked up with a soft smile.
A small beauty mark below her left eye enhanced her gentle charm. Her white backless dress was held up by straps connected to a neck ring, the fabric just barely covering her chest.
The rest of her smooth, fair back and the soft curve of her side bosom were fully exposed.
Through the semi-transparent long white sleeves, her delicate arms could be faintly seen. The skirt hid her legs, but her bare feet stepped quietly on the floor.
Nolan didn't answer her question immediately. Instead, he smiled slightly.
"In that case… you also heard the sounds of me and Ei being close earlier, right?"
"W–Who told you two to be so indecent?! With only one ceiling between us, of course I could hear it!"
Havria's pale cheeks flushed a soft pink as she crossed her arms and looked away.
She didn't know why he suddenly brought that up.
But flustered as she was, the mature elegance she normally radiated mixed with a touch of girlish embarrassment.
Nolan took two steps forward and wrapped an arm around her slender waist.
Havria struggled lightly, but it had no effect. Her cheeks reddened further.
"So you finally couldn't hold back and came to bother me?" she whispered.
"I just thought… since you only heard it through a ceiling, maybe you didn't hear very clearly. Want me to let you listen again?"
Nolan murmured into her ear, teeth playfully grazing her silvery hair.
Feeling his warm breath against her ear, countless scenes of Nolan embracing other girls flashed in Havria's mind.
She had grown used to watching him be affectionate with others every day since her awakening. She no longer blushed at the sight—after all, she was a gentle and mature woman.
But being held by him directly still made her heart race uncontrollably, her face warming more and more.
Even so, she parted her soft lips and kept her tone calm and gentle:
"If you want to do it, then do it. You don't need to make silly excuses.
I… seem to like you quite a bit anyway.
It's just a little sudden—I wasn't mentally prepared.
Why don't we start with a kiss?"
"Hm. That does make sense."
Nolan squeezed her soft butt, instantly breaking Havria's calm facade.
She gasped in surprise—"Ah!"—and glared at him in flustered anger.
He chuckled and offered a suggestion:
"In that case, why don't you take the initiative and kiss me?
After a few kisses, you'll get used to it—and then you'll be ready."
(End of Chapter)
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