"Greetings, Lord Su Han!"
"Greetings, Lady Keqing!"
The researchers responsible for the sea train were so excited to see them that they were almost stammering.
Su Han smiled and asked, "Can we take it for a spin now?"
"Of course! My lord, we're all ready! We've already done a test run, and it's very safe," the lead researcher quickly reported.
In truth, with the new levitation technology, let alone a sea train, they could even build a sea fortress.
Su Han and Keqing exchanged a glance and smiled. "Then let's set off."
"Yes, sir!"
The train slowly began to move. Sailing on the sea for the first time felt completely different.
But Keqing's gaze wasn't on the scenery. Instead, she turned to Su Han and asked, "I heard Mondstadt was attacked. It was the Fatui again this time, wasn't it? And… that person who came back with you. Her strength seems extraordinary. Who is she?"
"La Signora. Or rather, the former Fatui Harbinger. A pitiful person."
As Su Han explained, Keqing finally understood the woman's tragic past and agreed with his decision to save her.
"But she must hate the Anemo Archon deeply, right?"
"Mm. Anyone would, in her position. But time washes away all wounds. La Signora is dead. The person who is alive now is 'Luo Lin'."
Her beloved died. It's only normal that she fell into darkness.
The two chatted for a while, and the train slowly approached Yaoguang Shoal.
What had once been just a beach was now a simple port and a train station, bustling with people coming and going.
When the people saw the train running on the sea, they all erupted.
"Hey, everyone, look! The sea train is here!"
"Wow! Is it really moving on the water?"
"That's incredible! Our technology is getting better and better!"
"You said it!"
The sea was just water, after all, with no solid ground. But now, Liyue had actually made that heavy train run on its surface. It was such a shocking sight.
"Quick! Publish the newspaper! We have to let Liyue and Mondstadt know this news!"
"Yes!"
"And see if there's a way to get the newspaper into Inazuma, so the people there know our news too! Remember to take more pictures!"
"On it!"
Ningguang's intelligence department moved quickly.
Su Han stepped off the train, satisfied. "The speed is good. But what do we do if we encounter high winds and waves?"
After all, this was sea travel. Encountering storms was a normal occurrence. It was fine for now, sailing close to the coast, but what about when they went deep into Inazuman waters? Would they run into trouble?
Faced with Su Han's doubt, a figure walked out from the crowd.
"Actually," Sucrose said with a smile, "our train is also engraved with many runes to protect against storms. And if we encounter a particularly strong one, we can always choose to turn back. As for the floating rails, they have an extremely high tolerance. There's no need to worry about the storm's power at all."
The speaker was, naturally, Sucrose.
After meeting with Albedo a few days ago and solving the murloc problem, she had begun to throw herself into the final testing of the train. For the past two days, she had been living at the Guili Plains. It was very hard work.
Keqing's face lit up. "Then is the route to Mondstadt progressing even faster?"
"Mm. In one week at most, we'll be able to bypass Dragonspine and arrive directly at the edge of Dadaupa Gorge! We can notify them now to start setting up the rails on their end. I feel like the train can go straight up the cliffs, travel above the gorge, and from there, enter Mondstadt City!"
Sucrose had studied the terrain. If they went through the canyon, not only was the terrain complex, but it would also require frequent turns. But if they went above it, they wouldn't have to worry about those things.
Su Han praised her, "You've really worked hard. You must be exhausted."
"Not at all. My assistants are doing most of this work now," Sucrose said shyly. She was now equivalent to a research master, only controlling the overall direction and researching the difficult topics. The simple things were all done by her assistants.
At this moment, a group of Millelith soldiers came before Su Han, their expressions a bit troubled.
"Greetings, Lord Su Han. Something has been happening in Mingyun Village recently. We'd like to ask for your judgment."
"What's wrong?"
"It's like this! Recently, three of our supply carts have gone missing, and the men have disappeared as well."
After the Millelith's introduction, Su Han understood. Mingyun Village was being attacked. But the attackers were a bit strange; they only chose to take the food.
Keqing stepped forward. "Have you found the enemy?"
"No. Not a single clue."
"This…" Her face was grim. They were attacked, but couldn't even find a clue? What were these Millelith doing?
Su Han spoke up. "Take us to the scene. No matter what, let's see the site first."
"Yes, sir."
Led by the Millelith, Su Han and Keqing arrived at the crime scene. It was a very remote part of Mingyun Village, bordering Dragonspine, with a beach in front.
"It seems the enemy attacked the Millelith in Mingyun Village and then fled into Dragonspine," Keqing observed, making her judgment.
But Su Han shook his head. "I think the enemy is very likely from Dragonspine."
"How so?"
"If you were the enemy, and you're ignoring so many precious ores in Mingyun Village, why would you only steal food? There's only one answer: the enemy is lacking a large amount of supplies. And it's an extremely desperate situation."
"You're saying the enemy is… Treasure Hoarders?" Keqing was surprised. Based on that analysis, it was indeed logical.
Su Han shook his head. "I'm not sure. Let's go in and look. If we use Observation Haki, we should be able to find news quickly."
"Mm." Keqing nodded and drew her longsword, flying towards Dragonspine.
In a camp near Starglow Cavern, a group of Fatui were gathered, eating meat and drinking wine. There were several dozen of them in total, and on the nearby food supplies, there was a mark: the supplies of the Millelith.
"Finally, a full meal! This is so comfortable."
"Yeah, it's a full meal, but now I'm afraid the Millelith will track us here!"
"Sigh, the Millelith of the past were so weak, we could deal with them easily. But now, we can't even get supplies. These days are getting harder and harder."
They had all become soldiers of fortune to eat well and drink well. Now, they were worse off than beggars, making many of them not want to be Fatui anymore.
Their leader snorted. "We just have to endure this period. If we have no food, we'll just steal it! What's there to be afraid of? Unless that Su Han comes personally, I'm not afraid of anyone."
"Boss… b-boss…"
"What is it? Isn't there food? Why are you stuttering?" the leader berated his subordinate. With food and drink, what was there to stutter about? What a disgrace to the Fatui.
The man pointed at the sky, an expression on his face that was uglier than crying. "Boss, he really did come."
The leader and the others looked up, only to see two figures standing above them, silently watching everything.
Clatter. The food fell to the ground. The boss, who had been so confident just a moment ago, his face instantly froze.
Su Han slowly landed in front of him, looked at the nearby supply bags, and confirmed his idea. The thieves were indeed the Fatui. But looking at their strength, they seemed decent. How did they end up in such a miserable state?
"The matter in Mingyun Village. Was it your doing?"
"Yes… yes, Lord Su Han! But we were truly at our wits' end! We beg you to spare our lives! We are willing to go to the mines to atone for our sins!"
"Oh? What happened? Tell me the truth," Su Han said, his eyes narrowing.
The Fatui leader, terrified, quickly explained.
It turned out that they were the personnel who had been stationed on Dragonspine, awaiting orders. But after Dottore had obtained Durin's blood, he had not given them the order to leave. So, they had stayed.
Originally, they had had supplies transported from Mondstadt. But for some reason, a while back, the Mondstadt informants who were supposed to be sending them supplies had just… stopped.
The people of Liyue had already sealed the border, and now the people of Mondstadt had also sealed the other end of the mountain. The Fatui trapped here had become a complete joke. What was there to eat on Dragonspine? They had already eaten everything they could, such as some of the more tender tree bark and the fish in the lake. If they hadn't gone to steal food a few days ago, some of them would have already fainted from hunger.
Keqing looked at these Fatui and found that they were indeed starving. In their bowls, there was even leftover boiled grass.
She frowned. "If you had no food, why didn't you leave?"
"My lady, it's not that we didn't want to leave, but that we didn't dare! You don't understand the rules of the Fatui. If we act on our own without an order from above, we'll be killed!"
"It's true! That guy Dottore is too cruel! I've even seen him throw a man into a big pot with my own eyes, saying he wanted to study his brain to see why it wasn't obedient!"
After listening to the Fatui's tragic experience, Su Han looked at Keqing and smiled. "How about we just recruit them? Anyway, we're short on people, right? Even if it's just to dig in the mines."
"This… is that really okay? The Fatui can't be trusted, can they?" Keqing was hesitant.
But when the Fatui heard that there was a way to live, they immediately knelt on the ground, begging for mercy.
"Lady Keqing! We are willing to go to the mines! Please give us a way out!"
"We beg you! We will be very obedient!"
"By the way, Liyue can sign contracts, right? We are willing to sign a contract to sell ourselves!"
In order not to starve, this group of Fatui was really desperate.
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