In the mansion on Yujing Terrace, Cloud Retainer wore a very odd expression as she stared at Su Xuan and Ganyu across from her.
Ever since the two returned, Ganyu had been acting… different. Right now she was lying with her head on Su Xuan's lap, letting him idly fiddle with the twin horns atop her head, her face occasionally melting into a look of bliss.
"Sigh…" Cloud Retainer could only breathe out helplessly.
She'd once thought all diary holders would tie themselves to this man purely out of personal motives. She hadn't expected their world to be this chaotic—perhaps even doomed in the end.
This was no longer about individuals. Su Xuan's very existence was the future of the world.
At least for the Abyss, nothing could outclass the Qiankun Mirror in his hands. And as he grew stronger, he was already able to crush Abyssal power with raw force alone.
Forget whether Heaven would settle accounts over Morax quietly aiding the Tsaritsa. The Abyss alone gave everyone enough of a headache.
If Teyvat's civilization was to keep flowing onward, Su Xuan was indispensable.
"I see." Epiphany flickered through Cloud Retainer's eyes.
No wonder they'd been given diary copies—Su Xuan was handing them chances to keep him here. The holders were the key to anchoring him to Teyvat; their relationships with him would, by proxy, shape the world's fate.
So we're the saviors of the world? she muttered inwardly, feeling very strange.
Su Xuan glanced at her—nodding to herself one moment, "aha" the next—and had no idea what this nestless old bird was thinking. He discreetly snapped a few photos of her changing expressions and dropped them in the diary.
[Got home to find the nestless old bird seemingly rattled by some mysterious stimulus. Mental state… questionable.]
[Cloud Retainer's expressions.jpg]
[All these jump-scares and sudden epiphanies—hard to square with the usual tsun of that proud old bird.]
Qunyu Pavilion.
Lumine had just handed over the railgun blueprints to Ningguang when both women burst into a smothered laugh at Cloud Retainer's meme-able faces.
Paimon scratched her head. "Uh… I heard Boss Su poked a hole in the sky last night? Anyone would be stunned after that."
Ningguang's eyes slid to the floating white creature. The crown atop Paimon's head, the emblems on her clothes—identical to the two marks Su Xuan had posted. She gave Lumine a curious look, as if to ask about Paimon. Lumine only shrugged. This morning Paimon had wanted to know why Su Xuan and Ganyu had slept elsewhere, and why the ground had a thick new layer of black sand.
Lumine told her about Su Xuan punching the sky, but kept quiet about "Empty Moon." When Paimon begged to see the diary, Lumine bribed her with breakfast. Whatever Paimon was, Lumine didn't care. If Su Xuan said she was harmless, then Paimon was still a partner worth trusting.
"By the way, the Qunyu Pavilion really is luxurious…" Paimon spun in place, dazzled by the décor.
Ningguang smiled. "I've been run ragged lately and haven't visited you properly. If you don't mind, browse my private vault. Anything you like—take it."
"For real!?" Paimon's eyes shone.
Ningguang laughed softly. "We're sisters, aren't we? What's mine is yours."
Lumine nodded. No wonder she gets rich—the mentality's on another level.
"Oh—Su asked us to tell you to send people to gather the iron sand northeast of Mt. Aocang. All of it's smelting-grade material."
Ningguang kept nodding. Thinking of that carpet of iron filings, her gaze drifted to the blueprint in her hands. "About this electromagnetic railgun… What exactly is it? Is it the thing Su used last night—"
Punching a hole through the firmament—could they really manage something like that?
Lumine shook her head. "Not the same. He used electromagnetic power, but that seemed to be tied to his own energy. The railgun is just… technology. As for power, I don't know—but it definitely won't be like what he did last night."
As they spoke, the diary kept updating. They hurried to read.
[Instead of spacing out on my sofa, the nestless old bird should go to Qunyu Pavilion and talk Gongzao Division with Ningguang.]
[Cloud Retainer loves inventing. She can toss her gadget schematics straight into the Gongzao Division.]
[Gongzao isn't only for time-gestating Xingcha; if the designs are sound, it will self-produce them over time.]
[It even values creations: the higher the value, the longer the build time.]
[Same reason my Mondstadt schematics for Ruin Guards/Ruin Graders—and even the Celestial Nail—can be manufactured by Gongzao.]
All the girls: "?"
The Gongzao Division can build a Celestial Nail?
[Which reminds me—I must roast Lisa and Ningguang.]
[Back in Mond, I gave Lisa the schematics for Guards and Graders. She just sprawled at her desk half-dead, saying the alchemic project with Durin's heart was already delaying her reading on "how to keep the perfect curves," so she had no time for machines.]
[So I threw the lot into Gongzao this time.]
[As for the Celestial Nail, Ningguang refused.]
[White-haired lass said it was too dangerous; if anything went wrong en route out of Gongzao, she couldn't shoulder it. She would not accept the blueprint.]
[Women… impossible to understand.]
Minds were blown. If the Gongzao Division could roll out Celestial Nails, that'd be an act of war on the rest of the world.
Thankfully, Ningguang was wise. She couldn't control Heaven's Nails, but she could control what Gongzao produced. Better that such a thing stayed only in Su Xuan's hands. Greed would just prove she didn't know her place.
Qunyu Pavilion.
Lumine and Paimon gaped. "Ningguang, so Gongzao…"
Ningguang winced, then nodded. "I haven't told anyone. At present, Gongzao is manufacturing Ruin Guards and Graders. One Guard every two days; one Grader every three. Su also mentioned Sumeru has a giant Ruin Guard—once we get those schematics, in they go as well."
"Eh!?" Lumine and Paimon were stunned. At that rate, it wouldn't take long to field a Khaenri'ahn mech army.
Lumine: "…"
So the Abyss's painstaking "mechanical god" idea was a complete joke. They'd be outpaced by Ningguang stepping out of her bath.
Knights of Favonius.
Jean sighed and looked at Lisa. "Lisa, you did get called lazy by Su."
Lisa only leaned back, unbothered. "Please. Gongzao runs itself; Ningguang doesn't need to babysit it. Why would I waste time tinkering? Better to ponder how to make Su never want to leave."
Jean could only sigh again. She and Ningguang were on good terms—often exchanging letters, aligning policies to grow both nations together. Yet Su had entrusted Gongzao to Ningguang. How could she not feel a twinge of envy?
Lisa saw right through her. Ningguang held Liyue's development reins; Jean was the core of Mondstadt's future. Envy was only human.
"Jean, Ningguang knows what Gongzao truly means. She won't treat it like her personal treasure. She knows we're all in the same boat. If Mond really needs help, ask her—she won't say no."
Jean exhaled, relieved. "You're right. We're family."
[As for the railgun I had Lumine deliver… it needs caution.]
[Its blast is only a bit stronger than several Guizhong Machines fused and powered by adeptal force.]
[But the electromagnetic pulse will perturb the ley lines.]
[That perturbation can cause all sorts of issues in nearby life.]
[Teyvat's beings are far too dependent on the ley; they're very sensitive to changes.]
[Still, leyline turbulence isn't such a big deal. It won't kill them.]
All the girls: "?"
Leyline turbulence not a big deal?
They were speechless. In Su's eyes, if it didn't cost lives, it wasn't serious. Scratch that—even lives lost barely counted, given what the Qiankun Mirror could do in his hands.
"Electromagnetic… pulse," Cloud Retainer murmured, pushing up her red frames with forced calm. "So last night you—"
"I preemptively shielded the ley with psychokinesis," Su Xuan said, perfectly placid.
Cloud Retainer froze, then blurted anxiously, "And you're giving something this dangerous to Ningguang—aren't you afraid she'll—"
She knew exactly how much punch the Guizhong Machines had; she'd used them in the Archon War. The railgun being "a bit stronger" meant: not as catastrophic as a Celestial Nail, perhaps—but the pulse side-effect was no joke.
"Ley turbulence may not be fatal in itself, but the mental breaks and other negative effects it causes could devastate lives," she said, brow tight. "Su Xuan, are you sure you should hand such a thing to Ningguang?"
"I can give Ningguang the complete Guizhong Machine designs," she pressed. "In modern Teyvat, that's enough to beat almost any threat. Have Lumine take the railgun schematics back—it's too dangerous."
"What are you afraid of?" Su Xuan chuckled, still stroking Ganyu's hair. "Ningguang's your Liyue."
Cloud Retainer faltered. "Everyone understands the unspoken parts. You yourself said Ningguang's ambitions are large. It isn't that I don't trust her, it's—"
"Rex Lapis dared to yield Liyue to mortals because he didn't truly die, and the adepti are still a pillar of Liyue. But right now, Ningguang alone holds Gongzao. Ruin Guards, Graders, Xingcha, railguns…"
"Even without Xingcha and railguns, just mass-produced Guards and Graders…" She trailed off and sighed. "I don't even know how to put it."
"You're worried she'll become a one-woman parliament—or worse, a danger to the world," Su Xuan said lightly.
Cloud Retainer fell silent. He'd hit the mark.
"Your worry's extra," he went on. "Ningguang's smart. She knows I gave her Gongzao. On many matters, she consults me first."
Cloud Retainer didn't deny it. Ningguang wasn't stupid and respected boundaries. But—
"That's because you are here," she said at last. "What if you leave Teyvat one day? I'd guess Ningguang is immortal now, isn't she?"
That was her fear. What if Su solved the Abyss and Heaven and simply left a few years later? Who would check Ningguang then? Diary holders had comparable "special powers," but Ningguang had Gongzao—an armory without end. Once she started pulling, who could stop her?
"You're overthinking, old bird." Su smiled. "In a world where individuals can wield the extraordinary, tech isn't as scary as you think. My core gift is Limit Break; among everything I've given out, that is the true treasure."
"Ei is a demon-god tier on her own. With Limit Break nurturing, a future Ei can bisect Guard and Grader swarms with a swing."
"Those I've empowered no longer sit under destiny's star, nor do they suffer the ley. So what if railguns exist? Tech has a ceiling."
Cloud Retainer did not look relieved. She felt he was placating a three-year-old. Tech had ceilings, yes—but Su kept pulling new impossible things out of his pockets. If not railguns, then something worse.
"Sigh… Master, it's not as complicated as you think," Ganyu said softly. "In Su Xuan's eyes, all diary holders are equals. I believe Ningguang understands that."
"As for fearing he'll leave Teyvat… should we not work to keep him?"
Ganyu's cheeks flushed scarlet at her own words.
Su Xuan chuckled and patted her head. "See? Ganyu gets it. You're trailing your disciple, old bird. And stop worrying—go open the door."
Cloud Retainer's breath caught. "R-right here? Now?"
Ganyu was still present. Was he trying to kill her with embarrassment?
"What are you thinking?" Su Xuan laughed at her panicked look. "I meant there's a guest. Go answer the door."
Cloud Retainer: "…"
You can't open it with a thought? You just want to watch me trip over myself.
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