Unknowingly, another day had passed.
On this particular day, Liyue Harbor welcomed an extraordinary important figure.
Cloud Retainer's wings stirred up a gentle breeze on the Jade Chamber. She elegantly folded her wings and looked at the rising steam of the hotpot in the distance: "Ganyu, those four are the ones who have been turning Liyue upside down recently..."
"Boom!" Before she could finish speaking, the quartet's hotpot suddenly erupted into flames ten feet high.
Jesse immediately took out a fire extinguisher, while Elliot was frantically fanning the flames with a folding stool as a fan.
Paimon was so spicy that she spun in circles in the air, constantly spitting fire. Lumine took out a water bottle and quickly gave her water during the pauses between Paimon's fire bursts.
"That would be them..." Ganyu's qilin horn glowed faintly as she held a steaming cup of coffee. "Although they are a bit rowdy, they have indeed solved quite a few problems..."
Cloud Retainer's crane eyes suddenly widened—she stared at the "iron box" that produced hot water by itself, her crest feathers standing straight up: "This object actually requires no Adeptal power to operate?"
"Master, would you like to try?" Ganyu lightly touched a button, and the machine immediately made a pleasant "gurgle" sound.
A mechanical arm extended from it and offered a cup of coffee.
"They call this a 'Fully Automatic Coffee Machine'..."
"Hmph! This Adeptus's Automatic Cooking Machine can also..." Cloud Retainer pretended to be calm as she dipped her beak into the cup. The next second— "Pfft—!"
All the crane's feathers bristled, and three tail feathers detached directly from her body. "So bitter!"
Ganyu hurriedly offered the sugar cube jar: "Master, you should add some the first time you drink it..." "No need!"
Cloud Retainer slapped the jar away with a wing, but accidentally triggered a mechanism—the Automatic Coffee Machine suddenly transformed, extending mechanical arms and beginning to massage her shoulders.
"What?!" The crane was so startled she nearly flew away, but the massage felt too comfortable, and her tail feathers quietly grew back.
In the distance, the quartet turned their heads simultaneously:
"Did someone touch my coffee machine?" Zane turned to look.
"We need to collect patent fees!" Elliot's eyes turned into Mora symbols.
"Even Adepti can't escape the Law of True Fragrance..." Jesse muttered quietly.
Cloud Retainer enjoyed the massage, stubbornly saying: "It's nothing special! I shall wait for this Adeptus to improve my Automatic Cooking Machine..."
As she spoke, she secretly used Adeptal power to examine the coffee machine's structure. As a result, the machine suddenly started playing "The Hottest Ethnic Trend" and extended a mechanical arm, aiming a punch at her. Although it didn't hit, it startled her into flapping and knocking over the tea table.
"Master!" Ganyu scrambled to help, her qilin horn accidentally snagging the power cord—the entire coffee machine began tap dancing, and the sprayed coffee drew Q-version portraits of the quartet in the sky.
"..." The entire Liyue Harbor fell silent.
Three seconds later, Cloud Retainer's crest feathers slowly stood up: "Ganyu."
"Y-yes, Master!"
"Go ask them..." The tip of the crane's wing pointed at the quartet currently playing Mahjong. "If they will sell this machine."
"Huh?"
— — — — — —
"So, they gave you this Automatic Coffee Machine in exchange for telling them stories about Ganyu and Shenhe when they were young?"
Xueyue Zhuyang, The True Lord's antlers shimmered in the sunlight. He curiously circled the metal creation, his hooves scraping a few marks on the ground. Lishui Dieshan, The True Lord, however, cautiously maintained a three-meter distance.
After all, the smug expression on Cloud Retainer's face looked exactly like she had dug a trap.
"How could mere mortals like you comprehend the ingenuity of this object?" Cloud Retainer held her neck high, her crest feathers nearly touching the sky.
She deliberately poked a button with the tip of her wing, and the coffee machine immediately played the tune of "Adeptus' Solitary Stroll" and sprayed out a latte art flower.
Xueyue Zhuyang, The True Lord's nose approached the spout: "This iron lump can actually..." "Whoosh!"
A mechanical arm suddenly shot out like lightning, precisely clamping onto his antler. Before the Adepti could react, a mechanical leg extended from the bottom of the coffee machine with a "click," delivering a standard roundhouse kick— "Puaah!"
Xueyue Zhuyang, The True Lord flew like a meteor toward Lishui Dieshan, The True Lord. The crane, who was drinking tea, had just looked up when he was poked in the backside by the antler. The two Adepti tumbled together and crashed into the waterfall at Mt. Aocang, startling a flock of Wagtails that were bathing.
"My Biluochun tea!" Lishui Dieshan, The True Lord's miserable cry mixed with the roar of the waterfall.
"Hahahaha!" Cloud Retainer laughed, her wings trembling, and the coffee machine cooperatively sprayed streamers. "I told you not to underestimate objects from other worlds!"
Amidst the splashing water, Xueyue Zhuyang, The True Lord surfaced, covered in water weeds: "Cloud Retainer! You clearly did that on purpose..."
"Master!" Ganyu ran over in a panic, Zane's "Instruction Manual" still hanging on her qilin horn. "You didn't press the Safety Mode..."
Before she finished speaking, the coffee machine suddenly went berserk. Eight mechanical arms unfolded simultaneously and began dancing the "Silk Flower" dance, while also pouring all of Lishui Dieshan, The True Lord's treasured tea leaves into the waterfall.
What was even more outrageous was that it actually used steam to spray four large characters onto the rock face: [N00B, Practice More].
"..." The three Adepti silently watched the scene.
Lumine's chopsticks paused mid-air: "Did you guys hear an explosion..."
"Totally normal~" Elliot poured a bottle of Jueyun Chili into the pot.
"Machines modified by Zane have a bit of a temper. That thing has an Automatic Evolution Function, but don't worry, it has a limit."
As if to confirm this statement, a Mushroom cloud suddenly rose from the direction of Mt. Aocang. Cloud Retainer, sporting scorched feathers, rushed out in front, pursued by the berserk coffee machine—which had now evolved Rocket Boosters.
An exclamation mark popped up above Lumine's head: "Are you sure this won't cause any problems?!" She pointed toward Mt. Aocang in the distance—the berserk coffee machine was chasing the three True Lords all over the mountain, occasionally firing Concentrated Coffee Shots that stained the cliff face latte-colored.
She was completely unaware of why she could see such a distant and clear image.
Zane slowly pulled out a stack of blueprints: "Relax, I considered this situation during the design."
The blueprints were densely marked with [Safety Valve x3] [Overheating Protection x2], and the most conspicuous part circled in red was [Energy Limit].
Jesse leaned over and pointed to a component: "Look at this backup plan—once it finishes chasing the Adepti three times around, the energy will..."
Before he finished, a "clank" sound came from the distance, and the coffee machine suddenly stopped mid-air, its mechanical arms drooping limply. "See?"
Elliot said smugly: "I also wrote a section of the 'Great Compassion Mantra' into the core program, specifically to cure aggressive machinery."
As if to confirm his words, the coffee machine suddenly began playing: "Namo ratna-trayāya..."
Eight mechanical arms struck the Guanyin hand gesture and slowly descended in front of Cloud Retainer, even thoughtfully spraying out a hot towel.
"Here, and I also sent a few small gifts." Zane pulled three Mini-Robots out of his Four-Dimensional Backpack: one holding a broom, one carrying a paint bucket, and the last one balancing the "Adeptal Equipment Safety Manual" on its head.
Matt added: "The Repair Robots will help the True Lords rebuild various things..." He scratched his head. "It might just have a bit of a Cyber Style..."
A startled cry came from Xueyue Zhuyang, The True Lord in the distance: "Why is this paint changing color?!" His freshly painted antlers were cycling through the seven colors of the rainbow.
Paimon, gnawing on a chicken leg, mumbled: "So... this is what you call a 'Peaceful Resolution Plan'?" the quartet uniformly gave a thumbs-up: "Of course!"
Lumine looked at the coffee machine grooming Cloud Retainer's feathers and Lishui Dieshan, The True Lord being chased by a Repair Robot wanting to groom him, and suddenly felt exhausted.
Just then, Zhongli's voice drifted quietly from behind: "Speaking in terms of universal rationality..." His gaze fell upon the corner of Zane's blueprint, marked [Backup Energy: Azhdaha Sneeze Power Generation Plan], and he quietly crushed the eleventh teacup.