Chapter 161, Blitzkrieg against Inazuma, netizens are offline...
Beidou stands atop the mast of the Death Star, gazing into the distance.
"The weather is clear and the wind is just right. It's a perfect day for sailing!"
The perfect start put the captain in a good mood. She laughed heartily as she looked out to sea and rallied the boys behind her:
"Get ready, everyone, the great journey to Inazuma is about to begin!"
"..."
She was met with only silence.
"What's going on? Traveler? Manyo?" Hokuto looked back, utterly confused. "Are young people these days not passionate anymore? Or are they already seasick before the ship even sets sail?"
"Sorry, Sister Beidou."
Yu Ren awkwardly pressed the terminal in his hand, "I'm a little distracted right now..."
"Uh-huh."
Sora was even more outrageous. She and Paimon didn't even look up, completely ignoring Hokuto. Only the little Oo on her neck flicked its tongue at her. "Traveler, Xiao asked when we can return from Inazuma? But we haven't even set off yet!"
"I think I know why he asked that..."
Wan Ye recalled the image of Mainkun sobbing and clutching his waist, and sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead. "Judging from this, is he still not appeased?"
"What nonsense is this?" Beidou couldn't understand it, so he simply took out his own terminal. A green screen flashed, and several latest messages popped up in front of him.
[Zhongli: I just fainted... Sigh, even I would be helpless in this situation.]
[Zhongli: Travelers, although it is difficult, could you please return within three days? He should wake up again on the fourth day.]
[Paimon: Wait, wait! The Traveler and I are going to Inazuma for serious business! Not for sightseeing! How can we turn back to Liyue halfway through a rebellion?]
[Empty: The Traveler has arrived, Inazuma is at peace; the Traveler has arrived, and the sky is clear. Mr. Zhongli, no need for further words. If Inazuma is not at peace, I will not return, unless there is a major festival like the Lantern Festival in Liyue in three days.]
[Maple Leaf: Yes, Mr. Zhongli, we will not return until General Thunder understands... Wait, Traveler, so you really enjoy holidays?]
[Tokugawa Tomohito: Hahaha! That's good too. Even if the journey is arduous, we mustn't forget to relax.]
[Kaedehara Manyo: But unfortunately, time is of the essence, and we cannot afford to listen to the romance in peace. Mr. Zhongli, I am truly sorry, but after we go to Inazuma, we will need your continued care regarding Mr. Mainkuen's situation...]
[Zhongli: Ah, my friends, you may have misunderstood. I had no intention of interfering with your righteous deeds.]
[Maplefield Manba: But you expect us to return to Liyue within three days? We're not all travelers; we don't have the ability to travel back and forth to our destination in the blink of an eye!]
[Zhongli: I understand, I understand. The journey is long, and your hearts are as firm as iron. You have no intention of resting along the way, but your hearts are heavy with sorrow, and old nightmares linger. Mainkuhn will not cease his worries either. Therefore, there is only one way to solve everything.]
[Traveler: What is it?]
[Zhongli: Hehehe...]
[Zhongli: There's someone even more eager than me to announce this plan in person.]
[Nasita: That means within three days, pry open the eyes of that reclusive goddess and let her see the world!]
"Wait, are we going to have to go head-to-head with Thor?"
The more Beidou looked at it, the more confused he became. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Putting aside diplomatic issues, just in terms of strength, we can't beat a god, can we?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a wild and gloomy young voice rang in her ears.
"Who said you were allowed to fight? Hahahaha, ignorant ants, you actually dare to dream!"
who!
The Big Dipper's single eye sharply scanned the surroundings, but it could not see the person speaking. It could only see a massive Sumeru-sized warship, charging towards the dock with the ferocity of a giant whale.
"!!"
How could such a ship appear in Liyue Harbor? Beidou became wary and shouted sharply, "Stop! Show your identities, or don't blame me—"
Thump! Two streaks of purple light shot out, one graceful, the other swift. The boy in the wolf-head hat landed first, scolding in a low voice:
“Keep your composure, you stragglers. There are no benevolent people like the Grass God and the Tree King here. If you’re courting death, I won’t stop you like they did.”
"Damn it, don't call me that disgusting name!"
"An uninvited guest?"
Seeing this, Paimon hid behind the Traveler in fear, and the Traveler also bent his fingers, making a gesture as if summoning a sword.
"An uninvited guest? No, it's a necessary revenge!"
Seno took a barefoot step forward, his red eyes resolute and furious.
"There is no tribe in this world whose leader is insulted and yet swallows his anger!"
"!"
Maple Leaf immediately understood, "You are the Sumeru people, here for Mainkun, to help us break through the blockade of the thunderstorm?"
"That's right!"
A woman as fierce as a lion stood atop the towering ship, her anger as blazing as a lion's.
"The injustice and pain suffered by the king must be washed away with equal blood and sand, so as not to tarnish the prestige of my Sumeru Kingdom!"
They really are the people of Sumeru. They have traveled thousands of miles to enter the territory of a foreign land, seeking allies from the Kingdom of Yan, just to seek justice for a usurper king who is powerless to do so.
“They’re Sumeru people. We might have even chatted in the group.” Paimon breathed a slight sigh of relief and looked at the scattered soldiers with a puzzled expression. “You look more like an Inazuma person. How did you end up with them?”
"Me? I'm just an ordinary scholar." The soldier grinned maliciously. "I just want to learn firsthand from the great wise king how to commit matricide!"
"Waaah! How scary!"
Paimon pointed his little hand at the white-haired ronin samurai and said in horror, "I thought you were an innocent Inazuma like Manba and the others, forced out of the realm by Raijin!"
"Wan...Ye?"
The soldiers stared blankly at the descendants of the Maple family, while Hokuto remained vigilant, warning Seno, who was in charge: "No matter what your inside story is, foreign ships must have the relevant documents to dock in port..."
Before she could finish speaking, her terminal beeped.
“I sent you a private message.” Sino skillfully operated the terminal. “It was all very sudden. We set off before the paper documents even reached Sumeru, but thankfully, Lady Ningguang took photos of us before mailing them, saying that the electronic version also has the effect of a contract…”
"..."
Looking at those photos, Beidou felt, for some reason, that he had suddenly become an elderly person hundreds of years behind the times.
"All right."
Slapping his forehead in exasperation, Beidou called to the others, "Now that the problem is solved, let's set off. Seno, your ship will follow behind us, and be careful of thunderstorms at all times..."
"Wait a minute." A young voice suddenly came from the side of the boat.
"Who is it again!"
Having sailed for many years, Beidou has never encountered so many unexpected events before setting sail. He stood there bewildered, holding onto the ship's side for a moment.
"Hello, I am Abedo."
The golden creation stepped on Yang Hua and nodded to him.
“I am Zhong Ruotuo, a blacksmith.”
The Geo Dragon King smiled at him.
"I'm Wendy, the bard, hehe!"
This one needs no further explanation.
Upon hearing this, Beidou felt that these names sounded familiar. "Are they all from the chat group? I didn't hear about any group meet-up event on the Death Star today."
"Traveler, Paimon, greetings." Abedo boarded the ship, brushing the dust off his clothes. "Yesterday, with Zhongli's help, I finished surveying the ley lines of the Layered Rock Abyss and the Boundless Slope. I heard you were heading to Inazuma, so I came to see if I could hitch a ride... Hmm? Why that expression? Didn't Zhongli tell you?"
"Let's put aside all that about ley lines... why are there so many more people all of a sudden..."
Paimon rubbed his forehead in anguish, looking at the increasingly chaotic deck.
On the left, the boy who disliked being called a stragglers was inexplicably pestering Kaede Manba, and was being shielded in front of Tomohito with a protective instinct.
On the right, a green-eyed, dark-skinned boy slipped off the ship and casually exchanged names with everyone.
“I am Cethos, and you are…”
Ahead, Beidou and Dixia chatted for a while, and for some reason, they asked the crew to serve them wine.
"A true friend, a true friend indeed!"
Upon seeing the harmonious scene before him, the man in the jackal hat suddenly calmed down, hesitated for a moment, and then cast a serious look at the traveler.
There were a lot of people on deck, but I'm not sure if they were all people. Do you know why?
"!!!"
Kong and Paimon were both greatly alarmed.
How could he tell there were people here who weren't human?!
"Because this is the deck, I'm not sure if they're deck 'in disguise'. What, not funny? Well, it's normal if it's not funny. Thinking about Mainkuhn, I'm having trouble getting into the mood right now..."
Traveler: "...You're Seno, right?"
"How did you know? I definitely didn't post my photo in the group." Seno was surprised.
"But you often tell lame jokes in the group chat..."
"My joke has finally become internationally famous! That's great! I really wish Tinari could see this. By the way, Tinari can't answer questions while laughing, because 'Ti' and 'laugh' are both wrong, and the answer he writes will be incorrect..."
"Travelers, on this journey..."
Paimon cast a terrified glance at the sky.
Something seems off!
*
Amidst eerie laughter and chatter, the group arrived at Inazuma.
"I had no choice, even though I wanted to act like a stranger."
Wendy stuck her tongue out at them, "But we've all exchanged a few words in the group chat, and at the very least, we recognize someone. It's really hard to maintain the necessary vigilance in this situation."
"It's all thanks to Mr. Mainkun!"
Sysos was content; he had made enough friends and now looked like a satisfied little dog.
"Don't you think the Wise King is amazing? He himself is a mess, and wherever he is demoted, he becomes a huge source of trouble."
"But look, because of this big troublemaker, the blacksmiths of Liyue, the bards of Mondstadt, the Winter's... uh, the former executor? And all the factions in Sumeru, everyone has been brought together to work together for the same goal! This is something that should never have happened!"
"Hmph, uniquely stupid, it certainly... stirred up a stagnant pool."
As Desia's brain automatically optimized the skirmisher's words, she held her greatsword, her eyes gleaming with hope and pride:
"Who knows, maybe the people in the group will be all over the seven kingdoms in the future. After all, the Wise King has this kind of ability to make you want to curse and beat him up at the same time, but you can't help but want to do something for him!"
Paimon spread his hands, not daring to imagine, "How chaotic would that be? The messages in the group are already overwhelming, I'm afraid even Death Star wouldn't be able to keep up when we meet in person?"
"Are you saying my boat is too small? Okay, enough joking around, friends."
Beidou's expression turned serious again. "I know you have a plan to change General Leidian's mind within three days, but you should at least give me a definite timeline for how to implement it. Half a day has already passed..."
"There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of!"
Paimon was very confident: "All we need to do is find a way to get General Thunder to an empty open space, and then bombard her with all our might. After all, we have... Hey, Abedo, where are you three going?"
“Go to He Guan and Qing Lai, you’ve forgotten that my goals were different from yours from the very beginning.”
Riding on Yanghua, with Wendy and Ruoduo in tow, Abedo muttered to himself as he walked, “A rare case of a strongly correlated cluster caused by highly unstable individuals, worth observing… Traveler, see you again at Sumeru.”
Goodbye~ Looking forward to our next poem.
"Wait!" Paimon suddenly flew up. "You can leave, but leave those two behind you!"
“Alright, Paimon, the blacksmith and the bard aren’t much of a fighter, let them protect the alchemist.” Beidou stopped him. “So, shall we continue with the plan?”
"I...I...I didn't say anything!"
The two strongest fighters are gone, what else can I do?
Little Paimon immediately cowered, clutching her hands and muttering in self-reflection, "Besides, we're completely unfamiliar with Inazuma. Let alone luring General Thunder to an empty field, we're so conspicuous, it's a miracle we didn't get reported..."
She didn't linger in sorrow for long. Soon after the ship docked, a fox-eared priestess appeared from the forest, waving her gohei (imperial coin) into a small banner.
"My lords."
Yae Shenzi smiled charmingly.
"Please come in quickly!"
"……ah?"
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Author's note: So many people!
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