In the MC world, around 300 kilometers from the small forest cabin, deep within a mountain stream
Keqing was leading Lumine and Paimon on an exploration mission.
"I wonder how Aqiu's doing over there. Has he been eating well?"
"You're still worried about him? For all you know, he's probably surrounded by beautiful girls right now, living it up."
"Hmph... I've already prepared myself for that. Love is wonderful, but it never lasts. When you live as long as we do, in the end, feelings grow into something beyond ordinary affection."
Lumine looked a bit surprised. "Did he tell you that?"
"Mhm. I didn't really understand it before, but watching how you two interact, I'm starting to get it."
Lumine's lips curved up into a small smile. "What 'interaction'? We're lucky if we don't trip each other up half the time. And besides, living such a long life... have you realized that you're no longer human?"
Keqing gave a small nod.
She summoned her maid-themed subsystem interface, much like the one Gongqu used.
"The gatekeeper and those villagers are the children of gods and kings. But I'm different, I'm a servant of the divine, almost like one of the Adepti of Liyue. I suppose I'll live for a very long time."
"No, you're mistaken." Lumine corrected her gently. "Aqiu is a being akin to Celestia itself. If you want to draw comparisons, your place is closer to Morax's, not just any Adeptus."
"When you return to Liyue with that divine aura of yours," she teased, "that retired rascal might just name you the second Geo Archon on the spot!"
Keqing let out a laugh, though she couldn't help picturing herself in charge of Ningguang.
How infuriating... but also a little tempting!
...
In front of a row of neat, closely packed houses
Gongqu met the gatekeeper, Sebas, who was supervising the workers.
Sebas had noticed them long before, seeing the little dragon carrying Gongqu and the two villagers who looked more or less normal.
"Welcome home, my Creator."
"Sebas, where are Keqing and the others?"
"Her Majesty the Divine Consort and Her Grace the Divine Bride are off charting the eastern map," Sebas reported, his posture perfect, though he could never quite abandon his melodramatic flair.
"I swear, I'm this close to resetting your entire language module."
"I tremble in fear! Should I have offended the Creator in any way, please, do punish me!"
"Forget it. I brought my... girlfriends to check out the local specialties. Do your thing, don't mind us."
Gongqu shot a shameless grin at the four girls with him, using the word "girlfriends" without a hint of shame.
Luckily, they had all temporarily agreed to walk by his side. Apart from some embarrassed, red-faced reactions, none of them raised an objection.
As for Klee,
She'd frozen in place the moment she saw the massive waterfall crashing into the lake, begging in her sweet voice, "Please, please, please! Let Klee play here for a while!"
Gongqu couldn't resist. He let her run off to the lake to blow up fish.
A few minutes later, Gongqu led the others to a lush, green field.
"This is the wheat farm Keqing and I cultivated together," he said, walking between the neat rows with one hand behind his back, the other gesturing to the young green shoots.
"This is wheat, the stuff that bread is made of. As people from Mondstadt, you must be very familiar with it."
Jean nodded. "Yes, Mondstadt also grows wheat, though wild monsters are everywhere, so only the Knights of Favonius and big estates like Dawn Winery can manage large scale farms. Our population has never really grown, and food has always been a problem."
"In that case," Gongqu said, "this wheat should be perfect for your needs."
He opened his backpack and, in full view of everyone, "conjured" a loaf of bread out of thin air.
"This is bread, made from the wheat here. Why don't you try it?"
Jean accepted the bread, broke it evenly into four pieces, and handed them to Lisa, Eula, and Amber.
Lisa pinched a crumb between her fingers, her eyes lighting up. "Dense and soft, but when you rub it gently, it turns to silk, this is a fine white bread."
Eula shot Lisa a look: That's my line, isn't it?
She didn't bother repeating the noble nonsense, though. She simply took a bite.
"It's really good. Very filling. Perfect for missions in the wild."
Amber had been about to speak, but Eula's words got caught in her throat. That's the line for the Outrider, right? Though I guess it works for a scout knight too…
In the end, all she could manage, red-faced, was a heartfelt, "It's delicious!"
"Hehe, no need to analyze it too much," Gongqu said with a grin. "I just wanted you to see how similar these two worlds can be."
He brushed a few crumbs from the corner of Amber's mouth and continued, "Right now we have fifty farmers. If we expand, we could plant a hundred mu of wheat. It matures every five days, and each harvest is about 67 tons, roughly 400 tons a month."
"With this world's unique rules, once the population grows, we'll easily be producing thousands, even tens of thousands of tons of grain every month."
"The future, huh?"
Jean caught on to the key word.
Gongqu didn't seem to mind that she'd seen through his grand plan. "Yes, the future. Right now, I don't actually have that much grain. Look, all the seedlings are still here in the fields."
"Ah…"
Jean was left speechless. Good thing she'd come to see it for herself.
If she'd actually gone back to the council to propose some grand initiative, only to find out Gongqu didn't even have grain, she'd have been completely humiliated.
She shot him a reproachful look.
"I admit it, I'm basically bluffing right now. But I didn't expect our relationship to grow this close so quickly. Isn't it normal for a business partner to keep a few cards close to the chest?"
"You call this 'keeping a few cards'?" she said, exasperated.
"Anyway, once you start the negotiation process and sign all those contracts, it'll take a month or two at least, right? By then, the grain will be ready."
Jean pursed her lips.
She looked around, but couldn't find a single counter-argument.
Seeing her a little disheartened, Gongqu gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "Don't worry. It's not your fault Mondstadt's administrative system is so slow, that's Barbatos slacking off, not you. You're already doing a great job, thinking of your people day and night."
"Don't talk about Barbatos sama like that! He… he's already done so much for Mondstadt."
"Alright, let me ask you this, if Barbatos and I both fell in the water, who would you save?"
"Eh? That… why would you ask something so cruel?!"
Jean was instantly torn.
See? That's how you comfort a girl, watch and learn.
Author's Note:
Hey everyone,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading and supporting my story so far. It truly means a lot to me.
Lately, it's been tough. The market is getting quiet, and the motivation to keep going is slipping. But I really want to finish this story not just for myself, but for all of you who've followed it until now.
If you've been enjoying the journey, I humbly ask for your support. Even just **one Power Stone** from each of you would help so much. It's not just about numbers, it's about knowing someone out there is cheering for this story to continue.
Your small support gives me big motivation. Let's reach the end of this journey together. 💙
With gratitude,
—MrBehringer
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