Chapter 309: One-Hearted Dream

This was still Luo De's first time taking a regular Inazuma ship back to Sumeru.

Just like other long-distance passenger ships.

Liyue is an unavoidable stopover.

It's written plainly on the ticket.

But this Inazuma passenger ship seems to be smuggling a lot of cargo.

They plan to stay in Liyue for three days.

It's not just a normal one-day stop for resupply.

"They're carrying a lot of cargo."

Ying also noticed this.

She's ridden mixed passenger-cargo ships before.

But this is the first time she's been on a ship labeled as a passenger vessel that's carrying excess cargo.

Fortunately.

She's also not new to experiencing lawlessness by Inazuma people.

A small mixed passenger-cargo ship like this is currently low priority.

When she and Paimon first got off the outlying island, the Finance Commissioner officer immediately demanded a million-entry fee, which was outrageous.

This small scene.

It's nothing surprising anymore.

Luo De finds it even less surprising.

"Now the Finance Commissioner is under fire, the Holly Clan is overwhelmed, internal chaos reigns, and with a trade port opened at this critical moment, someone exploiting the loophole to make a small fortune is par for the course."

No need for the captain to explain.

Luo De can explain it clearly for him.

"But isn't this very dangerous?"

Of the three, Paimon is the most safety-conscious.

I don't know where she heard that.

Anyway, she says the ship is carrying cargo, unbalancing the weight; if they run into a storm, they'll all end up fish food.

"Pfft—"

Seeing her serious look, Luo De couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, even if it really sinks, I can fish you out."

Luo De is very confident.

After gaining the new Rock Dragon Crown, his strength surged.

Especially after gaining the ability to use water elemental energy.

Even without a ship, he can easily take Ying and Paimon back to Sumeru.

Taking a ship.

Simply because Ying and Paimon lack the stamina to cross the Cloud-coming Sea; having him alone carry both of them across such a vast sea to reach Sumeru would be too exhausting.

Having his reassuring words,

Paimon also relaxed, and her appetite improved.

Speaking of which,

Luo De curiously watched Paimon, who had been munching nonstop since boarding: "How do you eat so much with such a small stomach?"

Paimon is about the size of a young child.

But her appetite is about the same as Luo De's.

That's not an appetite a child-sized person could have! Remember, Luo De has been tempered by seven elemental energies and swallowed vast amounts of Abyssal power; even without the Rock Dragon Crown, his physique alone is comparable to, or possibly already at, Archon level.

With such a heaven-defying physique,

Luo De's appetite is easy to imagine.

Then Paimon eats just as much as him. This question isn't just Luo De's curiosity; Ying also perked up her ears to listen.

"I've always been able to eat this much."

Paimon put her hands on her hips and declared, "If you don't believe me, ask Ying!"

"Uh"

Ying scratched her head and said, "Paimon really has always had this appetite."

"Then it's strange."

"How do you eat so much without gaining weight or growing taller?"

Luo De asked another painful question.

Next he flexed his increasingly solid muscles: "Look, I eat a lot, but my body keeps getting stronger; this food gives me feedback, while yours shows none."

Paimon, who usually doesn't worry about her height, was taken aback, then muttered to herself: "Yeah, why does eating this much not make me taller or fatter?"

This question instantly left Ying silent too.

The three stared at each other, all rubbing their chins in thought.

Luo De wasn't asking randomly.

But because Teyvat also obeys conservation of energy; although many things can be explained with elemental energy, Paimon's case truly can't be explained.

Paimon doesn't use elemental energy.

She has always appeared soft and weak.

For someone who shows no obvious consumption at a glance, how can she eat so much food? Where does the energy from her food go? Especially Paimon's star‑shaped cloak behind her makes Luo De even more concerned.

He has seen this before.

On the bodies of those related to the Abyss.

"Could it be that Paimon is also related to the Abyss?"

Is all the energy she consumes each day used to maintain certain things related to her?

Luo De didn't say this out loud; it was just a guess he had come to himself.

After all, if Paimon herself doesn't admit it, no one will be able to find out the reason.

So the three of them just stayed like that.

You look at me, I look at you; even when the meal is served, Paimon and Ying no longer eat heartily as usual, but stare at the food in a daze, finding it tasteless no matter how they eat.

Such confusion.

They thought about it for two full days.

Until Paimon, who had not been eating well, finally felt hungry; then she and Ying set aside the question and started eating heartily again.

Conversely, Luo De, who had an explanation in mind, ate well, slept well, and was in the mood to enjoy the scenery.

Have you been to that Sea God Island over there?

Seeing Ying and Paimon return from the cafeteria having eaten and drunk well, Luo De jerked his chin at them, indicating they should look toward the distant island whose scenery differed from other places.

It must be said.

The scenery of Sea God Island is really good.

Luo De had said that before.

If they weren't dead set on cutting ties with Inazuma and instead focused on developing tourism, they might not have to worry about food now.

"Sitting on a treasure mountain and not knowing it."

Luo De pouted and sighed.

Just then.

A purple figure silently sat down beside the three and, without hesitation, asked: "Are you talking about Sea God Island?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?!"

At first Luo De didn't pay much attention.

The deck of the passenger ship is itself a public area, and given the long journey, it's normal for passengers to come here for fresh air and chat with others.

But when he turned his head and saw clearly the person speaking to him,

his face showed undisguised astonishment. Ying and Paimon, who also recognized the person, exclaimed in unison: "Shadow, what are you doing here?"

The comer was none other than Raiden Mei, who had gone to the Abyssal Palace and had been out of contact for several days.

Luo De knew the matter of the Abyssal Palace should have been settled.

Otherwise,

once the negotiations break down, Sea God Island will have to produce something.

It wouldn't be that the passenger ship has arrived here and everything is peaceful and harmonious with nothing happening.

But what he didn't expect was

that Raiden Mei, who had settled the Abyssal Palace matter, actually came here to find him.

"Hello."

Raiden Mei politely greeted Ying and Paimon, then continued the previous topic: "You just said this place should develop tourism?"

"Huh?"

Luo De gave Raiden Mei a suspicious glance.

"I'm not the divine maiden; you don't need to suspect me."

After clarifying her identity, Raiden Mei patiently asked again: "You just said Sea God Island is most suitable for developing tourism?"

This involves political affairs.

Ying and Paimon stopped interrupting, and like Raiden Mei, they all stared at Luo De, waiting for him to explain his earlier remark.

Such sixfold gaze made Luo De involuntarily scratch his head.

Seeing that Raiden Mei indeed had no other intention, but genuinely wanted to ask him about Sea God Island, after thinking it over, Luo De spoke: "You know, Sea God Island suffers from a severe soil sanctification problem. Now that you have sealed the entrance to the Abyssal Palace, they have completely lost the chance to hold the Watatsumi Divine Spirit Festival that reverses sanctification. Since farming won't work, we should develop our strengths, make good use of these unique landscapes, turn the whole island into a scenic area, build some theme parks or similar attractions to draw visitors, and have Inazuma promote and advertise them—not only to welcome domestic Inazuma tourists but also to expand overseas markets. Don't you see, this is also a way to eat well and make big money?"

Luo De had long wanted to complain about this.

The scenery of Sea God Island is a strange beauty he had never seen anywhere in Teyvat.

From his perspective,

Dividing the entire Sea God Island into various theme parks, raising magical beasts that ordinary people rarely encounter as performance items, then constructing some recreational facilities, leveraging Inazuma's national publicity advantage, developing tourism there would be no less profitable than on Narukami Island.

As a result, things are now good.

Sea God Island still can't get enough to eat; even its native residents have nowhere to stay. Once the negotiations are finished, they'll have to go to Eight Brews Island to work as slaves to atone, whereas it would be more sensible to focus on commercial trade and develop Narukami Island into a tourism city.

"It's turned upside down."

That is Luo De's evaluation of the two islands.

Raiden Mei looked serious; whenever Luo De made a point, she nodded, as if committing these things to memory.

And Luo De's words didn't stop there.

He then continued: "Now that you've solved Sea God Island's problem, if you want to farm, it's simple—just ask the people from Sumeru to come; when it comes to farming, no one in Teyvat is more professional than my people."

Having said that,

Luo De puffed out his chest proudly: "I can even grow oases in the desert; a little soil sanctification is nothing to me."

However, just as he finished speaking,

Raiden Mei replied: "The power of Orobas lies within the soil of Sea God Island; if these reversals are not carried out, the sanctification will continue."

"."

"Then I'll use Fertility Blessing!"

"Leiying Dian's explanation of the holy soilification was telling Luo De that the land of Sea God Island contains a large amount of Archon power, and if these Archon powers are not expelled, there's no way to resolve the holy soilification."

"In other words."

"Luo De's practice of using cheap slimes or mushroom beasts for soil improvement in the desert is not applicable to Sea God Island."

"Then there's nothing to be done."

"We can only use Fertility Blessing rich in Dendro Archon power."

"In terms of efficacy, this thing is actually not much different from Grass Slimes and Grass Mushroom Beasts."

"But in terms of applicable range, it's absolutely something Grass Slimes and Grass Mushroom Beasts cannot compare to."

"Like the holy soilification of Sea God Island."

"Fertility Blessing is probably the only useful thing in all of Teyvat."

""Fertility Blessing?""

"Leiying Dian nodded: 'I've heard of this thing; it's sold in Inazuma. I'll go try it first. Regarding Sea God Island, do you have any additions?'"

"\"Nothing much, just that Sea God Island definitely needs a shogunate garrison, especially at Abyssal Palace, and we absolutely cannot let anyone touch that time bomb again. \""

"Luo De tilted his head."

"He always felt."

"Leiying Dian seemed to have come specially to ask him about this."

"No, that's not right."

"She deliberately came to ask."

"\"Are the negotiations over Sea God Island finished? \""

"Luo De rubbed his chin: 'What did they say over there?'"

"Although he had many complaints about how the Inazuma people do things, this was ultimately something he had interfered with, and he was still curious about how it was handled afterward."

"\"I sent the obedient people back to Sea God Island. \""

"\"Everyone else listens to you. \""

"\"I disbanded the rebel army, stationed the shogunate troops, destroyed Orobasi's divine position, and threw those who didn't obey onto Eight Brew Island to do hard labor. \""

"This approach is still quite reasonable."

"Luo De let out an 'oh' and stopped asking about Sea God Island."

"Seeing that he wasn't speaking,"

"Leiying Dian then continued to ask Luo De for his opinions and suggestions on Inazuma; after receiving his answer, she again asked about Pure Sound Island: 'What should be done with Pure Sound Island? Do I need to handle that monster that affects the celestial phenomena?'"

"These are what Leiying Dian asked."

"Luo De always felt a sense of déjà vu."

"Suddenly."

"Luo De's eyes narrowed slightly as he realized where this familiarity came from: 'These are the words I said to Ying the night before last!'"

"It must have been Lei Dian Zhen who told her."

"Luo De didn't know how these sisters were connected."

"\"But he still answered seriously: 'It's necessary; besides you, trying to deal with that monster would consume a lot of manpower and material resources. You should first seal that monster, then send people to redevelop Pure Sound Island.'\""

"\"Okay. \""

"Leiying Dian readily agreed, then stood up and, in front of the many passengers on the boat, directly vanished."

"\"She's still like that. \""

"\"Regarding Ying's bewilderment at Leiying Dian's sudden coming and going, after thinking for a while, she found a suitable word: 'Unfussy.'\""

"\"Yeah. \""

"\"Indeed, it's a bit unfussy. \""

"He glanced around at the people's strange looks, and incidentally blocked out the weird chatter; Luo De stopped thinking about Leiying Dian, didn't go talk to Lei Dian Zhen, changed the topic, his gaze no longer on Sea God Island, and chatted off-and-on with Ying to kill the boring time on the boat."

"When night fell."

"After dinner, Luo De greeted Ying and Paimon, who were digesting, then got up and returned to the cabin."

"However, he hadn't yet pushed the door open."

"He suddenly sensed an unusual presence in the cabin."

"This made Luo De instinctively become wary."

"After cautiously opening the door and checking everywhere, Luo De discovered where that noticeable presence was."

"On his bed."

"A purple longsword with a scabbard was placed steadily on it, while its original owner was not present here."

"(End of chapter)"