Genshin Impact, I'm Slime

Paimon couldn't persuade Famas to come back, and the little guy, having missed his target, could only fly back to Yingmei's side in a huff.

But the mention of Inazuma reminded the traveler of her business, and she turned to Ningguang to ask:
"Miss Ningguang, could you please ask Captain Beidou's fleet to take us to Inazuma?"

Upon hearing this, Ningguang's slender eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, and a hint of ambiguity appeared at the corner of her lips:

"Things at sea... naturally you have to ask the people at sea. Whether Captain Beidou sets sail or not is not something I, a person on land, can decide."

The traveler understood immediately and pulled Paimon, who was still sulking, towards Beidou, who was calmly directing operations at the dock.

After Ningguang and Beidou finalized the relevant matters and briefly bid farewell to the travelers, she turned and left, surrounded by a small squad of Thousand Rock Army guards.

She walked as usual, her demeanor still elegant and composed, but her brisk pace and the equally swift steps following closely behind her conveyed a sense of urgency.

Only now did the traveler finally settle down and take a closer look at this legendary figure who was repeatedly mentioned in the rough banter of the sailors in Liyue Harbor and in the reverent whispers of the laborers.

"Dragon King of the Sea" Beidou.

Beidou is very tall with a broad and well-proportioned frame. Standing on the rough wooden planks of the dock, it is like a firmly rooted reef, exuding a calm and steady demeanor.

Most striking was the worn-out leather eye patch covering his left eye.

Like the captain of a ship, Beidou needs to adapt its eyes to both day and night.

Her right eye, as bright and sharp as tempered red amber, seemed to pierce through the sea fog and perceive the dangers lurking beneath the waves. When her gaze swept across the sea, it carried the majesty of someone who had long held a high position and the intuition honed at sea.

The sea dragon king was now directing the sailors to move salvage equipment in a booming voice.

"Captain Beidou!"

The traveler raised his voice and called out, and when Beidou turned around, he spoke somewhat shyly:
"Does your fleet have any plans to sail to Inazuma recently? Could you... give us a ride along the way? We'll pay for the fare."

Upon hearing this, Beidou raised a thick eyebrow and glanced at the two of them with considerable surprise.

She had assumed the traveler had come with some important matter, but it turned out to be a trivial matter like getting a boat.

"Haha, I thought it was something important, why are you even mentioning the boat fare?"

Beidou immediately let out a hearty laugh, and waved his hand as if to brush away the invisible obstacle in front of him.

"Once we deal with this troublesome thing that we salvaged from the seabed, my Death Star will be ready to set sail immediately."

Beidou took a step forward, her strong arm patting the traveler's shoulder with the affection unique to an older sister.

"Tomorrow is the main day of the Lantern Festival. You guys have a great time in Liyue Harbor, eat and drink to your heart's content. After the festival is over, we'll set sail for Inazuma. It won't take up any time."

The traveler's tense shoulders visibly relaxed, and he nodded earnestly: "Alright, then I'll trouble Captain Beidou."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely send someone to inform you before we leave!"

Beidou readily agreed, hands on hips, standing firmly.

"Also, there's no need to call me Captain, just call me by my name. If you like, you can call me Big Sister like the brothers on the ship do."

Just as the traveler was about to express his gratitude, the Inazuma Pass that Fama had mentioned suddenly flashed through his mind.

Her mind worked quickly, and she immediately followed up on what Beidou had said, using the new form of address, "By the way, Big Sister Beidou, I heard that to get around Inazuma, you need one of those... expensive passes? This..."

"Pass?"

Beidou's lips curled into a knowing yet slightly disdainful smile.

"If you want to take the official route of the Kan-ding Fengxing, it is indeed very troublesome. Those Inazuma people take a chicken feather as an arrow and charge fees at every level."

Beidou waved its hand, clearly disdainful of this process.

"However, I'm not one to follow the rules. I have my own ways of making a living at sea." "I'll take care of your identity issue when it comes, so don't worry."

Beidou spoke with certainty, then paused, seemingly wanting to reassure the traveler not to be nervous, and then mentioned a ready-made example:

“Look, take Kaedehara Manyo from my ship, didn’t he also resolve his identity through these same channels?”

"Maple Leaf?"

Paimon blinked his big, curious eyes and asked the question before the traveler could.

"Who is that?"

Beidou did not directly reveal the identity of the wanted criminal, Manyo Inatsume, but simply explained:
"Oh, Manyo? He's an Inazuma ronin samurai I fished out of the sea. He's skilled and reliable."

"Right now, I'm considered the top astronomical observer on our Death Star, and I'm quite capable."

When mentioning Manyo, Hokuto's tone carried a hint of appreciation and pride for his capable subordinate.

But this smugness didn't last long. Beidou habitually crossed her arms, her brows furrowing as usual, revealing obvious confusion and a hint of bossy dissatisfaction, and muttered:

"Speaking of that kid, he said a few days ago he was going to do some kind of 'Wind Color Hunt,' then just left without a trace, and we haven't even seen a ship since! Honestly..."

Beidou clicked his tongue, clearly quite impatient with this mystical behavior.

"A wind-colored hunt?" Paimon floated beside the traveler, tilting his little head to one side in confusion. "Didn't he say anything more? Like... where to hunt?"

"Of course I didn't say that!"

Beidou shrugged, her answer decisive and straightforward, displaying her characteristic bluntness.

"That kid threw out that 'rice wife' poem before he left, all pretentious. Wind? Can you even hunt a flower out of the wind?"

Beidou wore a look that said these artsy types were a real headache, as if the name "Fengse Hunt" itself carried a stale, pretentious air that made her uncomfortable.

The traveler and Paimon exchanged a quick glance, both catching the barely suppressed smile in each other's eyes.

This Dragon King, who walks on flat ground amidst raging waves and strikes fear into the hearts of sea monsters, always displays a striking contrast when understanding these elegant words from land, carrying an almost endearing simplicity.

The traveler tried to suppress a smile, explaining in a tone that was both helpless and amused:

"Big Sister, Kazeiro-Kari... Hmm, that's probably how Inazuma says it."

"It roughly means to travel around, observe different scenery and people, or collect some touching stories and inspirations?"

The traveler paused, trying to explain using examples that BeiDou could understand.

"Just like... a bard wants to find a story, and a painter wants to find a beautiful scene to paint."

"The focus is on observing and feeling, not actually taking a net to hunt the wind."

Beidou blinked, seemingly not quite understanding at first. Then, as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining, she exclaimed "Oh!" in sudden realization, and even subconsciously raised her hand to clap her hands.

"So that's what happened."

The slight dissatisfaction on her face caused by incomprehension vanished instantly, replaced by a sense of relief and delight. She even found the obvious cultural difference a bit comical, and a hearty smile spread across her face.

"Isn't that just our Liyue field trip? Inazuma always likes to beat around the bush. Why didn't he just say 'I'm going out for a stroll to clear my head'?"

The Southern Cross fleet didn't have many rules, but obeying the captain's orders was definitely one of the most important principles.

However, Hokuto was also well aware of Wanye's background and understood the anguish of being far from home and the sorrow of losing a close friend. In addition, Wanye was exceptionally capable, so most of the time, Hokuto would not be too harsh on Wanye.

Although he complained that Manyo didn't follow the ship's rules, there wasn't much blame in Hokuto's tone. (End of Chapter)