Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

After saying "It was all for nothing," Fanes was already planning how to get back to Fontaine. He stood up, brushed the grass seeds and dust off his clothes, and was about to take his leave when Dainesreb suddenly bent down.

Fanes paused. He saw Daines Reb stop at the base of the old oak tree on the side of the grassy slope, brushing aside a layer of dry moss and fallen leaves covering the ground to reveal a loose layer of soil underneath.

Then he reached out, as if retrieving a long-hidden secret, and pulled a palm-sized wooden box from the shallow pit.

The wooden box had no decorations on its surface; the paint was the natural wood color. There were no clasps along the edges, only a thin hemp rope wrapped around the box twice. Daines Reb untied the rope and opened the lid.

Fanes peeked inside—the box was lined with a layer of yellowed velvet, and right in the center lay a palm-sized figurine. He was all too familiar with the figurine's design: a silver-gray body with reddish-purple stripes, a distinctively flat head, and a pale blue circular piece embedded in the center of its forehead. Light filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, reflecting a few dappled rays of light onto that blue piece.

Ultraman Tiga.

It's still a limited edition.

Fanes stood there looking at the figurine, and his mind made a very brief deduction—when he was involved in the cultural industry, he had casually initiated and filmed several projects, including tokusatsu dramas, animations, and some short dramas suitable for watching while eating.

Ultraman Tiga was remade into a localized version called Teyvat, which became a huge hit and sold a lot of related merchandise.

Fanes was no longer surprised that such a thing appeared in Teyvat. He just looked at the figurine in Dainesreb's hand, opened his mouth once, opened it again, and finally said a sentence.

"No...you did this for? While I respect light, isn't this behavior a bit off?"

Dainesreb looked down at the figure, gently tracing the curved outline of its shoulder with his thumb, his movements light and steady: "Nothing much. I just wanted to see if light could attract the giant's attention."

Daines Reeb closed the box again, tied it twice with hemp rope, and instead of immediately putting it back in the pit, he held it in his palm. "This statue is different from the colossi in those ruins. Its form is more complete and closer to the structure of a known sequence. I buried it here to confirm whether it would be guided by some unseen force—whether its kind would come looking for it."

Upon hearing this, Fanes glanced down at the wooden box, picked it up, turned it over, and looked at the anti-counterfeiting label and official authorization number on the bottom.

"...Then you should at least buy a Sparkler toy. What's the point of buying a figurine? You can only display it there, and at most you can summon a replica of the original to fight for you. If you buy a limited edition Sparkler toy, you can control it yourself."

Dainesreb turned his head to look at Fanes, tilting his head slightly as if processing the information from the previous conversation. Dainesreb slowly spoke: "...The Spark Lens?"

Fanes stood next to the rock and gestured with his hand: "It's a stick that can light up. Press a switch and it will make a sound, and the top will light up. Holding it in your hand can complete the entire transformation process."

Fanes paused for a moment, then said, "If you really want to see if you can attract the giant's attention, try this. It'll be more effective than burying a figurine."

Dainesreb carefully placed the wooden box back into the pit, covering it with soil and moss as before. Then he stood up and looked at Fanes: "Where can I buy that thing you mentioned?"

Fanes looked at him for a moment, then slowly said, "I happen to have a batch of inventory, an experimental production line still in the testing phase, and a batch of engineering samples that haven't been released to the market. One of them happens to be the top-of-the-line version. Are you sure you want it?"

Daines Reeb didn't hesitate: "Yes."

Fanes leaned back against the rock and held out a hand: "Two million Mora. The top-of-the-line version, with a dedicated storage box, three spare power modules, a portable charging dock, and an official certificate of authenticity—I'll have someone send you the certificate later, through a special channel."

Daines Reeb reached into the inside of his pocket, lingered there for a moment, and ran his fingertips along the seam of the lining, confirming the feel of the stitches and raw edges of the fabric, before pulling his empty hand out: "I don't have that much money right now."

Fanes withdrew his hand: "Then we can pay in installments."

Fanes thought for a moment and began to calculate, "You sign a loan agreement, pay a 10% down payment, and repay the rest over twenty years with equal monthly installments of principal and interest. Based on the current standard interest rate until winter, the total amount you'll pay off in twenty years will be about twice the original price. If you pay it off early, some interest can be waived. However, considering your somewhat unstable income, I can change the fixed repayment clause to a floating repayment clause. You'll settle the account every six months, and the amount will be recalculated based on the current balance. The settlement period will be based on individual records, and the annualized interest rate will remain unchanged from the original contract. What do you think?"

Daines Reeb stood on the grassy slope, his gaze steady in the twilight. After listening, he nodded slightly: "Okay."

Fanes pulled a folded paper contract from the inside pocket of his coat; the edges of the paper were slightly wrinkled from his body heat. He signed one copy and sent it to Winter's headquarters for filing. He handed another copy, along with the contract, to Diensreb for signature, along with a delivery note and a warranty card. He then handed one of the receipts and the warranty card to Diensreb.

"Then sign here and put your fingerprint on it. As for the down payment, you can pay it whenever it's convenient for you. I'll send you the goods first. If the first batch of goods is not suitable, you can apply for an exchange within fourteen days, and you will be responsible for the shipping costs."

Daines Reeb took the contract and looked down at the terms and numbers, which he had seen before but were not yet familiar with.

Daines Reb didn't ask too many questions. He took a spare pen from his pocket, signed his name, then dipped his thumb in something on the edge of his pocket and pressed a clear fingerprint below his signature. He then handed the contract back to Fanes: "When will the goods arrive?"

Fanes folded the contract and tucked it deeper inside his coat: "About five days. It will be sent via express logistics from the winter storage center, via the northern shipping route, with a stopover in Liyue Harbor, and then transferred by rail to the designated sorting station outside Mondstadt."

Fanes glanced at the sky. "There's just enough time for you to wait here. If you don't want to wait, you can leave an address, and it will be delivered directly to you."

Dainesreb stood on the grassy slope, dusk had fallen below the treetops, and the light in the forest was dimming. "I'll wait here."

Fanes put away the contract, walked a few steps down the slope he had come from, then stopped and looked back at him: "If that magic wand really works—if you really do use it to attract the giant's attention—remember to write me a letter. I haven't seen a real demonstration yet."

Then Phanes walked away along the downhill path, his footsteps growing fainter and fainter in the darkening twilight, eventually being completely drowned out by the sounds of the wind and water in the forest.

Only the dew remained, sliding down the leaves from the top, flowing along the veins to the edge, condensing into a complete circle, and then being pulled down by its own weight, falling onto a cluster of low fern leaves. It slid down along its slightly curved arc, paused briefly at the tip of the leaf, and then disappeared into the depths of the grass.

Fanes: Another big deal! I made over three million from a single toy. This guy's money is so easy to earn!