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

When Fañes pushed open the heavy oak door to the clown's office, the hinges made a deep, steady turning sound, like a melody that had been calibrated, with each opening and closing rhythm falling on that fixed length.

The clown sat behind the desk, flipping through a document with its edges curled up. The cover had no title, only a wax seal to the Winter Palace stamped in the lower right corner. He didn't look up when he heard the door open, but paused briefly when he turned to the second page of the document, then put it down, flattened the open folder, and placed it on the corner of the desk.

Faenes sat down in the chair opposite the table: "Clown, what do you want?"

The clown pushed the document towards Fanes: "You're leaving in a couple of days. Someone wants to go with you."

Fanes glanced down at the document, then looked up at him again: "Who is it?"

The clown leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly twice on the table: "That doctor you're on good terms with."

When Fanes heard the word "Doctor," he paused slightly, as if quickly searching his contact list for anyone who might fit the description, before speaking: "You mean the eight-year-old slice?"

The clown nodded: "Yes."

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "Of course, no problem. I was just worried about having no one to talk to on the way. Although he's talkative, at least he won't use chatting as an excuse to extract data from me like some other people do."

The clown didn't respond to that, but simply pushed the document that had already been presented to Fanes forward another half an inch: "Check it out. If there are no problems, just sign it."

Fanes glanced down at the cover of the document, reached out and flipped through the title page, scanning two lines. He then turned the page again, confirming the terms and the location of the signature section at the end. He then took out a pen from his pocket, signed his name in the signature section, closed the folder, and pushed it back.

The clown carefully put the folder back on top of the stack of archived documents on the corner of the table. Then he turned around, placed his hands on the table, and looked at Fanes: "The harsh winter plan is ready to be implemented. Make sure the resource supply chain over there doesn't go wrong."

Fanes leaned back in his chair, his posture still relaxed: "Don't worry about that. I don't need to make any mistakes when it comes to money. Zhidong's current industrial capacity and logistics transportation system have been repeatedly tested. As long as each link operates according to the preset time nodes, there will be no interruptions."

Fanes paused, as if remembering something, "But what's going on with the Royal Energy Institute? How much money have I approved? How come they can't even fix the furnace? If this continues, I'll have to consider starting the immigration plan."

When the clown heard about the "immigration plan," he slightly adjusted his posture, which was leaning back in his chair. He picked up another document on the table and flipped through it slowly, as if he were confirming that the document had been properly placed in the corresponding category.

"Repairing the Kashnik Torch is indeed quite challenging. The design drawings and maintenance procedures for that equipment were developed under conditions from hundreds of years ago, and there are significant gaps between the technology of that time and current industrial standards. However, your proposed solution is already in the works, and technicians are already debugging the new adapter interface."

Fanes nodded: "Why didn't we do this sooner? Developing energy mines overseas is not as reliable as developing them in Winter. The purity of the ore there has been tested and is indeed much higher than that in Winter, and the mining difficulty and transportation costs are also within a controllable range."

The clown picked up his teacup and took a sip: "How's the poll support for the 'Winter Plan'?"

Fanes thought for a moment: "This is barely acceptable. The support rate at the grassroots level hasn't fluctuated much, and the feedback from the middle management and the business community is better than expected. But to be honest, it's all thanks to my good reputation before, otherwise this matter would have almost fallen through."

The clown put the teacup back on the table: "Public opinion polls are not the basis for decision-making; they are merely an auxiliary reference indicator."

Fanes stood up: "What's the point of saying all this? Even if the polls don't go well, you still carry it out, don't you? Forget it, I'm going to find Little Milk Tablet now. I need to confirm the itinerary and the list of necessary supplies with him before I leave."

Fanes turned and walked towards the door, glancing at the clown as he reached it: "If that furnace malfunctions again, I'll handle it my way. Then the Royal Energy Society won't be coming to me complaining about being broke."

The clown remained seated, his voice neither loud nor soft: "Understood."

Fanes pushed open the door and walked out, heading down the corridor toward the doctor's laboratory.

The crystal lamps on both sides of the corridor were still lit in the afternoon light, casting a row of evenly spaced spots of light on the floor. The edge of each spot fell on a joint of the stone bricks, forming a neat arrangement.

When Fanes pushed open the door, he saw the eight-year-old Doctor Slice squatting on a low stool in front of the workbench, with a half-disassembled mechanical device in front of him, using a thin screwdriver to tighten a screw embedded deep in the base.

When the little girl heard the door open, she didn't look up. She just changed the angle of the screwdriver in her hand, tightened the last thread, and then put down the tool and turned her head to look at the door: "You've come."

Fanes paused at the doorway for a moment, then came in and sat down on the stool next to the baby tablet: "The clown said you want to come with me."

After tightening the screw, Little Milkman put the tool back on the table, turned around to face Fanes, and dangled his feet off the crossbar of the stool. The cuffs of his oversized lab coat were rolled up several times before his fingertips were visible.

"There aren't any projects here that need my attention. The other researchers are all working on their own experimental lines, so I can't get involved. I just happened to hear that you were leaving for a while, so I mentioned it to Choujiao."

Fanes leaned against the edge of the table, looking at him. "So, do you know where we're going?"

Little Milk thought for a moment: "The clown only said 'leave Winter,' he didn't mention the specific location. But I guess it's Mondstadt. You've spent more time in Mondstadt before, and you have a fixed place to work there, so it's easier than going to some other unfamiliar place."

Fanes looked at him for a moment: "Your deductive reasoning certainly lives up to your number. Yes, go to Mondstadt."

Little Milkman jumped down from the low stool, walked to the shelf in the corner, took down a small backpack, and began packing a few changes of clothes and a small box inside, which contained several layers of tools and parts neatly wrapped in oil paper: "I don't need much. We can chat on the way."

As evening fell, Fañes and Little Milk stood on the open helipad outside Winterfell.

Little Black was squatting on a stone block at the edge of the tarmac, using its beak to tidy up the scales on the inside of its wing that had been ruffled by the wind. When it saw Fanes approaching, it stopped tidying up and turned its head to wait for a while.

Phanes mounted the dragon's back and sat down, then reached out and pulled the little milkman up so he could sit in front of him.

After confirming that the two were securely seated, Xiao Hei spread its wings and flapped twice before rising into the twilight.

The city of Winterfell was gradually shrinking, and the outlines of rooftops and streets in the field of vision changed from a clear grid to blurry blocks of color, soon to be obscured by the clouds.

Fanes sat behind the little baby, glancing down at the receding lights below. His voice came from behind: "After you get to Mondstadt, don't rush to start new projects. Take a look around Mondstadt first, familiarize yourself with the environment and the flow of people there."

The little girl's voice drifted back on the wind, her speech steady and even: "I've looked at Mondstadt's city structure in the data. The water system splits into two branches as it flows through the city. On the northern side, there's a section of ruins where some old city wall foundations remain, which should be suitable for establishing a temporary observation point."

Fañez sat behind him. "Okay, we'll see."