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

Little Black flew all the way from Nata to Winter Palace. After being fed tons of meat three years ago, its cruising speed had long since upgraded from "barely keeping up" to "traveling a thousand miles a day without panting". When it landed on the perpetually snow-covered square outside Winter Palace, the air currents it stirred up blew off the hats of several patrolling soldiers around it.

When Phanes slid off the dragon's back, his legs were a little numb. After all, he had been riding a dragon weighing more than 10,000 pounds for most of the day, and if he didn't sit in the right position, he could have been shaken to pieces.

Xinoning followed him and jumped off the dragon's back. She landed steadily, but when she looked up and glanced around at her surroundings—the solemn palace walls, the towering spires, the everywhere insignia of the Fools, and the soldiers standing guard with their weapons—her expression paused subtly, and her gaze swept over Fanes.

"...The Winter Palace? You brought me to the Winter Palace?! How the hell did you bring me here?!"

Fanes patted Xiao Hei's paw to let it find a place to rest, then turned and waved to Xinoning: "None of that matters! Come on, I'll take you to see someone. The project partner is waiting inside."

Xinoning followed him into the long corridor of the Winter Palace. The ice-blue crystal lamps on the walls cast a cold light, making her shadow long and thin.

As he walked, he glanced at the Fools' emblem hanging on the wall and the low-ranking soldiers in their uniform coats coming and going. Finally, he stopped when he turned the second corner.

"Boy, tell me honestly, who exactly are you? Ordinary people aren't qualified to walk around freely in the Winter Palace."

Fanes glanced back at her, reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver-white executive badge, which shimmered in the light of the crystal lamp.

"The twelfth seat of the Fools. Fanes. Code name 'Young Master'."

Xinoning's expression seemed to have been paused. She stood there staring at Fanes' hand, which had already been put back into his pocket, for two seconds, then looked up at the face that was even smaller than hers. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and finally, her voice carried a hint of hesitation: "Should I run now?"

"...Is it too late to go back now?"

Fanes turned around, hands on his hips, his expression one of righteous indignation: "If you dare to run away, I'll make you pay up. Pay up. The contract has already started. You've heard about the project, ridden my dragon, and entered the Winter Palace. The hospitality expenses along the way alone will amount to two million. If you go back now, you'll still have to pay the penalty for breach of contract."

Xinoning's lips twitched slightly: "What entertainment expenses?"

"The fee for the seat on the dragon's back, the guide fee to the Winter Palace, the introduction fee for meeting the business partner later, and the fee for chatting with you while you looked at the scenery along the way."

Fanes counted a row of completely non-existent charges on his fingers, then spread his hands and smiled at her, "Do you think it's still worth it for you to run now?"

Xinoning remained silent for several seconds, then looked down at the toolbox at his waist, then looked up at the ten-year-old executive officer in front of him who was smiling broadly, took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Actually, I think... being an executive officer of the Fools is pretty good. They provide food and lodging and have projects to work on, which is much better than me helping people repair power cores in Nata every day."

Fanes nodded in satisfaction: "That's right. Come on, I'll take you to see the project manager."

Sandogne’s studio is exactly the same as it was when Fañes first visited three years ago.

Blueprints and parts were piled up all over the floor, and various semi-finished mechanical structures were displayed on the shelves in the corner. Screwdrivers and calipers were scattered on several large tables, and the air was filled with the smell of machine oil mixed with metal dust.

Sandoni himself was sitting in front of a machine about half his height, tightening a screw. His light brown hair was still neatly styled in a bun, and his Bonnet hat was neatly placed on his head. When he heard the door open, he raised his blue eyes and glanced in the direction of the person who came in, but he did not stop tightening the screw.

"Twelfth Seat, I took a look at the schematics of the 'cell phone' and 'communication network' you mentioned in your last letter. They're quite interesting. But as you know, these things can't be made overnight. I have several projects to work on, and I don't have that much time to create a completely new system just for you."

Fanes walked to her workbench, put his hands together in a gesture of devout supplication.

"Sister Sandone, this project is really important. With this communication network, the communication efficiency of the various strongholds of the Fools will be improved many times over. After you help me with this, I will do anything you need me to run errands for you in the future."

Sandonne finished tightening the last screw and looked up, his blue eyes sweeping over Sandon's face. "What about the development budget? The initial investment for this kind of project is considerable. Material costs, testing fees, trial and error costs—it adds up to a significant sum."

Fanes straightened his back and said firmly, "I'll cover it. The dividends and interest rebates from the loan from Ningguang two years ago have accumulated quite a bit, just enough for the initial development costs. I'll cover all expenses for equipment, materials, manpower, and site. You just need to provide the technology and design solutions. If it goes into mass production later, you can decide on the profit sharing."

Sandonne was silent for a moment, seemingly assessing the cost-effectiveness of the proposal.

Of course, Sandorne's inner thoughts were: Finally, we have funding! That Pantalone guy allocated all the activity funds to the PhD students, leaving us nothing. But now it's all good, finally we have money!

Taking advantage of the momentum, Fanes pulled Xinonin, who was still standing behind him, to the front.

"And I've also brought you a helper! This is Xinoning, the technician of the Son of Nata Echoes, who is extremely skilled with her hands. You can leave your detailed assembly and debugging work to her, so you don't have to work non-stop from morning till night."

Sandonne's gaze fell on Xinoning. Xinoning stood naturally and was not intimidated by Sandonne's "I'm scrutinizing you" gaze. He even took the initiative to reach out and greet her.

"Hello, I'm Xinoning. I specialize in mechanical repair and power system debugging, and I occasionally make small inventions."

Sandoni looked her up and down for a few seconds, then looked away. His tone was still as arrogant as ever, but a little softer than before: "Well, having an assistant is good too. That way I don't have to bother Pronia all the time."

She reached over and pulled a roll of blueprints from the shelf next to her, spreading it out on the table. "Come and take a look. This is a rough structural design for the communication terminal. I've drawn a few plans; see which one is more feasible."

Fanes and Shinonin huddled around the table, looking down at the rolled-up drawing filled with lines and annotations.

Sandonne began to explain, pointing to several key points on the drawing with his finger. His pace was neither too fast nor too slow, but his explanation was clear and organized. Occasionally, he would look up at the reactions of the two people beside him, and when he saw Xinoning nodding seriously, he would continue.

Fine snowflakes were still falling outside the windows of the Winter Palace, and the crystal lamps illuminated the area around the worktables brightly and warmly.

Little Black squatted in the square outside the Winter Palace and yawned widely. Its tail swept across the snow, drawing an arc on the ground, before it curled itself into a huge black ring and began to doze off.

Inside the Winter Palace, the Ice God looked at Little Black sleeping at the entrance and fell into deep thought.

Ice God: So you're an angel who's lost your mind! I thought you were a dragon!