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

The next morning, as Fanes was washing his face by the well in the side courtyard of Narukami Shrine, Sandone walked over from the other end of the corridor, holding the blueprint that had been unrolled once at the dock. Columbia followed beside her, walking slowly, as if she had just woken up from a long afternoon nap but was not yet fully awake.

Fanes wiped his face with a damp towel and looked up at them: "So early? Why not sleep a little longer?"

Sandonne stopped on the stone steps beside the well, unrolled the scroll on his lap, which contained several sets of topographical markings and navigational records that Fanes had never seen before: "You know we're not just here for a vacation."

Sandonne pointed to the familiar location on the map, "The new continent that Little Black discovered needs to be investigated on-site. The terrain, soil, water sources, suitable crops, and the feasibility of the route to Teyvat. These are all preparations that need to be done before we go."

Fanes draped the towel over the edge of the well, straightened up, and looked at the spot on the map that had been circled twice.

"Oh, I thought you were here on your honeymoon."

Sandonne paused for a moment as she rolled up the blueprints, turning her head to look at him. Her tone clearly conveyed a "Are you kidding me again?" attitude: "What are you talking about? Of course I'm here on serious business. I brought Columbia because..."

Sandoni paused, as if searching for a suitable way to put it, "She's been begging me for a long time."

Columbia leaned over from the side, her face beneath the mesh veil turned toward Sandone, her voice carrying a lighthearted tone of "I should respond after being praised": "Thank you so much, Sandone."

Fanes stood by the well, rubbing the water droplets off his hands. "Alright, let's set off after breakfast. I'll go call Little Black."

Fanes turned and took two steps, then stopped, glancing back at the pink fox dozing under the eaves: "After I leave, take good care of the house. Don't go through the kitchen cabinets; I've locked up the instant noodles inside."

Yae no Miko's ears clearly turned in his direction when he said "locked up," but she didn't open her eyes; she just swept her tail across the floor, as if to express some degree of awareness.

As Fanes walked to the courtyard gate and mounted Xiao Hei's back, the pink ball of fur popped out from under the eaves in a way he had never expected.

Yae no Miko ran as fast as a pink streak of light, leaping onto Kuro's tail in a few bounds, crawling along the gaps in the scales all the way to the back of its head, and then squatting on the very center of its head, its tail raised as it looked down at Fanes sitting on the back of its neck.

Faenes looked up at her: "No. You don't belong to the Fools' system; this is an internal matter."

Yae no Miko's ears were pressed flat as the voice came from above, carrying a sense of "you're rejecting me" dissatisfaction and a stubborn insistence ready to throw a tantrum: "I want to go too! I want to go too!"

Sandonne stood at the courtyard gate watching this scene, his gaze shifting from Fanes' face to the pink ball of fur on the little black head that was protesting.

"Why don't we take her with us? She's just sitting here doing nothing anyway, so why not let her go and see the land for herself? Maybe she can help you with something in the future."

Fanes shook his head: "Absolutely not. If we take her there, the terrain, resources, and flight routes will all be exposed to her. She's also the priestess of Narukami Shrine, with more communication channels between the seven provinces than our Fool Clan's stronghold in Inazuma. Once that news gets out, the commercial value of that land will at least halve. Where will we get our subsequent research funding then?"

After listening to the conversation at the courtyard gate, Sandonne paused for a moment, then nodded: "That makes sense."

Yae no Miko perched atop the little black head, her purple pupils narrowing slightly the instant Sandone nodded. Her tail, which had been curled up, now drooped, and her ears flattened back; the fox's silhouette noticeably shrank as those words fell.

Xiao Hei waited for a while, then tilted its head slightly to look at the shrinking pink ball in front of it, as if to make sure it wouldn't suddenly jump up, and then spread its wings.

After taking off, Xiao Hei flew towards the southern coastline. The wind surged up from below. Fanes sat on the back of the neck and looked down as the roof of Narukami Shrine gradually shrank. The paper door in the courtyard that had not yet been covered in dust and the wooden barrel by the well turned into small dots on a chessboard.

The sea breeze, carrying the salty smell and the scent of grass and trees from the distant mountains, rushed towards him. He reached out and pressed his collar, which had been ruffled by the wind, and felt that Sandone and Columbia had found their footing on the dragon's back.

After flying for half a day, a distinct green outline appeared on the sea. From the air, the land was much larger than Fanes had imagined, with a long, undulating coastline and not many abrupt cliffs or reefs.

After circling twice along the edge of the coastline, Little Black landed on a wide, flat area, leaving several clear claw marks on the soft soil.

Fanes slid off the dragon's back and took a few steps on the ground. The soil under his feet felt soft and thick, moist with moisture, and covered with a layer of dark brown humus. He sank slightly when he stepped on it.

Sandone landed more steadily than Fanes, following behind him. She squatted down, pinched a clump of soil between her fingers, rubbed it, and then smelled it.

"The soil layer is very thick, and there isn't much sand or gravel mixed in, so its water retention capacity should be quite good."

Sandonne stood up and looked around. The terrain was open and flat as far as the eye could see, with several gentle hills in the distance. Judging by their appearance, the slopes were not steep and they were suitable for reclamation into paddy fields. He put away the map and pointed to the river that meandered through the plain in the distance.

"The water source is sufficient. The river's flow should be able to cover a large area during the rainy season, and it won't dry up during the dry season."

After Columbia dismounted from the dragon's back, she walked barefoot on the grass for a distance, then bent down and brushed aside a clump of low-growing plants with broad leaves at her feet.

"The plants here are growing well, with deep green and thick leaves, which indicates that the soil is fertile enough to support crop growth."

Fanes walked to the riverbank, squatted down, and scooped up some water with his palm to test it. The water was cool but not icy, and the water was clear and odorless, appearing to be a mixture of snowmelt and groundwater.

Little Black squatted down beside them, marking out a space with its tail and lying down. Its amber vertical pupils watched quietly as the three of them walked back and forth between the riverbank and the flat ground.

Fanes stood up, patted the water droplets off his hands, and looked further along the riverbank. In addition to the flat land and the river, there were large tracts of woodland covering the edge of the hills, and the faint sounds of birdsong could be heard from the woods, but there seemed to be few large animals.

Fanes walked back to Sandone and squatted down next to her, his gaze falling on the open drawing book at her feet.

"The soil and water are fine, but we need to measure the climate conditions over a long period to determine the suitable growth cycle for crops. There's another thing—we don't know if there are any large monsters or native inhabitants in this area. It looks peaceful on the surface, but it could be troublesome if something is lurking underground or in the mountains."

Sandonne scribbled a few notes in the margins of the blueprints: "First, build a temporary observation station in the nearshore area, with two teams taking turns to stay and record climate data. The ocean transport capacity also needs to be upgraded; the current transport ships are too inefficient at resupply and turnaround once they arrive here."

Fanes nodded, marked a few more locations on the drawing, and after finishing, he rolled up the drawing, stood up, and looked at Xiao Hei's back: "I'll contact the shipyard in Zhidong to revise the design for the transport upgrade when I get back. The current technical reserves should be enough to support the construction cycle of two to three new ship types. But let's not start large-scale development here yet, let's wait until we have accumulated enough climate data for a full quarter."

Sandonne put away the blueprints and glanced at the river in the distance, its surface shimmering in the afternoon sunlight.

"It will take at least three months to accumulate data for the first quarter, which is just enough time for me to finish revising the ship design."

Fanes walked to the edge of the river, squatted down, and brushed aside the floating leaves on the water: "Then let's settle on this for now. Little Black will fly here every two weeks to deliver supplies and retrieve data. We'll proceed with the next expansion after the transport fleet is fully formed."

Little Black snorted from a distance, as if it understood the "every two weeks" arrangement. It rested its chin on the ground, its amber vertical pupils half-closed, as if it didn't intend to move any further.

Fanes walked back to the dragon's back, climbed up, and sat down, feeling the evening breeze blowing from the sea, carrying the coolness of the day's heat dissipated. Sandone and Columbia also came up one after another, each finding their own spot.

As they headed back, dusk settled, and the sea was bathed in layers of warm, varying shades of color in the setting sun. As Little Black flew over the coastline where lights had already been lit, Fanes looked down at the shrinking outline below, wondering when the first rice would sprout on that flat land.