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

Wendy was still craning his neck on the grassy slope, waiting for the second wave of fireworks to go off. He had just raised his refilled glass to his lips, but before he could even take a sip, Fanes had already silently crept up behind him.

He had been clutching the short iron rod he used to pry open the fireworks box lid the whole way, and it was now hanging quietly about a hand's width above the back of Wendy's head.

Yakoda saw this from a distance, instinctively took a half step back, and covered her mouth with her hand.

Xingqiu paused for a moment while turning the pages, then casually turned the page again. Hu Tao was counting tonight's revenue—estimating how many sacrificial meal packages she could sell this year—she glanced up at the table, then looked away.

Chongyun was checking the seal of the thermos when he looked down. After a moment, he confirmed that everything was normal and then slowly screwed the lid on without looking in that direction again.

Xiangling was facing away from this side, brushing a layer of freshly prepared sauce onto the grill. The sauce brush paused slightly in mid-air, she sniffed, and then continued brushing.

The iron rod fell without much noise, only a dull thud followed by a muffled "uh".

Wendy fell forward, the wine glass in her hand flew out of her hand, flipped in mid-air, and landed upside down on the grass. The last few drops of wine seeped into the soil and were quickly diluted by the dew on the grass blades.

Yakoda stood a few steps away, watching this scene, her hand still covering her mouth. After a few moments, she finally squeezed out a sentence through her fingers: "Boss...you really knocked him out?"

Fanes tucked the iron rod behind his waist, bent down, grabbed Wendy by the back of his collar, dragged him a few steps to the open space, and then laid him flat on the grass.

"You incompetent fool, you burned out my cargo ship's engine. I'm not letting you fly today."

Fanes turned to the large wooden crates and dragged out the bottommost cylinder, which was labeled "For Heavy Lifting." It had a reinforced wooden base and was thicker than Fanes' own waist.

Wendy was positioned upright directly above the opening of the tube. Then, several rolls of strong binding rope were pulled from the toolbox next to him, wrapped around his waist and shoulders, and secured him to the top of the tube. The knots were tied quickly and firmly.

Wendy opened his eyes as the knot tightened to its final knot. The first thing he saw was the night sky above, half-hidden by clouds. Then he realized he was now about two meters higher, his body firmly anchored to a massive cylinder, his limbs bound and immobilized by ropes. He looked down at his predicament, then glanced around at the people watching him from the grassy slope.

Hu Tao was squatting next to the tree roots, clutching a small notebook she had just taken out, the pen tip hovering above the paper, her expression focused on the idea that "this case is worth recording."

"Dear Wind God, we will remember you."

Xiangling put down the sauce brush, turned around, clasped her hands together, and said in a serious tone that didn't sound like she was joking, "Believe me, I'll burn incense for you every year at this time. What flavor do you like? I remember you said last time that sweet fruit wine was good."

Upon hearing those two sentences, Wendy's expression finally shifted from "Am I still drunk?" to "Are you guys serious?" He turned to look at Fanes, who was standing to the side of the cylinder holding a flintlock pistol: "Wait—what are you doing? It's just an engine, it can't be that serious, can it?"

Fanes crouched down and straightened the end of the fuse, then looked up at the green figure above the cylinder, which was being secured to the top with ropes: "Get ready to go up."

Wendy's resistance intensified: "Wait—we can discuss a compensation plan first—I can pay in installments—or use other methods to offset the cost—"

Fanes did not answer. He lit the fuse with a tinderbox. The grassy slope was silent for a moment as the hissing sound came from the end of the fuse.

Then the fuse, burning with flickering sparks, spread upwards along the outside of the tube, like a slender, slowly ascending serpent of light.

Wendy looked down at the fuse that was nearing the middle of the tube, then looked up at the onlookers on the grassy slope who were casting all sorts of glances in their direction, and finally shouted, "Give me some reaction!"

Hu Tao lowered her head and wrote a line in her notebook. Her pen paused for a moment, as if considering her words, before she closed the notebook and looked up at the barrel: "Don't worry, I've already planned everything for you. A complete service, absolutely top-notch."

Xingqiu sat on the rock, turned a page of his book, and said without looking up, "Have a safe journey."

Chongyun stood downwind, holding a thermos, his voice carried through the wisps of smoke: "If you need to cool down, you can come find me later."

Yakoda stood behind Fanes, watching as the fuse burned down to two-thirds of the way down the tube, before finally lowering her hand from her mouth. Her tone carried a calmness that seemed to say, "I saw the whole thing, but now I don't care anymore." She said, "Boss, did you use too much gunpowder this time? This batch is a whole size bigger than the ones from previous years."

Fanes stepped back a few paces to a safe distance, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the smoke blown by the wind: "It's doubled. After all, it's the repair cost for an ocean-going freighter's engine."

The fuse burned to the very top of the tube. A muffled thud, suppressed to a very low pitch, came from inside the tube, followed by a rising, slightly crackling sound of the propulsion air.

Wendy's figure, along with the cylinder, detached from the ground and shot into the depths of the night sky with a trail of billowing flame.

The trail was straight and steady, leaving a brief crack as it passed through the clouds. Then the crack closed, leaving only the remaining tail flame trailing a long, thin arc that had not yet completely dissipated, like a long golden needle stuck into the night.

There was a moment of silence on the grassy slope. Then, Hu Tao lowered her head and added another line to the notebook in her hand, as if she were perfecting her record.

Xiangling tilted her head back and watched the trail slowly fade into the horizon before finally looking away. Xingqiu turned to the next page of his book.

Chongyun stood up, clutching the thermos. Yakoda looked up at the arc of light still bearing embers, and after a few moments of silence, murmured, "...It seems it hasn't landed yet."

Fañez stood at the edge of the grassy slope, looking up at the cloud-like outline with dark orange and grayish-white tones that was slowly spreading in the direction of the horizon. It continued to expand, with new ripples constantly emerging from its edges.

The echoes coming from the other side of the sea had lost their original force after a long distance of attenuation; only a low, continuous aftershock came faintly along the ground, and it took a while for it to gradually subside.

On the other side of the sea, the sailors on night duty at the port of Inazuma Island put down their pipes and ropes and flocked to the edge of the pier, standing on tiptoe to look at the southern horizon.

Someone whispered something, but no one could see what was connected to the outline.

Under the eaves of a side courtyard of Narukami Taisha, a person wearing an overcoat leaned against a pillar, looked up, then looked down at the teacup in his hand that had trembled slightly from the shock, and said nothing, simply placing the teacup back on the veranda.

On the south-facing terrace of the castle tower, Lei Yingdian was holding a string of tricolor dumplings. His gaze returned from the gradually dissipating cloud of different colors in the distance. He took a bite of a dumpling, then looked up at the night sky that was returning to calm. The rhythm of his chewing was exactly the same as before.

On the grassy slope of Dihua Isle, Hu Tao tucked the notebook into her sleeve, stood up, patted her clothes, and glanced at Fanes: "Will it be released again next year?"

Fanes put away the tinderbox, dusting off the embers and fuse debris from his hands: "Whose good person set off fireworks on their death anniversary!"

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I think I've been restricted from accessing the internet! It's all the fault of those damn food investors.

Please, everyone, stop spamming!