Lu Bu, the Thunder General, is my adoptive father in Genshin Impact.

"My husband taught me," Gan Yu said.

Chapter 210 General: Xiao Yi, I'm stuck.

Although using coral pearls instead of amber could greatly speed up the project, and Xiao Yi also believed in the wisdom of the Heart Sea, the teleportation portal was of great importance and had to be tested before it could be put into actual modification.

Fortunately, they are only building the basic structure of the portal now, and do not need to use the amber and crystallized bone marrow they had stockpiled beforehand, so Xiao Yi has plenty of time to conduct experiments.

Meanwhile, Liyue's operation to transport large quantities of amber to Inazuma continues. If Xin Hai's proposal is successful, the transport will be stopped; otherwise, the amber will continue to be used as material as originally planned.

As for the specifics of the experiment, the method involved building four small portals using amber and coral pearls respectively, to test the teleportation effect as samples.

Just as large portals are prone to explosion, small portal prototypes also pose certain dangers, and he must choose a suitable location to complete this task.

After some analysis, he decided to conduct the experiment at the castle tower. Firstly, the place was heavily guarded and had a certain degree of secrecy. Secondly, the castle tower was the tallest building in Inazuma Castle and covered a large area, so any accidental shockwave would not affect the city.

At most, the top of this magnificent building could be leveled, and there are many excuses to explain such an accident, such as someone pretending to be a general cooking.

……

In the spacious room at the very top of the castle tower, Xiao Yi carefully performed an important operation at a large table.

On the table is an iron rack used as experimental equipment. A beaker is placed in the center of the rack, with an asbestos mesh underneath to ensure even heating. Underneath the asbestos mesh is an alcohol lamp.

The beaker was filled with a strange milky white liquid, in which uniformly sized spherical unidentified objects were constantly rolling due to the heating of the alcohol lamp.

Before long, a strange smell gradually filled the entire room.

Xiao Yi walked to the scale next to him, weighed out an appropriate amount of red powder according to the ratio, and solemnly sprinkled the powder little by little into the milky white liquid, making the color turn into a coffee or chocolate color between red and white, and the smell in the room became more intense.

He then took out his Fontainebleau imported pocket watch and started timing it precisely, moving the alcohol lamp away and covering it with the lid at the exact moment, waiting for the liquid in the beaker to cool down naturally.

About five minutes passed, and the liquid cooled down to a temperature that wasn't too hot anymore. Xiao Yi was certain that his operation had been flawless, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Miss Ying, my newly developed brown sugar milk tea is complete, with master-level ingredient proportions!"

Xiao Yi's meticulous and careful technique was not for preparing important industrial liquids such as coolant or fuel for the portal, but merely for a beverage that could energize Thor.

The carefully weighed powder is brown sugar, the bubbling liquid in the cup is milk with added ingredients, and the round, uniform little spheres are "pearls," or small dumplings.

Upon hearing Xiao Yi's greeting, the woman with purple braids walked with elegant cat-like steps, pushed open the door, and quickly came to the experimental table, her eyes fixed on the liquid in the cup.

Of course, he didn't offer the general dessert for no reason.

The standard for testing whether a teleportation portal is effective must be that objects, especially biological energy, can pass through it; only then can the project be considered 100% successful.

However, given the uncertainty of its feasibility, he cannot directly experiment on people. If an anomaly occurs in the space during the process, it will definitely lead to a major disaster.

He couldn't go through the portal himself either, because he had to provide energy for the portal and record experimental data; he didn't have time to do so many things at the same time.

Since that's the case, let the general handle it; the general is quite sturdy.

However, in a sense, the puppet general is Shadow's private property, so before doing such a dangerous thing, he must first obtain Thor's consent, which means he must first "bribe" Miss Shadow. So Xiao Yi catered to her tastes and got her a cup of laboratory-grade milk tea.

He believed that his carefully crafted milk tea would make Miss Ying's cheeks flush red and her eyes roll back, so that she would never be able to live without that thin, long thing—the milk tea straw.

"It's cooled down, it won't burn your mouth." Xiao Yi handed the straw to Ying. "Remember to call the general out to work after you finish drinking."

Ying eagerly took the brown sugar milk tea, put her small lips to the straw, and slowly sucked the coffee-colored liquid in the cup, along with the premium glutinous rice dumplings, into her mouth.

Suddenly, the most noble and sublime woman in the world trembled and turned her head away so that Xiao Yi wouldn't see her expression. This was enough to show that the milk tea was incredibly potent, and Xiao Yi's efforts to modify the ingredient list and conduct numerous experiments were not in vain.

He started working on the small teleportation portal two weeks ago, while also taking time to research the best pairings for brown sugar milk tea. He used Kujo Sara as a judge and taster, and after Xiao Yi's persistent pleading, Sara finally reluctantly agreed.

As a result, after half a month, Miss Tengu gained a full five pounds, and even going to the edge of the cliff to collect bird eggs became a bit difficult.

Fortunately, Xiao Yi finalized the ingredients for the milk tea in time. Otherwise, if she had drunk it for another ten days or half a month, she might have become hesitant about the sumo match she had been so concerned about when she saw what Kujo looked like.

However, soldiers are generally quite disciplined and would never indulge in lethal amounts of sugar like Miss Ying. With the combined effects of dieting and exercise, Sara quickly returned to her best condition and was able to happily raid bird nests again.

In short, this drink, with its super-high sugar content yet still maintaining its flavor, perfectly matches Ying's desire and imagination for "Supreme Dumpling Milk," and she willingly lends the general to Xiao Yi.

The liquid in the beaker quickly dwindled to almost nothing.

"How is it? It tastes pretty good, right?" Xiao Yi said cheerfully. "When I have time another day, I'll get you a super-sized bucket, and I guarantee you can drink your fill."

Ying licked her lips and asked, "Is it alright to start the experiment now?"

Xiao Yi pointed to the messy pile of metal in the corner and nodded: "I have all the materials ready and we can start the experiment at any time."

Thor composed herself and closed her eyes. The color slowly faded from her face, and her expression turned cold, proving that the puppet general had gained control of her body.

Before Xiao Yi could explain, General Thunder preemptively said, "No need for further explanation. Shadow has already told me everything. Let's begin."

Xiao Yi walked to the corner of the wall and brought out all the materials for the teleportation gate. There were four small doors shaped like torii gates, each only half a meter high, and two black squares about one meter on each side connected to the small doors by wires. These seemed to be the controllers and energy relay devices for the two doors.

A complete portal has a structure and a door that are one piece, but Xiao Yi's is just a prototype, so it doesn't need to be too detailed, and its interior and exterior are separated.

He decided to experiment with doors made of coral and pearls first. He placed two torii gates three or four meters apart on the tatami floor and began to drive the square objects connecting the torii gates.

The ruthless and taciturn general stood to the side, watching silently.

Xiao Yi pressed his hands on the black cube connecting the two torii gates and injected lightning element energy into them. Since this was just a small portal, activating it did not require much physical strength. Even if it accidentally exploded, it would at most level the first floor of the castle tower.

With this in mind, Xiao Yi specifically asked all the Aojie people to stay away from the experimental site. As for him and the general who were accidentally caught in the explosion, they recovered almost completely after soaking in a hot spring and changing their clothes.

The two cubes began to vibrate at a high frequency, as if resisting the energy injected by Xiao Yi. Eventually, they barely stabilized, which meant that an explosion was unlikely.

Xiao Yi breathed a sigh of relief: the roof of the castle tower was saved.

At the same time, the portal was activated, and the inside of the two small torii gates was completely covered by a pale purple light.

The coral and pearl samples not only did not explode, but could also transmit energy normally, which gave him great confidence, and he estimated that the transmission effect would not be too bad.

"Thank you for your trouble, Godfather," Xiao Yi said. "Put your hand in and take a look."

Since the portal only reached the general's knees, she knelt upright in front of one of the torii gates and reached her hand into the light between the gates without hesitation, completely unafraid of any unexpected situation such as "being bitten on the hand," since the doll's emotional settings did not include fear.

Just like a magic trick involving splitting the body, the general's hand enters a portal, and then immediately extends from another portal.

"Let's make a scissor gesture," Xiao Yi said.

The general did as instructed, and the hand reaching out from the distant portal made a scissor gesture, seemingly without any problem.

"Will there be any delays in the operation? Will there be any discomfort? How does it feel to be in contact with the 'door'?" To be on the safe side, Xiao Yi, who was providing energy, asked a series of questions.

The general remained expressionless and answered in the same rigorous manner: "Neither the limbs that passed through the portal nor the parts that came into contact with it felt any special sensation. It was as if nothing had happened, just like the portal that Dream was determined to open."

It seems there are no problems. However, since it is a teleportation device, it cannot only focus on the teleportation of a single part. Otherwise, it will only have the function of delivering the object to the stage for performance. The target must be completely teleported to the other side to have a real transportation function.

Xiao Yi hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Godfather, could you try to crawl through?"

This phrase has another meaning: "Get lost!"

Because of the height of the torii gate, the only way for the general to get across was to crawl over like a puppy using both hands and feet, which was a very unsightly posture.

Although there are only Xiao Yi and the general in the room, or even on the entire floor, she should not do such a thing, as the most noble and extraordinary person in the world.

However... she did it, she climbed!

Without hesitation, the general moved back a distance, changed to a crawling posture like an animal, and slowly crawled towards the torii-shaped portal.

Xiao Yi manipulated the energy cube to be positioned directly behind General Thunder, and the view he saw was quite subtle. Xiao Yi held his breath and focused his attention back on observing the effects of the teleportation portal.

He thought seriously: The two portals are so big and round... No, these aren't portals at all!

The general successfully climbed into the portal in front of Xiao Yi, and almost simultaneously, he climbed out from another portal five meters away. The process was very smooth.

"I came back to take a look," Xiao Yi said.

The general did as instructed, turned around, and slowly crawled back.

Xiao Yi suddenly felt that the scene was a bit bad. He was issuing orders, and the general was obediently following them, crawling around on the tatami mat...

Thinking of this, the general had already emerged from the torii gate in front of Xiao Yi.

It has been proven that the portals made of coral and pearls are stable, allow for back-and-forth travel, and will not damage the clothing of those who use them.

Coming to his senses, Xiao Yi saw that the general was still in the "get lost" position, silently lying in front of him, looking up at him expressionlessly, like a very obedient mechanical doll—to be precise, that was indeed the case, but not entirely.

"Is there anything else?" the general asked coldly.

Logically, the testing of the coral pearl portal sample has been completed, and the next step should be to test the amber portal. However, Xiao Yi had a wild idea.

He said, “Godfather, please go back the way you came and stop halfway up.”

General Thunder obediently did as she was told. Her upper body passed through the portal and appeared on the other side, while her lower body remained in front of Xiao Yi.

Suddenly, Xiao Yi released his hands from supplying power to the black box. He wanted to see what would happen if a creature were to pass through and the portal suddenly lost its power source. Of course, he knew that Inazuma's god could not be killed by such a small trick of manipulating space, which was why he let go of this.

Things went far beyond his expectations.

After the power source was removed, the blue-purple light inside the portal did not disappear; it simply changed from flowing to stopped.

"Godfather, how are you feeling?" Xiao Yi asked.

"I'm stuck, I can't move forward or backward." The general swung her slender legs up and down in front of Xiao Yi, vividly demonstrating her current state.

Xiao Yi paused for a moment, then secretly made a note: When the portal's energy is interrupted, the teleportation function disappears, and people or objects passing through the portal get stuck, but there is no danger.

After the experiment was completed, Xiao Yi placed his hands on the two black boxes, preparing to restart the portal to restore the general's freedom.

Sizzle, pop!

The black box obligingly emitted sparks, followed by smoke of the same color.

The device is broken?!

"What happened?" asked the upper body of the general from the other portal.

"It's alright, nothing's wrong!" Xiao Yi hurriedly said, "Godfather, wait a moment, let me think if there's any other way to get you out."

Although the general was stuck between the two portals, her body remained coordinated, proving that she was only physically stuck.

Xiao Yi thought to himself: Maybe I can pull it out by force.

He moved to the portal in front of the general, grabbed the general's waist with both hands, and pulled him backward with all his might, trying to pull him out of the portal.

……

Beneath the castle tower, Kujo Sara and Shinkai were quietly awaiting the outcome.

As the general's bodyguard and the leader of his fans, Sara still had to stay in the nearest area on standby, even though there were unstable portal bombs in the castle tower.

Coral Palace Heart Sea, the one who proposed pearls instead of amber, came here out of a sense of responsibility to wait for the progress of the experiment.

Xin Hai shielded his eyes with his hand, looked up at the sun, and said, "I remember my adopted son said that if there was no explosion after noon, it meant that the most dangerous time had passed, and the technicians could return to the castle tower—the portal should be stable now, I'll go in and take a look."