I'm in the Teyvat running group

"18722, 18723... Counted them all, that's a total of 18751 Mora!" Natasha looked excitedly at the large pile of Mora on the table and said happily, "There are still three long-term orders, and we've received 85000 Mora in deposits today! Although the deliveries are made on a weekly basis, on average, we can earn 3 Mora every day!"

“The tax rate in Liyue is 12%, plus some additional fees, it’s about 12.5%. The house is ours, so it’s free, only maintenance costs. Including wages, it’s about 55%.” Risto did a quick mental calculation: “We probably earned a little over 10,000 Mora today.”

“In that case, we’ll need to hire two more people, and then we won’t have enough manpower.” Natasha looked at her brother and said earnestly, “Brother, do you know anyone else?”

“Most of the people I know are veterans…it’s already good enough that we found two.” Ristio scratched his head. “My parents are gone, otherwise they could have helped us too…”

“Brother…” Natasha looked at her brother and suddenly asked, “Brother, do you still remember Sister Katya?”

“Katya…is she still alive?” Ristor suddenly asked, as if recalling something. “How many years has it been since we last saw each other? Seven years, or ten…?”

“She’s still alive! She works as a maid in Master Pilomenov’s house, but she’s beaten and scolded every day. I saw her once before I left in the winter.” Natasha looked at her brother, her beautiful eyes meeting his, and said, “Brother, if it’s possible, how about we bring Sister Katya over? We’re short-handed right now, and Sister Katya can help us with the work. And didn’t she often give you the food she saved up…”

Ristor's eyes glazed over as she thought of the eight-year-old girl who had been working as a maid in the Pilomenov household, wearing ill-fitting shoes and an apron. The girl would always secretly give him half a sweet biscuit, saying it was a gift from the master...

“So that’s how it is…” Ristor touched Natasha’s little head, and a tear rolled down her cheek: “Brother will go tomorrow… no, brother will go now.”

"I'll go with you!"

Chapter 459 If Heaven Had Feelings, Heaven Would Grow Old

Katya was startled awake from her bed in the middle of the night.

Perhaps it couldn't really be called a bed; it was just a straw mat with a layer of tattered cotton quilt on top. The only advantage was that it was a boiler room, so it wasn't too cold.

She was unaware of the recent changes since winter, after all, she was a maid who almost never went out. She was just curious why Master Pilomenov had been going to the factory so little lately, which was the master's lifeline.

However, recently this master has rarely scolded or beat his servants. He often stays in his study in a state of anxiety, and occasionally roars in fear.

She had worked for Master Pilomenov for fifteen years, and this was the first time she had ever seen him so terrified. Every day, he would stare anxiously at that thing called the "Spirit Realm Terminal," looking at the incomprehensible lines on it, then burst into a twisted and terrifying smile, followed by downing bottles of kerosene and letting himself get drunk and vomit in the study. She had to clean him up two or three times a day.

Hearing the rustling sounds outside, Katya sighed. Whatever happened, what did it have to do with her, the maid who mopped the floor...?

But what happened tonight was beyond her expectations. Suddenly, a tall figure stood at the door of the boiler room, gently opened the door, and his voice was clear and crisp with a hint of pride: "Is Miss Katya Sergeyeva inside?"

"Sir...Master, I am Katya...Please don't call me Miss." Katya knelt by the bedside, her head pressed tightly to the floor, too terrified to rise. Here, she had no name; "that person" or "you" were the most common forms of address. Calling her by name didn't mean anything good; it could very well be a real punishment...

Once, she secretly hid a few crumbs of sweet cookies, but the master discovered it. The head maid, Ms. Varvara, who wasn't actually a bad person, had no choice but to grit her teeth and whip her three times to appease the master's anger. But much later, she learned that from that moment on, Ms. Varvara was forced to submit to the master's tyranny and do many things she didn't want to do…

"No, I'm not the master. I'm here to take you away from here." The tall figure gently helped her up and gestured for her to follow him out. But before leaving, he seemed to remember something and turned back: "By the way, this is the boss's mission. I can't let anything happen to you."

After saying that, he took out a strange piece of paper from his bag, tore it open, and covered Katya with it. Katya immediately felt an unprecedented warmth.

"This is [Constant Temperature Maintenance], but don't worry, someone has already paid for it. My name is D'Artagnan; you should have heard of me before. Just call me 'Young Master.'" The Young Master smiled as he walked out the door, looking at the group of Winter Solstice officials beside him and the tall woman standing in the center. "Well then, everyone, my mission is complete. See you next time!"

The tall, beautiful woman took out a piece of paper and began to read aloud to the couple in front of her: "Grigory Alekseevich Pilomenov, the sixth largest timber supplier in Winter, controls more than one-third of the timber in the entire Eastern Territory. More than 126 Winter people have died because of you, and less than 5 have received normal compensation. In addition, you also..."

"I sentence you... to exile and lifelong hard labor!"

Katya then realized that the haggard, white-haired couple, who looked no different from the servants, were the master and mistress!

She gently tugged at the hem of the tall young man's clothes and said timidly, "Young...sir, could you please ask Ms. Varvara if she...if she's alright? And where...where do I need to go?"

"You're going to Liyue. Someone paid a huge price to have me rescue you." The young master smiled and nodded at the girl before looking up and calling out, "Scarlett! What about someone named Valvara? Is she also being exiled?"

“Let me see, Varvara Ivanovna Kolossova… five years of light labor service. Don’t worry, she was only coerced into doing some things. Since it’s light labor service, her health will be guaranteed.” Scarlett looked at the people in front of her and instructed the group of Winter Solstice officials behind her: “Seal off his factory and send it to the Queen’s Palace. Deal with it immediately tomorrow.”

"Yes!"

"Can you come with me now?" The young master smiled at Katya, then waved his hand, and a special spirit platform belonging to the merchant guild drove over. He led Katya onto the spirit platform: "The Jade Pavilion is still transporting troops. I will take you to the border. After you board the Jade Pavilion, someone will arrange for you to dock at Liyue Harbor. Then you will know who saved you."

Katya was completely bewildered; she still didn't know what had happened, but no one had given her any trouble along the way.

After descending from the Lingming Pavilion, she ascended to an enormous aerial pavilion. A lady then led her to bathe and change clothes, and gave her a card that allowed her to eat freely in the cafeteria. At first, Katya was hesitant to take the card, but seeing that no one was watching, she ate a lot of food in one go, almost to the point of bursting. Fortunately, a few cute creatures came and released a strange piece of paper into her, relieving her pain.

That night, she slept restlessly on the bed, which far exceeded her previous standard of living. The bed was too soft, and lying on it felt like sinking into an abyss. She watched the strange program on the "Spirit Realm Terminal" in bed until late at night before finally falling asleep.

The program also aired about Lord Pilomenov, who was supposedly being sent to the reconstruction zone of Nordkale to purify the abyss, clear out monsters, and grow crops... and to work himself to death.

And all of this was brought in by the new winter governor, Scarlett Yevgenia; reports say she has already sent in over four hundred such gentlemen…

Katya is illiterate, but she can understand by listening and watching.

"It's still not enough!" she said through gritted teeth, staring at the screen. Then she carefully took a sip of the thing called "happy water," which was provided free of charge.

But it's so sweet.

The enormous aerial pavilion finally docked at Liyue Harbor the following afternoon. Led by the lady, she carefully descended the steps and stepped onto the land of Liyue Harbor, where she saw Risto and Natasha.

“Ristor… Natasha!” Katya rushed excitedly towards the two of them. Even she knew at that moment who had saved her: “Ristor… is that you? I heard your sister did great things on the battlefield and brought her with her to Liyue…”

"It's me, but...it's not entirely me."

“Strictly speaking, it was me, but it really is Risto’s doing.” A distinguished young man suddenly appeared behind Risto, pulling along a beautiful blue-haired girl. He smiled at the pitiful people in front of him and said, “Welcome to Liyue. I’ve heard what Risto has to say. Miss Katya can work at Risto’s restaurant first, and then come to Xiangling’s place to learn cooking skills and take care of your health. Liyue is a place that nurtures people.”

"Yes, yes, Xiuxiu is right! And also, the Lantern Festival is just around the corner, Happy Lantern Festival!" The pretty girl took out a red envelope from behind her back and handed it to Katya with a smile, "Everyone gets a share! Well then, I won't bother you anymore! Xiuxiu, I'm going to eat that spicy grilled fish! I really like spicy food now!"

"Good good..."

Looking at his childhood friend, Risto thought for a moment before speaking, "I accumulated quite a few points during the war, and I had less than 5000 left recently. I used 2000 points to exchange for a permanent residency spot in Liyue, but I wasn't confident I could rescue you from Pilomenov's house. So, I exchanged for a chance to receive guidance from a powerful familiar. When I meet the legendary 'Master Yunxiu,' I request that I change that guidance into a request."

“I begged him to save you, and he agreed.”

“So that ‘young master’ was someone he sent…” Katya’s voice was much more normal as she spoke, “Thank you, Ristor… I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

"You're welcome, Sister Katya. Come help out at our restaurant, and take good care of yourself." Natasha said with a mischievous smile, "Otherwise, how can I stay with my brother!"

"Ristor...I..."

Ristor didn't say anything, but gently took her hand and left together.

Two figures suddenly appeared from behind them, transforming into a white-haired woman and a tall, black-haired youth.

"The Geo Archon, Tianxing... your Liyue is truly growing stronger and stronger..." The white-haired woman said with a touch of melancholy, "Liyue is now far more powerful than I ever imagined. It has even begun to change other nations on this continent. This is the 'human world' you sought, isn't it?"

"The moon shines through the clouds, its light shimmering on the rocks, its reflection shimmering in the sky. The moon's reflection shimmers in the clouds, its light shimmering in the sky, its light shimmering in the clouds ...

"I am Ziqiao, not Zibai." Ziqiao shook his head before continuing, "This world is indeed interesting, so I'll accompany you to explore this mortal realm. But speaking of which, could I fire a couple of shots at that damn super light sword cannon?"

"This is a national treasure and should not be used lightly."

"I have a picture of you trying to look cool when you were drunk back then."

"But then again..."

Chapter 460 The Right Path of Humanity is Full of Vicissitudes

"So... do you really want to try it yourself?"

"I have already promised my old friend, so it's alright, come on." Zhongli floated casually on the sea surface of Guyun Pavilion, standing with his hands behind his back. Although his voice was soft, it reached everyone's ears.

Although the reason is unknown, Zhongli suddenly brought his old friend Zibai to participate in the latest "Super Light Sword Cannon Upgrade and Improvement Project", which surprised Yunxiu and Xianyun, who was in charge of the matter. Moreover, he took the initiative to take on the task of being the target, which was originally Yunxiu's responsibility. His only request was that Zibai give the order when it was launched.

This is certainly not a big deal. Originally, this job was supposed to be done by Yunxiu, but since someone is willing to be beaten, why should Yunxiu stop them? In any case, even the upgraded Super Light Sword Cannon only increases its output by less than two times. Even if all four Jade Pavilions were mobilized, they wouldn't be able to harm a hair on Zhongli's head.

"Tracking array has accepted target: Test Field A, Zone 07, Area 02-11!"

"The calibration array has been activated, and the landing point has been determined!"

"The charging array has been activated. All non-essential energy consumption on board the ship must cease!"

"Full power attack! Full charge ready, countdown 20 seconds!"

"Powered up, ready to launch!"

As the sounds rang out, the massive ball of light from the super-light sword cannon condensed at the bow of the ship. The terrifying yet completely concentrated light was incredibly dazzling, and the highly compressed energy gathered together, like an extremely solid piece of jade.

“We can launch now,” Yunxiu said, looking at Zibai.

"Then fire!" Zibai gave the order gleefully. "Aim carefully!"

She pressed the launch button hard, and a beam of white light shot out. The full-power beam cannon was over fifty meters in diameter, so bright that it turned the entire sea white. The sea surface was pressed down by the powerful airflow, revealing a ravine. The beam cannon instantly crossed a distance of tens of kilometers and smashed directly into the floating figure.

But neither an explosion nor a mushroom cloud occurred. The light cannon continued to consume energy on the thin film of light in front of the figure, even splattering out small clusters of energy that splashed up on the surrounding sea, creating huge waves, but had almost no effect on him.

Zi Bai squinted at Zhong Li, who stood motionless in the center of the light cannon. This Rock King Emperor was completely calm and composed, not even moving a muscle.

“Not bad…” he said with a smile, his voice ringing in their ears again: “One more time.”

"Um... we've almost finished collecting the data." Xianyun looked at Zhongli and called out, "Are we really going to come?"

"Listen to him, let's do it again." Zi Bai grabbed Xian Yun's hand and laughed, "If you can increase the power a bit, you can increase it a bit more."

"Uh... okay." Xianyun waved his hand and shouted to the people around him, "Overclocked launch, 150% power!"

Soon, an even thicker and more condensed beam of light struck Zhongli directly, but it still had no effect.

"Alright, that's enough." With a casual flash, he somehow crossed space and entered the command room of the Qunyu Pavilion's Super Light Sword Cannon. Looking at the people present, he smiled and said, "Not bad power. I didn't use the power of laws to test the effect. I didn't expect that it would actually take away three-thousandths of my shield. The power is already quite good."

Yunxiu rolled his eyes, somewhat speechless. This time, his upgrade with Xianyun increased the power of the Super Lightsaber Cannon to 120D12 Holy damage and 200D12 Geo damage. Strictly speaking, the damage increase was more than double. Of course, because the charging circle was also upgraded, the energy requirement did not exceed twice, but the impact effect was definitely more than twice as good as before.

With the added boost to the charging effect, the full-power strike of the overclocked launch is more than ten times more effective than the flood control attack. At this level, a single shot only destroyed three-thousandths of his shield without using any special techniques...

In other words, even if all four platforms were brought over, even if the Emperor didn't use the laws, it would take more than fifty attempts to break through his shield... which is basically a pipe dream.

“However, in terms of sheer power, it should be enough to deal with those demons that have no laws but only flesh and blood. Only those that have their own laws are more troublesome.” Zhongli pondered, stroking his chin. “The mastery of natural laws is limited by the world itself, while self-proclaimed laws are not. The Azure Lotus is an example of this.”

Yunxiu nodded; this was how it would be used for the next period of time.

“However, the Lantern Festival is still more important. Zibai and I will go to Liyue Harbor for a stroll.” Zhongli chuckled and looked at Zibai and Xianyun, saying, “Since it’s already boring, why don’t we set off together? Guizhong and Lishui are also free today, so we can go together.”

"I originally had no interest, but since it was the Emperor who invited me, I had no choice."

"This cannon is really fun. Will Liyue build more of these in the future?"

"Um... the current plan is not to build it, but we will build an upgraded second generation later, which will have the ability to fly to the moon. It is still under development." Yunxiu smiled wryly at the immortal who was always looking for fun and said, "However, we lack talent and a lot of technology, so it will probably take some time."

Zi Bai nodded thoughtfully, but quickly left with the Emperor. Yun Xiu also gave all the staff a holiday after summarizing the data.

There are only three days left until the Lantern Festival. Earlier today, the Emperor, Ying, and Yunxiu had just revived Zibai by combining their three souls. The first thing this lady who had fought in the Demon God War did after being revived was to fire a couple of shots for fun, and she said that this was what the Emperor had agreed to. Although there was nothing wrong with this, just like before, the Emperor had indeed said that he and Zibai would participate in the upgrade plan test.

But what Yunxiu didn't expect was... that he actually called.

The effect is definitely good.

Everything for the Lantern Festival is basically ready. The next few days are just for fun. Even the Moonlit Pavilion will gradually slow down its work. The next few days will be a time of revelry in Liyue, and of course, many people from the other six countries will also be there.

On the one hand, it was naturally because of the upcoming sacrificial ceremony, which was personally presided over by the Emperor. On the other hand, it was because a lot of immigrants had recently arrived in Liyue. Although most of them arrived in winter, this directly led to many people from other countries also being interested in traveling to Liyue. As a result, Yunxiu Merchant Guild's Demiplane Inn made another fortune.

Although the environment of the demiplane is nice and the rooms are large, it is not directly connected to the outside world. Therefore, many traditional inns still make more money. The most typical example is the "White Horse Inn". Since it started offering special dishes for winter, the business of this store has improved a lot. Lu Xiangxiang launched a "free meal for hotel guests" promotion, which made her a lot of money.

This also made "Natasha's Kitchen" a hit, and it has now become a very distinctive "exotic cuisine representative" in Liyue Harbor. Yunxiu has also taken his wife there to eat a few times.

The person in charge of the accounts at the front desk is a girl named Katya. She has a very distinct winter look, the kind of beauty that is traditionally associated with the North. However, it is obvious that she is still recovering from malnutrition. Of course, he knows that this is the girl that Ristoro wanted to save, but even at the time, he did not expect that she would be such a child.