Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

"Also, when traveling these days, be careful not to go to sparsely populated areas!"

The girl lowered her head and counted on her fingers, trying to recall the self-defense rules her family taught her when she was a child.

Originally designed to deal with possible gangsters and robbers, it is also effective against the underworld.

“…….” “…….”

I feel like you're thinking too much.

No matter how powerful the other party is, they have to pass through this small shop door to cause trouble for me.

Compared to the forces in the Bang Bang world, those who can break in through the window or even take everyone in CRYCHIC hostage are far more terrifying than Inazuma's local organization, even if there are no superpowers like the holder of the "God's Eye".

However, normally speaking, it is indeed impossible to directly associate the existence of "another world"...

"Su Shi." Zhe Li suddenly called out the name of the girl beside him.

"Hmm." Su Shi didn't turn to look at him, but showed a pensive expression.

Xiangzi didn't understand what they were talking about for a while. After a while, he saw Su Shi seemed to have made up his mind, slowly raised his head, and smiled faintly -

"Xiaoxiang, we also have something to tell you."

Chapter 29: Change

The starry sky dotted the evening sky, the setting sun lit up the sea, and a cool breeze blew from the towering courtyard that was brightly lit.

The light ripples brought the shadow of the blazing flames, which was the loneliness far from the shore, driven away by the cheers of travelers on their way home.

"This is……?"

The moment she stepped out of Nascita, Toyokawa Shoko was already intimidated by the somewhat gloomy dark alley. But when Baodeng Zeli and Nagasaki Suyo led her out of the alley, the vast scenery easily overwhelmed her astonishment.

"Welcome to 'Inazuma'. As you can see—"

The setting sun was about to be swallowed by the horizon, and Zhe Li slightly raised his palm to block the sight of Chuimu.

The appearance of the outlying island port was no different from the previous few days, even the patrol routes of the guards were almost the same; they walked out of the alleys without being shaken by the scenery even for a moment, as if they had already been integrated into this city naturally, and as if they had never belonged to this world and were insignificant.

"It's a 'different world'."

Xiangzi looked in the direction his face was pointing. The passersby were all wearing antique kimonos. She looked out of place in her Western clothes.

"……incredible."

Toyokawa Shoko wasn't stupid. With just one glance, she realized the worry that had been swirling in her mind for a few minutes was pointless. However, that didn't mean she was completely relieved. Instead, a deeper sense of unease began to grow in her chest from that moment on.

"It was difficult for us to accept it at first," said Su Shi.

She could completely empathize with everything Xiangzi was thinking at the moment. Even if Xiangzi didn't care about the sergeant as much as she did, Nascita was still a place full of memories for Xiangzi. But...

Su Shi shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Since the store is connected to this city that doesn't exist on Earth, there's nothing we can do but accept it, right?"

Sealing the shop door, never to be opened again, and forcing everyone to enter and exit through the windows... Locking "this door" wasn't complicated. The real challenge was that they still didn't understand the principle behind the shop door's connection to the other world. Even if "this door" was locked, what if it was replaced by a window next time? Or another door?

Compared with those potential risks, it is the safest measure at present to let Zhe Li personally guard the "door".

Xiangzi murmured, "Am I dreaming...?"

"Do you want me to pinch you?" Su Shi gave a wicked smile.

She had long wanted to pinch Toyokawa Shoko's soft and tender cheeks.

Xiangzi didn't answer.

Under normal circumstances, even if she didn't respond with sarcasm, she should have taken it calmly and simply rejected Su Shi's ridicule with a few words.

But now she just looked at Su Shi's smile with a blank look, opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her little head seemed to be still trying to understand the surreal scene in front of her.

"Would you like to take a closer look?" Zhe Li asked, "The scenery here is quite nice."

It may be a small fortune that Nascita's store is located in an outlying island port.

Teyvat is a land of gods. Each of the seven existing kingdoms is ruled by a god.

The ruling deity of Inazuma was Baal, the "Thunder General," god of the elemental lightning. He organized the shogunate and controlled politics. His office, the castle tower, sat atop the capital, Inazuma Castle. Inazuma Castle, located just across a shallow shoal from Narukamijima, was easily visible from the island's outlying heights.

Just such a short distance is the difference between a "foreign trade port" and a "capital".

Unlike the Edo Shogunate in Japanese history, Inazuma did not "close the country".

However, it gives people the feeling that it is already quite close to the Edo Shogunate during the period of national isolation: only the remote island, which is not a very wide port, serves as both a customs and a trading port, and the checkpoints in and out of the remote island are also strictly managed, as if General Raiden deliberately suppressed the right of foreigners to travel freely in Inazuma.

however.

'The General has never issued such an order.'

This is how Fengyuan Manye explained it to him at that time.

"But... the 'eternity' that the Shogun seeks is too elusive for the people of Inazuma. Does 'eternity' mean stagnation? Or does it mean avoiding change as much as possible?"

While Liyue, across the sea, became a bustling trade hub, and while Fontaine, further afield, brought mechanical devices rivaling sorcery and magic, Inazuma remained reliant on the swordsmithing skills personally taught by General Raiden. General Raiden, with his "thoughtless blade," slew countless powerful enemies and protected Inazuma for millennia, yet the people of Inazuma made no progress during that time.

How should people who can only hide under the wings of gods deal with the new era?

...The young man who called himself a ronin was so concerned about the country and the people that Zheli felt very sorry for him.

Because after listening to such a long and detailed explanation, he was only interested in one noun.

————“The Unthinking Sword”, is it very powerful?

How does it compare to Black Hole Finish?

Manye once told him a story about General Raiden: Legend has it that once the god killed his powerful enemy, the giant snake demon, with the "Unthinking Sword". The aftermath of that sword tore the earth apart, adding a deep rift to the land of Inazuma.

The rift still gathers strong thunder elements that are enough to hurt people, so people awe-inspiringly call it the "Wuxiang Blade Narrow Space".

In short, its combat power is so high that it can rewrite the map with just one strike.

Then I should be able to easily defeat Zheli, this half-baked Blood Star Slime...

Of course, he wasn't some battle-crazed warrior, determined to challenge the legendary divine punishment. He simply knew it was formidable. However, despite the Thunder God's devastating power, the nation he ruled had languished in cultural stagnation for centuries and millennia... It wasn't so much that the Inazuma people were incapable of innovation, but rather that they didn't dare to.

What if one day I am judged to be contrary to the "eternity" pursued by the gods, and the shogunate forces me to tear everything down and start over again?

Opening a coffee shop on an outlying island can at least borrow some of the aura of foreigners and pretend to be a foreign business, so as not to be under the constant scrutiny of God.

With the natural aura and a little help from the Blood Star's superpowers, Zhe Li now feels that the outlying island is also a good place to live: compared to Tokyo, where you will see the same monotonous high-rise buildings and crowds of people as soon as you walk out of the alley, and where dense signs block the view of the distance, here you can also experience the natural scenery and a more leisurely local customs and culture.

"..."

Xiangzi looked at Zheli's face.

The dusk baked his profile, making that faint smile seem as if it would never fade in the long night.

"it is good."

Even if we were in a completely different universe——

As long as the starlight guiding the way forward is still alive, she seems to be able to muster up some courage to explore the unknown.

Chapter 30 of the Box: Autumn Frost and Falling Maple Leaves, Snow Clears and Meets the Toon Tree: Chapter : Residence

The two of them took Shoko Toyokawa around the outlying islands.

It was evening, and the outlying islands were gradually becoming deserted. To avoid attracting unnecessary attention, Nagasaki Suyo simply held Xiangzi's hand, briefly introducing her to the shops and facilities they passed along the way, and then took a quick look around the city center.

The last stop of the viewing tour is the highest peak of the outlying island.

It's called a peak, but it's actually just a small hill or a small cliff.

At the top of the cliff, there is a solemn statue standing quietly.

Its name is "Seven Days Statue".

As the name suggests, it is a statue symbolizing the seven gods who govern the seven kingdoms.

In Inazuma, the deity carved on the statue is naturally the "eternal" god of thunder - Raiden Shogun.

No one can pinpoint the exact date when the Seven Heavenly God Statues were erected. They seem to have existed everywhere for as long as anyone can remember. For example, the port city of Rishima was built around one of these statues, as if the gods themselves stood atop Takamagahara, overlooking the world.

Therefore, the small hill where the statue is located happens to be the best viewing point for the outlying islands. During the day, you can occasionally see people offering flowers or cleaning the statue.

Compared to the shrines we often associate with gods, the people here seem to show less respect for the statues. But that's understandable: the gods still walk the earth, ruling over their kingdoms for millennia. Should a statue, merely borrowing their image, be treated with a certain amount of respect? Should people be expected to constantly worship and offer sacrifices?

It would be more meaningful to meet the emperor in person at the castle tower.

"So beautiful." When Su Shi came to the statue for the second time, he still couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Compared with the image of Inazuma in legend, who is extremely majestic and uses extreme military force to maintain peace and happiness in a country, the statue is carved in a much more "gentle" appearance - wearing a woman's "kimono", with a long feather hanging down, and the folded hands and legs together look extremely graceful.

If you remove the hexagonal lightning ring behind her that is identical to the one on the Takemikazuchi statue, it is simply a statue of a holy goddess who loves her people like her own children.

The three of them ran for a long time, and the sunset had already set.

A faint, unwilling light shone on the far side of the horizon, illuminating the waves. The area surrounding the statue had completely darkened. Beneath the hill, the city lit up its night lights: no matter how stagnant Inazuma's cultural development had become, it remained a great power, trading resources with the six other nations and advancing alongside them. Its most prosperous offshore port was naturally a city that never slept.

After the busiest market during the day closes, it is the turn of the vendors in the snack street to light up their lights.

Xiangzi followed the two men to the edge of the cliff, found a big rock to sit on, and looked out at the street below the slope which was once again bustling.

“…It’s incredible.”

The girl closed her eyes. She heard the people's cheers, the gentle sound of waves hitting the sand, and the rustling of leaves in praise of the night. It seemed no different from the world she lived in.

Zhe Li smiled and said, "How is it? What do you think?"

Xiangzi opened his eyes and glanced at him briefly.

There was still light from the world under the starless night sky, making his face clearly reflected in the midsummer evening.

In the cool night breeze, Xiangzi calmed down early.

Just because she had completely regained her composure, she suddenly realized that the man in front of her was far more incredible than the entire world.

Even if she passed through a "door" beyond common sense, even if she was in a foreign country with a completely different name and culture, even if she was in a world where gods really existed, as long as humans were still humans, she would still be able to find familiar thoughts and emotions in them, and would still be able to grasp the methods of dealing with "people", because she was cultivated for this purpose.

but……

"Why did you tell me?" Xiangzi asked.

Controlling a door to a secret realm, "intelligence" alone is a rare treasure, not to mention the huge profits that can be earned from cross-border trade. However, even in the world beyond, he is still "just" an ordinary cafe owner, even more miserable than in Tokyo.

At least in Tokyo, the streets outside the store are deserted, but when you go to the outlying islands, you will find yourself in a dark alley when you walk out of the store.

If "Fengchuan" obtained such a magical door, it would only take one day for many familiar "traces" to be left on the other side of the door: as long as humans are still human, they will have a way to reproduce the means of invading society.

But Bao Deng Zheli did nothing. Not only did he do nothing, he also shared such a huge secret with her——

"Because you are also a member of the cafe."

"..."

The girl slowly widened her eyes.

The man looked out at the sea and said in a voice as soft as the wind:

"This happened in the cafe. How could we not let you, a valuable employee, know about it?"

Compared to Su Shi who wanted to keep the secret secret for as long as possible, Zhe Li had already decided to find a day to tell everyone in CRYCHIC.

If he didn't intend to seal the store's doors on the outlying islands, then there would definitely be customers from the outlying islands coming in. Since this store was already a veritable transit point to another world, he certainly shouldn't let everyone at CRYCHIC silently bear the risk of "encountering people from another world."

——Since everyone has regarded this place as a "shelter", then he should also assume the corresponding responsibilities.

"After seeing it with my own eyes, it's not such a scary place, right?" Zheli looked at Xiangzi cheerfully. "Unfortunately, on the outlying islands, most people who go out at night just go to the snack streets and find izakayas to drink at. My little shop in the alley is still as deserted as it is in your world~"

"Yes..." Xiangzi blinked, slowly looked away, and said softly.

The wind brought a hint of the sea air. The girl was silent for a moment, taking in the salty taste, then spoke again:

"As expected, that Chinana-san is from 'this side', right?"

"That's right. She probably thinks you're all tourists from a foreign country."

I have to say, it's a bit silly.

Such an innocent and naive rich girl is so rare and cute.

Xiangzi pondered for a moment, then stood up from the stone, patted his skirt, turned to look at the two of them, and asked, "Mr. Zheli, Ms. Sushi, are you planning to tell Ms. Deng and the others about this?"

"I'm planning on that." Zhe Li answered without hesitation.

Su Shi opened his mouth and tilted his head slightly in annoyance, but did not say anything to refute.