Wangshu Inn had traded its tea-house calm for purposeful bustle. Ningguang's seal on the place had turned the famous inn into a logistics hub: spare rooms for engineers, storehouses for sacks of lime and clay, a back workshop for prototype kilns, and a corner repurposed as Takumi's impromptu office. The inn's owner, Verre, had taken it in stride—business models changed; smiles were still smiles.
Takumi stood at a long trestle table under the inn's overhang, the Guili Plains model spinning above it. The projection glittered precisely where he wanted it, streets in bold, plots numbered, foundations marked with clean little icons. Around him, foremen, masons, slurry mixers, a few Geo Vision holders who'd volunteered for heavy lifting, and the new slime handlers clustered like planets around a sun.
Keqing had the look of someone who had memorized a thousand summons and still disliked surprises. She paced once, snapped her fingers, and then laid out the day's marching orders with brisk efficiency.
"Listen up. Today and tomorrow: foundations and temporary facilities. You have the model—use it. If you need help with permits, Baiwen is at the estate. Qianyun militia are on perimeter duty. No heroes showboating near the trenches." She glanced at Takumi. "You ready to lecture the crew?"
Takumi rubbed his temples theatrically, then smiled. "Always. But I'll keep it short and useful."
He tapped the model. House plots glowed. A set of blueprint sheets—perfect, simple, and modular—materialized and floated down into the foremen's hands. They were Takumi's gift and his secret: each sheet showed foundation depth, rebar placement (timber for now where steel was unavailable), drainage vectors, and a quick checklist for curing times. The workers leaned in like apprentices at a master's bench.
The foreman with the soot-streaked brow—Rong—grinned until his face split. "This is clearer than a ritual scroll. We can build this."
Takumi pointed to a cluster near the Wangshu Inn teleport waypoint. "Start there. Don't destroy the ruins. Leave heritage alone; restore later for tourism. We're using the flat lands first. Set up tents for rest, kitchens, a smith tent for tools, a med tent, and a small office for daily logs."
He handed each team a labeled placard. "These numbers go on the model and on the ground markers. If we keep land planning consistent with the model, we'll avoid rework."
Keqing snapped a seal of approval. "I've already issued temporary occupancy permits. The magistrates will record the allotments. Any disputes come to me."
Ganyu walked among the groups, hair still catching the morning light, passing ration lists and comforting the quieter hands. "We'll maintain a rotation schedule so no one overworks," she said softly. Her voice had the calming authority of snowfall.
Down near the pens, Takumi called a smaller crew together. "Listen. Slime containment is a new thing for most of you. Treat them like livestock—feed, rotate, monitor moisture. For pyro slimes, use sealed iron boxes like this." He held up a compact, dark iron box—simple, utilitarian, with venting and a removable tray.
Keqing examined it and frowned. "You've made a sealed container. That's… deceptively simple."
"It's a containment stove," Takumi explained. "You place the pyro slime inside the box, the heat radiates through the vents. It's stable if you don't agitate it too much. If you need more heat, agitate carefully—controlled agitation will increase output. If a pyro slime overheats, drop it into a water bath to cool it. Hydro slimes will calm it down immediately." He shrugged. "It's safe with protocol."
A few handlers exchanged skeptical looks. One muttered, "You drop a slime into water and it behaves?"
Takumi nodded. "Yes. Hydro will cool. We learned early—don't mix pyro and hydro without protective gear. That rookie who tried spark-juice didn't follow that rule." A few people snorted; the admonition was useful and funny in the same breath.
Keqing's practical brain ticked through contingencies. "We need water stations near the pyro lines, extinguish pits at every kiln, and an ice contingency for cryo slimes. Safety first. Draft the protocol and I'll stamp it into local ordinance."
Takumi tapped his Vision at his hip; a terse HUD line blinked in his private display.
[SYSTEM — PRIVATE]
Slime Containment SOP v1.1 created.
Recommendations: fire pits, water baths, dedicated handlers, rotation schedule. Health check daily. Reward + hazard pay included.
Note: Keep public visits restricted until QC and training complete.
He made quick amendments and pushed the final SOP to a stack for the foremen. Rong grinned again and said, "We'll learn to care for them like old mules. Only cuter and more explosive."
Geo Holders and Muscle Work
Large-scale lifting required more than ropes and muscle. Liyue lacked modern cranes, but where machinery was missing, Geo Vision holders filled the gap. A band of artisans with Geo Visions had been hired: they could solidify earth temporarily, create wedge supports, and move heavy kiln stones with controlled tremors.
Takumi walked among them, handing out staggered assignments. "You'll work the compaction phase—compact the backfill and handle stone placements for foundations. Keep the vibrations brief; too much causes microfractures."
One elderly Geo wielder looked at his hands and smiled. "Feels like the old rites—shape and steady the earth." He flexed his fingers and a small circular pillar rose from the packed soil. The workers whooped in real, delighted approval. Seeing elemental power put to practical use gave them a sense of wonder and dignity.
The Wangshu Inn Model Room: Blueprints Materialize
Later that afternoon, Takumi retreated with Keqing to the model room in Wangshu Inn. He needed to finalize the first set of house blueprints and the communal facility schematics.
He placed his palm above the luminescent projection and activated Deep Mode. Detailed two-story house plans unfolded like a scroll: foundation depth 60 cm for standard single-family plots, drainage channels, lime-based mortar mixes, and reinforcement points. For multi-story office blocks, he drafted reinforced wooden lintels and temporary bracing instructions until steel production ramped up.
Keqing watched with a rare, almost impressed silence. "Your modular approach will speed construction," she conceded. "Quick to teach, easy to replicate."
Takumi grinned. "Exactly. The idea is to scale by repetition. Train masters, seed apprentices, and multiply capability."
He handed her a sealed packet. "These are house allocation numbers. Make teams form and pick which houses they'll manage. Ownership and profit-sharing agreements will be drafted after the first quarter."
Keqing allowed a tiny smile. "You make contracts like Zhongli used to quote them."
"Only with less funeral solemnity," Takumi joked.
Keqing's Letter and Mondstadt's Reply
At dusk Keqing prepared a formal letter—script neat, seal ready—addressed to a demolition specialist in Mondstadt. "Please accept this as a request for assistance in controlled terrain modification," she wrote. "We require precision blasting to carve a deep-water channel at Yaoguang Shoal and to clear bedrock for docks."
She folded the letter with her characteristic precision and entrusted it to a fast courier bound for Stone Gate. "It will reach them by tomorrow afternoon," she told Takumi. "If they accept, the helper might arrive in three days."
Takumi nodded. Timing aligned with the dock-phase schedule. "Excellent. We won't begin dock blasting until they arrive."
Temporary Facilities and First Trenches
Night found the site lit by arrayed oil lamps. Tents stood in tidy rows, kitchens smoked with the evening stews, med tents were stocked, and the smiths hammered away.
Takumi walked the grounds, inspecting the first trench lines now chalked into the soil. The masons had set batter boards; string lines gleamed under lamp light. The Geo holders had raised compacted foundations that would cradle the first poured slabs.
"You're doing this well," Keqing said softly. "You turned a model into movement."
Takumi looked at the workers—faces streaked with sweat, soot, and pride—and felt the quiet swell of something like family. He'd been drifting since his arrival; now he had hands to hold and a city to build.
He tapped his Vision one more time and, for himself alone, the system sent a brief update.
[SYSTEM — PRIVATE]
Milestone: Temporary facilities established; initial foundation trenches laid.
Materials staging: On schedule. Slime containment operational. Geo holder teams active.
Next: Begin foundation excavation at 0600. Mondstadt reply pending. Keep public displays limited to maintain stability.
Takumi pocketed the HUD and shouted across the lamp-glow. "All teams—rest up. We break ground proper at dawn. Bring water, bring food, and bring good humor."
Rong, ever the voice of the field, called back with a grin: "We brought the hammer and the appetite!"
Keqing allowed herself a full, rare smile. Ganyu's soft voice floated on the air with a prayer for safety. The Wangshu Inn's courtyard hummed with lanternlight and the steady slow music of many people working toward a shared shape.
Outside the camp, a single rock slime in its containment pen chewed thoughtfully and spat a pebble onto the sawdust. A young handler picked it up with reverent care and carried it to the layout board.
One pebble at a time.
One foundation at a time.
The new city of Guili Plains—still a bright, awkward idea—had its first small heartbeat.