Phil (Verr) Goldet's courier route moved faster than most gossip in Liyue. He carried Takumi's neatly folded letter along an adepti channel — a quick, discreet method the adepti used to shuttle messages across the region. In less than an hour the paper had been borne, rustle and stamp, to the quiet marble of Qunyu Pavilion.
Baiwen opened the note, read, and presented it to Ningguang with the punctuality of well-oiled bureaucracy. Ningguang's eyes skimmed the proposals: slime-powered utilities, water filters, waste conversion, and a surprisingly pragmatic layout of possible pilot sites.
"Talented," she murmured, and the edge of her mouth curved. "Baiwen, commission a trial at the south kiln yards. If it works, accelerate the capture batches. Increase bounties for rock and pyro slimes."
"Understood," Baiwen replied and vanished like a shadow of efficiency.
Ningguang folded the letter with an air someone uses to close a profitable deal. To her, Takumi's ideas were raw material — both for Liyue's development and for investment. Her mind churned through ledgers and export markets with the same ease she read blueprints.
Guili Plains: The Site Hums
On the ground, foundations continued to rise. The cement road had already brought merchants, and now vendors set up stalls: steamed wowotou, crystal shrimp, and smoked meat. Travel had become easier; the city's arteries opened and the traffic of industry and life began to pulse through them.
Adventurers' caravans came and went, hauling slimes to containment pens. The pens resembled odd farms: shaded enclosures, water basins for hydro slimes, insulated boxes for pyro slimes, and monitoring posts for handlers. The rock slimes dutifully deposited small stones; the pyro slimes provided steady heat for kilns. Workers were already whispering that the rumors were true — the monsters were now resources rather than nuisances.
The system's private HUD gave Takumi a quiet nudge.
[SYSTEM — PRIVATE]
Slime capture scale-up authorized.
Daily rock output projection: 600 kg.
Recommendation: Expand containment pens by 30% in 7 days.
Takumi smiled at the tiny readout and folded it away. The future sometimes arrived in polite little notifications.
Mondstadt Responds: Klee Volunteers
Word had reached Mondstadt via Keqing's formal letter. Jean, acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, considered the delicate balance of diplomacy and risk. Liyue requested a demolition specialist — a delicate job requiring skill, and perhaps a touch of the unexpected. Jean called in Albedo for counsel.
"Klee could help," Albedo said with his usual offhand curiosity. "Her detonations are unusually controlled under supervision — albeit unpredictable in creative manner."
Jean pinched the bridge of her nose. "Unpredictable? Albedo, please don't make her sound like a volatile element."
Albedo's lips twitched. "I mean, she refers to explosives as her 'playthings' but she has technique. Sucrose can monitor chemical reactions. They are a reasonable team."
Jean, after weighing relations and commerce, nodded. "Right. She may go, but with a chaperone. Sucrose will accompany her. Klee, remember — no reckless explosions. If you harm public works or citizens, you will be detained."
Klee, who had been bouncing with barely contained excitement the moment Jean unlocked her confinement cell, heard "detained" and nodded solemnly once — then grinned ear-to-ear.
"Captain Jean! I'll be good! I'll be the best demolition helper ever!" she chirped. The idea of sanctioned explosions felt like a license to fly a kite in a hurricane.
Sucrose adjusted her glasses, cheeks pink. "I'll… observe and assist. I have some formulas to moderate blast dispersal and to harness energy afterwards. This could be a valuable experiment."
Albedo packed a small kit of stabilizers and a quiet frown of worry. He handed Klee a little badge and a tiny instruction scroll.
"Simple rules," he said softly. "Minimize collateral, follow Jean's conditions, and let Sucrose run tests before full detonations. Have fun — responsibly."
Klee saluted with dramatic authority. "I am the Boom Girl with responsibility!"
Departure & Small Drama
By noon, a small Mondstadt contingent set out. Klee hopped onto the caravan thoroughly convinced she was the luckiest child in creation. Sucrose, notebook in hand, flitted beside her like a small, worried moth. The Knights of Favonius provided a modest escort; Keqing had specified clear instructions and contact liaisons.
Takumi watched them go with a smile, half amusement, half apprehension. "Try not to level any historic relics," he called.
Klee squealed in delight. "I will build, not destroy! I promise!"
Sucrose waved frantically, already listing variables in her head aloud. The caravan rattled away toward Stone Gate and the path to Guili Plains.
Ningguang Moves: Tests & Contracts
Back at the Qunyu Pavilion, Ningguang's decision rippled quickly into bureaucracy. Baiwen arranged trials at the kiln yards and authorized a fleet of small wagons to collect slimes. Ningguang, always efficient, made a careful note of profit-sharing and territorial rights.
"The Qixing will oversee quality control," she told Baiwen. "If this becomes standard, Ningguang Enterprises will secure exclusive glass and steel processing rights initially. Speed is key. Test now, scale fast."
Baiwen acknowledged and set the wheels in motion. Ningguang's gaze briefly drifted to the model of Guili Plains in her office — a small toy of the future. She traced a route with a finger and thought, not of construction, but of trade routes and tariffs. A city that built its own materials could wield influence — and Ningguang intended to be at the center.
On the Road: Commerce, Rumors, and a Public That Believes
As the news spread — Mondstadt assistance, Ningguang's backing, and the novelty of slime-enabled production — the market chatter grew optimistic. Merchants adjusted their stockpiles, some pivoting quickly to supply the new industry: barrels, kiln bricks, salted meat for workers, and simple glassware.
A few stubborn merchants grumbled about earlier losses — but Ningguang's selective purchases and Keqing's market stabilizers softened the blow. Takumi found himself fielding small meetings with vendors, promising contracts in exchange for trust. He noticed the look in people's eyes: a blend of cautious hope and the weary thrill of opportunity.
Klee's First Demonstration (and Sucrose's Notes)
Three days later, under the watchful eyes of Keqing and the cautious measures of Sucrose, Klee performed her first controlled demolition at a rocky outcrop earmarked for a dock channel. The process was theatrical.
Klee arranged a little pile of carefully measured charges — not unlike a child arranging play bricks. Sucrose checked dispersal patterns and Albedo monitored seismic feedback signatures. Keqing and a small Qianyun detail stood at planned distances with signal flags.
"On the count of three," Sucrose whispered.
"One!" Klee gleefully bounced.
"Two!" Sucrose's voice trembled.
"Boom!" Klee's cheeks puffed, and the little explosive sang a bright, clean note that scattered rubble precisely where intended. The rock flaked out neatly, exposing a more favorable depth for the dock channel.
The gathered crowd — workers, vendors, and several officials — erupted into a mixture of applause and relieved laughter. Klee danced about, pleased as pudding.
Sucrose scribbled notes about overpressure, particulate fallout, and the potential for harnessing residual thermal energy. Albedo offered calm suggestions about charge distribution. Keqing's eyebrow rose in impressed disbelief.
"Good. Keep the blasts measured and have Sucrose model each charge in advance," Keqing instructed. "No impulsive displays."
Klee nodded solemnly, then immediately bounced off to hug a rock, calling it "her new friend." The whole thing was both heroic and slightly absurd.
System Note, and a Quiet Satisfaction
Later, as the sun set and the day cooled to a harbor-blue dusk, Takumi checked the system HUD for updates. Quiet green ticks of approval dotted his interface — the slime pens were producing, the pilot docks planning was on schedule, and the Mondstadt demolition had achieved clean results.
[SYSTEM — PRIVATE]
Event Log: Klee demolition successful; Sucrose reports minimal collateral.
Milestone: Dockbed excavation phase cleared 12%.
Recommendation: Continue interdisciplinary oversight; invite Albedo for long-term material science research.
Risk: Attention from neighboring nations; keep strategy confidential beyond Qixing and allied councils.
Takumi exhaled. There was a small thrill in watching careful chaos turn into useful progress.
Ningguang's investments, Mondstadt's eccentric explosives prodigy, Keqing's iron administration, Ganyu's patience, and the Adventurers' resourcefulness had woven a fast, improbable tapestry. Guili Plains no longer looked like empty fields on a map; it was forming into a working, breathing place.
Takumi pocketed the system notice and walked through the lantern-lit rows of vendors, the murmuring crowd, and the hum of a site that had learned to sing industry's first notes.
He thought of the long ledger he'd fold and send to Ningguang the next morning — waste plans, filtration designs, and a proposal to invite Albedo to head a materials lab.
A new city would need more than lumber and stone. It would need ideas, trust, and people ready to reshape the world's assumptions.
He smiled at the thought that, by tomorrow, the map he'd drawn by hand would carry a route stamped with names, goods, and the first safe explosions. It felt, improbably and wonderfully, like progress.