Cloud Retainer folded her long sleeves carefully and regarded Takumi with the kind of look that measured both wisdom and boredom. The Inn's morning breeze pulled at her hair like a curious child. Klee had returned with a tray piled too-high with pastries and stared at the Adeptus as if she were the world's most interesting toy.
"Cloud Retainer," Takumi said, "thank you for coming on such short notice."
Cloud Retainer inclined her head. "Zhongli's instructions. The Emperor asked the adepti to keep watch and lend assistance if the newcomer needed it. I came to see whether your plans will disturb the balance."
Keqing, nearby with a travel mug, snapped a quick salute. "We discussed logistics. Takumi wants aid with heavy lifting and terrain work. Your aerial advantage would be invaluable."
Cloud Retainer's expression softened a hair. "You speak plainly, Yuheng. I appreciate it. Tell me what you need."
Takumi set his teacup down, cleared his throat, then did something he'd been doing more often: he let the model appear.
A translucent 3D projection shimmered over the table—no larger than a teacup at first, then it grew into a detailed model of the newly designed dock, cranes, and a modular lifting scaffold. Tiny animated workers—just outlines—moved about the model, and the model rotated on invisible axes so Cloud Retainer could inspect underwater supports, winches, and the placement of floating pylons.
Klee clapped. "Magic drawing!"
Cloud Retainer's eyes narrowed—less curiosity, more calculation. "Is this an adeptal projection? A spirit-scry?"
Takumi smiled faintly and tucked the answer behind a practiced shrug. "A design. I can make models like this. It helps convey complex spatial plans quickly." He lowered his voice, careful. "There's… a tool. It assists with translation from blueprint to work order. Only I can see the full data." He didn't say "system." He didn't have to; the way he touched the projection made the model stutter and then display a checklist.
A thin line of text pulsed only in Takumi's vision.
[SYSTEM] — BLUEPRINT MODULE (v1.3)
• Function: 3D manifestation + executable work-plan generation.
• Output: assembly sequences, resource lists, task priorities.
• Access: OWNER ONLY.
Takumi's jaw tightened for a second. He tapped his wrist absentmindedly, then steered the conversation back out loud.
"If you can mobilize aerial support, we can use modular hoists to place heavy piers without huge ground crews," he explained. "Your adepti already excel at stabilizing floating stones and lining up heavy loads. The projection shows where to place counterweights and where to anchor. If an adeptus can guide the hoists, the work speeds up tenfold."
Cloud Retainer's composure relaxed into the hint of a smile. "You mapped the current river flow, the underground streams… clever. If the underground river is helped to swallow debris, the depth change is predictable." She touched the projection with one finger—no sparks, just a careful motion. "If we assign two flying adepti to anchor the central scaffold and three to guide the cement runs, we can install the primary pilings by midday."
Keqing gave a rare, genuine grin. "Perfect. We'll coordinate the Qianyan Army for on-ground support and safety perimeters. Klee will… assist with debris clearing under supervision."
Klee puffed, proud. "Klee is a professional boom-extractor!"
Sucrose, who had slipped in quietly and was hovering near Albedo with a stack of notes, clapped politely. "If the adepti can stabilize the air currents, Aerostatics will be much easier. I can measure particle drift and help Klee time detonations more safely."
Albedo peered at the model with professional curiosity. "Your modular scaffolding is intriguing. The joints simulate tolerances well. If you permit, I'll design a primitive chaos-analog transformer to regulate the power for servo-anchors. Nothing like Ruin tech, but functional."
Takumi felt his shoulders unclench—their expertise filled the gaps in his vision. He'd dreamed up the city in sketches, but he'd always needed people like these: practitioners of the land who could make schematic lines meet stones and wind.
Cloud Retainer's voice went a shade formal again. "We will lend aerial support, but on one condition. The new docks and the city must not destroy what is sacred. Ruins remain intact where possible. The adepti's duty is to maintain balance." Her eyes flicked to Takumi. "Will you ensure that?"
Takumi looked at the model where tourist paths threaded around old ruins and noddingly promised: "Yes. Restore first, build around. Preserve the cultural layers."
Cloud Retainer accepted that. "Then I shall bring five adepti. Xiao as guardian?" She glanced upward.
Seconds later, a small gust heralded Xiao's arrival. He didn't bother with formalities—he simply landed with a clink of his polearm and the unavoidable air of a guardian who'd rather be dealing with monsters than with men's plans.
"Will there be heavy lifting?" Xiao asked, voice flat.
"Yes," Takumi said. "And vigilance. We need you to keep the Xiao-standard of 'don't get distracted by pretty things'."
Xiao's lips twitched faintly—something like amusement. "I dislike craftsmanship inspections. But I dislike chaos more. I will watch."
Hu Tao, who'd been meandering in with an armful of funeral parlor pamphlets (and a suspiciously cheerful look), popped into view at that instant. She leaned over the table, peered at the projection, and then at Takumi.
"A new city? Will there be a tea shop with good views?" She smirked. "If Takumi succeeds, I demand a grand opening party. Free coffins for the first fifty customers."
Klee squealed delightedly. "Free coffins?! Is it a prize for blowing the biggest fish?"
Hu Tao laughed. "No, no. It's an old Hu Tao marketing joke. Leave it to me."
Keqing's eyebrow rose. "Your marketing ideas are strange."
Hu Tao's eyes twinkled. "Strange sells."
Takumi ignored the sales pitch and nodded toward Cloud Retainer. "If you can have the adepti begin tomorrow morning, we'll run the first crane tests in the afternoon. I'll provision the site for the anchors and make sure the workers' safety is prioritized."
Cloud Retainer folded her hands. "I will call the flock."
She lifted a hand and, without ostentation, sent a telepathic summons into the winds—less like speech and more like a command that the old bonds of Liyue understood. Within an hour, the sky hummed with living shapes: great cranes wheeled overhead, adepti forms working in coordinated silence, tethered by finesse rather than force. The sight was both terrifying and beautiful—wings beating, stone-light trails trailing behind like brushstrokes.
When the first living crane drifted down, its shadow cooling the workers, even the Qianyan Army officers paused in reverent silence.
Blueprint Explanation (Simplified)
Over breakfast and under the watchful circle of adepti, Takumi explained the function of his manifested models in plain terms—no system jargon aloud, only practicalities.
"It's a way to see the plan and break it down," he told them. "Not just a picture. It lists tasks in order, the manpower needed, where to put the anchors, the tolerances—the 'how' not just the 'what'. For instance, the model shows the crane must hold at X angle while the cement pour happens, then rotate 12 degrees and drop the pylon. The workers don't need to interpret ambiguous sketches; they get precise sequences."
Albedo chimed in from habit: "It also enables educated estimates for stresses and loads, as long as the input data are accurate."
Keqing nodded. "If this works as you say, we can coordinate adepti, Qianyan troops, masons, and alchemists in a single timeline. Construction will be safe—and fast."
Cloud Retainer regarded the model once more, then finally said what Takumi had hoped to hear: "Show me the first sequence. Tomorrow, the adepti will lift the first pilings. But remember: we move stone with respect, not with hunger. Let the city be a partner, not a conquest."
Takumi bowed slightly. "Understood."
Klee, who had been quietly stacking leftover buns into ridiculous towers, piped up: "Can I be the official Boom Checker?"
Sucrose shivered and clutched her notes. "I'll… supervise Klee's experiments?" she offered, which meant she panicked but intended to remain nearby.
Hu Tao clapped. "Then the plan is settled. After the hoists, I will host a small funeral-parlor-themed celebration for the cranes. They deserve tea."
Xiao made a face like a half-smile and muttered, "Do not let them fall from the sky," and then disappeared—off to stand guard and scowl at any passing cloud with a suspicious expression.
By evening, the projection folded back into nothing, the breakfast plates cleared, and the schedule for tomorrow sketched onto the blackboard.
Takumi watched Cloud Retainer depart, leading her flock in stately arcs. The sky took on the colors of dusk, and the new city's silhouette—half ruin, half scaffolding—caught the last light like a promise.
[SYSTEM] — BLUEPRINT MODULE LOG
• Pilings Sequence alpha saved.
• Resource list transmitted to Ningguang (via Baishi).
• Adepti support registered: Cloud Retainer + 5.
• Recommended safety buffer: +2 Qianyan patrols.
Takumi hid the tiny system ping with a smile, then looked at his ragtag team of adepts, alchemists, and misfit friends. The plan was no longer just his idea. It was theirs.
"Tomorrow," he said simply, "we take the sky."
Klee cheered. Hu Tao winked. Keqing made a list. Sucrose trembled with a notebook. Albedo packed sketches. Cloud Retainer's flock settled like stars on the horizon. Xiao was already gone, probably meditating in a shadow. Ningguang's support would arrive, of course—never a doubt.
Takumi blew on his tea and watched the steam rise into the evening, feeling it carry something new: the smell of cement, the whisper of wire, and the simple, stubborn possibility of a light that would not only burn brightly but last.
That night, Wangshu Inn slept like a city about to be born.