People fear the darkness.
Darkness signifies the primitive, the hidden, and unseen crises, but it is also a symbol of mystery.
When a person is placed in endless darkness, they won't necessarily close their eyes; in fact, it's highly likely to be the opposite. They will strain to keep their eyes wide open, staring into the infinite darkness ahead, as if doing so might allow them to detect danger in advance and secure their survival.
Just like the current Orion, his eyes were completely unable to move away from Keqing's black stockings.
The black part is like Dove Chocolate, so the golden part must be Ferrero Rocher, right? Orion thought.
Many people nowadays see 'prison guards' and immediately shout 'ice cream,' whether they are wearing something or barefoot. This is like someone hearing 'prison guard' and immediately shouting 'Arknights player,' which elevates a niche forum behavior to all Arknights players.
But actually, the number of Operators in Arknights who truly expose their feet is barely enough to fill your Secretary slot.
As a fundamentalist, Orion must point out that in the beginning, 'Chocolate' was used to describe black stockings because the white stocking faction first gave the name 'eating ice cream' to the white stocking 'prison guards.' Naturally, the black stocking faction needed their own code name. Later, the barefoot faction even adopted the name 'Alps.'
But none of that matters. What matters is that his eyes were completely stuck on Keqing's black stockings. Damn it, wasn't the Pseudo-Black Hole his own ability? Why was the attraction of these black stockings even greater than his own black hole!
This attraction far exceeds that of a Stellar-mass Black Hole—is it an Intermediate-mass Black Hole?! Damn it! The photons in my eyes can no longer escape!!!
Keqing and Hu Tao nearby also noticed Orion's gaze. Compared to Hu Tao, who immediately understood Orion's thoughts and felt speechless, Keqing was a bit slow to react.
"Ah! Mr. Orion!"
Before Orion and the others could answer Keqing's previous question, a voice as gentle as water came from the side.
Orion struggled to move his gaze away from Keqing's black stockings. Difficult, too difficult! Does escaping a black hole really require faster-than-light speed? Watch me shift my gaze at the fastest speed!
As his line of sight shifted, everyone present looked in the direction of the gentle voice. The person standing there was none other than Miss Ganyu, the General Secretary of the Seven Stars of Liyue, with slightly curly blue hair and a pair of qilin horns atop her head.
This one is the fighter jet among black stockings.
Supermassive Black Hole! This is a Supermassive Black Hole!!!
Having just escaped the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's mouth, Orion felt like his eyes were about to be torn apart by the black stockings on both sides.
However, Ganyu, who was groggy from overworking, didn't notice Orion's strange gaze. Instead, she ran over happily to greet him: "Long time no see, Mr. Orion. I caused you quite a bit of trouble last time when I was confused."
"Oh, no, no, I should thank Miss Ganyu for taking the trouble to notify me back then." Orion politely returned the greeting.
Ganyu smiled sweetly: "Not at all. I should be thanking you for looking after my junior sister recently."
Ganyu looked very relaxed today. Compared to her usual professional demeanor shown in public, today she could even be described as soft and delicious.
Keqing and Hu Tao looked at the two with some surprise.
"Oh dear, I didn't realize my consultant was acquainted with such a prominent figure from Yuehai Pavilion?"
"Yes, Ganyu, you've met him?"
Both voiced their confusion. Ganyu nodded, extending her hand level with Orion and saying: "Mr. Orion is Lady Ningguang's guest. Lady Ningguang once hosted him at the Jade Chamber."
"What?!"
"Impossible..."
Two more exclamations. Hu Tao marveled that this consultant, despite being an outsider, seemed to have connections no less impressive than the consultant in her own family.
Keqing also began to re-evaluate Orion because he had been hosted by the Tianquan.
Moreover, both noticed Ganyu mentioning Orion looking after her junior sister. Hu Tao quickly inferred Shenhe's identity, while Keqing felt a complex, hard-to-define emotion.
Keqing's ideology is relatively progressive; she doesn't believe humanity cannot survive without the Adeptuss, constantly needing to live under their protection. In her mind, the relationship between humans and Adeptuss should be a cooperative one, like her relationship with Ganyu.
And Orion appeared to be human, yet he was capable of looking after a disciple of the Adeptuss. What attitude would he hold regarding the relationship between humans and Adeptuss?
While the two were deep in thought, Orion and Ganyu exchanged a couple more words.
"Miss Ganyu, you feel quite different from the previous two times we met," Orion teased.
Ganyu smiled shyly upon hearing this: "I was working last time, after all~ I'm usually like this."
Speaking of which, Ganyu suddenly remembered Orion's situation from their last encounter and asked with some concern: "Mr. Orion, has your stiff neck gotten better?"
Hu Tao raised an eyebrow: "Stiff neck? What stiff neck?"
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!!" Orion coughed violently several times to change the subject: "It's fine, it's fine. Anyway, what exactly are we here for this time? Are Miss Ganyu and Miss Keqing both here at Guili Plains for the same reason?"
Keqing then remembered that she had come out to greet the WangSheng Funeral Parlor group but hadn't yet explained the task in detail.
So she turned and made a welcoming gesture: "Members of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor, please follow me. I will explain everything in detail."
After she spoke, several construction workers brought out objects resembling safety helmets and handed them to Hu Tao, Orion, and the accompanying members of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor's Yin-Yang Division.
Orion took one and examined it. He had expected the helmet to be made of metal, but surprisingly, it was made of a relatively light material that didn't seem to be plastic. Perhaps Teyvat had developed a different technology tree?
It's worth noting that Keqing's helmet was purple and had two shapes resembling cat ears on top, while Ganyu's was ice-blue and had two holes to allow her qilin horns to stick out.
All the safety helmets for the WangSheng Funeral Parlor staff were red and imprinted with the WangSheng Funeral Parlor logo.
While putting on the helmet, Hu Tao asked Orion to help her put her ancestral small hat away into his Wang Cai, then whispered: "I say, were you staring at their legs the whole time just now?"
Orion shook his head like a rattle-drum: "No, Director, I am a gentleman."
"If you were a gentleman, you wouldn't insist on carrying me on your back every time we go out! If it wasn't for legs, what else would it be for?" Hu Tao simply rolled her eyes at him. It just goes to show how terrifying habits can be.
Hearing this, Orion looked down at Hu Tao's thighs. Her healthy, pale thighs reflected the sunlight. So dazzling! This is a Quasar!!!
"I usually hold onto them to prevent you from redshifting."
"What are you talking about?"
"Astronomy knowledge."
Following Keqing, the group entered the construction site. Although it was called a construction site, the entire Guili Plains area was under construction. Therefore, Keqing had divided it into several zones, gradually clearing the ruins from far to near, and preserving the excavated antiques as completely as possible.
Gradually sealing off areas did not significantly impact the main road's detour. They only needed to fence off the active work area and detour that small section of the main road, resulting in nothing more than an extra horseshoe-shaped path.
The group arrived at a place resembling a military camp, where a small conference room was located.
After taking their seats, Keqing briefly explained the overall plan. The Guili Plains revitalization project was roughly divided into three steps. The first step was clearing the ruins by zone, which was what they were currently doing.
The second step was repairing bridges and roads. Veteran Travelers who have run across the great world of Teyvat know that many wooden bridges in Liyue have been destroyed by monsters. Although the Traveler moves quickly, it is difficult for local Teyvat residents to travel. Keqing wanted to solve this problem once and for all, ideally converting the main road bridges into stone bridges.
The third step was attracting investment and building houses, but that was for later.
Standing in front of a blackboard, drawing and writing, Keqing looked incredibly capable, giving off the aura of a young female CEO.
Orion also remembered that he knew about this matter. Not just him, Paimon knew too.
After all, Paimon first discovered this matter on the Jade Chamber; it was written on Ningguang's board.
After the general introduction, Keqing turned her gaze to Hu Tao and Orion: "We invited the members of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor here because we require your assistance in safeguarding the construction site."
"Aren't the Millelith here?" Hu Tao asked, raising her hand.
"If it were a simple monster attack, the Millelith would naturally handle it. What you need to deal with is not merely monsters."
Following this, Keqing took out a photograph and taped it onto the blackboard.
"It is Ley Line Pollution!"
In the photograph, there was a Mitachurl emitting black smoke.
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