March 7th waved at Welt.
"Uncle Yang, Uncle Yang, don't worry—Ye Yun's a really good person!"
Stelle quickly agreed.
"Yeah, Ye Yun's a really good guy."
Dan Heng added from the side:
"I've observed him. There's no malice in his eyes toward our train crew. And even though the crew has never rented out a carriage before, haven't we had non-crew members ride the train before?
It's pretty much the same thing—they're all just traveling to different worlds with the train."
Pom-Pom nodded in agreement with Dan Heng.
"That's right, pom.
As long as someone's willing to travel with the train, they're welcome aboard. Renting out a carriage is no big deal—we've got plenty of empty ones."
Seeing that no one had any objections, Himeko made the final call.
"In that case, I'll message Ye Yun right now.
As for the carriage to rent, how about the cargo car behind our rest carriage?"
Everyone agreed, and Himeko sent Ye Yun a message.
At that moment, Ye Yun was already fast asleep in the room arranged for him by Herta.
You could really tell Herta helped out—the room was downright luxurious.
Once the accommodation staff heard it was Herta's order, they treated him like royalty.
Without another word, they gave Ye Yun the most luxurious presidential suite and even served him a gourmet dinner.
Ye Yun didn't receive the message until the next morning.
Even though space has no real day or night, Ye Yun still followed a day/night schedule.
There's no sunlight to tell the time, but time still exists.
And by checking the time, Ye Yun could roughly guess what "time of day" it should be.
After waking up and enjoying the fancy breakfast prepared by the staff, Ye Yun headed for the train.
He arrived at the entrance of the observation carriage and knocked on the door.
Soon, someone opened it from the inside—Pom-Pom appeared before him.
"Who are you? What are you knocking for?"
Ye Yun replied,
"My name's Ye Yun. Himeko told me to come—something about discussing the carriage rental."
Pom-Pom stepped aside to let him in.
"Oh~ it's you, Pom. Come on in, Pom. Himeko and the others are having breakfast."
Ye Yun stepped onto the train and entered the observation carriage.
As soon as he came in, he saw Himeko and the others sitting around having breakfast.
Stelle waved when she saw him.
"Ye Yun! You're here!"
Himeko also greeted him.
"Ye Yun, have you had breakfast yet?"
Ye Yun walked over.
"Yeah, I've eaten. Your breakfast looks pretty good, though."
Welt spoke up at that moment.
"Come eat a little more with us."
Ye Yun looked at Welt.
"No thanks. By the way, how should I address you, sir?"
Welt introduced himself.
"I'm Welt Yang, a member of the train crew. Yesterday, when you arrived, I was busy taking inventory. By the time I got back, you had already left."
Ye Yun smiled.
"Well, it's not too late to meet now. You all go ahead and eat—I'll wait until you're done before we talk."
Saying that, Ye Yun sat off to the side and pulled out his phone to continue copying down the list of products from the system.
At the moment, Ye Yun already had over 1,000 items listed in his phone.
Welt watched him carefully but couldn't sense any hostility from Ye Yun.
He'd lived a long time and was good at reading people—Ye Yun really didn't seem like a threat.
A few minutes later, after everyone finished eating, they led Ye Yun to the cargo carriage behind their rest car.
By now, the clutter in that carriage had been cleared out.
Himeko turned to Ye Yun and asked,
"How about this one?"
Ye Yun nodded in satisfaction.
"This'll do."
He then pulled out a [Shop Card] and tore it apart.
The moment it was torn, it turned into a beam of light that enveloped the entire carriage.
The light filled the whole space—so bright that everyone had to close their eyes.
When the light faded, their eyes widened in shock.
Before them—
The once-dark and shabby carriage had been completely transformed into a refined restaurant.
To the right, there was an open kitchen with a bar-style counter connected to the grill station, and a few high stools lined up in front.
To the left, there was a large floor-to-ceiling window, beside which were three booth seats, each able to seat four people.
At the front of the carriage was a small bar, and on the bar counter were two touchscreen displays, showing the items Ye Yun had for sale.
At the center of the carriage was a long dining table that could seat up to ten people.
The whole carriage was decorated in warm tones, giving it a cozy, welcoming feel.
Ye Yun looked at the new shop with immense satisfaction.
The system's shop card really delivered—this design matched his taste perfectly.
He could cook here, sell products, and even host small gatherings with friends for drinks and conversation.
Stelle and March 7th stared at the transformed carriage in complete shock.
"March, pinch me! I need to know if I'm dreaming."
March 7th gave Stelle's side a solid twist.
"Ow!!!!"
Stelle gasped.
"Hey! That hurt!"
Realizing it wasn't a dream, Stelle stared at the shop in disbelief.
"This is real? Ye Yun, how did you do this?"
Ye Yun clapped his hands.
"Of course—this is one of the products I sell."
The shop card was also available in the system store, though it had a different name there: Renovation Card, priced at 1,000 Star Coins.
Next, Ye Yun gave everyone a tour of the shop.
Himeko looked at the empty spot next to the bar and thought about moving the Spiritual Energy Coffee Machine over.
The space on the counter in the observation carriage was a bit cramped and hard to use—this spot would be much better.
Stelle and March 7th wandered around the bar area.
Stelle ran over to the mini-bar and opened the fridge, gasping in shock when she looked inside. It wasn't just a regular fridge—it had a whole subspace freezer, probably over 50 cubic meters in size.
"March! Come look!"
March 7th, who had been using her space camera to take pictures of the drinks, ran over.
"What is it?"
Stelle pointed inside. "March, check it out—this fridge is huge!"
March 7th took a closer look and was stunned too.
"This fridge is massive!"
Himeko, Welt, and Dan Heng had just arrived at that part of the shop as well. When they saw the subspace fridge, they all exclaimed in awe.
While the others were busy exploring, Ye Yun sat off to the side, communicating with the system.
"System, submit the task."
[Notice! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission: Open a Shop! Reward obtained: Special Series Product (Elf Series Unlocked), Interdimensional Guest Invitation x1.]
[New missions issued: Task 1: Serve a total of 20 unique customers. Reward: Lottery Machine x1. Task 2: Reach total sales of 100,000 Star Coins. Reward: Envoy-level Power x1]
***
Ye Yun was just about to check the specific function of the "Invitation Letter for Guests from Another World" when Stelle suddenly popped her head out from behind the sofa and patted Ye Yun on the shoulder.
"Ye Yun!"
Ye Yun turned around and saw Stelle patting his shoulder with one hand and holding the can of fermented herring she had won from the lottery with the other.
"Ye Yun, can I put something in your fridge?"
Ye Yun agreed without hesitation.
"Sure, just don't put anything too smelly in there."
Stelle looked at the can in her hand. This shouldn't be a problem, right? It doesn't smell that bad unopened anyway.
With Ye Yun's permission, Stelle zipped over to the fridge and placed the can of herring into the extra-dimensional space inside.
She then touched her waist—there was still a baseball bat hanging there.
She made a motion to shove it in too, but March 7th quickly stopped her.
"Stelle, maybe don't put the bat in there. Just leave it somewhere nearby."
Stelle thought for a moment and figured March 7th made a good point.
"Alright."
She looked around and leaned the bat against the wall near the entrance.
Back to Ye Yun—
He was now examining the information on the Invitation Letter.
[Invitation Letter for Guests from Another World] Effect: After use, it invites a guest from another world.
The description was very simple—just one plain line. Ye Yun felt a little let down after all that anticipation.
He took out the letter and, following the system's instructions, infused a bit of his power into it.
The next second, the invitation was activated and dissolved into nothingness.
***
Teyvat, Mondstadt—Eagle's Gate Beach
The Traveler Lumine and her floating companion, Paimon, were chatting as they walked.
"Lumine, hurry up! We're almost at the Statue of The Seven!"
Paimon flew ahead and waved Lumine forward, urging her to catch up.
Lumine quickened her pace to follow.
As the two climbed up a cliff—
A winged envelope flew toward them.
Paimon looked at it curiously.
"Lumine, look! What's that? A flying letter?"
Lumine looked up. The envelope was already closed.
It didn't stop until it landed right in her hands.
She opened it.
The moment she did, a portal appeared before them, startling Paimon.
"Whoa—what is that?!"
Lumine drew her sword and cautiously stared at the portal.
They hesitated for a few minutes. Since no one came out, Lumine carefully stepped forward.
"Be careful, Lumine," said Paimon, still wary of the portal.
Lumine nodded and slowly extended her hand toward the portal's glow.
Just as she touched it, a sudden suction pulled her inside.
Paimon panicked.
"Lumine! Can you hear me?! What do I do?!"
Gritting her teeth, Paimon flew straight into the portal.
***
Back in Ye Yun's shop
March 7th stood beside the portal, curiously observing it.
"Ye Yun, when are the guests coming through? It's been a while, and this portal hasn't moved at all."
Stelle chimed in.
"Yeah, is this thing fake?"
Himeko, Welt, and Dan Heng were also quite curious.
Ye Yun had told them a guest from another world would be arriving, and they were all eager to see what someone from another world looked like.
Ye Yun took a sip of tea and said calmly:
"Don't rush—it'll happen soon."
Right after he spoke, the portal flickered.
The next second, Lumine and Paimon came flying out, one after the other.
They crashed right into Stelle and March 7th, who didn't have time to react.
"Ouch!"
Lumine slowly opened her eyes—this place...
It looked like a store, but outside was a starry sky.
A starry sky?!
Lumine immediately became alert—this was clearly not Teyvat anymore!
At that moment, a cough came from beneath her.
"Ahem... Miss, do you mind getting up? You're kind of squishing me."
Lumine looked down and saw a pink-haired girl coughing as she lay underneath her.
Lumine scrambled to her feet.
"Sorry! So sorry!"
She helped March 7th up and looked her over with concern.
"Are you okay?"
March 7th took a breath.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Didn't think Ye Yun's portal was real. I mean, someone actually came through!"
Stelle had already stood up—Paimon had hit her with a bit of force, but nothing serious.
As for Paimon, she was sprawled on the couch, her eyes spinning.
"Hi there, what's your name?" Stelle asked Lumine.
With the "God's Mouth" knocked silly, Lumine had to introduce herself.
"Hello, I'm Lumine, a traveler."
March 7th and Xing took turns introducing themselves.
"Hi, I'm March 7th, a nameless guest."
"Hey hey, I'm Stelle, the galaxy's legendary bat-wielding hero!"
At that moment—
Ye Yun walked over.
"Hello, Lumine. Welcome to my shop.
As you can see, this isn't Teyvat. This is a completely different world."
Lumine looked Ye Yun over.
"Hello there."
Stelle patted Ye Yun's shoulder.
"Lumine, he's the one who invited you."
At the word "invited," Lumine frowned.
Invite? Are you sure that was an invitation? That was straight-up kidnapping!
If we weren't on your turf right now, I'd totally beat you up!
Ye Yun noticed the subtle shift in Lumine's mood and was puzzled.
He had just met her—hadn't done anything to offend her, right?
Then he remembered—oh right, she was pulled in pretty roughly…
He quickly asked the system and finally understood.
Oh great… This wasn't an invitation—this was abduction!
Ye Yun gave an awkward smile and continued the conversation.
"Lumine, the reason I brought you here is to offer you the chance to purchase items from my shop.
I sell all kinds of things—if you can imagine it, I probably have it."
Lumine eyed him with suspicion.
Ye Yun went on.
"Don't just take my word for it. Go try it out.
See that touchscreen at the bar? That's where the items are displayed—you can browse them yourself.
Oh, and one more thing: I only accept 'Star Coins.' You can probably exchange your Primogems for them."
In the Honkai world, Stellar Jade could be exchanged, so in Teyvat, it was probably Primogems.
Lumine thought about it. Might as well give it a try—what if he was telling the truth?
If he really had something that could help her recover her powers quickly, that would be great.
Once she recovered her strength, she could resume her search for her brother.
With that in mind—
Lumine walked toward the bar counter.