Back to the train...
Klee, Hook, Bailu, and Diona were left to roam around the train on their own since Ye Yun was busy.
As they wandered, the four little ones quickly got bored and started thinking about heading out to play.
Bailu pointed at the Herta Space Station outside the window.
"Let's go out and play?"
Klee shook her head.
"Nope~ Big brother Ye Yun and Captain Jean both said we can't go out without an adult—it's dangerous outside!"
Hook and Diona both nodded, backing up Klee's words.
Bailu lowered her head, disappointed.
She glanced around, and then her gaze landed on Zhongli, who was listening to music.
Zhongli was sitting on a couch in the lounge area with his eyes closed, holding a small radio, quietly enjoying a tune.
"I've got an idea! Follow me!"
The four little ones ran over to Zhongli's side and stared at him in silence.
Even without opening his eyes, Zhongli already knew who had come.
Children often carried a subtle milky scent, and these four were no exception.
Zhongli slowly opened his eyes.
"Do you need something from me?"
The four exchanged glances. Eventually, Klee stepped forward.
"Grandpa Zhongli~ can you take us outside to play?" Klee asked sweetly, hands behind her back.
Zhongli asked calmly,
"Where's Ye Yun?"
Hook pointed toward Ye Yun's room.
"He's busy."
Zhongli looked over the group. They were usually very well-behaved and easy to manage.
After thinking it over, he decided to take them to Belobog for a bit of fun.
Originally, he had planned to bring them to Jueyun Karst, but since Ye Yun was occupied, he couldn't take Hook and Bailu to Teyvat.
So he went with a backup plan: Belobog.
"Follow me."
The four little ones lit up with excitement. They quickly lined up behind Zhongli, with Klee leading the way and holding onto the edge of his robe.
"Klee gets to go out and play~"
Then Zhongli took the four kids through the portal to Belobog.
Upon arrival, they found themselves in the Mechanic Settlement.
This place had become one of the most important areas in all of Belobog, since it housed the portal that led to Ye Yun's shop.
Svarog personally guarded the portal with his team.
All the wanderers who used to live here had been relocated to the Upper District.
As soon as they landed, the four little ones began playing in the courtyard.
Hook packed a snowball and suddenly launched a surprise attack at Bailu, hitting her right on.
Bailu spun around and, seeing her attacker was Hook, immediately counterattacked.
And so the four started a full-on snowball fight, giggling and running around.
At that moment, Gepard happened to pass by with a squad of mechanized soldiers, transporting supplies. He spotted Zhongli and the children.
"Mr. Zhongli!"
Zhongli turned at the sound.
"Gepard? What are you up to?"
Gepard responded,
"Star helped us melt a massive glacier earlier. The Supreme Guardian has ordered us to quickly build a windbreak wall to claim the area as part of Belobog."
Zhongli was intrigued.
"Oh? May I take a look?"
Gepard immediately agreed—Zhongli wasn't an outsider after all; they were friends.
"Of course. This way, please."
Zhongli nodded and turned to call to the kids in the courtyard.
"Children, we're going somewhere else now."
The four immediately shook the snow off their clothes and ran back to Zhongli's side.
They followed Gepard to the Upper District.
From the city gates, they could see a large area outside that looked distinctly different from its surroundings.
This was the area scarred by Stelle's sword strike.
Thankfully, Ye Yun and the others had stepped in to control the fire at the time—otherwise, Belobog would've been in serious danger.
"Gepard, have all the building materials arrived yet?" Bronya emerged from the city to ask.
Gepard replied promptly,
"We're still in the process of transporting them."
Bronya trusted Gepard's efficiency.
It was only then that she noticed Zhongli and the children.
The four immediately swarmed around her.
"Bronya big sis!" "Bronya!"
Bronya chuckled and gave their heads a gentle pat.
"What brings you all here today? Did Ye Yun come too?"
Klee spread her hands.
"Big brother Ye Yun is busy~ Grandpa Zhongli brought us!"
Bronya nodded.
"I see."
Just then, a Silvermane Guard ran up in a panic.
"Supreme Guardian! A blizzard is approaching!"
Bronya's expression turned serious, and she immediately rallied everyone to provide support.
She led a large group of workers and guards toward the new area.
Seeing this, Zhongli thought for a moment and decided to take the children along to help however they could.
Belobog's New District.
The snowstorm raged.
A section of the newly constructed windbreak wall collapsed entirely.
Many workers who hadn't had time to evacuate were buried under the rubble.
Bronya arrived at the scene.
"Rescue them—now!"
She personally led the effort, clearing debris to free trapped workers.
But the blizzard was too strong, and progress was painfully slow.
Zhongli stood still, watching the chaos unfold. Moved by compassion, he extended his right hand, a golden glow blooming in his palm.
Suddenly, the earth trembled—and a solid stone wall rose from the ground, blocking the wind and snow entirely.
Everyone on site was stunned by what seemed like a divine miracle!
Bronya looked toward the distant Zhongli. She knew who he really was.
Liyue's Geo Archon. Morax.
No doubt, that stone wall was his doing.
She cast him a grateful glance.
But at that very moment, Zhongli froze in place.
His consciousness drifted to the middle of a starlit sky.
"…Where is this?" Zhongli looked around, puzzled.
In the distance, he saw a giant hammering at a wall.
The giant turned and glanced at Zhongli.
In the next moment, Zhongli felt a new, foreign power surge through his body.
Back in reality.
The four little ones looked up at Zhongli curiously, whispering.
"What's Grandpa Zhongli doing?" "No clue~"
Soon, Zhongli regained his senses and lowered his outstretched arm.
He quietly sensed the new power within him.
"That giant just now… could it have been the legendary Amber Lord?"
He hadn't expected to receive the blessing of a star god—especially not as someone from another world.
After familiarizing himself with the new strength, Zhongli took the children down to the camp to see how they could help.
At the camp, many of the injured had been rescued, but with limited medical supplies, only basic treatment could be administered.
Bailu's eyes widened in disbelief.
She marched right up to one of the medics, pointed her tiny finger, and snapped,
"Who taught you to treat wounds like that?! If you keep this up, he's definitely going to die! Step aside, I'll show you how it's done!"
***
The medical staff were startled by Bailu's sudden words and instinctively made way for her.
Bailu picked up the anti-inflammatory medicine and skillfully treated the wounded person's injury, then carefully wrapped it with a bandage.
Klee, Hook, and Diona were all shocked by what they saw.
"Wow~ Sister Bailu is amazing! She can even heal people!"
"Bailu is incredible!"
Even the nearby medical staff were stunned—this little girl actually knew what she was doing!
And she was really good at it! Her whole treatment process was smooth and efficient, without a single pause.
It felt like even they didn't have that level of skill.
Bailu continued to treat the injured one by one, while the other three little ones acted like her assistants, handing her whatever medicine or tools she needed.
Klee carried a basket of bandages, Hook had a basket of anti-inflammatory medicine, and Diona had a basket of medical tools.
The four little ones approached another injured person.
Bailu patted the wounded man.
"Don't move. I'll heal you."
She examined the wound, then reached out her hand without looking back.
"Anti-inflammatory medicine!"
Hook immediately handed her a bottle.
After cleaning the wound, Bailu extended her hand again.
"Forceps!"
Diona quickly handed her the freshly sterilized forceps.
Once she had removed the foreign objects from the wound, she stretched her hand out again.
"Bandage."
Klee swiftly passed over a roll of bandages.
Bailu wrapped it up neatly.
"Remember, try not to move around too much for now. Start with light activities in about a week, and keep the wound dry, got it?"
The patient nodded gratefully.
"Understood, understood."
Bailu nodded in satisfaction and waved her hand.
"Alright girls, next one!"
Klee, Hook, and Diona happily followed her to the next patient.
Honestly, with the help of the four little ones, the pace of treatment had greatly improved.
No joke—Bailu's medical skills were top-tier. In the Xianzhou Luofu, it was nearly impossible to even get an appointment with her.
Luofu, Artisanship Commission
Stelle, March 7th, and Welt were fighting the Abundant Ebon Deer.
The deer's vitality was freakishly strong. They nearly defeated it several times, but it kept fully recovering thanks to its outrageous regeneration.
Looking at the deer once again fully restored, Stelle couldn't take it anymore.
She gripped the Judgment of Shamash tightly.
"Judgment of Shamash, Annihilation!"
In an instant, the entire Artisanship Commission lit up like a blazing sun. Even far-off Changle Heaven could see the intense light.
Divine Foresight Mansion
Jing Yuan stood up immediately, looking toward the direction of the Artisanship Commission.
He pondered for a moment—at this time and place, someone strong enough to create that level of energy… it could only be one of the nameless visitors aboard the train.
"To think one of the young girls among them has such power."
He had observed Stelle before when she apprehended Kafka through the surveillance system.
The form of that energy—without a doubt—was hers.
Gazing at the blazing light from the Artisanship Commission, Jing Yuan felt more certain than ever that the Luofu would triumph in this battle.
After all, so many old friends had returned. Surely, they wouldn't stand by if things went truly wrong.
Back to the Artisanship Commission
After Stelle used Annihilation Mode to destroy the Ebon Deer, Welt quickly created a black hole to absorb the raging flames.
Stelle brought the fire, and Welt handled the cleanup—only that way was the Artisanship Commission spared from total incineration.
More than ten minutes later, Welt finally closed the black hole.
March 7th looked around at the devastated scene and exhaled deeply.
"Finally got rid of that ridiculously ugly deer. I'm exhausted."
Stelle wiped her nose.
"It really forced me to go all out…"
This time, March 7th actually agreed with Stelle's decision to go all-in.
That deer was so hard to kill—it kept regenerating. If Stelle hadn't used her ultimate, it probably wouldn't have gone down.
Welt surveyed the surroundings. Stelle's flames had conveniently burned away all the invading Arbor roots.
"We should keep moving—Alchemy Commission isn't far ahead."
The three continued forward.
Half an hour later, at Alchemy Commission
As soon as they entered, they saw a fierce battle underway ahead.
Fu Xuan was leading the Cloud Knights in an assault against the front lines of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Thanks to Stelle vaporizing the Ebon Deer earlier, they had skipped the step of burning the Arbor roots and saved a lot of time.
So they arrived at the Alchemy Commission just in time to join the battle between the Cloud Knights and the enemy forces.
The trio didn't hesitate and jumped straight into the fight.
Stelle charged forward with Judgment of Shamash, cutting a path through the enemy lines with a group of Cloud Knights behind her.
Welt wasn't far off, opening another gap in the front.
Watching them unleash their power, March 7th clenched her fists with determination.
"I'm going back to buy some upgrades from Ye Yun tonight! I want to be cool too! I want to get stronger too!"
She decided right then and there to spend all her credits at Ye Yun's shop.
Seeing the opening, Fu Xuan immediately ordered a full assault, determined to break through this line of defense held by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
"All troops advance! Don't let a single one of them escape!"
The Cloud Knights responded in unison:
"Bound by this oath! We, the Cloud Knights, like clouds shielding the sky, protect the Xianzhou! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
With morale at its peak, the Cloud Knights pressed forward, quickly overwhelming the enemy. The first line of defense collapsed in an instant as the enemy forces retreated.
Fu Xuan didn't order a pursuit, instead choosing to establish a camp on the spot.
She had just received intel that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had placed herbs inside the Dan Ding Commission's alchemical furnaces—substances capable of generating more of the monster troops.
For now, there was no good way to deal with them.
At that moment, the trio arrived.
Welt asked curiously:
"Why not pursue them? I don't think they have many troops left."
Fu Xuan pointed to the alchemical furnaces.
"They've placed reagents in those furnaces that can generate more of those monster troops. We can't move in the army recklessly."
Hearing this, Xing drew Judgment of Shamash again.
"Simple! I'll just slice the furnace in half!"
March 7th agreed.
"Right? And Uncle Yang can clean up the fire. We don't have to worry about the destruction."
Fu Xuan looked at the two girls like they were fools.
"I can use formations too, but can you guarantee the furnaces won't be damaged? These are the lifeblood of the Alchemy Commission."
Stelle sighed and put her weapon away.
"So what now?"
At that moment, Bub Seed on March 7th's shoulder suddenly jumped onto a railing and spread its arms, glowing with golden light.
In the next second, all the toxic fumes in the Alchemy Commission began to flow toward it.
March 7th blinked, then realized:
"Oh! That's a new ability it learned—Photosynthesis! I didn't expect it could absorb these medicinal fumes!"