After a moment of silence, Ryen glanced at the sky and noticed it was getting late.
He stood up and said:
"Alright, in that case, let's get ready to move. Keqing, please go fetch Xiao and Cloud Retainer."
"The rest of you, come with me for enchanting."
Keqing nodded, stood up, and left the villa.
The others watched as Ryen took out a pile of diamond blocks and walked over to a crafting table nearby.
Although Ningguang and Lisa had previously explained how crafting tables worked, they had never seen Ryen personally forge equipment before. Naturally, curiosity brought them over.
"Ryen, are you making weapons?" Ganyu tilted her head and asked. Ryen nodded.
"Everyone needs to be equipped with enchanted diamond armor and diamond swords for maximum safety."
"Also, since the Wither Storm is an undead creature, all your weapons need to be enchanted with Smite."
"In addition to that—Ningguang, go grab some splash healing potions, night vision, strength, jump boost, and speed potions."
"Healing potions are also damaging to the Wither Storm."
Upon hearing this, Ningguang immediately walked to the wall nearby.
She pulled a lever placed above a flower pot. With a gentle tug—
The wall in front of her seemed to trigger a strange mechanism and started descending layer by layer, revealing a deep and dark passage leading downward.
Jean and the others were stunned.
After all, the wall earlier looked tightly sealed, giving no hint of any hidden space behind it.
"That's a Redstone hidden door," Ganyu noticed their confusion and patiently explained:
"It's a kind of Redstone technology used to hide certain spaces and structures."
"Most of our important resources are stored behind Redstone hidden doors or in underground bases."
"That's why, never touch anything in Ryen's living room. Things like flower pots that seem decorative…"
"Are actually switches to hidden bases."
Jean nodded and gave the now-sealed wall another look—it appeared no different from any regular wall—then softly clicked her tongue in amazement.
"Amazing… but is it really okay to tell us all this?"
"It's fine. While Liyue and Mondstadt need a bit of professional distance in our cooperation, the fact that you're here at Ryen's villa means…"
"Our collaboration is based on friendship. This place will also serve as your personal base from now on. Ryen won't mind if you build your own houses either."
Ganyu chuckled softly and added warmly:
"Redstone tech is capable of a lot—like building TNT bombers, for example."
"The Jade Chamber is now equipped with four TNT duplicators, two Redstone mountain-shattering cannons, and twelve wide-area Redstone artillery turrets."
"Once activated, the Jade Chamber becomes a skyborne war fortress capable of saturation strikes from the air."
"Even archons would find it hard to survive a bombardment on that scale."
"Redstone tech, aside from mods, is our main focus of research now. Once you get the hang of it, Ryen will teach you too."
Hearing this, Lumine recalled boarding the Jade Chamber the previous day. She had noticed many strange outward-facing blocks at the time…
She had asked Baiwen about them, who only gave a mysterious smile and said nothing.
So those… were offensive systems for external assault!
A flying fortress packed with high-altitude bombardment devices…
And when you factor in the area-wide buffs granted by beacons in the future—
Liyue was clearly aiming to create an airborne war machine that surpassed even Celestia!
Just imagine a future battle—Jade Chamber opening with a Redstone cannon barrage from afar…
Then activating beacons to grant buffs to the Millelith and adepti across a vast range.
What a sight that would be…
Utterly awe-inspiring.
At this point, the Jade Chamber wasn't just the pinnacle symbol of Liyue's power anymore.
It had become Liyue's ultimate military foundation.
Suddenly, Diluc found himself thinking that his long-inherited Dawn Winery felt a bit… underwhelming.
"Miss Ganyu, about how much Mora would it cost to build a Jade Chamber?"
Diluc asked softly.
Ganyu scratched her cheek and muttered:
"In Ryen's world, materials have zero cost, and there's tons of TNT, so there's not really much expense."
"But I remember Ningguang once said the original Jade Chamber cost her nearly 50 billion Mora."
"But that was because it also housed all kinds of rare collections."
"For a mobile aerial fortress version, I'd say around 20 billion Mora would do."
Twenty billion…
That was "only"?!
Back in Mondstadt, the Grand Master had taken most of the funds on expedition. With the dragon disaster wreaking havoc, business caravans weren't doing well either.
Even for someone like Diluc, all his family's liquid assets combined barely hit over 10 billion.
Building a Jade Chamber would practically drain all the available Mora in Mondstadt.
And yet—Ningguang had paid for the entire Jade Chamber out of her own pocket!
Everyone once again marveled at Ningguang's wealth—and Liyue's prosperity.
Teyvat's number one commercial nation and the richest person in Teyvat—truly well-deserved titles.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a glance, eyes sparkling with excitement.
They had latched onto Ningguang's golden thigh!
Now that they understood just how rich she was, as long as they played the cute card properly, wouldn't she toss them tens of billions of Mora just like that?
What's wrong with calling her "big sis"?!
Lumine had lived for thousands of years, and Paimon was at least a millennium old.
But so what?
They still looked baby-faced!
Faced with a rich lady's Mora offensive, age and shame could both go out the window.
What could possibly be more important than Mora?!
She, Lumine!
Only a few thousand years old, but already living a life few could dream of.
Now that she'd grabbed the sugar mommy's thigh, she could splurge all over Teyvat for the rest of her life.
Forget calling her "big sis," she'd call her "mom" if it meant living the good life.
"Step by step, then…"
Jean understood Mondstadt's financial situation too, and let out a quiet sigh.
"Let's first get familiar with this world, then slowly convert things into Mora. One day, we'll build our own flying fortress too!"
"Hmph!"
Diluc snorted in displeasure.
"If that irresponsible guy hadn't taken most of the funds, things wouldn't have come to this."
"Whatever. We've already got our ticket in. When the time comes..."
A cold glint flashed in Diluc's eyes.
Once he saved up enough Mora, he'd build a private airborne fortress of his own.
Then he'd pilot his war machine and bomb the Fatui bases into oblivion!
Let them taste what true aerial dominance feels like!
Hearing this, Ganyu covered her mouth and chuckled.
"No need to rush. Mora really isn't something you need to worry about."
"Increasing influence is what matters most right now."
"If you truly lack Mora, you could always sell a single gold block. But that kind of thing is better left alone."
"It would disrupt the financial system."
Hearing Ganyu's words, Jean and the others had a sudden realization.
That's right!
A single gold block weighs nearly twenty tons.
Selling just a few would be enough to buy an entire Jade Chamber.
So what were they even worrying about?
With that thought, Jean and the others suddenly felt incredibly wealthy.
But, just as Ganyu said, this kind of item couldn't be casually circulated.
Small-scale emergency trades were fine.
But mass distribution? That would destabilize the Mora system, and even the Geo Archon would come charging in to hold them accountable.
Still, at least the funding issue had been solved.
Realizing this made Jean and the others feel significantly more at ease.
No wonder Ningguang and the rest kept saying that resources weren't important in this world.
If you stare at tens of thousands of tons of gold every day, you'd be sick of the sight too!
While they were chatting, Ryen had already finished crafting the gear.
He walked over with a warm smile and said softly:
"All done. Once Ningguang finishes enchanting, we'll head out."
Looking at the gleaming diamond gear in Ryen's hands, Jean hesitated.
"Ryen, these things…"
Before Ryen could answer, Lisa gently nudged Jean and stepped forward to take the armor.
"Don't overthink it, Jean. We're going up against the Wither Storm soon. If we don't protect ourselves, we'll just hold everyone back."
"Besides…"
Lisa winked at Ryen and said playfully:
"I'm guessing you've got a huge stockpile of these materials, right?"
"You guessed it."
Ryen grinned and nodded.
"I've got several chests full of diamonds. Lucky blocks and miners brought in tons."
Jean pursed her lips and said seriously,
"Thank you. Once we've got our own resources, we'll pay you back."
Ryen didn't respond.
To him, these things weren't valuable. Jean still hadn't adjusted her mindset.
Was it really about the resources?
No—it was about Klee! Klee!
Once that lucky little gremlin showed up, cracking open just a single lucky block would probably rain down diamond blocks like candy.
Not to mention—Klee was such an adorable daughter. Ryen had long wanted to scoop her up and snuggle her silly.
Left arm Nahida, right arm Klee, Paimon riding on his shoulder...
If there was anything more blissful than that…
It would be having Qiqi and Diona clinging onto his back.
Ryen never worried about raising daughters.
He only worried about not having enough daughters to raise!
"These armors... do they all look this ugly?"
Lisa eyed the blocky diamond gear with mild disdain. It looked stiff and awkward—she couldn't imagine looking good in it.
"It totally ruins a lady's image."
Ryen laughed and shook his head.
"Come on, it's standardized armor. Don't expect too much! If you don't like the look, go tinker with alchemy to modify it later."
"But for now, better wear it."
As he spoke, Ryen glanced at Xiao, who had just entered wearing a full set of enchanted diamond armor. He hadn't had time to take it off yet.
"Don't underestimate the diamond set—it's fully stacked with defense. Xiao tested it—he took a direct hit from a Stonehide Lawachurl and barely felt a thing."
Hearing that, Diluc's heart stirred.
"Looks don't matter. If it's strong, that's all I care about!"
After all, he had even accepted the Delusion back then.
Ugly gear? That was nothing!
Dignity doesn't put food on the table.
"Mr. Ryen, I heard you plan to eliminate the Wither Storm?"
Xiao asked in a low voice. Ryen nodded and smiled.
"Yes. Once Ningguang finishes enchanting, we'll move out. For now, have Zhongli explain the plan to everyone."
As he finished speaking, Ningguang returned from the hidden passage.
But she didn't bring much with her—there just wasn't enough room to carry everything.
She'd have to make a few more trips. Each person needed a full supply of alchemical potions.
After greeting her, Ryen led Jean and the others out of the villa.
The enchanting area had been relocated to the Villager Trade Center.
There were still tons of emeralds stockpiled there.
Might as well finish everything in one go.
Of course, the unique setup of the Trade Center left Jean and the others feeling once again… thoroughly amazed.
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