Beidou had just handed the entire fleet over to Ye Xi, and the sailors around her were absolutely floored.
Some were thrilled. Others were worried.
"Sh— she just gave it away, just like that?"
"Doesn't that mean Big Sis isn't our boss anymore? It feels strangely empty all of a sudden."
"Are you stupid? Didn't you hear what Master Ye Xi said? He's not going to meddle in our fleet's affairs — it's just that he calls the shots from now on!"
"What does that even make her, then? The old-boss?"
"Hmm, I guess you could put it that way…"
"So, did we come out ahead or did we get the short end of the stick?"
"Nonsense — we hit the jackpot, obviously! Once the fleet has a ship like this, won't we be sitting on top of the world!?"
"Oh, oh…"
The sailors of the Alcor each had their own take.
Meanwhile, Hailong — the man at the wheel — was bursting with excitement inside.
The reason he'd become a helmsman in the first place was that he wanted to sail a great ship to every corner of the world, adventuring freely, sailing with no fetters.
Becoming the helmsman of the Alcor had let him fulfill half that dream.
But the other half had always seemed out of reach.
For the sake of livelihood and survival, he could never really do as he pleased.
But now? Things were different!
With a great ship like this, he genuinely felt like he was seeing hope!
At this very moment, gripping this warship's wheel, he felt — free!
Seeing that Beidou had made her choice, Ye Xi nodded. "Mm. You've chosen well."
"From this moment on, this cruiser belongs to your Southern Cross fleet."
"From here on, you can do away with all those wooden ships — bring everyone in the fleet on board."
"Cruiser?"
Realization dawned on Beidou — so this kind of ship was called a cruiser.
But upon hearing Ye Xi's arrangement, she felt some surprise. "Master Ye Xi, the fleet has more than three hundred brothers right now."
"Can this ship hold all of them?"
Ye Xi couldn't help laughing. "You can have someone go below deck and take a look."
A single cruiser could carry six hundred people with room to spare.
Three hundred? They wouldn't feel cramped in the least.
A ship this big — even just routine repairs and maintenance would require considerable manpower.
Of course, as for operating the specific functions, Ye Xi could put together a manual and let them learn at their own pace.
Just as he was speaking, several streaks of light suddenly landed on the deck.
A voice then sounded in everyone's ears.
"Young friend Ye Xi, we've come to join in the excitement — would that be alright?"
Before Ye Xi could even respond — while everyone in the bridge was still puzzling over what was happening — cries of astonishment rang out from outside.
"L— Lady Ningguang! Adepti! It's the Adepti!"
"Big Sis! I just saw Adepti! Aaaahhh!"
"My gods, they really are the Adepti! Really, truly the Adepti!"
At those cries of alarm, everyone turned their heads toward the deck.
Two cranes and a celestial deer stood there upon the deck. A crowd of Millelith, at a loss, were respectfully bowing their heads.
Those Alcor sailors were already kowtowing to the Adepti.
Inside the bridge, everyone was absolutely stunned.
"The Adepti are here too!?"
"Good heavens, a ship even the Adepti are interested in! It really must be extraordinary!"
"I'm suddenly feeling like we made out like bandits! This ship belongs to our fleet now!"
"Did you just hear that? The Adepti were addressing our old-boss!"
"Even the Adepti have to ask Master Ye Xi's opinion to come aboard! Just what kind of bigshot is he!?"
Amid their astonishment at seeing Adepti, every eye turned toward Ye Xi.
They couldn't help speculating about who Ye Xi really was.
"This bunch!"
Beidou pressed a helpless hand to her forehead.
Come to think of it, the Adepti were beings ordinary folk would never lay eyes on.
It was understandable that her men, finally getting to see them, would react with such excitement.
But she herself was just as curious about what her men were speculating.
In Liyue Harbor, the Adepti could do pretty much whatever they pleased.
Ever since the Lord of Geo passed on, the Adepti had been the true masters of Liyue.
They might not interfere with the self-governance of humans, but humans could never place any restrictions on the Adepti either.
In Liyue Harbor, if the Adepti wanted to do something, they did it — they didn't need to report anything at all to the Liyue Qixing.
And yet — beings of that stature, here on this ship, had actually said something like [might that be alright?]
It honestly left her stunned.
Even Ningguang was taken aback.
She knew Ye Xi was on quite good terms with the Adepti — but she'd never expected the Adepti to treat Ye Xi with such reserve.
If you sorted things into ranks, then at the very least, the Adepti were treating Ye Xi as their equal.
Without the slightest pride or condescension.
Thinking about it more carefully — Ye Xi had subdued Azhdaha. A shift in the Adepti's attitude was only natural.
She had heard from Keqing that Azhdaha's power was even greater than Osial's.
Back then, even the Adepti had had a hard time fighting Osial — let alone Azhdaha.
Having subdued Azhdaha, Ye Xi already stood above the Adepti!
So their reserve was entirely understandable.
With that thought, Ningguang quietly congratulated herself — thank goodness she'd been the one to make the first move on Ye Xi, and thank goodness Ye Xi hadn't found her wanting.
She'd struck gold!
Hearing the Adepti's voice from below, Ye Xi was a little surprised too.
He really hadn't expected several True Lords to come and join in the fun.
So he walked out of the bridge and said magnanimously, "Have a look around. This ship's just been built — the more the merrier."
As the saying went in Liyue, with a new house or a new carriage, you ought to invite people to come look around — stir up some life, soak in some good fortune.
Having Adepti come to lend their presence was downright auspicious.
The ship was sure never to sink.
At Ye Xi's words, the Adepti's hearts lit up at once, and they began surveying the ship with great interest.
"Mm — I really can't believe it. We're actually on the sea, and this ship is so solid."
"Cloud Retainer, do you think a Guizhong Ballista could damage this ship?"
Cloud Retainer nodded. "If one were truly determined to attack it, then yes, it could be dismantled — but it'd take vastly more effort than a wooden ship!"
With a wooden ship, a single shot from a Guizhong Ballista would blast it to pieces.
But this cruiser? At most you'd punch a hole in it.
Yet sturdy or not, what Cloud Retainer cared about even more was how this ship actually moved.
And so fast, on top of that!
Her gaze swept across the ship in a wide arc — and suddenly, one place caught her eye.
At the stern, she spotted an enormous device.
It was a core of steel suffused with golden light, with power constantly being released from within.
The moment she noticed this, her crane form suddenly burst into a dazzling radiance.
Beneath that light, the crane gradually shifted into a human form.
After a moment, the radiance faded — and a woman of supreme, classical beauty appeared before everyone.
At that, every single person was struck dumb.
"S—so beautiful!"
"Is this the Adepti's true form!?"
"My gods, I've struck the jackpot of a lifetime! Getting to see Adepti is one thing — to get to see an Adept's true form on top of that! I have to write this into the family genealogy, so generations of descendants will know about it!"
"Don't look, all of you — heads down! Who are we mortals to look upon an Adept's true form?"
At Instructor Feng Yan's command, all the Millelith and all the Southern Cross fleet sailors lowered their heads at once, terrified of giving the Adept offense.
At this point, Ningguang, Keqing, and the others had emerged from the bridge, their eyes wide open as well.
They had seen Adepti before — but seeing an Adept's true form? This was the first time in all of recorded history!
Cloud Retainer had a tall, slender figure, her clothing and bearing thoroughly steeped in an immortal air.
A long, high ponytail of hair trailed down her back, her gaze brimming with aloof, haughty pride; a half-rim pair of glasses lent her a most arrogant air.
"Greetings to the Adepti!"
Keqing and Ningguang hurriedly bowed in respect.
Ganyu was rather taken aback. "Cloud Retainer, it's been ages since I've seen you in this form."
"Hmph."
"This form is merely better suited for this humble adept to inspect this [Maritime Motion Mechanism]."
Cloud Retainer folded her arms and strode toward the [Energy Core] at the stern.
She wanted to get a proper look at this [Energy Core].
Yae Miko, behind her, was a little tentative.
She was only a little fox who had lived for five hundred years.
Before Adepti of this caliber, she was rather overawed.
If any of them so much as uttered the words [show your true form], she might well be frightened straight back into being a little fox.
The ones who could remain composed before these few Adepti — perhaps only the tengu Sasayuri of old, the White Dawn Mistress Kitsune Saiguu, and the Oni Mikoshi Chiyo.
Those great old-school yokai, were they still alive, would now perhaps be able to face the imposing presence of the Adepti head-on.
Ye Xi slowed the warship and brought it to a halt out on the sea.
Sailing at such a tremendous speed was a terrifying challenge for Hailong, the helmsman.
Steering a wooden ship and steering a cruiser were nothing alike.
It was the equivalent of going from driving a three-wheeled cart to driving a semi-trailer truck.
Speed and scale were on entirely different levels.
Only after stopping the ship did Ye Xi finally descend from the bridge.
Seeing the two True Lords, he greeted them.
Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper both nodded back in response.
"Where did that woman go? I just saw her a moment ago."
Ye Xi was a bit thrown — he hadn't expected someone… er, a bird, to have vanished in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, a familiar voice rang in his ears.
"Insolence! What woman?"
Ye Xi: ???
He turned around, taking in the beauty before him — her aura of immortal grace drifting around her — and felt rather perplexed: "Who is this person?"
Ningguang: …
Keqing: ...
Ganyu: ...
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉