Seeing Ye Xi traveling alongside Ningguang, Keqing, and the others, the Millelith were all green with envy.
Even though they knew Instructor Feng Yan forbade idle gossip, they really couldn't help themselves.
Seeing with their own eyes so many beauties trailing at Ye Xi's side, and even staying together with him at night—who wouldn't feel a pang of envy in their heart!?
Upon reaching the Yuehai Pavilion, everyone went their separate ways.
Ye Xi, meanwhile, brought Klee along and, under the guidance of the Millelith soldier Jiayi, arrived at the due-north gate of Liyue Harbor.
"Lord, please rest here for now; we're still gathering the workers!"
"Come noon, we'll begin the work!"
Hearing Jiayi's words, Ye Xi nodded: "Go on and tend to your work; don't mind me."
"Yes, yes!"
After Jiayi left, Klee excitedly raised her little hand: "Big Brother Ye Xi, can I really use my Boom-Booms as much as I like today?"
Boom-Boom was the name Klee had given to her bombs—the kind that, once tossed out, would bounce and hop around.
Ye Xi smiled and patted Klee's head, saying, "Of course you can. But you also have to help everyone out."
"Klee understands~!"
With that, Klee took out her little satchel and poured a huge pile of things out from inside.
Looking closely, these turned out, of all things, to be materials for making bombs!
Ye Xi was startled.
Klee was actually carrying these materials around with her in her satchel!
If they were to explode somewhere, wouldn't that spell disaster!?
The most crucial thing was, these materials seemed endless—she just kept pulling them out!
It was hard to imagine that such a small satchel could hold so many things!
Klee explained: "This is the spatial backpack Mama gave to Klee! So it can hold lots and lots of things~!"
Ye Xi was suddenly enlightened.
That explained everything!
This satchel was just like his own portable space—both could carve out a small space to store things inside!
No matter how much was put in, it wouldn't get any heavier.
This was the reason Klee carried her satchel wherever she went.
As they were speaking, several of Liyue's bigwigs arrived.
It was Tianshu Star Uncle Tian, bringing along several Lords from the Eight Trades.
Uncle Tian was the most deeply hidden of the Liyue Qixing.
In everyone's eyes, he was just an old man who loved to fish; no one ever associated him with the Liyue Qixing.
So when they saw Uncle Tian show up here, many of the common folk were quite surprised.
On an ordinary day, Uncle Tian would certainly have concealed his identity.
But now was clearly not the time to hide who he was.
Liyue was in the midst of a momentous upheaval, the likes of which were rarely seen in a thousand years.
As the Tianshu Star of this region, hiding his identity was a private matter, but to let a private matter interfere with public duties was simply not permissible.
He could no longer concern himself with the issue of his identity being exposed, and openly took part in the mobilization on site.
Seeing Ye Xi sipping tea off to the side with Klee, Uncle Tian came up with a beaming smile: "Master Ye Xi? This old man has arrived. If there's anything you need, just let this old man know."
Despite his advanced age, Uncle Tian was exceptionally courteous toward Ye Xi.
Because he had already seen that Ye Xi's relationships with Ningguang and Keqing were no trivial matter.
The rumors within the Millelith, though carrying some element of distortion through retelling, were nonetheless pieced together by his intelligence network, which gathered up such tidbits even from the flimsiest of clues.
He judged that Ye Xi had already become the true decision-maker of Liyue.
Ye Xi nodded: "Actually, I already know the general route. Why don't I set off first with Klee?"
"If a big crowd of workers follows behind, Klee might get scared."
"Klee's not scared~"
Klee said with an innocent face: "What Klee is worried about is that the bombs might hurt everyone!"
Watching such an innocent Klee, Uncle Tian and the several Lords of the Eight Trades all began to reassure her.
"Don't worry, little knight, no need to fret about us!"
Uncle Tian gave his assurance with full confidence.
After all, the Millelith were present.
With such a reassuring team holding down the fort, the workers wouldn't be afraid.
Several of the Eight Trades Lords even chuckled and whispered among themselves.
"Can such a tiny little girl really handle bombs?"
"Exactly. My granddaughter is even older than her, and forget handling bombs—she doesn't even know what gunpowder is."
"If you ask me, this little girl is a bit unreliable—she's just here to play."
"It's fine, didn't we hire an expert? We'll just have the expert do it when the time comes."
"..."
Though these voices were faint, Klee's keen little elf ears were very sharp—she heard every word loud and clear!
Hearing herself spoken of this way, she felt a little unhappy inside.
She couldn't help feeling that these grandpas and uncles looked down on her.
Naturally, Ye Xi heard these discussions as well.
But he didn't take it to heart.
Such a reaction was entirely understandable!
These people were all leaders of Liyue, holding high positions and great power, and in their work they pursued efficiency, seriousness, and rigor.
Having a seven- or eight-year-old little girl get involved would make anyone skeptical.
If not for him insisting and making the demand in his capacity as [Ye Xi], they probably wouldn't have let Klee handle bombs at all, but would instead have protected her and sent her home to eat candy.
They couldn't bear to let her come to such a dangerous place to suffer.
Perhaps because of this idle chatter, Klee's expression turned serious.
"Big Brother Ye Xi, Klee will do her best!"
Before long, the workers had finished assembling.
Ye Xi didn't wait for them; otherwise they'd have had to wait until noon.
He set off ahead of time with several of the Lords toward the site that needed to be blasted.
Coming out of the due-north gate and crossing a massive wooden bridge, before them lay the road one had to take from the Guili Plains to Liyue Harbor.
This road had previously been repaired by Liyue Harbor, fitted with many exquisitely carved stone steps.
Centuries ago, merchants or travelers from various nations who saw it would all have thought Liyue rich and lavish, to build such exquisite steps out in such desolate wilderness.
But now, with the great changes time had wrought, even the most exquisite decorations had gradually fallen into ruin.
Today's task was to tear up these old stone bricks and widen both sides of the road.
To make it convenient for building railways and highways later on.
Arriving outside the harbor, Klee excitedly ran out in front.
"Klee, here—we need to blast open the rock wall."
Seeing that the road ahead wasn't wide enough, Ye Xi told Klee.
Little Klee looked left and right, gave it only a cursory once-over, then pulled a Boom-Boom bomb out of her satchel.
"Here we'll use Boom-Boom No. 8!"
"Big Brother Ye Xi, then Klee's going to set it off~!"
Hearing Klee's voice, an astonished cry came from the crowd following behind.
"This child—she isn't even preparing the dose of gunpowder according to the actual situation?"
"How will that do? This is just reckless nonsense!"
The one who spoke was none other than the expert the Eight Trades had hired.
Uncle Tian inquired: "Master Zhang, is there something to be said about this?"
Master Zhang hastily and respectfully explained: "Lord Tianshu, when using gunpowder to blast a mountain and open a road, one must control the dosage."
"At the point of detonation, you calibrate enough power, then set it off."
"If the dosage is done carelessly, it could very well produce wildly different results, because the power may be too great or too small."
"And what's more, the blasting location is also a matter of great care."
"For instance, when blasting a mountain, you must detonate at the weak point of the rock wall, so that you can easily shatter the entire wall from a single spot."
"If the spot chosen is the thickest, hardest position, then no matter how much power you use, the efficiency will be pitifully low."
After hearing Master Zhang's words, the several Eight Trades Lords praised him again and again.
"A professional indeed—it seems there are many techniques to using gunpowder, and they're quite complex."
"Ah, a child this small probably can't even read, can she? There's no way she'd know these techniques."
"Uncle Tian, what do you think..."
Clearly, everyone was worried about Klee's safety, and also worried that Klee would fool around and delay the progress of the project.
Uncle Tian had his own measure of things in mind, but he was in no hurry: "Everyone, let's first see how it goes."
At this moment, Klee was seen placing the bomb in a spot and pressing the detonation mechanism.
That Boom-Boom bomb then began to hop and bounce about.
"Everyone, cover your ears, quick!"
Klee ran lightning-fast, her face full of excitement as she ducked behind a stone wall.
Master Zhang, however, let out a sigh: "A bomb this small can't even compare to the fireworks of the Lantern Rite—do we really need to cover our ears?"
"It's nothing more than a child's toy."
Before his words had even faded, the Boom-Boom bomb suddenly burst forth with a dazzling light.
BOOM——!
An enormous flame surged skyward, and a mushroom cloud even appeared over the entire roadway.
In the instant of the explosion, the whole of Liyue Harbor shook!
Everyone couldn't help but look toward the north.
Seeing that firelight surging into the sky, they were all left dumbstruck.
"Oh my goodness! What happened!?"
"What's going on, what's going on? Has a Demon God come to attack!?"
"It can't be an enemy raid, can it!"
"I heard they were going to blast a mountain over there today—it must be the commotion from that, right?"
"But the sheer power of it is just too terrifying!"
"...."
The people inside the harbor were all gripped by panic, while the workers gathered at the north gate were thrown into a frightened uproar.
Some plopped right down onto the ground, hearts still pounding with lingering fear.
Even some of the Millelith looked toward that firelight, each unable to keep from swallowing hard, trembling with terror.
If people so far away reacted like this, all the more so for Uncle Tian and the others, who stood not far from the scene.
This sight left them frozen stiff like wooden chickens.
Master Zhang, especially, had his eyes opened wide.
He never imagined that such a small bomb could possess such terrifying power!
After the firelight faded, that enormous mountain wall began to collapse.
Although the road was buried by the fallen boulders, it was obvious that once these boulders were cleared away, the road would be incredibly wide!
The several Lords were all stunned.
They looked at the boulders on the road, then looked at the tiny Klee, a trace of fear surfacing in their eyes.
"Th-this was really done by a child!?"
"Good heavens, how can such a small bomb have such great power!"
"How is this possible? She's still so little!"
"Lord Tianshu, this... once this child comes to Liyue Harbor in the future, shouldn't we be on our guard a bit?"
The corner of Uncle Tian's mouth twitched.
If this bomb went off at Yujing Terrace, wouldn't Liyue be done for?
Master Zhang's face was full of disbelief: "Incredible! She actually found the most suitable blasting spot in one go!"
"Is she really only seven or eight years old? How could she possibly have such precise experience!"
"This is impossible! At this level, even I couldn't manage it!"
Hearing Master Zhang's exclamations, the several Lords dared even less to underestimate Klee!
Seeing the scene before her, Klee cheered and jumped up.
"Awesome, awesome! Hahahaha!"
She gave a couple of joyful shouts, then trotted over triumphantly in front of Uncle Tian to show off.
"Klee's skills were taught to her by Mama!"
"Before, when Klee blew up Mondstadt's Mt. Wangfeng into Wangfeng Flatland, the scene was even bigger than this one!"
The moment these words came out, the faces of the several Lords all contorted.
"Wh-what!? She blew a mountain flat into level ground!?"
"My dear little ancestor, this simply won't do! Mt. Tianheng absolutely cannot be blown up!"
"No wonder she's so experienced—so it turns out, little knight, you've done something this big before!?"
Master Zhang was utterly numb.
A child of seven or eight could actually level a mountain to the ground—it was simply absurd!
He had never imagined that his professional specialty would be bested by a little girl!
Ye Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry—a child was a child; the moment she finished doing something, she couldn't wait to come and show it off.
Still, he really wanted to know just what on earth Alice had taught Klee!
What kind of mother instills knowledge of explosions into a child this young!?
Just absurd!
After this little display of her skills, Uncle Tian and the people of the Eight Trades no longer dared to underestimate Klee.
All along the way, they coaxed Klee in every way to keep her happy, then let her use her Boom-Boom bombs to her heart's content across the hills and wilds.
"Boom-Boom bomb——!"
"Boom——!"
"Rat-a-tat-tat~"
"Heave-ho——!"
Before long, all the places that needed mountains blasted and rocks broken had been blown clean away by Klee!
Of course, this was just one road.
There were still several more roads that would require Klee.
It was just that today's task could come to an end; it was time to rest a while.
Klee had truly had her fill of fun.
In this single day, she had used up the entire stockpile she'd made over several months!
"Klee's out of bombs!"
"Big Brother Ye Xi, Klee wants to go back and make more bombs!"
Ye Xi nodded: "All right, then let's get ready to head home!"
He looked up and only then realized that the sky had already grown late.
They'd come out in the morning, and by now the sun was about to set.
"Uncle Tian, then we'll be heading back now."
Ye Xi said his goodbyes to Uncle Tian.
Uncle Tian hurriedly nodded: "Master Ye Xi, stay safe on the road."
"Also, little knight, tomorrow grandpa will buy you candy—we'll have to trouble you again!"
Klee giggled: "Yay~ candy!"
After bidding farewell to the several Lords, Ye Xi—seeing that the sky was growing dark and the road was strewn with rubble and hard to walk—scooped Klee up and said: "Klee, let's fly back."
With that, he used [Walk on the Wind].
With a light leap, he was flying through the sky.
Because the value of his Anemo Elemental Power had grown, he could perfectly well fly all the way from the Guili Plains back to Liyue Harbor just like this!
"Wooow——! Klee's flying!"
Klee had used Wind Gliders before, but flying without Wind Gliders was a first for her.
For a moment, her pair of big eyes were filled with awe.
Gazing at Ye Xi's receding figure, Uncle Tian and the people of the Eight Trades were all stunned.
"He—he can actually fly!?"
"It looks like Anemo Elemental Power!"
"But that's not right—I just looked, and Master Ye Xi doesn't have an Eye of God!"
...
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