Thinking of her current disguise, she was just about to raise her hand to make a symbolic gesture to the beauty when she saw him point to the chair behind her.
"Sit. Tell me about the other issues you discovered."
Elara had been planning to say a few polite words, but they got stuck in her throat. Her gaze shifted around the beauty, and she quietly sighed. This really was the mindset of someone in science and engineering, direct and to the point.
In her previous life, she had also met many researchers who were completely absorbed in their studies. So the beauty's blunt attitude didn't feel uncomfortable at all.
She followed his instructions and sat down with Uno, and then she too got straight to the point, explaining the remaining issues she hadn't mentioned in her letter.
The beauty listened attentively, his blue eyes fixed steadily on Elara. A light woodsy fragrance drifted from him, soaking the surrounding air.
To be fair, creating a hand-made "tricycle" in such an ancient world, the Artificers' Pavilion had truly lived up to its reputation as one of the continent's top-tier forces.
But no matter how many geniuses the Pavilion had gathered, limited by the times, their way of thinking could never be like Elara's, seeing things from a future perspective and easily spotting so many issues.
Elara's descriptions included some basic modern mechanical concepts.
These ideas weren't too advanced. When the beauty first heard them, he furrowed his brows slightly and even leaned closer to her, trying to clearly hear the strange and unfamiliar mechanical ideas she mentioned.
Elara didn't hold back. If he didn't understand something, she patiently explained it again.
After she carefully explained everything a second time, the beauty, who already had a solid foundation in mechanics, quickly grasped the principles. His focused gaze on Elara became even more intense.
"You… you're a traveling merchant from the southwest of the continent? Your family name is Baili?"
Once Elara had clearly explained every problem with the "tricycle," the beauty was already sitting very close to her. If either of them moved their hand, they could brush against the other's sleeve. But neither seemed bothered by this closeness.
Elara only talked about the issues with the tricycle and didn't mention any solutions.
The beauty didn't rush to ask for answers either. He just stared at her with those dark blue eyes and asked about her background.
Hearing that he finally started asking about her origins, Elara knew the deal was already halfway done. So she set aside the mechanical problems and turned to look at him, nodding.
"Yes."
The beauty tilted his body slightly, resting against the stone table and continuing to stare at her. "What's your name?"
"Baili Yuyan."
The beauty quietly repeated her name, his pale lips pressing together. His deep blue eyes lowered, as if he were thinking about the information behind that surname.
In the eastern part of the continent, the Baili family was indeed quite well-known. Its members were spread across various nations, all holding considerable power and influence.
But in the western part of the continent, especially the remote southwestern corner, he had never heard of any Baili clans.
And the Baili ancestral land wasn't located in the west either. Plus, she was a wandering merchant with no fixed home.
Was she perhaps a distant and exiled branch of the Baili family?
After thinking for two seconds, the beauty didn't dwell on it any further.
After all, that wasn't what he cared about most.
He raised his eyes and looked at Elara again. "What do you want?"
The way Elara had thoroughly broken down the issues with the tricycle, and even mentioned mechanical concepts he'd never heard of, made him already believe without a doubt that she also had solutions.
Elara met his gaze once more, the curve of her lips becoming more distinct.
By now, she had mostly relaxed. Because as long as nothing unexpected happened, this deal was basically sealed.
She just needed to propose the conditions she had long prepared and exchange them with the solution. Then her main goal for traveling more than three thousand kilometers to attend the Hundred Nations Banquet would be achieved.
Elara was ninety-nine percent confident that the Artificers' Pavilion would accept her terms. After all, her conditions were minor to them, even mutually beneficial.
She only wanted to borrow the name of Tiangong Pavilion to solve the huge crisis Plumera was facing now.
To eliminate the threat from Lian Yi Building and other powerful forces secretly eyeing her and Plumera.
So Plumera could develop quickly without being so cautious.
Even if someone noticed some differences in technology, there would still be a reasonable and intimidating reason backed by that name.
But just as Elara opened her mouth, ready to state her terms, several sharp whooshing sounds suddenly came from a distance.
Elara paused, and Uno quickly carried her away to avoid danger.
The blue gaze of the beautiful person in the pavilion instantly turned cold.
He still sat motionless in his spot, but Elara keenly heard faint mechanical movements coming from around the pavilion.
The next second, the sound of dense arrows breaking through the air rang out again.
This time, they didn't come from outside but from the pavilion itself.
Countless arrows shot out like rain from around the spot where the beautiful person sat.
The arrows that came from outside were intercepted by those shooting from inside.
A massive number of mechanical arrows surged outward like a storm.
Anyone outside at that moment would definitely be pierced like a hedgehog.
But no screams came from outside.
Instead, more arrows shot in from other directions.
The beautiful person in the pavilion frowned slightly and lightly tapped the stone table in the courtyard with long fingers.
The rain-like arrows suddenly changed direction and began shooting outwards from different sides.
Even Elara, who came from the modern world, was a little surprised by what she saw.
The beautiful person still sat calmly in the center of the pavilion.
When Elara had just been sitting inside earlier, she only thought the scenery was pleasant.
Now that beautiful pavilion had turned into a hellish turret.
The arrows were so dense that not even other sneak attacks from all directions could get through.
Elara and Uno had retreated to a hidden corner of the small courtyard.
Watching the scene before her, Elara frowned slightly, feeling a little speechless.
Clearly, the ambush outside was targeting the beautiful person.
But why couldn't they have come a little later?
At least let her finish the deal with the beautiful person first.
Anyone who dares to attack Tiangong Pavilion at night must be from a powerful force, likely second-tier or above.
Elara didn't want to get involved in conflicts between those big powers.
She just wanted to complete her deal, use the name of Tiangong Pavilion, and return to develop Plumera.
It was such a pity.
The transaction had been just a step away from completion, only to be interrupted by these attackers.
Elara remained silent in her heart, hiding still in the corner with Uno.
Whether the attackers would notice them or not didn't matter, since her identity was fake anyway.
Confirming that the beautiful person in the pavilion was safe and even had strong "firepower" to fight back, Elara didn't plan to go out and help or take the opportunity to do anything.
It wouldn't bring her much benefit and might even cause future trouble.
After all, any force bold enough to attack Tiangong Pavilion was not someone Elara wanted to attract attention from.
In the small courtyard, after a round of dense "Rainstorm Pear Blossom Arrows" shot out from the pavilion, the Tiangong Pavilion attendants, who Elara hadn't seen before, finally appeared in every corner.
They quickly activated the many traps set up in the courtyard.
But the moment they did, the screams didn't come from outside but from within the courtyard.
Elara was stunned to see that the mechanisms and weapons did not launch outward as expected.
Instead, they turned inward.
Then they fired a violent rain of sharp arrows, merging into a torrent that fiercely attacked the inside.
The traps and weapons that Tiangong Pavilion had arranged on their own territory were now out of control.
The screams of Tiangong Pavilion attendants echoed endlessly inside the courtyard.