The next day, with Raiden Makoto finally giving her approval, negotiations on Jiang Yan's side proceeded extremely smoothly.
The Magistrate of Finance and the others had no choice but to agree to the conditions proposed by Liyue.
After all, with the Raiden Shogun herself agreeing, how could they possibly refuse?
As for the rest, Jiang Yan no longer needed to bother.
After all, this time he hadn't only brought soldiers—there were also officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
If even the Ministry couldn't handle the remaining procedures, then Jiang Yan would really have to think about how to kick them out of Inazuma in the most spectacular way.
With the Ministry responsible for the follow-up, Jiang Yan decided to properly "stroll around" Inazuma.
Cough.
Just a simple stroll.
To appreciate the scenery of Inazuma…
...
Chinju Forest.
With a single punch, Jiang Yan smashed the wooden puppet before him—and the monster along with it—deep into the ground.
Then, smiling with satisfaction, he opened the precious chest before him.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for opening a Precious Chest. Reward obtained—
One Piece World: Conqueror's Haki.]
Mm~ truly, nothing lifts the heart like opening treasure chests!
Jiang Yan grinned. Today was yet another beautiful day.
"Hey! Who are you?!"
"How dare you run wild on this great lord's turf!"
A sudden voice echoed not far from Jiang Yan.
He looked over.
"A tanuki?"
Jiang Yan blinked in confusion.
Did that tanuki… just talk?
"I'm a bake-danuki, idiot!! Not a tanuki!"
Hearing Jiang Yan call him a tanuki, the creature puffed up in fury, jumping in place.
"This great lord is the Guardian of Chinju Forest—
The Bake-Danuki Ioroi!"
The young-looking bake-danuki declared proudly.
Jiang Yan suddenly understood.
Ah—so it was Ioroi…
No wonder he didn't recognize him; the Ioroi before him was not yet the future King of the Bake-Danuki, merely his juvenile form.
This little creature looked extremely young and rather plain, so Jiang Yan hadn't associated him with any story events.
"Bake-danuki? Still just a tanuki, isn't it…"
Jiang Yan's eyes gleamed—he felt like teasing him.
Sure enough, as soon as he said that, Ioroi's fur exploded again.
"Bake-danuki are NOT tanuki! You idiot!!"
Saying so, Ioroi charged toward him.
Perfect…
Just in time to test out my new Conqueror's Haki.
Watching the bake-danuki rush at him, Jiang Yan rubbed his chin, prepared to try the new ability.
The moment he had obtained Conqueror's Haki, he could already control its release freely.
He couldn't use advanced applications like Coating yet, but scaring someone would be easy.
With that thought—
Jiang Yan's eyes opened slightly.
Buzz!!!
A faint red aura burst from around him, spreading like a shockwave.
In an instant, Ioroi froze mid-step.
His keen senses immediately detected the overwhelming presence Jiang Yan released—
a pressure like mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
A kingly aura as deep as the abyss crushed into Ioroi's spirit in a single breath.
"Guh~"
Ioroi's eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot.
"Oh my, so fragile?"
Jiang Yan's lips curled. This Conqueror's Haki was quite handy.
Perfect for scaring people.
"I didn't expect Lord Tianquan to have this kind of mischievous hobby."
A woman's voice suddenly came from behind him.
Kitsune Saiguu stood there, holding a pink fox in her arms, watching Jiang Yan with interest.
"Ah… it's you, Kitsune Saiguu."
Jiang Yan smiled. With his cosmic perception, he had known the whole time that she was tailing him.
He wasn't from Inazuma, and he was wandering around freely—of course Raiden Makoto would assign someone to keep an eye on him.
Jiang Yan didn't mind.
He wasn't the type to cause trouble for no reason.
…Unless someone provoked him first.
"Ioroi is just playful. Please, Lord Tianquan—"
Before she finished, Jiang Yan waved his hand.
"It's fine. I won't hurt him."
He smiled.
"I'm not that petty. I wouldn't get angry over something like this."
Hearing this, Kitsune Saiguu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She originally thought Jiang Yan intended to kill Ioroi, which was why she showed herself.
"This one named Ioroi… he should be what Inazuma calls a 'youkai,' correct?"
Jiang Yan walked over to the unconscious bake-danuki and lifted him by the scruff, examining him curiously.
"Yes. Please forgive us for the unsightly display."
Kitsune Saiguu came beside him and spoke calmly.
"And you and the pink fox in your arms are also youkai?"
Jiang Yan pointed at the small pink fox.
The moment he saw it, he was almost certain.
Surely this was Yae Miko's untransformed form.
After all—
In Inazuma, only one fox had pink fur.
"Yes."
Kitsune Saiguu nodded, gently stroking the sleeping pink fox.
"We are familiars of the Raiden God—members of the Kitsune clan."
"Oh~, I see…"
Jiang Yan nodded with an exaggerated expression of realization.
Though he already knew—
it seemed polite to act a little.
Kitsune Saiguu chuckled behind her sleeve.
"Has no one told Lord Tianquan that your acting is… truly terrible?"
"Your strength is so profound—I'm sure you saw through everything from the start."
Jiang Yan laughed, scratching his silver-white hair, not bothering to deny it.
"And what do you plan to do next? Continue opening treasure chests?"
Kitsune Saiguu asked with amusement. After trailing him for a while, she naturally knew what he'd been doing.
She had even been stunned at first.
The Grand Administrator of Liyue—Tianquan's chief seat—what treasure could he possibly lack?
Yet he was obsessed with opening chests.
Even digging up the buried ones!
"Of course!"
Jiang Yan nodded, then asked:
"Why? Lady Saiguu, are you offering to be my guide?"
He didn't really need a guide—after all, he had Little White, his living navigation tool.
But having a beautiful woman accompany him while treasure-hunting…
was certainly pleasant.
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