A flash of light shot out. Ye Yun looked at the results and was immediately so shocked his jaw dropped—his sunglasses even fell to the ground.
"What the heck? What kind of god-tier luck is this?!"
Stelle looked at the ten items on the ground. Aside from five Premium durians, the other five were things she didn't recognize.
"Well? Well? Did I hit the jackpot?"
Ye Yun nodded and picked up a small bamboo-copter.
"This thing is called a bamboo dragonfly. Put it on your head and it lets you fly freely, controlled by your thoughts."
Stelle took it and immediately placed it on her head.
In the next second, in everyone's eyes, the bamboo-copter on Stelle's head started spinning—and she slowly lifted off the ground.
She flailed her arms and legs like she was swimming through the air.
"Haha! This is so fun!"
March 7th watched Stelle fly around the shop like she was swimming and felt super jealous.
"Stelle! Let me try it!"
Stelle landed and handed the bamboo-copter to March 7th.
Himeko and Welt were too stunned to speak. Something so small could let someone fly—just by wearing it on their head?
Stelle returned to Ye Yun's side. Ye Yun picked up a glowing energy orb encased in glass and showed everyone.
"Hey, doesn't this look familiar to you guys?"
Everyone looked at it. Suddenly, Welt spoke up.
"Isn't this… a Stellaron? But I've never seen one this stable before."
Ye Yun nodded. "Correct. This is a Stellaron. But this one is unusually stable—and it can be directly implanted into a human body."
"Congratulations, Stelle. You're leveling up."
Stelle's eyes lit up. A Stellaron?! And one that could be implanted?!
She took the core and studied it curiously.
Ye Yun added, "Just crush the glass casing around it."
Stelle did as told. The glass was fragile and shattered easily.
The Stellaron instantly flew into her body, settling beside her original one.
Himeko looked worriedly at Stelle. Even though Ye Yun said it was safe, this was still a Stellaron—the so-called "cancer of all worlds."
"Stelle, how do you feel? Any discomfort?"
Stelle crossed her arms confidently. "Nope! I feel way stronger already!"
Himeko sighed in relief. "That's good."
As for the remaining three items:
One storage ring, one high-level spirit essence, and a redemption card for 100 tons of premium rice.
Stelle looked over the last three, thought for a moment, and sold both the previous 10-ton and the current 100-ton rice redemption cards to Bronya for just 500 credits.
She had no use for that much rice—might as well let Bronya take it.
As for the five durians, Stelle waved her hand grandly and shared them on the spot with everyone.
Paimon was over the moon, clapping her hands like crazy.
Besides Stelle herself, the happiest person with the results was Paimon—because when Stelle got durians, Paimon got to eat some too.
Klee, watching March 7th flying around with the bamboo-copter, also wanted one.
She ran over to Ye Yun, tugging on his clothes.
"Big bro Ye Yun~ Klee wants to open a box too!"
Ye Yun instantly agreed with a smile.
"Sure!"
He bought a Garbage Bin Scratch-Off and placed it in front of Klee.
Everyone gathered around, curious to see what Klee would get.
Klee stood on tiptoe.
"Heave-ho!" she struggled to open the lid, then clasped her hands together.
"Klee wants a reward that can fly and play with Klee!"
A beam of golden light flashed, and in front of Klee appeared a creature about the height of a person, with a pair of white wings on its back—Dodoco!
The moment Klee saw what she got—
"Wow! It's Dodoco! And it can fly!"
Dodoco waddled over on its stubby legs, picked Klee up, and gently placed her on its back.
"Dodoco, and Hook too—Hook is a good friend~"
Hearing that, Dodoco also lifted Hook up and placed her behind Klee.
Then, with a flap of its wings, Dodoco took off with both of them.
Just at that moment, Jean arrived with Noelle—and saw the scene.
"Is that… Dodoco?"
Klee saw Jean and directed Dodoco to land in front of her.
"Captain Jean~!"
Klee slid down from Dodoco like it was a slide.
Jean quickly caught her and flicked her forehead lightly.
"Klee! Be careful!"
Klee rubbed her forehead and grinned. "Got it, Captain Jean~"
Jean glanced at the giant Dodoco. She didn't need to ask—obviously this was Ye Yun's doing.
After all, everyone here knew Ye Yun spoiled Klee, Hook, and Clara silly.
Put plainly, Ye Yun was a total "daughter-con."
Ye Yun didn't deny it—in fact, he proudly agreed. "Raising daughters is the happiest thing in the universe, okay?"
Klee giggled and introduced cheerfully, "Captain Jean, this is Dodoco~ Can I bring it home?"
Jean looked at Dodoco. It smiled and waved at her.
"…Okay."
Jean agreed.
She had been busy lately. Just today, she and Lumine had found and repaired the Lyre of the Sky.
Tomorrow, they'd be heading off to rescue Dvalin.
She hadn't had time to properly care for Klee lately. Letting Dodoco accompany her seemed like a good idea.
Klee cheered and grabbed Hook's hand.
"Hook, let's go play at the Knights of Favonius!"
Hook happily agreed.
She'd been to Mondstadt once before with Ye Yun, and it had left a deep impression on her—it was such a beautiful world.
Dodoco carried Klee and Hook into a teleport portal and left the shop.
Only then did Jean lead Noelle over to Ye Yun.
"Ye Yun, this is Noelle."
Noelle looked at Ye Yun.
"Hello, Mr. Ye Yun. I'm Noelle. Captain Jean has sent me to assist you as a store clerk."
She gave a formal knight's salute.
Ye Yun smiled at her sincere demeanor.
"Nice to meet you, Noelle. No need to be nervous—let me explain your job and benefits."
"First, your shift starts at 8 AM and ends at 6 PM, with a 2-hour lunch break.
You'll mostly be greeting customers. I'll have Paimon show you the ropes in a bit.
As for pay—it's 5,000 credits a month. Meals included; lodging, not. Sound good?"
Noelle was startled at the mention of salary and quickly waved her hands.
"No, no! I don't need payment! This is my duty as a knight!"
Ye Yun made the decision without hesitation.
"It's settled then. Jean, what do you think?"
Jean nodded. "Yes, that's fine."
She agreed on Noelle's behalf.
Getting paid for work was normal, after all.
But Noelle—always so helpful—was just too kindhearted.
Back in Mondstadt, she often helped others for free, so everyone in town liked going to her for help.
***
Noelle had no choice but to agree after Jean spoke.
"Alright then."
Ye Yun nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Then you'll start work tomorrow. It's getting late now, so go get some rest. See you tomorrow."
After that, everyone in the shop went their separate ways.
Bronya, Seele, and Natasha happily returned to Belobog through the portal.
Jean, Lumine, Noelle, and Paimon also went back to Teyvat.
The Astral Express crew returned to their respective rooms to rest.
March 7th stretched lazily.
"Now that I think about it, nothing beats sleeping in my own bed~"
Stelle finished the last bite of durian and let out a loud burp.
"Let's gooo, time to sleep!"
As Stelle spoke, she headed straight for March 7th's room.
March 7th saw this and immediately shouted to stop her.
"Stelle! Don't go in yet! Let that smell air out! You reek of durian!"
Star grinned mischievously and made a silly face.
"Bleh bleh bleh, I'm going in anyway."
She ran toward March 7th's room playfully, with March 7th chasing right after.
"Stelle! Get back here!"
Behind them, Himeko, Welt, and Dan Heng watched the scene with knowing smiles.
Ye Yun also washed up and went to bed.
Belobog.
After returning to Belobog, Bronya took out a large stack of Stellar Jade vouchers and pressed them onto the bubbles of the item list.
The bubbles disappeared, releasing a massive amount of supplies.
Gepard and a group of Silvermane Guards, already waiting there, quickly moved in to receive the goods.
Rice, vegetables, flour, fruits, meat, mining tools, various industrial equipment—
There was simply too much. Fortunately, being in the Mechanical Settlement, Bronya had Svarog dispatch a team of robot workers to help transport the goods.
Finally, Bronya took out the premium rice redemption card that she had bought from Stelle.
She tore it apart, and a magical formation appeared in her hand, from which rice continuously poured out.
Seele, quick on her feet, grabbed a bunch of bags to catch the rice.
At last—
After more than two hours of effort, all the goods were stored in the warehouse.
Bronya looked at the now fully stocked warehouse and let out a breath of relief.
With these supplies, the pressure on Belobog would be greatly reduced.
In the past, they had to both fight monsters from the Fragmentum and worry about filling their stomachs.
Now, at least, they didn't need to worry about going hungry.
The warehouse was heavily guarded, with Gepard personally leading the security.
Then, Bronya headed to the recently reclaimed commercial street.
It's worth mentioning that all the residents from the Underworld had been relocated here.
The living conditions in the Underworld had been far too poor, so now that they had a new place, of course they'd move.
Now, aside from the miners and Svarog's Mechanical Settlement, hardly anyone remained in the Underworld.
Svarog's place wouldn't be moved—it remained as the guardian of the portal.
Bronya strolled down the commercial street. In the nearby shops, families gathered around campfires, with iron pots boiling on top.
In the pot, they were cooking the freshly distributed rice.
Bronya could faintly hear a family's conversation.
"Daddy, the rice smells so good~"
"Smells good, huh? Eat a lot later then."
"Mm! Daddy, this place is so pretty! Today I saw a monster that eats people!"
"Hahaha, that's a bus. I'll take you for a ride tomorrow."
"Yay!"
"Alright, alright, you two stop messing around. Come eat—after dinner it's time to rest."
"Okay, okay, listen to Mommy."
The family sat around the fire, happily eating their porridge.
Though it was just plain porridge, in the snowy winter night, it was enough to warm both body and soul.
Bronya looked into the distance. Scenes like this were everywhere in the commercial street.
The eyes of these people were no longer lifeless—they were filled with hope. Hope for tomorrow.
Before, their only wish for tomorrow was survival. Now, they had much more.
For example, earning more money to furnish their new homes.
Or buying new clothes for their wife and kids.
Or chasing dreams, enriching their lives.
A smile unconsciously crept onto Bronya's lips as she softly murmured:
"How nice."
She turned and walked away from the street, her steps firmer, her posture more upright.
At the gates of the Knights of Favonius HQ.
Lumine and Paimon waved goodbye to Jean and Noelle.
"See you tomorrow, Acting Grand Master Jean, Noelle."
Lumine and Paimon then arrived at a small garden below the headquarters. Lumine's off-road camper was parked there.
This small garden had already been designated to Lumine by Jean—it was her "home."
A fence had been placed at the entrance.
Vines had grown up the fence, blooming with colorful flowers.
Pushing open the gate, flowerbeds flanked both sides, and ahead was a stone path leading straight to the camper.
The path was paved with pebbles, with a bench placed along the way.
The two walked to the camper door and entered.
The interior had changed a lot since it was first purchased—there were many signs of daily life now.
Photos hung on the wall, a vase on the table, and so on.
After resting for a bit, the two began their nightly routine.
"Lumine, hand me the towel."
Lumine passed Paimon the towel, then dried her own hair and lay on the top bunk.
Since Paimon didn't take up "space," they both shared the top bunk. The bottom bunk had been converted into a small sitting area, with a little table and a bookshelf.
Lying in bed, Lumine looked out the window at the scenery.
The moon shone brightly, reflected on the holy surface of Cider Lake.
Before long, Paimon had finished washing up too.
"Lumine, what are we eating tonight?"
Lumine looked at her.
"You just ate a bunch of durian and roast chicken. You're still hungry?"
Paimon crossed her arms.
"That was a snack, not a proper meal."
Lumine was a little speechless.
"There's nothing left at home. Just two cups of instant noodles. If you want one, go make it."
Paimon rubbed her hands together and took the instant noodles from the fridge.
"Alrighty! Lumine, want one too?"
"Yeah."
Paimon cooked the noodles while Lumine opened the outdoor table. The two sat at the table outside, each with a cup of noodles, chatting and slurping.
"Lumine, let's go eat Sweet Madame tomorrow, okay?"
"Nope. Tomorrow we have to go find Dvalin, remember?"
"Oh right~ Then the day after tomorrow, hehe."
Inside the Knights of Favonius HQ.
After returning, Noelle went back to her room, while Jean visited Klee's.
Jean gently opened the door to find Klee and Hook snuggled up asleep in Dodoco's arms.
The two little ones were cuddled close, sleeping sweetly.
Dodo-King looked at Jean and smiled.
Jean walked in, gently tucked them in, and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.
She stretched in her office, then headed home.
Since they would be searching for Dvalin tomorrow, she decided not to handle paperwork tonight, choosing instead to rest and restore her energy.