Keep an Eye on That Brat Kiana!

Mobius gave Liu Bai no room to bargain at all—though this amount was already higher than Liu Bai had expected.

Mobius Favorability: 15

World Serpent Favorability: 15

The advantage of a dictatorship-style faction was that the faction's favorability was tied solely to its leader's favorability.

"Oh, right. Let me draw some blood before you leave."

Liu Bai and Guinaifen had no interest in wandering around World Serpent, so they returned directly to their little Serenitea Pot home.

As usual, Liu Bai skipped the Pottle Spirit.

The moment they entered, they were greeted by the girl's radiant smile.

"Mr. Liu Bai, Miss Guinaifen, welcome back~"

"Good evening, Firefly."

"Looks like you're feeling much better, Firefly!"

"I'm doing okay..." Firefly scratched her cheek a little shyly. "You two didn't do anything dangerous, did you?"

"Hmm... Does Boss Liu nearly losing his chastity count?" Guinaifen asked cheerfully.

Smack.

Liu Bai picked up a bottle of mineral water and smacked the back of Guinaifen's head with it.

"W-W-W-What? Ch-Chastity?"

Firefly's face immediately turned bright red. In her mind, an image appeared of Liu Bai wearing a three-piece bikini and pole-dancing onstage under the watchful eyes of a crowd of plump wealthy women.

"M-Mr. Liu Bai, how could you sacrifice so much for me...?"

"...I'm guessing what you imagined isn't remotely what I did."

Liu Bai covered his face, then smacked Guinaifen again with the mineral water bottle.

"Alright, alright, I was just joking. There's no way Boss Liu would do something that weird."

Guinaifen raised her hands in surrender.

"Still, today really made me realize something. Some people can make money no matter where they are—Boss Liu, once we get out of here, I'm definitely turning what happened on this planet into a ballad. I've already thought of the title: 'Little Gui's Tale of Misfortune'!"

"What about me?"

"You'd obviously be the benefactor who saves the protagonist, Little Gui, from disaster!"

"Give me a break."

Liu Bai poked Guinaifen in the head with the bottle.

"What about me?" Firefly seemed interested in Guinaifen's story too.

"Hmm... let me think. As for you, Firefly..."

While Guinaifen livened up the atmosphere, Liu Bai stepped outside.

"Welcome, Master..."

The Pottle Spirit started speaking as usual, but suddenly stopped halfway through.

Pottle Spirit: "..."

Liu Bai: "..."

One man and one pot stared at each other beneath the sound of the waterfall.

"Go on," Liu Bai said, utterly baffled.

"You didn't skip it this time..."

The Pottle Spirit shook its chubby pot body with a gloomy expression.

But it quickly adjusted its mood.

"Ahem... W-welcome, Master, to the Serenitea Pot. I am your personal steward, the Pottle Spirit~"

"Dad."

"Skip."

"..."

The Pottle Spirit froze, its eyes instantly filling with grievance.

How could you be like this?!

"I want to buy some things."

"...Here is the catalog."

The Pottle Spirit struggled to pull out a booklet from inside itself.

"Three sets of ordinary bedding, two wooden screens. That'll be seven hundred."

Of the previous five thousand, Liu Bai had nine hundred and fifty left. He planned to use this money to add a few things to the house—once Mobius's money arrived tomorrow, he could renovate the place properly.

"Thank you for your patronage."

After taking the money, the Pottle Spirit handed Liu Bai five small building blocks, then inserted an advertisement as usual.

"If you wish to customize furniture, please visit Lady Xianyun of the Liyue Merchant Guild."

"Got it."

Liu Bai replied politely, then returned to the room and unfolded the block-form bedding and screens in his hands.

"Oh, we have beds now." Seeing the screens and bedding Liu Bai had set up, Guinaifen relaxed slightly.

She had actually been thinking about this for a long time, but it was really not an easy question to ask, and she had never found the chance.

"We'll make do for tonight. We'll have money tomorrow, then we'll give this little thatched hut a proper makeover."

"Honkai activity in the Sky Dome Zone had already been growing more frequent, and now there are visitors from beyond the stars..."

Inside an ordinary inn, Rita, dressed in a maid uniform, turned to look at the white-haired little girl beside her.

"Vice Principal Theresa, what do you think?"

Keep an Eye on That Brat Kiana!

"That is still your headquarters' business."

Hearing Rita's sigh, Theresa responded expressionlessly—but seeing Theresa's little face so stern, Rita's smile seemed to deepen.

"You can't put it that way." Although Rita, being fond of little girls, greatly appreciated Theresa's earnestly serious little face, she could not forget the important matter. "No one knows what those visitors from beyond the stars might bring. Bacteria? Disease? Or perhaps a disaster like the Honkai? Our world cannot withstand any more turmoil."

"Oh? Then why do I feel that my grandfather is particularly fond of causing trouble?"

The bishop naturally had his own intentions. If Lady Theresa had questions, she might as well ask the bishop directly.

Rita's answer was a flawless attempt to pass the buck.

Its core message was simple—

Why didn't she dare pick a fight with the bishop?

"..."

Sure enough, Theresa went quiet as soon as she heard that.

Rita pressed her advantage. "Speaking of which, Lady Theresa, what brings you here this time?"

"Who else could it be for? Kiana, your captain's dear little sister."

"Oh? Has Miss Kiana gone missing?" Rita immediately thought of World Serpent.

"Ah, no."

Theresa shook her head.

"That brat wrecked a treasure belonging to the Liyue Merchant Guild while on a mission. She's working to pay it off now."

"...It isn't being reimbursed?" Rita was clearly taken aback.

"A whole warehouse of antique calligraphy and paintings, preliminarily valued at three billion. You want me to reimburse that?"

At the mention of it, Theresa's face darkened, and her voice took on a gritted-teeth edge.

"That brat wasn't beaten enough when she was little! Couldn't she watch where she was fighting?! She kicked a Flaming Catapult Beast straight into someone else's warehouse! Boss Ningguang personally came to our branch to demand an explanation. What was I supposed to do?"

"Um... Well... How should I put this..."

Rita clearly had no idea what to say either.

But thinking about it carefully, her captain had also brought down quite a few buildings with a single spear throw. The difference was that those belonged to Schicksal.

Three billion—there was no way the Far East Branch had that much liquid capital.

"What did Lady Cecilia say?"

"What could she say? She invited Ningguang for tea, then handed Kiana over." Theresa sounded rather depressed.

Rita wore an expression of complete understanding.

If it were her, she would have handed her over too.

That girl was completely hopeless.

"Still, Cecilia probably wasn't unhappy with this arrangement. She probably considered it training for Kiana."

Theresa's resigned words made Rita's smile stiffen slightly.

Were they sure they had not simply sold Kiana off?

Could Kiana even pay back those three billion in an entire lifetime?

Well, Rita also knew that Cecilia had most likely talked things over with Ningguang privately and reached some kind of agreement.

After all, it was only natural for a mother to clean up after her daughter.

"So... Lady Theresa, are you here to take care of Kiana?"

"Huh? Take care of her?"

Theresa gave Rita a baffled look.

Rita returned it with an equally baffled look.

Wasn't that the case?

"Rita, has your brain stopped working too? I'm here to keep that brat Kiana from running away!"

"..."

Ah... It was unexpected, but somehow it made perfect sense.

"However..." Theresa still frowned. "There was indeed an attack at the Merchant Guild today. The attacker is unknown."

"Was it aimed at Kiana?" Rita's expression turned solemn.

"Not sure. The Merchant Guild itself is quite conspicuous. It earns money on a level comparable to Anti-Entropy, but it does not possess Anti-Entropy's overt military strength, so it is not strange for it to be targeted."

Theresa looked somewhat troubled.

"What about the visitor from beyond the stars you're in charge of?"

"We lost the target, but my intuition tells me it probably has something to do with World Serpent."

"Since when did you become the intuition type?"

Theresa glanced at Rita, and a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed her mind.

"Wait, Rita. I have an idea."

"...An idea from Lady Theresa?"

"Don't look so doubtful! I'm serious!" Seeing the suspicious look on Rita's face, Theresa could not help hopping in place. "The best-informed forces here are World Serpent and the Liyue Merchant Guild! If you need intelligence, buy it from the Merchant Guild! Isn't that better than having the Undying Blade search for a needle in a haystack?"

"And while we're at it, help you keep an eye on Miss Kiana?" Rita immediately understood what Theresa was plotting.