I~Don't~Have~Any~Buns~Left~

[Venti: The Archon War back then left very few surviving gods on the Teyvat Continent today, and almost all of them are sealed away.]

[Venti: Even if some unsealed gods still live, they lost in the Archon War and thus lost the qualification to become one of the Seven Archons, so new gods won't be chosen from among the old gods.]

[Venti: Barring any surprises, the current gods who are natural-born gods are probably only the Geo Archon and the Electro Archon.]

[Venti: The other gods have their own god names, but they weren't born as gods originally.]

[Navia: Is that so? So Lady Furina is a god elevated from a human?]

[Furina: That's right. I was the familiar of the first Hydro Archon, Egeria.]

[Furina: Back then, when the first Hydro Archon Egeria was about to depart, she passed the position of Hydro Archon and her divine power to me.]

[Furina: That's how I became the "Queen of All Waters, All Peoples, All Laws," Furina de Fontaine.]

Furina finally breathed a sigh of relief. At last, she had managed to cover up that lie. (Though it wasn't entirely a lie.)

The video continued.

Hearing the words "True Death," Zhongli seemed to trigger some kind of reflex.

Zhongli slammed the table hard. "True Death? Of course, go to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!"

Nahida looked at the flyer in Zhongli's hand and teased, "You're really dedicated to your job..."

[Hu Tao: As expected of my Guest Official! You effortlessly did what I, the director, couldn't! (Referring to advertising)]

[Hu Tao: In that case, let me tell you more...]

[Hu Tao has been muted.]

[System: I told you not to act like I don't exist!!!]

[Zhongli: Sigh... Director...]

A fancy transition...

Ei tasted the dishes on the table and couldn't help praising, "Liyue's cuisine truly lives up to its reputation!"

"Indeed!" Furina held a rabbit-shaped mashed potato. "Look at this dessert—it's mashed potato shaped like a rabbit. I can hardly bear to eat it."

"The name is really interesting too!" Venti chimed in. "It's called Rabbit Mash."

[Lumine: Pun deduction, hey!]

[Cyno: "Mashed Potato," "Rabbit Mash" hahaha, that's really funny.]

[Tighnari: ...]

[Cyno: Tighnari, why aren't you laughing? Can't find the joke? Let me explain, the punchline is...]

[Tighnari: Shut up!]

Seeing that they liked Liyue dishes, Zhongli proudly explained, "Liyue cuisine emphasizes the harmony of color, aroma, taste, form, and vessel. The dish names are also an important part of enhancing the dining experience."

"Interesting." Ei picked up some vermicelli with her chopsticks. "For example, this dish is named 'Ants Climbing a Tree'—it's very vivid."

The vermicelli on Ei's chopsticks, stained by the sauce, looked like tree bark, while the minced meat resembled ants crawling up the tree.

"Mm, this dish is especially popular." Zhongli glanced at the Ants Climbing a Tree in Ei's hand and nodded in agreement.

"Really? Is it because of the name?" Venti asked Zhongli.

"No." Zhongli replied flatly. "It's because it has a lot of fans."

Suddenly, Venti was covered in sweat drops...

[Kiana: Is that a cold joke?]

[Stelle: That's a really cold joke.]

[Cyno: I see! Because this dish is mainly made of vermicelli, so it has 'a lot of fans'! I've learned something.]

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Zhongli continued explaining, "In short, Liyue dishes not only focus on the enjoyment of eating but also stimulate the food's natural benefits through cooking, which is very good for the body."

[Kamisato Ayaka: Is this what Liyue calls Medicinal Cuisine?]

[Xiangling: No, this probably isn't true Medicinal Cuisine—just an ordinary home-cooked dish.]

[Xiangling: Of course, real Medicinal Cuisine does exist too.]

[Fu Hua: Shenzhou also has that kind of cooking for Medicinal Cuisine.]

[Bailu: We have it on the Luofu Xianzhou too!]

[Jing Yuan: But speaking of which, Liyue's style feels very similar to our Xianzhou's.]

[Otto: As far as I know, Shenzhou in our world once had that style too.]

[Zhongli: What a coincidence? Or is there some connection between our three worlds...]

Hearing Zhongli say these dishes had such effects, Venti perked up. "Oh, really? So what effect does this dish have?"

Zhongli said calmly, "Increases crit rate by 10%."

"Uh..." Venti was speechless.

[Silver Wolf: Crit rate? Sounds like something from a game.]

[System: As I said before, your world was adapted into a game. So isn't it perfectly normal for there to be food that boosts crit rate?]

The atmosphere grew awkward again... Nahida, seeing no one speak, decided to break the silence. Suddenly recalling a certain General Mahamatra under her command, she had an idea.

"Speaking of food, I just thought of a story!"

Seeing that the young Dendro Archon seemed about to tell a tale, Furina's curiosity was instantly piqued.

"Oh! What story?"

Nahida didn't plan to drag it out.

"So, Paimon, Barbatos, and Morax were eating in Liyue."

"Paimon ate all the meat, then said: 'I love meat!'"

"Barbatos drank all the wine, then said: 'I love wine!'"

"Morax finished all the steamed buns, then said—what do you think he said?"

"Huh! What?" Furina's curiosity was fully hooked.

Seeing Furina's eager expression, Nahida continued, "I—have—no—buns—left~"

Instantly, the whole room felt as if some uninvited god from a certain nation had descended, the temperature dropping a few degrees.

Sensing the atmosphere had grown even more awkward, Nahida looked puzzled. "Huh? Not funny? Cyno said it was hilarious..."

[Asta: So... where's the punchline? Can someone explain?]

[Cyno: Let me explain.]

[Cyno: In our world, the common currency is called Mora, and Mora is created by Morax, the Geo Archon of Liyue.]

[Theresa: So... Morax is basically a printing press?]

[Zhongli: You could say that.]

[Kiana: So the joke's punchline is that the printing press ran out of money?]

[Cyno: Exactly, that's the point.]

[Venti: But that should be impossible, since the old man only needs a bit of divine power to create Mora—or even none at all. He could just flick some dandruff off himself, and it'd work. There's practically no cost.]

[Marvika: Right, how could the god who creates Mora ever run out of Mora? Hahaha...]

[Hu Tao: ...]

Hu Tao stared at Zhongli with a dark look...