She looked up at the towering buildings on both sides of the street, gasping in amazement again and again.
Of all the places they had traveled through in Teyvat, Fontaine was probably the closest thing to a modern city.
But even Fontaine was clearly quite different from a truly modern metropolis.
The sheer variety of goods sold along the streets, especially the colorful toys, left Paimon dazzled.
"Let's go! To the jewelry center!"
Naturally, they had come to search for Zhongli's ascension materials.
Yin Kong had originally thought that even after successfully unlocking the [Adventurer's Guild] function, obtaining a Geo [Brave Jade Fragment] through the random rewards from daily commissions would take several days, perhaps even over ten.
Who would have thought Aoyama Nanami would be so lucky, getting exactly what they needed in one go? Naturally, he could not waste any time. He needed to find the rest of Zhongli's ascension materials as soon as possible.
If he could raise Zhongli to level forty, then get Conan to farm a set of HP-HP-HP artifacts, even three-star ones would be enough to push his HP to around twenty thousand.
By then, if they encountered monsters in the fifties or sixties again, the balance of offense and defense would be completely reversed.
It was worth mentioning that the peace left behind after the battle with Yatagarasu truly had not lasted long.
Less than two days had passed, and Yin Kong had already begun seeing wandering demons and monsters in the streets and alleys again.
Although their numbers were still scarce, before long, things would likely return to their former "glorious" spectacle of demons running rampant.
For Paimon, this was actually a good chance to adapt gradually.
"Traveler, this is it."
Neither Yin Kong nor Paimon had much interest in jewelry, so they were highly efficient.
About half a day later, they successfully found a substitute for [Cor Lapis] at a Chinese jewelry shop called "Dragon Phoenix Auspiciousness."
"Tienhuang Stone?"
Yin Kong vaguely remembered the name. It seemed to be a rare stone produced in China, often used to make seals, and it was quite expensive.
And Zhongli needed only top-quality Tienhuang Stone, making the price even more outrageous.
"Wow, just the deposit cost over two million yen. Including what we've already spent, Zhongli's ascension materials are going to cost more than seventeen million yen! At this rate, Miss Yoko's savings probably won't hold out much longer."
Even after leaving the jewelry center, Paimon continued sighing in amazement.
Tienhuang Stone was rare to begin with, let alone in a foreign country.
Although Dragon Phoenix Auspiciousness was already one of Tokyo's largest jewelry and jade dealers, its on-hand stock was nowhere near enough to satisfy Zhongli's ascension requirements.
They could only pay a deposit first and wait for the shop to transfer stock from China, which would take at least a week.
Junior Detective Agency
Should I pull again?
Seeing Ningguang among the three rate-up four-stars in the banner, Yin Kong could not help feeling tempted once more.
Because if he remembered correctly, raising Zhongli to max level required a full one hundred and sixty-eight [Cor Lapis], the same number of times he had gone through the Sabzeruz Festival in his dream.
If all of it was calculated at the price of three for over seventeen million yen, purchasing the Tienhuang Stone alone would require Yin Kong to prepare nearly one billion yen!
Clearly, Miss Yoko alone absolutely could not support that sort of spending.
If he could pull Ningguang, then even if the Qixing of Liyue was alone and could not bring over her Jade Chamber or immense wealth, with her abilities, rebuilding from scratch would only be a matter of time.
Unfortunately, his balance of fewer than a hundred Primogems made him want to stare at the sky and sigh.
Yin Kong knew perfectly well that if he could scrape together enough for two pulls before the end of the day, that would already be impressive.
"Yin Kong, look! There's an exhibition over here too! [World's Secret Treasures Exhibition]... Does that mean treasures from this world?"
Paimon clearly had none of these strange worries. In her little head, as long as she was traveling alongside Yin Kong, she was happiest.
Just as Paimon was staring curiously, a vigorous voice suddenly shouted from the exhibition courtyard:
"Great! Then let's go look for treasure! Starting today, we're the [Junior Detective Agency]!"
Junior Detective Agency?
Yin Kong's heart stirred. He immediately followed the voice with his gaze and, sure enough, spotted a round-headed, chubby little boy holding up a slip of paper as he proudly said something to his elementary school classmates.
Very soon, amid that energetic group of children, Yin Kong spotted Conan, who wore a deadpan expression like he could not be bothered with anything, as well as the exclamation mark above his head representing a World Quest.
By now, Yin Kong had also learned something very important: when people were killed, they died—
Ah, no, missions could fail.
In games, even if players got wiped out by a boss due to clumsy controls or underleveled characters, or became stuck at a stage, they could simply restart over and over.
Just like Thoma in the Inazuma Archon Quest, who had promised to kneel and ask someone for help. As long as players did not trigger the next part of the story, he would keep kneeling before the Statue of the Omnipresent God until the end of time.
But in the real world, such a convenient thing obviously did not and could not exist.
For example, after the unfortunate murder of that poor manager, Mr. Yamagishi Ei, the World Quest attached to him naturally vanished as well.
As for its exact contents, nobody knew anymore.
While Yin Kong tried hard to recall the plot, Paimon had already been completely captivated by the word "treasure."
"Treasure? Treasure! Yin Kong, did you hear that? There's treasure!"
"I, Kojima Genta, will be the captain. Do you have any objections..."
Kojima Genta was enthusiastically declaring himself captain when an unfamiliar voice sounded behind him.
"The treasure you mentioned is this piece of paper?"
"Of course not, but this piece of paper must be a very valuable treasure map..." Only halfway through speaking did he realize what was happening. He whipped around to stare at Paimon warily. "Wait, who are you?"
Paimon planted her hands on her hips and proudly introduced herself.
"Hmph hmph, I'm the super treasure-hunting expert—Paimon."
Conan automatically ignored Paimon's title. Looking at her white hair, he was slightly surprised.
Is she a foreigner?
Kojima Genta, however, did not think that much.
"A super treasure-hunting expert? Oh, I get it! You're here to steal our treasure, aren't you?"
At those words, aside from Conan, the other two members of the Junior Detective Agency, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, immediately became wary as well.
Mitsuhiko promptly said:
"The treasure is ours. We're not sharing it with you."
Paimon was not flustered at all. Instead, she crossed her arms and looked disdainful.
"What? I think you're just scared that I'll find the treasure before you do. With that little courage, how can you call yourselves the Junior Detective Agency? You should just call yourselves the Junior Good Kids Club."
"Darn it! You actually dared to look down on us!" Seeing even Paimon, who was younger than him, despise him, Kojima Genta said angrily, "Fine, we'll let you see it! Even if you look at the treasure map, our Junior Detective Agency will definitely find the treasure first!"
They really were children. They fell for such a simple provocation.
Seeing Genta actually hand Paimon the treasure map so readily, Conan was naturally speechless.
Is it too late for me to quit the Junior Detective Agency? If I stay around elementary school students too long, I feel like these guys might rub off on me.
Still, despite complaining inwardly, Conan did not think the slip of paper Genta had casually picked up could really be a treasure map, so he could not be bothered to stop him.
Paimon, however, wagged a finger with a confident look.
"Hmph hmph hmph! Whether you're treasure hoarders or detectives, you're all nothing before the strongest ace partnership, Yin Kong and Paimon!"
Yin Kong? Yin Kong!
Conan had initially looked completely unconcerned, but the moment he heard Yin Kong's name, he instantly became alert.
This little girl, Paimon, was actually connected to that man?
Conan instinctively looked around and soon discovered in surprise that Yin Kong had somehow already been standing not far away, smiling as he watched them.
"Long time no see, little Conan." Seeing Conan finally notice him, Yin Kong walked over and looked at the Junior Detective Agency. "You're playing a treasure hunt, right? How about letting me join?"
It really was that man!
Conan's expression shifted slightly. After returning home yesterday, he had immediately asked Professor Agasa to investigate the Adventurer's Guild, Catherine, Dumaini, and related information.
But to his shock, the professor had found only the Adventurer's Guild and Catherine, and the two were unrelated. Neither matched Yin Kong's descriptions in the slightest.
As for Dumaini, there was no trace of him at all.
While Conan was still in shock, Kojima Genta pointed at Paimon in disbelief.
"Your companion is an adult?"
Paimon replied as if it were only natural:
"Of course Yin Kong is an adult. There's no rule saying only children can adventure and search for treasure together, right?"
Mitsuhiko said indignantly:
"You're using an adult to bully children! That's not fair!"
Paimon snorted, looking even prouder.
"I'm not a member of your Junior Detective Agency. Paimon has reached an adult's level already, so I can adventure with Yin Kong. If you think it's unfair, you can ask an adult friend for help too. Don't tell me you can't find one?"
Maple Meets Deer
"Darn it!"
Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi were naturally furious at Paimon's words, feeling that she was completely looking down on them.
Yet what angered the three of them even more was that they could not find any way to refute her.
After some time, the Junior Detective Agency might be able to bring in Professor Agasa, but right now, unless Conan was willing to help, they clearly were not close enough to Professor Agasa to ask him.
Seeing their reactions, Paimon naturally became even smugger.
"You don't need to be discouraged. I'm the super treasure-hunting expert Paimon, so it's normal for you to lose to me. You did make a tiny little contribution, though, so after we find the treasure, I'll specially allow you to touch it too."
That only made the three of them even angrier.
Ayumi shouted:
"Don't get so full of yourself! Don't think you've already won just because you have an adult helping you. Right, Conan?"
Paimon put her hands on her hips, utterly fearless.
"It seems you still haven't realized how harsh reality is. Yin Kong isn't an ordinary adult."
Conan naturally did not share the same thought process as those three brats. Hearing Paimon's words, his heart stirred, and he followed up on them.
"Oh? Then just how is this Brother Yin Kong you mentioned so impressive?"
Paimon did not think much of it. She immediately lifted her little face and proudly began counting on her fingers.
"There are so, so many things! We've badmouthed the Anemo Archon together, mooched meals off the Geo Archon, fought the Electro Archon... Wait, why am I telling you all this?"
Conan had been looking forward to Paimon accidentally revealing some important information about Yin Kong's identity, but a huge question mark immediately appeared over his head.
Anemo Archon? Geo Archon? Electro Archon?
What kind of nonsense was that?
Sure enough, this little girl named Paimon was just as chuunibyou as Yin Kong.
And she seemed even worse than him.
From her expression, she apparently truly believed all those things had happened.
At that thought, Conan could not help looking at Paimon with sympathy.
"Then does Brother Yin Kong also have an interest in the treasure map?"
When Conan's probing got him nowhere, he abruptly shifted targets and pointed the spear directly at Yin Kong. Yin Kong raised an eyebrow slightly.
After just one night, this kid had gotten quite a bit bolder.
"Since Paimon is interested, of course I'm willing to search with her." As he spoke, Yin Kong pointed at Conan's glasses. "By the way, Conan, I think I forgot to inspect your glasses last time."
Conan was not worried in the least, clearly having prepared for this. He shook his head.
"There's no need, Brother Yin Kong. After I went home yesterday, Sister Ran had a professional inspect them. There is absolutely—no problem—with my glasses!"
Before you continue