Gáe Bolg, the Spear That Pierces with Death

Hu Tao let out a smug snort.

The moment they met, Hu Tao noticed something was off about Keqing.

Having handled Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business for years, Hu Tao had an extremely keen understanding of people's complexions. The first time she saw Keqing at the airport, Hu Tao could tell that Keqing's complexion was excellent. She looked like a peach on the verge of ripening, clearly in high spirits and having lived quite comfortably lately.

But just now, in the room, Keqing had said that she had made no progress in searching for Ye Ming—after trying for so long and failing to find even the slightest trace of the person she liked, how could Keqing possibly be in high spirits? How could her complexion be so good?

She was lying!

Hu Tao immediately saw through Keqing's lie.

However, she did not tell Ganyu. Instead, she planned to secretly follow Keqing when she got the chance and see whether she could discover anything.

Now, the opportunity had come.

"Let Hu Tao see what exactly you're hiding. Are you some cheating kitty? Hehe."

Hu Tao opened the window, flipped straight out, and chased after Keqing in the direction she had left.

Almost the instant Hu Tao flipped out the window, Enterprise, lying on the bed in the bedroom, abruptly sat up and opened her eyes.

"The room's soundproofing is too good. I can't hear anything." Enterprise sounded a little regretful. "It would be nice if Helena were here."

However...

Along with her regret, Enterprise also felt puzzled.

Weren't they companions? Why was Hu Tao secretly following Keqing?

Enterprise did not know the reason, but that did not stop her from making a decision.

Since Keqing had already left and Hu Tao was following Keqing, she could launch her carrier aircraft and use their aerial advantage to follow both Hu Tao and Keqing from above.

As for herself, she could stay here and keep Ganyu company.

Could she find the Commander's whereabouts?

With that thought in mind, Enterprise rose and walked to the window, opened it, and extended her right arm.

Two eagles with white heads and tails, their remaining bodies covered in pitch-black feathers, appeared on Enterprise's shoulder without warning.

"Go, Grim Reaper Squadron."

Enterprise gave the order softly.

Enterprise was an aircraft carrier of the White Eagle. Historically, Enterprise used eighteen air squadrons throughout her life, and the Grim Reaper Squadron was merely one of them, belonging to the Tenth Air Group. While stationed aboard Enterprise, the Grim Reaper Squadron shot down 121 enemy aircraft, making it the squadron with the second-highest number of enemy aircraft shot down among those Enterprise had used.

The eagles were the embodiment of the Grim Reaper Squadron. They could become reapers that destroyed the battlefield, or eagles that scouted enemy movements.

The two eagles dipped their heads slightly toward Enterprise. Then they spread their wings, shot into the sky, and sped toward the direction where Keqing and Hu Tao had disappeared.

As Keqing drove down the road, her thoughts were a little chaotic.

Mondstadt's appearance made Keqing, who had originally planned to stall for a few days, begin to hesitate.

Faced with a common foreign enemy, should she be honest with her companions and tell them about Ye Ming?

Logic told Keqing that she should tell them.

Besides, she had already eaten Ye Ming and received Ye Ming's acknowledgment. She had eaten him already, so what would it matter if she admitted it? They couldn't possibly make her spit him back out, could they?

After all, they were close companions who were like sisters. When the time came, as long as she properly admitted her mistake and accepted punishment, as long as she was sincere enough and lowered her stance enough, she should be forgiven, right?

Ganyu had also said that nothing could shake the sisterly bond between them, and that no matter what happened, she would not resort to violence.

But on the other hand, if she told them, if she gave her former companions the opportunity to spend time with Ye Ming, what would Fu Hua and Laffey think? And what would those two pink-haired girls, who were close to Fu Hua and likely also liked Ye Ming, think?

Keqing felt that, as Ye Ming's first wife and unquestionably the principal wife, she had to consider these matters thoroughly and help ease Ye Ming's burdens.

But as for how exactly she should sort out this tangled mess of relationships, Keqing had absolutely no clue. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.

"Big Sister Keqing."

The familiar voice that suddenly rang out startled Keqing from her thoughts.

Keqing pulled over and looked. By the roadside stood little Laffey, along with the two pink-haired girls she had just been thinking about, Yae Sakura and Okita Souji.

"Why are you here?"

Keqing was surprised.

"Laffey went to play at Big Sister Okita's Dojo today. We were just getting ready to go home."

As she spoke, Laffey looked curiously at Keqing. "Big Sister Keqing, didn't you go abroad? Why..."

Halfway through her sentence, Laffey suddenly froze.

She widened her eyes in disbelief, abruptly raised her head, and looked toward the high sky overhead.

Above them was a clear sky stretching for miles, completely empty.

Laffey stared upward for a long time, yet did not see what she had expected.

The excitement gradually faded from Laffey's face, and she lowered her head in disappointment.

"Laffey, what's wrong?"

Beside her, Yae Sakura looked at Laffey with concern.

Laffey shook her head.

"Just now, Laffey seemed to sense Big Sister Enterprise's presence."

The Spear That Pierced the Dead

The eagles formed by the Grim Reaper Squadron soared high above the heavens. In their sharp eyes was reflected the sight of Keqing driving below.

Standing by the window, Enterprise watched every movement of Keqing and Hu Tao through the Grim Reaper Squadron's vision.

Then she saw that familiar little figure by the roadside.

Gorgeous wine-red eyes, a little face that looked sleepy and listless, long white hair tied into a cute ponytail with an adorable rabbit-ear hair clip, a loose little dress, white thigh-high socks, and black round-toed leather shoes.

The instant she saw the figure clearly, Enterprise froze.

This person was Laffey, who had mysteriously vanished not long ago!

So Laffey had come to this world too?

Keqing carried the Commander's scent, and Laffey seemed to know Keqing. Did that mean...

Laffey had already found the Commander?

The Commander was here too!!!

The moment she realized this, the White Eagle War God, who had achieved countless glorious victories in the past, felt her heart instantly fill with joy.

Intense joy gave rise to an even stronger impulse. Eager to meet Laffey, to see the Commander, and to return to the Commander's side, Enterprise could no longer care about anything else. She immediately controlled the Grim Reaper Squadron to dive down, intending to meet Laffey.

Then, just as the Grim Reaper Squadron dove, a beam of scarlet light shot out from the distant edge of the sky at astonishing speed. It arrived in an instant and pierced straight through the Grim Reaper Squadron. A moment later, the glow dispersed, and the scarlet beam gradually vanished into the air.

Faced with this sudden development, Enterprise, whose mind had been somewhat overheated, instantly calmed down and frowned slightly.

At the moment the Grim Reaper Squadron had been pierced, Enterprise had vaguely seen, through the squadron's eyes, the thing wrapped in scarlet light—a dark crimson spear.

What was that? And who was controlling it?

Why had they attacked the Grim Reaper Squadron?

Countless thoughts flashed through Enterprise's mind in an instant, but with so little information, no amount of thinking gave her any answers.

A powerful sense of danger rose within Enterprise.

More than the true identity of the mysterious person controlling the blood-red spear, what worried her was whether that person harbored hostility toward Laffey and the Commander, and whether they might threaten the Commander's safety.

That kind of long-range strike from beyond visual range was simply too terrifying.

After carefully considering it for a moment, Enterprise felt that she absolutely could not ignore such a great risk. She had to respond.

Enterprise threw the half-open window fully open. After pondering for a moment, she extended her left hand and said softly, "Enterprise, activate!"

Azure light flashed in an instant. Countless deep-blue cubes appeared out of thin air, forming a torrent of azure light that surged and swirled around Enterprise before gathering over her outstretched left hand, arranging and fusing together. Almost in the blink of an eye, the azure glow faded, and a mechanical longbow appeared in Enterprise's left hand. At the center of the bow was the model of a ship—its prototype was none other than the famed Yorktown-class aircraft carrier Enterprise.

Enterprise held the bow in her left hand and slowly drew the string with her right. At the center of the bow, specks of light lit up across the deck of the ship model.

Enterprise took a deep breath, then abruptly released the hand drawing the bowstring!

The specks of light on the deck gathered into an arrow of light and launched forth. It shot into the sky in an instant, pierced the clouds, and exploded within them!

VF-17 Corsair Squadron, Sea Hornet, Flying Dragon, Prototype XSB3C-1, Meteor, SB2C Helldiver...

Using the cloud cover as concealment, countless golden and rainbow-colored carrier aircraft enhanced to +10 or even +13 emerged from the light, forming a massive carrier aircraft formation. Some transformed into birds, while others became palm-sized model airplanes. At Enterprise's command, they scattered in every direction, searching for any suspicious figures.

In the bedroom, Enterprise released her left hand. The mechanical longbow fell, gradually becoming translucent before it even reached the floor, then vanished into the air.

Enterprise closed the window and let out a quiet breath.

This world was different from the Azure world Enterprise came from. Here, there seemed to be no Wisdom Cubes, no supplies needed by Ship-Girls, and no Ship-Girl equipment.

Yet Enterprise did not consider such changes a bad thing.