First Meeting with Kujou Sara

Seeing how enthusiastically the Tenryou Commission soldiers invited him to Kujou Encampment, Wang Lei did not refuse.

If he remembered correctly, Kujou Sara was one of the few upright people among Inazuma's current upper ranks. There was no harm in getting to know her, especially since he had no intention of causing trouble in Inazuma.

Besides, even if the Raiden Shogun learned that he had a God's Eye and wanted to confiscate it, he would just give it to her. This thing was only worth 1,000 Energy Points. As long as he could siphon energy from the Mikage Furnace, he could give her several more if she wanted.

So Wang Lei began fishing his phone out of the river. Naturally, he told the five Tenryou Commission soldiers that this thing was the key tool for resolving the Mikage Furnace's pollution. Unless Inazuma had another transmigrator or the Traveler had already arrived, there was no way they would recognize a phone. Whatever Wang Lei said, went.

Thus, the six of them joined forces and, with tremendous effort, finally salvaged the "core" that would solve the pollution from the contaminated river.

Sure enough, once the phone had been retrieved, the downstream river water rapidly turned purple. Before long, it had returned to the state Wang Lei had seen when he arrived yesterday.

The five Tenryou Commission soldiers became even more convinced that this thing was the core of the solution. They had to bring Wang Lei, this man from Liyue, before Lady Kujou Sara. And they had to convince Lady Kujou Sara to adopt Wang Lei's plan. This man was clearly far more reliable than that Fontaine engineer named Xavier.

Afterward, Wang Lei packed up his luggage and tent, then headed for Kujou Encampment with the five soldiers while wearing his Exoskeleton.

Along the way, the five soldiers got to know Wang Lei somewhat, and he learned that their names were Yang Jie, Shi Chuan, Song Ping, Xiao Ye, and Uesugi.

Yang Jie, Shi Chuan, Song Ping, and Xiao Ye had all originally lived near Tatarasuna, among the residents who supported the craftsmen's operations there. Uesugi, meanwhile, had come as reinforcements from Narukami Island.

That was why Yang Jie, Shi Chuan, Song Ping, and Xiao Ye had become so excited upon discovering that Wang Lei truly had a way to resolve the pollution. They insisted that he had to be recommended to Lady Kujou Sara.

When the group arrived at Kujou Encampment, Wang Lei was kept under watch in an outer area. After all, Inazuma was currently in the midst of Watatsumi Island's rebellion. Even with official travel documents, he could not be allowed to meet the highest-ranking commander here directly.

However, Wang Lei did not wait long. Kujou Sara soon summoned him, because resolving the issue of Tatarasuna's Mikage Furnace was no small matter.

The Mikage Furnace was currently a ticking time bomb. No one knew when it would explode. Yet judging by the energy it emitted, its detonation would be anything but minor. If things went badly, it might even collapse the entire Kannazuka region. And it would certainly disturb Narukami Ogosho.

But upon seeing Wang Lei, Kujou Sara immediately sighed inwardly. The armor on this man was truly strange. It even somewhat resembled those mechanical monsters running rampant outside. It had none of Liyue's style at all.

Yet the travel documents in Wang Lei's hand were genuine. This man had most likely traveled all the way from Liyue after accepting the bounty to deal with the Mikage Furnace. She simply did not know how he had smuggled himself through Inazuma's outer seas, which were now sealed off by thunderclouds. Still, with valid documents, he should not be a fraud. And the accounts given by those four local Tatarasuna soldiers did not seem fabricated either.

Kujou Sara said sternly, "Wang Lei of Liyue, the soldiers reported that you possess a plan to resolve the Mikage Furnace issue and have already achieved some tangible results. Is that true?"

Wang Lei nodded. "Lady Kujou Sara, it would be more accurate to say that I have not fully achieved results yet. When I encountered the five soldiers, I was conducting an experiment. However, I did successfully purify the Remnants of the Demon God from one river. I have now basically confirmed that the energy supplied to the Mikage Furnace comes from ore containing Remnants of the Demon God. But the concentration in the river where I conducted the experiment was not particularly high. I still cannot guarantee that it will resolve the Mikage Furnace's problem."

Kujou Sara nodded. Wang Lei spoke quite rigorously; he seemed like an honest man. There was no one among Inazuma's upper ranks who did not know what the Crystallized Marrow fueling the Mikage Furnace was. But the Mikage Furnace's function was simply too powerful. So they had mostly turned a blind eye. Pollution was pollution—after all, it would not affect Narukami Island, which was protected by a god.

His method of advancing the experiment step by step also seemed highly reliable. Kujou Sara therefore decided to support Wang Lei's research. "Wang Lei, thank you very much for conducting these experiments to resolve Inazuma's problems. Since you have achieved preliminary results, I hope you can continue. If you have any procurement needs, you may raise them with me now. I can provide financial support."

The moment Wang Lei heard that, he decisively shook his head.

"No need, Lady Kujou Sara. I have no funding needs until this stage of the experiment is complete. What I need more right now is guidance. I need you to assign some soldiers familiar with Kannazuka's terrain to lead me to places where the Mikage Furnace's energy density is greater. While I conduct my experiments, they can also help clear out monsters and the ever-present Nobushi. They interfere with my experimental progress the most."

Hearing this, Kujou Sara's impression of Wang Lei improved further. He did not want Mora, which proved he was not trying to scam research funds. His reason for needing soldiers was also perfectly reasonable.

With a wave of her hand, Kujou Sara directly assigned the five-person squad that had encountered Wang Lei today to him. Four of them were locals and were very familiar with the terrain around Tatarasuna. Moreover, this squad was enough to drive off ordinary beasts and lone Nobushi.

Even if they encountered an enemy they could not defeat, they had official distress signals that would allow them to call Kujou Encampment for help immediately.

Besides, in Kujou Sara's view, Wang Lei was not some scholar without combat ability. The fact that he had survived alone in a place like Kannazuka already said a great deal. He also possessed a God's Eye, and the armor he wore was clearly no ordinary item.

Of course, in principle, Kujou Sara should have confiscated the God's Eye of an outsider like Wang Lei. But she convinced herself that Wang Lei was from Liyue, and doing so could cause diplomatic complications.

In any case, resolving the Mikage Furnace problem was certainly a higher priority than confiscating an outsider's God's Eye.

And so Wang Lei reached an agreement with Kujou Sara. Kujou Sara promised to do everything in her power to assist with his experiments. So long as the experiments produced results, she would provide money when he needed money and people when he needed people, within reasonable limits.

Wang Lei, meanwhile, did not stand on ceremony and immediately took his people off on the spot.

Poor Yang Jie, Shi Chuan, Song Ping, Xiao Ye, and Uesugi had barely rested after returning to Kujou Encampment before they had to head out again to serve as Wang Lei's guides. And they were guides on a death march, always heading wherever danger was greatest.

What was more, the mission had no end date. In theory, they would have to follow Wang Lei for however long his experiments lasted—unless the problem was completely resolved, or they died.