After a moment of silence, Jiang Xuan looked at the sky and realized it was getting late.
He stood up and said:
"Alright, in that case, let's prepare to act. Keqing, please go call Xiao and Cloud Retainer back."
"The others will come with me to enchant our gear."
Keqing nodded, stood up, and left the villa.
The others watched as Jiang Xuan took out a pile of Diamond Blocks and walked to a nearby Crafting Table.
Ningguang and Lisa had mentioned crafting before.
But they had never seen Jiang Xuan craft equipment with their own eyes, so they naturally gathered around curiously.
"Jiang Xuan, are you going to make weapons?"
Ganyu tilted her head and asked. Jiang Xuan nodded.
"Everyone must have enchanted Diamond Sets and Diamond Swords to be as safe as possible."
"Additionally, because the Wither Storm is an undead creature, all of your weapons must have the Smite enchantment."
"Besides that, Ningguang, please get some Splash Potions of Healing, Potions of Night Vision, Potions of Strength, Potions of Leaping, and Potions of Swiftness."
"Healing potions are also damaging to the Wither Storm."
Hearing this, Ningguang immediately got up and walked towards a nearby wall.
She pulled a lever placed above a flowerpot.
The wall before them seemed to trigger a strange mechanism, sliding down layer by layer, revealing a deep, downward passage.
Jean and the others were a bit bewildered.
After all, that wall had been perfectly seamless just a moment ago; it didn't look like it could have a hidden mechanism.
"That's a Redstone Hidden Door."
Ganyu noticed Jean and the others' curiosity and patiently explained:
"It's a type of Redstone Technology, used to hide spaces and structures."
"Many of our important resources are essentially kept behind Redstone Hidden Doors and in underground bases."
"So, whatever is in Jiang Xuan's living room must not be touched randomly. What seem like decorative flowerpots and such are actually activation points for a hidden base."
Jean nodded, then looked again at the now-closed wall, which looked no different from a normal wall, and clicked her tongue slightly.
"Truly amazing things... but is it okay to tell us this?"
"It's fine. The cooperative relationship between Liyue and Mondstadt needs a certain distance, but since you can come to Jiang Xuan's villa,"
"Our cooperation is friendship. This place will also be your personal base in the future, though Jiang Xuan doesn't mind if you build your own houses."
Ganyu chuckled softly, then added gently:
"The power of Redstone Technology can achieve many things, like TNT Bombers and such."
"The Jade Chamber is now equipped with four TNT Duplicators, two Redstone Mountain-Cleaving Cannons, and twelve various area-of-effect Redstone Cannons."
"Once activated, the Jade Chamber becomes Liyue's aerial saturation strike war fortress."
"Even Archons would largely be unable to withstand such a scale of bombardment."
"Redstone is our current research focus besides Mods. Once you become familiar with it, Jiang Xuan will teach you."
Hearing this, Lumine thought of the Jade Chamber she had visited yesterday. At the time, she had seen many strange blocks facing outwards.
She had even curiously asked Baiwen about them.
But the latter had only smiled mysteriously, offering no answer.
So that was it...
Those were the Jade Chamber's external offensive weapons!
An aerial mobile fortress fully loaded with long-range high-altitude bombardment devices...
Coupled with the later wide-area buffs from the Beacon...
Liyue was trying to build an aerial war machine that surpassed Celestia!
Imagine future battles: the Jade Chamber activates its Redstone Cannons, first launching a long-range bombardment.
Then, it activates the Beacon, providing widespread buffs to the Millelith and the Adepti.
Such a scene...
It was truly stunning!
Perhaps the Jade Chamber was no longer just a symbol of Liyue's peak power.
It was also Liyue's greatest armed asset.
Involuntarily, Diluc suddenly found his long-established Dawn Winery rather dull.
"Miss Ganyu, approximately how much Mora would it cost to build a Jade Chamber?"
Diluc asked softly.
Ganyu scratched her cheek and mumbled:
"Materials from Jiang Xuan's world are zero cost, and there's a lot of TNT, so it doesn't really cost much."
"But I remember Ningguang saying that the original Jade Chamber cost her nearly fifty billion Mora."
"However, that was because the Jade Chamber also had all sorts of precious collectibles."
"For just an aerial mobile fortress, it would probably only be around twenty billion."
Twenty billion...
And she said "only"?
In Mondstadt, the Grand Master's expedition had taken away most of the funds, the Dragon Disaster was raging, and trade revenue wasn't looking good.
Even for Diluc, all his liquid assets combined probably amounted to just over ten billion.
Building a Jade Chamber would basically deplete Mondstadt's current liquid Mora funds entirely.
But Ningguang's Jade Chamber was built with her own money!
Everyone was once again shocked by Ningguang's and Liyue's wealth.
Teyvat's premier commercial nation and Teyvat's richest person, truly living up to their reputation.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a quiet glance, their eyes sparkling with eagerness.
They had definitely latched onto Ningguang's coattails.
Now that they understood Ningguang's wealth, couldn't they just act cute and spoiled to get tens of billions of Mora?
What was wrong with calling her "Sister"?
Lumine had lived for thousands of years, and Paimon was at least a thousand years old.
But what did that matter?
They were still young-looking, weren't they?
In the face of a rich woman's Mora offensive, age and shame could be cast aside.
Was there anything more important than Mora?!
She, Lumine!
At only a few thousand years old, she had walked a path that others couldn't complete in a lifetime!
Having latched onto a rich woman's coattails, she could live lavishly in Teyvat for the rest of her life.
Forget calling her "Sister," she'd even call her "Mom."
"Let's take it one step at a time..."
Jean also understood Mondstadt's financial situation and let out a faint sigh.
"First, we'll get familiar with this world, then gradually convert it into Mora. We'll be able to build an aerial fortress eventually!"
"Hmph!"
Diluc grumbled, displeased.
"If it weren't for that irresponsible fellow taking most of the funds, why would it be like this?"
"Never mind, we already have an entry ticket. In the future..."
Diluc's eyes glinted coldly.
Once he had enough Mora, he would build his own private aerial fortress.
He would drive his war machine to bomb the Fatui bases!
He would let them know what air superiority meant as a dimensionality reduction strike!
Hearing this, Ganyu chuckled softly.
"There's no need to rush. Mora isn't really something to worry about."
"Increasing influence is the most important thing to do."
"If you truly lack Mora, you could simply sell a Gold Block. However, it's best not to release such things freely."
"It could easily affect the financial system."
Hearing Ganyu's words, Jean and the others also reacted.
Indeed!
One Gold Block was nearly twenty tons.
Selling a few of them could earn enough for a Jade Chamber.
Why worry about Mora then?
Thinking this, Jean and the others suddenly felt rich and powerful.
But as Ganyu said, these things couldn't be released carelessly.
Small-scale emergency circulation was fine.
But if a large quantity was released, disrupting the Mora system, Rex Lapis himself would have to step in and demand accountability.
Nevertheless, the problem of funding shortages had been resolved.
Thinking this, Jean and the others felt much more at ease.
No wonder Ningguang and her group repeatedly mentioned that resources in this world weren't important.
Looking at tens of thousands of tons of gold every day, wouldn't anyone get tired of it?
While they were chatting, Jiang Xuan had finished making the necessary equipment.
He walked over with a smile and said softly:
"I've finished making your gear. After Ningguang returns and finishes enchanting, we'll depart."
Looking at the shining Diamond equipment in Jiang Xuan's hand, Jean hesitated.
"Jiang Xuan, these things..."
Before Jiang Xuan could answer, Lisa playfully pushed Jean forward and took the armor.
"Jean, don't worry too much. We're going to deal with the Wither Storm later; if you don't protect yourself, you'll just be a hindrance."
"Besides..."
Lisa winked at Jiang Xuan and said softly:
"You probably already have a lot of these resources, don't you, Jiang Xuan?"
"You're right."
Jiang Xuan nodded with a chuckle.
"I have several chests of diamonds. Lucky Blocks and miners yield a lot."
Jean pursed her lips and said:
"Thank you. We'll return the resources to you when we have them."
Jiang Xuan was noncommittal.
These things weren't precious anyway; Jean hadn't fully adjusted her mindset yet.
Was it about resources?
It was Klee! Klee!
When that lucky little rascal Klee came, she would surely smash a Lucky Block and gather a pile of Diamond Blocks.
Not to mention, Klee was such an adorable little daughter; Jiang Xuan had long wanted to hug her tightly.
Nahida in his left hand, Klee in his right, Paimon on his shoulder.
If there was anything happier than that.
It would be having Qiqi and Diona lying on his back.
Jiang Xuan never worried about raising daughters, only about not having enough of them.
"By the way, are all these armors so ugly?"
Lisa looked at the Diamond Set in her hand with a hint of disdain. It was so blocky; she felt she would look terrible wearing it.
"It really ruins a lady's image."
Jiang Xuan shook his head with a laugh.
"They're standard issue armor, so don't be too demanding! If you think it's ugly, try modifying it with alchemy outside."
"But here, it's best to wear it."
Saying that, Jiang Xuan glanced at Xiao, who had just entered, still wearing his enchanted Diamond Set, and chuckled:
"Don't underestimate the Diamond Set. This thing provides maximum defense. Xiao tested it; he took a punch from a Stonehide Lawachurl without feeling a thing."
Hearing this, Diluc's heart stirred.
"Appearance doesn't matter; as long as it's strong enough, anything is acceptable!"
After all, he had even accepted a Delusion back then; what was a little ugliness as a side effect?!
Composure couldn't feed him.
"Mr. Jiang Xuan, I heard you're going to kill the Wither Storm?"
Xiao asked in a deep voice. Jiang Xuan nodded and smiled:
"I still need to enchant Jean and the others' gear later. For now, let Zhongli explain how we should proceed."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ningguang also returned from the passage below.
However, she hadn't brought many things, as her inventory slots were limited.
She would need to make several more trips; at least everyone needed to be equipped with alchemy potions.
After greeting Ningguang, Jiang Xuan left the villa with Jean and the others.
The enchanting area had been moved to the Villager Trading Center.
And there were plenty of Emeralds stockpiled there.
They would just finish it all at once.
Of course, the unique features of the Villager Trading Center still made Jean and the others find it quite absurd.
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