Sunrise and sunset, the sun rose three times, and the Damselette knew she was lost.
She had left Rosalyne two mornings ago and embarked on her journey to Liyue alone. Rosalyne, needing to return to Snezhnaya, was heading in the opposite direction, so she couldn't see the Damselette off.
Even on the game map, many new players couldn't determine the shortest route to Liyue from Mondstadt, let alone a Mondstadt scaled up to real-world proportions.
While the Damselette could faintly sense the Moon within Orion, to put it simply, she sensed a straight-line distance. If she were to follow that guidance, she'd encounter a cliff after two steps, and then another two steps later, a rift would block her path.
The Damselette kept walking and walking, and finally reached another dead end.
The road was long and arduous.
However, every cloud has a silver lining. Coincidentally, Moon Carver True Lord and Mountain Shaper, who had transformed into human form today, were also lost.
But as True Lords, they naturally weren't people who couldn't distinguish directions from the start. In fact, it only took them a day to reach Mondstadt, where they fished for two days, and then got lost until now.
It was strange; the two adepti who originally knew their way inexplicably started getting lost after catching a hundred-kilogram fish. They even carelessly put a preservation spell on the fish. Isn't that odd?
So, the two adepti had no choice but to wander around Mondstadt, carrying a large fish, looking for the way back to Liyue, and inevitably encountered an acquaintance from the Fishing Association along the way.
"Oh! Dulaf, long time no see, long time no see. We two brothers came here to fish."
"Ah? This fish? Ha! Just caught it! It had too much strength, almost snapped our fishing rods!"
"Just over there, that fishing spot. Oh, it's over a hundred kilograms! It took the two of us a whole morning to reel it in! Alright, I won't say more, you go get busy. We're heading back to Liyue!"
"Oh, isn't this Allen? We just met Dulaf over there."
"Oh, you mean this fish? Ha, just caught it, it's over two hundred catties, it's killing me. It's so big and hard to deal with, why did we catch such a huge one?"
"If you ask me, fish the size of a forearm is enough. What do you think? What's the point of such a big one..."
"Eh? Isn't this Old John? Going fishing? Ah? You mean this fish..."
Getting lost inevitably leads to meeting people, and conversations like the above happened passively no less than ten times during their lost period.
Finally, after the two had been lost for a full day and night, they met the Damselette Columbina, who was carrying a large bag of snacks and was also lost, near a small village.
Moon Carver raised an eyebrow and asked Mountain Shaper, "Mountain Shaper, look at that Damselette ahead. She has a transcendent aura, not like a mortal. Why is she carrying such a heavy load?"
Mountain Shaper shook his head, "I don't know. Weren't the serfs in Mondstadt abolished long ago?"
Thus, two equally lost groups converged at the border of Mondstadt. After being questioned by the two True Lords, they learned that the Damselette also wanted to go to Liyue but got lost.
Finally, with an innocent remark from the Damselette Columbina, "Wow, uncles, the fish you caught are so big, bigger than any I've seen anyone else catch," they were finally able to escape their lost fate.
The overjoyed True Lords decided to personally escort the Damselette.
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Sunrise and sunset, the sun rose three times. Orion knew something big had happened.
A single 'Joyful Zen' from the Sanzomon unexpectedly became the beginning of a three-day and three-night martial arts competition.
During these three days, everyone neither ate nor drank, relying solely on Orion to provide nutrients. Since Orion provided highly nourishing items, everyone could strengthen their bodies while defeating bosses and obtaining drops.
And now, with the arrival of morning, Orion's brain, which had gradually become numb from repetitive movements, began to revive, and various bad premonitions surfaced in his mind.
First, these three days were not three days with a thirty-fold time difference. He had completely forgotten to activate the time flow before being caught, so these three days were completely synchronized with the outside world. It was good that it happened to avoid Eula and Jean's shifts, but what about Barbara and Amber, who came at fixed times every morning for these three days? Were they seen?
Secondly, what about Shenhe? He hadn't seen her for three whole days!
Then, Mona should be fine. Mona had mostly regained consciousness on the second day, but she seemed to have a sense of responsibility from her mother, which made her take the lead in continuing to battle the boss.
But what about Amy? Did Amy report to her family before coming? What would her parents think?
And, Noelle.
Noelle had always regarded him as her senior! But as an MT, she had also endured the most direct impacts these past few days.
On the other hand, that unlucky Sanzomon, you really are something! You initiated the Joyful Zen, but every time you got enough to eat and drink, you ran off to refine it, completely disregarding the lives of your other sisters!
Moreover, the Sanzomon, she was clearly among the strongest of this group. The skills released by fully evolved Digimon are at least nuclear warhead level, and the Sanzomon was among the strong ones in the fully evolved stage, yet she was the one who saved the most effort for herself.
She only came up to deliver the final blow and collect drops when others were ganging up on the boss and its health bar was almost depleted.
How can such a scoundrel like you exist?
Orion propped himself up and looked around. Sanzomon and Fischl were already gone.
Among the others, Clara and Yunli were sleeping and rolling around together to one side.
Lumine was also sleeping spread-eagled.
This posture seemed to have been struck by Xianglin as well, but when a beautiful Damselette strikes the same pose, the feeling is completely different. Why is that?
Even the occasional gesture of touching her belly looked like she was showing off her abs and mermaid lines.
Looking at Noelle again, there were still tear stains at the corners of her eyes, which made Orion feel more and more heartache the more he looked. His original intention was not like this; he liked beautiful Damselettes, but he preferred them to be with him sincerely.
A moment later, Noelle and Mona slowly woke up, only to find themselves in an empty space.
No, if they had to say, there was a person in front of them with his back to them. They had seen this back countless times in the past three days; it was Orion's back.
Noelle was about to speak but was stopped by Mona's outstretched hand. Then, at Mona's signal, the two quietly came behind Orion and looked forward over his shoulder.
Orion was writing a draft.
"First, show sincerity—offer a cup of hot water to both newcomers—hug them—express that it wasn't intentional, but rather they fell for the Sanzomon's trick—reason with them and move them emotionally—emphasize that he will treat them well, treat everyone equally, and tell them about immortality."
Following that were several thousand words of an elaborate essay.
Orion was currently writing and crossing out words on these texts, muttering to himself softly.
"No, this won't do. I shouldn't blame the Sanzomon here. Although she did it, in this situation, a man should take responsibility. Only then can the girls feel secure." – He changed a paragraph.
"Is it too... too much to use how well I treat them to tempt them? Should I just directly show how I usually treat Lumine and the others?" – He changed another paragraph.
"There's also a problem with the wording here. Mona has a more direct personality and doesn't like beating around the bush, but Noelle is more delicate and often hides her feelings for the sake of others. I should be more delicate and caring towards her... This should work, right?"
At this moment, Mona's hand suddenly reached out from behind, "Then I think this part should be changed. You should take different measures depending on who wakes up first, and after convincing one person, let that person help you convince the other."
"Eh? That makes sense! You're so smart..." Before he could finish speaking, Orion suddenly turned around and saw Mona, looking speechless, and Noelle, completely red-faced, standing behind him.
Orion swallowed, "When did you two start watching?"
Mona smiled, "At least everything you've written, I've read."
..."So you're worried that our first time was given away so carelessly, and that this might make us do something bad if we overthink it, so you opened up another space and brought us here to hide?"
"That's right, there are no sharp objects here, so even if there's a dispute, no one will get hurt."
Mona and Noelle exchanged glances, and finally sighed.
Through Orion's elaborate essay of several thousand words, they had understood his feelings for them and that he would not abandon anyone. Everyone who fought in this three-day battle would probably be one big family from now on.
To be honest, it was a bit hard to accept at first, but it must be remembered that their boss subjugation battle lasted for three days and three nights! The effects of the Joyful Zen had mostly worn off by the second day, so why did everyone stay until the third day?
Yunli and Clara had already done plenty of ideological work for the newcomers, and combined with Orion's incredibly skilled combat techniques, the three of them were also deeply immersed in martial arts combat and couldn't extricate themselves.
Now, after hearing Orion's explanation and seeing that he indeed cared about their feelings, the trace of grievance that Mona and Noelle genuinely felt, while not completely dissipated, was indeed suppressed by other emotions.
Noelle's personality is such that once she is loyal, she is absolutely loyal, so some things were more suitable for Mona to say, such as proposing some "conditions" to let Orion know that they no longer cared.
"Ahem!" Mona cleared her throat and asked, "On your list, you said you'd be good to us, and that fighting would be good for our bodies. Yes, those words you planned to use to tempt us, tell us, let us judge if it's worth it!"
Orion knew that Mona saying this actually meant she accepted.
"I will definitely be responsible for each of you until the end. I can give you the best living environment and resources, and I will love everyone equally. I can also... I can also lead you to create a small world, right here in the Miliastra Wonderland! This blank world is the prototype of a new space, just without anything filled in yet.
Oh, and each of your bodies will be transformed by my energy, granting you some special abilities."
"Special abilities?" Mona and Noelle exchanged glances, their faces bewildered.
Orion patted her thigh and explained, "Yes, one of my special abilities, called Ex-rank Anti-World Noble Phantasm, 'Crystal Valley'. Simply put, it can modify the surrounding environment and physical constants to be most suitable for my life, but in its current state, when applied to you, it will link your lives with mine."
"So that means—"
"Yes, you will all become long-lived species with no concept of the end of life."
At this, Mona and Noelle were completely stunned.
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Opening the thirty-fold time difference, Orion slowly walked to the door. After comforting the two, he planned to let them go back to their rooms to rest more.
But after opening the door, he stared at the Hydro element on the ground, somewhat dazed.
Normally, since Noelle woke up earliest, she would mop the floor clean, but today Noelle was still inside, so no one had mopped the floor here.
Having seen it so many times, Orion was somewhat suspicious.
He squatted down, placed his hand on the Hydro element, and carefully sensed the pheromones within. Soon after, he opened his eyes and looked into the distance with surprise.
"Xiangling?"
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