Every day, Klee would start by reviewing the work she had done the night before, then continue developing bombs with Takumi.
With Takumi's guidance, Klee's bombs became increasingly powerful.
Bazookas, mortars, rocket launchers—all were refined by Takumi and Klee together.
When Sucrose discovered this, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
It was over. If she returned to Mondstadt like this, Captain Jean would surely hold her responsible.
Seeing Klee excitedly holding a bazooka, Sucrose knew she was doomed.
How did things turn out this way?
Klee had only been with Takumi for a few days, and now she had practically become a demolitions expert!
Sucrose felt like crying.
If she had known, she would have stayed to supervise.
Seeing Sucrose's expression, Takumi asked curiously:
"By the way, Miss Sucrose, why did you come out?"
"Did you finish your research?"
Hearing Takumi's words, Sucrose snapped back to reality.
She had been holed up in her room for days.
Food and supplies were brought to her, making it easy for people to forget she was even there.
Panicked, Sucrose quickly replied:
"Not yet… not yet."
"I just wanted to check on Klee."
As she spoke, she glanced at Klee, who was still excitedly handling the bazooka.
Internally, she sighed.
Klee's destructive power had increased again.
How was she supposed to explain this to Captain Jean?
Hearing Sucrose's words, Takumi blinked.
"Klee is fine."
"I'm keeping an eye on her."
Beside them, Klee overheard the conversation.
She turned to Sucrose with a bright smile.
"That's right, Sister Sucrose, don't worry!"
"Brother Takumi is taking good care of me."
"I'm having so much fun!"
...
Having fun.
Captain Jean, on the other hand, would probably be having a headache.
Forget it. Sucrose decided she was too tired to deal with it.
She would just return to Mondstadt and let Captain Jean handle it.
With this thought, Sucrose regained her motivation.
Without hesitation, she turned back and returned to her room to resume her research.
She had made progress.
By applying Takumi's ideas, combining wild rice and regular rice was yielding results.
Now, she needed to conduct experiments to determine if they could improve production rates.
However, a test field was required.
For that, she would ask Keqing for assistance.
Soon, Sucrose was engrossed in her work again.
Takumi, meanwhile, turned his attention back to Wangshu Inn, looking out at the construction site.
At this point, the rough outlines of several buildings had taken shape.
Some were even nearing completion.
Two- to three-story shops were already built.
Only the taller structures remained unfinished.
At this rate, within a short time, some new buildings would be ready.
Then they could begin work on larger structures.
But this was only the first phase of construction.
Many more areas still needed development.
Residential buildings, in particular, would take longer to complete.
For now, the newly constructed buildings could be put to immediate use.
They could be sold to interested merchants.
Anyone with foresight could see the future potential of this city.
Takumi shook his head, deciding not to dwell on business matters.
That was Ningguang's specialty.
Business affairs were best left to her.
Takumi's focus was on Liyue's development.
Earning money? That was Ningguang's job.
For now, Takumi halted his bomb development.
He had already mastered the fundamentals of bomb-making in Teyvat.
If he wanted to develop more powerful explosives, he needed better materials.
For that, Klee would undoubtedly be a great help.
At that point, he could analyze and construct the designs himself.
Ningguang had approved the research funding.
She was very pleased with the advancements Takumi and Klee had made.
The rocket launcher could be used to ward off Hilichurls and other monsters in the wilderness.
It could even serve as a defense against threats from the sea.
However, Ningguang made some adjustments to the funding.
Instead of giving Klee the money directly, she allocated only a portion to her.
For any materials Klee needed, she simply had to request them, and someone would procure them.
As for Klee's commission…
Ningguang sent it directly to Captain Jean.
This left Takumi speechless.
So Klee's dream of saving up her own money ended before it even began?
But it made sense.
Ningguang and Jean exchanged letters regularly.
She must have known about Klee's habits.
So, naturally, she wouldn't entrust the money to Klee.
Although Klee was disappointed, she didn't complain.
After all, Captain Jean had the money now.
And she still had plenty of materials for her experiments.
That was good enough.
...
It took nearly a week for Klee to blast the deep-water area Takumi needed.
The underground space had been fully excavated.
Now, even the largest ships could dock there.
Once the area was cleared, Takumi immediately ordered the construction of a pier.
Klee didn't leave right away.
Instead, she stayed to assist Takumi's construction team by blasting more rocks.
After all, Guili Plains was filled with enormous stones.
Manually breaking them apart would take too long.
So, Takumi assigned the task to Klee.
Whenever an area needed clearing, they would call Klee over.
And she would handle it effortlessly.
At this point, everyone on the construction site knew Klee.
She had become famous as the young demolitions expert.
Especially since she often stood at the riverbank with her bazooka, blasting fish.
Her actions attracted a lot of attention.
Particularly from the chefs.
Ever since Klee arrived, fish had become a daily staple.
Every fish in the area had been 'harvested' by Klee's explosions.
It was likely that local fishermen wouldn't have anything left to catch for a long time.
But it wasn't a big issue.
After all, the sea was nearby.
There would always be more fish.
Just as Takumi was studying blueprints, Hu Tao suddenly appeared.
"Yo!"
"Takumi!"
Hearing Hu Tao's voice, Takumi looked up in surprise.
"Hu Tao?"
"What brings you here?"
Hearing Takumi's response, Hu Tao raised an eyebrow.
"Why? Am I not allowed to visit?"
"You don't seem very welcoming."
"You suddenly left and didn't even return."
"I got so bored!"
"Oh? What a cute little thing!"
As Hu Tao spoke, she suddenly noticed Klee drawing something nearby.
Her eyes lit up instantly.
Faced with something as adorable as Klee, Hu Tao had no resistance.
Hearing Hu Tao's words, Klee paused and looked up at the lively woman in front of her.
Another Pyro Vision holder?
And… she seemed like a good person!
A super nice person!