Genshin Impact: Dionysus reigns supreme, all demons retreat!

"You were the one who told me you wanted to go out to sea in a boat!"

Ningguang retorted angrily, "I paid a high price to hire these people for you. Every piece of experience they shared was earned with their lives. You listened with great interest, but now you dare to speak ill of me in front of Xu Ning."

Beidou turned around and glared angrily, "You won't let me drink, you won't let me go to the big shipyard, you won't let me recruit my own crew..."

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Xu Ning picked up Beidou, walked to the table, and tore her off his body.

First, he stuffed the wine gourd into Beidou's hand to gag her, then turned to Beidou and asked, "Why is she suddenly preparing to recruit crew members?"

Ningguang said irritably, "It's all because last time she went out to sea with a fishing boat and robbed those pirates, and the whole crew gave her all the credit."

"The Liyue General Affairs Department confiscated all the money looted by those pirates, and threw them all into the Deep Rock Abyss to mine."

"The only thing that was captured, the two-masted sailing ship, was given to Beidou by the General Affairs Department as a reward."

Beidou wiped the spilled wine from the corner of his mouth and exclaimed, "If I had known that ship would be given to me, I wouldn't have gone to cut down the mainmast. Now, just repairing the ship will take until after the new year."

"I just wanted to go to the shipyard to urge them, but Ningguang wouldn't let me..."

Ningguang snorted coldly, took the "sweet wine" that Xu Ning poured for her, and said, "Old Xiao, the general manager of the shipyard, has a terrible temper. If you dare to urge the construction period, he might just yell at you out of the house."

"However, his quality requirements for the shipyard are absolutely the highest in Liyue. When your ship is repaired and ready to leave the factory, it may be even more solid than when it was first built."

Xu Ning had met the head of this shipping company, Xiao, at the dock.

His catchphrase is "If you don't do a good job, you'll lose face for Liyue." He is extremely strict with his repairmen. In his words, even if a single rivet has a chipped paint, it's a loss of face for him and for Liyue.

Beidou spent his days at the dock, so he had naturally heard of him before. When he heard that it was Chief Steward Xiao in charge, he was immediately relieved.

Ningguang added, "As for recruiting crew members, you don't need to worry about it. Uncle Tian has already said that he will select some experienced sailors and naval warriors from the Thousand Rock Army for you, which will be enough to handle most situations at sea."

Xu Ning almost choked on his drink after hearing Ning Guang's words.

"Ahem, what's this all about? Why is this Uncle Tian everywhere?"

Ningguang rolled her eyes at him, then patted him twice on the back and said, "Isn't this precious brat you raised?"

"When the General Affairs Director invited her to accept the award, Uncle Tian asked her what she planned to do with the ship. In front of so many people, she said she wanted to become a pirate!"

Ye Lan chuckled beside her, "The expressions on the faces of those people on and off the stage back then still make me laugh when I think about them."

Xu Ning thought about the scene and also found it extremely amusing.

After all, when you were awarding a prize to a hero who fought pirates, you asked the hero what he planned to do next, and the hero said: I want to become a pirate!

Xu Ning asked, "So Uncle Tian wants to go with the flow and simply start a pirate crew?"

"how is this possible?"

Ningguang retorted, "Did you think the Seven Stars were as foolish as you two? To the outside world, we'll naturally call ourselves an armed fleet, but our main purpose is still to protect ships and run trade routes."

"But isn't it normal for an unreliable captain to occasionally want to indulge his pirate fantasies?"

Beidou said with some dissatisfaction, "I can fight pirates, but I must have complete control over this ship, otherwise I will replace all the crew."

Xu Ning rubbed Beidou's head. "Of course, it's up to you. Right now, we're just using their people to familiarize ourselves with the sea routes and then gradually select our own crew. Once we have our own people, we can do whatever we want."

Beidou smiled and nodded, "I really am going to become the Pirate King!"

Ningguang snorted coldly: "Seven Stars doesn't care what you are. All the maintenance and renovation of this ship, including the funds for installing large weapons, were invested by me."

"The Thousand Rock Army is just giving us some support and lending us a few people in exchange for the benefit of clearing out the sea routes. I don't care what kind of pirate king you want to be, but at least you have to make back the capital I invested."

When Xu Ning heard that Ning Guang was still in charge of this matter, he stopped saying anything.

After the four of them finished dinner, Beidou, relying on Xu Ning's support, made up for all the alcohol he hadn't drunk in the past few days and got drunk early on.

Xu Ning carried her into the Hidden Dust Cave.

Ye Lan glanced at Ning Guang and teased, "Aren't you going to go in and keep an eye on things?"

Ningguang was quietly flipping through an account book. Hearing this, she didn't even look up. "What are you staring at?"

Ye Lan laughed, "Of course we're keeping an eye on Xu Ning. Right now, there's a beautiful little girl passed out drunk in bed, and he..."

Ningguang, not wanting to hear Yelan continue, interrupted, "I doubt he has the guts. How was it today?"

Seeing that Ningguang didn't seem worried at all, Yelan lost interest and said listlessly, "Nothing special, just playing around."

"They kept saying they wouldn't do anything to intimidate people, but they ended up beating up almost everyone."

"And you've also taught everyone how to drink, so I'm afraid your liquor business will soon have even more customers."

"Then I went to see Ying again..."

Ningguang paused in her flipping through the ledger, looked up and asked, "Did he go to see Ying, or did Ying come to see him?"

Ye Lan said, "I think Ying came to see him on purpose. Ying has been secretly watching us from the top of the mountain since we started training."

"Furthermore, Xu Ning and her last words seemed to mention the Abyss of Lapis Lazuli, as if Luminous is planning something there, but for the time being, it doesn't seem to pose any threat to Liyue."

"However, based on my understanding of the Abyss of Laminaria, the situation there is probably much more complicated than we know."

Ningguang nodded and instructed, "This Ying is an enemy, not a friend. Be extra careful next time you see her."

Ye Lan pulled a piece of paper from Ningguang's table and sketched the image of an abyss mage with a few strokes.

"Of course he's an enemy, not a friend. This guy ended up appearing next to Ying, and he seems to be under her command. I'm afraid he's not someone special either."

Ye Lan helplessly shrugged, "Besides, like Xu Ning, she can use ley lines to travel through the earth and disappear in a flash, unless you're willing to let me shoot an arrow at her when she's not paying attention..."

Killing her outright would be a good solution.

Ningguang thought for a moment and then said, "It's better not to for now. I can tell that Xu Ning seems to be protecting her."

Ye Lan scoffed, "Xu Ning protects a ton of people. Are you really going to consider them all? I'm embarrassed to even count them for you. And don't tell me you're not worried. In three or four years, you'll be the one crying..."

Ningguang slammed the ledger shut, ignoring Yelan, and went straight into the Dust-Hidden Cave.

"Hmph, he says he doesn't care, but he probably cares more than anyone else!"

Seeing Ningguang run away and avoid the topic, Yelan shook her head and went home.

As soon as Ningguang entered the cave, she was so surprised that she covered her head in shock.

"What...what are you doing?!"