The bar was quiet in the morning with only a few customers around, so with nothing else to do, Diluc pulled out the ledger for Lu Chen.
"Since our bar's reputation took off, sales have increased more than tenfold. You should be close to completing your task."
"That's great." Lu Chen had been keeping tabs on the bar's finances, and he came today specifically to witness the moment the task was completed.
As he spoke, he glanced at Nahida, who was quietly sipping her juice beside him, and put on a mischievous smile like he was trying to coax a little girl.
"There'll be a nice show here tonight. Wanna come watch?"
"Really? Of course I do!"
Nahida's eyes lit up instantly. She still had that childlike wonder when it came to fun things.
Diluc cleared his throat softly. Lu Chen looked over at him.
"Our bar may not be a sleazy or chaotic nightclub, but having a little girl here at night... doesn't that send the wrong message?"
"It's fine..." Lu Chen looked genuinely confused. "I told Ei before we left—I'm taking Nahida out to have fun today. Whatever she wants to do, we'll do it."
Nahida nodded enthusiastically. Diluc eyed Lu Chen with suspicion.
"What do you mean, whatever she wants? Just how far does 'whatever' go?"
"Well..." Lu Chen paused. "I've been analyzing the system's achievements. Even though I've only triggered them accidentally so far, there's a clear pattern. So this time, I brought Nahida out to farm achievements! I call this operation... Nahida's Great Achievement Blitz!"
Nahida nodded furiously, clearly excited about the so-called "Achievement Blitz." Diluc, looking at someone who wasn't even as tall as the barstool, just sighed in defeat.
Seeing Diluc didn't fully get it, Lu Chen explained further.
"Achievements mark meaningful moments—most of them firsts. Take Nahida for example. Back at the Akademiya, she wasn't liked and never even got a gift. But here, the first time she received something—even just a plain lollipop—it triggered an achievement."
"So!" Lu Chen's face turned serious. "To take down the Heavenly Principles, I have to take Nahida out to play and do everything once!"
"Is there... any real connection between those things?" Diluc's mouth twitched.
"Of course there is!" Lu Chen raised a finger, ready to lay it all out.
"Look, if I do things with Nahida, I'll get achievements, right?"
Diluc gave a small nod.
"Achievements give Primogems, right?"
More nodding.
"With Primogems, I can go back to Teyvat, right?"
Diluc stopped nodding. "And then?"
"And then we defeat the Heavenly Principles," Lu Chen declared without hesitation.
"Though the logic skips... quite a few steps, the conclusion seems solid," Nahida added with a nod.
"Nice! You really are a god who's hung out with me—your thinking is sharp." Lu Chen gave her a thumbs-up, and Nahida giggled.
"I'm off to prep tonight's dinner..." Diluc held his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
He'd thought Lu Chen had some grand, heroic plan. Earlier, Lu Chen had looked so serious—like a man about to take on the Heavenly Principles themselves—and Diluc had even toasted him.
But this? This was like claiming you could fit an elephant in a fridge—completely absurd.
Shaking his head, Diluc shot a warning glance at the still-smiling Nahida. "As the Archon of Sumeru, don't let that guy next to you corrupt you. He's got... a strange 'quality'—anyone who hangs around him ends up a little unhinged."
And with that, Diluc vanished. Lu Chen watched him go and figured he'd headed off to handle the dinner prep.
"Hahaha, it seems like Mr. Diluc has some biases against you, Lu Chen!"
Nahida laughed with crescent-moon eyes. In a way, Diluc wasn't wrong. Lu Chen did have some strange charisma that rubbed off on people, making them a little more... carefree. Or, depending on how you saw it—
Neurotic.
In just a few days at Lu Chen's place, Nahida had smiled more than she had in the past year. At this rate, she might not want to go back.
"He's got no right to have an opinion! I'm his boss!" Lu Chen huffed, sneaking a glance toward the kitchen. "And don't let his serious face fool you—he's already halfway to crazy."
Then he leaned in and whispered a few embarrassing stories about how Diluc struggled to adapt to modern life when he first got here.
The two of them giggled quietly, laughing in bursts. Whether Diluc sneezed in the kitchen or not, no one knew.
After the laughter faded, Nahida suddenly asked, "But when it comes to the Heavenly Principles... you're serious, aren't you?"
Lu Chen's smile faded too. Unlike Diluc, Nahida was one of the Seven. She knew far more about the sky's dangerous secrets—there was no need to hide it from her.
"I used to think the time to fight back would come later—after I broke the seal and got my full strength back. But recent events... they've shown me opportunities."
Nahida stared at him intently. Lu Chen continued, "The discovery of Primordial Energy is one of them."
"I know that," Nahida nodded. "You want Ei to harness Primordial Energy to create weapons, right? If those weapons can be mass-produced, they'd be incredibly powerful, on par with ancient Khaenri'ah tech."
"But that's not all. Relying only on weapons will just lead to ruin," Lu Chen said. His first thought had indeed been weapons—this world wasn't under Celestia's watch, and the Abyss Order wanted to use it as a backup base. So why couldn't he do the same? And as the gatekeeper of the Gate of Teyvat, he had a natural advantage.
One of his next objectives when returning to Teyvat was to completely take over the Skyfrost Nail. The Chasm was his grandfather's turf—that part wouldn't be hard.
"If you only think of Primordial Energy as a weapon, you're underestimating its potential," Lu Chen said. "You and Ei mentioned it—this energy hasn't faded even after thousands of years. It's safe, stable, and incredibly efficient."
When it came to energy, Nahida understood instantly. "So you want to power machinery using Primordial Energy?"
"It's just a concept right now. To make it happen, I'll need all four of you gods to work together," Lu Chen said.
There was still plenty he hadn't been able to wring out of the two sly old gods. But with the Anemo and Geo Archons' experience, and the Electro and Dendro Archons' research drive, maybe—just maybe—they could create a second industrial age in Teyvat.
Lu Chen's ambitions were enormous. Nahida listened, her heart racing, and it took her a while to calm down.
"Defeating the Heavenly Principles... such heresy, such an impossible feat..." Nahida gave a bitter smile. "If anyone else said this, I'd walk away without a second thought. But the way you describe it... it doesn't sound impossible. Am I crazy? I actually believe you."
"You have no choice but to believe me." Lu Chen glanced at her now-empty juice glass and the cider she was holding, still lost in thought.
"I've always believed the system chose me for a reason. Maybe in my past life, I was too full of myself and missed out on a lot. But this time... I feel like I've finally touched something real. Something like... a mission."
"Oh, really?" Nahida side-eyed him, took a sip, and asked, "You said Primordial Energy was just one opportunity. So there's another ace up your sleeve?"
Lu Chen came back to the moment and glanced at the cider in her hands. His brow furrowed slightly.
That was his drink—and it had alcohol.
"Give it here," Lu Chen held out his hand.
"I'm an adult!!" Nahida widened her eyes.
"Adult where? Be good, hand it over."
"I am an adult..."
Lu Chen looked her up and down. Nahida sat on a barstool, her feet dangling in the air, nowhere near the floor. Who would believe she was an adult?
"I'm five hundred years old, okay!" Nahida said indignantly. "And this cider is barely even strong!"
"Your face is already flushed, and you're still trying to act tough." Lu Chen snatched the cider away. "For long-lived Archons like you, five hundred years doesn't mean much. If you're underage, you're underage."
"Fine..." Nahida muttered, clearly displeased but unable to argue against him.
Lu Chen looked at the cider in his hand. She'd only had a tiny sip. He let out a breath of relief. If he brought home a tipsy Nahida, Ei and Miko would tear him apart with their stares alone.
But then, unexpectedly...
[Sure enough, you have to see it with your own eyes to feel the beauty of the world (Achievement 3)]
[Are you really not a minor?]
[Seems this was Nahida's first taste of the forbidden. Maybe a little indulgence now and then can bring unexpected joy...]
"See? See?!" Nahida grinned. "I'm helping you complete challenge quests! I'm your MVP in fighting the Heavenly Principles!"
"Yes, yes..." Lu Chen gave her a helpless look. "But no next time."
Nahida's smile instantly collapsed.
Back to the topic at hand, Lu Chen looked at her. "You were asking about the other discovery besides Primordial Energy?"
"Yeah..." Nahida had put the cider incident behind her. "What else could match Primordial Energy in significance?"
"Where do you want to go next?" Lu Chen asked.
"Huh?" Nahida blinked, caught off guard.
Lu Chen thought about it. He'd originally planned to take her to an amusement park, dessert shop, school, park—fun spots all over town. But since she was curious about the other thing...
"When we're out shopping, if we pass a bookstore, remind me."
"A bookstore?" Nahida looked puzzled. She couldn't see how that had anything to do with his grand plan