The next day.
When the first explosion of the morning jolted Raiden Makoto from her sleep, Raiden Makoto knew her younger sister had caused another "culinary disaster."
"???"
"Again?" When Xiangling saw that the second kitchen of his home had also completely collapsed, he was rooted to the spot. He really shouldn't have trusted Raiden Ei. If he hadn't happened to be going out to wake Raiden Makoto, he would have been caught in the massive explosion with Raiden Ei.
"..." Keqing also finally understood one thing: it turned out that when someone is cooking, they really can blow up a kitchen. But he also noticed a detail—he discovered a familiar element.
Electro.
Could Raiden Ei be a wielder of an Electro Vision? Just like him, another person with an Electro Vision.
Then it was understandable why she blew up the kitchen, because back then, he had tried to grill fish, and the resulting Overloaded reaction between Electro and Pyro had caused a small explosion.
"Master..." Seeing Raiden Makoto emerge from her room, Xiangling hurried over, while Raiden Ei walked out from the ruins looking a bit dejected.
"Sister."
Raiden Ei realized that she couldn't control her elemental power at all, so when Electro met fire, an Overloaded reaction occurred, leading to a massive explosion.
Initially, winning was her goal for success; now, her standards had dropped—just participating would be a success!
"How many times have I told you? It's fine if you want to practice cooking, but don't do it in someone else's kitchen..."
"You blew up their kitchen; do you have the money to pay for it?" Raiden Makoto's face darkened. "And..."
"Sister... I..." Raiden Ei pouted and said somewhat pitifully, "Sister, I really was trying my best to control it..."
"Master, don't blame Sister Ei..." Seeing that Raiden Makoto was a bit angry, Xiangling quickly stepped forward and said, "I was the one who said I'd tutor Sister Ei in cooking... and then..."
"So it really has nothing to do with Sister Ei... who knew Sister Ei..." Xiangling said with a serious face. Who knew that when Raiden Ei cooked, she would blow up another one of their kitchens.
He had no idea those things would happen.
"Ei, you're a wielder of an Electro Vision, right? Did you just get your Vision?" Keqing looked at Raiden Ei with some confusion. Although he hadn't found any signs of a Vision on the Raiden sisters, not everyone likes to display their Vision openly.
Keqing sized up Raiden Ei thoughtfully and said, "Your elemental control is really not that great."
"It's quite poor."
"???"
She was the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma, the ruler of all lightning in the world, born from ten thousand bolts of thunder alongside her sister. Controlling the Electro element was like an instinct to her.
Keqing actually said she was poor at it?
However, she really wasn't good at fine manipulation; she would often inadvertently leak Electro element.
She admitted what Keqing said was true.
"My sister and I indeed only recently obtained our Visions. Why do you ask?" Raiden Ei nodded and said.
"As I thought..."
"When Electro and fire combine, an Overloaded reaction occurs... an explosion is inevitable." Keqing said seriously, "Ei, if you can properly suppress your Electro element, there shouldn't be any issues..."
Keqing just felt the commotion was a bit too much. Even if she leaked a little Electro element, there shouldn't be such a massive reaction, right?
But why did Raiden Ei have such a huge reaction? If Raiden Ei had just obtained her Vision, the reaction should be even less likely to be that big.
"So Sister Ei is an Electro Vision wielder." Xiangling finally understood why Raiden Ei's cooking blew up the kitchen. He also understood the Electro-Pyro Overloaded reaction.
"Sister Ei blew up another kitchen? You're something else!" Paimon and Lumine came out of their room, and Paimon looked at Raiden Ei with admiration. "I think Sister Ei shouldn't cook anymore. Every time she cooks, a kitchen blows up."
"I'd like to call Sister Ei the Kitchen Terminator." He felt that nickname suited Raiden Ei perfectly.
"I'm participating in the Culinary King Competition! This year's Culinary King... will definitely be me!" She didn't believe it; there was nothing she couldn't do well if she put her mind to it.
While they were chatting, a somewhat intense sound came from outside Wanmin Restaurant, sounding like a large bird flapping its wings.
"Huh... why is there such a loud noise outside?" Xiangling was puzzled. "Let's go out and take a look."
"It's so noisy outside..."
The sudden sound outside also interrupted Keqing's contemplation of that problem, and he walked out with the others.
"What happened?"
As everyone went outside.
Xiangling immediately saw a crane on the eaves and said in shock, "Wow... what a big bird!"
"Ah? It's that woman!" Paimon was also startled.
A crane with azure tail feathers all over its body was perched on the eaves over there, and it was about the height of a person.
"How insolent! Which woman?" As the crane spoke, her voice was somewhat androgynous.
"This adeptus has a name. I am Moon Carver." Moon Carver's tone carried a hint of pride.
"Moon Carver." Keqing once again saw the adeptus he had met at the Jade Chamber.
"Hmph, Qixing." Moon Carver snorted coldly. Her gaze then fell on Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei, but seeing they were just two ordinary women, she paid them no more mind.
"Traveler, it's been a long time. From the looks of it, you must be busy with the Moonchase Festival?" However, when Moon Carver spoke to Lumine, her tone became a bit gentler.
"Sister... so the adepti of Liyue are all like this..." Raiden Ei felt they were somewhat like the yokai of Inazuma.
"Ha, even the famous Traveler is here for the Moonchase Festival. This year's theme truly cannot be underestimated." Moon Carver chuckled.
"Do adepti... also participate in the Moonchase Festival?" Xiangling was stunned.
"Yes. During the Moonchase Festival, the ingredients are all ripe, making it the perfect time to enjoy fine food. This adeptus cannot remain idle either." Moon Carver nodded.
"When it comes to fine food and cooking, this adeptus's skill and ingenuity will definitely not lose to anyone. I have manifested here specifically to let everyone know about my new mechanical cooking apparatus." Moon Carver said proudly, her tone filled with confidence.
"Ah? Surely an adeptus isn't going to participate in the Culinary King Competition too?" Xiangling looked at Moon Carver in a daze.
"mechanical cooking apparatus... what is that?" Even Raiden Ei was curious. "Sister... have you heard of it?"
"It's probably something like an automatic cooking machine?" Raiden Makoto remembered that Liyue once had a God who excelled in mechanics. Mechanics were similar to technological products. She guessed that the mechanical cooking apparatus was likely similar to the automatic cooking machines from her past life.
"automatic cooking machine?" Raiden Ei was slightly stunned, and then she fell into deep thought.
Since she herself couldn't finely control the Electro element and couldn't cook personally, why not try doing what that bird did? She could also create a machine that helps with cooking!
That's right, she could do that too!
Raiden Ei's eyes lit up. She now had a new goal: to develop a machine that helps with cooking.
She could even manufacture such sophisticated puppets; could she really not make a machine like that? She didn't believe it.
"The apparatus this adeptus newly forged will show you its wonders when the time comes."
"Traveler, I will need you all to be present then to cheer for this adeptus."
"You're specifically inviting us, right?" Paimon was a bit excited; after all, he was curious about that strange apparatus.
"It's enough that you know. Why say it out loud?"
"The marketplace is no place to linger. This adeptus shall take her leave. Await my news."
After Moon Carver finished speaking, she spread her wings and vanished from the spot.
"Moon Carver is indeed a swift and decisive adeptus." Keqing had seen it now; adepti come and go like shadows.
"The one just now must be a big shot, right? She... she's not really going to join the Culinary King Competition, is she?" Xiangling blinked. "Then this year's difficulty..."
...is so high."
Meanwhile, Raiden Ei was on the side, contemplating how to design a machine to help with cooking, its principles, and how to manufacture it.
While they were chatting, another voice came from a distance, sounding quite gentle.
"Ah, so everyone is here?"
"This voice is... Ganyu?"
As everyone turned their gaze, they saw a Lady with short, light-blue hair walking over. The Lady had two horns on his head, and his clothing was a bit... "Ganyu, it really is you."
As for Raiden Makoto, she was also looking at the Lady in front of her with surprise. Ganyu, she seemed to have some impression of him.
The Meeting of the Seven Gods back then was in Liyue, and at that time, Ganyu seemed to be serving as Morax's assistant.
And at that time, she seemed to have teased Ganyu a few times, but Ganyu had run away in extreme embarrassment.
"little qilin, long time no see." Raiden Makoto walked slowly to Ganyu's side and whispered softly in Ganyu's ear.
That made Ganyu's eyes widen involuntarily. He stared blankly at the somewhat unfamiliar Inazuman Lady before him.
"You... know me?" Ganyu was puzzled, but he also seemed to recall something. When the Seven Gods met in the past, he had served by their side, and there seemed to be a gentle deity then.
When he first met her, she had called him "little qilin." That person seemed to be the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma, Raiden.
Moreover, Raiden hadn't just called him "little qilin" back then; she had even inadvertently touched his horns... One must know that his horns were his most sensitive spot.
He remembered that the Raiden Shogun named Raiden had perished in that great cataclysm five hundred years ago, right? Later, the position of Raiden Shogun was taken over by someone else.
"We'll talk about some things later." Raiden Makoto smiled gently and then walked back into the crowd.
"Sister Makoto... what did you say to Ganyu? Why does Ganyu's expression look a bit strange?"
"I met Ganyu when I came here before..." Raiden Makoto smiled. If she could be old friends with Zhongli, why couldn't she know Ganyu?
"Alright..." At this time, only Lumine and Paimon knew that Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei were the Raiden Shoguns of Inazuma; the others were completely unaware.
As Ganyu regained his composure, the image of that gentle Lady in his memory began to slowly overlap with Raiden Makoto.
He probably knew who Raiden Makoto was now.
That gentle God was actually still alive.
But Ganyu also understood that Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei were likely hiding their identities, so he withdrew the shocked expression from his face.
"Why is Ganyu here?" Paimon was curious, but what he was more interested in was what Raiden Makoto had actually said to Ganyu. Why did he feel Ganyu's face was a bit red right now?
"Sorry... to interrupt your chat. I happened to be nearby buying some things, and then I noticed the commotion... I couldn't help but come over to take a look."
"Are you talking about Moon Carver? She's gone."
Ganyu opened his mouth and said somewhat shyly, "Did Keqing see Moon Carver too? Can... can I borrow a moment of your time? I have something I want to say to you."
"What is it, Ganyu? Is there urgent business?" Keqing was puzzled. As the secretary of the Qixing, Ganyu usually only looked for them for important matters.
"No... it's not related to work." Ganyu shook his head and then lowered it. "What I want to ask is a bit of a personal question, is that okay?"
Ganyu's tone was very gentle, which was why Raiden Makoto remembered Ganyu back then.
His personality was a bit like her own. Of course, Ganyu was even more introverted; back then, she had only teased him a little, and the little fellow had run off to the side in embarrassment.
"A personal question?" Keqing was stunned. "That shouldn't be... I haven't had any issues with my work lately..."
"Is it... is it okay? I'm really going to ask."
"Yes."
Keqing was even a bit panicked. Could it be that his secret purchase of all the Rex Lapis wood carvings from a small stall had been discovered?
"I saw that Moon Carver seemed to stay for a while. Did... did she say anything to you about when I was little?" Ganyu looked very embarrassed, and his voice even became much smaller.
Things about the little qilin when he was little? She seemed to have some memory of that; Raiden Makoto probably understood.
She seemed to have asked Morax back then. After all, she had teased Morax because she found that Ganyu fellow quite likable, and Morax had told her a bit about Ganyu's past.
It seemed Ganyu was a little fat ball when he was little? Her memory shouldn't be wrong.
"Things about when you were little?" Keqing was stunned, and then he shook his head. "No."
"Not at all. Moon Carver only told us about her new invention."
"Eh... really?" Ganyu's eyes widened, and he let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, that's good."
"I was worried she might start telling you some boring gossip about me while chatting."
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