Aboard the Crux Fleet 2

"You have some guts to barge into my ship unannounced. Who are you?" A striking female pirate stepped forward.

"... I'll leave this to you, Lumine." Lu swiftly dipped and hid behind the blonde.

"𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺?... Ehem! Forgive our sudden intrusion, Captain Beidou." The traveler improvised.

"Oh, it's you, Lumine! I couldn't see you behind that tall guy earlier." The pirate named Beidou chuckled.

"Oi! Why are covering for this guy-" The deity covered the little creature's loud mouth immediately.

"So? What anomaly did you encounter now to arrive on the Crux from the sky?" Beidou smirked.

Lumine couldn't come up with an excuse. Fortunately, someone who's good at this kind of thing leaned over to whisper to her ears...

"...Umm... We found an adepti's construct while we were adventuring in Liyue... Then Paimon suggested that we use it to shoot ourselves here..." What a half-assed excuse, Lumine thought.

"...It's a good thing that we met this merchant who wants to have business with your group... Since he had a geo vision to protect us from the impact..." She finished while scratching her cheek.

"Mmm! Gnnn!" Paimon wanted to add something else, but it was futile.

"Where did you even get this vision? Did you steal it?" Lumine whispered to the 'merchant' with doubtful eyes.

"It's my creation, don't worry. I always keep one of each element just in case..." He smirked.

"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?!!!" She wanted to retaliate, yet kept it to herself in the end.

"I see... You lot really like doing crazy stunts, I like it!" The couple sighed in relief.

"But!" Oh no...

"My intuition isn't always accurate... So, what do you think, Kazuha?" Beidou inquired, to her unique crewmember.

...

"They who have come from the skies. I concur that they emit no lies, Captain." The renown wanderer of Inazuma nodded.

"...Alright, I trust you on this one. You heard him, Men! Back to you stations!"

"You heard the boss, Scram!" The chief mate, Juza, repeated.

" " Aye Aye! " " The members of fleet left one by one.

...

"How civilized. It's hard to believe that this was a vessel manned by a bunch of pirates." Lu stepped forward while clapping with a haughty attitude.

The two Inazumans, the merchant and the wanderer simply sent a knowing look to each other...

"Restrain youself, Ziya! Forgive his attitude, Beidou. I'll teach him a lesson myself later..." Lumine rebuked.

"That's right! Beat him to a pulp, traveler! He can't keep posing as a-" Paimon stopped before her mouth was shut once more.

"What are you blabbering about, Lumine? As a honest merchant, it is natural for me to speak in full confidence! We build our sources through trust in this industry after all." He merely smirked in response.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭..." The blonde remarked in her mind.

"You lot always cause a ruckus. Hahaha!" The captain was in a good mood, indeed.

"A pleasant afternoon for the two of you. I am Jiang Ziya, a merchant who just came back to Liyue from Inazuma." Lu greeted them with his usual smile.

"Captain Beidou of the Crux Fleet. You're an interesting guy, I like it." The pirate responded in a rough manner.

"Kaedahara Kazuha, a humble wanderer from Inazuma." The blademaster added.

"I won't waste your time. I have a special deal your beautif- esteemed self might like." The merchant corrected himself since he felt cold all of a sudden.

He looked at his partner, only to be greeted by an innocent-looking smile. Paimon on the other hand, resembled someone who had seen a ghost...

"You may come too, renowned samurai. I might have left Inazuma, but I nonetheless heard of your deeds in our homeland." Lu gave them the best business smile he could.

Beidou seemed preoccupied with something else, since it took some time before she responded.

"Alright! Let's talk over some grub. It's been a while since we had a guest as popular as our Miss Hero here after all." The captain appeared to be in a good mood.

"That would be most perfect! If I may add... Can we keep it in a private quarter- 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘯!" The merchant almost cursed aloud due to pain.

"How bold, just kidding... I get whatchu mean. This information is confidential right?" Beidou replied.

"I'm glad you understand it so well..." Lu gave a side glance to the embarrassed Lumine.

The now tainted Paimon was on the verge of fainting after getting the front seat in this farce...

***

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*

"Take a seat. Unfortunately, Xiangling isn't here to cook a more welcoming meal." The captain lamented.

"No no. This is welcoming enough, Beidou." Lumine disagreed while gesturing to her partner to follow.

"Yummy Food! You're the best, Captain Beidou!" Paimon complimented. Deciding to just focus on the food for now to forget about everything that happened earlier.

"I shall gratefully accept your offer, Captain." A haughty compliment, but a compliment nonetheless.

"Hahaha! Eat your fill, and then we can talk business. Don't hold back, we have plenty of fish here at sea." What a chad.

"Who am I to refuse? To a food that we can barely get used." Kazuha gave a snarky remark before taking his seat.

...

..

.

" " Thank you for the meal. " " The inazumans synchronized.

"Paimon, control yourself..." Lumine scolded.

"Haha! It's fine, it's fine. It's refreshing to see someone who enjoy something we always have." Beidou reassured the blonde.

"You heard what the boss said! Bring some more grub folks!" Paimon ordered loud enough for the guards outside to hear while trying to mimic a pirate's tone.

"Sigh*... Ziya, it's your turn now. Make this quick, and don't do anything unnecessary..." Lumine whispered a warning to the merchant.

"Ehem! I say it's time for me to offer the deal I was talking about earlier." Lu cleared his voice before suggesting.

"You've piqued my interest. Go on..." The One-Eyed Captain agreed.

The merchant secretly brought out a map from his hand beneath the table and placed it on a wall for all to see.

"May I interest you in some Treasure Hunting?" He slyly smirked in full confidence...

"𝘕𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵."

***

Don't forget the powerstones! It's the easiest way for me to check how many people read the latest one.

If we reach 200 powerstones this week, I'll upload a bonus chapter by the end!