Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 151 Fireworks Festival

With a single strike, they instantly killed the enemy that Anton and his men had been unable to defeat for many days.

There is no doubt that Kiana's strength has far exceeded what Anton and the others could have imagined. Seeing the surprised expressions on Anton and the others' faces, Qing could deeply understand their feelings, after all, Kiana had easily resolved the crisis caused by the Demon God's Familiar.

An ancient mechanical artifact was no match for Kiana. Just as Keqing was about to lead Anton and the others down to check the situation, a violent tremor interrupted their descent.

The blue light emitted by the sky nail hovering above the open space was flashing frequently, and the next second it crashed straight down to the ground.

Before Keqing could even warn her, the Heavenly Nail had already struck the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. The entire cave began to tremble violently as a result. A few seconds later, after the shaking had completely subsided, Keqing steadied herself and looked towards where the Heavenly Nail had fallen.

But no matter how Keqing looked, she couldn't see Kiana. Just when Keqing thought Kiana had been pinned down by the Sky Spikes, she heard Kiana's voice behind her.

"What are you looking at?"

"Kiana!" Keqing turned around and looked at Kiana, who was covered in dust, and asked in surprise, "What happened just now? Are you hurt?"

"It's nothing, the Sky Nail just fell automatically after confirming there was no abyssal energy below."

Yes, it is the abyssal energy that drives that giant serpent of the ruins.

Perhaps it used abyssal energy when it was first activated, or perhaps it picked up abyssal energy somewhere underground after activation.

In short, the giant serpent of the ruins is now driven by the energy of the abyss. It was because it sensed a highly active abyssal energy moving rapidly underground that the Heavenly Nail left a projection at a certain point above, while its main body came to a deeper depth to suppress it.

Now that Kiana has purified this abyssal energy, the Sky Nail's mission is naturally complete, so it shuts off its energy supply and falls from mid-air.

It created a large crater on the spot, and you could vaguely see the light emanating from some of the earth's veins.

By observing the exposed ley lines, Kiana realized that this was the location of the ley lines in the mysterious space she had encountered before.

"Miss Keqing, don't worry, I'm fine."

Kiana gently slapped away Keqing's hand, which was used to examine her body, and said, "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that mechanical giant serpent from the ancient ruins—well, it's too complicated to explain, let's just call it the Ruins Serpent. I've already cut that Ruins Serpent into pieces, so it might be difficult to take it back for investigation."

"The most important thing is that you're safe. We can always find a way to come back and excavate the missing fragments later."

Anton nodded in agreement with Keqing's statement, implying that subsequent research would likely have little to do with the Fatui.

Furthermore, they also wanted to obtain relevant information about the Sky Nail, but just like with the case of the Giant Serpent of the Ruins, the Fatui would inevitably be unable to participate in the relevant research projects in the future.

Seeing Anton and the others struggling with their thoughts, Kiana immediately understood what Anton was thinking, so she made a suggestion.

“There’s more than one Sky Spike here. There’s one in the Dragonspine Mountains of Mondstadt, and another deep in the desert of Sumeru. If you Fatui want to study them, you can go to those places to investigate. As for the remains of this giant serpent in the ruins, I can get you a piece or two.”

Are you serious?

"Of course, I wouldn't lie."

"Then I will take more of the information you provided. Although I cannot guarantee that the entire Fatui will not turn against you in the future, I can guarantee that the soldiers I lead will not attack you. As for the remains of the giant serpent, although I am very grateful for your generosity in helping me, it is indeed unnecessary."

"I understand. If there's nothing else that needs to be resolved, I'll see you all out."

Anton looked at his teammates and saw that their eyes were filled with longing for the outside world, as well as a desire to have their deceased comrades' bodies collected.

After a moment's thought, Anton finally decided to send everyone out. Amidst the incomprehension of the others, Anton resolutely had Kiana open the portal.

After pushing the other three into the portal, he immediately signaled Kiana to close it. Although she didn't quite understand Anton's actions, Kiana chose to respect his decision and temporarily closed the portal.

“I can understand why Miss Keqing isn’t going up with us, but why aren’t you going out with your companions?”

"...Lady Kiana, although I don't know if you understand what I'm doing, I still want to say that protecting the safety of my team members is my responsibility as the temporary company commander, and bringing my comrades' remains back to the ground is also my responsibility."

"So that's why you chose to send them back to the ground first?" Ke Qing asked.

"Yes, after all, too many brothers in our company have already lost here. The three of them still have their own families, but I am different. I was an orphan since I was a child. It was the captain who rescued me during a disaster and sent me to an orphanage. This company is my home. I have to be responsible for my brothers. Even if they die in a foreign land, I will bring them back to their homeland. This is the responsibility I set for myself when I became the temporary company commander."

"But as you know, when you fight things related to the abyss, you often leave nothing behind after you die."

“I understand, but there has to be some explanation. Even if I can’t keep their bodies, I want to find their nameplates and hang them on the martyrs’ tombstones myself.”

It has to be said that Kiana was persuaded by Anton; she smiled knowingly and then agreed with Anton's statement.

In the time that followed, Kiana accompanied Anton as he searched for the remains or belongings of his companions throughout the underground mining area, while Keqing collected some simple samples, planning to officially unseal the Abyss and allow professionals to conduct research once it was confirmed that the Abyss was no longer a threat.

Now all she has to do is choose a safe location as a campsite for future researchers. With Kiana's help, Anton finally retrieves all of his companions' nameplates and also finds members of another company of the Fools, paying the highest respects at his sister's cenotaph.

After everything was finally settled, Kiana opened the portal once again, this time bringing back another Raiden caster to the surface, in addition to Anton and Keqing.

Upon returning to Earth, the blinding sunlight scorched Anton's eyes, and tears streamed down his face. Kiana, seemingly prepared, handed Anton a pair of sunglasses.

Anton took the sunglasses and put them on. The sunlight was no longer glaring. Looking at the grass and trees on the ground and breathing in the fresh air, Anton's eyes couldn't help but moisten again.

This time, the tears were not caused by the glaring sunlight, but by the joy of returning to the ground, which brought forth tears of excitement from the bottom of my heart.

Kiana patted Anton on the shoulder, then gestured towards a spot not far away where the sun couldn't reach.

Anton looked in the direction Kiana pointed and saw the other three resting with their eyes closed.

Anton didn't speak, but silently stepped forward to his three companions. The shadow cast by his tall figure instantly startled the resting group, and they put down their weapons when they realized that the person who came was Anton.

Immediately following was a rant to Anton, but before he could finish, Anton opened his broad chest and hugged the other three to his chest.

However, one of them was so obese that the other two were almost unable to breathe due to being squeezed.

Ke Qing looked at Anton and the others who were playing around not far away and said, "They have such a good relationship."

"Yes, but what are your plans after that?"

“Send them back to the Northern Bank and explain the reasons. Although this will have some impact on Ningguang’s diplomatic plans, I don’t think we can deny their contributions to Liyue because of this.”

“I don’t understand the intricacies of your high-ups, but I do understand that everything they’ve done for Liyue shouldn’t be buried.”

"The business here is done, it's time to go back and report."

Keqing stretched and walked towards Liyue Harbor, saying this as she did so.

"Oh right, I also need to host the fireworks festival, but luckily there's still time. Um, Kiana!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"If possible, I would like to invite you to Qunyu Pavilion to enjoy the fireworks display with me."

Kiana smiled when she saw Keqing's serious expression as she invited her.

"Of course! I just don't know if our Lord Yuheng Star would mind if I brought a few more people with me?"

"Of course, that's no problem!"

"Okay, I'll be there on time."

And so the time came for the fireworks display that evening, and the Qunyu Pavilion was now filled with invited guests.

Among them were familiar faces such as Kong, Paimon, and Beidou. As the time drew closer, Keqing signaled to one of the Thousand Rock soldiers beside her that she could transmit the signal.

After receiving Keqing's permission, the Thousand Rock Army soldier quickly went to the ground to relay the order to release the fireworks.

Then one, two, four... one to ten, ten to a hundred, and a large number of Thousand Rock Army soldiers relayed the order to light the fireworks to the designated locations.

Upon receiving the order, the Chiyan Army officer in charge of lighting the fireworks immediately lit the fireworks beside him.

Then, fireworks went up into the sky.

"Bang~!"

"Bang~!"

"Bang~!"

Fireworks burst into dazzling patterns in the sky. The Liyue Harbor Lantern Festival venue was packed with people, many of whom walked in groups, including Anton and his teammates.

As the sound of fireworks exploding into the sky rang out, everyone stopped and began to watch.

Beautiful fireworks burst in the sky, illuminating Anton and his companions' faces and igniting their longing to return home.

Long before they returned from the Abyss of the Rocky Mountains, the Northern Bank began arranging a temporary ship to return to winter, in order to send Anton and his men back to their hometown as soon as possible.

At the Jade Pavilion, after a brief farewell to Kiana and the others, Keqing went inside and put on the exotic dress that Ningguang had prepared for her.

Ke Qing, dressed in a black dress, slowly walked out of the room, her cheeks slightly flushed and her expression a little shy.

To be honest, this was the first time she had ever worn this style of dress, and she was a little unaccustomed to it at first.

"H-How is it? Is it pretty?" Ke Qing asked.

Paimon highly praised Keqing's outfit, and the others naturally echoed that it suited Keqing perfectly.

Then everyone's attention was completely drawn to the fireworks. Amid the sounds of fireworks exploding, Keqing slowly opened her mouth and spoke softly.

“Happy Lantern Festival!”

"Yes, Happy Lantern Festival!"

And so, with Paimon's energetic response, the fireworks festival came to a successful close.

Thus, this year's Lantern Festival came to a perfect end, and Kiana, after a long absence, opened the group chat.

I found that everyone in the group chat was still very lively. Coincidentally, Ying was also celebrating the Lantern Festival at that time.

Kiana watched the immortals outside visiting Fu Hua and chatting, and recalled that in her previous life, the New Year always seemed to have the meaning of reunion.

So she pressed the invite button, and the next moment, a flood of messages about people joining the group chat appeared on the group chat screen.

[Paimon (Hyperion): Huh? What's this...? Sora, do you know what this is?]

[Empty (Hyperion): Unfortunately, I don't know either.]

[Luminous (Genshin Impact): Brother…]

[Empty (Hyperion): Fluorescent...]

[Kong & Ying (Hyperion & Genshin Impact): Why did you join the Abyss Order?]

[Kong & Ying (Hyperion & Genshin Impact): Huh?]

Just as the two worlds of Sora and Luminosity, along with the Paimons, were thrown into chaos, Kiana stepped in to explain.

After the explanation, the people of Teyvat, the world represented by the void, finally understood what was going on.

After a short period of familiarization, they thoroughly understood how to use group chat.

The already somewhat chaotic group chat became even more chaotic after Kong joined in.

Among them were historical records that I had time to look at, as well as various fan-made videos compiled at some point, and even some criticisms of Ying.

Of course, Ying wouldn't be outdone. She not only admitted to doing everything in the video (which she didn't actually do), but also said she was having so much fun that she didn't miss her brother.

This finally made Abyss Sora, who had been lurking in the shadows, unable to hold back any longer and join Sora in complaining about Luminosity. In the end, both Sora were too serious and were suppressed by Luminosity, while our Abyss Luminosity silently observed the group chat from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, high-level officials from various countries also began investigating the group chat, and Kiana, who invited them to the group chat, was naturally included in the investigation.

The entire continent of Teyvat was in turmoil. In the end, Liyue and Inatsuki, who understood Kiana's character, were the first to end their investigation of the group chat.

Besides the fact that they hadn't found any useful information, another reason was their trust in Kiana.

Ultimately, the investigation into the group chat was dropped. After a period of observation and finding no immediate threat to the country, high-ranking officials in various countries lowered their guard against the group chat and temporarily allowed it to continue.