Chapter 22

Time moved to the second day.

Takumi was woken up by Klee before he could wake up on his own.

"Brother Takumi, Brother Takumi."

"Wake up!"

"Klee has the bombs ready!"

Early in the morning, Takumi heard Klee's energetic voice.

Takumi, still half-asleep, was speechless.

He got up and looked outside. The sky had only just started to brighten.

This girl was too energetic.

"Do you ever sleep, Klee?"

Hearing Takumi's words, Klee blinked.

"Klee already slept!"

"And I woke up early!"

She had gone to bed immediately after preparing her bombs last night.

Excited for the day ahead, she had woken up early.

Takumi sighed, feeling somewhat numb at Klee's enthusiasm.

"Alright."

"Wait outside for me. I'll wash up and be out soon."

"Ask the innkeeper to prepare breakfast for you."

"I'll join you shortly."

Hearing Takumi's instructions, Klee nodded quickly.

"Okay, Brother Takumi!"

She now listened to everything Takumi said.

Thinking like this, Klee happily trotted off to find the owner of Wangshu Inn, ready to request breakfast.

Watching her leave, Takumi sighed helplessly.

This girl had too much energy.

Shaking his head, Takumi didn't think too much about it and instead started washing up.

By the time he finished, Keqing was also awake.

Seeing Keqing, Takumi wasn't surprised.

After all, Keqing was always an early riser.

Keqing also knew that Takumi had been woken up by Klee early in the morning.

She had heard Klee knocking on his door.

"Morning."

"Let's have breakfast together."

Takumi greeted Keqing before heading downstairs.

Hearing Takumi's words, Keqing nodded.

She then asked curiously:

"Are you starting work on the pier today?"

Yesterday, Takumi had taken Klee to survey the area.

Were they starting construction today?

Takumi nodded.

"That's right. I want to finish the pier within the next few days."

"Once it's done, we can start construction."

"With the pier ready, ships will be able to dock."

"Getting it done early has a lot of advantages."

Once complete, ships from Liyue Harbor could dock here, possibly making travel even faster.

Transporting materials and supplies by water would become much more efficient.

Hearing Takumi's explanation, Keqing nodded.

She didn't ask any more questions.

The two found Klee, who was already chatting with Verr Goldet.

Then, they sat down for breakfast together.

After finishing the meal prepared by Yanxiao, Takumi and Klee walked outside.

The day's work was about to begin.

Meanwhile, work had already resumed at the construction site outside.

The workers had woken up early and, after breakfast, continued their tasks.

Many greeted Takumi and Keqing as they passed.

Takumi brought Klee to the location they had surveyed the day before.

Then, he turned to Klee.

"Klee, what's the plan?"

Hearing Takumi's question, Klee pulled a map from her bag.

"Klee drew a plan!"

"Brother Takumi, look."

"Klee will bomb some deep holes first."

"Then, I'll drop bigger bombs."

Klee showed Takumi and Keqing her hand-drawn map.

Looking at the sketch, which resembled childlike doodles, Takumi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Alright."

"We'll follow your plan."

"I'll take you to set it up."

With that, Takumi led Klee onto a bamboo raft.

They began setting up the explosives.

Keqing, meanwhile, watched in mild disbelief.

Would this really work?

It all seemed like a game to Klee.

However, seeing how much trust Takumi had in her, Keqing decided to keep her doubts to herself.

She would wait and see.

Takumi and Klee started placing the charges.

After setting up the first point, Klee turned to Takumi.

"Brother Takumi, after I drop the bomb, push the raft away quickly."

"Klee will be fine, but Brother Takumi might get caught in the explosion."

"You don't want to get hurt!"

Hearing Klee's reminder, Takumi nodded.

"Got it."

"Don't worry."

"I'll be careful."

"Alright, Klee, drop the first bomb."

Klee eagerly pulled out a bomb about the size of a bowl.

She looked at Takumi.

Hearing his confirmation, she didn't hesitate.

She tossed the bomb into the water at the designated spot.

Boom!

"Brother Takumi, run!"

Hearing her warning, Takumi immediately pushed hard against the bamboo raft.

The raft shot several meters away.

Seconds later, an explosion erupted where Klee had thrown the bomb.

A huge plume of water shot into the air.

The surface churned violently, and the water turned murky.

"It worked!"

"Brother Takumi, let's keep going!"

Klee was thrilled.

This meant her plan was working.

She could continue setting up the charges.

Takumi nodded.

He and Klee continued placing explosives in the water.

Soon, a series of explosions echoed across the area.

The loud blasts caught the attention of the workers at the construction site.

They were surprised to see the pier construction underway.

Everyone knew about Takumi's dock project.

Many had seen the updated model he had designed.

Now, Takumi was deepening the water level.

Originally, they had assumed people would have to dive down and manually remove the rocks.

But it seemed Takumi had a different approach.

After blasting several deep holes, Klee moved on to the next phase.

Now, she had to set up the bigger bombs.

These bombs had taken a lot of effort to make.

Since they needed to detonate underwater, waterproofing them had been a challenge.

Klee pulled out her largest bombs—ones resembling her strongest attacks.

She threw them into the newly created holes in the water.

These bombs didn't have traditional fuses.

Curious, Takumi asked:

"Klee, don't these need to be lit?"

Hearing Takumi's question, Klee quickly explained:

"Nope!"

"Once Klee detonates one, the others will explode from the shockwave."

"My mom taught me this trick!"

Proudly, Klee beamed.

This was one of her special techniques.

She rarely got to use it.

The last time she had was when she blew up a mountain.

Jean had banned her from using it afterward.

Now, finally, she had a chance to use it again.