"Zhongli, you came at just the right time!" Hu Tao stood up and waved at Zhongli: "Come, come, meet your colleague!"
Zhongli also saw Orion; he naturally knew Orion. Rather, he had been observing Orion with his arts during this period to prevent him from causing too much trouble. After all... he looked too much like Alice!
But what he didn't expect was that before he could even pretend it was their first meeting, Orion suddenly waved at him: "We meet again!"
""Eh?"" Hu Tao and the Ritualist Girl were both stunned. Hu Tao's eyes darted between the two as she asked, "You two know each other?"
Zhongli displayed a polite smile: "To speak with universal rationality, we should not have met before, should we? Perhaps Your Excellency has met someone who looks very much like me, or perhaps you've mistaken me for someone else?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Orion waved his hand: "Have you forgotten? That day Xiao came to find me, and you left after seeing him."
Zhongli immediately showed a look of realization: "So that's how it is. It was my mistake. Director, Mr. Orion and I have indeed met."
Seeing that Orion had no intention of concealing it, Zhongli simply revealed Orion's name, indicating that he indeed knew the other party.
Hu Tao suddenly clapped her hands after hearing this: "Oh, that's convenient! Perfect, perfect, Orion hasn't completed his onboarding registration yet. Come, come, Zhongli, you handle his onboarding registration!"
Hu Tao snatched the pen and folder from the Ritualist Girl's hand and then shoved them into Zhongli's hand.
Zhongli looked at the folder in his hand and rarely showed a speechless expression: "Director, speaking with universal rationality, our parlor has a Spirit Scribe Division; the registration procedures should be handled by them."
"Oh, we're all family here, just go through the motions, you can do it!"
After speaking, Hu Tao pulled the Ferrylady to sit down, and the two of them began to eat their refreshments together.
Ferrylady: Is this where I'm supposed to be?
But she didn't dare to leave; the consultant and the Director were both here. She might as well lower her presence and mooch some food and drinks.
Thinking this, she felt no more psychological pressure and happily began to eat the snacks.
Zhongli sat opposite Orion, a slight headache forming. The two exchanged glances, both seeing the helplessness they felt towards Hu Tao's sudden whims.
Zhongli pondered for a moment, thinking that this was a good opportunity to probe Orion's basic information. So, he took the initiative: "Then, Mr. Orion, if there are any questions that are inconvenient to answer, you can directly say so."
"Alright." Orion readily agreed.
The Ferrylady didn't notice anything, but Hu Tao looked at Zhongli with some surprise.
She heard from his tone that Zhongli seemed to be planning to ask questions not required for onboarding?
Although she wasn't sure of Zhongli's intentions, she decided to wait until Zhongli finished asking, especially since Orion had agreed.
Zhongli directly wrote on the form: "First, name Orion, male, no problem, right? What is your age?"
"Just turned eighteen." Orion answered shamelessly.
Zhongli continued to ask while taking notes: "Your attire, appearance, and looks seem quite similar to Ms. Alice, the Great Adventurer of Mondstadt, Your name is also very similar to those of the people of Mondstadt".
If Orion hadn't agreed earlier, he wouldn't have asked such a question, but since Orion agreed, it meant he didn't seem to mind people knowing this information.
Orion also answered directly: "My name is written in the Mondstadt style, but it comes from Greek."
"Then you and Ms. Alice..."
"My family and I met while playing Dawa."
"???"
"Ah, no." Orion quickly waved his hand, having spoken out of habit: "I mean, I chose my own name."
"I see." Zhongli marked Orion's name with a (High Risk) tag.
Since he is Alice's child, it means he is not a bad person; this is well-known.
However, since he is Alice's child, he might occasionally get a crazy idea to move mountains in Liyue's depths or create land along Liyue's coast, which is also well-known.
"Uh... so, Mr. Orion, you are from Mondstadt, correct?" Zhongli was about to write Mondstadt under the ancestral home section when he was suddenly interrupted by Orion.
"No, I came from outside."
"?" A question mark appeared above Zhongli's head: "Outside?"
"Yes." Orion pointed to the sky: "Traversed the universe in my physical body, then broke through the shell to enter."
"That's enough." Zhongli interrupted Orion, then gestured with his eyes towards the curious Hu Tao beside them, implying that he shouldn't just blurt out anything in front of people.
But it was too late; Hu Tao immediately pounced: "What, what? You're not from Teyvat?"
"No." Orion didn't intend to hide his identity, but he also knew it wasn't good for Hu Tao and the others to know too much, so he feigned a roundabout answer: "When I arrived, I found many traces of extraterrestrial visitors in the ancient nation of Khaenri'ah. Haven't you seen aliens?"
Hu Tao immediately turned her gaze to Zhongli: "consultant, you know a lot, is this true?"
Zhongli sighed and nodded: "I have indeed seen similar records in some ancient texts; it should be true."
"Wow!" Hu Tao jumped up excitedly and began to circle Orion: "Hey, you know, these aliens look no different from us Teyvat locals, they also have one nose and one mouth, two eyes and two legs.
I thought aliens would be those types covered in carapaces, with many limbs, glowing, and able to fly around in the sky."
"You'll know if I can fly when I revert to my true form."
"Hmm? What did you say?"
"Ah, I said the Director has great insight."
Then Hu Tao stopped eating refreshments and stopped letting Zhongli record. She pulled Orion to sit between her and the Ferrylady, pestering him to tell stories about his experiences in the universe.
Orion looked at Zhongli, who was drinking tea with his eyes closed, as if to say, 'You made this mess, you clean it up.'
So, Orion told them some strange stories.
For example, frog-like aliens forming a five-person team to invade other planets; for example, a pink-haired alien princess coming to Earth to choose a husband, and later her two younger sisters and a golden killer also arrived; there were even stories of engineers from distant stars seeking methods of life extension, accidentally creating facehuggers and xenomorphs, and so on.
Hu Tao listened, giving him a thumbs-up.
Look at our little Orion's experiences; no wonder he can be a great writer!
"I just didn't expect the outside universe to be so dangerous. It feels like ordinary elemental power isn't enough. Is there a stronger power in the universe?" Hu Tao finally took her first step in combat theory, and Orion didn't hold back.
"Yes, there is. The most abundant energy in our part of the universe should be Void Realm Power, right?"
"What is Void Realm Power?" Hu Tao asked, puzzled.
"It's a classification of power, similar to how elemental power is called human realm power."
"Are there others?"
"Yes, there's also light realm power."
"light realm power? Where does that power come from?" Hu Tao thought for a moment, having never heard the name: "Where is this power from?"
Orion pointed to the ground: "It's also Teyvat's power."
Upon hearing this, Hu Tao's clever brain immediately began to extrapolate: "Teyvat has seven elements, seven gods, and corresponds to seven nations... Hey! Since there's light realm power, does that mean there's also Light of— *muffled sound*!"
Orion rushed over and clapped his hand over Hu Tao's mouth. He nervously peered out the window at the sky, confirming that no strange red light spheres were falling from the sky, nor any strange three-colored giants were coming in search of "Light." Only then did he let out a long breath.
He leaned his mouth close to Hu Tao's ear and whispered a warning: "Director, that name cannot be spoken! You must not attract the great terror from the depths of the universe!"
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