I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Ivan immediately adopted a lavish demeanor: "Do you think Ivan is that kind of person? Order whatever you like!"

"Commander Yi, are you serious?"

"Of course."

"You said it yourself."

Xiang Feng picked up the menu and chuckled.

Then Ivan saw Xiang Feng flip to the last two pages of the menu, and a smirk involuntarily appeared on his lips.

The prices of the dishes increase from the beginning to the end, with the most expensive dishes all on the last few pages.

"I'll order the tempura golden shrimp first. Hmm, let me calculate, this is only a little over three hundred yuan in Chinese currency, which isn't too expensive."

"Cough cough cough..."

"Commander Yi, what's wrong?"

“It’s nothing…” Ivan waved his hand, “I choked on my tea.”

Kizawa Nagaki also raised his hand: "This tempura golden shrimp looks delicious, I'll have one too."

"Cough cough cough..."

Xiang Feng asked, "Did you choke again?"

"Um......"

Xiang Feng suppressed a laugh and asked, "Lord Ivan, we've finished ordering. Would you like something to eat?"

Ivan wiped his mouth: "Me? I... I'll have some fried rice with egg, I love fried rice with egg!"

Half an hour later, the three of them were almost finished with their meal when Kujo Sara found Utsu-tei.

"Lord Ivan, we've found you."

Seeing Kujo Sara rushing over, Ivan asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Kujo Sara said, "The analysis report on that blackish-red film is out. Besides that, it seems the General has some other matters to discuss with you. Please come over."

Ivan raised an eyebrow: "The analysis report is out? Okay, I'll be right there."

Ivan picked up a tissue from the table and wiped his mouth. Then, he calmly said to Xiang Feng and Mu Ze Changhui, "Xiang Feng, Mu Ze, you and Miss Kujo go outside and wait for me. I'm going to the restroom."

"it is good."

After the three of them walked out of the store, Ivan immediately changed his appearance and quickly approached the shop owner, who was busy behind the counter. His speed startled the shop owner.

"Shopkeeper, may I ask if today's meal can be charged to the General's Mansion's account...?"

Two minutes later, Ivan walked out of the Utopia Pavilion with a relieved look on his face.

He finally experienced firsthand a checkout method similar to Zhongli's in his lifetime.

As compensation, I'll tell Ying a few more stories that interest her when I have the chance later.

After leaving Wuyou Pavilion, Ivan returned to the General's Mansion in a carriage from the Tianling Fengxing Mansion. Inside the Tenshukaku, Ying and Xu Donghai were already waiting.

"Ivan."

"Little Yi".

Upon seeing Ivan arrive, both Ying and Xu Donghai greeted him.

Ivan nodded.

"The analysis results for the black and red thin film are in?"

"Correct."

Xu Donghai handed the two documents to Ivan: "This is the analysis result of the thin film in the western waters of Inazuma, and this is the analysis result of the thin film in the waters of Qindao City sent back from the capital. After comparison, the two are completely consistent in composition, but both contain a strong aura of destruction."

"As expected, this is indeed related to the destructive aura's erosion of the World Tree... but that's not enough."

Ivan's eyes flickered.

They are now like police officers facing a kidnapping case. This report has only confirmed the kidnapper's identity, but they still have no idea about the methods used or where the hostage was taken.

But at least we're not completely ignorant anymore.

Having finished reading the report, Ivan looked up at Ying and asked, "By the way, Miss Kujo said you wanted to see me?"

Shadow nodded and said, "Yes, it's still about the mechanical device you left behind."

"Mechanical device?"

Ivan paused for a moment, then realized: "The signal station I built on the island?"

“Yes. When you left, you told me to pay attention to the energy field that was affecting its operation, so I have been keeping a close eye on this signal station. Just over a week ago, I noticed that the signal station was producing very subtle abnormal lightning element fluctuations. These fluctuations would last for a few seconds every now and then, and then return to calm.”

Ivan nodded: "Yes, I remember you mentioned this in the letter you sent to Mondstadt as well."

Ying continued, "This is what I wanted to tell you. In the past few days, those unusual fluctuations have started again, although they are still very weak. I'm wondering if they could be related to this incident?"

Ivan stroked his chin and pondered briefly.

That signal station was originally intended to be used to contact the Chinese fleet in Mondstadt and Liyue, but unfortunately, it was interfered with by a strange energy field, and the signal could not be transmitted at all. Therefore, after Ivan left, the signal station was kept in a low-power state by a wind turbine and remained silent.

Ying said that the signal tower's lightning element was fluctuating abnormally. In layman's terms, this means that the signal tower's power consumption was abnormal, fluctuating as usual, which indicates that the signal tower was working.

So here's the question: how can a signal station that hasn't been used for a long time work on its own?

"It is indeed a bit strange."

Ivan thought for a moment.

"I happen to have some time this afternoon, I'll go take a look."

Chapter 386 A SOS Signal from the Trapped

An outlying island, along the eastern coastline.

Ivan chose this location because it was high up, offered a wide and unobstructed view, and that's why he decided to build the signal station here.

Unfortunately, this place was initially used by the then-governors to store the Stone of Destruction, which was traded with the Fools. It wasn't until almost all the events were coming to an end that Ivan built a signal station on this land.

However, the signal station was eventually built in vain, as Ivan's signal to contact the fleet was intercepted by an energy field enveloping Inazuma.

After a series of futile efforts, the message post was temporarily left idle.

After Ivan left, the signal station was handed over to the Kansei Magistrate for care. The Kansei Magistrate's Office then surrounded the signal station and would send people to clean it regularly.

Now, Ivan has come here again.

The staff from the Kansei Enforcement Office unlocked the protective fence, and then Ivan, accompanied by Ying, followed by Muzawa Nagahiro and Xiang Feng, all went inside together.

Upon arriving at the signal tower, Ivan first checked whether the power supply equipment was damaged or whether the lines were abnormal. After confirming that everything was in order, Ivan called over the staff of the surveying commissioner.

"During the time we had people guarding it, did anyone accidentally touch anything on this signal tower?"

The staff member shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the General specifically instructed that nothing on this machine should be touched. Therefore, when we arrange for our staff to clean, we will only clean the surrounding area and will not touch anything related to the machine."

Ivan reached out and touched the support of the signal tower, then found a layer of dust on his fingers. It had been a week since the last rain in Inazuma, and if someone had cleaned the signal tower, there shouldn't have been so much dust on it. It seemed that the staff of the Kanjo-buyoshi were right; no one should have touched the signal tower.

"That's strange..."

Ivan frowned.

There are no problems with the circuitry or equipment, and no one has touched it yet. The signal station cannot transmit signals on its own.

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the construction conditions at the time, the signal station built by Ivan did not have an LCD display control console and a supporting electronic control system. It only had basic functions such as signal transmission and reception and signal power amplification. It could not query specific information through the work log automatically recorded by the system like ordinary signal stations.

Just as the situation was reaching a stalemate, Ying paused for a moment.

"Wait, that unusual fluctuation has started again."

"what?"

Ivan was startled and quickly ran to the power generation equipment to check. Sure enough, the power consumption had changed and was now increasing, which proved that the signal tower was working.

Ivan looked up at the signal tower's dish and immediately realized: "Receiving a signal?"

Receiving a signal? Where is the signal from? The fleet ships are currently on the island, very close to this signal station. Could it be receiving a signal from the fleet?

No, that's not right. First of all, this signal station uses civilian standards and cannot receive military encrypted information at all. Secondly, this signal station started working a week ago, when the Chinese fleet was still in Mondstadt.

"If it's not a signal from the fleet, then where is it coming from?"

Without a second thought, before the signal reception ended, Ivan immediately contacted Xu Donghai by phone and asked someone to bring over the relevant equipment. Five minutes later, several soldiers from the engineering department of the Shen Gong ship carried the relevant communication equipment and climbed up the high ground where Ivan and the others were.

The soldiers who arrived were all professional technicians. They quickly connected the equipment to the communication station, and after a simple debugging process, the communication control system that had been temporarily installed on the signal tower was fully operational.

At this moment, Shadow reminded him, "Ivan, here we go again."

Ivan nodded and looked at the console monitor. Sure enough, the screen showed signal fluctuations and a string of voice messages had been received.

[Sizzle...]

Ivan raised an eyebrow: "What's going on?"

The engineering team soldier operated the control panel for a moment and replied, "It seems that the communication at the sender's location is not very stable, and the signal sent is very weak."

"Is there any way to verify the information?"

"It should work, I'll give it a try... Report, done!"

"Play audio".

The soldier opened the audio message, which was converted from a signal obtained from an unknown source, and a voice sounded.

[Sizzling sounds... Sending... a message...]

Ivan frowned. The signal clarity was still a bit problematic. Fortunately, the information was repeated more than once, and as the information was repeated, the sound became clearer and clearer. Finally, on the fifth time, everyone could hear the complete information.

[This is the Huaxia Qianhai Base and the Coral Palace on Haiqi Island. We are issuing a distress call. If anyone hears this, please respond.]

If anyone hears this, please respond.

Please reply!

These three audio messages were like a bombshell, exploding in everyone's heads with a bang.

This was actually a distress signal from Qindao City and Haizhi Island!

Ivan stood there, stunned, for several seconds before he reacted and said in disbelief, "A message from the Former Sea Base and Coral Palace?"