Honkai Star Rail: I Became the World Tree — Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Hu Tao Arrives at the Source Continent

Before opening the gateway, Zhongli pulled Welt and the others aside for a quiet, formal request. He asked them to do him a small favor: under no circumstances were they to reveal his true identity as the Geo Archon to the guest he was about to bring over.

Stelle, who had just woken up and was currently slouched on the sofa staring blankly at the ceiling, instantly perked up. She chuckled, her chaotic energy returning in a flash, and extended an open palm toward the former Archon.

“Gonna need some hush money for that.”

Zhongli paused, rummaged through his pockets with a dignified sigh, and produced exactly ten copper coins. He placed them solemnly into Stelle’s waiting hand.

Stelle snatched the copper coins, licking her lips in sheer delight as she counted the meager sum, and promptly shoved the shiny loot deep into her coat pocket.

Seeing that the crew was sufficiently briefed—and bribed—Zhongli waved a hand, tearing open a teleportation gate. He stepped through alongside Furina and Clorinde, heading straight for Liyue.

A short while later, the shimmering portal flared to life again inside the Astral Adventure Group’s station. Furina, Zhongli, and Clorinde stepped out, bringing a very energetic Hu Tao with them.

Hu Tao bounded through the gateway, her arms loaded with ten neatly packed breakfast boxes. Her plum-blossom eyes darted around the room, taking in the strange architecture and the unfamiliar faces with absolute fascination. Everything here was entirely novel.

Spotting Stelle and the rest of the crew, she flashed a bright, mischievous grin.

“Hello, everyone! This Hall Master is Hu Tao, the seventy-seventh Director of the Liyue Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. I look forward to your guidance!”

Stelle stood up, dusting off her coat, and offered a perfectly deadpan nod.

“Hello, Hu Tao. I am Stelle. The legendary Galactic Baseballer and leader of the Astral Adventure Group is none other than me.”

Hu Tao’s eyes widened in awe. “Whoa, that sounds really impressive! By the way, I brought everyone breakfast straight from Liyue. Come on, come on, everyone try it!”

She raised her arms, proudly presenting the stacked boxes.

Escoffier noticed the commotion and immediately walked over, gently taking the heavy load from her hands. With the practiced grace of a master chef, he transferred the steaming breakfasts onto proper porcelain tableware and arranged them elegantly across the long dining table.

As he lifted the bamboo steamer lids, Escoffier paused, his eyes widening in genuine surprise. The rich, savory fragrance wafting from the soup dumplings was absolutely incredible. The complex folds of the dough and the perfect consistency of the steam indicated that whoever cooked this delicacy was a true master of the culinary arts. He made a mental note to interrogate Hu Tao later about the exact identity of the chef who crafted these masterpieces.

The crew gathered around the dining table. Stelle didn’t hesitate; she grabbed a soup dumpling with her chopsticks and took a massive bite.

Instantly, her golden eyes lit up.

“Mmm~! So delicious! These dumplings are way too good!”

Welt took a much more measured bite, nodding in deep satisfaction. “These soup dumplings have a very bold flavor profile. The broth completely coats the palate. It’s incredibly rich and savory.”

Furina nodded repeatedly, her ahoge bouncing with every movement. “Exactly! These are just too delicious! Escoffier, go study them later. I want these added to my personal menu immediately.”

Escoffier bowed slightly, a spark of professional rivalry in his eyes. “Right away, Miss Furina. I will begin reverse-engineering the recipe shortly.”

Himeko, eating with her usual refined elegance, dabbed her lips with a napkin. “These are quite suitable for breakfast. Though, I must admit, they would be even more perfect if paired with a freshly brewed cup of coffee.”

Hu Tao blinked, tilting her head in utter confusion. She couldn’t wrap her mind around that logic—that dark, muddy coffee stuff was so incredibly bitter. How could it possibly go with the savory, delicate broth of a Liyue soup dumpling?

What the young funeral director didn’t understand was that, to a true addict, the mellow, fragrant roasted notes of coffee were an absolute necessity.

The dining hall filled with lively chatter. Hu Tao’s outgoing, eccentric personality made it incredibly easy for her to hit it off with Stelle, March 7th, and Furina. Between bites of food, she quickly pieced together a general understanding of her new companions.

To her absolute shock, Stelle, March 7th, and Seele were actually travelers from an entirely different universe! Only Furina was from her side of Teyvat, hailing specifically from the distant nation of Fontaine—a place Hu Tao had never personally visited.

She was pleasantly surprised. She really hadn’t expected her esteemed consultant to casually drag her to another world for a morning excursion!

Stelle looked over at Samuel. Taking her self-appointed role as the “Big Sister” of the group very seriously, she wanted to make sure the newcomer was properly geared up.

“Samuel, could you help set up a class profession for Hu Tao later?”

Samuel smiled, taking a sip of his drink. “Of course. I’ll get it sorted.”

Once breakfast wrapped up, the group dispersed to handle their daily routines. Neuvillette gathered the members of the Gardes, leading them out into the surrounding wilderness to hunt monsters and secure the perimeter.

Hu Tao followed Samuel to the system interface to select her LitRPG profession. Once the glowing screens faded and her new stats settled in, she immediately ran off to join Stelle, March 7th, and the others, rushing out toward the Elven Forest to play.

Each of the girls carried a woven bamboo basket on their backs, fully intending to spend the morning foraging for wild vegetables, mushrooms, and exotic fruits beneath the thick canopy.

Stepping into the dense treeline, Hu Tao placed a hand against the rough bark of a towering, ancient oak. She craned her neck upward, her hat nearly falling off.

“Wow, the trees here at Samuel’s place are massive! You can’t even see the top!”

Stelle walked past her, casually holding a mushroom the size of a basketball in her arms. “That’s true. The plants in this Elven Forest are all completely exaggerated. They’re way bigger than anything we’ve seen back home.”

“I heard from Herta that it’s caused by some kind of ambient magical power mutating their genes,” March 7th chimed in, tossing a giant berry into her basket. “I don’t really understand the scientific specifics, but it makes gathering food super fast!”

Hearing that, Hu Tao didn’t dwell on the logistics. She cheerfully went back to yanking massive mushrooms and wild vegetables out of the enchanted soil.

By the time evening rolled around, Hu Tao finally returned to Liyue Harbor after a long, exhausting day of playing with her new friends.

Strapped to her back was a large bamboo basket practically overflowing with gigantic vegetables. It contained a boulder-sized mushroom, a head of broccoli that looked like a small shrub, a massive stalk of celtuce, a cabbage leaf large enough to serve as a blanket, and a heavy stalk of Chinese kale.

In her right hand, Hu Tao was casually wielding a green onion.

The vegetables were absurdly proportioned. The green onion in her grip was nearly three meters long, and she was playfully twirling it around like a polearm as she skipped down the stone-paved streets.

She was heading straight for Wanmin Restaurant.

Her logic was simple: she was going to deliver this monstrous harvest to Xiangling. Xiangling didn’t have many hobbies outside of cooking, and her absolute favorite pastime was developing bizarre new dishes. Every once in a while, the young chef would vanish into the wild areas of Liyue just to scavenge for weird ingredients. Hu Tao firmly believed that if Xiangling saw these giant, mutated vegetables, she would probably jump straight through the roof in joy.

As Hu Tao paraded through the bustling streets of Liyue, the sheer scale of her cargo naturally drew a crowd. Passersby stopped in their tracks, their eyes wide with curiosity and disbelief.

“My goodness, what kind of vegetables are those? How did they get so big? If you flattened that cabbage leaf out, it would be as tall as a grown man!”

“Who’s to say otherwise? Just look at the green onion in Director Hu’s hand! It’s longer than a Millelith’s spear!”

“I don’t know where Director Hu managed to dig those up, but they are truly monstrous.”

“Could it be from Sumeru? Isn’t that entire nation the territory of the Dendro Archon? They have crazy plants over there.”

“Impossible. I’ve been to Sumeru. They have some massive trees, sure, but no vegetables like that.”

“That’s right! They do have some really large mushrooms in the rainforests, but those things are not to be trifled with—they can literally pull their roots out and attack people!”

“Huh?! Mushrooms that attack people? Never mind, never mind. I was actually planning to visit Sumeru next month.”

“There’s nothing fun to do in Sumeru anyway. The scenery is nice, but they ban all private entertainment activities.”

“Then forget it. I’d rather go drink in Mondstadt. That place actually knows how to have a good time.”

While the crowd gossiped, a woman stood quietly beside a roadside tea stall. She had sharp bangs, striking blue hair, and wore a heavy white coat draped over her shoulders. Her sharp eyes tracked Hu Tao’s progress down the street.

‘Where did little Hu Tao get such large vegetables?’she thought, her mind racing through a dozen different intelligence reports.’According to my network, there are no crops of this size anywhere in Teyvat.’A faint, intrigued smile touched her lips.’This is interesting. I suppose I’ll just go ask her directly.’

The woman was Yelan, the enigmatic owner of the Yanshang Teahouse and the absolute head of Liyue’s underground intelligence network. She was a woman of immense power and influence, working closely with the Qixing, particularly Tianquan Ningguang and Yuheng Keqing.

Stepping out from the shadows of the tea stall, Yelan walked gracefully toward the funeral director.

“Little Hu Tao.”

Hearing her name, Hu Tao paused her green-onion-twirling and spun around. Her face instantly lit up.

“Oh! It’s Sister Yelan! I haven’t seen you in forever!”