Chapter 157: A Way to Resolve the Current Situation, and Venti (9000-word Grand Chapter)

Luo De did not rush to first look for Venti's whereabouts.

He left the Knights of Favonius.

He first went to find a place to live, to serve as his base during this time in Mondstadt.

This was a detached two-story building.

Not far from the Knights of Favonius, at a normal walking pace, it was just a few minutes away.

With the Knights of Favonius badge Lisa gave him when parting, Luo De successfully negotiated a discount with the landlord, and the original deposit of one month and payment of three months was relaxed to only needing to pay one month's rent upfront.

Standing on the balcony of the second floor, facing north he could see the gate of the Knights of Favonius, and facing east was that famous Goth Grand Hotel.

After obtaining the Snow Owl Ceremony, Luo De's eyesight became much stronger than before.

Even from a distance of two streets away, he could easily see clearly the Fatui guards stationed in front of the Goth Grand Hotel.

That place is now the Fatui's main base stationed in Mondstadt.

As for why they did not go to the embassy specially prepared for them in Mondstadt, but instead insisted on coming to such a conspicuous grand hotel, this is unknown.

Luo De only knows that this group, under the leadership of the Eighth Executor Lady, is conducting political pressure on Mondstadt, wanting to forcibly intervene in the Stormterror incident, thereby taking this opportunity to obtain Mondstadt's defense information.

Earlier Lisa said that Jean was busy with official duties, so if he wanted to meet her, he could only wait until she rested.

This was not her brushing off Luo De.

She was truly busy to the point of being nearly overwhelmed.

What should have been Mondstadt's mainstay, the Knights of Favonius Grand Master Varka, half a year ago led eighty percent of the Knights of Favonius' elite to the northern border of the Teyvat continent for an expedition, and now is precisely when Mondstadt's defensive forces are at their weakest.

As the acting Grand Master appointed by Varka, Jean's work in Mondstadt initially went smoothly, able to maintain the steady progress of all affairs.

But the arrival of the Stormterror shattered this tranquility.

In Lisa's words.

The external disaster brought by the Stormterror is already a major trouble, and then under the Stormterror's attack, the monsters in Mondstadt's wilderness have also become increasingly ferocious, forcing the Knights of Favonius to divert personnel to maintain safety outside the city, which has made the already strained Knights of Favonius even more short-staffed.

Even worse.

The Fatui, who are already extremely strong in diplomacy toward Mondstadt, are also taking this opportunity to constantly pressure Jean, to the point that even a minor diplomat dares to speak rudely to her, this acting Grand Master.

These things piled up together.

She has to be busy with all kinds of things all day, even meal times are hard-squeezed out.

"Quite troublesome."

After scanning around and not seeing Venti's figure despite the height advantage, Luo De returned indoors, took out paper and pen, and began to write.

As usual.

He still used the script from his previous life, so even if someone saw what he wrote, they could not figure out what he was actually writing.

And what Luo De wrote was very simple.

Stormterror, Wind God, Fatui, Abyss Order.

His timing for coming to Mondstadt was good.

It was the best time point in the plan.

The Traveler had not yet arrived, Venti was already in the city, he could use this opportunity to quickly connect with the Knights of Favonius and find a chance to trade for the Gnosis with Venti.

As for the problems Mondstadt currently faces.

One is the overt Fatui, whose pressure grows day by day, and moreover, the rumors about Stormterror within Mondstadt city, Luo De suspects there is a high possibility they were deliberately spread by them, wanting to use public panic to force the Knights of Favonius, even though they know Stormterror is just the East Wind Dragon Specialwalin, to also be unable to show kindness toward it, to appease its anger.

This is almost an unsolvable problem.

Public opinion is the most terrifying thing.

Especially the Mondstadt people's character, once they set their minds on something, they will not easily change it.

"If Varka were here it would still be manageable, Jean now does not have his prestige."

Muttering softly, Luo De circled the three characters "Fatui" and marked them with a highlight.

The Abyss Order lurking in the dark is similarly a major trouble.

Precisely because they have been incessantly corrupting and brainwashing Specialwalin, this has made Specialwalin increasingly frenzied, his hatred for Mondstadt gradually overwhelming the former East Wind Dragon's duty and belief, and along with it, his hatred for the Wind God is also growing stronger.

After spending some time.

He roughly sorted out Mondstadt's internal and external troubles and what he could do.

Luo De put away his notebook, walked out the door, and began walking around Mondstadt city.

His goal was very simple.

Just to find Venti, who does not know where he is busking.

Mondstadt's current situation slightly differs from the plan.

But it is still within acceptable limits.

Therefore Luo De's preparation is to first make contact with this Wind God, then think of ways to gain Venti's favor, so as to "borrow" the Gnosis.

As for whether he will encounter the Traveler coming to Mondstadt during this period.

That does not matter.

Worst case, everyone just works together.

Luo De's goal from beginning to end has always been Venti's Gnosis; as long as other things do not delay him from obtaining the Gnosis, there is no problem.

"It is not necessarily required to personally involve himself in the matter of purifying Stormterror."

This is a sentence in Luo De's plan.

That Traveler is certain to come to Mondstadt, and the two of them both have physiques that can ignore Abyssal poison blood and even purify poison blood.

This also leads to Venti actually having two choices.

He does not necessarily have to put all his trump cards for resolving Specialwalin on Luo De or the Traveler alone.

In other words.

There are many ways to deal with the Stormterror, and Luo De is not the only solution.

So Luo De prepared to rely on his knowledge of many things, planning multiple aspects of action in advance, so that Venti would have no choice but to owe him a favor.

However.

No matter what needs to be done.

The first thing is to find this god of the human world.

The information about Venti given by Lisa in the library is really too vague.

What is known now is that this guy, due to being allergic to cats, basically never goes to the Cat's Tail Tavern, but he could appear anywhere else at any time, which makes finding him much harder.

This brings considerable trouble to finding him.

Compared to Liyue Harbor.

The area of Mondstadt is considerably smaller.

Even compared to Jingfu Port, it is smaller by a circle.

The terrain of the Lakeheart Island prevents Mondstadt from expanding outward, so it can only compress its dense population within the current city limits.

The Stormterror has not yet begun attacking the city.

This is the information leaked by Lisa and Luo De during their chat.

Perhaps because he has not been completely brainwashed and can still barely remember his past affection for Mondstadt, the Stormterror's attack range is currently limited to the wilderness.

The greatest trouble caused to Mondstadt is that when the storm strikes, it will sweep up the surrounding lake water, bringing the disaster of the dragon sucking water, and will also force Mondstadt to endure a torrential downpour covering the entire city.

This is also why no one is seen setting up stalls inside the city.

No one knows when the Stormterror will attack; if one's stall is ruined by the sudden downpour, the loss would be great, so it's better not to set up stalls at all.

As for the gloomy and miserable wounded Luo De saw upon entering the city.

That was merely him happening upon the city's relief shelter, where those housed are people rescued by the Knights of Favonius from other towns who have lost their homes due to disaster.

Relatively speaking.

The overall atmosphere within Mondstadt is still quite optimistic.

The people have full confidence in the Knights of Favonius; even though the Grand Master is absent, they believe the acting Grand Master can lead people to resolve this dragon disaster.

"Where on earth did this guy run off to?"

After spending nearly an afternoon, Luo De had traversed every place in Mondstadt except the Knights of Favonius and the Church of Favonius, big and small, with special focus on lingering long at each tavern.

Yet he still had not seen Venti's shadow.

Asking passersby.

Most of the answers were that they indeed knew there was such a bard.

But they also did not know exactly where Venti was.

Venti's busking location is random, not fixed in any one place; sometimes he earns enough money, so not seeing him for several days in a row is normal.

Thus, a passerby gave Luo De a suggestion.

That is, to go to Angel's Share at midnight to look for him, as that popular bard especially likes to go to that tavern, and sometimes when he can't pay for drinks, he will improvise a few songs there in exchange for alcohol.

Gazing at the gradually setting sun.

Luo De, who really couldn't find anyone, shook his head, changed direction, and headed toward the Knights of Favonius.

Lisa said that at night, Jean would have time, so since they couldn't find Venti anyway, it's better to first go and chat with Jean.

Upon reaching the gate of the Knights of Favonius, Luo De met Lisa.

Compared to the first time they met.

Lisa was more enthusiastic, opening her mouth to invite Luo De.

"Ah, Luo De, little junior brother, you've come."

"It just so happens that Lisa, elder sister, hasn't eaten dinner yet; want to go together?"

Hearing Lisa's sudden change in self-reference.

Luo De twitched the corner of his mouth: "Senior sister, hasn't the Grand Master Jean rested yet?"

"Oh dear~~"

"As soon as we meet, you're looking for Jean, which will make Lisa, elder sister, very disappointed~"

After lightly teasing Luo De with two remarks, Lisa then said: "Jean won't rest until after nine, so let's first go eat dinner and come back to wait for her—it's not too late~~"

"Oh, alright."

Luo De no longer asked this time, nodded and agreed.

Just like that.

The two walked together all the way to the famous Hunter's Lodge in Mondstadt.

Luo De ordered a medium-rare venison steak, the house specialty, a satisfying salad, and a meat sauce pasta, while Lisa only ordered a radish vegetable soup.

The two ate while chatting.

Lisa asked many questions about the recent situations of Cyno and Alhaitham.

It could be seen.

Although she had already withdrawn from the academy, she still cared deeply for her teacher and her junior brother.

After that.

Lisa mainly asked about Luo De's initial rescue of Nadixa.

For this matter, she was equally enthusiastic.

She not only asked for many details, but also casually praised Luo De with many words—this entirely non-repetitive praise made Luo De's cheeks feel somewhat hot.

The dinner ended.

The sky also became completely dark.

When I returned to the Knights of Favonius Library again, a golden-haired woman in knight's attire was sitting at the desk here at some point.

Unlike Lisa, who still had free time to go out for dinner and drink tea for an hour.

Even after finishing a day's work, Jean was still busy at her desk, with a cup of cold coffee on her left and a half-eaten fisherman's toast on her right.

She didn't know what she was recording there, and even when she heard Lisa and Luo De come in, she didn't look up, earnestly scribbling away.

Luo De glanced at the time.

9:10.

He and Lisa had spent nearly three hours on this meal. Luo De rubbed his temples.

This really isn't his fault.

With his eating speed, that food would be done in no more than ten minutes.

But Lisa just wouldn't leave.

Just that vegetable soup, she sipped it sip by sip for half an hour, and then the after-meal dessert plus tea delayed her another hour or so. When returning to the Knights of Favonius, she didn't go straight, turning east and west, dawdling all the way until now.

This gave Luo De, who was accompanying her, quite a headache.

But Lisa is his official senior apprentice, and also the intermediary who connected him with the higher-ups of the Knights of Favonius, so no matter what, he still had to accompany her.

After a long while.

The busy Jean finally put down her pen and had time to finish the remaining half of the fisherman's toast.

"Huh, Lisa, when did you come back?"

Jean only then noticed that there were more people in the library.

After asking Lisa.

She then turned to Luo De and said: "Who is this?"

"This one."

"He is my little junior apprentice, uh, the beloved disciple of the Dendro Archon, Lord Buer."

Lisa introduced Luo De with a smiling, narrowed-eye expression.

This sudden identity introduction.

Hearing it, Luo De hastily said: "Hey, senior apprentice, this can't be nonsense!"

Actually, what Lisa said wasn't wrong.

He indeed should call Nadixa "teacher."

But being the disciple of a god is not something just anyone can bear.

Especially since Nadixa's divine power is weak.

Aside from the title of the God of Wisdom, it's hard to bring oneself any protection.

Therefore, once this title spreads, I might not gain any benefit from it, but instead might run into endless troubles.

Luo De refused Nadixa's kind intention to bestow a title upon him precisely because of this.

Now Lisa suddenly shoved this troublesome name onto him, truly making Luo De both startled and anxious, wanting to quickly shake off this title.

"Pfft—"

"Hehe—"

Seeing Luo De's slightly flustered look, Lisa burst out laughing with a "pfft": "Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore, really, how are you like the little junior apprentice Sayu—you stammer and stutter when teased, can't even speak clearly."

The speaker means no harm, but the listener takes it to heart.

Upon hearing Lisa say that "beloved disciple of the Dendro Archon," Jean couldn't help but glance sideways, gave Luo De a good look, then picked up the note on the table and said: "Mr. Luo De, are you the special envoy sent by the Dendro Archon that Lisa mentioned?"

"Yes, that's right~"

Lisa crossed her arms, smiling: "My little junior apprentice here is quite capable; he helped the Dendro Archon out of trouble a lot, and even that Great Sage who covered the sky with one hand was toppled by him~~~"

"Uh"

These are all true statements. Luo De didn't deny it like before when he had the title of Dendro Archon's disciple, but instead greeted Jean: "Hello, Captain Jean, I am Luo De."

"Hello, Mr. Luo De."

Knowing Luo De came to help Mondstadt, Jean's just-fatigued face instantly improved considerably.

She reached out to invite Luo De to sit down.

After the three were seated, she didn't waste words and directly told Luo De the current state of Mondstadt.

However, what she said was roughly the same as what Lisa said during the day.

The information they both had was basically consistent.

Luo De listened attentively, then began to speak about what he knew.

"On the way to Mondstadt City, I encountered that Stormterror once."

Upon hearing that.

Lisa was fine, but Jean's face changed slightly, and she urgently asked: "Which direction did it fly toward?"

Luo De pointed in a direction.

That was the northwest of Mondstadt City, where there is an ancient ruin.

Hmm.

That place used to be an ancient relic.

But now it has become ruins. And the reason it became like this.

Is because a certain witch, when passing through there, felt that the relic built by the ancient Archon was preserved too perfectly, with no sign of antiquity, so she placed several bombs and blew up several corridors, turning that relic into the current ruin state.

There is a complete map of Mondstadt in the library.

Jean stood up, measured according to the direction Luo De pointed, and roughly confirmed the possible destination of Stormterror.

"Could Stormterror be hiding there?"

This rare good news made Jean ponder.

The Stormterror does not attack Mondstadt constantly.

It is also a living being, and it also gets tired.

Under normal circumstances.

It usually comes to attack Mondstadt only once every two or three days.

Previously, taking advantage of its rest.

Jean had sent people to follow its trail of destruction to track down its lair, but since the devastation left by the Stormterror wherever it passed was too severe, it was fundamentally difficult to track smoothly, so even now the Knights of Favonius have not confirmed where its lair actually is.

Now with Luo De as this witness.

Jean immediately recorded this matter and expressed her thanks: "Thank you very much, Mr. Luo De, for providing this valuable information."

"It's nothing."

Luo De waved his hand and continued the previous topic: "I inquired of the Dendro Archon, and this dragon's true identity is your Mondstadt's East Wind Guardian, Dvalin, and the reason it went berserk is because it accidentally swallowed abyssal poison blood during its battle five hundred years ago with the evil dragon Durin, and tormented by the poison blood, its mind gradually deteriorated, forcing it to rely on sleep to forcibly resist the poison blood's erosion, and after it was startled awake, it then faced several battles with the Knights of Favonius, which made it feel the anger of betrayal, and under the dual erosion of the poison blood and the Abyss mages, it gradually evolved into its current state."

Luo De finished speaking.

Jean and Lisa exchanged glances involuntarily.

The Stormterror's true identity being Dvalin, the East Wind Dragon, is actually known to the Knights of Favonius.

Dvalin's current feelings toward Mondstadt have changed from desperate protection to anger and hatred, and they are also well aware of this.

But they do not know.

The root cause of all this is actually a mouthful of poison blood that Dvalin swallowed when subduing the magic dragon Durin hundreds of years ago.

Also, that Dvalin was startled awake and is now being bewitched by the Abyss mages—these important pieces of information they actually all learned from Luo De, an outsider.

Although the Dendro Archon can explain it, it is indeed somewhat too far-fetched.

"Could you please elaborate further?"

Jean's expression became much more serious than before, and the pen and paper in her hand quickly moved, recording everything Luo De had said.

Jean did not suspect Luo De of talking nonsense there.

After all, Luo De came in the name of the Dendro Archon.

For Mondstadt, which has no gods, a deity's assistance—even if this deity does not personally intervene—is far superior to any other help.

Moreover, not only Jean.

Lisa also restrained her previous playful expression, sat upright, and listened attentively.

This time.

Luo De spoke in even greater detail.

He explained Dvalin's situation, including the Abyss Order's designs on Mondstadt City, all in one go.

The more he spoke, the heavier Jean's heart sank.

Wanting to restore Dvalin to normal.

There is only one way.

That is to cleanse the two spots of abyssal poison blood on its body.

For the Knights of Favonius without their Grand Master, wanting to subdue this former East Wind Dragon and then cleanse its poison blood is truly too difficult.

If not driven to desperation, Jean does not want to go to war with Dvalin.

She worries not only that doing so might inflict heavy losses on the already strained Knights of Favonius, but also that if the poison blood is not cleansed, making Dvalin even more frenzied, then there would be absolutely no room for maneuver.

As Jean was pondering a solution.

Lisa beside her had reverted to her lazy demeanor, smiling: "Little Junior Brother, you're so confident—you must already have a solution, right?"

Upon hearing her say that.

Jean immediately lifted her head to look at Luo De.

Indeed.

Luo De had not been worried about Dvalin's issue like her; instead, he wore a confident smile.

Before she could ask.

Luo De nodded and replied: "Someone will come to resolve this issue."

"?"

This ambiguous remark made Jean slightly frown.

Lisa, meanwhile, said thoughtfully: "You asked me earlier about that, the blond traveler?"

Blond traveler? Jean turned her head to look at Lisa, her eyes showing confusion.

She had not heard Lisa mention this to her before.

So Luo De proceeded to describe the traveler's general characteristics to her; travelers in this world could be male or female, and he still did not know, so he did not specify gender, only mentioning the blond hair and the fact that they carry a speaking flying object.

"This traveler can cleanse the poison blood on Dvalin's back without injury; you only need to figure out how to send her to Dvalin, then restrain Dvalin's movements, giving her enough time to purify the poison blood."

Luo De's firm attitude did not make Jean fully believe him.

On the contrary.

She still harbored some doubts.

From Luo De's words, he and that traveler are not acquainted, so what gives him the confidence to assert that the traveler can definitely cleanse Dvalin's poison blood?

Regarding all this.

Luo De still attributed it to the omniscience and omnipotence of the Dendro Archon.

"The Dendro Archon is the all-knowing, all-powerful God of Wisdom; what she approves will not go wrong, so you can rest assured."

Afterwards.

Luo De shifted the topic, turning to two other matters.

"Forget about the matter with Tewalin."

"What you need to worry about most now are these two groups: the Fatui and the Abyss Order."

"I've heard some rumors circulating in the city."

"It's obvious that someone deliberately spread them, with the goal of stirring up conflict between the people of Mondstadt and the East Wind Dragon, so that your Knights of Favonius can't get Tewalin to stop attacking Mondstadt by spreading goodwill."

"Who benefits from this?"

"The Fatui, and the Abyss Order."

"But the Abyss Order doesn't need to do this, because they only need to keep using Abyss power to corrupt Tewalin, and eventually Tewalin will naturally go mad and lose control, until he becomes a weapon of the Abyss."

"So I'm ninety percent sure these rumors are being spread by the Fatui."

Luo De analyzed Mondstadt's situation in an orderly manner.

And he quickly came up with a countermeasure.

"To counter this kind of rumor."

"Explaining to the Mondstadt populace that the Stormterror is actually the East Wind Dragon cursed into this state is useless; they now firmly believe the Stormterror is just a rampaging monster, and if the Knights of Favonius don't go to subdue it, then you're incompetent, useless, and cowardly trash, and you'll be condemned by the Mondstadt populace until you're forced to fight the Stormterror."

"And to turn around this disadvantage in public opinion."

"You'd better fight fire with fire."

"Fight fire with fire?" This phrase, never heard before, made Jean and Lisa briefly dazed.

But being clever as they are, they quickly caught on and asked: "You mean, we should also spread the Fatui's rumors, preferably causing them to lose the energy to target us?"

"Exactly."

Luo De nodded and advised: "The Fatui's hands aren't clean; over the years they've done plenty of nasty things, so you can completely use these incidents as topics, and if done well, the Fatui won't just be unable to use rumors against you, they might not even be able to stay peacefully in Mondstadt City anymore."

"For example."

"The Fatui once plotted an attack on the master of Dawn Winery, Kreideprinz, and Diluc, resulting in the master's death."

"Another example."

"The Investigation Director of the Knights of Favonius, Eroch, accepted bribes from the Fatui, deliberately provoked Diluc with words, and ultimately caused the Knights of Favonius to lose this talented cavalry captain."

"Oh, you can also spread this news."

"The Fatui's recruitment in Mondstadt is actually about taking people to Snezhnaya for human experiments, becoming test subjects for their biological weapons development."

From Luo De mentioning Kreideprinz's death in the attack, Jean stopped writing, her gaze toward Luo De filled with astonishment.

Lisa fared relatively better.

Yet she also wore a stern expression, her fingers unconsciously tapping the chair armrest, clearly thinking about something.

The several things Luo De mentioned are not baseless slander.

All of them are true events that actually happened.

Four years ago.

Mondstadt's wealthiest man, the master of Dawn Winery, Kreideprinz Ragnvindr, was celebrating his son Diluc Ragnvindr's coming-of-age ceremony when, on his way home, he encountered a dragon attack and ultimately died fighting it.

Afterwards.

His son, the youngest captain-level expert in Knights of Favonius history, Diluc Ragnvindr, had a huge argument with Investigation Director Eroch, then angrily quit the Knights of Favonius, even discarding his Vision.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time.

Everyone was guessing who the culprit was.

Until the Grand Master ordered a thorough investigation of this matter and began to punish Eroch, the one who stole Kreideprinz's achievements and caused Diluc to quit the Knights of Favonius, returning the honor of repelling the dragon to Kreideprinz, did the truth finally come to light.

The person responsible for investigating this matter was Jean.

But from beginning to end.

She found no connection between these two matters and the Fatui.

Even saying.

Since the person who killed the dragon to avenge Kreideprinz back then was the Fatui's Second Seat Executor, the Doctor, Mondstadt still owes them a great debt of gratitude and had to permit the Fatui's recruitment in Mondstadt.

Now, after Luo De said this.

Jean suddenly realized.

If we pin all these things on the Fatui, it actually seems to make sense.

The Doctor released the dragon to attack and kill Kreideprinz, Eroch took bribes and deliberately provoked Diluc, causing the Knights of Favonius to lose Kreideprinz and then Diluc, afterward the Doctor killed the dragon, gained Mondstadt's gratitude, and used this to collect test subjects for the Fatui's human experiments.

It all connects!

"You, you how did you know all this?"

Jean could no longer sit still, urgently asking.

This is of great importance.

If it's truly confirmed that the past events were all the Fatui's doing, then with the Grand Master's personality, this certainly won't be let go easily.

However, Luo De flatly denied the truth of these matters.

Just see him spread his hands and say: "I already said, spreading rumors, rumors, who knows what's true or false, I thought it over, you Mondstadt just have these few big suspicious matters, and they're also related to the Fatui, so using them as material is quite fitting."

That's what he said.

But Luo De is very clear, aside from whether Eroch actually took Fatui bribes being uncertain, the rest are solid facts, and the Fatui people wanting to wash themselves clean won't find it easy.

This tactic is very effective.

But Jean, after thinking it over, still has some concerns.

"If we spread this rumor, Senior Diluc's side"

Based on my understanding of this senior, knowing this, he'll probably grab his sword and directly go to the Fatui people to ask for clarification.

If mishandled, this might well cause a diplomatic conflict.

But her concerns just made Luo De laugh hahaha: "That's exactly the effect we want."

"Ah—?"

Jean was stunned for a moment.

"Oh~ I see."

"What a clever move—using someone else's knife to kill."

Lisa beside her laughed along, looking at Luo De with appreciation: "Not a bad idea—worth a try."

"Lisa, how can you say that too!"

Lisa's attitude drew some dissatisfaction from Jean.

As for Jean.

The peace of Mondstadt is more important than anything.

Sending Diluc to clash with the Fatui—this is no good thing.

"Oh dear—"

"Jean, you're just worrying too much, which is why the Fatui have been able to bully you like this."

Lisa explained the matter to Luo De: "Diluc is no longer a member of the Knights of Favonius now, and since it involves his father's death, even if he clashes with the Fatui, it can be done in his personal name, making it hard to escalate to a diplomatic level. Then, if the Fatui raise objections, you can simply smooth things over from the middle, or outright side with Diluc, saying the Knights of Favonius also have doubts about this matter and hope the Fatui will cooperate with the investigation. That way, facing public pressure, the Fatui, even if unwilling, will have to cooperate and let Diluc investigate this old case. This way, with their hands tied by Diluc, they won't have time to come after us."

Having said that.

She didn't forget to add: "If the truth really is what you, little junior brother, said, then the Fatui must pay for the blood debt of the past. If the truth isn't what you said, while the Fatui and Diluc are occupied with each other, we can quickly go find the location of Stormterror and see if we can use the Traveler's power to cleanse the poisonous blood on its back—this is a rare good opportunity, truly a case of killing two birds with one stone."

This explanation made Jean reluctantly accept it.

Although she didn't want to drag Diluc into this turmoil, she truly couldn't think of a good way to deal with the Fatui's growing diplomatic pressure.

These troubles made it hard for her to focus all her energy on Stormterror.

"Then let's do it this way."

"Mr. Luo De, please draft a specific proposal later—I'll go find someone to handle this."

After making the decision, Jean asked again: "Mr. Luo De, you just mentioned the Abyss Order secretly bewitching the East Wind Dragon—do you have any leads on that?"

"Well."

"When I came, I wiped out a group of Abyss Order members trying to transport dangerous goods into Mondstadt. They confessed there are still Abyss Order members hiding in the city—you should start from there."

Mr. Luo De was not speaking nonsense about this either.

Although that group on the ship said nothing, he today in Mondstadt City, while searching for Venti, had smelled the presence of the Abyss Order when passing by several houses.

Relying on memory.

He marked several points on the map.

"They confessed these are the locations—you see what time to send people to check."

Upon hearing there were Abyss Order members hiding in the city, Jean, forgetting her fatigue from a busy day, sprang up and said: "Mr. Luo De, thank you for the information—I'll take people to investigate these places right away."

Having said that.

She immediately left without stopping, walking away quickly.

"Little junior brother, you really know how to find work for Jean."

Lisa, leaning on her cheek as if nothing mattered, looked toward where Jean had just left, saying with a hint of resentment: "She's clearly been busy all day."

"Uh"

Luo De was momentarily at a loss for words.

He really wanted to say, actually these things could wait until tomorrow—rushing to do them is Jean's own doing, and has nothing to do with him.

"Forget it, forget it—Jean is just like this; nothing can stop her busy heart."

"When the Stormterror matter is settled, just treat her to a meal as compensation."

Lisa, who had quietly arranged a meal for Luo De, issued the dismissal: "Alright, Lisa Sister also needs to rest—leave the overtime to Jean, huh? Little junior brother, why aren't you leaving yet? Are you planning to stay and keep Lisa Sister company while she rests?"

"Lisa Senior Sister, farewell."

Luo De said bluntly and left like a gust of wind, behind him only Lisa's light laughter.

After discussing Stormterror and how to deal with the Fatui with Jean, the time had already approached midnight.

However, walking the streets, Luo De did not return to his rented lodgings, but headed straight for Mondstadt's most popular tavern, Angel's Share.

This time.

He didn't come up empty-handed again.

Before he even pushed the door open, he saw a green figure drinking heartily inside.

Just as the passerby who gave directions had said.

The Wind God Barbatos truly does appear precisely at midnight here—never disappointing.

(End of chapter)