Chapter 173: The Abyss Cult Aiming Straight at Sumeru

"No way!"

Luo De had no preparation whatsoever for this sudden Vision.

Although this wasn't the first time Luo De had been ambushed by a Vision in an underhanded way.

But this time there were absolutely no signs beforehand.

Recalling how Luo De previously obtained a Vision, the ice Vision arose from a survival instinct at death's door, the fire Vision came from Luo De recounting his past life's beliefs, and the Dendro Vision came from debating with Nadixa what true wisdom is.

It can be said that before obtaining a Vision, Luo De was always doing things that could possibly lead to obtaining a Vision.

Visions are related to human wishes.

This is widely acknowledged.

However, whether one can obtain a Vision depends on whether that wish receives acknowledgment from Sky Island.

Some people spend their whole lives and still cannot obtain a Vision.

For some, a mere thought is enough and a Vision appears in their hand automatically.

No one can figure out exactly what pattern governs the appearance of Visions.

But one point is beyond doubt.

That is, to obtain a Vision, one must definitely have some particularly strong thought.

Luo De asked himself.

Before obtaining this wind-element Vision, the only thing Luo De did was touch the Gnosis, drawing out a strand of power belonging to the seven worldly overseers.

Then this Vision popped out spontaneously with no warning.

Luo De pondered left and right.

Luo De still couldn't figure out why.

At that time, Luo De's mind was clearly free of random thoughts.

Luo De simply wanted to test how the Wind God's Gnosis and Vision differed.

Luo De didn't even harbor the expectation of being able to draw power from the Gnosis.

After all, even someone like the Doctor.

When facing the Gnosis, one also needs to use special means to draw out its power.

So Luo De never even thought he could actually draw power from the Gnosis; he was just curious.

"Mr. Luo De, what just was that...?"

Amber rubbed their eyes hard.

Amber swore to the Wind God that they definitely did not have a hallucination just now.

Luo De's hand suddenly sprouted a Vision.

It was exactly the same wind-element Vision as Captain Qin's.

But in the blink of an eye,

that Vision disappeared.

Moreover, not only was the Vision gone, but the strange green-glowing odd thing on Luo De's hand also vanished without a trace.

"Just now?"

"Nothing at all, you're seeing things."

Luo De, who had hidden the Vision and Gnosis at top speed, lied with a straight face and steady heart.

Aside from Dixiya and Nadixa, only Venti knew that Luo De possessed several Visions; Luo De had told no one else.

Qin and Ying, who had fought side by side with Luo De, also merely regarded Luo De's ability to use multiple elemental energies as a gift from the Dendro Archon, never considering the possibility that Luo De actually possessed several Visions.

So Luo De also did not want to expose this.

Being able to use multiple elemental energies without a Vision is entirely different from having several Visions.

It's really too unconventional.

Luo De would not tell this to anyone they did not fully trust.

However, what troubled Luo De was

Amber, who had not given it much thought, simply wanted to clarify whether the thing that flashed in Luo De's hand just now was a Vision.

Moreover, it wasn't just about the Vision.

What was up with that sudden gust of wind?

Amber also wanted to know that.

To say something unpleasant,

If that wind hadn't just missed Amber, Amber wouldn't even know where they were right now!

As a result, Luo De tried to brush it off with "You're seeing things."

Amber could absolutely not tolerate that!

Thus Amber stubbornly pursued the question from night until day; had Luo De not promised Qin to safely escort Amber to Jingfu Port, Luo De might have felt like throwing Amber aside on the road and forgetting about Amber.

This state persisted until the two arrived at Jingfu Port.

After entering the city,

Luo De simply turned and walked away, giving Amber no further chance to ask about the Vision, making Amber stomp their feet in frustration behind Luo De.

After finally shaking off Amber, Luo De finally had a chance to admire the scenery of Mondstadt's largest harbor.

Compared to the gloomy atmosphere of Jingfu Port during the dragon disaster,

the current atmosphere of Jingfu Port is obviously much better.

After the news of the dragon disaster's relief spread,

the whole of Jingfu Port was filled with singing and dancing, everyone's faces beaming with joy.

Especially those merchants who had been stranded in the city for a long time even more so eagerly waited, crouching at the Knights of Favonius' garrison, awaiting the issuance of the order permitting them to leave the city.

The vendors were all smiling with joy.

Due to the dragon disaster's disturbance, many goods that originally needed to be sent from Mondstadt City were greatly affected, dealing them a blow no less severe than the damage suffered by Dawn Winery.

Now it's fine.

Once the Knights of Favonius outside the city have repaired the damaged trade routes, business can return to normal.

Weaving through the alleys of Jingfu Port.

Luo De's goal was clear: the ticket office at the port.

Having been here before, he was quite familiar, and after a short while found the place and bought a ticket back to Sumeru.

A professional passenger ship, no longer a mixed cargo-passenger vessel like Duoli's.

Ticket prices naturally had to be a bit higher.

Especially Luo De also bought an express ticket, allowing departure and boarding this afternoon.

After purchasing the ticket.

He simply ate a lunch.

Luo De then headed straight to the port, and after waiting a while, under the guidance of the port staff, found the ship he was to board.

He just didn't know if it was because he had recently been unlucky.

He had just found the ship, hadn't yet had time to board, when he suddenly noticed fighting going on aboard the ship that should have been empty.

This commotion was not small.

One could tell at a listen that it was two experts skilled in using elemental energy.

"Surely it's not that unlucky, right?"

Luo De stopped his steps, looked toward the source of the commotion, not knowing what expression he should put on now.

An unexpected situation occurred.

The ship's schedule would be delayed.

This is a rule universally applied at every port.

And depending on the severity of this unexpected situation, the delay time could possibly be extended further.

And when he saw the figure that had escaped from the ship was an Abyssal Apostle.

Luo De then knew.

The worst-case scenario still happened.

The people on the ship were very strong.

That heavily wounded Abyssal Apostle had just escaped when a sky-blue greatsword pierced through his chest, pinning him heavily to the ground, and he soon fell silent.

"Hey, Luo De, what are you doing here?"

Someone on the ship's rail was calling his name.

Luo De looked over.

Quite a coincidence, it was Yanfei again.

But after greeting him, she turned her head, waving a flame in her hand and disappearing from Luo De's sight.

It looks like she also participated in the operation to eradicate the Abyssal Order.

Luo De glanced at the corpse of the Abyssal Apostle.

The chest was a fatal wound.

Besides that, the corpse bore many flame scorch marks and unfrozen ice shards; the wounds inflicted by that greatsword were densely packed, with some even deep enough to disembowel.

A swordsman skilled in Ice Elemental Power, and he was together with Yanfei.

Needless to say, Luo De knew who had dealt the blow.

As the fighting sounds on the ship ceased.

One tall, one short, two figures appeared on the ship's rail.

One was Yanfei.

The other was Eula Lawrence, leader of the Knights of Favonius Scout Squad, who had previously crossed paths with Luo De.

At the same time.

The appearance of the Abyssal Order at the port.

Also caused a not-small disturbance.

However, the people at the port were not frightened.

but came to watch the excitement.

Most of those who came to gawk did not know what the Abyssal Order was.

But they knew that this strange-looking thing was definitely not a person, but a monster they had never seen before.

Perhaps it was out of absolute confidence in the Knights of Favonius.

Anyway, nobody was afraid.

Even some people dressed as adventurers squeezed through the crowd, pulling out knives to try to cut open the Abyssal Apostle's body for research.

【After the death of an Abyssal monster, its corpse may retain valuable materials.】

This is essential knowledge written on the Adventurer's Handbook.

Any registered adventurer knows this.

"Make way, make way, you can't touch this corpse!"

Eula, with one hand bracing the ship, leapt down lightly, and the first thing she did upon landing was to drive away those reckless adventurers.

Facing the greatsword returned to her hand and the fierce, murderous aura of the just-purged monster that had not yet fully dissipated.

No matter how bold those adventurers were, they still didn't dare to anger her, and each one left unwillingly, abandoning the corpse of the Abyssal Apostle.

Next.

Then came the Knights of Favonius who had heard the news to clean up the battlefield.

Not only the corpse of this Abyssal Apostle, but also the passenger ship Luo De was supposed to board must undergo a strict inspection.

He watched Youla giving orders there.

Luo De let out a deep sigh.

The Abyssal Order appeared at the dock, and they were publicly executed; this definitely means a full-port inspection will be carried out, which cannot be finished in just a few days.

"Hey, Luo De, long time no see."

"Or Yanfei."

She did not get off the ship together with Youla, but instead disembarked from the other side, then blended into the crowd and came to Luo De's side, letting Youla take all the credit for standing out.

I already said that before.

Because of her surname, Youla is not particularly well received in Mondstadt.

Although her life has improved a lot over the past few years, there are still people who, upon meeting her, insult her because of her surname.

Luo De also doesn't understand.

How exactly have the people of Mondstadt managed to hold a thousand-year grudge against a surname?

Although the saying goes, "A grudge spanning ten generations can still be avenged," it's not realistic for such a thing to actually happen.

Especially since the Lawrence family already received their due punishment when they fell from power a thousand years ago, how could the people of Mondstadt still hold such a grudge against them?

He understands even less.

Moreover, how has the Lawrence family managed to remain unchanged over a thousand years, always appearing detested by both people and dogs, continually deepening people's hatred of them?

Setting aside the issue of the Lawrence surname, Luo De turned around, chuckled, and said to Yanfei, "Just now, did you deliberately let that Abyssal Apostle show up?"

From the wounds on that Abyssal Apostle's corpse, he could easily tell that, given Youla's skill, she could have killed it without making such a big fuss.

But she slipped up, allowing the Abyssal Apostle to escape.

Then, in the blink of an eye, under everyone's watchful eyes, she swiftly and cleanly dispatched it with a single sword strike.

To say this was not intentional on Youla's part.

It's hard to believe that a knight of such superb martial prowess would make such an oversight in battle.

"Hehe."

Yanfei, whose plot had been exposed, embarrassedly stuck out her tongue and hehe-laughed, "It was my idea~~~"

"Hmm, I guessed as much."

Luo De nodded.

This is something very easy to guess.

Nothing more than wanting to expand Youla's achievements.

After all, publicly executing dangerous monsters in front of a crowd is an act that easily gains public approval.

This helps alleviate some of the Mondstadt residents' hostility toward Youla.

Speaking of this.

Luo De then casually asked, "You haven't finished dealing with the Abyssal Order at Jingfu Harbor, have you?"

"Oh dear, don't mention it."

Just moments ago, Yanfei was all smiles, but her face suddenly drooped; she pouted and said, "Those Abyssal Order members are all hard to find; Youla tracked them for a long time before finally catching this bunch."

"Or were they disguised as cargo?"

Luo De blinked, then corrected himself: "No, they actually disguised themselves as people this time?"

"Yeah."

As she spoke, Yanfei glanced at Luo De, gave him a strange look, and asked, "Do you know where these Abyssal Order members are headed next?"

Before Luo De could speak.

She directly said, "It's Meru!"

"!!"

Luo De raised his eyebrows: "Meru?"

"Yeah."

"Youla captured two live ones, and they themselves confessed that they were going to Meru to carry out some mission."

Yanfei had no sense that she was leaking secrets; she directly recounted in full how she and Youla had captured the Abyssal Order on the ship earlier.

Luo De grew increasingly grave as he listened.

If what Yanfei said is correct.

Then this batch of the Abyssal Order really is carrying a large amount of weapons and equipment, preparing to head to Meru.

Moreover, this is only part of it.

All of them are Abyssal Order members who, after the failure of Mondstadt's corruption of the Teyvat plan, received orders to retreat to Meru.

The main force is still continuing to gather in Meru.

"What do they intend to do?"

After hearing Yanfei's full account, Luo De's face was already sinking as if it could drown in water.

"These bastards."

"Having wreaked havoc in Mondstadt, are they now going to wreak havoc in Meru?"

Thus, with a hint of resentment on his face, Luo De immediately pushed through the crowd, found Youla after she had finished briefing her subordinates and was about to go look for Yanfei.

"It's you, the great hero who saved Mondstadt."

Seeing Luo De again, a smile appeared on Eula's face: "I still haven't thanked you; if you hadn't provided information about the Abyss Order last time, this capture wouldn't have gone so smoothly."

Looks like.

She had already received a message from the City of Mondstadt, knowing that Luo De participated in quelling the dragon disaster.

No matter how arrogant she acts in front of the Mondstadt people, she'll often say things like "I'll remember this grudge," but in front of Luo De, a pure outsider, Eula still shows great knightly bearing, and regarding the dragon disaster being quelled, one can tell she's genuinely happy from the heart.

Regarding Eula's expressed gratitude.

Luo De merely nodded in response, then said: "Miss Eula, I have a request that might be troublesome; I don't know if it's convenient."

"Oh, go ahead."

"Those Abyss Order members you captured today, would it be convenient for me to interrogate them?"

Looking at Eula's strange expression, Luo De narrowed his eyes and said: "My senior brother is the Grand Inquisitor of Sumeru; he taught me some effective methods for interrogating the Abyss Order. Rest assured, whatever information I obtain, I will share it with you immediately."

Eula had originally wanted to refuse.

However, considering the information Amber sent this morning, she hesitated a bit but still agreed: "Fine, but you need to watch your limits; don't interrogate these suspects to death, or I'll have trouble writing the report."

"Okay, I understand."

(End of chapter)