In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

This amount of abyssal power has no effect on him. Compared to the burden he felt when using the Demon God Armor, he could now grab some black snow and make a snowball without any problem.

The ladies are much more extravagant.

She used her elemental power to isolate the surrounding black snowflakes from her body. She also dismantled her Lumenite miner's lamp, casually carved the Lumenite, which was treasured by the people of Liyue, and made it into a simple little accessory that she wore.

This behavior consumes elemental energy and wastes resources.

This naturally aroused dissatisfaction among some scholars.

They dared not say to her face that she was also an executive officer of the Fools, but behind her back they talked a lot about her behavior, which was contrary to the professionalism of a scholar.

As the only person in the team who was truly unaffected.

After everyone had arrived.

Rhodes volunteered to be the vanguard, carrying a lumenite miner's lamp to the very front of the cave to clear the way.

His idea is simple.

It means to devour the abyssal power ahead of everyone else.

It would be better if D'Artagnan didn't follow him around like this every step of the way.

Of course.

Rod wasn't annoyed that he was following him so closely.

He had a fairly good impression of D'Artagnan, at least for now.

However, a good impression doesn't mean that Rhodes can tolerate him relentlessly asking him the same question.

Are you really not going to join us?

Compared to the woman Rhodes rejected, who immediately gave up on recruiting, D'Artagnan seemed more straightforward and had a thicker skin.

No matter how many times Rhodes explicitly refused, after a short while, he would still come up and ask the same questions again.

Frustrated, Rhodes simply ignored him and focused on searching for the abyssal power that had dissipated in the mine.

As it goes deeper.

The abyssal power in the underground mining area becomes increasingly intense.

However, this concentration is different from the concentration in the air at the mine entrance.

When Rhodes reached the area marked on the map as the temporary main mine tunnel, there was no longer any trace of abyssal power in the air.

Instead.

It was black silt that spread across the rock walls and roads.

Looking around, one can see many demons with black mist rising from their bodies dwelling in the black mud, seemingly using it as their lair.

"How about we have a competition to see who can clear out the monsters faster?"

Upon seeing these monsters, Tartaglia, whose mind was filled with nothing but the Queen's orders and the martial arts contest, immediately adopted a posture of eager anticipation.

"Just wait a moment."

"I need to conduct an experiment first."

Rhodes frowned, placed the lumen lamp he was holding on the spot, and warned D'Artagnan, "Whatever you do, don't bother me while I'm doing my test, or we'll be friends."

Say it.

He then approached the black mud alone, ignoring D'Artagnan's disapproving gaze.

Under the influence of the power of the abyss.

These monsters, who were relatively peaceful in the outside world, suddenly became enraged and rushed towards Rhode, wanting to tear him to pieces in this underground space.

Faced with the surging tide of monsters heading towards him, Rhode did not intend to annihilate them. Instead, he quickly grabbed the monster with the densest black mist on its body, then vanished from the monsters' sight with a swift movement.

When leaving.

He didn't forget to remind D'Artagnan.

"gone."

"Come back later."

Once both of them were out of his sight.

The monsters, having lost their target, chased after it for a while longer before returning to their black mud lairs.

What kind of experiment are you going to conduct?

Back in the quiet mine tunnel, D'Artagnan looked curiously at the slime in Rhodes' hand.

This is a Rock-type slime.

It is one of the most common monsters in the mining area.

Under normal circumstances.

Rock slimes are not very aggressive. They spend most of their time sleeping underground and only attack when they feel threatened.

However, the rock slime that Rhodes captured was...

Its aggressive desire was so strong that even D'Artagnan couldn't help but gasp. Even when it was imprisoned, it desperately rammed into the cage, trying to attack D'Artagnan, who was closest to it.

However, D'Artaglia had seen many creatures like this, which had lost their rationality due to the influence of the abyss's power, so he didn't show any surprise. Instead, he looked at Rhodes with great interest, wanting to see what kind of experiment he was going to do with this thing.

A berserk monster influenced by the power of the abyss.

This thing has always been the most frequently appearing experimental item in the Winter Lab.

The weapons and potions specifically designed to counter the power of the abyss, developed using these experimental subjects, have always been standard equipment for the Winter Army, which spends years fighting in the abyss.

Before becoming an executive officer, D'Artagnan had spent a long time in the forces of the Abyss.

They are naturally very familiar with these things.

So he became even more curious.

I'm curious to see what Rhodes, a scholar who isn't particularly outstanding in the official Winter Solstice evaluation, could possibly learn from this rock slime.

However, what happened next almost made him pop his eyes out.

Rhodes, who was saying he was going to do research, actually kneaded the frenzied rock slime into the size of a small dumpling and swallowed it whole.

".?"

"You call this research?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 222 I am Ye Lan

"Sure enough, it has an earthy taste when eaten raw."

"Adding some spicy seasoning should make it taste better."

Listening to Rhodes' reply.

D'Artagnan felt like she was about to lose it: "Is this what I asked you? What are you researching? How to make slime taste good?"

"Ah."

"That's exactly what I want to research."

Rhodes's confident answer left D'Artagnan completely speechless.

He genuinely believed that Rhodes intended to use the slime he had to research a way to resist the power of the abyss in this underground mining area.

But he never expected it.

Rhodes's so-called research was actually about how to eat slimes.

No, that's not right.

The problem isn't the slime.

The key question is, can slime be eaten?

"What's that look in your eyes?"

"Who told you that slimes can't be eaten?"

"I know a chef who specializes in cooking with slime. Once we leave the Rocky Abyss, I'll invite you to his place to try his slime meal."

Having said this.

Rhodes ignored the dumbfounded Tartaglia and instead savored the benefits the slime had brought him.

Just as he thought.

Swallowing these monsters corrupted by the power of the abyss whole would indeed be a way to avoid waste.

pity.

Not all monsters are like slimes, which can be made into something like compressed biscuits and eaten as a snack.

Fortunately.

Rhodes doesn't need to devour all the abyssal power in this mine.

Moreover, he didn't have the appetite to devour all of this abyssal power; selectively consuming it like this was sufficient.

The experiment is complete.

Rhodes stood up contentedly and said to D'Artagnan, "Want to have another match?"

"How to compete?"

"Who kills the most monsters?"

At the mention of the contest, D'Artagnan immediately snapped out of his shock and became excited again.

A contest to kill monsters.

It looks simple.

But in addition to the contest of strength, it also tests each person's skills.

When D'Artagnan was learning martial arts from his master.