Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

When Faus returned to the Goethe Hotel, the first thing he did was head straight for the Fools' archives there.

The basement of the Grand Hotel De Boer had been converted into a small intelligence station, with rows of metal cabinets crammed with various files and folders.

Fanes asked the short soldier in charge of managing the data to help him pull up all the records related to "abnormal plants in Mondstadt". After searching for more than half an hour, he finally found an inconspicuous record in a stack of yellowed folders - In a certain month of a certain year, a patrolman found a fruit with a dark purple skin and black mist on its surface deep in the Whispering Forest. After collecting a specimen and sending it back to headquarters for identification, it was determined that the abnormal energy contained in it was highly consistent with the residual aura of the demon dragon Usa.

Below the record, a line was drawn in red pen, with a note in small print: "Suspected plant mutation caused by the leakage of power after Usa was sealed."

Fanes closed the folder, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh: "So that's how it is. That fruit was produced by the leakage of Usa's power."

Yakoda sat on a low stool next to him, her legs dangling in the air, twirling a quill pen she'd somehow produced in her hand: "Boss, what's Usa?"

"The dragon that used to be in Mondstadt was, I think, an angel before, who was sealed away by the Knights of Favonius. I don't remember the specific details very well, but it wasn't anything good."

Fanes stuffed the folder back into the cabinet, stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "Let's go outside the city tomorrow and see if we can find the location of Usa's seal."

Yakoda's starry eyes narrowed warily instantly: "Boss... let's forget about it. That Usa sounds pretty dangerous."

Fanes was already walking towards the door of the archives room. "What are you afraid of? We're just going to take a look. We're not going any closer. We'll just take a quick look and come right back."

Yakoda followed behind with a sigh, but kept up quickly, muttering to herself, "I'd be a fool to believe you..."

The next morning, Fanes set off with the coordinates he had copied from the archives.

The coordinates were recorded several years ago, but the approximate area was clearly marked—in the mountain hollow near the edge of the Wind Dragon Ruins in the northwest corner of Whispering Woods.

Fanes and Jakoda walked along the forest edge path for about an hour, and after passing through a dense thicket of bushes, they finally came to a wide-open valley ahead.

The location of the seal was indeed easy to find, as there was a building covering it.

Fañez stood behind a moss-covered rock and looked up. In the center of the valley stood a sizable building with gray-white paint on the exterior walls and dark tiles on the roof. Its overall style was so clean and neat that it was almost too orderly.

The building is surrounded by a low iron fence, and several crystal lamps hang in the porch, casting a faint light even during the day.

Most importantly, Phanes saw a symbol he knew all too well on the wall next to the porch—the emblem of the Fools.

Fanes stood behind the rock, looking at the building in silence for three seconds.

Then Fanes turned around, took Jakoda's hand, and started to walk back, his steps quick and light: "Let's go, let's go back, let's go back."

"What's wrong, boss? Aren't you going to watch anymore?"

"What are you looking at? That's the professor's territory."

Fanes lowered his voice and quickened his pace. "This must be one of his laboratories. Usa's seal is underneath; he's doing research up there. It's not safe to even glance at this. Let's go—"

Before Fanes could finish speaking, a calm, unhurried voice came from behind him, carrying a gentle curiosity that sent chills down one's spine: "Children, are you here for a visit?"

Fanes froze on the spot.

Keeping in the turned position, I slowly turned my head back inch by inch and saw the doctor standing under the porch of the laboratory.

The bird-beak mask obscured his expression, but his signature white coat was almost blindingly white in the afternoon light. He held a folder in his hand, his posture as casual as if he were strolling in his own yard, but the distance between his position and the door behind Fanes was clearly unreasonable—Fanes had just seen that the porch was empty.

"PhD……"

Fanes paused, "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor tilted his head, the tip of his bird-beak mask casting a small shadow in the light, his tone remaining calm and gentle: "That's the advantage of having many slices. One in Winterfall, one in Sumeru, and one in Mondstadt, each with its own role."

Fanes silently added the phrase "That's the benefit of having more slices" to "someone's horror list" along with the treasure chest full of bouncing bombs.

The doctor took two steps forward and stood right in front of the iron gate, waving to Fanes.

"Since you're here, why don't you come in and take a look? I just finished a small experimental project, and it's going quite well. I just need a visitor to give me some feedback."

The doctor paused, his tone casual, as if inviting a friend for tea, "Don't worry, there won't be any danger. At least not today."

Fanes felt a subtle poke from Jakoda in his lower back. He looked down and saw Jakoda looking up at him, her starry eyes filled with an urgent signal: "Boss, let's run!"

But the doctor had already pushed open the iron gate, leaving a passage to the interior of the building, and stood calmly to the side of the door, gesturing for them to enter.

Fanes swallowed hard, his mind racing. He certainly didn't want to go in, but the Doctor was blocking the entrance, with the laboratory behind him and the Whispering Forest clearing beside him. There seemed to be no way for him to make a graceful escape.

If Fanes were to say "No, I have other things to do" and run away now, whether the Doctor would chase after him or not is another matter, but he would definitely lose face as the "Twelfth Seat" here.

Fanes hesitated for two seconds, then looked up and forced a bright smile at the doctor: "Doctor, you're too kind! Shall we... take a short tour?"

Akoda let out a barely audible, desperate sigh behind him. She pulled her cat-ear hat down as if trying to hide her face completely, and followed Fanes step by step through the iron gate.

The doctor walked ahead of them, leading the way, the hem of his white coat fluttering slightly in the wind, his pace neither hurried nor slow.

As the doctor pushed open the lab door, he glanced back at the two children behind him. His voice, hidden beneath the bird-beak mask, carried an enigmatic gentleness: "Don't be nervous. I don't usually lay a hand on my colleagues."

As Fanes stepped across the threshold, he squeezed the Seven-Colored Eye of God in his pocket, feeling a warm sensation in his palm.

Yakoda shrank behind him, her voice barely audible, squeezed out between clenched teeth: "Boss... this guy is scary..."

The professor, walking half a step ahead, replied without turning his head, "Thank you for the compliment. This way, the experimental area is on the second floor."