"Suddenly, a madman sharpens his blade by night, the imperial star wavers, Mars burns bright. To overturn heaven and earth begins today, from now on, Mondstadt belongs to Liyue!"
Sitting at the bar counter, Venti held the photo Chen Luo had given him, reading the slogans hung on the statue word by word.
"Wait, wait, wait, A'Luo, you didn't actually hang these banners on the Anemo Archon statue, did you? That's even more outrageous than dancing on it!" Looking at the photo, Venti was so shocked he could barely speak.
Are you trying to start a war between Mondstadt and Liyue? Although a prank of this level wouldn't be enough to cause a war, it would definitely create diplomatic issues.
"Nonsense, of course not. This picture is photoshopped. Acting Grand Master Jean was there when I said I was going to dance on the Anemo Archon statue. If something happened to the statue, wouldn't I be the prime suspect? I'm not stupid." Chen Luo snapped his fingers, and the photo constructed by Void Archives instantly turned to dust.
"Phew, that's a relief." Venti breathed a sigh of relief.
Even as carefree as Venti is, he knows the importance of the Anemo Archon statue to the citizens of Mondstadt.
"However, I created an Anemo magic effect on the statue's outstretched hands that will last for a day without dispersing. If ordinary citizens see it tomorrow, they'll probably just assume it's a divine miracle, right?" Chen Luo said, stroking his chin.
"Oh, that's fine. There really are gods in this world, after all." Venti said indifferently.
"I made the wind take the shape of a Cecillia. How about it? My taste is good, right?" Chen Luo said quite proudly.
"Have to admit, your taste is indeed good." Venti nodded.
Because the Cecillia is actually Venti's favorite flower.
"Since you're so happy, how about charging this Mora for me?" Seeing Venti so pleased, Chen Luo also became happy and tossed a Mora onto the bar counter.
"!!!" Venti stiffened upon seeing the Mora.
"After all, no matter what, this is a treasure given to me by the great Anemo Archon Barbatos himself. It'd be a shame to just let it be ruined. So... I'm counting on you." Chen Luo patted Venti's shoulder.
"..." Venti looked at Chen Luo, not knowing what to say.
"But gathering the Anemo Archon's aura is really exhausting! I'm poisoned, I'm injured..." Venti said with a pained expression.
You used up the coin's blessing and the Anemo Archon's aura, and now you want me to replenish it?
What's the difference between that and just having me charge it with Anemo energy in the first place?
"Ah, alright, alright, stop complaining so much. After this memento is restored to its original state, I'll lift the limit on how many glasses of Anemo Archon wine you can drink today, how about that?" Chen Luo negotiated with Venti.
"Deal! No problem." Venti immediately agreed.
"Then I want to drink ten glasses of Anemo Archon wine! Ten glasses!" Venti emphasized.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Anemo Archon Wine]
Reward: 100 Primogems
"Fine." Chen Luo reluctantly nodded.
Ten glasses of Anemo Archon wine for only 100 Primogems... that's like 10 Primogems per glass.
A single glass of Void Wine costs 5 Primogems, so this is only a 100% profit.
Whereas the previous single-glass Anemo Archon wine commissions gave 20 Primogems per glass, which is a 300% profit.
How should I put it? Selling them individually is indeed more profitable.
But, since Venti wants to drink, just let him. There's still profit to be made.
The evidence suggests that Venti's claim of being severely injured was complete nonsense. In no time at all, Chen Luo's Mora began emitting a strained creaking sound, indicating that the Anemo Archon's power wrapped around the coin was a bit excessive.
It seems Venti really is excited.
"Alright, alright, if you charge it any more, this Mora will break." Chen Luo hurriedly snatched the Mora from Venti's hand and placed ten glasses of Void Wine on the bar counter one by one.
"Ehehe... Anemo Archon wine, my Anemo Archon wine. Ten glasses of Anemo Archon wine." Before Venti had even started tasting any of the Anemo Archon wine, the smile on his face was already uncontrollable.
"Wait, Venti, you can drink, but give me the Holy Lyre first." Just as Venti was about to drink the first glass, Chen Luo suddenly stopped him.
"Huh? Why?"
"Em... To be honest, I'm afraid you might get so drunk that you leave the bar, sell the Holy Lyre, and use the money to buy more drinks." Chen Luo said bluntly.
"How could that happen?"
"How could it not? If you were me, would you feel safe leaving the Holy Lyre with a drunkard? Especially when there's enough wine in front of the drunkard to get them completely wasted." Chen Luo rolled his eyes at Venti.
After all, the Holy Lyre is an extremely important plot device related to these three commissions of Chen Luo's. If Venti really messes it up... well, Chen Luo has solutions for that too.
But since it can be prevented, why let it get messed up?
"Uh..." Putting himself in Chen Luo's shoes, Venti obediently took out the Holy Lyre and placed it on the bar counter.
Alright, if it were just ten ordinary glasses of wine, Venti could guarantee he wouldn't get drunk. But ten glasses of Anemo Archon wine? Venti wasn't so sure.
If, as Chen Luo said, he just sold the Holy Lyre to an ordinary person, that might be okay. But if he just threw the Holy Lyre away somewhere unknown, it might really be lost for good.
In that case, it's more appropriate to let Chen Luo keep it safe.
To be fair, Venti trusts Chen Luo more than he trusts himself.
At the very least, once Chen Luo accepts a commission, no matter what absurd things happen, he will absolutely complete it.
And besides, Chen Luo was the one who brought back the Holy Lyre in the first place, so Venti has no reason not to trust him with it.
After watching Chen Luo put away the Holy Lyre, Venti picked up the leftmost glass of Anemo Archon wine and gulped it down in one go.
"Ah~ The ultimate enjoyment." After finishing one glass of Anemo Archon wine, even Venti needed a moment to recover. His face was flushed red, and a blissful smile spread across his features.
"Ding-dong!"
"A'Luo..." A voice sounded, as if trapped in an abyss of extreme "hunger," sending shivers down one's spine and making one's scalp tingle.
"Holy crap, Senti? Senti, what's wrong with you?" Watching the Herrscher of Sentience walking with a zombie-like gait, Chen Luo was startled.
"Hungry..." The Herrscher of Sentience looked up, her face full of misery.
"..."
"Ying!" A familiar cry sounded as a small head popped out from behind the Herrscher of Sentience. Spotting Chen Luo, it immediately stepped on the Herrscher of Sentience's shoulder, leaped high, and flew towards Chen Luo.
"Xiao Ba, what are you doing here?" Chen Luo caught the little fox and rubbed its head.
"Because both of us are very hungry." The Herrscher of Sentience explained weakly.
"...Alright." Chen Luo tentatively accepted this reason from the Herrscher of Sentience.
"And me." A familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang out.
A force pushed against the Herrscher of Sentience from behind, and then the Book of Fuxi also popped its head out.
"I want dinner too." The Book of Fuxi raised its hand and said.
"But you're a ELF. The batteries I gave you are enough to keep you active for several thousand more years." Chen Luo said, crossing his arms.
"Hehe, haven't you heard? ELFs have two batteries: one is the power supply battery, and the other is the mood battery. I can usually reduce normal energy consumption by reducing activity and eating more food." The Book of Fuxi said proudly.
"Hmm, in simple terms, that means you're gluttonous and lazy, right?" Chen Luo summarized succinctly.
"Emmm... I want to eat, I want to eat! I heard from Fu Hua that the food you make is super delicious! I just want to eat!" The Book of Fuxi fell silent for two seconds, then began to cry out.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"I want to eat too!" The Herrscher of Sentience also shouted.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Ying ying ying!"
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Why are you causing trouble too?" Chen Luo couldn't help but take a couple more looks at the little fox.
Chen Luo found it quite peculiar that the little fox could also issue commissions. But thinking about it carefully, since the little fox could come through the spacetime turbulence, it must have some uniqueness.
Even if it didn't have uniqueness originally, after being altered by the spacetime turbulence, it should have gained the ability to absorb spiritual energy.
So, has this little fox become a spirit beast?
The Book of Fuxi's commission is for 50 Primogems. Because she hasn't eaten good food for over 1000 years, her fixation is a bit deep. But since what she wants to eat is ordinary food, the Primogem reward is low.
The Herrscher of Sentience, perhaps because Chen Luo has never "mistreated" her, only gave 20 Primogems, which is a relatively basic Primogem reward.
The little fox is different; its reward is 5 Primogems. To be honest, this is one of the smallest rewards Chen Luo has seen, aside from stealing lollipops from lolis.
But it's just a little fox; what kind of commissions did you expect to farm from it?
"You stay put here. I'll go make some fried tofu for you." After placing the little fox on the bar counter, Chen Luo turned and entered the small kitchen.
"Ah, the third glass! Anemo Archon wine is forever the best!" Venti cheered as he put down the third glass.
"Ying!" The little fox looked curiously at the row of ten glasses of wine, its cute little nose twitching slightly.
"Huh? This isn't... Aiya, I must be drunk. How could that guy appear here? Shoo, shoo, little fox, this isn't for you to drink." While shooing away the little fox that wanted to taste this strange drink, Venti picked up the outermost glass.
"Grr!" The little fox bared its teeth at Venti, but after smelling the aroma of fried tofu, it stopped paying attention to this drunkard.
"The chicken soup is here... pah, food is here."
Chen Luo used his thread control ability to make the three meal sets float, then hurried out and placed them on a nearby table.
"Ding-dong!" The doorbell rang again.
"Ahaha!" An extremely lazy laugh sounded. Chen Luo turned his head to look and quickly went to greet her.
"Holy crap, Mobius, how are you drunk again?" Chen Luo went forward, then hugged Mobius and placed her arm over his shoulder.
Chen Luo was still a bit puzzled. Why does Mobius still need to drink alcohol now? Could it be that even as a MANTIS, she can't just knock those financiers out one by one?
Well, thinking about it carefully, she really can't.
Chen Luo had Senti properly sort out the plotlines in his mind and found that the point when Mobius turned herself into a MANTIS was probably some time after the 7th Herrscher was killed.
The societal structure of the Previous Era wouldn't become loose and unmanageable until at least after the 9th Herrscher swallowed the Mu Continent. Before that, there weren't too many major issues.
Force ultimately must yield to capital.
So, the Previous Era's demise wasn't unjustified at all. Even at that point, no one in charge could step up to consolidate all resources.
The reason this current era has basically not experienced any super disasters, even up to the Herrscher of Binding appearing, without those terrifying nation-scale catastrophes, is mainly because Otto can handle things.
Although that kid Otto doesn't do many humane things, his organization, Schicksal, holds power that almost surpasses all other factions and consolidates most of the world's top resources.
In the Previous Era, the Fire moth were initially just a subordinate agency of the United Nations. No wonder they couldn't accomplish much.
This is a typical case of poor early development.
By the time a god-tier character like Mei appeared in the later stages, they found the resources were insufficient.
Incidentally, drinking culture is simply the most heinous evil.
Even people from 50,000 years ago suffered greatly from it.
"Huh?" When the Herrscher of Sentience heard Mobius's name, she couldn't help but turn around to look, and then she saw Chen Luo in close contact with Mobius.
"Hmph! I haven't even talked to you about why you exchanged for the Herrscher of Sentience Authority, and you're already out here philandering!" The Herrscher of Sentience snorted coldly.
Well, she snorted coldly in her heart.
After all, that's just the situation. Expecting Chen Luo not to help someone who's about to fall, or even to give them a kick, is naturally impossible.
Earning Primogems isn't something to be ashamed of.
And to be honest, even though she is somewhat stronger than Chen Luo in terms of both age and power, for some reason, the Herrscher of Sentience just can't act tough in front of Chen Luo.
The Herrscher of Sentience herself doesn't know why.
"Emmm, why is that?"
"Whew." After carefully helping Mobius sit down in a corner, Chen Luo breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm saying, if you know your alcohol tolerance is poor, why don't you just refuse? And also, why not have Klein pick you up? Aren't you afraid of getting so lost you can't find your way home? With your physical constitution, you definitely wouldn't freeze to death even if you collapsed in a small alley, but what if you catch a cold?" Once she was seated, Chen Luo couldn't help but start nagging.
For some reason, after doing many commission tasks, Chen Luo has developed a habit of worrying unnecessarily.
"Hmm? Little white mouse, are you concerned about me?" After sitting down, Mobius, whose hand was still resting on Chen Luo's shoulder, lazily pulled hard, instantly closing the distance between their faces.
Mobius lifted Chen Luo's chin, gazing at his eyes and lips, and lightly licked the corner of her mouth: "Mmm, suddenly feeling... a bit thirsty."