"Do not use this thing as alchemy material, you hear me!"
Chen Luo stood in Aunt Lisa's alchemy workshop, remembering the last thing Eula had said to him.
Mainly because if Eula hadn't reminded him, he really might have forgotten this thing could even be used as alchemy material.
Chen Luo held the so-called Crystalline Bloom in his hand and pondered.
Of course, Chen Luo would never actually be so ruthless as to use it in alchemy.
It was, after all, a symbol of friendship. If he used it, how would he face Eula again?
Venti? There was nothing to worry about with Venti. Venti's symbol of friendship was probably that Mora coin, and that coin could be recharged.
"First like this, then like this, and then like this… and the bomb is done! Brother Chen Luo, did you learn it?"
Klee had quickly finished assembling a bomb and looked up at Chen Luo with wide eyes.
"I learned it," Chen Luo said with a somewhat forced smile as he patted Klee's head.
How to put it? If he didn't already have the Master-level Special Explosives Study skill, he truly wouldn't have understood how Klee managed to make a single bomb that could blow the entire Knights of Favonius headquarters sky-high.
Klee was undeniably a genius at making bombs—but she was absolutely not a good teacher.
After Chen Luo obtained the Explosives Study, he automatically inherited a large number of Klee's formulas, though some secret formulas were still locked, such as the one she was making now.
This type of bomb was a perfect fusion of Explosives Study and alchemy, though it leaned more toward Explosives Study.
Probably because Klee didn't have much alchemy knowledge; she had only learned what she needed for explosives.
Art is an explosion.
Although Chen Luo didn't have the energy to deepen his studies in Explosives Study, Master level was more than enough. What he wanted to learn wasn't how to craft more perfect explosives, but how to make explosions more violent.
And this could be applied directly to his own skills.
For example, modifying Honkai Crystals to make their destructive power more intense—potentially causing a chain reaction of Honkai energy throughout the Honkai world.
If the explosive trait of a Honkai Crystal could chain to all Honkai energy… could it blow up the Imaginary Space?
Probably not yet, but with one Honkai Crystal, Chen Luo could already blow up an area the size of three entire academies—so long as the environment was saturated with Honkai energy.
Even without a Honkai-saturated environment, a Honkai Crystal explosion enhanced by a Master was far more terrifying than simply detonating a raw crystal.
The original Honkai Crystal could explode, yes, but there was a difference between explosions.
It was like the gap between a single explosive tag and the Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag technique.
Art is an explosion.
Praise the Honkai, you fools!
Moreover, beyond that, Chen Luo also wanted to use this Master-level Explosives Study to modify his Fireball spell.
The Fireball spell had two evolutionary paths:
One was quantity, one was power.
The first needed no explanation. The second—"power"—meant increasing size to increase destructive force. But Chen Luo wondered: if he applied Master-level explosives principles, could he derive another branch of the Fireball spell?
A fireball the size of a human head, or even smaller… but exponentially more terrifying.
He had even thought of the ultimate move's name: Supernova Combustion, or Supernova Explosion. The general idea was already there.
Since he could already manipulate the Fireball spell so skillfully, it was normal to keep deriving new forms from it.
Extremely compress the fireball, alter the mana structure inside, and push it toward terrifying explosive force.
Cause maximum terror with minimal mana.
This was also a move born of necessity. Chen Luo's mana pool wasn't very large yet after conversion, so he had to be meticulous and economical.
If the original Fireball spell was about using high mana to achieve quantitative destruction on large enemies…
Then what Chen Luo wanted now was qualitative transformation.
The Fireball series of spells was already ingenious, but his ambition was bigger.
Well—mainly because he lacked mana.
And this conceptual prototype gradually refined itself as Chen Luo watched Klee make bombs.
In fact, this chain of thoughts wasn't pulled out of thin air. He was inspired.
His inspiration was that Demon Modified Thermobaric Bomb—only the size of a fist, yet capable of devastating several kilometers.
Who knew where that insane, Demon Modified Thermobaric Bomb came from? Probably from some super-advanced civilization.
Even Durandal, with a World Bubble, would suffer facing that Demon Modified Thermobaric Bomb with magic penetration.
Of course, such disposable weapons were extremely difficult to research; a tiny mistake and the researcher would blow themselves straight to heaven…
But Chen Luo had Furniture Mastery.
Who said a bomb couldn't be furniture?
He had been studying for a while using the only remaining Thermobaric Bomb as a reference. Now, with his understanding of the Fireball spell and his Master-level Explosives Study, all the basic components were finally assembled.
All that remained was practice.
Praise the Sun!
Since the Demon Modified Thermobaric Bomb could exist, there was no reason a demon-modified explosive Honkai Crystal couldn't exist too!
"Brother Chen Luo, you learn really fast! Klee has nothing left to teach you." Time passed quickly; hours went by as Klee taught and Chen Luo learned.
Because Chen Luo also possessed Explosives Study at the same Master level, he understood everything she taught at a glance.
Soon, all of Klee's knowledge—this not-so-competent teacher—was completely absorbed by Chen Luo.
"Is that so? Then you've worked hard. What would you like to eat, Little Sister? Big Brother will make it for you." Seeing that several hours had passed, Chen Luo felt it was time to leave Lisa's alchemy workshop.
"I want to eat fish! Cooked fish! And if it's Bass from Cider Lake, that would be even better!"
Klee set the assembled bomb aside and hopped excitedly.
"..." Just say you want to go blast-fishing directly; no need to be so indirect.
"Alright, fish, right? And specifically bass? Then I'll make you a Fragrant Grilled Bass," Chen Luo said after thinking for a moment.
"But for now, we should head out." Chen Luo glanced at the time.
This trip to Lisa's alchemy workshop had been quite productive. Besides the bomb-making techniques he learned from Klee herself, Lisa's small workshop was exceptionally well-equipped, even containing all kinds of magic books and experimental notes.
When they entered, Lisa had told Chen Luo he could touch the books inside at most, but absolutely must not open them, because no one knew which ones might be trapped.
While admiring Lisa's caution and meticulousness, Chen Luo still touched every book-shaped object in the workshop—he didn't even spare the equipment—but only touched each item once.
Not being able to open them didn't matter. Conveniently, his Furniture Mastery skill didn't require opening them anyway.
Chen Luo never expected that he would actually learn alchemy in Lisa's workshop.
He also picked up several other minor skills in passing, including—but not limited to—Magic Experimentation, Elemental Energy Research Proficiency, and so on.
It was simply a massive profit.
Of course, Chen Luo didn't gain all this without offering anything in return.
"You two are finally out. If you took any longer, I would've been off work already. Actually, I am off work; I just stayed overtime for more than an hour waiting for you." When Chen Luo and the others walked out of the workshop, they saw Lisa lounging lazily on a chair, speaking in a slightly complaining tone.
Yes, that lounge chair Lisa was lying on was Chen Luo's contribution, complete with a massage function.
Acupressure massage, rocking massage, kneading massage, back massage, hip air-pressure massage, calf air-pressure massage…
A high-end lounge chair—exactly what she deserved.
Lisa was very satisfied with it, so even after Chen Luo accidentally called her "Aunt" once, she still allowed him into the workshop.
"But, Lisa Au—Sister, it's only a little past 2 PM. Shouldn't you still be working?" Klee asked curiously.
"Because I took paid leave. As a reward for saving Mondstadt, I received fifteen days of paid leave, and I can use them however I like. So I plan to take three days first." Lisa stretched lazily on the lounge chair before sitting up slowly.
"Of course, I have to thank Chen Luo. You're even more adorable than a little cutie—so long as you don't use the wrong form of address sometimes." Lisa looked at Chen Luo with clear satisfaction.
Fifteen days of paid leave and an ultra-comfortable lounge chair?
Lisa was more than satisfied with Chen Luo—as long as he didn't call her Aunt Lisa.
"I don't understand. I really don't understand. But Sister Lisa seems very happy," Klee said, puzzled.
"Of course I'm happy. Little Klee, you're still young; you don't understand yet. When you grow up and become a real adult, you'll understand the joy of paid leave." Lisa spoke with the tone of someone who had been through it.
"Uh… then is paid leave more fun than blast fishing?" Klee asked with genuine curiosity.
"Emmm… probably… no?" Lisa wasn't entirely sure about that either.
Hmm… what exactly does little Klee feel when blast fishing?
"Then Brother Chen Luo is going to make grilled fish for me. Sister Lisa, do you want to come too?" Klee invited her.
"Grilled fish? But I've already had lunch, and it's only a little after 2 PM." Lisa looked at the time, looking somewhat troubled.
Eating right after lunch… wouldn't that make me gain weight?
"It's not necessarily just grilled fish. Our restaurant also serves afternoon tea. And it's just the right time for it." Chen Luo reminded her softly.
"That's true…" Lisa suddenly felt that what Chen Luo said made perfect sense.
"Then you go ahead first. I'll call Jean too. Maybe she hasn't even eaten lunch yet. It's a good time for her to relax and have a meal." Upon hearing "afternoon tea," Lisa didn't forget her good friend.
"Fu… Hua…" Chen Luo was about to call Senti, but because he spoke too loudly, Aunt Lisa shot him a glance, and he immediately softened his voice.
There was no helping it—being quiet in a library was normal.
After all, Lisa's workshop was actually in a secret chamber inside the library. It wasn't even a formal mage's workshop—just a temporary one.
Even Lisa, who preferred to "lie flat" due to her constellation, occasionally felt like doing an experiment or two.
Since he couldn't speak loudly, Chen Luo had to use his parental permissions to locate the Herrscher of Sentience. It was really too difficult.
[Ding! Achievement Unlocked (Lunatic's Hand)]
"???" Chen Luo, who had just stepped into the bar, was utterly bewildered.
"Oh, that achievement." He immediately understood.
It was the achievement for demolishing 10,000 buildings.
[Lunatic's Hand] (5-Stars): When dealing damage to non-living objects, adds a large amount of high bonus true damage and easily reveals their weaknesses, flaws, and structural issues.
Special Skill — [A Lunatic Does Not Die Empty-Handed]: Temporarily convert a building into one of your own units.
This wasn't just a building killer—it was practically an equipment killer, since nearly all equipment were non-living objects. Of course, if he ran into biological weapons… well, that would just be bad luck.
Chen Luo had pretty much forgotten about this achievement, so receiving the notification suddenly gave him a scare.
"But… I really doubt it. Are the Honkai Beasts that weak? It took until now to destroy 10,000 buildings? Or has Nagazora City already been completely flattened by them?" Chen Luo muttered.
At this point, he suspected that if he went to the Honkai world, he would see Nagazora in ruins. Although the city was already devastated by Honkai energy, after being smashed, looted, and wrecked for several days by hundreds—nearly a thousand—Honkai Beasts, who knew how many intact buildings were left?
"It seems I really should send the children to a safe place tomorrow. But to do that, I need to go to World Serpent first to meet Grey Serpent. And if I meet Grey Serpent… who knows if I'll have to go to the Elysian Realm to meet acquaintances I may or may not know." Chen Luo rubbed his chin in thought.
He was starting to suspect that when he arrived at World Serpent, he might be greeted with anesthetic darts, gas bombs, and other "warm welcomes."
And another thing worried him: why hasn't anyone from the Elysian Realm come to the bar yet?
Rin went to the Elysian Realm three or four days ago and completed her commission three days ago. Logically, she should have met her sister by now, right?
Could it be that no one in the Elysian Realm recognizes him?
Or… do memory constructs from the Elysian Realm simply not have the ability to open the bar door?
Surely Rin didn't forget what the Midnight Bar looks like and can't find the door, right?
She couldn't be that unreliable… could she?
"Ding ling!"