Ryen hadn't expected that Ganyu's luck could actually affect the treasure chest drops.
In a sense, her luck was the real ultimate weapon.
"See, see! I told you Ganyu's luck is amazing!"
Lumine clapped her hands happily. Ryen smiled as well and asked softly:
"What else?"
From the chest, Ganyu pulled out a pouch of powdery substance and a strange trinket faintly glowing with light.
Ryen raised his brows in surprise.
"This is… Transformation Powder and a Charm of Keeping?"
The moment Albedo heard the word Charm, his spirits lifted.
"A protective Charm?"
Ryen waved his hand and explained in a low voice:
"It's a rather tasteless item. Its specific effect is that when you die, your belongings won't drop."
"Not really useful for us… Wait, no!"
Ryen glanced at Tartaglia and said seriously:
"For Tartaglia, this is actually quite useful. If he accidentally dies next time without a Totem of Undying, then after revival, at least his items won't be lost."
"…"
Tartaglia, who had just been feeling happy from their clean and crushing victory, instantly collapsed into gloom.
He sulked off to the side.
Everyone chuckled knowingly. Ryen stopped teasing him, picked up the Charm of Keeping, and handed it to Albedo.
"Well, it still counts as a charm, a magical artifact. You can study it. Who knows, maybe through analogy you'll make a new discovery?"
Albedo gave a wry smile and nodded.
How long had it been since they came in?
Not even two days, probably.
And already he had naga scales to research… the Tree of Transformation, Crumble Horn, Moon Dial, the Peacock Feather Fan…
In just this short while, Albedo had already accumulated several years' worth of research material.
Though he was glad to have so many projects—no need to ever worry about running out of things to study—still…
Was Ryen really not afraid he'd work himself to death?
"What about that Transformation Powder?"
Lisa asked curiously.
Ryen chuckled.
"This thing… if you call it useless, it's not entirely useless."
"But if you say it's useful, that's not quite right either."
"It can transform creatures from the Twilight Forest into overworld creatures."
"And it can turn overworld creatures into creatures from the Twilight Forest."
"A weird kind of two-way conversion, I suppose."
"Maybe the best use is farming materials."
As he spoke, Ryen paused, then complained:
"But the ridiculous part is…"
"Transformation Powder turns pigs into cod. Yet zombies, villagers, cod, and boars… all turn into pigs."
This bizarre kind of conversion made everyone feel uneasy.
But Albedo quickly noticed a blind spot and asked thoughtfully:
"Mr. Ryen, this so-called transformation… is it just an external change in form, or…"
Before Albedo could finish, Ryen answered seriously:
"It's a change in life form itself!"
"A fundamental alteration at the source? That's… disturbingly strange…"
Albedo let out a sigh, then asked again:
"Then… could this powder possibly affect humans of Teyvat, or other Teyvatian creatures?"
"Or even… could it revert Hilichurls back into humans?"
That question shocked everyone.
Instinctively, they wanted to refute the idea.
But then… the more they thought about it, the more plausible it sounded.
Ryen frowned slightly and shook his head.
"I don't know. But now that you mention it, this powder really could be dangerous."
"Later, you can run some experiments. There are still some criminals in Liyue's prison sentenced to life—wasted lives, really. Might as well make use of them."
Ningguang and the others didn't find this suggestion too cruel. After all, these were people who would die behind bars anyway.
How they died hardly mattered.
Albedo sighed in response.
"Mr. Ryen, I think you'd better hold onto this powder for now. Its danger level is too high."
"If someone really does get transformed into a pig, there would be no way to reverse it."
"And in the short term, I don't have the time to research it. My priority is figuring out the applications of the Naga Scales first."
With that, Albedo paused and pointed to the Twilight Lich's loot lying on the ground.
"This thing too—it seems to contain powerful magic. I'd like to study it alongside."
Ryen nodded. He wasn't particularly interested in collecting the Twilight Lich's head anyway.
Especially since it wore a crown that looked a little too much like Paimon's.
If he really kept it as a trophy, Paimon would be furious.
He carefully stashed the Transformation Powder in his backpack, then turned to Ganyu.
"Anything else? If not, we should return to the Firefly Forest."
Ryen still had his heart set on building a dreamy little fairy-tale house for Klee and the others, surrounded by fireflies.
Sure, this Lich Tower was full of Gothic grandeur, the kind of castle fit for a princess.
But the scenery could never compare to the glow of the Firefly Forest.
Better to finish that little house first, and worry about this place later.
But Ganyu pressed her lips together.
"There's one last thing…"
As she spoke, she slowly drew out a staff from the treasure chest.
"A staff?! An actual staff! Ganyu… you really pulled that out?!"
This time, even Ryen was stunned.
Even if Ganyu had pulled out a spellbook, Ryen would've found it reasonable.
But a staff…
Wasn't that a little too heaven-defying?
"Let me see."
Ryen frowned slightly, taking the staff to examine it.
"An advanced-tier fire-attribute staff… Flame Dancer!"
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