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"So, the incantation is 'something you absolutely won't guess'?"
No, that was way too humorous.
Since that island was still in the same place… and in any case, the one boarding it this time wouldn't be Victor Wang himself, the incantation would naturally be something someone else went to ask about—and that person would be Venti.
Even Lumine didn't have the ability to find the tea party island on her own, so after agreeing to help Collei fulfill the Hexenzirkel's prophecy, she asked Venti about it. In the end, it was Venti who provided both the location of the tea party island and the incantation needed to board it.
If Victor Wang hadn't been involved, things should have unfolded exactly like this.
So now the question was whether the incantation Venti gave to Lumine was the old incantation or the new one.
If Venti only asked Alice after receiving Lumine's request, then naturally nothing unexpected would happen.
But if he gave the old incantation, everyone would arrive beneath the island, brimming with anticipation, recite the outdated incantation—and then find that it didn't work. Eheh…
For the sake of the Anemo Archon's dignity, it was probably necessary to give him a small hint. But at least there was no longer any need to stop everyone from searching for the tea party island.
Having sorted through all of this in a very short span of time, Victor Wang heard Klee say, "Brother Victor is here today too. Does that mean you're going to play with Klee again?"
"Sorry, Klee. We're not going out to play today. Listen to Sister Lisa and stay in the library to read, okay?"
"Okay."
Klee took out a beautifully bound printed copy of Tales from the Box II and obediently began reading on her own.
Victor Wang nodded in satisfaction, but then felt that something was off. When he reached the library counter, he realized that the original manuscript of Tales from the Box II was currently being held in Lisa's hands.
"Oh, the book? Emma heard it was yours and worked through the night to finish the layout. The final copies should be rolling off the presses nonstop right about now."
"So fast…"
"And besides," Lisa lifted the notebook that had originally belonged to her, "returning what you borrowed—isn't that only natural?"
"Sister Lisa is absolutely right. Ahem, actually, there's something else I wanted to ask Sister Lisa for help with. Among the alchemical formulas you know, are there any potions or items that allow people to breathe underwater?"
"What's wrong—did Klee's diving suit fail to work yesterday?"
"It was indeed Klee's diving suit that reminded me, but this has nothing to do with Klee. This is my personal request… someone may need such a potion."
Lisa set the book down and gently supported her forehead, thinking seriously for a few moments before finally saying, "At present, there's no such potion. If you need one, I can try researching it. How about the timing—is it urgent?"
"Urgent. If it's truly going to be used, then it would have to be produced on a large scale. Not just time—the materials would also need to be simple and easy to obtain. I'll be counting on you."
Underwater breathing and mass production—once those two conditions were combined, aside from large-scale deep-sea treasure hunting, there really weren't many possibilities left.
But knowing Victor Wang for so long, Lisa was certain this wasn't something he would do. That left her with only one possibility.
A prophecy.
A prophecy about Fontaine.
It was said that all people of Fontaine bore a certain kind of 'sin' from the moment they were born. No matter how much Fontaine—the nation known as the 'Nation of Justice'—conducted its judgments, this sin could never be erased. Until one day, when Fontaine's sea level would begin to rise. Those burdened with sin would be submerged by seawater and dissolved within it, leaving only the Hydro Archon alone on the divine throne, weeping. Only then would the sins of the people of Fontaine be washed away.
And the person standing before her had led the Watatsumi Island resistance to overthrow the Vision Hunt Decree, survived three unprecedented [Duel Before the Throne], helped the Liyue Qixing repel the wife of the [Overlord of the Vortex], Osial—Beisht, rescued the Dendro Archon, defeated a false god… These deeds continued to spread to Mondstadt. One could see that as his strength grew, his ambitions seemed to stretch ever further as well.
For someone like this to say he wanted to save Fontaine—it didn't seem strange at all.
"The next nation you're heading to is Fontaine, or Natlan… You wouldn't happen to be planning on becoming Fontaine's hero, would you?"
"Hero…"
Victor Wang wasn't surprised that Lisa had guessed his objective, but he could only let out a bitter smile at that assessment. Perhaps it's actually the exact opposite, he thought.
He possessed a container capable of holding enough water to drown an entire nation, and there just happened to be a country waiting to be flooded. What a coincidence.
"You'd best inform Albedo about this need as well. While I'm confident that my alchemical expertise is second to none, I wouldn't want my own arrogance to delay something so important to you."
"Mm. I actually have other matters to discuss with him anyway."
…
"That's about how it went."
"Those perch… While there's nothing left in Cider Lake that could threaten Klee, if she lets her guard down, it is still rather dangerous."
Victor Wang laughed awkwardly. "Sorry for causing you trouble."
"No matter. Ever since Aunt Alice brought back that diving suit last summer, I anticipated that this day would come. As for alchemy that allows humans to breathe underwater, I'll make it my primary research topic for the time being. Once there's any progress, I'll notify you immediately."
"Thank you."
"You're too polite. Actually, there's something I'd like to ask you for help with as well."
Meeting Victor Wang's curious gaze, Albedo first glanced at the Wentian Sword, then took out a multicolored disc and explained in detail. "Ever since you successfully created the 'Portable Elemental Particle Generator,' I never gave up on reproducing it. As I continuously adjusted the alchemical ritual, I finally managed to create an item with similar functionality. However, throughout this long process, there was never any instance of consciousness being born."
"That's because the materials I chose were special, right?" Victor Wang tried to explain. "Little Wen itself was already conscious. It merely took advantage of that opportunity to finally speak."
"Is that so…?"
Little Wen chimed in, ["That's right! I said it long ago, didn't I? Master's success relied entirely on my special nature."]
Victor Wang reiterated, "What Little Wen said is correct. It even has memories from wandering around Teyvat—those shouldn't be fake."
"Indeed. I am not a stone, and naturally I can't know what it feels like for a stone with consciousness but no voice… In that case, let's conduct a simple experiment. Victor, you will use my newly researched alchemical formula and ritual to create a brand-new 'Portable Elemental Particle Generator.' If no new consciousness is born, then it will prove that only Little Wen possesses that special quality."
Alchemy consisted of three parts: the container, the materials, and the ritual.
Little Wen, as a piece of material, clearly belonged to the materials category. Victor Wang, as the executor of alchemy, could actually be counted as part of the ritual.
To give rise to a phenomenon Albedo couldn't produce—causing the 'Portable Elemental Particle Generator' to develop consciousness—either Victor Wang possessed something special, or Little Wen did. What Albedo wanted now was to clearly distinguish which one it was.
Following the container, materials, and ritual provided by Albedo, Victor Wang proceeded step by step, all the while silently chanting in his heart, please don't let a new consciousness be born. As he wished, ten consecutive attempts produced no anomalies.
"See?"
["See!"]
"Mm. Then it's confirmed—Little Wen indeed possesses the special quality."
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