Mobius?

But Chen Luo quickly dismissed the idea. He had just said he might not be able to go there for a while, and now he would be seeking them out to learn magic. Never mind whether they would teach him—even his pride would not allow it.

"Aluo, when did your tavern start serving bar snacks? You never mentioned it," Venti asked, a wineglass sitting beside him.

"It only unlocked after the shop had received five customers."

"Five? Me, Theresa, Himeko, Mona—that's only four. Do you count too?"

"And Fu Hua. Fu Hua!"

Although the Herrscher of Knowledge had been brought in by Chen Luo, she still counted as a customer.

"Oh, right. Why didn't Fu Hua come today?"

"She said she was going out to forage." Chen Luo shrugged.

Venti had long known that this Fu Hua seemed to be different from the Fu Hua Theresa and the others knew, but he kept his mouth shut.

In any case, this Fu Hua did not seem malicious, and the two Fu Huas appeared to share a deep connection.

Since that was the case, why should he meddle?

Mondstadt's affairs should be handled by Mondstadters themselves. As for Fu Hua's affairs, Fu Hua should naturally handle them herself.

Besides, he did not even know the other Fu Hua.

Slacking off was Venti's ultimate ideal.

He had already achieved half of it.

"'Foraging' is a great choice of words. Is your Fu Hua some weird wild creature or something?" Venti could not help mocking him.

"She wasn't before, but she is now. Anyway, after eating something inexplicable, she gained the ability to absorb all kinds of negative emotions to increase her strength. So now she's already running all over people's minds."

"People's minds?"

"I mean... she goes into other people's consciousnesses to absorb negative emotions and energy to grow stronger. Something like that," Chen Luo said.

Chen Luo did not mind telling Venti these things. Even if Venti told Theresa and the others, they would instinctively overlook the information.

In short, the Herrscher Core that the Herrscher of Knowledge was evolving would likely become more and more expensive over time.

Chen Luo figured that the speed at which the Herrscher of Knowledge Core's price rose would far exceed the increasing discount rate.

In other words, the original fifty-percent discount had been the best time to buy it.

"Then can I have an order of bar snacks?"

"No," Chen Luo refused.

"Why?"

"Because you haven't posted a commission."

"Come on, Aluo, are you really that heartless?"

"Sorry, I really am that heartless."

"No... Knowing there are bar snacks but being unable to eat them just because my wish isn't strong enough is way too tragic, isn't it?"

Ding! You have a new commission!

I want bar snacks: ...

"Fine. Since it's bar snacks, and you showed up on the first day, I'll give you a serving." Seeing Venti looking at him so pitifully, Chen Luo could not help softening.

"Thanks, Aluo! Wait, don't tell me you're using me to farm commissions again?" Venti had just cheered when he suddenly sensed that something was off.

"How could I..." Chen Luo subtly looked away, then turned toward the small kitchen in the back.

"..."

Venti suddenly felt that even if Mona came, Aluo might not stop fleecing him.

Before Mona came, you fleeced me. After Mona came, you still fleeced me. Wouldn't that mean Mona came for nothing?

Still, though, getting a freebie really did feel great!

If he wanted to farm commissions, then let him farm commissions.

Come to think of it, if he introduced customers to Chen Luo, would Chen Luo shift his attention to someone else?

Let me think. Who in Mondstadt liked drinking and was especially easy to farm commissions from...

Venti pondered as he waited for his bar snacks.

Cavalry Captain Kaeya... no. He had a feeling that guy would use the tavern to do something huge.

And he would be impossible to farm commissions from anyway. His thoughts ran too deep.

Sister Rosaria? She did love drinking, but she hated trouble. People like that were not easy to farm commissions from. Besides, she still had not called him by his correct name. He could not let her get a freebie.

Who else liked drinking...

Venti, deep in thought, suddenly brightened as he came up with an excellent candidate.

They loved drinking, were powerful, and most importantly, had an obsession and wish that would definitely yield plenty of Primogems.

I'm so smart!

As long as someone else shared the heat, couldn't he sneak off and drink in peace?

Ding! Mission complete.

After placing peanuts and edamame in front of Venti, Chen Luo received his reward as well.

Peanuts and edamame were what went best with alcohol.

It would be even better if Venti became addicted to them. That would be another source of income.

Ding! After upgrading to a Level 2 Tavern, special customers may appear.

Ding! A special customer is about to arrive. Please prepare to receive them.

"A special customer?"

"And when did it become a Level 2 Tavern? Adding bar snacks makes it a Level 2 Tavern? Fine."

After seeing the two prompts, Chen Luo began staring intently at the tavern door.

A special customer would definitely bring special rewards, right?

At the very least, there had better be a decent Primogem return. Otherwise, how could they be called a special customer?

Mobius?

"Jingle!"

The customer Chen Luo had been eagerly awaiting finally arrived.

A huge haul of Primogems is coming. Prepare yourself!

To show his respect for this special customer, Chen Luo had even gone to wait by the door beforehand.

"Klein..." The instant Chen Luo felt the door open, a green figure fell toward him.

Chen Luo immediately caught her.

This was a major benefactor. He could not let her fall.

Wait, Klein?

Only after catching her did Chen Luo recall that familiar name, and he looked down.

Long green hair, an impressive figure, a faint flush of intoxication on her face, and the scent of alcohol radiating from her entire body.

Mobius?

And an adult Mobius at that?

"Klein... you seem to have gotten a little taller?" The drunken, slightly flushed woman tilted her head and touched Chen Luo's hair, seemingly puzzled.

At the same time, Klein, who was waiting for Mobius to come out of the hotel, stood alone on the street in front of it.

"Strange. Didn't Doctor say she was already at the hotel entrance? Where is she? Don't tell me she wandered off after getting drunk again?" Klein muttered as she looked at the last message on her communicator.

"I should call Doctor." Worried sick about Mobius, who had just been drinking, Klein opened her contacts.

After all, Doctor's alcohol tolerance was truly terrible, and when she got drunk, her behavior was exceptionally awful...

Compared with the Doctor who was calm and even cold around others in her usual state, drunk Mobius was downright irritating.

"Is this person who keeps singing, dancing, and trying to play finger-guessing games with me really Mobius?" Chen Luo propped up his chin with one hand, looking utterly depressed.

"Hey, Klein, come play finger guessing with me... Whoever loses has to drink." Mobius, who was now sitting up and nearly as tall as Chen Luo, threw an arm around his shoulders.

Ding! You have a new commission!

Finger guessing: ...

"You lost... drink up." Mobius pushed the wine she had half-finished toward Chen Luo, practically shoving it against his lips.

Since Chen Luo genuinely did not know how to play finger guessing, he lost without any surprise. He did not even know how wins and losses were decided, much less how exactly he had lost.

"Doctor, didn't you just say the winner drinks? Did you forget?" Chen Luo said helplessly to Mobius.

"Huh? Was that... what I said?" Mobius tilted her head, looking uncertain.

But Klein would not lie to her.

"Then since you won, Doctor, you should be the one drinking."

"That makes sense." Mobius nodded, then drained the wine in her cup in one gulp.

"Another glass!" Mobius raised the empty wine jug in her hand.

Ding! You have a new commission!

"Sure, sure." Chen Luo nodded hurriedly.

Drunk Mobius was incredibly easy to fool. Any alcohol would do; he did not even need to mix a drink.

And perhaps because she was drunk, her thirst for alcohol had become unusually persistent, allowing her to repeatedly issue commissions one after another.

"Come on, let's keep playing finger guessing!"

Ding! You have a new commission!

"Alright, Doctor. This time, too, the winner drinks."

"No problem." Mobius nodded with some effort.

"Hey, Aluo, is it really okay to keep making her drink like this?" Venti watched Chen Luo and Mobius worriedly from the side.

"Why not give me the alcohol? I can drink it for you," Venti revealed his true purpose.

"Thanks to this young lady, here's a mug of apple cider. Take it and drink it slowly." After rolling his eyes at Venti, Chen Luo placed a large jug of apple cider before him.

"But seriously, why does she think I'm Klein? My hair is black, while yours is green..." Chen Luo complained.

"Who says? Only the tips of my hair are green, and it's more bluish-green at that." Venti lifted his hair to show Chen Luo.

"But your whole body is green."

"That is true... But clearly, you can never reason with a drunk woman."

"..."

Chen Luo said nothing more. In truth, he had already guessed something, but he did not dare be certain.

If he had to trace it back, it was probably because of the title Chen the Great Philanthropist, as well as the title Friend of the Non-Human.

The title Chen the Great Philanthropist worked on the vast majority of living beings.

And Friend of the Non-Human... Flame-Chasers definitely fell within that category, but Doctor Mobius did not seem to have become a Flame-Chaser yet. Otherwise, her physical condition would not be this poor.

But even if Mobius had not become a Flame-Chaser, she still might have been affected by the title.

After all, Doctor Mobius could speak from the moment she was born. Could a normal person do that?

"Doctor, can you sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'?" Chen Luo turned to Mobius.

According to something the Herrscher of Knowledge had casually mentioned before, the Previous Era also had a song called "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," though the lyrics were somewhat different.

It could only be called a remarkable coincidence.

"I can. Do you want to hear it? Let's sing it together. No lip-syncing allowed." Mobius pinched Chen Luo's nose.