Fatui Debt Collector Viktor took off his hood, then carefully adjusted the headband resting on his head.
He rubbed his head hard.
A splitting headache throbbed through his skull.
"I wonder when The Doctor's experiment will finally yield results."
Viktor paused before muttering to himself.
He was one of the Debt Collectors under the Fatui's Second Harbinger, The Doctor.
Some time ago, the Fatui had secretly discovered this Adeptal abode.
The Doctor had then brought them here and built an experimental base within it.
The Doctor discovered that this was an abode left behind by an Adepti who had researched souls, so he began studying those things as well.
The Fatui Debt Collectors who had accompanied him became his test subjects.
Before long,
The Doctor created an experimental device.
After putting it on, elite Debt Collectors like them would continuously gain speed and strength, becoming even more powerful.
But it was not without side effects.
Even Debt Collectors like them suffered agonizing headaches every time they used it.
The Doctor had once experimented on ordinary people, and before long, they had gone completely insane.
Only elite Fatui like them could endure it.
As Viktor was thinking, his dormitory door opened and another Debt Collector walked in.
"Come on, it's time to start our patrol. The Doctor received orders from Snezhnaya today. The results here, along with us, will be assigned to serve Lord Childe's mission in Liyue. Lord Childe will be arriving soon, so we need to patrol more frequently. A Liyue adventurer appeared outside the experimental base last time, and the higher-ups were furious. We must prevent that from happening a second time."
The second Debt Collector spoke to Viktor.
"Understood. All for Her Majesty the Tsaritsa."
Viktor nodded, put the headband back on, changed his clothes, and prepared to begin another patrol.
The two Debt Collectors headed out and joined the other Fatui Debt Collectors.
They formed a team and began patrolling the base.
The patrol itself was not especially difficult.
There were only two cave entrances here.
One was hidden, so they only needed to make sure it was not opened.
Their main focus was patrolling the larger entrance.
Viktor paced back and forth on patrol as usual.
Since someone had entered yesterday, they needed to patrol a few extra times.
Yet while patrolling, Viktor constantly felt as though someone was watching him.
He immediately swept his gaze around several times, but found nothing.
Was yesterday's incident making him imagine things?
Forget it.
Once Lord Childe took over, the security here would definitely improve.
Viktor continued his patrol with peace of mind.
"So they really are Debt Collectors. Still, these guys seem much stronger than ordinary Debt Collectors."
Bai Ye had not expected to run into the Fatui again.
The moment he arrived at the entrance to the Adeptal abode, he began building the mechanism he had used to escape the maze last time. This time, he only needed to make one, so he put even more care into it.
Once it was finished, he installed a camera on it and ordered the robot to set off.
After the robot departed, Bai Ye watched the footage on the black crystal screen.
Ganyu and Hu Tao leaned in from either side to observe.
One side pressed against him while the other did not, making Bai Ye's arm feel extremely awkward.
After carefully surveying the cave entrance, Bai Ye quickly put the screen away.
"Things are clear now. The enemies we'll be facing are still the Fatui. But we know nothing about what is going on with these Debt Collectors, nor how they became stronger. If we attack directly, even if they can't beat us, the research inside may be destroyed.
"We don't know their secrets. Next time, they may come up with even more things. Besides, they could turn this entire Adeptal abode into a complete mess."
Defeating the Fatui would not be difficult. Thoroughly investigating everything was the hard part.
Harder still was protecting the Adeptal abode.
Bai Ye took that very seriously.
On the small scale, Adeptal treasures could be exchanged for plenty of Mora. On the larger scale, what if the Adepti who studied souls had a way to help his teacher recover?
"Should we act covertly first and seize control of the experimental base?" Hu Tao asked Bai Ye. But she immediately shook her head. "This base is guarded by Fatui Debt Collectors. They're professional infiltrators. It won't be easy for us to slip past them unnoticed!"
"I don't have any good ideas."
Ganyu lowered her head.
She felt more and more useless.
At this rate, her junior disciple would soon surpass her.
Once they returned, she had to find a way to prove herself.
"This really is troublesome. If only I were Yelan. Then I'd have much better infiltration skills."
Bai Ye had not yet figured out how to infiltrate either.
He did not have Yelan's abilities.
Hu Tao propped her chin in both hands. "Yeah, none of the three of us have infiltration skills, so we can only launch a frontal assault. If only we could become as small as that robot and avoid suspicion."
It would be such a shame if the materials in the base were destroyed.
Hearing Hu Tao say that, Bai Ye silently took out the maze diagram in his hand.
"It actually might be possible."
He spoke to Hu Tao and Ganyu.
"This is also an Adeptal artifact. If it were discovered within this abode, wouldn't that be perfectly normal?"
Since Ganyu already suspected that he was Cloud Retainer's disciple, he might as well use her artifact.
The moment Ganyu saw the maze diagram, she recognized it.
It was one of her teacher's favorite mechanisms.
Once, after her teacher had gone out, she had said it had been lost.
Yet it had appeared here.
Teacher, you secretly arranged things for Junior Brother, then kept it from us? We know you dote on him. We wouldn't be jealous.
Ganyu cast a somewhat resentful glance toward Mt. Aocang.
At Mt. Aocang,
Cloud Retainer suddenly shuddered.
She looked around.
Who was slandering this adeptus?
"Next, Hu Tao and I will enter the maze diagram. Miss Ganyu, you stay outside and stand guard. Then I'll use the mechanism to send the maze diagram inside. If any Fatui reinforcements arrive, stop them."
Bai Ye began assigning their next steps.
They could not all go in. Someone had to remain outside.
"Mm."
Ganyu nodded.
Then Bai Ye and Hu Tao entered the mechanism diagram.
Ganyu began looking for an opportunity to send it into the Adeptal abode.
Bai Ye's robot had already marked the launch position for her. As long as she fired it over there, the Adeptal abode would explode.
Then an Adeptal treasure would "just happen" to appear inside.
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