Ying has already returned to Mondstadt, carefree and oblivious.
After quickly completing tasks such as "removing the Slime balloon", "eliminating the henchmen your brother painstakingly gathered", "delivering a message for the gatekeeper", and "escorting a cargo hot air balloon", he returned to Katheryne's side to settle today's task rewards.
"Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild, towards the stars and the Abyss."
Ying skillfully handed the Adventurer's Handbook to Katheryne.
"Yes, all the tasks for today have been completed."
"Thank you for completing today's request. Here's your reward."
Ying took the bag of Mora and some Primogem, thanked Katheryne, and then turned and left.
Katheryne smiled as she watched Ying leave the Adventurers' Guild.
"Strange, Ying looks a little odd?"
Katheryne muttered something to herself and continued to stand obediently in place, waiting for the other adventurers to return.
On the back of Katheryne's neck, a black Void Eye glowed faintly...
Ying arrived at the small square and happened to see someone coming out of Albedo's alchemy workshop.
It looks like Albedo, but the vibe isn't quite the same.
Ying stroked her chin as she watched Albedo walk out of the city.
"This Albedo... is a bit... weird?"
Ying shook her head to dispel the strange thought and entered the small alchemy lab.
"Hey! It's Ying!"
Sugar was conducting an experiment when he suddenly saw Ying walk into the alchemy lab. In his excitement, he detonated another vial of potion.
"Ugh! The experiment failed again!"
Sugar patted away the smoke from the explosion twice and came to Ying's side.
"Ying, you're here."
Sugar covered her face.
"The experiment failed again..."
"Oh, right, Albedo, Professor Abedo wants to talk to you."
"I told you you'd be interested in this incident!"
"Huh?"
Ying was somewhat puzzled.
"But Albedo just went out!"
He didn't greet me...
Sugar nodded. "That's not Professor Albedo, he's probably Professor Albedo's brother or something, we call him Albeless."
Ying: " Albeless?"
"Yes, Albedo Albeless, that's how we distinguish between the two."
"Although Albeless also very smart, he hasn't studied as much as Professor Albedo for a long time, so in some areas, our knowledge is currently at the same level..."
Sugar said, then became coy.
"However, Professor Albedo used the same words he used to describe Timaeus to describe Albeless..."
"Once Albeless finishes his course, I can use the course Albeless's currently using..."
"Um... I'm still a little embarrassed..."
fluorescent. "..."
Paimon: "So, where did this Albeless come from?"
Sugar looked at Paimon and said, " Albeless and the Collector were brought to the Alchemy Lab by the King. The Collector's knowledge is no less than that of his teacher, Albedo; it's just that everyone has their own area of expertise."
"Oh, the Collector is the creator of those strange artificial humans in the snow-capped mountains. He should be staying there with Professor Albedo."
Are you going to look for them?
Ying nodded.
"Since Albedo believes we'll go..."
Paimon quickly chimed in, "Then let's go check out the snow-capped mountains!"
Sugar nodded.
"Then I won't see you out."
"My experiment isn't finished yet..."
As he spoke, Sugar picked up some more bottles and jars and began his experiment...
Seeing this, Ying and Paimon stopped bothering Sugar and went directly to the Teleport Waypoint outside.
"Let's go straight to Albedo's base on the snowy mountain!"
Paimon the suggestion.
Ying nodded and teleported Paimon to the snow mountain.
As soon as Ying arrived at the snow-capped mountain, she sensed that something was wrong with it.
Looking into the distance, oh, it turns out the dragon bones in the valley are gone. It's nothing serious.
Wait, the dragon bones are gone?
Ying the Big Eye at the hollowed-out valley below.
"Where are the dragon bones?"
"Could it be that Durin was also captured by Jiang Xiaofeng and kept as a collectible?!"
Ying quickly guessed the truth of the matter.
Ying could only manage a helpless, bitter smile.
I can't do anything...
Ying followed the repaired wooden walkway to Albedo's base.
The Collector had expanded the cave further, revealing bottles, jars, petri dishes, and enormous glass jars, which deeply moved Ying.
"What... what kind of experiments are these?"
Ying walked into the base and looked through the research materials.
The most eye-catching thing is the drawing of the humanoid creature with a flaming head, and the little black ghost with white Byakugan next to it.
Below them was a black humanoid creature wearing a white mask and covered in white armor.
It's as if it combines the characteristics of both.
The illustration's distinctive style makes it immediately recognizable as an illustration by Albedo.
Below is the Collector's comment. "Well drawn; Hollow Knight should be based on this design."
"The product of the fusion of Void life and androids... without a thinking mind... without a cry for suffering... Heart of Ice... craving killing... uncontrollable... can be used as a key to certain seals when necessary... restricted by the Void Power..."
Ying looked at these documents, her heart pounding with fear.
Ying was all too familiar with this person with black flames on their head.
This was the kind of appearance Jiang Xiaofeng had seen before, not the luxurious gold armor or the understated black armor she often wore now.
The little black ghost beside her—Ying had seen these little creatures before in the Cat's Tail Tavern and in the wild, except those little Seito wore white bone masks.
But it's still instantly recognizable.
As for the following...
Ying looked at the illustration and felt her heart pound.
Albedo's drawing skills are indeed excellent; the Hollow Knight, who combines the power of both the Beheaded and Void creatures, is truly terrifying.
There's another sentence below.
"The fused Void Knight possesses immense combat power and can wield a certain amount of Void Power... It has various Abyss spells inscribed upon its body by Void creatures... It possesses the invulnerability of the Beheaded... It has extremely strong regenerative abilities and can counterattack enemies during the regeneration process... It is proficient in all martial arts and can kill a Frostarm Lawachurl with its bare hands... It has the ability to absorb various energies, including but not limited to Elemental Power, Void Power, Abyss Power, and the power of Ley Line..."
Ying slammed the record shut.
"Did you create a new Jiang Xiaofeng?!"
Ying frowned, unsure of what to say.
Furthermore, Ying gained a new understanding of the extent of these alchemists' madness.
No matter how forbidden the power, they will study it.
However, what Ying didn't know was...
The Collector and Albedo's research were conducted with Jiang Xiaofeng's consent.