Next, everyone went their separate ways to do their own things.
Jean stayed behind to finish up work.
Eula had to return to Lawrence's outpost. Amber, feeling awkward being with the unfamiliar Keqing and Ganyu, accompanied Eula home.
Jack, on the other hand, took the Liyue tour group to Albedo's alchemy workshop to pick up the machines he had commissioned.
In addition, Jack's party also gained Mona, who had almost been trapped in the Serenitea Pot.
— "No, how many hours have passed? Are you still at the Knights of Favonius?"
Mona said somewhat glumly.
— "Plans change, you know. Originally, I thought Eula and the others' reports would be quick, but as you can see, we have a whole bunch of envoys from Liyue behind us."
— "Envoys, indeed. Do you really think others can't tell your relationship?"
Mona looked disdainfully at the man who was getting away with something and still acting innocent.
From the moment she left the Serenitea Pot until now, Shen He and Ganyu hadn't even given her a proper look.
Jack soothed Miss Mona's witch hat, and Mona gave a tsundere cold snort.
— "By the way, True Lord, I wanted to ask, can the Serenitea Pot only be opened by its holder?"
Cloud Retainer was still contemplating Jack's group activities and barely came back to her senses when asked:
— "Hmm? …What did you say?"
— "I said that this Serenitea Pot, this Adeptal Abode artifact, can currently only be opened by me and Lumine, and we are in a state of quantum entanglement, able to open the same Serenitea Pot no matter how far apart we are.
But others, even if they learn the seal, cannot open the Serenitea Pot. Even if they could open the door from the inside, it wouldn't leave people trapped in the pot when Lumine and I don't respond.
Does True Lord have a method?"
Cloud Retainer suddenly realized:
— "What's difficult about that? Ping'er probably didn't expect you, boy, to make so many confidantes back then. Wild journeys are dangerous, so she added multiple restrictions to your Adeptal Abode artifact. I'll make some talismans and tokens for you, and that should be enough."
— "In that case, many thanks, True Lord. Then please give me fifty or sixty of them."
— "???"
Cloud Retainer was instantly dumbfounded.
— "Do you think these talismans are like cabbages, dozens of keys?! And also, how many girls have you, boy, provoked in the seven nations?"
Jack gave an awkward yet polite smile.
— "It's not as exaggerated as seven nations; so far, it's just four nations."
— "Just?!"
Cloud Retainer almost couldn't resist giving Jack a blast.
Even Keqing couldn't quite maintain her composure, covering her face and interjecting to help.
— "Does True Lord have other difficulties? If the materials for the keys are hard to find, I can send people to collect them everywhere."
— "He's adding new sisters for you. You don't mind?"
Cloud Retainer looked into Keqing's eyes and said.
Keqing indeed didn't mind, casually replying:
— "True Lord also knows that a long life is inherently lonely, and it's probably difficult for him and me to have, or even impossible to have, a next generation. So, isn't it quite lively with more people like this?"
Cloud Retainer was stunned.
Her thoughts drifted back to the past.
Guizhong, Ping'er...
Time had changed everything, and people were no longer the same.
The current way Keqing and Jack's other companions got along was so similar to how she and her peers used to interact.
Cloud Retainer said with emotion, "It's that brat's luck that you have such thoughts, and it's also Ganyu and He'er's luck. As the main wife, I approve of you on Ganyu's behalf."
"So, True Monarch, you agree to help make some keys?"
Cloud Retainer glanced at Jack, who was speaking, and hummed, "Be glad you found a good wife. Treat Keqing better from now on."
"Of course! I definitely have to dote on my own wife."
Jack shamelessly accepted Cloud Retainer's admonition.
This resolved a common issue with entering and exiting the Serenitea Pot.
Soon after, Jack arrived at Albedo Street with ease. He found the warehouse and recalled Albedo's method of operation to open the door.
In an instant, everyone was blinded by the massive pile of diamonds before their eyes.
Cloud Retainer's eyes lit up, and she tugged at Ganyu, coughing twice.
Ganyu understood and said, "Traveler, could you…?"
"Granted!"
Immortal birds are still birds; they all like collecting shiny things, right?
Jack wasn't surprised that his MC World-style pure diamonds were very popular. Even he planned to keep some to make accessories for his wives.
Diamonds, which were worthless on Blue Star in his previous life, were hyped to sky-high prices due to scarcity marketing. However, in MC World and fantasy worlds, diamonds themselves possess excellent elemental conductivity, making them both beautiful and useful.
Thus, from 40 stacks of diamonds, Jack kept 5 stacks and planned to take 35 stacks home to sell, which was nearly 45,000 world coin. Suddenly, he became wealthy.
Then he walked to the few machines Albedo had placed in a conspicuous spot. Opening the instruction manual, he could see that Albedo had meticulously used illustrations and text to demonstrate how to operate the machines.
"The conversion efficiency is roughly 2 stacks per machine per day. Currently, there are 3 machines. They require monthly maintenance and a major overhaul every 3 years."
"Four types of energy have been tested so far: Elemental Shards, Ley Line energy, Magic Source Gems, or Genshin's own elemental power."
"None of them are easy to obtain."
Elemental Shards require defeating boss-level and above monsters. Jack only obtained a few from the MC World Linkage monster, the Bone-Breaking Witch, during the last collaboration event.
After detaching from the game's boss refresh mechanism, obtaining these was less efficient than having Klee help with gacha pulls.
Ley Line energy was even more out of the question. Teyvat was considered his future family property, so he couldn't mess around with it.
Magic Source Gems could basically only be obtained through mining. They could be regenerated using a crystallizer, but their condensation speed simply couldn't keep up with the consumption.
All things considered, human labor was the most sustainable method. Could it be that he would become a black-hearted factory capitalist? Making the Genshin characters work for him and paying them world coin as compensation?
No! The Genshin characters' elemental power wasn't infinite, and excessive consumption could be life-threatening. This method was not appropriate.
Keqing saw Jack frowning at the instruction manual, so she also peeked over his shoulder from behind.
"Jack, are you troubled by the energy issue?"
"Hmm?" Jack came back to his senses. "Indeed, A Qing, do you have any good energy recommendations?"
Keqing thought for a moment, then pulled out a handful of mora. "Jack, do you think this can be used? For us, mora is both currency and a consumable. Mora can be used for various actions like weapon forging, artifact offerings, and more."
"Indeed, mora is universally recognized as Teyvat's all-purpose tool. Logically, Albedo shouldn't have overlooked it."
"I think it's probably an efficiency issue. With mora, such a low-level universal energy, it would probably convert at most one stack of diamonds you mentioned per day."
Cloud Retainer interjected from the side. "This intricate contraption is truly exquisite. It replaces human alchemy with machinery. I must say, Khaenri'ah's research in this area is indeed more thorough than ours."
Keqing saw that Cloud Retainer was already inspecting the instrument, and the worry in her heart gradually subsided.
Jack noticed Keqing's sudden relaxed expression. A long-standing doubt was answered.
Keqing thought she had hidden it well. In fact, Jack, who had always been observing her, had long noticed her slight suspicion of Albedo.
It was true that Jack had an excellent relationship with Albedo. But friendship was one thing, and business was another.
Checking the safety and confidentiality of the instruments was simply part of his duty. Even if Keqing hadn't brought Cloud Retainer, Jack would have used other methods to verify if the instrument had any hidden tricks.
Now that Keqing was helping, Jack could slack off a bit, so he decided not to expose her.
Jack stroked Keqing's head and gave her a loud kiss.
Keqing rolled her eyes at him, then pouted, pointing to Shen He, who was looking at him eagerly.
"He'er wants some too?"
"Husband…"
Shen He's eyes looked at him wetly, her tenderness overflowing like a full cup of water about to spill.
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