"Grand Master Jean!"
At that moment, a Knight of Favonius rushed in, gasping for air. His face was frantic, and his words tumbled out in a rush. "Headquarters just received an emergency report! A violent explosion has occurred at Mr. Albedo's alchemy workshop!"
"Albedo's alchemy workshop?!"
Hearing this, Jean's face darkened, shock flashing through her azure eyes.
Albedo's workshop had exploded?
This has never happened before!
Albedo was Mondstadt's top alchemist. His approach to experiments was rigorous and precise. How could such a severe accident occur?!
Jean's heart rate spiked. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"What is the situation? Are there any casualties?" she asked immediately.
The knight answered hurriedly, "The explosion was confined to the interior of the workshop. Fortunately, it did not spread to the surrounding streets. The area outside seems unaffected. Mr. Albedo likely contained it."
Hearing this, Jean finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Thank Barbatos...
At least the citizens were safe.
But her expression remained grave as her mind raced through possible causes.
Albedo was cautious by nature. He wouldn't make such a low-level mistake.
This explosion was definitely not a simple accident.
Suddenly, Jean's eyelid twitched.
Could it be related to Klee's bombs?
She remembered clearly—Albedo had come to her office yesterday and taken Klee's backpack to study the explosives.
He had personally said that while Klee's bombs were powerful, they shouldn't have caused the scale of destruction seen at Cider Lake.
Without hesitation, Jean inhaled deeply and issued a decisive order. "Deploy patrol squads immediately. Strengthen the alert level within the city. Report any anomalies at once!"
"Keep a close watch on the Fatui's movements."
"Yes!"
The knight saluted and sprinted off.
Jean grabbed her cloak, threw it over her shoulders, and strode out of the office, heading straight for the alchemy workshop!
She needed to see Albedo immediately and confirm the situation herself!
She didn't just walk; she summoned Anemo power to speed her journey.
...
Like the wind sweeping away clouds, Jean, clad in the Grand Master's cloak, moved rapidly through the crowd.
Anemo energy surged beneath her boots, carrying her forward on a current of air. Her speed was astonishing.
A large crowd of Mondstadt citizens and patrolling knights had already gathered at the workshop entrance.
Panic and confusion were written on everyone's faces.
They whispered among themselves, trying to guess the cause of the explosion.
But no one dared to get too close.
Black smoke was still churning, and the air held a lingering, unsettling aura that chilled them to the bone.
Jean didn't hesitate. She walked straight through the scorched smoke and stepped into the ruins of the workshop!
The moment she entered, her expression changed abruptly.
She sensed a very familiar aura.
It was the same Destructive Energy residue she had felt at the scene of the Fatui massacre last night.
But compared to the faint traces left on the street, the aura inside the workshop was suffocatingly heavy.
"Cough, cough..."
At that moment, a cough brought Jean back to reality.
With a thought, she swept away some of the lingering smoke with a gentle gust of wind, looking toward the deepest part of the workshop.
Albedo stood before a shattered experiment table. A Geo shield surrounded him, protecting the small area he occupied.
Although his clothes were stained with soot and his golden hair was slightly messy, he maintained a calm expression. There was even a thoughtful light in his eyes.
In front of him lay a pile of charred debris.
Clearly, this was what Albedo had been pondering.
"Are you alright?"
Jean walked quickly to him. "What happened here?"
Albedo gave a bitter smile, patting the ash from his coat. "Fortunately... there are no major issues."
"As for the explosion..."
He sighed slightly.
Looking down at the charred fragments, his voice turned grave. "Although I crafted the casing of this bomb for Klee, the interior has been modified."
"This aura belongs to a special kind of power."
"Stored inside the bomb was an energy that even I cannot fully analyze..."
"It is a force... more violent than Pyro, and harder to control than Geo."
"I attempted to disassemble one. A moment of carelessness triggered it, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the lab."
As expected.
Hearing this, Jean's face grew heavier.
She had suspected this before arriving.
Now, Albedo's words confirmed her fears.
And the most critical part: this involved Klee.
Someone had secretly modified Klee's bombs, injecting them with this unknown destructive energy.
The danger of this power was so great that even an alchemy master like Albedo couldn't control it.
If this were to spread, Mondstadt City would be...
"What is it?"
Albedo keenly sensed the change in Jean's expression. He raised an eyebrow, his deep teal eyes filled with inquiry.
Jean didn't answer immediately. She looked at Albedo deeply.
Then she exhaled slowly, her gaze serious. "Albedo, did you know? Last night, an abnormal incident occurred inside Mondstadt..."
Hearing this, Albedo paused, listening intently.
Jean held nothing back. She briefly recounted the massacre from last night, the mysterious death of the Fatui elites, the use of Delusions.
And the analysis she and Kaeya had made.
"...In short, last night's event was not a simple conflict. It was a highly specific assassination or probe."
"The Fatui elites are not weak. They even used the power of Delusions. Yet, they were destroyed on the spot by some powerful force."
"More importantly..."
Jean paused, her eyes dark. "The energy fluctuation remaining at the scene is almost identical to the energy released by the explosion in your workshop today."
The air suddenly went silent.
Albedo's expression finally changed.
His pupils contracted sharply. He subconsciously smoothed his messy hair, his fingertips tightening.
"...Such a thing happened?"
There was a rare heaviness in Albedo's eyes.
The reason was simple: a key link connected everything.
The bomb.
He made it. He gave it to Klee to play with.
The result? Klee's bomb was modified with unknown energy.
Yesterday, it caused a massive commotion at Cider Lake.
Today, bringing it back to the lab caused an explosion that linked directly to the death of Fatui elites last night.
And lurking behind all of this... was the shadow of the Abyss Order.
Albedo frowned deeply.
Has the Abyss Order developed this kind of energy?
Seeing Albedo's expression turn serious, Jean frowned. "Have you thought of something?"
"This bomb came from Klee's backpack. Doesn't this mean... Klee has also been dragged into the Abyss Order's conspiracy?!"
Albedo's eyes turned sharp.
Although Klee was currently in confinement, if this power had been lurking in Mondstadt...
Had Klee, unknowingly, become a key point in some dark plan?
Thinking of this, Albedo took a deep breath.