[Genshin Impact]: I can become stronger by cooking.

When Chao Ke entered the house, he found that there were seven or eight men tied up inside.

On the back of their hands, there was a pattern of a firebird.

"Are these people... all from the Firebird Cult?" Chao Ke asked.

My older sister nodded and said.

"They're just peripheral members. The president of the Firebird Order is somewhat shrewd. Only he and a few core members know the core matters. The one we arrested today is a core member of the Firebird Order."

"Only members of this rank in the Firebird Order would participate in the Les trade and know the location of the dungeon."

Chao Ke had a sudden realization: his older sister had probably played a significant role in cracking the large-scale Les sales case in Fengdanting these past two days.

Indeed, this move would not only capture the core members of the Firebird Order, but also purify the dark side of Fontaine.

After some interrogation, the core member of the Firebird Order realized his situation and led the two back to the Firebird Order's secret base.

Chapter 13 Saving Louise

When the three of them stepped into the Firebird Order's secret stronghold, Chao Ke found that it was already in a state of chaos.

Judging from the situation, they had clearly only been running for a short time.

Chao Ke kicked the core member with some displeasure, "Looks like you're not trusted much either. It's only been a short time since the special patrol team arrested you, and your boss has already run away with all the stuff."

The core members remained silent, their lips pressed tightly together, seemingly lost in thought.

“Take us to the dungeon. They ran in such a hurry that they probably didn’t have time to move the people in the dungeon.”

My older sister said in a deep voice.

The bound core members sighed and led Chao Ke and the other two towards the dungeon.

The dungeon entrance was well hidden, just as my older sister had predicted. The leader of the Firebird Order had fled in such a hurry that he hadn't had time to move the dungeon.

They simply locked the dungeon entrance with a large iron padlock.

The thick chains looked intimidating, but they were nothing to Chao Ke and his companion.

Not to mention that the two of them, as professional intelligence agents, had long since mastered the skill of lock picking.

The chains can be broken simply by using the purest force.

Without letting his older sister lift a finger, he kicked Ke, sending not only the iron lock flying but also the two iron doors flying through the air.

The bound Firebird Order core member's lips twitched, incredibly grateful that he had known when to back down; otherwise, if that kick had landed on him, tsk tsk tsk... he would have been truly delighted.

The Firebird Order's dungeons were dark and damp, and the air was filled with an unpleasant smell.

In this environment, not only Chao Ke, but even his older sister Arecino frowned slightly.

The Firebird Order's dungeon wasn't large, with only seven or eight rooms in total. The two quickly arrived at the room where Fimini's mother, Louise, was imprisoned.

Through the dim light, a thin figure could be vaguely seen, with scars on his pale skin, as if silently accusing the prisoners of their brutality.

Upon hearing the footsteps of the approaching person, Louise's numb eyes showed no reaction; she simply gripped the pendant in her hand tightly.

Without needing a key, Chao Ke opened the cell door and gripped the two adjacent iron pillars with both hands.

"Squeak-yah-"

The sturdy iron bars groaned shrilly under Chao Ke's hands, and soon, a gap large enough for a normal person to walk through was created.

This unusual scene brought a glimmer of light back to Louise's previously numb eyes, and she asked tremblingly, "You...who are you?"

"I've come to save you."

My older sister knelt down and roughly checked on Fimini's mother's condition.

Seeing his older sister's grim expression, Chao Ke roughly understood that Louise's physical condition was probably very bad.

That makes sense, since although she didn't interfere in the original storyline, her older sister did come by once some time later.

However, by then, Fimini's mother had already passed away.

But regardless, at least the operation rescued the people.

After leaving Louise's cell, he circled around the entire prison and rescued the two women imprisoned in the other cells as well.

Fortunately, these two were in much better condition than Fimini's mother, though they looked somewhat weak.

"Can you walk by yourself?"

"Yes...", "Okay".

The older sister picked up Fimini's mother, Louise, while Chao Ke led the two girls who were still able to walk away from the Firebird Order's stronghold.

Chao Ke originally intended to kill the captured Firebird Order member, or tie him to a pillar and set the Firebird Order's secret stronghold on fire.

But my older sister rejected me.

"Let's hand this key member and the Firebird Order peripheral members we caught earlier over to the special patrol team. With the information provided by these scoundrels, we can not only wipe out the Firebird Order in one fell swoop, but also follow the clues to arrest some related forces."

Chao Ke accepted his older sister's suggestion and spared the life of this core member of the Firebird Order for the time being.

Asahi could understand his older sister's behavior, since the Fools were ultimately the power of Winter, not Fontaine's.

My sister's power base is not monolithic. If she continues to work openly for Fontaine for the sake of the children, she will still be impeached.

So often, when my older sister wants to do something for Fontainebleau, the best option is to use someone else and keep herself out of the loop.

After handing over the two girls and the members of the Firebird Order to the special patrol team, the two quickly disappeared.

The members of the special patrol team were all bewildered when they took over these people. Only Ou Fu, who was standing to the side, seemed to guess what was going on when she saw Chao Ke's figure.

...

Inside the residential house where the outer members of the Firebird Order were previously imprisoned.

Chao Ke fed Louise some clean water, and her older sister gave her a simple wipe down.

“In her condition, even if you or I carry her, it’s not easy to bring her to the ground. I suggest that she rest and recuperate in Grey River for a while first.”

Seeing Louise's condition, her older sister said.

"Who...who are you people? Why did you come to save me?"

Feeling the kindness of the two strangers towards her, Louise asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Us?" Chao Ke hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer Fimini's mother's question.

“I am the children’s father and the new owner of that mansion.”

"New master... I see... May I ask if my child, Fimini, is still alive? How is he?"

Perhaps because it involved her child, the mother, who was originally extremely weak, suddenly had a very strong voice.

"To be honest, your child's physical condition is relatively healthy. As for his mental condition, I haven't been in charge of the mansion for very long, so I'm afraid I can't answer that question for you."

Regardless, Louise breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that her child was healthy, and her eyes regained their brightness, no longer dull.

"Thank you for coming here to save me. For my child's sake, I will recover as soon as possible and serve you."

Louise, as a single mother who managed to survive in the Grey River region, was no fool.

She believed that the two men came to rescue her not just out of kindness, but more likely because her son, Fimini, possessed some talent or ability that they valued, and that rescuing her was a way to ensure Fimini's loyalty.

Regardless, Louise was filled with gratitude towards the two women, for they not only saved her from that hellish place but also gave her the opportunity to see her child again.

Arecino looked at Louise, remained silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

For some reason, she was exceptionally sensitive to life. Louise's life force had been depleted for a long time. The exhaustion from being a single mother and having to pay off huge debts, the torment she suffered after being taken away by the Firebird Order, and the damp and cold dungeon environment had all combined to cause serious depletion in her body.

Unless a massive amount of life force can be injected at once to replenish this damaged body, conventional treatment, even if it can heal the wounds, cannot make up for the loss of life force.

But just as Arecino remained silent, Chao Ke stepped forward.

"Ms. Louise, there's something I think I should tell you."

"Please...speak."

"I think you should also have some sense that the vitality in your body, or rather, your own energy and spirit, is not sufficient, right?"

Louise paused for a moment, then nodded with a somber expression.

"Indeed...am my days... numbered?"

Arecino nodded, giving Louise a clear answer: "If the recovery goes well, you probably have another two or three years to live."

"Thank you for informing me. I will try my best to recover. As a mother, I also hope to spend more time with my child."

Seeing Fimini's mother in this state, Chao Ke also felt bad.

Oh well, let's just consider this filling the void left by the memory of being numb by the old man's knife when playing Terxie in my past life.

Chao Ke stepped forward and asked Louise, Fimini's mother, close to her.

"Madam, you don't want your child to..."

(There's one more chapter today, I'll post it after I get my postgraduate entrance exam results.)

Chapter 14: Living off a woman...

"Madam, you wouldn't want your child to lose her mother so early, would you?"

Upon hearing the ditty from Japan sung by Chao Ke, not only Louise but also Arecino, who was standing behind her, cast sharp glances at him.

"What...what do you mean by that?"

A glimmer of expectation appeared in Louise's pale eyes.

“Miss Louise, if you would be willing to become my kitchen helper, I might be able to replenish the vitality you have lost.”

"You...you're saying...is it true...? I...cough cough, I'm willing!"

Louise spoke with difficulty, emphasizing her wishes with great effort.

In fact, asking Chao Ke is pointless; probably no mother in the world would want to leave her child early.

"Okay, as you wish."

Under the watchful eyes of the two, Chao Ke took out a bread roll with meat patties from thin air.

Louise was somewhat bewildered by the contrast between reality and her expectations.