Yes, Lady Funina!

Soon after, a deafening roar echoed through the forest, shaking the snow off the trees. But it was just that one roar, and then the forest fell silent.

Funina looked in the direction of the sound, her almond-shaped eyes filled with curiosity.

"what is that?"

“It’s nothing, Richard is just collecting sample data,” Abedo replied.

"But isn't the fluctuation of the sample data a bit too much?" Fu Ningna pointed to the top of the forest in the distance, where a white wave was surging down from the mountaintop, and the ground was gradually trembling.

Abedo, who had been conducting experiments in the snow-capped mountains for a long time, naturally recognized what it was and immediately said, "Oh no, it's an avalanche! Quickly take Klee back!"

“But Richard, he…”

"He'll be fine."

With Richard's abilities, even if the entire Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain collapsed, he would be fine.

Nevertheless, Funina glanced worriedly in the direction of the woods before following Abedo toward the laboratory.

Soon, Abedo led Fryna and Klee back into the cave, but the sudden avalanche, with its destructive force, buried everything in its path, including the wooden suspension bridge.

Fortunately, the avalanche was discovered early, giving the three of them time to hide in a cave on the side of the mountain to avoid its impact. If it had been discovered later, there wouldn't have been enough time to escape.

The avalanche on the snow-capped mountain came quickly and went quickly. Only after feeling the tremors on the ground subside did Funina and the others emerge from the cave.

"Hey! It's Richard!" Claire pointed towards the broken bridge and spotted a figure. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Richard.

"Wait, Klee, don't go over there yet. I feel like something's not right." Furnessa stopped Klee, who was about to rush over, and looked at Richard's walking posture with a suspicious look in her eyes.

“Yes, I feel the same way.” Clearly, Aberdo had also noticed that something was wrong with 'Richard'.

The way Richard was walking over there didn't have that natural, effortless feel at all. He walked smoothly, but there was an inexplicable awkwardness about it.

This unnaturalness gives the impression of a poorly performing actor trying hard to convey the tension in the script, but due to insufficient skill, the result is a disjointed and ineffective imitation.

Besides being an excellent opera singer, Furnessa is also a superb theater director with exceptional observational skills.

Based on her understanding of Richard and the various strange things about the 'Richard' in front of her, Funina could basically conclude that although the person in front of her looked exactly like Richard, they were definitely not the same person.

Who is playing Richard? And what is their purpose?

The snow mountain anecdotes Richard had told her before she came in involuntarily popped into Funin's mind.

She couldn't help but curse under her breath: "What a jinx!"

Aberdo walked up to Fryna and Cleo, drew his longsword from his waist, and prepared to fight.

Meanwhile, Richard on the other side seemed to realize that he had been exposed and charged towards them without hesitation, launching an attack.

'Jingle-ding-ding-ding'

Several crisp sounds of iron swords clashing rang out as Aberdo and Richard had already exchanged several blows in a short period of time.

This also shows that this imposter did not have the overwhelming strength of Richard.

If Richard were here in his true form, he probably wouldn't even need to lift a finger; with his Ice Authority, he could render everyone powerless to resist.

As the situation gradually became tense, the imposter used the force of his struggle with Abedo to quickly retreat a few steps, creating distance between them.

He then dropped the iron sword in his hand and conjured a pure white ice elemental lotus in the air. Although the lotus looked flawless, both Abedo and the Fryna and Klee behind him could feel the biting cold emanating from it.

If they fall behind, they will definitely not fare well!

Just as Abedo took a deep breath, preparing to risk stepping forward to interrupt the spell, a familiar voice came from behind the imposter.

"That's enough, monster."

Richard's voice was cold as he stood in the void, one hand gripping the Corruption Sword, the other carrying a figure who had already fainted.

When Claire saw the two Richards standing opposite each other, she widened her eyes and exclaimed, "There are two Richard brothers!"

Upon hearing Keli's words, Richard's expression grew even colder as he stared at the imposter.

I was thinking, "What kind of class do you think you are, daring to have the same face as me?"

Book 1: Chapter 64 Art is...

The imposter left peacefully.

Because there were children present, Richard, in order not to affect his image in Klee's eyes, decisively eliminated the fake Richard who was actually the special agent "Flirting Flower".

If Klee weren't around, Richard felt he would definitely teach that charlatan a lesson in what a real mastermind is.

Plant it on the seabed, in magma, in the narrowest of spaces!

Anyway, whatever kind of torture you can inflict, letting it be burned to death by the blazing fire now would just be a good deal for this fraudulent flower.

Fortunately, Richard caught the culprit, and after dealing with the con artist, Funina and the others came over.

Although Claire was young, she already understood that the fake 'Richard' who had just been defeated by Richard was an imposter, so she didn't show any fear.

Fortunately, this is the case. If the incident involving the real and fake Richard had caused a rift between him and his beloved sister, Richard probably wouldn't have handed over the culprit to Aberdo; he would have dealt with the guy himself first.

Richard had even considered who would handle this guy. He thought that the Doctor would definitely be interested in this failure, and it would end up in the Doctor's hands, especially in the hands of the younger slicer.

Tsk tsk tsk, you might as well be dead.

Richard felt he had been far too cruel.

Of course, all of this is just wishful thinking. After all, the situation isn't that bad, so let's just leave this guy to Aberdo to handle.

"Wow! How come there are two more Abedo brothers?" Klee covered her mouth, looking at the [Failed Original Project] who had fainted at Richard's feet, and felt that today was so magical.

It's one thing to run into two Richard brothers, but why are there two Abelard brothers too?

"In the end, I still have to trouble you." Abedo squatted down, examined the failed prototype's body, and finally confirmed that this was indeed the failed prototype of the original plan.

The only finished product of the "Original Plan" was himself.

Sometimes Aberdo himself wonders if he were the one who lost, would he also choose to attack them like the 'Aberdo' who is now captured by Richard?

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs," so Aberdo had no answer, or perhaps the answer was already self-evident.

"There's no such thing as trouble or not trouble. After all, he was the one who started the trouble. His taste in choosing an opponent is really terrible," Richard complained.

Of the four people, the strongest one was chosen.

“He had no choice. He should have realized by then that you had discovered him. If he didn’t get rid of you, it would be difficult for him to continue his plan, which was to get rid of me and replace me,” Abedo said.

“Yes, but what do we do next?” Richard asked, looking at 'Abedo' on the ground.

“Leave it to me. You can go fishing with Funina and the others. There has already been one avalanche, so even if we fish for a short time, it will be difficult to cause a second one,” Abedo suggested.

"Yay! Let's go fry fish!" Little Cleo only half understood what the adults were saying, but she heard the words 'fry fish' very clearly.

Klee: As long as I can fry fish, it's a good thing.

"Klee, slow down!" Furina watched Klee run off, looking just like a young mother worried that her child might bump into something while running too fast.

When Aberdo saw this, his gaze toward Richard became more meaningful.

Richard had clearly noticed this as well, and said impatiently, "Get to work quickly and finish this, then come find us!"

Then he turned and slowly walked in the direction where Fryna and the others had left, muttering something like, "The temperature is so low, the conductivity must be poor. I'd better go fry fish with Klee." This made Jean's veins bulge.

Halfway there, Richard seemed to remember something and suddenly turned back.

Aberdo: ?

He didn't understand what Richard meant by returning, and then he saw Richard hand him the Corrupt Sword he was holding.

"The power of that tricking flower was wasted, so let's not waste this one. Even though it's a failed product, the power it contains is equivalent to several Hilichurls camps. It saves me the trouble of searching for Hilichurls everywhere. Let's make good use of this waste."

"Remember to extract the power from the sword after you're done processing it; the amount should be enough," Richard instructed.

Aberdo fell into deep thought. It felt like Richard's return wasn't to catch up, but rather like a superior coming back to assign him tasks.

I asked him to help me complete a small experiment, but when I turned around, I found that I had several more tasks, one of which was a long-term task.

Richard is really starting to resemble Aunt Alice more and more. I hope little Claire won't pick up bad habits from those two...

On the other side, before Richard even arrived, several large holes had already appeared in the frozen lake.

After taking the cold-resistant medicine, Ms. Haivima was like a cold and ruthless bomb-dropping machine. She flew to the designated location with the bouncy bomb in her arms, dropped the bouncy bomb from the air, and then splashed up a water column mixed with ice shards several meters high.

Fortunately, the members of the Lonely Hearts Salon all have the property of floating. If it were normal armored crabs, octopuses, and seahorses doing the bombing, they would have been blown to pieces.

Originally, Funina had no interest in fried fish and couldn't understand why a cute little girl like Klee would like such a brutal form of entertainment.

I've also considered whether I've been led astray by some guy who likes electrofishing. There's a saying that goes, "If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too."

However, it was only after she actually came into contact with and participated in the activity of frying fish that she truly understood its essence.

You know what, there's definitely a story behind this fried fish.

On the calm lake surface, a cute, round bomb is dropped, creating a short splash. Then, watching it slowly sink, you silently count down...

Suddenly, the lake surface seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force. The bomb exploded underwater, and the surrounding lake water was instantly compressed by the high temperature and pressure of the air wave, forming a huge spherical shock wave that spread outwards at an astonishing speed.

Its color changed from deep blue to fiery red, as spectacular as an underwater volcanic eruption. The shockwave, carrying the power to destroy everything, instantly squeezed and tore apart the surrounding seawater, forming a huge cavity.

After the deafening sound, came the soft patter of water droplets falling from the sky and splashing onto the water's surface.

Then you can see a dozen or so fish slowly emerging from the lake, their white bellies showing.

Her senses of sight, hearing, and even taste were satisfied, and Fulina even experienced a joy called 'harvest'!

Damn, this fried fish is so much fun!

Richard had just arrived beside Funina when he heard his water goddess turn her head and say to him, seemingly out of nowhere:

"Richard, explosions can be an art form too!"

Richard: ? ? ?

Volume 1: Chapter 65 Frinina's Ring

The six-day visit to Mondstadt was drawing to a close, and the Fontaine delegation boarded the ship for their return voyage, with Fryna and Richard among them.

Furnessa and Richard were in a separate cabin, luxuriously decorated and almost the size of a normal bedroom. There were two leather sofas, each with a solid wood coffee table next to it, inlaid with exquisite metal decorations, which looked calm and elegant.

To the right of the sofa is the cabin's dining area, behind which is a single bedroom. There is even a separate bathroom in this cabin, so that the Water God can enjoy a comfortable sailing experience.

All of the above was considered extremely luxurious on a compact ocean voyage. In contrast, other members of the mission, including Richard, could only have a small private room on the ship. Some civil servants who did not meet the required rank and other members of the mission could not even board the ship and had to travel on another relatively outdated Fontainebleau ship.

Of course, Richard didn't care at all about the size of his private room on the ship, since he could always use the excuse of reporting on work to freeload off Funina.

The journey from Mond to Fontaine was not long, and the fact that their ship, the Fucarus, used the latest propulsion system greatly shortened the journey, which would normally take a whole day.

They set off in the morning and would arrive in the afternoon, so they didn't really need the bedrooms provided in the cabin.

Richard's arrival was exactly what Funina wanted; she needed someone to chat with to relieve her boredom and pass the time during her journey.

The two sat on the luxurious sofa in the cabin. Furness held the Dudu doll that Keli had given her before parting and listened to Richard's work report with a bored expression.

For example, how many concessions did Monde make in import and export trade, and how many benefits did it gain from this visit...

Funina was tired of hearing all of this and asked if she could tell her something that interested her.

It's not working hours now...

"Alright, Lady Funina..."

“I’ve told you so many times, just call me Funina,” Funina interrupted, pouting.

"Theoretically speaking, this is a business trip, so it is still considered to be within working hours."

"Sigh, Richard, you're being so boring! There are only the two of us in this cabin right now. Who knows if we'll actually work? Could we possibly solve some major problem for Mo Mang Palace or Fontaine in just one afternoon?"

“It’s okay to take a little break. Would you like some dessert? Consider it an advance afternoon tea,” Funina asked Richard with a sly look.

Richard hadn't expected Funina to give such a reason. Compared to the serious demeanor Funina had shown in front of him before, this was probably her true self now... at least in part.

After all, even when wearing a mask, you still need to leave gaps around your eyes and nose occasionally, and lift a corner of the mask from time to time to let yourself breathe.

“You’ve convinced me, Funina.” Richard closed the document he was holding and set it aside for the time being.

Seeing that Richard was so understanding, Funina's pretty face showed a satisfied smile. She clapped her hands, and Miss Sheberida came over with a plate of desserts.

"Thank you," Richard said politely, taking a slice of dark chocolate cake topped with a red berry.

However, Miss Shepherdda seemed to still have some lingering trauma from Richard, as she vividly remembered his feat of breaking off eight legs of a heavy-shelled crab with his bare hands that day.

Although Miss Sebereda knew Richard wouldn't treat her that way, she still couldn't help but feel intimidated when she saw him.

It gives the impression that the crab legs are about to be lost.

"Mmm, a cup of hot tea paired with a sweet and fluffy cake, this timeless combination always brings me a good mood all day long." Funina cut a piece of cake with her fork and put it in her mouth, a satisfied smile on her face.