Diluc and Arkz stood on the eaves, watching the Knights of Favonius escort the grumbling Allison away, along with the jumpy dumpty bombs they had confiscated from him.
Arkz clearly saw a Knight, enraged by Allison's foul language, deliver a harsh kick to his backside, causing the wound that had just stopped bleeding to erupt into a fountain of blood.
Arkz thought silently, "I thank my brother Allison for his sacrifice, but since this guy is a Treasure Hoarder, I must give the Knights a thumbs-up."
The moonlight was like water, spilling over the streets and rooftops of Mondstadt.
Bathing in the moonlight, Arkz and Diluc admired the beautiful night scenery of Mondstadt together.
Feeling the cold wind blowing across his face, Arkz felt that at this moment, the only thing separating him from being a superhero was a cape.
Arkz thought to himself, "Helping the Knights apprehend a vicious criminal and finding the lost bombs—I truly am a good citizen of Mondstadt."
At that moment, the masked Diluc snorted coldly and said in a low voice, "These guys from the Knights must be quite pleased with themselves for gaining such great merit so easily."
Arkz smiled and tried to placate him, "These Knights worked hard all night rummaging through every trash can in Mondstadt. Even if they didn't earn merit, they deserve credit for their hard work. Searching for dangerous bombs inside dirty and smelly trash cans is no easy task."
Arkz thought, "I certainly can't join you in cursing the Knights."
Diluc crossed his arms, gazed at the moon in the sky, and remained silent, offering no rebuttal to Arkz.
Suddenly, the wind direction on the rooftop changed. Both Diluc and Arkz had been inside trash cans for so long that their clothes were thoroughly saturated with the smell. The wind now carried the scent from Diluc's direction over to Arkz.
A wave of rancid, spoiled food odor and stench hit Arkz in the face. Arkz, who was just enjoying the cool night breeze, instantly lost his composure.
Arkz gagged once and quickly moved to a windward spot, taking deep breaths of fresh air.
Diluc looked at Arkz's exaggerated reaction, then lowered his head to sniff his own clothes. After that, he turned his back to Arkz expressionlessly, and a sound of dry heaving followed.
Arkz watched Diluc with his back turned and thought, "I didn't expect this guy Diluc to care so much about his image and have such an idol burden. No wonder he has so many young female admirers in Mondstadt."
Feeling the smell clinging to him, Arkz no longer hesitated and pulled out the 'Cleanse' pendant.
Arkz was immensely grateful at that moment that he had spent a large sum to buy this pendant from Venti. Otherwise, he would have had to endure this smell all the way back to Springvale Farm in Springvale, which would have been truly unbearable.
Arkz walked behind Diluc, spun the small impeller on the windmill pendant, and immediately a cyan whirlwind enveloped the two of them. After the whirlwind dissipated, both were sparkling clean.
Diluc looked at the windmill pendant in Arkz's hand with surprise and exclaimed, "Wow, what a magical little gadget."
"How much? I'll buy it."
Arkz refused, "This is not for sale; I still need it."
Diluc activated his wealth ability and said lightly, "100,000 Mora."
"It's not about the money."
"200,000 Mora."
"I really can't sell this to you."
"500,000 Mora."
"I'll think of a way when I get back."
"1 million—"
"Stop!"
Arkz struggled to resist the temptation of 1 million Mora. Finally, he overcame his greed and loudly stopped Diluc from bidding further.
Arkz explained, "I got this from a friend. There's probably only one in all of Teyvat. Let me study it for a while. Once I figure it out, I'll give you one for free."
He repeatedly persuaded himself: "It's only 1 million Mora. Building a good relationship with Diluc will surely earn me more than 1 million Mora in the future."
Seeing Arkz hesitate yet firmly refuse his Mora offer, Diluc's gaze toward him became even more satisfied.
Diluc thought, "He is not tempted by Mora and has his own principles. Despite his hobby of rummaging through trash cans, Mr. Arkz is indeed a trustworthy person."
Thinking that he had mistaken such a good person for a Treasure Hoarder and had almost attacked him, Diluc felt deeply guilty.
A moment later, Diluc took out a bag of Mora from his embrace and handed it to Arkz.
Arkz looked at the bag of Mora before him doubtfully and asked, "What's this for?"
Diluc said seriously, "This was dug out of the trash can where we were hiding. I took my share; this is yours."
"Hahaha!"
Arkz laughed heartily as he took the bag of Mora, happily saying, "I knew there were treasures hidden in Mondstadt's trash cans! Look at all this Mora!"
"Hey buddy, if you run into any more, let's go rummaging together next time!"
Diluc: "... That would be fine too. Rummaging through trash cans together is also a way to foster friendship."
After speaking, Diluc hurriedly bid farewell, afraid that Arkz would grab his sleeve and drag him off to search trash cans together.
Diluc hurried towards Angels Share while thinking, "Although I don't have mysophobia, going through those trash cans is something I genuinely can't accept right away. Perhaps I should start with some specialized training, maybe starting by checking the trash cans at Dawn Winery?"
After parting ways with Diluc, Arkz glanced at the moon, feeling it was getting late. Amu was also due to start his shift with the Patrol Team soon, so he turned and sprinted toward the carriage outside the city.
The next day.
Springvale Farm, a group of Arkzs filed out of the small wooden house, leaving Ellin and Siegfrieda stunned, while Amu rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Amu: "Am I hallucinating? Or am I still dreaming?"
Siegfrieda: "So many Mr. Arkzs! Can I take one home to be my private chef?" (Hey, hey, young lady, your thoughts are dangerous.)
Ellin: "With this many Uncle Arkzs, I can already predict that today's training mission will be very difficult. I hope Uncle Arkz will go easy on me."
Looking at the three stunned people before them, the numerous Arkzs said in unison: "What? You can't even recognize me?" x N
Insulted by Arkz like this, the three naturally refused to accept it and quickly stepped forward to carefully observe the differences among the circle of Arkzs. They swore they would find the real Arkz and show him how formidable the three of them were.
Amu: "Their hair and clothes are all the same."
Siegfrieda: "Their abs and arm muscles are identical too."
Ellin: "There's no flaw in their speech either."
A moment later, the three youngsters gathered together and dejectedly raised the white flag.
Ellin: "Uncle Arkz, we surrender! You all look exactly the same; this is cheating!"
All the Arkzs who had won this competition burst into laughter, and then these Arkzs turned into dust and smoke, leaving only one Arkz still laughing.
Siegfrieda looked disappointed, "Ah! All the other Mr. Arkzs are gone."
Ellin exclaimed in amazement, "Is this also done using Elemental Power? It's truly miraculous!"
Arkz smiled and explained, "This is an improvement based on the Wood Person Summoning Technique—the Wood Clone!"
"With these Wood Clones, I can train Ellin, take care of the farm's crops, and complete commissions for the Adventurers Guild simultaneously."
Siegfrieda marveled, "What a miraculous skill, Mr. Arkz is amazing, even more amazing than Grandpa Grei."
Ellin frowned and asked, "Uncle, there must be limitations to this Wood Clone, right?"
Arkz nodded, "When a Wood Clone makes contact with the main body, its memories synchronize with my main body, including fatigue from working. This fatigue will also accumulate."
"So, while using Wood Clones can increase work efficiency, if too many clones are split off and too much exhaustion accumulates at once, the main body won't be able to handle it."
"The memories and wisdom of these Wood Clones originate from me, and I have already planned out your training missions, so don't worry about your training running into problems."
Ellin nodded, "Even with these limitations, the Wood Clone is truly magical, Uncle. Now, besides Acting Grand Master Jean, I have added another person to my list of idols."
Arkz smiled and asked, "Oh? To be considered an idol by Ellin, someone who can be compared to Acting Grand Master Jean in her heart, that person must be very formidable. Could that person be me?"
Ellin tilted her head and said proudly, "It's not you!"
Then she playfully grabbed Siegfrieda and Amu and ran off.
Arkz shook his head, "To treat me as an idol—one could easily go astray. A life achieved through cheating cannot be replicated."
Last night, after Arkz said goodbye to Diluc and returned to the farm, he was originally studying the array patterns on the 'Windmill Pendant.' Unexpectedly, inspiration struck him, and after staying up all night, he researched and developed this divine skill: the Wood Clone.
The inspiration for Arkz's skill came from the Clone Jutsu in Naruto. The biggest difference between the two is probably that Arkz's Wood Clone is driven by Elemental Power, making it unstable. It is especially susceptible to destruction when encountering other elements that can react with the Dendro Element.
Therefore, the main application scenario for the Wood Clone is in daily life. In combat, the Wood Clone can only be used to confuse enemies.
Arkz summoned three Wood Clones: Arkz 1, Arkz 2, and Arkz 3.
Arkz: "Arkz 1, you are responsible for training Ellin. You should know the specific training content. I have already prepared the potions for replenishing stamina; you know where they are."
"Arkz 2, you are responsible for taking care of the farm's crops, sowing seeds, and protecting the farm."
"Arkz 3, you stay in the small wooden house to study the array patterns on this pendant."
Arkz 1: "Got it."
Arkz 2: "We are essentially the same person."
Arkz 3: "So, you only need to plan out the task distribution in advance before summoning us; you don't need to spend the effort to state the specific task assignments."
Arkz looked at the three clones before him and smiled, "Isn't this more conscious?"
Arkz 3 raised his hand and asked, "Then what work is the main body responsible for?"
Arkz looked towards the forest outside the farm and said, "Me? I'm responsible for digging!"
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