Undercover in Snezhnaya, My Teyvat Spy Life [19]

Why is Alice here?

Artem Vetrovski’s mind spun rapidly.

This legendary witch…
Even Varka had to admit defeat when it came to her power.

Her unexpected appearance completely upended his plan.

And in front of someone this powerful, Artem knew he couldn’t use force.

Thinking quickly, Artem put away his Debt Collector’s knife, smoothed his expression into calm politeness, and smiled. “I never expected to run into the renowned Lady Alice here.”

“Oh? Little one, you know who I am?” Alice’s laughter was light and bright, clearly pleased to be recognized.

“Of course. For an adventurer as famous as you, who hasn’t heard your name?”
“In Mondstadt, countless young people dreaming of adventure look up to you as their idol.”

Artem delivered the compliment without missing a beat.

Sure enough, Alice’s smile grew even broader at the praise.
Even little Klee at her side started giggling along.

After a moment, Alice waved the clockwork bird in her hand and asked, “So, little one, where did you get this gadget?”

Here it comes!

Artem’s heart skipped a beat.

He hurriedly put on a friendly smile. “I found it by chance and thought it looked interesting, so I wanted to see what it could do.”

To his surprise, Alice didn’t question him—she just looked at him expectantly.

“And then? Did you figure it out?”

“I did. This device attracts monsters, so I thought I’d test whether it could help clear out the hilichurls here.”

Lying came as naturally to Artem as breathing, so he kept his face perfectly sincere.

After hearing this, Alice’s brows shot up and she interrupted, “That won’t do.”

“These hilichurls are my experimental subjects.”

“If you wipe them all out, how am I supposed to finish my research?”

Artem was left speechless.

Using hilichurls for experiments… only Alice could think of that.

Alice didn’t seem to notice his reaction. She gestured animatedly as she spoke.

“See, there are so many hilichurls here.”

“If I built a giant spherical spinning cage in this hollow—”

“—and locked all the hilichurls inside—”

“The momentum they’d generate could, in theory, keep all Mondstadt’s windmills running for five years.”

“Isn’t that an absolutely brilliant experiment?”

Alice’s face radiated pride—she was clearly thrilled with her plan.

If it succeeded, she’d not only solve the Dadaupa Gorge hilichurl problem, but also provide Mondstadt with endless productive power.

Watching her bask in her own brilliance, Artem’s lips twitched.

To him, the plan sounded like pure fantasy.

Still, he dutifully praised her.

“Alice, you’re truly ingenious. I’m sure the Knights of Favonius will give your project their full support.”

“Hmph! Naturally!” Alice replied, brimming with confidence.

She continued on a roll: “And that’s just the start—I’ve already thought through the next steps.”

“Look, hilichurls have the old, the weak, the sick, and the injured.”

“Some wear out and can’t keep working.”

“So we’ll send them into the mill to be processed into feed, and let the strong hilichurls eat it.”

“That way, not a single resource goes to waste, and they’ll keep generating kinetic energy for even longer!”

“We might even have enough to power factories as huge as those in Snezhnaya.”

“Yes, yes, by my calculations—”

“It’s totally! Feasible!”

After hearing this mad-scientist proposal, Artem was left dumbstruck.

What a heartless, downright diabolical idea.

Even Snezhnayan capitalists would weep at the efficiency—and then write it down in their little black books.

“Hey, little one?”

Alice waved a hand in front of Artem’s face, snapping him out of his daze.

“So? Isn’t my experiment perfect?” she beamed.

Seeing her so excited, Artem forced himself to give a big thumbs-up. “Yes, it’s absolutely perfect.”

“In that case—”

Alice waved the clockwork bird and let out a delighted laugh. “Little one, shouldn’t you support my experiment, then?”

“Of course.”

Artem obediently dismantled the clockwork birds he’d just set up, handing them over to Alice.

With that, his plan to summon a monster horde was completely ruined.

Whatever Alice’s reasons for wanting the birds, it was clear his plot had failed.

Even with two spare clockwork birds left, there was no way to attract enough monsters for a large-scale event.

Time for a new plan to nab Diluc.

Seeing Artem’s look of utter defeat, Alice thought for a moment, then rummaged in her adventurer’s backpack and produced three small spheres.

They were bright orange, shaped like rabbits in the front, with a cartoon bunny drawn on the back.

Artem could sense the dense Pyro energy inside, even from Alice’s hand.

“I wouldn’t take your things for free!”

“Here, I’ll trade you these three [Jumpy Dumpties].”

Alice held them out proudly. “I made them myself!”

She waved her arms, making a huge circle: “Use them for fishing—you’ll be amazed at how many fish you can blow up.”

“But remember—”

“[Jumpy Dumpties] aren’t for hurting people.”

“Or for blowing up the city gates.”

“Or for blasting open the Knights’ detention cells.”

Artem took the [Jumpy Dumpties] wordlessly.

Even so, he could feel the terrifying power locked inside.
He had no doubt that if these things exploded on a person, the results would be catastrophic.

Just as their trade finished, Klee—quiet until now—tugged at Alice’s sleeve and piped up:

“Mommy, Klee wants to go fish-blasting.”

“Alright, alright, Mommy will take you.”

Alice bent down, gently booping Klee’s nose.

Then she looked back at Artem. “Little one, let’s meet again sometime!”

With that, she pulled an Anemo Slime out of her bag, gave it a hard slap, and—whoosh!—a sudden gale blasted out, stinging Artem’s face.

Alice grabbed Klee, soared into the air, and with a flash her wind glider opened and a chorus of silvery laughter, headed straight for Starfell Lake.

After they left, Artem shook his head.

Well, that was an unexpected turn.

Looks like I’ll have to change tactics to capture Diluc.

Ambush the patrol squads. Wipe them out. Leave just one survivor to run back to Mondstadt and raise the alarm—then the cavalry will be sent to rescue them.

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T/N: my jaw as hanging at Alice's idea...

This is a fan translation of 提瓦特之我在至冬做臥底 by 曉風殘月聽荷 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!