I have to say that Nilou, who excelled in dancing, was truly a stunner in bed.
Whether it was her slender yet incredibly flexible waist or those lotus-like feet that moved with a dancer's grace, everything about her gave Yilan the ultimate pleasure.
Especially because she was so enthusiastic and proactive—the two had made love from noon until evening, only stopping when she finally fell asleep in Yilan's arms.
"Yilan, I'm still inside your consciousness space, and yet you're doing that with another woman?"
A somewhat sorrowful voice suddenly echoed in Yilan's mind. But instead of concern, a playful smile appeared on his face.
"The Great Tree King herself isn't even anxious, and you, Rukkhadevata, are already throwing a fit?"
"Who's throwing a fit?!"
As the fluorescent light of the Void Terminal beside Yilan's ear flickered, a woman appeared in front of him.
Her appearance was identical to the former Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, yet her temperament was far more seductive and mischievous.
Looking at the annoyed woman before him, Yilan smiled and asked,
"Where's my wife, the Tree King? Did she let you out?"
"She saw too many disgusting things and absorbed too much forbidden knowledge. I took the opportunity to overpower her. Her consciousness has been consumed by me!"
"Oh? So now you're a personification of corrupted, silver-tier forbidden knowledge…"
Yilan stroked his chin with a wicked grin.
"How about we practice a little right now?"
"Fine."
Dark Rukkhadevata smiled flirtatiously.
She possessed a kind of enchanting beauty, and when she smiled, it was enough to bewitch any soul.
Sitting at the edge of the bed in a dark red dress, she wrapped one arm around Yilan's neck and leaned in slowly, aiming for his lips.
But just as their lips were about to touch, she suddenly pulled back and shouted,
"You're such a—you're totally unreasonable!"
"I'm a personality born from forbidden knowledge, and yet you still want to do that kind of thing with me?!"
"What's the problem? I'm not afraid of forbidden knowledge."
Yilan spread his arms, looking at the woman in front of him who only knew how to talk tough, and smiled.
"And in my original world, there's no discrimination against non-human beings—especially a beauty like you. You were actually one of my targets from the start."
"Ha—?!"
Dark Rukkhadevata's scarlet lips parted slightly in shock.
She wanted to glare at Yilan, but when her gaze met his, she subconsciously looked away.
She stomped her foot hard and huffed,
"I have nothing more to say to someone like you. I'm going back!"
With that, she ended the projection and retreated back into Yilan's consciousness space.
"Don't worry."
Yilan now spoke softly in his mind.
He knew exactly what Dark Rukkhadevata was about to say, and smiled gently.
"Rukkhadevata has no malice toward you. And neither do I. So you don't have to keep worrying that you'll be erased. If possible, I'll even try to create a separate physical body for you."
Dark Rukkhadevata: "…"
At that moment, she suddenly understood—
Why so many exceptional women were willing to follow a man like him.
Because some men, even if they only stayed with one woman, would never understand what that woman truly wanted.
They wouldn't understand her dreams, nor would they help fulfill them.
Even if they were loyal, they wouldn't stir a woman's heart.
But Yilan, even while being with Rukkhadevata, Nilou, and those foreign women, earnestly tried to understand what each of them wanted.
He worked hard to fulfill those dreams, one by one.
And in the end, isn't that what people chase their whole lives?
To be understood… and to receive what their hearts truly desire?
"..."
Yilan suddenly felt a little movement in his arms.
He looked down to see Nilou blinking her misty, aqua-blue eyes at him.
"Yilan… who were you talking to just now?"
"Oh, I was talking to your Great Compassion Tree King," Yilan said with a smile.
"Ah, Yilan, you're teasing me again. The Great Compassion Tree King has been gone for a long time. The current deity of Sumeru is the Little Lucky Grass King!"
Nilou clung to Yilan like a sleepy koala, crawling up from his chest.
Then, with a drowsy smile, she rubbed her face gently against his chest.
"So this is what it feels like… It's so wonderful. I think I can't live without Yilan anymore…"
Yilan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Had he spoiled Nilou too much?
He patted her head gently and said,
"Go get some sleep. You're still all groggy."
"No, I'm awake!" Nilou shook her head stubbornly, then looked up at Yilan with a silly smile.
"Yilan, where are we going to play tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" Yilan thought for a moment and said,
"Well, let's explore more of Sumeru first."
After unlocking the teleportation anchor points, travel became much easier—but in turn, Yilan became much busier.
The next day, he and Nilou traveled around Sumeru. It was both a date and a chance to activate teleport waypoints.
On the third day, he found time to return to Mondstadt and attend the inauguration ceremony as Archbishop of the Church of Favonius.
As the current second-in-command of Mondstadt, he met with his subordinates, assigned duties, then departed for Liyue the following day.
There, he spent a day each with Ganyu and Keqing respectively.
Sometimes, he really wished he could split himself into three parts.
But even with all those obligations, his main focus remained on one thing—
Sumeru.
Within the Akademiya's Ordinance Office, a special facility known as the Spiritual Workshop had finally completed development.
"…It's finally done."
Standing beside a futuristic-looking device, Yilan finished calibrating the machine and said to the nearby soldier:
"Let's test it."
"This is…"
The soldier, who had been unexpectedly called over, slowly opened his eyes.
Yilan could hear him exhale in awe.
Even Nahida widened her eyes in surprise and gasped, "Oh!"
Yilan proudly placed his hands on his hips, admiring the result of his labor.
"There's no helping it. Right now, aside from Rukkhadevata and me, there's no one in Sumeru with demon-god-level combat strength."
"But it's not realistic for the two of us to remain in Sumeru all the time. So I thought, why not create another 'god'?"
Of course, unlike Dottore, who tried to create fake Archons using the Gnosis, Yilan wasn't seeking to create a new member of the Seven.
He simply wanted to forge a powerful combat tool—a vessel that could grant his scattered soldier demon-god-level strength in direct combat.
Naturally, such a thing was extremely difficult.
Anyone who heard this would think Yilan was dreaming.
But now, he had inherited the wisdom of Yilan from the fourth simulation, and also had the assistance of Rukkhadevata, the Great Compassion Tree King.
Their combined intellect could be considered the greatest in all of Teyvat.
Creating a combat 'mecha' for the soldier was well within their abilities.
Yilan gently patted Nahida's head, silently assuring her not to worry.
Then he continued:
"Nahida is still young and excels in supportive roles. Though you lost your Electro Gnosis, your base combat power is solid—and as the older brother, you'll be handling frontline combat."
"I never tried to dodge that responsibility. I just meant…"
The scattered soldier gazed at the giant machine in front of him.
It was coated in white, blue, and red—a shape unlike anything he'd seen before.
The streamlined design was beautiful, and the metallic sheen of its joints gave off a sense of immense strength and elegance.
In Yilan's original world, this kind of machine was called—
"Gundam."
***
"In our world, it's usually called a Gundam," Yilan said with a smile, feeling an indescribable sense of pride. He had actually managed to build a Gundam with his bare hands.
He continued,
"I modified this Gundam based on your Seikyoujin, but honestly, that thing was far too ugly—especially the legs. They looked like compasses. So I redesigned the exterior. Now it actually looks cool. Satisfied?"
"Tch."
As usual, Scaramouche tried to verbally show off his strength, but when he opened his mouth, not a single word came out. His eyes were locked on the Gundam, as if drawn by a magnet.
—Sure enough, no man can resist the allure of a Gundam.
Yilan smiled and continued introducing it.
"It uses your Glazed Heart as the core. A while ago, I went to the desert and killed an Eternal Calamity Drake. I used its core—the 'Perpetual Motion Module'—as the power source."
This 'Perpetual Motion Module' wasn't just any ordinary part. According to in-game descriptions, it was something infinitely close to a perpetual motion machine. Steam engines, external combustion engines—even the internal combustion engines used in modern times—were nothing compared to this.
So even if you were a transmigrator, you had to remain humble. Every world had its own foundation, its own technological tree. You couldn't just start an industrial revolution by dragging in a product from the modern world.
"Now, go on up and try piloting it. Run a few tests while you're at it—I need to collect some data," Yilan said.
Though the mech looked like a Gundam on the outside, in essence, it resembled something closer to bio-armor—like Unit-01.
As such, there were no internal control devices. With a few simple wiring connections linked to the Glazed Heart embedded in Scaramouche, the unit would sync with him directly.
After a brief adaptation period, Scaramouche bounded around the entire testing field like a child with a new toy—joyful and unrestrained.
Nahida watched him for a while with a slightly envious look, then suddenly said,
"Dad, you could be my Great Sage."
"No. I refuse," Yilan replied immediately.
"Why not?"
Nahida felt a bit hurt. Her father had just made such a fascinating toy for her brother, yet he flatly rejected her proposal to be her sage.
Still, as a good child who aspired to be Daddy's little cotton-padded jacket, she didn't let her disappointment show. She knew her father must have his reasons.
Of course, if he didn't explain clearly, she would cry in front of him.
Sure enough, Yilan reached out and patted her head.
"Let me ask you something, Nahida. Why did Madame let the position of Great Sage become the highest authority under the God of Sumeru?"
"Isn't it natural to let the wisest person lead?" Rukkhadevata asked with curiosity.
"Yes, Dad. Is there something wrong with that?" Nahida echoed, tilting her head.
"There's a big problem," Yilan sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"There are many types of wisdom."
Generally speaking, wisdom could be divided into two kinds:
One was interpersonal wisdom—emotional intelligence.
The other was the study of the principles of things—intellectual intelligence.
To put it simply, some people were great at language but terrible at math, and some excelled in science but couldn't write an essay to save their life.
In Sumeru's current system, the Akademiya had six Darshans, each focusing on a different field of knowledge. As long as someone achieved significant recognition in one field, they could be named a sage and granted immense power.
This was the equivalent of letting a bunch of scholars who were only good at one specific thing lead an entire nation.
In the pre-modern world Yilan came from, this would've been absolutely unreasonable.
Governing and researching were two completely different professions.
"And isn't the result already obvious?" Yilan said as he spread his arms.
"To gain knowledge and conduct their own experiments, they ignored the people's lives. The military and political situation is a mess."
"It's absurd to expect researchers to also govern. A researcher might come up with an amazing invention if left to their work—but suddenly putting them in charge of an entire country? Of course, they'll fail. They end up unable to do research properly or lead the country effectively."
Rukkhadevata and Nahida looked at each other, then Rukkhadevata lowered her gaze with guilt.
"…I didn't think it through. So what should we do now?" she asked softly.
"The system in Sumeru must be reformed," Yilan said.
"The positions of Great Sage and sages can remain, but the method of selection has to change."
The two gods of wisdom in Sumeru listened to him like schoolchildren. For most, that would be enough to swell with pride—but Yilan felt nothing of the sort.
After all, anyone who had received a modern education knew about the concept of gravity. But scholars like King Deshret or the early Sages of Sumeru didn't.
Does that mean modern people are smarter than them?
Definitely not.
Yilan knew clearly—he was just standing on the shoulders of giants.
"In short, once I return, I'll draft a general framework of the reform. You can adjust it according to Sumeru's local conditions."
He patted Nahida's head again and smiled.
"Don't worry. Even if Dad doesn't become your Great Sage, he'll always support you from behind."
After spending almost the entire afternoon running tests, Yilan adjusted the Gundam based on the data they'd gathered.
By the time he finished the calibration and tuning, it was already nightfall.
But as he stepped out of the Soul Research Workshop, he saw Scaramouche standing silently at the entrance, waiting for him.
Moonlight spilled across the stone floor. In that pale silver light, Yilan could clearly see the complex look on Scaramouche's face.
He walked over and smiled.
"What's this? You waited for me on purpose. Did you want to say something?"
"…Nothing," Scaramouche muttered.
He curled his lip, trying to sound indifferent, but turned his face away—unable to meet Yilan's eyes.
"I just… wanted to thank you."
"That's not all, is it?"
Yilan gave him a knowing look.
Though Scaramouche always wrapped himself up like a hedgehog, Yilan could read him like an open book.
Under that gaze, Scaramouche hesitated for a moment, then slowly said,
"I… received something else from you. Something very important."
"So?"
"That Glazed Heart you gave me before… and the body Raiden Ei made for me…"
He paused.
"…Maybe Dottore was right. Everything I have was given to me by others. Nothing really belongs to me."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"…You're still hung up on what that lunatic said," Yilan sighed.
He hadn't realized just how deeply Dottore's cruel words had carved into Scaramouche's heart.
If Yilan hadn't become the father Scaramouche now recognized, he probably never would have voiced those doubts—he would've just buried them, carrying them forever.
But…
It was good he finally said it.
Yilan exhaled, looked at his foolish son, and shook his head.
"Why not look at things from another angle?"
"Another… angle?" Scaramouche echoed, confused.
"Why did I give you the Glazed Heart?"
Yilan didn't wait for a response.
"Because I want you to let go of your past sins and be spiritually reborn."
"Why did I build you a Gundam? Because I hope you can protect Nahida—and protect the peace of Sumeru."
"Why did Ei create you? Because she wanted you to be able to carry her Gnosis."
Yilan stared straight into his eyes and said, word by word,
"You do have many things given to you by others. But those aren't shackles. They're our hopes. You live carrying the hopes we entrusted to you."
He gave Scaramouche's shoulder a pat and added,
"If you understand now, then get to bed. I still need to go tell your sister a bedtime story."
With that, Yilan turned and began walking away.
But before he got far, he heard a soft thump behind him.
Turning around, he saw Scaramouche kneeling—solemnly—on the ground.
Under the moonlight, in the most respectful pose of Inazuma, he bowed to Yilan.