People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 565 "The Sage's power can activate the ancient dragon's legacy, casting doubt on the credibility of the Nata legend"

On the south side of Liyue Harbor, eat Tiger Rock.

The Liyue people, already used to such sights, glanced over in twos and threes, watching the Order of the Liyue procession travel along the road to the port.

Under the guise of "inspection," the five deities hitched a ride with the vehicles but did not undertake any work tasks. In reality, they remained as "tourist groups" within the self-regulatory organization, which was in the middle.

Running smoothly and without any bumps, the autonomous mechanical vehicles, incorporating the elemental energy technology from the Red King's ruins, have seen a significant improvement in both protective performance and comfort.

Although influenced by the prevailing idea in the Myo-ryo school that "weapons may not be used, but they cannot be without,"

This camouflaged, crab-like "floating off-road device" has ingeniously crammed several omnidirectional elemental light cannons onto its four legs, allowing it to switch to combat mode for "self-defense."
But putting aside its appearance, which is more like a weapon of war than a mobile vehicle, it must be admitted that it does a good job in its primary function in the wilderness of Teyvat.
"."

"What's wrong? You've been looking out the window since the beginning. Is something bothering you?"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I temporarily stopped worrying about why those machine builders were so obsessed with putting weapons on everything.

Lin Feng looked at Nasita, who seemed to be lost in thought, patted the little girl on the shoulder from the side, and asked her a question.

"Well, it's just a bit unexpected. It seems like Liyue has changed quite a bit since I last came here."

"Although I personally approved the cooperation plan regarding roads and ports, and even came here for inspection."

"But this is the first time I've seen that various proposals, accumulated little by little, can produce such a significant change."

After improving the efficiency of the void, and with the support of ample scientific research funding, the current folk ecology of Sumeru is very special, with a large number of novel things appearing every once in a while.

As a key financial provider, Liyue's infrastructure optimization speed was greatly improved after establishing a partnership with Sumeru.

Although, considering Liyue's architectural style, most of the technologies used in the towns are those that have little impact on appearance, the cumulative effect still gave Narcida a sense of novelty about the port in front of her.

"Oh, don't worry about it."

"Change always happens little by little, and Liyue will eventually have to break away from its unchanging past."

"Although magic and talismans can accomplish many incredible things, they are not good at improving people's lives."

"Now that things have come to this point, Sumeru's technology has made up for this shortcoming, which is truly a blessing for Liyue."

Temporarily detaching himself from observing the outside world, Zhongli shook his head and responded to the young junior in front of him.

There are many reasons for the stagnation of people's livelihood in Liyue, but the essence is that Teyvat's situation is too special. In the previous environment, "good enough" was enough.

The combat power of the gods has been an important component of national strength from the very beginning. Although different countries have different focuses in their research, the overall level has not varied much.

The balance of the seven kingdoms is like that of the seven elements. Under the premise of a general "balance", the development of technology is not as simple as imagined.

"."

"The relationship between the seven kingdoms is like the elements in the world. In the past, the party that broke the balance always had to pay a price."

"But now that even the maintainers have chosen to turn a blind eye, Liyue can't just dwell on the past when someone has taken the first step."

Nasida gave an explanation based on her seemingly confused expression.
Zhongli turned his gaze to the other two "Gods of Grass" beside him, and as expected, found that they understood what he meant.

"."

He fell silent for a moment, then reflected on the current situation with some emotion.

Everything in the past has its underlying causes, and relying on inertia to maintain the status quo can reduce the probability of errors in most cases.

But the world is about to enter a completely new era, and past experiences have lost their reference value.

He remained where he was, even though he was a bit old, but not so old as to be stubborn and pedantic as to continue standing still while the guide carried the lantern forward.

"Prepared and have arrived at the port. The signal crystal provided by Sage Elhesen has been activated. The teleportation is expected to begin within 15 minutes."

"Senior Kavi, please look after Kakata for me. I need to check the storage devices I requested earlier to prevent the 'auxiliary space' from interfering with future teleportation."

At the very front of the group, inside the largest "off-road device".

Abatui activated the signal crystal, which was said to be able to contact the "familiars of the gods," following the instructions, and waited for Inazuma's "Lannaro" to use it for location and assist in completing the transfer.

Similar to the previous groups that went to Mondstadt, the number of scholars going to Inazuma in the first batch was actually not large.

The researchers at the Causes Theory School primarily study social history, and so far only some of their most experienced researchers have come.
The vast majority of the remaining personnel were members of the Mystic School who assisted in post-disaster reconstruction and incidentally tested engineering machinery.

Unlike the previous Canria series of war weapons,

According to scholars' research, the "Meta-Energy Agency" seems to be a self-regulating agency that excels in engineering construction, making it a perfect fit for post-disaster reconstruction.

Although his research focuses on whether machines can possess human emotions, the unique characteristics of these mechanisms are indeed quite intriguing.
"Tsk, don't worry, I checked those things. Who knows if there's something fishy about why that guy Elhesen is so generous with the supplies this time?"

"But... Kakata? Is that the name of the self-regulatory organization around you?"

"I think I heard scholars in the field of mechanical engineering mention that its level of intelligence has surpassed simple mechanical logic, but whether it truly possesses emotions is still being verified."

Although his main research area was architectural design, not everyone can be called a "genius," as Kavi also had considerable expertise in mechanical engineering.

I had long heard of this junior colleague beside me whose research direction was quite unique.

Although the other party had proposed that "machines can think like humans" back when he was still a member of the Sulun school, he hasn't actually seen many examples of this yet.
"."

"That's right. It's too difficult to define whether feelings exist, so the conclusion has always been in doubt."

He nodded, readily acknowledging this frustrating predicament for researchers.

But Abtuyi was not discouraged and explained: “Using mechanical simulations to make electric current flow like blood, a metal-cast heart beats without stopping, and a brain filled with components thinks like me. This is the inspiration I got from the ruins, and it is what I originally wanted to show the world.”

"But the research process is also a process of growth for the researchers themselves. Regardless of whether they gain recognition, I firmly believe that Kakata is different; its 'core' is filled with emotions that are no different from those of humans."

Having long since stopped treating his companions as mere "scientific research tools," Abatui was not in a hurry to prove his theory.

Although it is said that "different" machines can be created by using some ancient cores whose principles are unclear, Kakata's core was not special from the beginning, and even the logic of his actions was written by him one by one.

If this works, it might suggest that machines themselves possess the potential to develop emotions.
"However, while I have great confidence in Kakata, it's still a real shame that I can't decipher the principles behind Nata's 'Secret Source Mechs.'"

"Based on my research, both the Secret Source Mechs and the Elemental Energy Mechanisms have likely already achieved results far surpassing those of the present world in this area."

"However, the Order of the Church cannot currently understand how the former operates, and that power called phlogiston cannot be taken away from Nata."

While researching the legends, I discovered that Nata seemed to have an extremely brilliant civilization in ancient times, whose technological achievements even surpassed those of the Red King's ruins currently under study.

They managed to retrieve several decommissioned arcane mechs from Nata, but their operating logic seemed to be completely different from current technology.
To date, no scholar has a clear understanding of the principles behind this.
"Huh? Mystic Mechs? You mean those technologies from the 'Ancient Dragons' in the Nata legends?"

"I think I heard Elhesen mention it briefly; someone applied for some supplies and managed to create a prototype that could operate successfully."

It was rare to hear anything other than a vacation from that guy who only cared about his own duties and would ignore anything that went slightly beyond that. Kavi was quite impressed by this incident.

Although the lucky or unlucky fellow was later taken away by the disciplinary officer, it is said that many scholars saw the strange machine in operation that day.
"Senior Ekawi, you mean that unlucky guy?"

"The conditions at the time were too harsh; currently, there's absolutely no possibility of a large-scale reproduction."

He scratched his head, naturally recognizing this as one of the most significant accidents in the entire Mysterious Theory School.

Abatui looked at Kavi, who had been seemingly clueless about what he had been doing in the desert recently, and explained:

"—Senior Kavi, you should know that the 'storage units' we currently use to store machinery were all provided by the Sage, right?"

"That guy wanted to use the storage unit he applied for to store the 'Secret Source Mech,' but he accidentally smashed the storage unit onto the thing's exposed core, and accidentally activated it."

"The common guess is that the Sage's power is special, and the divine power used to construct the storage unit reacted with the machine's operating code."

"But the power of gods is inherently unique, and it's impossible to conclude whether this is an isolated phenomenon. We can't possibly find a whole bunch of gods to help us verify this."

Although the activated arcane mechs did not cause any widespread destruction, they merely appeared to be searching for something.

However, the serious incident of illegally activating an uncontrollable self-regulatory body still resulted in that unlucky guy having to take a trip to the disciplinary officer's office.

Even if the power of the gods could indeed activate those paralyzed arcane mechs, such a discovery with little practical value could at best be considered a failed case where the gains outweighed the losses.
"The teleportation is about to begin. If you're interested in that unlucky guy, Senior Kavi can go back to the Order Academy and find out more for yourself."

"While the lowest-level Mystic Machines possess an advantage in pure combat power, it is not overwhelming, so their research priority is not high at present."

"According to legend, in ancient times, there were special beings in Nata called 'Lords' who could command these ordinary constructs. However, it is too long ago, and it is currently impossible to verify whether the legend is true."

I have never seen Nata people wandering outside. In some ways, Nata are even more closed off than Inazuma.

Whether the ancient dragons' technology is truly as powerful as their legends suggest remains to be seen, and it's unlikely that the Order of the Dragons can figure out these iron lumps in the short term.

Those legendary ancient dragons have been gone for a long time, and the dragon lizards don't seem to be part of any civilization.

Since even the divine power of their own sage can activate the legacies of these ancient civilizations, the credibility of the ancient dragon civilization in the Nata legend is probably quite low.
"-- The transfer has begun. To minimize disruption, the power system will be shut down shortly. All personnel should remain calm and refrain from any large movements."

"—Upon meeting 'Lanaroo,' please refrain from addressing him by names like 'cabbage' or 'mushroom.' Follow the academy's rules and regulations and maintain the respect due to a divine being."

"."

The announcement included a final reminder, and in the instructions for using the signal crystal, it was specifically noted that the person assisting with this transfer was an exceptionally powerful individual from Lanalori.

Although he didn't know why Elhesen would give such a reminder, Kavi knew that the guy generally wouldn't betray him when it came to serious matters.
"Phew, we're almost there. Come to think of it, I've never been to Inazuma before."

“My major at the academy is the design of Sumeru and Fontaine styles. There haven’t been any architectural papers on Inazuma in recent years, so I don’t know how they usually build towns.”

"But regardless, the fact that it withstood such a powerful abyssal invasion might give me some architectural surprises in the future."

Designing a town from scratch by himself would be an enormous undertaking, and even Elhesen probably wouldn't pass that kind of work on to him. It's highly likely that Inazuma can provide him with considerable assistance.

Although it is said that Inazuma is "quite idyllic" on the surface, appearances and reality are never the same.

As long as Inazuma isn't so primitive that all measurements and construction rely entirely on manual labor, then helping himself a little bit would make things much easier.
?

Before you know it, the area around you has completely changed.

The scene outside also entered Kavi's eyes in a way that was much more sudden than expected.

Before I could even recover from the devastation of the ruins, I could faintly hear the voices of the workers:
"."

"Brothers, give it your all! Chop two planks and bring them over, and hurry up and fix the bricks over there! We must finish before our distinguished guests arrive!"

???

Still unwilling to give up, they looked towards the ruins and found a group of energetic workers repairing the house "by hand".

They were working enthusiastically and cooperating seamlessly, but their efficiency was shockingly low, and their technology was exceptionally "primitive."
"."

His movements froze, and he suddenly understood why that guy Elhesen had specifically assigned him this task.

With a blank expression, Kavi considered the workload ahead.

Although he was unlikely to beat the other party, he still really wanted to go back and drag out that guy who left work at a fixed time every day, and throw him into this engineering team that "has plenty of room for technological iteration".

(End of this chapter)