"The Abyss…"
Ryen gave a small nod, his expression carrying no trace of aversion or impatience.
To him, no faction in Teyvat was fundamentally different from any other. Viewed at the level of individual politics, their relationships were tangled beyond reckoning, but stepping back to the whole, they were all, at minimum, existences native to Teyvat. The only distinction that mattered to Ryen was simple: helpful to his development of the world, or harmful to it.
The uncomplicated calculus of a World Master.
"As I understand it, the forces within the Abyss are extraordinarily numerous and varied."
Zhongli spoke up, his voice unhurried, this was the first time in three days he had brought up serious business with Aether. The contract from earlier was a separate matter entirely. Aether could have a hundred times his current courage and still not dare violate it.
"To say you represent the Abyss is something of an overstatement."
Zhongli gave a slight shake of his head and closed his eyes.
Within the Abyss, the Abyss Order was, truthfully, among the least consequential factions. When you counted properly, there were far more powerful forces and entities down there. The First Throne, Phanes, and its kind. The archon-creatures native to the Abyss itself. The Teyvat archons and other remnant powers that had fled into the Abyss in ages past.
And beneath the Abyss lay the Quantum Sea, and what lurked at those depths, no one could say.
The Abyss Order, representing the Abyss?
A stretch.
Aether knew he had overstated his case. He was quiet for a moment, then clarified:
"When I say I represent the Abyss, I don't mean the Abyss in its entirety, nor solely the Abyss Order."
"I mean every existence within the Abyss that does not hold absolute enmity toward Teyvat."
At that, Ryen's attention sharpened. He watched Aether quietly and gestured for him to continue.
"The Abyss is home to a vast tangle of factions. The majority of its creatures hold absolute hatred toward Teyvat, toward all seven nations. But that doesn't mean the Abyss as a whole is defined by that hatred."
"My intention is to consolidate every force and every life within the Abyss that holds genuine hope for coexistence with Teyvat."
Aether said it without reservation. Ryen gave a measured nod.
"And then?"
A brief silence.
"Mutual cooperation. Suppressing the Heavenly Principles."
A glance flickered between Ningguang and the others, quick and quiet, a shared look.
Ningguang gave Ryen's hand a light tap, signaling that he needn't speak. She gathered her thoughts and said with a calm smile:
"Setting aside for the moment the question of how you would consolidate the Abyss, you want to cooperate with us. What leverage do you bring? What reason could you offer that would make us agree?"
"Furthermore, as I understand it, the Abyss Order has never held goodwill toward the seven nations. You said so yourself, back at Guyun Stone Forest, your intention was to overturn the seven nations along with the Heavenly Principles."
"And now you're simply setting that hatred aside?"
Aether knew this was the moment for negotiation. He drew a steady breath and spoke without hurry:
"The Abyss Order is composed overwhelmingly of Khaenri'ah's people. And yes, the Seven Archons and Khaenri'ah carry a grievance. The Seven, in their time, destroyed Khaenri'ah. They brought down the undying curse. They were the cause of untold Khaenri'ahn deaths."
"But when you examine what happened honestly, the Seven had no control over themselves. I do not personally hold hatred toward the Seven Archons."
"I understand: if you hadn't acted, it would have been your own nations that were destroyed."
"The root cause of everything was the Heavenly Principles."
Zhongli sipped his tea without expression.
"But the fact remains that we did act. I don't believe that what you think is what every member of the Abyss Order thinks."
"The Five-Nation Alliance cannot admit any faction with the potential to cause instability."
Aether leaned back with easy composure.
"I have no intention of joining your Alliance. The Abyss Order will not join your Alliance either. All we need is cooperation."
"At minimum, on the fundamental matter of suppressing the Heavenly Principles, we are in agreement."
"You need the Abyss Order's intelligence network. We need your strength. We need the resources of that world."
Ningguang glanced at Ryen. He showed no reaction, just sat there with a cheerful expression, holding Klee and murmuring something quietly to her.
Ningguang understood. He was leaving this entirely in her hands.
Which meant her room to maneuver was essentially boundless.
A confident smile settled on her lips.
"Let us set aside the matter of suppressing the Heavenly Principles for now. I don't see that your Abyss Order brings anything we actually need."
"In terms of strength, Liyue alone can suppress your entire force without a full mobilization. In terms of resources, the Five-Nation Alliance is abundantly supplied. In terms of suppressing the Heavenly Principles, we simply need a little more time before we can acquire the means to do it ourselves."
"So. What exactly do you intend to offer us?"
She lifted her teacup for a small sip, then continued.
"If you want cooperation, if you want access to Ryen's world and its resources, then consider what you can provide in return. What you can offer Ryen specifically."
"With all due respect: the Abyss in its entirety is beneath Ryen's notice."
"You should understand, Ryen is a World Master. Viewed from the perspective a World Master occupies, what does your side possess that could possibly matter to him?"
Aether's brow creased slightly. This was the question he had been dreading most.
Ryen commanded a world. He had everything. He lacked nothing.
What could a mere Abyss produce that would make a man like that look twice?
He could offer himself up entirely and probably still come up with nothing that would move Ryen.
Wait.
Offering himself up.
Something clicked in Aether's mind. He turned to look at Lumine, and without hesitation said:
"As Lumine's elder brother, I can personally guarantee, if Ryen has any interest in Lumine, please, go right ahead. No bride price required. No obligation to take responsibility."
"…"
A complicated silence settled over Ningguang and the others.
They had anticipated many things Aether might say.
This had not been among them.
They really are siblings. Only a truly unique mental configuration could produce this kind of answer.
"Drop dead. You disgusting freak with garbage for a brain!"
Lumine had already grabbed an entire bucket of milk and upended it over Aether's head before he could draw another breath. She followed it by slamming the empty bucket down over his head like a helmet.
Having accomplished this, she turned to Ryen with an indignant expression.
"Ryen, this man is completely unhinged. Don't listen to a single word he says."
Ryen laughed and spread his hands helplessly.
"But he is your brother. And he's said his piece, so I'm taking him at his word."
"As of today, he's sold you to me. And apparently I'm not required to take responsibility~"
Lumine's expression went dark. She let out a short, indignant sound and turned away.
Aether wiped the milk from his head with complete indifference and looked at Ryen.
"Does that mean you agree, Ryen?"
"When did I agree to anything? Can't you tell when something is a joke? Or do you genuinely think I'm the kind of person who toys with young women and refuses to be accountable?"
Aether pressed his lips together. Now he was truly at a loss for what might actually move this man.
Think from the perspective of a World Master…
Who was he kidding.
He was a world-traversing traveler. He had never been a World Master. He had no idea what a person of that magnitude actually needed.
More worlds, maybe?
Aether's eyes lit up. Without hesitation:
"I can provide coordinates for a great many worlds. If Ryen is interested, all of those worlds could become yours."
Ryen rested his chin on his hand, seemingly thoughtful.
"Sounds appealing. I'm not interested."
Ningguang and the others smiled without comment.
Worlds?
What would more worlds accomplish? They would only be worlds within the Tree-and-Sea universe. Setting aside the question of how to govern them, simply getting there would be its own problem.
Compare that to Ryen's MC World.
Infinite in scale. Populated by mods of bewildering variety. A horizon with no ceiling in sight.
Worlds?
The MC World, as it was mined and developed, was already producing an ever-increasing number of dimensional worlds. They had heard Ryen say more than once that there existed special portal mods within the MC World, once activated, the MC World would itself begin to encompass countless worlds, rivaling the Imaginary Tree in scope.
Don't mistake their talk of Ryen "commanding a world" as meaning he merely held a single world.
As things stood right now: the Overworld. The Nether. The End. The Twilight Forest.
Four worlds. Each more astonishing than the last.
"Enough circling around it. Let me be direct."
Ryen snapped his fingers lightly.
"I need a large number of people to help me develop and build the world. My world is infinite, it has no edges, no limits. Containing all of Teyvat within it would be trivial."
"So…"
Aether opened his mouth, his first instinct had been to offer the Abyss Order's manpower, but accounting for the Order's nature, he couldn't make that guarantee.
What Ryen needed was people who would listen to him completely.
Not a faction like the Abyss Order, carrying its own unpredictable loyalties.
A faint bitterness crossed Aether's expression. He lowered his head, uncertain how to continue.
Lumine curled her lip. For all that she found Aether insufferable, at the end of the day, he was still her brother.
When the moment called for it, she could give a hand.
She quietly tugged at Ryen's sleeve.
He patted her hand and looked at Aether with a steady, unhurried gaze.
"I'll give you an opportunity. This will be exactly the answer you've been hoping for."
Aether's head came up instantly, full of sudden, intent anticipation.
"Rebuild Khaenri'ah."
Ryen said it lightly. And in the space of that moment, Aether went completely still.
"Rebuild Khaenri'ah. I will designate a territory in my world as the foundation for your nation, Khaenri'ah, reestablished."
"But in exchange: you must maintain order within that nation. I will not permit anyone who refuses to follow direction to enter my world."
"Once inside, what I say is what is done. No questioning. No hesitation."
"You select the people. I trust you know the kind of people to choose. Restore their humanity. Bring them into my world."
"But by the same terms, once they enter, unless absolutely necessary, they do not leave."
"Beyond that: you yourself. Your knowledge. Everything you've seen and learned from traveling across worlds. Use that to help me expand and pioneer the world."
"If you can do all of this, cooperation, no problem."
In this moment, Ryen finally revealed his actual thinking.
What he had always been looking at was never the Abyss Order's scraps and leavings.
It was the Abyss Order, more precisely, every last one of Khaenri'ah's people.
His purpose?
He wanted the Abyss to immigrate.
Completely and entirely, to give the MC World the very first signs of intelligent life taking root and flourishing.
To take this wilderness of a world and push it toward becoming a land of civilization.
Building cities alone was not enough.
These Khaenri'ahn people, Teyvat had no place for them. That being the case, they would serve as the first pioneers: a nation established within the MC World.
It was an experiment, in a sense, but Ryen had no doubt the people in question would find the terms more than compelling.
For them, this was manna from heaven.
And what Aether needed to do was simply ensure that those Khaenri'ahn people would be loyal. Absolutely loyal. When Ryen gave them work to do, there could be not one moment of hesitation.
Ningguang and the others finally understood what Ryen had been planning all along. They exchanged glances. Silence.
They had originally been planning to select a group of people to live in the world as a pilot program once the first modern city was completed.
Well. It seemed they wouldn't have to use their own people for the experiment after all.
Aether looked at Ryen with an expression that held the weight of a great many things at once.
What Ryen was offering was one hundred percent benefit. Aether had no rational grounds to refuse.
Restoration of the nation. Humanity restored. A safe homeland of their own.
This was the dream of every Khaenri'ahn alive.
To receive it this easily, it felt like something from a dream.
But Aether also understood perfectly well. There was no such thing as manna that simply fell from the sky.
He knew, with clarity, what Ryen truly wanted.
He was quiet for a long moment. Then, in a low voice:
"Life. World. Civilization."
"You want to become a true god of creation."
Ryen smiled, the calm, assured smile of a man who has never needed to doubt himself, and looked at Aether steadily.
"Why not?"