The Traveler and Tighnari felt dizzy just standing in front of the tank-like device; the rush of Ley Line energy caused it, and prolonged exposure would inflict irreversible damage on the body.
For the mechanical lifeform crab, it was nothing. The same went for Paimon.
This only deepened readers' suspicions that Paimon might be mechanical life. Why was she so impressive?
Paimon, bearer of dark power—reveal your true form before me!
[Tighnari: "Traveler, take Paimon and retreat outside first. I'll figure out how to shut this thing down."]
Kind Tighnari intended to let the Traveler leave first. This place was too dangerous; he would bear the risks himself.
[Paimon said worriedly: "But… even Tighnari can't avoid the Ley Line effects, right?"]
["We have to stay too. We can't leave Tighnari here alone!"]
Stop arguing. If I may suggest—since Paimon is unaffected, the Traveler and Tighnari should leave, and let Paimon stay to research.
The only problem with that plan is Paimon's intelligence might not be sufficient; by the time the Traveler leaves Teyvat, Paimon still might not have figured anything out.
Fortunately, there was the mechanical crab—more useful than Paimon. It was also unaffected and even led the Traveler and the others to the location of a "hidden door."
Stepping through the hidden door, they discovered yet another laboratory inside.
On the laboratory bed (or table?) lay a person, wearing oversized engineering goggles, lying quietly.
[Paimon: "Are you the one extracting Ley Line energy? Hurry and stop that machine!"]
The person did not respond, as if sleeping deeply.
From experience reading prophecy books, readers instantly went on high alert.
Sure enough, Tighnari pronounced death.
[Tighnari: "…His body has no temperature at all."]
This person was already dead—from long-term malnutrition combined with extreme exhaustion.
No one knew when he died, or even who he was.
But this was a laboratory; there should be research records to provide some information.
Tighnari handed the last remaining mechanical parts to the mechanical crab as thanks for guiding them, then searched for records together with the Traveler.
Deep inside the laboratory, they found a "recording tape" from two years ago—a Sumeru technology used specifically to document research processes.
Playing the tape, the screen showed the man now lying on the bed. At that time, he was still healthy, searching for something inside the laboratory.
[???: "Karkata, Karkata? Really, where did you run off to in such a short time?"]
At the man's call, the mechanical crab walked over. So its name was "Karkata."
[Karkata: "Gurgle gurgle?"]
[???: "There you are! Come look—this is our new home!"]
Two years ago—this was apparently right when he had just moved here.
[Abattouy made a vow: "I, Abattouy, will make my mark here and force those old fossils at the Akademiya to see me in a new light!"]
The Akademiya was mentioned again, and two years ago was exactly when mechanical life research had been halted, wasn't it?
As expected, the "making his mark" Abattouy spoke of was in mechanical life research.
[Abattouy: "I will use machinery to simulate organs, let electric currents flow like blood; forge a heart of steel that never stops beating, a brain dense with components that can think just like me."]
["Then you'll be able to understand human speech and live together with humans. Not monotonous, boring mechanisms—but genuine life!"]
Karkata couldn't understand, but that was fine—Abattouy would make it understand.
After watching this segment, Tighnari remembered: in the Amurta Darshan, there had indeed been a junior named Abattouy who was expelled from the Akademiya for researching mechanical life.
This statement piqued readers' interest—Tighnari looked young, yet he was actually a senior?
In fact, at the Akademiya, age and seniority weren't directly linked; seniority was determined by depth of academic pursuit.
That was why Faruzan kept emphasizing that she was a senior—it wasn't about stressing that she was "old."
She wanted everyone to know she was still here, that her knowledge and scholarship remained, that she hadn't been left behind by the times.
Because of her "blank century," she was extremely sensitive about academic matters. In other areas she was completely out of step with the era—if her scholarship were discarded too, she would become truly alone.
That was why Faruzan kept stressing her "senior" status. It wasn't that she cared much for the title; she truly didn't mind empty fame or power.
By the way, among Sumeru's F4, Alhaitham—who looked the oldest—was only slightly older than Tighnari, while Cyno—who looked youngest—was actually the oldest.
Of course, I mean age, not name length.
Tighnari himself worried about age too. He was young but academically accomplished, so for a while people kept dragging him into photos, treating him like some rare animal.
Readers really wanted to retort: "Aren't you one?"
Even setting aside the fact that he reached such academic heights at eighteen, his very race was indeed quite rare!
If it were us, we'd want photos too—could we hold your tail and ears for the shot?
No time for that retort—the next plot point arrived quickly: the second recording tape, this one from half a year ago.
In the illustration, Abattouy was repairing Karkata, apparently because Karkata had made an operational mistake while brewing coffee.
Abattouy pondered the cause—was it because Karkata's body wasn't suited to brewing tea, or because the parameters he had set were flawed?
He never considered that this might be a precursor to "life"—no longer "precise," capable of "mistakes," the kind of errors life makes.
Life makes mistakes and learns from them. Afterward, Karkata learned to brew coffee.
Readers now understood why Karkata would brew coffee when the Traveler and Tighnari were thinking—it was simply what it usually did.
In the flashback illustration, Abattouy thought while replacing Karkata's parts.
["It's okay—I replaced them with new parts. You're fine now."]
After comforting Karkata, Abattouy spoke again of his dream.
["Yesterday I had a dream. I dreamed you could talk."]
In the illustration, Abattouy was not wearing a Void Terminal—he was conducting research secretly, hidden from the Akademiya; how could he wear one?
Because he wasn't wearing a Void Terminal, Abattouy had regained the right to dream.
Note: he "regained" the right to dream, not "obtained" it.
Sumeru people originally could dream; they didn't "lose" dreams—they were deprived of them.
It was precisely this deprivation that earned the Akademiya the label of "valve."
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Tighnari: About Age
"Ah… who would've thought even Dori is older than me."