Sumeru scholars were breathing heavier—this was whose invention? They were about to become famous!
Just based on this alone, the creator's academic status would be no less than a high-level scholar, even if not quite a sage! Mechanical life—something the Akademiya hadn't broken through in decades.
But… why hadn't anyone heard of it?
This puzzled everyone greatly. Wasn't Sumeru the nation of wisdom? A research achievement like this shouldn't be unknown, right?
Continuing to read with doubts, some readers even wondered if the person wasn't from Sumeru at all—just experimenting here.
At this point, readers hadn't yet realized how difficult it was to conduct academic research in Sumeru without the sages' approval.
In the story, Tighnari placed a ring of "landmines" around the mechanical crab to prevent escape, while he and the Traveler went back to return the goods to the merchants.
They exchanged the goods for Spring-Meeting Grass, prepared medicine to stabilize the child's condition, and then Tighnari and the Traveler entered the contaminated area to investigate.
The mechanical crab led the way ahead, with Tighnari and the Traveler following behind.
The contaminated area greatly affected ordinary people, but those with a Vision could resist the pollution.
So why exactly could Paimon follow along as if nothing was wrong? She seemed even more energetic than the Traveler.
Speaking of which, at this point in the story, Tighnari also identified a "popular Sumeru plant"—Padisarah.
["This flower's scientific name is 'Padisarah.' It has another nickname: 'Ley Line Marker.'"]
Padisarahs glow brighter as Ley Line energy increases, and the ones here were already shining like lamps.
So the contaminated area appeared because of Ley Line disturbance? Can Ley Lines really explain everything?
The exact cause wasn't clear yet—they needed to keep investigating.
As they walked, Paimon noticed something unusual: there seemed to be no animals in the forest?
[Paimon: "I remember the forest used to be full of loud bird calls, and there were lots of little foxes too…"]
No sooner had Paimon mentioned "little foxes" than she got an answer.
[Tighnari: "From what we've seen so far, the contaminated area indeed has severe Ley Line energy leakage. This should be the main cause of the patients' mental confusion."]
Animals are far more sensitive—they'd already relocated, so now there were hardly any animals in the forest.
But this wasn't a big problem. Once the contamination was resolved, the animals would return—after all, competing with other creatures for territory wasn't wise.
[Tighnari: "Climate, temperature, air humidity, Ley Line energy intensity, and so on—in a fixed environment, humans and their surroundings reach a certain 'balance.'"]
["When the surrounding environment suddenly changes, this balance is broken, and the human body falls into abnormality."]
Tighnari meant: as the saying goes, the water and soil of one place nurture the people of that place!
Just like low-altitude people getting altitude sickness at high elevations, while those living at 3000 meters are fine.
Conversely, high-altitude people coming to low altitudes can experience oxygen intoxication—this is the manifestation of "balance" being disrupted.
Readers could understand this, but what puzzled them was why Paimon had no reaction?
Tighnari and the Traveler could use elemental power to resist Ley Line energy—what about Paimon?
Was she actually mechanical life, like the mechanical crab beside them?
Regardless, in every reader's mind, Paimon was already an extraordinary existence—one glance showed she wasn't "human."
In the story, Tighnari took out his wonderful gadget: a device that could temporarily stabilize Ley Lines.
This device could only stabilize temporarily—it couldn't purify. To purify, they still needed to find the source of the contamination, which required the mechanical crab's guidance.
But the mechanical crab stopped moving. Its front claws turned into shields as it curled up, trembling like a frightened puppy.
The "mechanical puppy" was scared because a group of "marsh puppies (crocodiles)" had arrived.
After Tighnari stabilized the Ley Lines, they returned, discovered intruders on their territory, and surrounded them.
Unfortunately, they picked the wrong opponents—the "great desert dog" wasn't afraid of "marsh puppies."
After dealing with the marsh puppies, they encountered mechanical jellyfish. One had to admit, this forest was full of "talent."
Even more outrageous—after handling the mechanical jellyfish, they actually found a person!
Someone was living in a place like this? Hu Tao recalled the "Journey to the West" stories Lucian had told—if this were Journey to the West, this person would definitely be a demon!
Fortunately, this wasn't Journey to the West. It was just an ordinary person—Tighnari arriving a few days later would have meant death here.
After rescuing the person, Tighnari rewarded the mechanical crab with a part.
Tighnari began training the dog.
In the book, time reached evening. It was getting dark, so they had to camp in the forest.
[Tighnari standing on high ground: "Hey—over here—"]
Tighnari waved. Seeing Lumine hadn't noticed him yet, he scolded:
["Idiot. Look up!"]
For some reason, Tighnari's "idiot" struck everyone's hearts.
How to put it—clearly calling me an idiot, yet why does it feel a bit indulgent? Oh no, my heart's fluttering—am I in love?
Tighnari's move worked on everyone, regardless of gender.
Female readers were fine, but male readers immediately started flipping back through the story to find beautiful girl illustrations to calm their minds and strengthen their resolve.
I'm definitely still XXX's dog. Coincidentally, Tighnari happens to be a "dog-training master."
In the story, the Traveler came to Tighnari's spot to help start a fire and set up tents. Paimon, sent out to forage, found nothing.
Instead, the mechanical crab brought back plenty of food. See—it's smarter than Paimon.
[Traveler: "Feels more useful than Paimon."]
Real-life Paimon got angry. She flew out of Lumine's embrace, hovering in the air with her head turned away, clearly saying—coax me.
Lumine didn't react and kept reading. She hadn't said anything wrong—it really was more useful than Paimon.
To be fair, telling the truth, reasonably speaking, let's be real—it was.
As a guide, Paimon couldn't find paths. As emergency food, she couldn't even gather food—she was basically a freeloader raised by the Traveler.
The mechanical crab was different—it could truly help: fight, forage, and guide. Much more useful than Paimon.
Unfortunately, its foraging didn't earn Tighnari's reward. The reason: the help wasn't significant enough. Rewarding everything would encourage shortcuts.
Tighnari would remember small things and reward them together later when performance was good.
One could only say—Tighnari was a natural master, truly skilled at raising pets.
Collei didn't find anything wrong, because her master treated her the same way.
Good performance earned rewards; small things were noted—exactly the same.
Wait—Collei suddenly realized. Masaka!
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Raiden Ei: About Mechanical Life
"Calling the Shogun mechanical life? Though I'm unsure of humanity's definition, I don't think it applies."