[Alhaitham: Miss Lisa and Cloud Retainer both call her Nous, so this one is indeed the Aeon of Erudition.]
[Tighnari: The image of the Erudition Aeon... she is indeed a completely mechanical body.]
[Azar: Aeons can really be created artificially? Excellent, excellent!]
[Scaramouche: Hehe, this is truly wonderful!]
[Alice: Wait, did Nous just say "Akivili" to Takagi?]
[Kaveh: I heard it too! The Elation Aeon might be joking and looking for fun, but Nous shouldn't be, right?]
[Thoma: I feel like even though the Hunt Aeon didn't say anything earlier, she probably also meant to recognize Lord Takagi as Akivili.]
[Charlotte: So... so, Takagi is really... the Trailblaze Aeon?]
[Lyney: Who knows? It's also possible that the Elation Aeon and the Erudition Aeon both recognized the wrong person. To say whether this is the case, only Lord Takagi himself would know.]
Herta's Office.
"How is the data for the Simulated Universe? It shouldn't have been overloaded, right?" Takagi looked at the AI robot and asked.
"The Simulated Universe is currently in a normal state. Please rest assured, Lord Takagi," the AI robot said.
"That's good. I don't want to listen to Herta and the others nag later." Takagi was somewhat relieved that the Hunt Aeon and the Erudition Aeon did not appear together. Otherwise, it might have resulted in the situation where the Simulated Universe was overloaded last time.
"Speaking of which, why are you all looking at me like that? You don't still think I'm the Trailblaze Aeon, do you?" Takagi looked at Nahida and the others, whose expressions were strange, and asked.
"After all, even Nous called you 'Akivili,' Takagi. In this situation, it's understandable that we would think of you as the Trailblaze Aeon, right?" Lisa said with a smile.
"At most, I am a Pathstrider of Trailblaze, not an Aeon," Takagi waved his hand and said.
"Emanator of Trailblaze? That's the Pathstrider you mentioned who received a direct blessing from an Aeon, right? So you received a direct blessing from the Trailblaze Aeon?" Lisa tilted her head curiously.
"You can understand it that way," Takagi shrugged and said.
Upon hearing Lord Takagi's words, Lisa nodded thoughtfully.
"Speaking of which, where did La Signora go? Why isn't she here?" Suddenly, Dottore asked curiously.
"I sent her to Asta. I asked her for a favor. If you want to know, follow me." Lord Takagi said, turning to walk towards the door of Herta's Office.
He could feel that the Antimatter Legion had already begun invading the Space Station. Although La Signora had given advance notice, Asta had prepared early. However, there were simply too many members of the Antimatter Legion. Coupled with the fact that Fragmentum rifts had also begun appearing within the Space Station, in the end, enemies from the Antimatter Legion still invaded the interior. Fortunately, Asta had already gathered the researchers together. No one died because of the Antimatter Legion's warriors.
"Um, Lord Takagi, the Imaginary Tree that the Elation Aeon just mentioned..." Nahida quickly came to Lord Takagi's side and asked him with some hesitation.
"I thought you weren't going to ask. Well, since you brought it up, and you already know the concept of the Universe, then I'll briefly mention the so-called Imaginary Tree to you. Catch up, we can talk as we walk." Lord Takagi beckoned and said.
Hearing this, the scholars from Teyvat immediately took out their notebooks. After sorting his thoughts slightly, Lord Takagi said to the people beside him:
"The so-called Imaginary Tree is naturally not an ordinary tree. The Imaginary Tree can be understood as a super-large world. And each leaf of the Imaginary Tree is a small world. As for the Teyvat Continent, it is located on a certain leaf of the Imaginary Tree. When I took you from Teyvat to the Space Station and to Belobog, it was actually moving from one leaf on the Imaginary Tree to another leaf."
[Faruzan: This... what level of knowledge is this? Write it down, must write it down!]
[Alice: As expected, Lord Takagi still said it. Forget it, I give up.]
[Rosaria: It seems our witch adult knows some inside information.]
[Alice: Don't ask me anything, I'm not Lord Takagi, I don't want to talk nonsense and attract the attention of the Heavenly Principles.]
[Ei: Heavenly Principles...]
[Paimon: That's too scary, a normal tree has so many leaves. The leaves of the Imaginary Tree must also be numerous, how many worlds are there on the entire Imaginary Tree? Oh, Traveler, you've been to other worlds, you should know some things, right?]
[Lumine: Don't ask me, I'm not as amazing as Lord Takagi. I have absolutely no concept of the Imaginary Tree or anything like that.]
"Coming from Teyvat to the Space Station is equivalent to jumping from one leaf to another? So our Teyvat only represents one leaf on the Imaginary Tree?" Dottore murmured.
"You didn't seem to hear me clearly just now, Dottore. What I said earlier was that Teyvat belongs to this leaf, but it doesn't represent the entirety of this leaf," Lord Takagi said.
"Doesn't represent the entirety? That is to say, within this leaf that contains Teyvat, there are many small worlds like Teyvat?" Nahida asked in surprise.
"To be precise, there are many planets similar to Teyvat. And these planets, these worlds, together form the small world represented by this leaf of the Imaginary Tree," Lord Takagi nodded and said.
"One leaf represents a small world! The world represented by the Imaginary Tree is truly vast," Cloud Retainer exclaimed.
"This is truly... we are so insignificant," Lisa shook her head and sighed. From the perspective of the Imaginary Tree, this entire macroscopic world, Teyvat is not worth mentioning at all. People of Teyvat are probably just dust in this macroscopic world.
[Zhongli: Is this the truth of the world?]
[Venti: If these words weren't spoken by Lord Takagi, I probably wouldn't believe them no matter what.]
[Ei: What about the Aeon? Is the Aeon a god within one leaf, or a god under this entire macroscopic world of the Imaginary Tree?]
[Yae Miko: You're also interested in this aspect, could it be that you also believe what Lord Takagi said?]
[Ei: ...After understanding, I will judge its authenticity myself.]
Lord Takagi glanced at Ei's question on the forum and said: "The Aeon is naturally a deity under the macroscopic world of the Imaginary Tree. Not a god within the scope of a single leaf."
[Kaeya: This is truly... breathtaking.]
[Jean: We imagined the greatness of the Aeon too simply.]
[Kaveh: This, this, this, suddenly hearing such astonishing things, it's really hard to believe for a moment.]
"A deity under the entire macroscopic Universe! Too great, the Aeon is indeed the true deity. By the way, Lord Takagi, can you tell us more about the Imaginary Tree? Since one leaf represents a small world, then what about the branches of the Imaginary Tree? What do the branches represent? Oh, does the Imaginary Tree also have soil to root in, like a regular tree? The soil that can supply nutrients to the Imaginary Tree shouldn't be simple either, right?" Dottore's tone revealed obvious excitement, and his eyes, looking at Lord Takagi, were filled with a thirst for knowledge.
Lord Takagi glanced at Dottore; he didn't expect Dottore to be able to infer and think of the "soil" of the Imaginary Tree. However, he had no interest in explaining the matter of the Sea of Quanta where the Imaginary Tree is rooted to Dottore.
"As for the branches of the Imaginary Tree, they are the channels through which Imaginary Energy flows. Among these, there is the Star Rail built by the Trailblaze Aeon. Without the Star Rail built by the Trailblaze Aeon, mortals would not be able to achieve something like traveling from one leaf to another. Furthermore, matters regarding the Imaginary Tree cannot be explained in just a few sentences. If you want to know everything about the Imaginary Tree, go find information and conduct research yourself," Lord Takagi waved his hand at Dottore and said.
Hearing this, Dottore immediately lowered his head in disappointment.
[Alice: So the Trailblaze Aeon's Star Rail is built within the branches of the Imaginary Tree.]
[Venti: To be able to build tracks in such a vast Universe, it really is worthy of being called a Universe-level Aeon, isn't it?]
[Lyney: The Imaginary Tree is so vast, what kind of relationship could it possibly have with Nahida? It's truly becoming more and more intriguing.]
"You still seem to have some doubts. Do you have any other questions, Nahida?" Takagi asked.
"Lord Takagi, since the Imaginary Tree is so vast, why did the Elation Aeon connect me with the Imaginary Tree earlier?" Nahida asked, puzzled.
"Well... it's probably because the Irminsul in Teyvat might just be a section of the veins on a leaf of the Imaginary Tree. Another special point is that the Elation Aeon once climbed high branches of the Imaginary Tree and has a unique understanding of it. That's probably why it could recognize you so directly. Of course, it's also possible that some other Aeons recognized you too, but they didn't want to bother with you, so they didn't show up," Takagi smiled and said.
In his mind, the appearance of the Aeon of Nihility, IX, involuntarily reappeared. If someone were to say that the current strongest Aeon could discern Nahida's identity, Takagi would definitely believe it. However, the Aeon of Nihility is known as the 'Sleeping Aeon', so even if it saw Nahida, it naturally wouldn't appear.
[Lyney: So that's how it is. It seems Nahida is a very important existence for us in Teyvat.]
[Dehya: I always feel like if Miss Nahida weren't here, Teyvat would be destroyed.]
[Azar: How could that be? Teyvat isn't that fragile.]
[Alice: The Elation Aeon actually climbed high branches of the Imaginary Tree. No wonder it could injure the Destruction Aeon.]
"Any more questions, Nahida?" Takagi looked at the thoughtful Nahida and asked with a smile.
"Thank you, Lord Takagi, I understand pretty well now." Nahida smiled sweetly. Although she still had many things she wanted to know about the Universe, for now, understanding this much was enough.
"Is that the end?" Hearing this, Dottore immediately showed a disappointed expression. He really wanted to learn more about the Universe and the Imaginary Tree through Nahida.
Some people who disliked the Fatui felt a wave of happiness upon seeing Dottore's expression.
[Rosaria: Although Lord Takagi doesn't seem to plan on discussing the Imaginary Tree further, seeing Dottore disappointed is still quite nice.]
[Navia: Speaking of Dottore, he's probably the only one who gained nothing from this trip to the Simulated Universe, right?]
[Yae Miko: Dottore not being able to gain benefits might be considered a good thing for Teyvat.]
[Chevreuse: Cloud Retainer and Miss Lisa must have thought the same way, which is why, immediately after the Gatekeeper Captain was defeated, they took down the other Gatekeeper that Dottore had taken away.]
...
"Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered something." Walking along the corridor of Herta Space Station, Takagi suddenly turned his head and looked at Dottore with interest.
Dottore: "Lord Takagi, is there something wrong with me?"
Takagi: "Not really, I just wanted to ask you a few things for now."
Dottore: "Please ask, Lord Takagi."
Takagi: "You led one of the Gatekeepers aside earlier because you wanted to understand the manufacturing technology of the Xianzhou's Aurumatons, right?"
Dottore: "Yes, Lord Takagi." It was such an obvious thing that he felt there was no point in hiding it.
Takagi: "Besides that, you should also want to understand something else, right?"
"Something else?" Lisa frowned and looked at Dottore warily. Due to her knowledge of the Fatui and Dottore, Lisa subconsciously felt that what Dottore was seeking wouldn't be that simple.
Dottore: "Lord Takagi, I don't know what you're talking about?"
Takagi smiled and said: "You don't need to hide it from me, Dottore. Although you led the Gatekeeper to a place Cloud Retainer couldn't photograph, but I could see every one of your actions from outside the Simulated Universe."
Dottore: "..."
Takagi's lips curved upwards as he said: "Besides the manufacturing technology of the Xianzhou's Aurumatons, you also wanted to use this Machine War instance, specifically the Xianzhou's Aurumatons infected with the Anti-Life Equation, to understand the Anti-Life Equation developed by Rubert. What I said should be correct, right?"
As the words fell, Lisa, Cloud Retainer, and Nahida all turned their heads and looked at Dottore in surprise. And Dottore, on the other hand, fell silent.