Chapter 155
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying you want to ignore everything?"
"That's right. After all, this is Sumeru, and it's managed by your Akademiya, not me. I'm just your partner. The main responsibility still lies with your Akademiya, isn't it?"
The Doctor seemed to be shirking his responsibilities and not wanting to get involved.
"So I'm sorry, I won't be involved in the Sumeru matter anymore, because our cooperation ended the moment the gods were created."
As he spoke, the Doctor stood up from his seat and turned to look at the Grand Sage's seat where he had been sitting for some time.
"Although it's a good location, it's a pity that this location doesn't satisfy me."
After saying that, he got up and left.
"Wait, you can't leave!"
"Dottore, stop right there!"
The sages tried to stop the Doctor, but when they tried to move him, they suddenly found that their bodies were completely immobile, and they all collapsed to the ground after a sway.
"It's laughable. You're nothing but a bunch of self-important ants, yet you dare to block my path?"
The Doctor stepped over the bodies of the Sages.
"My path cannot be stopped even by God."
"Oh no, there is one person who I find interesting."
He looked up at the sky, and although he was Akademiya, he seemed to be able to see Takemikazuchi floating in the sky, or more precisely, Li Yue at the position of Takemikazuchi's head.
"Someone I never thought I would meet."
"I am very curious about your purpose: a mysterious power I have never seen before, and a scheme that has outmaneuvered the Seven Archons."
Having witnessed Li Yue's special powers through his own slices, and now seeing the so-called "Aizen's" "true face" through the True God of the Scaramouche, the Doctor is now filled with curiosity about Li Yue.
In the Doctor's eyes, this newly appointed Geo King has secretly used his alteration ability to rule Liyue and Inazuma, and now his influence has even extended to Sumeru.
It's obvious that the other party also wants to become a god of Sumeru.
To this end, the other party even disguised themselves as someone else!
Oh no, perhaps Aizen is his true form, and Li Yue is just a disguise used to gain the trust of the Vago Monarch.
The Nahida who lived in Liyue was probably also a disguise. The real Lesser Kusanali should have died long ago, and Aizen also plundered the Dendro Archon's power through Nahida's body.
After all, among the powers that Aizen has displayed so far, the ability to create rock structures in the desert comes from the Vago Monarch, who has taken over the Vago Monarch's power. Then, the power of Takemikazuchi comes from the Raijin, and the ability to grow trees comes from the Dendro Archon. As for the abilities of ice and wind, the Ice God is still alive. As for whether that Barbatos is real, the Doctor thinks it needs to be considered, but at least it can be confirmed that Aizen's power comes from at least the Demon God.
This Aizen, through his own efforts, gathered the power of the gods on the Teyvat continent. What he did was even more terrifying than what the Fatui had done!
What exactly is Aizen's purpose in doing all this? The Doctor is very much looking forward to it.
"I can't wait to find out what you're up to. This world has become incredibly interesting because of your existence!"
Turning his gaze away, the Doctor looked at the sages on the ground.
"But now, I should leave. It would be a real problem if this fragment also died in your hands. But soon, I will send a new fragment to find you, the true usurper."
After saying that, the Doctor quickly left the Akademiya Aizen. However, in his mind, Aizen had been upgraded from a research subject to a potential collaborator.
He joined the Fatui because Fatui could provide him with the research materials he needed and fully support his research. However, if a new leader could bring him more surprises, he wouldn't mind betraying the Fatui and cooperating with the new leader!
As the Doctor left, the desert army Sumeru City began its assault on the Sumeru City.
They followed Aizen and became the victors in the war of the gods. As victors, they naturally had to receive the prizes that belonged to them, and this Sumeru City was now theirs.
Sumeru City, the Thirty-Three Group Disciplinary Officer dared not resist the onrushing mercenary army. Since the gods of Sumeru City had been defeated, how could they possibly withstand an army of nearly ten thousand led by the gods? There was simply no way they could resist.
However, something unbelievable soon happened to them.
After the desert army stormed into Sumeru City, the entire Sumeru City was instantly enveloped by a powerful oppressive force, and everyone was pressed to the ground by this pressure.
The people of Sumeru City might not be familiar with this feeling, but the desert people were all too familiar with it. They all looked up at the sky, at Takemikazuchi, who was looking down at them.
"Lord Aizen, why?"
Despite the pressure, Chief Camus couldn't help but ask Li Yue a question.
Li Yue smiled slightly upon hearing Camus's voice.
"Why? Because I've already granted your wishes, so now it's your turn to grant mine."
262. You are nothing more than my experimental subjects.
The sudden shift in the situation caught everyone off guard. One second it seemed that Aizen was leading the desert people to conquer the rainforest, but the next second, Aizen suppressed both the rainforest people and the desert people. Everyone within the Sumeru City area was suppressed, and even the Doctor, who hadn't had time to leave, was among those being suppressed.
This surprised and intrigued the Doctor. Why was this new god, who had just defeated the True God, going to do something like this? Why was he trying to trick the desert people right from the start?
"I promised you that I would lead you to conquer the rainforest, and now, your wish has come true."
Li Yue looked down at the Sumeru City from high above.
"I have defeated the gods created by the Sumeru Akademiya, and you have successfully entered Sumeru City. So now, it is your turn to fulfill my wish."
"How so?"
The desert mercenaries all looked at Li Yue, many filled with resentment, while many more were filled with doubt. They had unwavering faith in this newly appeared god who had unified them.
"Lord Aizen, how can you betray our trust like this?"
"Trust? Do you remember what I told you?"
Li Yue smiled.
There is no need for me to trust you, because so-called trust and dependence are behaviors of the weak. Trust is unnecessary between me and you.
"I have never once asked you to believe me. I have only asked you to follow me, but I have never asked you to believe me and follow me. I have said, though, that you do not need to believe me. But sadly, there are very few strong people who can truly live up to this idea."
Li Yue's words stunned all the desert people, because he had indeed said that they didn't need so-called trust between them, but they themselves chose to believe in and follow Aizen.
The rainforest people, including the Tighnari who came from Gandharva Ville, felt sorry for the desert people's plight after hearing Li Yue's words. Weren't they being used?
On the contrary, the Doctor nodded in agreement after listening to Li Yue's words. That's right, there are very few people who can do this. Coincidentally, he is one of the strong people who can do this.
"All living beings believe in some being superior to themselves, whether it be a human or a god. As a result, the one who is trusted will seek out a being at a higher level in order to escape this heavy pressure. And the being at a higher level will yearn for a stronger and more trustworthy one. In this way, all kings are born, and all gods are born."
Li Yue looked down.
"And I am the God you spontaneously believed in and who were born. You spontaneously chose to believe in and follow me, without considering what I might do to you."
"What... what are you going to do to us?"
Now that the conversation had gotten to the point, the mercenaries looked at Li Yue eagerly, hoping for an answer.
"Do you know why I tried to minimize your casualties when I was subduing you, even after we got to the rainforest?"
"Why?"
"That's because you are my valuable experimental subjects."
Li Yue's voice turned cold.
"I'm sorry, you might not understand if I just say it like that, so let me explain it a little."
"I am currently preparing to conduct an experiment that could change the world, but this experiment has high requirements and needs a lot of test subjects, or rather, the more test subjects the better, because the more test subjects there are, the better the quality of the final product will be."
"And the experimental subject was humans."
"There are many humans on the Teyvat continent, but unfortunately, even if there are people in the other countries, they cannot move around easily because those countries have their own gods. But there is one country that is different, and that is Sumeru."
Li Yue, controlling the massive Takemikazuchi, pointed to the ground.
"This country has no gods!"
Upon hearing this, the rainforest people all stared wide-eyed in astonishment. How could there be no deity? Didn't Sumeru have the Lesser Kusanali?
"A nation without the protection of a god is the weakest nation on the Teyvat continent, and such a weak nation is exactly what I need."
"Therefore, all I need to do is control this country and bring all the people in it together."
"In my capacity as a god, I gathered all of you desert people together, and then, under the pretext of conquering the rainforest, I brought you to Sumeru City. After gathering a large number of desert people and Sumeru City natives, I finally had enough experimental materials. That's right, just like you are now."
Li Yue's words terrified everyone present, especially the Doctor, who felt extremely uneasy. He had spent almost his entire life conducting experiments, always using others as subjects, but this time he was the one being used as an experiment.
"I'm curious, what kind of experiment do you want to do?"
"You must be very curious about what kind of experiment I want to do."
As if sensing the Doctor's curiosity, Li Yue spoke up directly.
"Sure, I can tell you."
"The experiments I conducted were human transmutation, a form of alchemy."
"Alchemy?"
The Doctor immediately thought of Rhinedottir, the court alchemist of Cainrea, who had created many species through alchemy.
However, the alchemy that Li Yue talked about was somewhat different from the alchemy that the Doctor understood.
As Li Yue spoke, a red light suddenly began to shine below Sumeru City. The red light formed a huge ring that surrounded Sumeru City, with the entire Sumeru City located at the center of this red light, including the residents of Sumeru City.
"The human body and soul are extracted and then brought together. The resulting soul aggregate, formed through special alchemical methods, is called the Philosopher's Stone. With the Philosopher's Stone, alchemy can create things out of thin air by consuming the souls within the alchemy process. If enough souls are consumed, it can even change the world!"
"And you are the ones I have chosen, the consumables to be refined into the Philosopher's Stone."
"What!?"
"Don't be surprised or panicked, because the whole process will only take a moment. Within this crimson ring, once I activate the spell, in just a moment, all of you will turn into blood, and your souls will merge into the Philosopher's Stone's Philosopher's Stone, becoming part of it with the honor of being used by me."
As Li Yue explained, the red light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping the entire Sumeru City in a terrifying aura.
The people who had just been terrified and silent because of Li Yue's words began to shout and scream; they were panicking.
"How could I possibly accept something like this!"
"No! I don't want to die! I want to go back to the desert!"
"Where is the Dendro Archon? Why don't we have Dendro Archon? Shouldn't Sumeru have Dendro Archon?!"
However, no one could respond to them. They could only watch as the red light grew brighter and brighter, seemingly about to engulf the entire Sumeru City. Even the Doctor stared wide-eyed at the red light before him.
Until, a large tree suddenly burst forth from the ground, breaking the ring of red light, which was then forced to dissipate.
"Um?"
Aizen looked at the green light that suddenly appeared in Sumeru City with a puzzled expression.
A petite figure appeared before the Sumeru people, with pale white hair, a bright green skirt, and smooth feet. Lesser Kusanali Nahida appeared before them.
She looked up at Aizen in the sky, her gaze resolute.
"I'm sorry, but as a deity of Sumeru, I cannot allow you to do this."
263. The Dendro Archon Who Is Not Needed by Sumeru
"Is it Lesser Kusanali? It's Lesser Kusanali, right!?"
Nahida's appearance attracted the attention of everyone in Sumeru City. The rainforest people all looked at Nahida with hope. Although she was just a little girl, she was the only one standing here, and she was radiating a green light. She was obviously a great person. Flowers and green leaves were growing and spreading around her feet, which was very much in line with the symbolism of the Dendro Archon.
"Yes, I am the Lesser Kusanali you all know."
Nahida nodded affirmatively, then shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I haven't been able to show up for some reason, which has disappointed everyone."
"Isn't it said that there is no Dendro Archon in Sumeru?"
The desert people looked at Nahida in great surprise. It was because Aizen said that there was no Dendro Archon in Sumeru that they were willing to follow Aizen to attack Sumeru. How come the Dendro Archon has appeared now? Although he looks a bit small, he can still be considered a god!
The Doctor was also interested, and he was quite puzzled when the Doctor saw Nahida come out.
"Could it be that my previous assumption was wrong?"
In the Doctor's opinion, the Dendro Archon should already be dead, which is why Li Yue was able to obtain the Dendro Archon's power and even carry out such terrible experiments in Sumeru without restraint, using humans as materials for alchemy. What an interesting alchemy!
However, apart from the Doctor, everyone else, whether they were rainforest people or desert people, was happy about Nahida's appearance.
"It's alright, Lord Dendro Archon. As long as Lord Dendro Archon God is here, everything will be alright."
Although it's unclear why the Dendro Archon hasn't appeared before, at least he has now. When the True God was defeated and the Desert People stormed into Sumeru City, they were already in despair. Later, when Aizen prepared to use the Rainforest People and Desert People as experimental subjects, the Desert People and Rainforest People were driven to despair along with him.
Therefore, now that they see the Dendro Archon appear, everyone, whether in the rainforest or the desert, has focused their attention on Nahida. No matter what you did before, please, save us!
Nahida, the Lesser Lord Kusanali, is now the last hope for everyone in Sumeru City. If this hope is also lost, they will probably have their souls taken away by that terrible god above and refined into the so-called Philosopher's Stone.
To become a soul left only with painful wails—the image is unbelievable, it sounds terrifying! They certainly don't want to become like that.